of it in the which consists the beauty and besides they will take some words vsed of Boccace or Petrark very seldom the whych they thyncke the goodlyer bicause they be seldome vsed of them bicause they haue not by nature the true signification nor the true sound in the eare they put them in euery place and many times out of purpose and so they hurt the naturall beauty therof Iust I doubt if they cannot inunitate other it might not be sayde to them as one Pippo said to Francis di Loma who thinking to excuse him selfe of a crosse-beame which he had made in the gallerie of the Innocentes which bowed toward the earth saying he had taken it out of S. Iohns Temple he aunswered thou hast counterfaited only the worst of it but if the tong be of such perfection as thou sayst wherof comes it that many of these lerned do blame so much them that translate any thing Soule With what reason Iust They say the tong is not apt nor worthy that such things should be translated into it and that it taketh froÌ„ them the reputation and much embaseth them Soule All tongues by the reasons I haue shewed thée before be apt to vtter theyr conceit and the businesse of them that speake and if it were otherwise they that vse them make them so therfore alleage not this excuse for it is nothing worth Iust What cause then can moue them to say that things translated into the vulgare be abased and lose theyr reputation Soule That which I tolde thée this other day which was the occasion of so many other euils euen the wicked ennie and desire they haue to be compted more than other Iust Surely I beleue thou saist truth for I remember me that being one day among these learned folke and one of them shewing that Bernard Segne had traÌ„slated Aristotles Rhetorike into the bulgare one sayde he had done a great euill and being asked why he answered it was not méete that euery vulgar should vnderstand that which an other with great trauayle hadde learned in many yeares in Latine and Gréeke bookes Soule O wordes inconuenient I wyll not say onely to a Christian but to a man knowing how much we are bound to loue one an other more to y e soule than to the body to whoÌ„ no greater good can be done than to make easy the way of vnderstanding Iust But softe a while I remember they say an other thing Soule What Iust They say that the things that be translated out of one tongue into an other neuer haue the force nor grace that they haue in their owne Soule They haue not that in theyr owne that they haue in other for euery tongue hath hir fynesse and delicacie peraduenture the Toscane more than an other and he that wyll sée it let him reade Dante or Petrarke where they haue spoken of any thing that was before spokeÌ„ of a Latin or Gréeke Poet and he shall sée they passe hym farre and that in fewe thyngs they be inferiour Iust But in translations they muste haue more regarde to the sense than to the wordes Soule I know they translate by reason of science and not to sée the force or the beauty of the tongs and if it were not so the Romanes that thought theyr tongue the fayrest in the world would not haue translated the feates of Mago of Carthage into their tongue nor tho Grecians that were so proude and vayn glorious of theirs calling all the reste barbarous the Egiptians and the Chaldeis workes Neuerthelesse in translating beside that a man ought to be faith full he must séeke to speake the wordes as ornately as he can Therefore it is necessary to him that translateth to know well the one tong and the other and then to possesse well the things or Sciences that be translated that he may vtter them well and pleasantly according to the nature of the tong for if a man will tell the things of one tong with the maner of an other tongue it hath no grace at al and if this were obserued translating perhaps should not be so much blamed Iust They say further that they doe contrary to the authors intent Soule How can that be séeing who soeuer writes he doth it for none other purpose but that his things being preserued by letters and not losâ—e by voyces might be vnderstanded of all the world Iust Then thou thinkst that to translate sciences in our tong is good Soule Yea I affirme nothing can be more profitable nor laudable bicause the greater parte of errours coÌ„meth of ignorance and princes ought to regard it bicause thei be fathers of the people and to a father appertaineth not onely to gouern his children but also to teach them and correct them and if they will not do this in euery thing at least they ought to doe it in necessary things Iust And which be they Soule The lawes as well diuine as humaine Iust What profit should that bring to men Soule What profit how much more should they be louers and defenders of christian religion if it were begon to be read of children and from hand to hand exercised in the same as the Hebrues do which thing they can not do not hauing them translated and well placed in the vulgare Iust It is no maruell though the Hebrues do all so well know to speake of things of their law and a shame it is to christians which teach their children to read eyther matters of marchandise or other things wherof