II. What! Orpheus then led his wife with him, till he came to the CHA P. boundary of light and darkness, then his wife went after him: then he came forth into the light: then he looked back towards the woman, and she died away from him." 14 In another part we have his sentiments. riches. He has added to the reflections of Boetius the several following passages: BOETIUS has merely said— "Are riches precious in their own nature, or in yours? His Which of them do you prefer, gold or accumulated money? thoughts But these shine more by being poured out than by being on wealth heaped up; for avarice makes us always odious, but liberality ality. illustrious." 15 14 P. 100. I have made the translation strictly literal; and will add as literal a one of the original of Boetius, that the reader may observe for himself what Alfred has made his own. "Formerly the Thracian poet, mourning the death of his wife, afterwards compelled, by his plaintive measures, the woods to run, and the moveable rivers to stand: the hind joined her intrepid side to the cruel lion's; nor did the hare fear the visible dog, made placid by the song. When the interior fervour of his bosom burnt more violent, those strains which subdued all could not sooth their master. Complaining of the cruel deities, he went to the infernal regions. There attempering his bland lays to the sounding strings, whatever he had imbibed from the chief fountains of the goddess mother; what impotent grief gave; what love, groaning in grief, wept, he expressed; and moving Tanarus, solicited with a sweet prayer the lords of the shades. Caught by the new song, the threefold porter was stupified. The guilty, whom the goddesses, avengers of crimes, agitate with fear, now sorrowful, dissolve in tears. The swift wheel revolves not the head of Ixion; and Tantalus, perishing with thirst, despises the long streams. The vulture, satisfied with the harmony, drew not the liver of Titius. At length, 'We are conquered!' exclaims the pitying arbiter of the shades; Let us give the man his companion, his wife, bought by his song.' But a law restricted the gift, that while he should leave Tartarus he should not bend back his eyes. Who shall give a law to lovers? Love is a greater law to itself. Alas! near the borders of night, Orpheus saw, lost, and killed his Eurydice." Lib. iii. met. 12. 15 Boet. lib. ii. prosa 5. and liber BOOK On this text Alfred has expatiated into these effusions: V. "Tell me now whether thy riches, that in thine own thought are so precious, be so from their own nature. But yet, I tell thee that what is so of its own nature, is not so from thee. If then of its own nature it be so, and not of thine, why art thou then ever the better for its good. "Tell me now which of these thou thinkest the most dear. Is it gold? I know that gold avails something. But though it now be gold, and dear to us, yet he will be more renowned, and more beloved, who gives it, than he who gathereth it, or plunders it from others. So riches are more reputable and estimable when men give them, than they are when men gather and hold them. "Hence covetousness maketh the avaricious odious both to God and man; while bounty maketh us always pleasing and famous, and worthy both to God and to men who love it. "Now as property may then belong both to those who give it, and to those who take it away, it is therefore always better and more valuable when given than when held." 16 On this subject a passage may be read as an instance of the intelligent ease and force, with which the king partly translates, and partly imitates his author when he means to render him exactly. BOETIUS Says "Your riches, unless broken into pieces, cannot pass to many, and when this is done they must make those poor whom they quit. O narrow and impotent riches, which cannot be had entire by many, and yet cannot come to each without the poverty of the rest!" ALFRED'S version is "Though thou shouldest divide them as small as dust, yet thou couldst not make all men to possess them equally; and when thou hadst divided them all, thou wouldest then be poor thyself. So worthy of a man are the riches of this world! No man may fully have them. They can make no man happy except they make others poor." 16 Alfred's Boet. p. 23, 24. II. ALFRED has taken occasion to insert the follow- CHA P. ing thoughts from his own mind, on reputation, obviously expressing his own feelings of the value on a good of that blessing which has accompanied his memory: "This is clear enough, that a good word, and good fame, are better and more precious to every man than any riches. The word filleth the ears of all who hear it; and it thrives not the less with those who speak it. It openeth the vacancy of the heart; it pierces through other hearts that are locked up, and in its progress among them it is never diminished. one can slay it with a sword, nor bind it with a rope, nor ever kill it." 17 No He has so expanded the thought of Boetius on the value of jewels, with turns and feelings of his own, and expressed them with so much more energy than his author, as to be in a great measure original even where he copies : name. Why should the beauty of gems draw your eyes to them On the to wonder at them, as I know they do? What is then the value of jewels. nobility of that beauty which is in gems? It is theirs; not yours. At this I am most exceedingly astonished, why you should think this irrational, created good, better than your own excellence: why should you so exceedingly admire these gems, or any of those dead-like things that have not reason; because they can, by no right, deserve that you should wonder at them. Though they be God's creatures, they are not to be measured with you; because one of two things occurs; either they are not good for you themselves, or but for a little good compared with you. WE TOO MUCH UNDERVALUE OURSELVES when we love that which is inferior to us, and in our power, more than ourselves, or the Lord that has made us and given us all these goods." "18 17 Alfred, p. 24. 