The Listeners - Part 4
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Part 4

Ful wys is he that can himselven knowel He turned and went back to the office. "Have you got tha sheet of paper, Lily?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have you sent it?"

"No, sir."

"Bad girl. Give it to me."

He read the sentence on the paper once more: I have grea confidence in the goals and ultimate success of the Project but for personal reasons I must submit my resignation.

He studied it for a moment.

Pigmcei gigantum humeris impositi plusquam ipsi gigantel vidant.

And he tore it up.

TRANSLATIONS.

1. Pues no es posible . . .

The bow cannot always stand bent, nor can human frailty subsist without some lawful recreation.

Cervantes, Don Quixote 2. Habe nun, ach! Philosophle, . . .

Now I have studied philosophy, Medicine and the law, And, unfortunately, theology, Wearily sweating, yet I stand now, Poor fool, no wiser than I was before; I am called Master, even Doctor, And for these last ten years have drawn My students, by the nose, up, down, Crosswise and crooked. Now I see That we can know nothing finally.

Goethe, Faust, opening lines 3. Men che dramma . . .

Less than a drop Of blood remains in me that does not tremble; I recognize the signals of the ancient flame.

Dante, The Divine Comedy, Purgatorio 4. C'est de quoy fay ie plus de pew que la pew.

The thing of which I have most fear is fear.

Montaigne, Essay.

5. A la trSs-bonne, & la tris-belle, qui fait ma joie et ma sant&

To the best, to the most beautiful, who is my joy and m}

well-being

6. Rast ich, so rest ich When I rest, I rust.

7. Nunc est bibendumi Now's the time for drinkingi

Baudelaire, Les Epavel German proverb Horace Odes. Book I

8. Wer immer strebens sich bemUhl, . . .

Who strives always to the utmost, Him can we save.

Goethe, Faust, Part I

9. Ich bin der Geist der stets verneint I am the spirit that always denies.

riripthf. F/iiitf Part T

10. Net mezzo del cammin di nostra vita . . .

In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself in a dark wood, Where the straight way was lost.

Dante, The Divine Comedy, Inferno, opening lines 11. E quindi uscimmo a riveder ie stelle.

And thence we issued out, again to see the stars.

Dante, The Divine Comedy, Inferno

12. Nil desperandum.

Th.o.r.e's no cause for despair.

Unmr.a rtfiffv ttnrkiT T

13. HIC ' SITVS ' EST ' PHAETHON ' CVRRVS ' AVRIOA *

P ATERN I . . .

Here Phaeton lies: in Phoebus' car he fared, And though he greatly failed, more greatly dared.

Ovid, Metamorphoses 14. Perc6 jusques au fond da coeur . .

Pierced to the depth of my heart By a blow unforeseen and mortal.

ComeiUe, Le Cid

15. Je m'en vay chercher un grand Peut-Stre.

I am going to seek a great Perhaps.

Rabelais on his deathbed 16. 0 lente, lente currite, noctis equi!

Oh, slowly, slowly nm, horses of the night!

Marlowe, Dr. Faustus (Faustus is quoting Ovid. He waits for Mephistopheles to appear to claim his soul at midnight. The next line: "The devil will come and Faustus must be d.a.m.n'd.")

17. Mein, Ruh' ist hin, . . .

My peace is gone, My heart is heavy.

18. Que acredito su ventura, . . .

For if he like a madman lived, At least he like a wise one died.

Goethe, Faust, Part I

Cervantes, Don Quixote (Don Quixote's epitaph)

19. Ful wys is he that can himselven knowe!

Very wise is he that can know himself!

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, "The Monk's Tale"

20. Pigmai gigantum humeris imposifi plusquam ipsi gigantes vidant.

A dwarf standing on the shoulder of a giant may see further than the giant himself.

Didacus Stella, in Lucan, De Bella Civili