Ep. 7.17.1Sua cuique ratiō recitandī;Everyone has his own reason for giving readings; Ep. 7.17.1mihi quod saepe iam dīxī, ut sī quid mē fugit - ut certē fugit - admonear.mine, as I have often said already, is that if anything has escaped me — as certainly it has — I may be told of it. Ep. 7.17.2Quō magis mīror, quod scrībis fuisse quōsdam quī reprehenderent quod ōrātiōnēs omnīnō recitārem;So I am all the more surprised that you write that there were some who criticised me for reading speeches at all; Ep. 7.17.2nisi vērō hās sōlās nōn putant ēmendandās.unless, indeed, they think that these alone need no correcting. Ep. 7.17.3Ā quibus libenter requīsierim, cūr concēdant - sī concēdunt tamen - historiam dēbēre recitārī, quae nōn ostentātiōnī sed fideī vēritātīque compōnitur;I should gladly ask them why they allow — if indeed they do allow it — that history ought to be read aloud, which is composed not for display but for faithfulness and truth; Ep. 7.17.3cūr tragoediam, quae nōn audītōrium sed scaenam et āctōrēs;why tragedy, which demands not a lecture hall but a stage and actors; Ep. 7.17.3cūr lyrica, quae nōn lēctōrem sed chorum et lyram poscunt.why lyric poetry, which demands not a reader but a chorus and a lyre.
Ep. 7.17.3At hōrum recitātiō ūsū iam recepta est.But the reading of these is already accepted by custom. Ep. 7.17.4Num ergō culpandus est ille quī coepit?Is the man who began it, then, to be blamed? Ep. 7.17.4Quamquam ōrātiōnēs quoque et nostrī quīdam et Graecī lēctitāvērunt.Although some of our own people, and Greeks too, used to read out speeches as well. Ep. 7.17.5Supervacuum tamen est recitāre quae dīxerīs.Still, it is pointless to read out what you have already delivered. Ep. 7.17.5Etiam, sī eadem omnia, sī īsdem omnibus, sī statim recitēs;Yes, if you read all the same things, to all the same people, and straight away; Ep. 7.17.5sī vērō multa īnserās multa commūtēs, sī quōsdam novōs quōsdam eōsdem sed post tempus assūmās, cūr minus probābilis sit causa recitandī quae dīxerīs quam ēdendī?but if you insert much and change much, if you bring in some new listeners and some of the same ones but after an interval, why should the reason for reading what you have delivered be less acceptable than that for publishing it? Ep. 7.17.6Sed difficile est ut ōrātiō dum recitātur satisfaciat.But it is difficult for a speech to give satisfaction while it is being read aloud.
Ep. 7.17.6Iam hoc ad labōrem recitantis pertinet, nōn ad ratiōnem nōn recitandī.That now concerns the effort of the reader, not a reason for not reading. Ep. 7.17.7Nec vērō ego dum recitō laudārī, sed dum legor cupiō.Nor indeed do I want to be praised while I am reading aloud, but when I am read. Ep. 7.17.7Itaque nūllum ēmendandī genus omittō.So I omit no kind of correction. Ep. 7.17.7Ac prīmum quae scrīpsī mēcum ipse pertractō;First I go over what I have written by myself; Ep. 7.17.7deinde duōbus aut tribus legō;then I read it to two or three people; Ep. 7.17.7mox aliīs trādō adnotanda, notāsque eōrum, sī dubitō, cum ūnō rūrsus aut alterō pēnsitō;next I hand it to others to annotate, and their notes, if I am in doubt, I weigh once more with one or two others; Ep. 7.17.7novissimē plūribus recitō, ac sī quid mihi crēdis tunc ācerrimē ēmendō;last of all I read it to a larger number, and, believe me, it is then that I correct most keenly; Ep. 7.17.8nam tantō dīligentius quantō sollicitius intendō.for I attend the more carefully the more anxiously I concentrate.
