state. Let men see, let them know a real man who lives If they cannot endure him, let them

according to nature,

kill him. For that is better than to live as men do.

36 No longer talk at all about the kind of man that a good man ought to be, but be such.

37 To him who is penetrated by true principles even the briefest precept is sufficient, and any common precept, to remind him that he should be free from grief and fear. For example

Leaves, some the wind scatters on the ground—

So is the race of men.

Leaves, also, are thy children; and leaves, too, are they who cry out as if they were worthy of credit and bestow their praise, or on the contrary curse, or secretly blame and sneer; and leaves, in like manner, are those who shall receive and transmit a man's fame to after-times. For all such things as these "are produced in the season of spring," as the poet says; then the wind casts them down; then the forest produces other leaves in their places. But a brief existence is common to all things and yet thou avoidest and pursuest all things as if they would be eternal. A little time, and thou shalt close thy eyes; and him who has attended thee to thy grave another soon will lament.

not to say,

38 The healthy eye ought to see all visible things and I wish for green things; for this is the condition of a diseased eye. And the healthy hearing and smelling ought to be ready to perceive all that can be heard and smelled. And the healthy stomach ought to be with respect to all food just as the mill with respect to all things which it is formed to grind. And accordingly the healthy understanding ought

to be prepared for everything which happens; but that which says, Let my dear children live, and let all men praise whatever I may do, is an eye which seeks for green things, or teeth which seek for soft things.

39 Suppose any man shall despise me. Let him look to that himself. But I will look to this, that I be not discovered doing or saying anything deserving of contempt. Shall any man hate me? Let him look to it. But I will be mild and benevolent towards every man, and ready to show even him his mistake, not reproachfully, nor yet as making a display of my endurance, but nobly and honestly, like the great Phocion,1 unless indeed he only assumed it. For the interior parts ought to be such, and a man ought to be seen by the gods neither dissatisfied with anything nor complaining. For what evil is it to thee, if thou art now doing what is agreeable to thy own nature, and art satisfied with that which at this moment is suitable to the nature of the universe, since thou art a human being placed at thy post in order that what is for the common advantage may be done in some way?

40 Men despise one another and flatter one another; and men wish to raise themselves above one another, and crouch . before one another.

41 The Pythagoreans bid us in the morning look to the heavens that we may be reminded of those bodies which continually do the same things and in the same manner perform their work, and also be reminded of their purity and nudity. For there is no veil over a star.

42 Neither in writing nor in reading wilt thou be able to lay down rules for others before thou shalt have first 1 An Athenian general and statesman of the fourth century B. C.

learned to obey rules thyself. Much more is this so in life.

43 I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others. If then a god or a wise teacher should present himself to a man and bid him to think of nothing and to design nothing which he would not express as soon as he conceived it, he could not endure it even for a single day. So much more respect have we to what our neighbors shall think of us than to what we shall think of ourselves.

44 Thou wilt not cease to be miserable till thy mind is in such a condition, that, what luxury is to those who enjoy pleasure, such shall be to thee, in every matter which presents itself, the doing of the things which are conformable to man's constitution; for a man ought to consider as an enjoyment everything which it is in his power to do according to his own nature, and it is in his power everywhere.

35

THE CASTING OF PERSEUS1

Benvenuto Cellini

'T was now the month of August, 1545; and our Duke 2

ence.

3

So there I went to see him, merely in the course of my duty-since I, too, was a Florentine citizen; since my ancestors were very friendly with the house of Medici, and I as much as any man loved Duke Cosimo. So, as I say, I went to Poggio only to pay my respects, and with not the least intention of stopping with him—as it pleased God, who doeth all things well, that I should do. When I came into the Duke's presence, he received me with great kindness; and then he and the Duchess asked me all about the work I had been doing for the King. With the greatest good-will I explained everything bit by bit. He listened, and then replied he had heard it was indeed so, adding, with a gesture of compassion, "A poor reward for all your great labors! Benvenuto, my friend, if you were to undertake work for me I should pay you very differently to that King of yours, of whom, out of your good-nature, you speak so well." To this I replied by explaining the great obligations I was under to his Majesty, who had first freed me from an unjust prison, and then given me such a chance of making wonderful masterpieces as had never fallen to the lot of any of my artist peers. While I was speaking thus, the Duke writhed with impatience, and looked as if he could hardly stay to hear me out. When I had finished, he said, "If you will work for

1 From Miss Macdonell's translation of the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini. Reprinted with the permission of E. P. Dutton & Company. 2 Cosimo I, Duke of Florence, of the house of Medici.

3 Francis I, King of France.

me,

I will give you such rewards as may perhaps astonish you-provided the result pleases me, and of that I have no doubt at all." And so, poor unlucky wight! wishing to prove to the masters of our wonderful school, that since I left Florence I had been striving for success in other departments of art besides those which they deemed mine, I answered that I would willingly make a great statue in marble or in bronze for his fine Piazza. To this he replied that, to begin with, he would like from me a Perseus. This had been long in his mind; and he begged me to make a model of it for him. So I set to the task with great good-will, and in a few weeks I had finished it. It was made of yellow wax, about a cubit in height, and very delicately wrought; for I had given all my best skill and knowledge to the making of it. The Duke returned to Florence; but several days went by before I could show him' the model. Indeed, from his indifference you might have judged he had never seen or heard of me; and this boded ill, I thought, for my dealings with his Excellency. However, one day after dinner I took my model to the Wardrobe,1 and he came to see it along with the Duchess and some lords of his court. As soon as he set eyes on it, he was so pleased, and praised it so extravagantly, that I had good hope of having found in him. a patron of some discrimination. He examined it for a long time with ever-growing delight, and then he said, "Benvenuto, my friend, if you were to carry out this little model on a large scale, it would be the finest thing in the Piazza." Thereupon I replied, "My most excellent lord, in the Piazza are works by the great Donatello and the marvelous Michael Angelo, the two greatest men since the ancients. Nevertheless, as your most illustrious Excellency is so encouraging to my model, I feel within me the power to do the complete work three times as well." These words of mine stirred up

1 A room in the palace.