登陆注册
15677000000118

第118章

There is no action or imagination of mine wherein I do not miss him; as I know that he would have missed me: for as he surpassed me by infinite degrees in virtue and all other accomplishments, so he also did in the duties of friendship:

"Quis desiderio sit pudor, aut modus Tam cari capitis?"

["What shame can there, or measure, in lamenting so dear a friend?"--Horace, Ode, i. 24, I.]

"O misero frater adempte mihi!

Omnia tecum una perierunt gaudia nostra, Quae tuus in vita dulcis alebat amor.

Tu mea, tu moriens fregisti commoda, frater;

Tecum una tota est nostra sepulta anima Cujus ego interitu tota de menthe fugavi Haec studia, atque omnes delicias animi.

Alloquar? audiero nunquam tua verba loquentem?

Nunquam ego te, vita frater amabilior Aspiciam posthac; at certe semper amabo;"

["O brother, taken from me miserable! with thee, all our joys have vanished, those joys which, in thy life, thy dear love nourished.

Dying, thou, my brother, hast destroyed all my happiness. My whole soul is buried with thee. Through whose death I have banished from my mind these studies, and all the delights of the mind. Shall I address thee? I shall never hear thy voice. Never shall I behold thee hereafter. O brother, dearer to me than life. Nought remains, but assuredly I shall ever love thee."--Catullus, lxviii. 20; lxv.]

But let us hear a boy of sixteen speak:--[In Cotton's translation the work referred to is "those Memoirs upon the famous edict of January," of which mention has already been made in the present edition. The edition of 1580, however, and the Variorum edition of 1872-1900, indicate no particular work; but the edition of 158o has it "this boy of eighteen years"(which was the age at which La Boetie wrote his "Servitude Volontaire"), speaks of "a boy of sixteen" as occurring only in the common editions, and it would seem tolerably clear that this more important work was, in fact, the production to which Montaigne refers, and that the proper reading of the text should be "sixteen years." What "this boy spoke" is not given by Montaigne, for the reason stated in the next following paragraph.

"Because I have found that that work has been since brought out, and with a mischievous design, by those who aim at disturbing and changing the condition of our government, without troubling themselves to think whether they are likely to improve it: and because they have mixed up his work with some of their own performance, I have refrained from inserting it here. But that the memory of the author may not be injured, nor suffer with such as could not come near-hand to be acquainted with his principles, I here give them to understand, that it was written by him in his boyhood, and that by way of exercise only, as a common theme that has been hackneyed by a thousand writers. I make no question but that he himself believed what he wrote, being so conscientious that he would not so much as lie in jest: and I moreover know, that could it have been in his own choice, he had rather have been born at Venice, than at Sarlac; and with reason. But he had another maxim sovereignty imprinted in his soul, very religiously to obey and submit to the laws under which he was born. There never was a better citizen, more affectionate to his country; nor a greater enemy to all the commotions and innovations of his time: so that he would much rather have employed his talent to the extinguishing of those civil flames, than have added any fuel to them; he had a mind fashioned to the model of better ages. Now, in exchange of this serious piece, I will present you with another of a more gay and frolic air, from the same hand, and written at the same age."

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • TFBOYS之猫女复仇记

    TFBOYS之猫女复仇记

    她是来自一千多年前,有两个好友,她紫曼冷酷无情,她蓝姬腹黑,她粉樱可爱,他们三个是所有人崇拜的明星,他王俊凯冷酷,他易烊千玺腹黑,他王源呆萌可爱,他们遇见又会擦出什么火花呢?
  • 大道帝君

    大道帝君

    鼎立无数载的神山,亦是被一掌轰下凡尘!亘古不停的周天星河,亦是从此断绝!万古空前的灾难,三千世界,就是佛陀尊者,也皆不能逃。
  • 骆戟

    骆戟

    “你要我一个承诺,我却还你一个天下!你是我大哥,纵是你不仁,我也不会不义!”
  • 家有鬼妻

    家有鬼妻

    冥门开启,入冥门,红尘已断,混迹在鬼域,却为何,接连出现迎亲队伍,难道这就是传说中的鬼婚?鬼门大开,百鬼夜行,遗失的记忆,等她找寻。一件件诡异的事接踵而来,看她如何拨开迷雾,解开隐藏在背后的阴谋。当她真心乐于做鬼之时,她却发现自己并非死得其所,遭人暗害?呵,就以她那睚眦必报的心理,能安然不出?这一世,她只想与他安稳一生,却为何有那么多波折。报复?保护?她必让曾经的预言成真!本文纯属虚构,请勿模仿。
  • 超级好人系统

    超级好人系统

    这是一本关于好人的爽文,传递的是满满的正能量,咳,我说的是真的,虽然主角有那么一点小猥琐,还有一点点的小色,但……好吧,我不太会写简介,所以还是请看内容吧。……已完本《戒中城》,书荒可看,人品有保证!可放心收藏!
  • 最后的御鬼者

    最后的御鬼者

    人死后是什么样的世界?人活着又有怎样的人生?剪不断,理还乱。
  • 护灵归魂

    护灵归魂

    他本是一个普通的学生,却因为一场意外破坏了冥界的和平,为了弥补这个过错,他不得不与护灵者一起展开一段惊险之旅。
  • 做一个明星梦

    做一个明星梦

    一个十八线小生不鸣则已,一鸣惊人,居然被爆出和圈内一线大咖沐菲的惊天绯闻。“请问你和沐菲是什么关系?”“有狗仔拍到你出入沐菲的私人公寓,还共度良宵,这你能解释一下吗?”······这是怎么一回事,我怎么什么都不知道呢?
  • 我的世界不可能这么丧失

    我的世界不可能这么丧失

    ”我不管你是龙傲天还是赵日天,我叶良是三分黑七分白的。我这人很任性的,看到那个逗逼没有,激怒我我是要灭掉这个崩坏丧失的世界的~“
  • 穿越之嫡女成凤

    穿越之嫡女成凤

    神马?这种事情居然降临在她头上,嫡大姐的出走,姨娘的猖狂,庶姐的欺负,她受够了!一切都来的太快,她措手不及直到遇见他,世界都变了