no good is to be gotten wher they ought to teach them firste what appertaines to a christian knowing that those things which be learned in the first yeres be euer more than other kept in memorie Soule And beside this with howe much more reuerence and attention shold we stande at seruice if we did vnderstand what is said Iust Truly it is so Soule Tell me with what deuotion or what minde do men praise God not vnderstaÌ„ding what they say thou knowest wel the talke of Children and Popeniayes is not called a spéech but an imitation of a sound only bicause they vnderstand not what they say for spéech is properly to expresse words that may signify the conceit and the meaning of him that speaketh wherefore our reading or singing of psalmes not vnderstanding what we say is lyke the tatling of Children or the babling of Popeniayes And I know no religion but ours that kepes this forme for y â— Hebrues praise God in Hebrue the Greeks in Greeke the Latines in Latin the Sclauonians in Sclauony thanks be to S. Ierome that translated euery thing in their tong as a very louer of his cuÌ„trey Iust Surely my Soule this thy opinion pleaseth me much Soule It may please thée for it is S. Paules who writeth to the Corinthians that they ought to say their Seruice in Hebrue Howe shall an ignorant say Amen vpon your blessing if he vnderstand not what is said and
Ierome of Ferrara who wrote in this our tongue the moste high and hardest things of philosophy no lesse easly and perfectly than any writer of the Latin tongue Iust Was not this frier Ierome a Florentine Soule He was consider how much it holpe him to come and dwell in Florence I meane for the tongue which was such as euery man may know the difference that is betwene the thyngs he wrote before and since Iust That I know not but I haue heard that without grammer a man is not learned Soule A Notarie can not be without grammer and yet it is Coccoribus graÌ„mer that endes euery word in a consonant but let vs leaue thâ—se trifles graÌ„mer or to speake better the Latin is a tongue and tongues be not they that make men learned but vnderstanding and science for otherwise it should folowe that the Iew that is a goldsmith at Pecors corner which can speke eight or tenne tongues shold be the best lerned in Florence and the Starling that was giuen to the Pope Leo should be better lerned than these that haue only the Latine bicause he could say good day and many other things both in Gréeke and Latin Iust Ah ah thou art disposed to dally this Starling knew not what he sayd but did only speake what he was taught Soule Thou makest good my word that the things and not the tongues make men learned and although they be signified by tongs yet he that onely vnderstands the wordes shall neuer be learned tell me if this proposition of Aristotle were spoken to me Euery thyng euery Arte and euery Discipline desyreth that that is good in vulgare and I vnderstande it what néede haue I to haue it spoken in Gréeke or in Latin Iust I can not tell but they say so Soule Let them say their pleasure but this is truth and I wyll tell thée more that the vnderstanding of things is not sufficient to make a man lerned but hath néede also of iudgement Iust This I beleue well for I haue séene in my dayes many learned men fooles which haue not ben worth two handful of nuttes and yet haue studied inough and I remember amongst other one Michell Marullo which was one of those Grecians that fledde from the losse of Constantinople was very well learned as men sayde and yet he was a fonde foolish man wherfore one day one Bino Corrierie his companion said thus merily to him M. Michell men say you are very skilful in grammer and in gréeke it may wel be for I vnderstande nothing that way but in vulgare me think you are a very foole Soule Sée howe thou by little and little beginnest to sée light I say vnto thée that they say â—o only for enuy and wilt thou sée it now that they sée that Latin letters be made somewhat more vulgare than they were wont they begin to say that he that knoweth not Gréeke knowes nothing as if the spirites of Aristotle and of Plato as that honest Cortigian sayd were shut in an alphabet of Gréeke as in a glasse and a man learning it might drinke at one draught as he doth a sirupe Iust Truely thou sayst trueth and they say so Soule Then what will they doe fifetene or twenty yeres hence when the Gréeke toung shal be also as common to so many at this day studying it then they shal be forced to runne to another and for example to say he that knowes not the Hebrew knowes nothing and so from one tongue to an other and in th end be driuen to come to the Biskay tongue from whence they can goe no farther Iust Why so Soule Bicause that tongue can not be learned nor spoken but of them that be borne in that countrey but I can say vnto thée that they must doe other things like vnto these if they will be counted learned for now men begin to doe as children doe that haue no more feare of Robin good fellowe Iust What meane you by that Soule I meane it wil not serue now a dayes to say I haue ben at study or at the Vniuersitie for men care not till they sée an experience