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Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [N7v p206]

In vitam humanam.

On human life

Two men sitting at a table, one crying, the other laughing.
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Plus solito humanae nunc defle incommoda vitae
Heraclite, scatet pluribus illa malis.
Tu rursus, si quando aliâs, extolle cachinnum
Democrite, illa magis ludicra facta fuit.
Intereā haec cernens meditor, qua denique tecum
Fine fleam, aut tecum quomodō splene iocer.[1]

Weep now, Heraclitus, even more than you did, for the ills of human life. It teems with far more woes. And you, Democritus, if ever you laughed before, raise your cackle now. Life has become more of a joke. Meanwhile, seeing all this, I consider just how far I can weep with you, how laugh bitterly with you.

Link to an image of this page  Link to an image of this page  [N8r p207]

De la vie humaine.

Plores plus que onques tu ne feis
Heraclite, il en est saison.
Les gens sont en tous maulx confis.
Vertus nont ca bas plus maison.
Democrite ris, tu as raison.
Car chascun veult fol demourer:
Tandis penseray la choison,
Si je debvray rire, ou plorer.

Notes:

1.  This is a translation of Anthologia graeca 9.148. For Heraclitus, cf. [A50a016]. For the contrast between the despairing tears of Heraclitus (who withdrew from human society) and the sardonic laughter of Democritus when faced with the folly of men, see, among many sources, e.g. Juvenal, Satires 10, 28ff.

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