5. For, as amongst trees some are very thick with fruit, and some bear
none at all; amongst living creatures some are very prolific, and some
barren; and as in the sea there is alternate vicissitude of calms and
tempests, so in human life there are many and various circumstances
which distract a man into divers changes of fortune. One considering
this matter hath not said much from the purpose:—
Think not thyself, O Atreus’ son, forlorn;
Thou always to be happy wast not born.
Even Agamemnon’s self must be a shade,
For thou of frail materials art made.
Sorrow and joy alternately succeed;
’Spite of thy teeth, the Gods have so decreed.[139]
These verses are Menander’s.
If thou, O Trophimus, of all mankind,
Uninterrupted happiness couldst find;
If when thy mother brought thee forth with pain,
Didst this condition of thy life obtain,
That only prosperous gales thy sails should fill,
And all things happen ’cording to thy will;
If any of the Gods did so engage,
Such usage justly might provoke thy rage,
Matter for smart resentment might afford,
For the false Deity did break his word.
But if thou unexcepted saw’st the light,
Without a promise of the least delight,
I say to thee (gravely in tragic style)
Thou ought to be more patient all the while.
In short,—and to say more there’s no one can,—
Which is a name of frailty, thou’rt a man;
A creature more rejoicing is not found,
None more dejected creeps upon the ground.
Though weak, yet he in politics refines,
Involves himself in intricate designs;
With nauseous business he himself doth cloy,
And so the pleasure of his life destroy.
In great pursuits thou never hast been cross’d
No disappointments have thy projects lost;
Nay, such hath been the mildness of thy fate,
Hast no misfortune had of any rate;
If Fortune is at any time severe,
Serene and undisturbed thou must appear.
But though this be the state of all sublunary things, yet such is the
extravagant pride and folly of some men, that if they are raised above
the common by the greatness of their riches or functions of magistracy,
or if they arrive to any eminent charge in the commonwealth, they
presently swell with the titles of their honor, and threaten and
insult over their inferiors; never considering what a treacherous
Goddess Fortune is, and how easy a revolution it is for things that are
uppermost to be thrown down from their height and for humble things to
be exalted, and that these changes of Fortune are performed quickly and
in the swiftest moments of time. To seek for any certainty therefore in
that which is uncertain is the part of those who judge not aright of
things:—
Like to a wheel that constantly goes round,
One part is up whilst t’other’s on the ground.
6. But the most sovereign remedy against sorrow is our reason, and
out of this arsenal we may arm ourselves with defence against all the
casualties of life; for every one ought to lay down this as a maxim,
that not only is he himself mortal in his nature, but life itself
decays, and things are easily changed into quite the contrary to what
they are; for our bodies are made up of perishing ingredients. Our
fortunes and our passions too are subject to the same mortality; indeed
all things in this world are in perpetual flux,—