therof Iust I heare of certayne yong men that haue begon a certayn Achademia onely that men by that experience may gyue some proofe of themselues Soule And thou séest howe they repine at it and bicause they sée some man well lyked of whom before was no name they begin to finde fault and affirme that it will hinder the reputation of good letters and that men only study for a shewe and in the ende it shall be as Burchiell sayth What a diuel haue these silke worms in their bodyes that alwayes eate leaues and deliuer silke Iust This Achademia hath done to the learned as the siege dyd to the braue for where at the fyrste it was inoughe to saye he was braue and euery man had feare of hym nowe no man cares for such shadowes in so much as a lyttle chylde if he haue displeasure done him wyll not be afrayde with a knife to strike a souldier and of this more than one example hath ben séene Soule Thou haste sayde truely Iust and though these that giue not them selues altogether to studye can not excéede them that be so learned yet they discouer them and cause that they can not now féede men with empty spoones as it was once sayde to one of them as they coulde doe and haue done to thys day and in déede it was a gaye thyng sor them that when they didde saye it is so euery man must agre to their word as Pithagoras disciples did but nowe they must shew wherfore and why if they will be beleued but let them alone I say vnto thée that this opening of eyes which this Achademia hath done to men is Triacle for them Iust And doest thou beleue in déede that they that fauour this trade shal be able to bring to perfection in time the sciences in our toung as they say they desire Soule For their sufficiency I dare say vnto thée I know many very apt and I beleue when so euer they will shal be able to doe it wel as already no smal tokens be shewd but as touching the aptnesse of our tong to receiue theÌ„ perfectly I speake vnto thée resolutely that our tongue is most perfect and apt to expresse any maner conceit of philosophy or astrology or any other scieÌ„ce and as wel as in Latin and peraduenture in Gréeke of the which they make so great a bragge for I remember that M. Constantine Lastari that Grecian of the which men of our age make so great a vaunt vsed to say in the gardin of Rucellai at the table wher many gentlemen were present of the whych peraduenture some be yet aliue that he knewe Boccace not to be inferiour to any Gréeke writer for his eloquence maner of speaking that he did esteme his hundred tales as much as an hundred of these Poets Iust What dost
sufficiently to gette so muche as he myght kepe an horse and a boy and he that hath that to get a dignitie or a gretnesse aboue other and then to be a Prince and being a prince neuer to die Soule Then do not thou lamente though thou labourest a litle seing euery man lackes somewhat Iust To labour a little were a plesure but always as I do that haue litle or nothing is a despight Soule Marke thou doest as other do but tell me what wouldest thou haue what wantest thou Iust Swéete Ducates of reuenue and then I should liue well Soule And when thou haddest that thou shouldest then lacke somewhat and desire it as thou dost this bicause as thou hast sayde of thy selfe in euery state ther lacketh some thing thinking when thou hast it thou woldest be content and yet when thou haste it thou arte not content but begynnest to desire an other So as once a Citizen of oures sayde wisely to one that was entred into greate disorder to bie a piece of grounde that lay next him Thou muste thinke thou muste haue neighbours and when thou hast bought this thou shalt haue an other neighbour of whome thou wilt haue the like desire Iust I beleue certainly that there is care in euery state but more in one than in an other Soule And is not thine one of them that so hath and of the greater Iust It is seyng I must onely liue by my worke which as I sayd afore was put to man for penaunce of hys synnes Soule Yea to them y t haue their willes disordinate be not contēt with y t is conueniēt to their state as Adā had when this hapned to hym But to him that directeth paciētly his way in this life to that he is called it chaunceth not so What swéeter thyng can be than to liue with the trauel of his hādes So that Dauid y ◠Prophet which was also a King as thou knowest did call such like blessed And know this for a cōclusion the more a man hath the more care he must take and it is greater and paynfuller pensiuenesse to rule superfluous things to him thā is the swetenesse to possesse them and the more seruantes and labourers he hath the more enimies he hathe as that philosopher sayde well But let vs leaue these matters in the whiche me thinke we haue sayde inough let vs turne a litle to them of yesterday which we left vnperfect bicause thou doubtedst before y t if thou beleuedst me I should make thée a fole as though y u hadst not thy part as well as other Iust Take this too if it please thée wilt thou say that euery one is a foole Soule A foole no but that euery man thinketh so Iust Oh that is al one Soule Know Iust that euery man hath a brāch be thou sure y t one greter