Texte grec :
| [20,25] καὶ ἔστιν ὅμοιον, ὥσπερ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, τὸ τοιοῦτον ὑπηνεμίοις
γεννήμασιν. φασὶ γὰρ δὴ ᾠὰ γίγνεσθαι οὕτως ἄνευ συνουσίας
τε καὶ μίξεως ἄρρενος, ἃ καλοῦσιν ὑπηνέμια, ὡς ὑπ´ ἀνέμῳ
προσπεσόντι γιγνόμενα. ὅθεν δὴ καὶ Ὅμηρος, ἐμοὶ δοκεῖν, οὐκ
ἀδύνατον ἡγησάμενος οὐδὲ ἀπίθανον τοῖς ἀνθρώποις φανῆναι
ἵππων ὑπηνέμιον γένος, τὸν Βορρᾶν ἔφη ἐρασθέντα Τρωικῶν τινων
ἵππων ἐμπλῆσαί τε αὐτὰς γονῆς καὶ γένος ἵππων ἐξ αὐτῶν γενέσθαι.
{πολλάκις ἔκ τινος ἐνθυμήματος ψευδοῦς καὶ ἀδυνάτου
ἀποβῆναι πρᾶγμα ἀληθές.}
(26) εἴρηται δέ μοι πάντα ταῦτα ἀπ´ ἐκείνης τῆς ἀρχῆς καὶ ἐκτροπῆς,
ὅτι δεῖ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐθίζεσθαι τὰ δέοντα
πράττειν καὶ διανοεῖσθαι πανταχοῦ τε καὶ ἐν ἅπαντι θορύβῳ καὶ
ἐν ἁπάσῃ ἡσυχίᾳ. εἰ δὲ μή, τὸ τῆς ἐρημίας τε καὶ ἡσυχίας οὐδὲν
μεῖζον καὶ ἀσφαλέστερον τοῖς ἀνοήτοις τῶν ἀνθρώπων πρὸς τὸ
μὴ πολλὰ καὶ ἄτοπα διανοεῖσθαί τε καὶ ἁμαρτάνειν.
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Traduction française :
| [20,25] And this sort of thing, in my
opinion, is just like wind-begotten products of generation.
For they do indeed say that some eggs are
produced in this way without the intercourse and
impregnation of the male seed, and they are called
wind-eggs as if begotten by a gust of wind. And
this is the reason, as it seems to me, why even Homer,
in the belief that it was not impossible or incredible
that a wind-begotten breed of horses should have
appeared to men, said that the North Wind, becoming
enamoured of some Trojan mares, impregnated them
with his seed so that a breed of horses came from
them. In like manner, what begins with a mistaken
and impossible idea often ends in an accomplished fact.
All that I have said follows from that initial
digressive remark that the mind should accustom
itself to do and think what is essential to it everywhere,
even in a perfect din as well as in perfect
quiet. Otherwise seclusion and quiet offer no advantage
and no greater safeguard, for men who are
fools, to keep them from conceiving and committing
many strange and wicked deeds.
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