18 Alfred, p. 24. The literal English of Boetius is :-" Does the brightness of gems attract your eyes? But the chief part of the splendor with them is the light itself of the jewels, not of the men, which indeed I wonder that any should so vehemently admire; for what is there in that which wants the mo BOOK V. On the advantages of the rich. ALFRED's translation of the passages on the other advantages possessed by the rich is also so animated, that we quote it as a specimen of his own genuine feelings on the subject, with a version of the Latin19, that the reader may make his own comparison. "Dost thou like fair lands?' "Then Mind answered to Reason and said 66 6 - Why should I not like fair lands? How! Is not that the fairest part of God's creation? Full oft we rejoice at the mild sea, and also admire the beauty of the sun, and the moon, and of all the stars.' "Then answered Wisdom and Reason to the Mind, and thus said: : How! "How belongeth heaven's fairness to thee? Durst thou glory that its beauty is thine? It is not, it is not. Knowest thou not that thou madest none of them. wilt glory, glory in God. If thou "Whether now dost thou rejoice in the fairer blossoms of Easter, as if thou hadst made them 20; canst thou now make any such? or hast thou made them? Not so, not so. Do not thou thus. Is it now from thy power that the harvest is so rich tion of the soul, and the combination of limbs; which can seem by right to be beautiful to animate and rational nature? Although they are the works of the Creator, and by this distinction attract something of the final beauty, yet placed below your excellence, they by no means deserve your admiration." Lib. ii. pr. 5. : 19 The passage in Boetius is: "Does the beauty of the fields delight you? Why not? It is a fair portion of the fairest work. So sometimes we delight in the face of the serene sea. So we admire the sky, the stars, the sun, and the moon. But does any of these touch you? Do you dare to boast of the splendor of any such?" Boet. lib. ii. pr. 5. 20"Are you yourself distinguished by the vernal flowers? Or does your abundance swell in the summer fruits? Why are you carried away by empty joys? Why do you embrace external goods for your own? Will fortune make those things to be yours which by the nature of things she has made foreign to you?" Boet. lib. ii. pr. 5. in fruits? II. How! Do I not know that this is not in thy CHAP. power? Why art thou then inflamed with such an idle joy? or why lovest thou strange goods so immeasurably as if they now had been thine own? "Thinkest thou that fortune may do for thee, that those things be thine own, which of their own nature are made foreign to thee? Not so, not so. It is not natural to thee that thou should possess them; nor does it belong to them that they should follow thee. But the heavenly things they are natural to thee: not these earth-like ones. "The earthly fruits are made for animals to subsist on 21; and the riches of the world are made to deceive those men that are like animals; that are unrighteous and insatiable. To these they also oftenest come. "If thou wilt then have this moderation, and wilt know what necessity requires; this is, that meat and drink, and clothes, and tools for such craft as thou knowest are natural to thee, and are what it is right for thee to have. What advantage is it to thee that thou should desire these temporal riches above measure, when they can neither help thee nor themselves. With very little of them hath nature enough: with so much she has enough, as we before mentioned. If thou usest more of them, one of two things happens: either they hurt thee; or they are unpleasant. Inconvenient or dangerous is all that thou now doest beyond moderation. If thou eatest now, or drinkest immoderately; or hast more clothes on than thou needest, the excess becomes to thee either sorrow or nauseous, or unsuitable or dangerous "If thou thinkest that extraordinary apparel be any honour 22, then I assert the honour to belong to the workman who wrought it, and not to thee. The workman is God, whose skill I praise in it. 21 The fruits of the earth indeed are, without doubt, provided for the nourishment of animals. But if you wish to supply your wants by what is sufficient for nature, there is no reason that you should seek the affluence of fortune, for nature is contented with very little; whom if you urge into satiety by superfluities, what you shall pour in becomes unpleasant and hurtful." Boet. lib. ii. pr. 5. 22 Do you think it beautiful to shine in various garments? But if their appearance be agreeable to look at, I would admire either the nature of the materials, or the ingenuity of the artificer." Ibid. |