Ep. 7.17.8Optimē autem reverentia pudor metus iūdicant, idque adeō sīc habē: Nōnne sī locūtūrus es cum aliquō quamlibet doctō, ūnō tamen, minus commovēris quam sī cum multīs vel indoctīs?Respect, modesty and fear are the best judges, and you may take it to be so: if you are about to speak with someone, however learned, but only one, are you not less disturbed than if you were speaking with many, even unlearned? Ep. 7.17.9Nōnne cum surgis ad agendum, tunc maximē tibi ipse diffīdis, tunc commūtāta nōn dīcō plūrima sed omnia cupis?When you rise to plead, is it not then above all that you distrust yourself, then that you wish, I will not say most things, but everything changed? Ep. 7.17.9utique sī lātior scaena et corōna diffūsior;especially if the stage is wider and the ring of listeners more extensive; Ep. 7.17.9nam illōs quoque sordidōs pullātōsque reverēmur.for we stand in awe even of those shabby people in dark clothes. Ep. 7.17.10Nōnne sī prīma quaeque improbārī putās, dēbilitāris et concīdis?If you think that your opening words are disapproved of, are you not unnerved and do you not collapse?
Ep. 7.17.10Opīnor, quia in numerō ipsō est quoddam magnum collātumque cōnsilium, quibusque singulīs iūdiciī parum, omnibus plūrimum.I suppose it is because in mere numbers there is a kind of great collective wisdom, and those who individually have little judgement have a great deal all together. Ep. 7.17.11Itaque Pompōnius Secundus - hic scrīptor tragoediārum -, sī quid forte familiārior amīcus tollendum, ipse retinendum arbitrārētur, dīcere solēbat: "Ad populum prōvocō", atque ita ex populī vel silentiō vel assēnsū aut suam aut amīcī sententiam sequēbātur.So Pomponius Secundus — the well-known writer of tragedies — if ever a rather intimate friend thought something should be cut which he himself thought should be kept, used to say: 'I appeal to the people', and so, according to the people's silence or applause, he followed either his own opinion or his friend's. Ep. 7.17.12Tantum ille populō dabat;So much did he grant to the people; Ep. 7.17.12rēctē an secus, nihil ad mē.whether rightly or not is no concern of mine. Ep. 7.17.12Ego enim nōn populum advocāre sed certōs ēlēctōsque soleō, quōs intuear quibus crēdam, quōs dēnique et tamquam singulōs observem et tamquam nōn singulōs timeam.For I am accustomed to invite not the people but particular, chosen persons, whom I can watch and whom I can trust, whom, in short, I can both observe as individuals and fear as though they were not individuals.
Ep. 7.17.13Nam, quod M. Cicerō dē stilō, ego dē metū sentiō: timor est, timor ēmendātor asperrimus.For what Marcus Cicero thought about the pen, I think about fear: fear is, fear is the harshest corrector. Ep. 7.17.13Hoc ipsum quod nōs recitātūrōs cōgitāmus ēmendat;The very thought that we are going to read corrects; Ep. 7.17.13quod audītōrium ingredimur ēmendat;entering the hall corrects; Ep. 7.17.13quod pallēmus horrēscimus circumspicimus ēmendat.turning pale, shuddering, looking around corrects. Ep. 7.17.14Proinde nōn paenitet mē cōnsuētūdinis meae quam ūtilissimam experior, adeōque nōn dēterreor sermunculīs istōrum, ut ultrō tē rogem mōnstrēs aliquid quod hīs addam.So I do not regret my custom, which I find most useful, and I am so far from being deterred by those people's gossip that I even ask you to point out something I might add to these practices. Ep. 7.17.15Nihil enim cūrae meae satis est.For nothing is enough for my care. Ep. 7.17.15Cōgitō quam sit magnum dare aliquid in manūs hominum, nec persuādēre mihi possum nōn et cum multīs et saepe trāctandum, quod placēre et semper et omnibus cupiās.I reflect how great a thing it is to give something into men's hands, and I cannot persuade myself that what you wish to please always and everyone should not be gone over with many people and often.
Ep. 7.17.15Valē.Farewell.