thā an other but this is y ◠differēce of y t wise y ◠foolish y ◠the wise carieth it couered the fooles carie it open in their handes that euery man seeth it Iust Ah thou art disposed Soule Be cōtent I wil proue it thée in thy self how many times hast thou walked in thy house setting thy féete in the mids of the pauing tyles seking w t great diligēce not to touch y ◠ends Iust Oh ▪ a thousande tymes and haue bene about from my window to tell how many runne by and to doe dyuers other childish things Soule Then tel me if thou haddest so done abroade woulde not the chyldren haue runne aboute thée as they doe about fooles Iust By my faith thou sayst truth and I will no more denye but that I also haue my fondnesse and now doe I thynke that Prouerbe moste true which I haue oft hearde spoken that if foolishnesse were a paine we should heare groning in euery house Soule I will tell thée more thou shalte finde fewe men in the worlde that haue lefte any fame but if thou dost consider their life they haue born their braunch vncouered but bycause it hathe to them come well to passe they haue bene praised but I wil not we talke any more of this Lette vs turne to our reasoning tell me howe thou that hast no Grammer nor hast studied diddest knowe that laboure was giuen of God to our first fathers for a penance punishment for theyr disobedience Iust Oh dost not thou knowe that so ofte hast redde with me the Bible which I haue Soule How dost thou vnderstand it Iust Why should I not vnderstand it knowest thou not that it is in vulgare Soule Yes I know Iust Then why doest thou ask me Soule To make thée confesse that thou hast spoken that if sciences and the scripture were in the vulgar thou shouldest vnderstande them Iust Yea as touching the words but to pierce to y e sense is an other mater Soule It is inough that thou shouldest haue no difficultie in vnderstandyng the wordes but onely in the intelligēce of the sense which they haue also that reade it in Greke or Latin for thou mayst not beleue that by vnderstanding a tong al authors be vnderstanded and all sciences that be in the same for to do that there is néede of some schoolemaisters and interpreters and yet with great difficultie be vnderstanded and the like shold come if they were in vulgare But now it is inough for me that thou knowest that it is not tongues that make the learned men but Science Iust Therefore a man can not bée learned vnlesse hée vnderstande the Latin tongue wherein they be all written what wilte thou learne in ours Soule Thanke the Romaines that haue translated if the Latin tongue be riche and blame the Toscanes that haue not cared for theirs if theirs bée poore Iust All is if the faulte commeth of the tongue that it is not so copious of wordes as men can write in it Soule Newe wordes be made and brought to vse as things require Iust What Is it lawfull to make newe wordes in a tongue Soule Yea in them that be not dead and of them onely of whiche they be propre Iust Which callest thou dead Soule Those whiche be not spoken naturally in no place as at this day the Latin and the Greeke and in our tongue it is not lawful to make new words to them that be not propre and natiue vnto it Iust Why is it not lawful to those strangers that knowes it Soule Bicause it not being to them naturall they can not make them so as they shall haue grace Marke well suche as in our tongue of some nowe a dayes haue bene deuised Iust Then thou iudgest it is none errour to make them in our tongue Soule Not of hym that speaketh it naturally rather were it laudable Tell me doest thou thyncke that eyther the Gréeke or Latine tongue were so perfect and plentifull of wordes at the beginning as they were after when they flourished with so worthy writers Iust I beleue it not
Soule Be thou wel assured for there is none of these things that be exercised of vs that was in the beginnyng perfectly produced of nature or found out of arte for if that could be done the one of them shoulde be in vaine for if Nature broughte forthe euery thing perfect we should haue no nede of Arte and if Arte of hir self coulde make them perfect we should haue no nede of Nature Dyd not Cicero and Boetio make new wordes when they would put philosophie and Logike in the Latin tongue Iust Dyd they borow them of other nations Soule Be thou sure they did Iust And of whome Soule Of the Grekes and the Grekes of the Hebrues and the Hebrues of the Egiptians Haste thou not heard that nothing can be sayd but that hath ben sayd before but the Romanes being other men and of other iudgement than be now the Toscanes louing more their owne things as reason is than others did study only straunge tongs to gather out of them that was good to enrich their owne Iust Truly in this me thinke they were worthy praise Soule Search all the auÌ„cient things and thou shalte sée that there be fewe Romanes that wrote in Gréeke as our Toscanes do in latin which is not their tongue and for al their doing it is wel knowne that thaâ— puritie is not séene in their writings which is séene in the stile of proper Latines Iust In this they deserue to be excused it not being their proper tongue as thou