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splendid and lavish constructions of battlements and buildings, gateways and towers and the erection of colossal statues and the diligent works on the land, all kinds of groves and the beauties of meadows and vineyards imitating the seas in their expanses, and whatever else is of such a kind, the one who happens to have toiled toils, but the one who comes to life after him partakes. But it is uncertain whether he will not make his abundance a source of evil. For not all men can submit their senses to the experience of such things for the sake of knowledge. Which I, he says, have done out of wisdom. With authority, like some colt, having allowed the impulse of nature to leap about a little among the lower passions, I again bridled it with the rein of reason and subjected it to the authority of the mind 5.368. Who knows, he says, whether that man, whoever he may be, who comes after us into these things, will have authority over their enjoyment and will not rather himself be mastered by it, like a slave submitting to the dominion of pleasure? For this reason, he says, I hated all my toil which I toil under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who will be after me. And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool, and whether he will have authority over all my toil in which I have toiled and acted wisely under the sun? For I think this is the meaning of this saying, that he did not slip into the life of enjoyment through passion, but came to it by some reason of wisdom, partaking with authority and not being overcome by this dominion. Who then knows, he says, whether the one after me will not be mastered by these things, for which I toiled not through passion, but out of wisdom? For by calling luxury 'toil,' he shows that he accepted the participation in pleasure with reluctance, as if it were a contest hard to win. And so, he says, let this also be counted among the vanities. And he says in another way that his soul has renounced the things of this world, and he makes clear in his word what he means. For he inveighs against one who errs in right judgment, when someone, seeing the clear difference between opposite ways of life, one of which toils for virtue and directs desire toward 5.369 nothing human, while the other, on the contrary, does not endure any toil for virtue, but is worn out only by bodily toils; when, therefore, someone casts his vote for what is good in favor of this man, overlooking the one who excels in wisdom, he declares this unjust judgment not only vain, but also wicked. And he speaks with these words thus: And I turned, he says, to make my heart despair concerning all the other toil, in which I had toiled under the sun. What is it, then, that I renounced? That there is a man whose toil is in wisdom and in knowledge and in skill, and another man who has not toiled in such things. How then will someone assign the portion of preference to such a one? For also to a man, he says, who has not toiled in it, (that is, to the one who has not toiled in the good) he will give him his portion (instead of: he will define such a life as in the portion of the good). But this, he says, is Vanity and a great evil. For how is it not a great evil, when he knows the diligence and purpose inherent in man concerning his toils? For this is what he says: That he knows for man in all his toil and in the purpose of his heart, in which he toils under the sun. What then is it that he knows? That all his days, he says, are sorrows and his distraction is grief, and indeed his heart does not rest at night. For in reality, for those who occupy their soul in this distraction 5.370, life is painful, scourging the heart as if with goads by the desires for more, and the pursuit of greed is grievous, not so much rejoicing in what one has as grieving over what is lacking; for these the toil is divided by night and day, operating fittingly through each of them, with the day being spent in toils, and the night driving sleep from the eyes; for the cares of gain strike away sleep. He therefore who looks at these things, how does he not condemn the vanity of this pursuit? For this reason

