39. But perhaps,
some one will urge
, the Ruler of the world sent hither souls
sprung from Himself for this purpose—a very rash thing for a man
to say
3669
—that
they which had been divine
3670
with Him, not coming into contact with
the body and earthly limits,
3671
should be buried in the germs of men,
spring from the womb, burst into and keep up the silliest wailings,
draw the breasts in sucking, besmear and bedaub themselves with their
own filth, then be hushed by the swaying
3672
of the frightened nurse and by the
sound of rattles.
3673
Did
He send souls
hither
for this reason, that they which had been
but now sincere and of blameless virtue should learn as
3674
men to feign,
to dissemble, to lie, to cheat,
3675
to deceive, to entrap with a
flatterer’s abjectness; to conceal one thing in the
heart,
3676
express
another in the countenance; to ensnare, to beguile
3677
the ignorant with crafty devices, to
seek out poisons by means of numberless arts
suggested
by bad
feelings, and to be fashioned
3678
with deceitful changeableness to
suit circumstances? Was it for this He sent souls, that, living
till then
in calm and undisturbed tranquillity, they might find
in
3679
their bodies
causes by which to become fierce and savage, cherish hatred and enmity,
make war upon each other, subdue and overthrow states; load themselves
with, and give themselves up to the yoke of slavery; and finally, be
put the one in the other’s power, having changed the
condition
3680
in which they
were born? Was it for this He sent souls, that, being made
unmindful of the truth, and forgetful of what God was, they should make
supplication to images which cannot move; address as superhuman deities
pieces of wood, brass, and stones; ask aid of them
3681
with the blood of slain animals; make
no mention of Himself: nay more, that some of them should doubt
their own existence, or deny altogether that anything exists? Was
it for this He sent souls, that they which in their own abodes had been
of one mind, equals in intellect and knowledge, after that they put on
mortal forms, should be divided by differences of opinion; should have
different views as to what is just, useful, and right; should contend
about the objects of desire and aversion; should define the highest
good and greatest evil differently; that, in seeking to know the truth
of things, they should be hindered by their obscurity; and, as if
bereft of eyesight, should see nothing clearly,
3682
and, wandering from the
truth,
3683
should be
led through uncertain bypaths of fancy?
3669
So
the later edd., from the margin of Ursinus, reading
quod temeritatis
est maximæ
for the
ms.
quem
—“whom it shows the greatest rashness to speak
of.”
3670
Lit., “goddesses.”
3671
So
Gelenius (acc. to Orelli), reading as in the margin of Ursinus,
terrenæ circumscriptionis
, for the unintelligible
reading of the
ms.
,
temerariæ
, retained in both Roman edd., Canterus, and (acc.
to Oehler) Gelenius. LB. reads
metariæ
—“a
limiting by boundaries.”
3672
Lit., “motions.”
3673
Cf. Lucr., v. 229 sq. The same idea comes up again in iv. 21.
3674
Lit., “in.”
3675
According to Hildebrand, the
ms.
reads
dissimular-ent circumscribere
, so that, by merely
dropping
nt
, he reads, “to dissemble and cheat;” but
according to Crusius,
iri
is found in the
ms.
between these two words, so that by prefixing
m
Sabæus in the first ed. read
m-ent-iri
as above,
followed by all other edd.
3676
Lit., “to roll…in the mind.”
3677
Rigaltius and Hildebrand regard
decipere
as a gloss.
3678
So the
ms.
, reading
formari
, followed by Hildebrand and Oehler; but all the other
edd. give the active form,
-are
.
3679
Lit., “from.”
3680
The
condition, i.e., of freedom.
3681
LB., seemingly received by Orelli, though not inserted into his text,
reads
poscerent eos
for the
ms.
-entur
, which Hildebrand modifies
-ent
ea
as above.
3682
Lit., “certain.”
3683
Lit., “by error.”