sayst Soule Rather they deserue to be double blamed Dost thou remember thou hast heard that when M. Cato did read certayn things of Albino the Romane written in Gréeke and finding that in the beginning he did excuse him selfe that they were not written with that elegancie that they ought bicause he was a citizen of Rome and borne in Italie and a straunger to the Gréeke tong he did not only excuse him but laughed at him saying Oh Albino thou hadst rather aske pardon of an errour done than not doe it Iust Truly these reasons be so good that I for me can say nothyng against them Soule Sée how the Romanes did séeke to enrich theyr tongue and thought to bryng no lesse noble fame by this than by conquering to theyr Empyre some Citie or Kingdome and that thys is true reade the Proeme that Boetius makes in his translation of Aristotles Predicamentes where he sayth that being a man of Counsell and not apt to warre he woulde labour to instructe his countrey men wyth doctrine and that he hoped to deserue no lesse nor be no lesse profitable vnto them by teachyng them the Arte of Gréeke sapience than they whych wyth force and valiauntnesse haue subdued some Citie or Prouince to the Romane Empire Iust O mindes and thoughtes holy in déede and wordes worthy a citizen of Rome for the very office of a citizen is alwaies to helpe his countrey as much as he can to the which we be no lesse bound than to our fathers and mothers Soule And therefore at this day is theyr tongue hadde in so greate estimation for that it is so full of good Sciences as he that wyll obtayne them must néedes fyrste learne it where if our Toscanes woulde translate likewise the same to them that would learne them they shoulde not néede to spende foure or sixe of their first best yeares to learne a tongue â–ª that they might by the meane therof passe to the sciences which other wise might he had with more ease and more surety for thou must know this that we neuer learne a straunge tong to possesse it well as we do our proper and likewise a man speaketh not so assuredly nor with such facility if thou beleuest not me marke them whoÌ„ thou knowest study the Latine tongue that when they would speake in it it séemes they beg they vtter their words with such difficultie and speake so leisurely Iust Thou saist truth but this way of the Romanes was very good to translate into their tongue so many goodly things that he that will vnderstande them must be forced to learn the tong and so was dispersed throughout the world Soule They did not onely this but whiles they were Lordes of the world they caused it to be learned of the most part of their subiects by force Iust And what did they Soule They had made a law that no Embassador shold be heard vnlesse he spake Latin besides all causes that were hearde in all Prouinces vnder their gouernment and al processe was written in the Latin tongue wherfore all the noble men of euery cuntrey and all the aduocates and attorneys were forced to learne the tongue Iust I doe not maruel though Rome became so great if they vsed this way in other things Soule Of this I will not reason for the goodly things that they got of al the world doe make cléere testimonie to all that consider it Iust O custome very laudable O citizens very louers of their countrey Soule This custome Iust was not only of the Romanes but of al other nations Séeke as much as thou wilt and thou shalt neuer finde that any Hebrue hath written in Egipt tong nor Greeke in Hebrue nor Latin as I haue sayd in Greeke and if there be any they be very fewe Iust Wher then haue these Toscanes gotten this vse to write in Gramer as thou speakest Soule Of their inordinate loue of themselues and not of their countrey or of their tongue for so doing they haue thought to be taken the more lerned Iust They do as the Phisitian that Iones had which to séeme the more lerned did ordaine certaine receipts wyth certain names out of vse that made me to maruell among the which I remeÌ„ber one morning that he made me a receipt for the impostume that thou knowest I had where amongst certayne other things one was called Rob an other Tartaro and an other Altea so as I thought I must haue sent into the new found Ilands for an Interpreter and when it came to passe the one was Sope the other Lées of a vessell and the third Mâ—â—owes Soule Oh thou hast sayd well Iust and if thou considerest well this world is nothing else but a confusion yet if the Toscanes woulde endeuour them to translate sciences into theyr tongue I haue no doubt at all but in shorte time it should come into greater reputation than it is for it is séene that it pleaseth much and is this day much vnderstanded and desired and this cometh onely for naturall beauty and goodnesse of it the which thing straungers not knowing many times going about to pullish it do blemish it and so it comes properly to passe to hir as doth to a woman which thinking to make hir selfe faire wyth painting doth vtterly destroy hir selfe Iust How can that be Soule I will tell thée whiles they séeke to make it more beautifull and make the clauses like to the Latin they destroy the facilitie and naturall order