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λαμπράς τε καὶ πολυτελεῖς τῶν ἐπάλξεών τε καὶ οἰκοδομημάτων κατασκευάς, προπύλαια καὶ πύργους καὶ κολοσσῶν ἀναστήματα τάς τε κατὰ γῆν φιλεργίας, ἄλση παντοδαπὰ καὶ λειμώνων κάλλη καὶ ἀμπελῶ νας μιμουμένους τὰ πελάγη τοῖς πλάτεσι καὶ εἴ τι ἄλλο τοιοῦτον πονεῖ μὲν ὅσπερ ἂν τύχῃ πονήσας, μετέχει δὲ ὁ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἐπιδημῶν τῷ βίῳ. Ἄδηλον δὲ εἰ μὴ κακίας ὕλην τὴν περιουσίαν ποιήσεται. οὐ γὰρ πάντων ἐστὶ τὸ γνώσεως ἕνεκεν εἰς τὴν τῶν τοιούτων πεῖραν καθεῖναι τὴν αἴσθησιν. ὅπερ ἐγώ, φησίν, ὑπὸ σοφίας πεποίηκα. κατ' ἐξουσίαν οἷόν τινα πῶλον τὴν τῆς φύσεως ὁρμὴν μικρὸν ἀφεὶς ἐπισκιρτῆσαι τοῖς κάτω πάθεσι πάλιν ἀνεστόμωσα τῇ τῶν λογισμῶν ἡνίᾳ καὶ τῇ τοῦ νοῦ ἐξουσίᾳ 5.368 ὑπήγαγον. τίς οἶδε, φησίν, εἰ κἀκεῖνος ὅστις ποτὲ μεθ' ἡμᾶς ἐν τούτοις γενόμενος ἐξουσιάσει τῆς ἀπολαύσεως καὶ οὐκ αὐτὸς μᾶλλον κυριευθήσεται, οἷόν τι ἀνδράποδον τῇ δυναστείᾳ τῆς ἡδονῆς ὑποκύψας; διὰ τοῦτο, φησίν, ἐμίσησα ἐγὼ σύμ παντα τὸν μόχθον μου, ὃν ἐγὼ μοχθῶ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον, ὅτι ἀφίω αὐτὸν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τῷ γενομένῳ μετ' ἐμέ. καὶ τίς οἶδεν, εἰ σοφὸς ἔσται ἢ ἄφρων καὶ εἰ ἐξουσιάσεται ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ μου, ᾧ ἐμόχθησα καὶ ἐσοφισάμην ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον; ταύτην γὰρ οἶμαι τοῦ ῥητοῦ τούτου εἶναι τὴν ἔννοιαν, τὸ μὴ πάθει αὐτὸν πρὸς τὸν ἀπολαυστικὸν βίον κατολισθῆσαι, ἀλλά τινι λόγῳ σοφίας ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἐλθεῖν, ἐν ἐξουσίᾳ ποιούμενον τὴν μετουσίαν καὶ οὐκ αὐτὸν ὑπὸ τῆς δυναστείας ταύτης κατακρα τούμενον. τίς οὖν οἶδε, φησίν, εἰ μὴ ἐξουσιασθήσεται ὑπὸ τούτων ὁ μετ' ἐμέ, ἅπερ οὐ διὰ πάθους ἐγώ, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ σοφίας ἐμόχθησα; δηλοῖ γὰρ διὰ τοῦ μόχθον ὀνομάσαι τὴν τρυφήν, ὅτι βεβιασμένως οἷόν τινα δυσκαταγώνιστον ἆθλον τῆς ἡδονῆς τὴν μετουσίαν προσήκατο. καὶ τοῦτο οὖν, φησίν, ἐν τοῖς ματαίοις κατηριθμήσθω. καὶ ἄλλῳ δέ τινι λέγει τῶν ὧδε τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν ἀποτετάχθαι καὶ φανεροῖ τῷ λόγῳ ὃ βούλεται. διαβέβληται γὰρ πρὸς τὸν τῆς ὀρθῆς κρίσεως ἁμαρτάνοντα, ὅταν τις βλέπων ἐναργῆ τῶν ἐναντίων βίων τὴν διαφοράν, ἐξ ὧν ὁ μὲν περὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν πονεῖ καὶ πρὸς 5.369 οὐδὲν ἀνθρώπινον τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν κατάγει, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος κατὰ τὸ ἔμπαλιν πόνον μέν τινα τῶν ἐναρέτων οὐχ ὑπομένει, μόνοις δὲ τοῖς σωματικοῖς μόχθοις ἐγκατατρίβεται· ὅταν οὖν τις πρὸς τοῦτον φέρῃ τοῦ καλοῦ τὴν ψῆφον παρορῶν τὸν ἐν σοφίᾳ προέχοντα, οὐ μόνον ματαίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πονηρὰν τὴν ἄδικον ταύτην ἀποφαίνεται κρίσιν. λέγει δὲ τοῖς ῥήμασιν οὕτως· Καὶ ἐπέστρεψα, φησίν, ἐγὼ τοῦ ἀποτάξασθαι τῇ καρδίᾳ μου πρὸς τῷ ἄλλῳ μόχθῳ, ᾧ ἐμόχθησα ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον. τί οὖν ἐστιν, ὃ ἀπεταξάμην; ὅτι ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μόχθος αὐτοῦ ἐν σοφίᾳ καὶ ἐν γνώσει καὶ ἐν ἀνδρείᾳ, καὶ ἄλλος ἄνθρωπος οὐδὲν ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις πονήσας. πῶς οὖν τις τὴν μερίδα τῆς προτιμήσεως τῷ τοιούτῳ προσθήσει; Καὶ ἄνθρωπος γάρ, φησίν, ᾧ οὐκ ἐμόχθησεν ἐν αὐτῷ, (τουτέστι τῷ μὴ μοχθήσαντι ἐν τῷ ἀγαθῷ) δώσει αὐτῷ μερίδα αὐτοῦ (ἀντὶ τοῦ· ἐν ἀγαθοῦ μοίρᾳ τὸν τοιοῦτον βίον ὁρίσεται). ἀλλὰ Ματαιότης, φησί, τοῦτο καὶ πονηρία μεγάλη. πῶς γὰρ οὐκ ἔστιν πονηρία μεγάλη, ὅταν γινώσκῃ τὴν ἐγκειμένην τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ περὶ τοὺς μόχθους σπουδὴν καὶ προαίρεσιν; τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν, ἐν οἷς φησίν· Ὅτι γινώσκει τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐν παντὶ μόχθῳ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῇ προαιρέσει καρδίας αὐτοῦ, ᾧ αὐτὸς μοχθεῖ ὑπὸ τὸν ἥλιον. τί οὖν ἐστιν ὃ γινώσκει; Ὅτι πᾶσαι, φησίν, αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ ἀλγημάτων καὶ θυμοῦ περι σπασμὸς αὐτοῦ, καί γε ἐν νυκτὶ οὐ κοιμᾶται ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ. τῷ ὄντι γὰρ τοῖς εἰς τὸν περισπασμὸν τοῦτον τὴν ψυχὴν 5.370 ἀσχολοῦσιν ἐπαλγὴς μὲν ἡ ζωὴ οἷόν τισι κέντροις ταῖς τῶν πλειόνων ἐπιθυμίαις τὴν καρδίαν μαστίζουσα, ἐπώδυνος δὲ ἡ περὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν σπουδή, οὐ τοσοῦτον οἷς ἔχει εὐφραινομένη, ὅσον ἀλγυνομένη τοῖς λείπουσιν· οἷς μερίζεται νυκτὶ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ ὁ πόνος καταλλήλως δι' ἑκατέρας αὐτῶν ἐνεργούμενος, τῆς μὲν ἡμέρας δαπανωμένης ἐν μόχθοις, τῆς δὲ νυκτὸς ἀποπεμπούσης τῶν ὀμμάτων τὸν ὕπνον· αἱ γὰρ τοῦ κέρδους φροντίδες τὸν ὕπνον ἐκκρούουσιν. ὁ οὖν πρὸς ταῦτα βλέπων πῶς οὐ καταψηφίζεται τῆς σπουδῆς ταύτης τὴν ματαιότητα; διὰ τοῦτο