were worthy of your appreciation and of my own surname,[1]—I am wise in this respect, that I follow and obey Nature, the surest guide, as if she were a god, and it is utterly improbable that she has well arranged the other parts of life, and yet, like an unskilled poet, slighted the last act of the drama. There must, however, of necessity, be some end, and, as in the case of berries on the trees and the fruits of the earth, there must be that which in its season of full ripeness is, so to speak, ready to wither and fall,—which a wise man ought to bear patiently. For to rebel against Nature is but to repeat the war of the Giants with the Gods.
Laelius. Indeed, Cato, you will have rendered us a most welcome service—I will answer for Scipio—if, since we hope, indeed wish, at all events, to become old, we can learn of you, far in advance, in what ways we can most easily bear the encroachment of age.
Cato. I will render this service, Laelius, if, as you say, it will be agreeable to both of you.
Laelius. We do indeed desire, Cato, unless it will give you too much trouble, since you have
- ↑ The reference may here be to Cato, which name he seems to have been the first to bear, and which may have been given him in childhood for the promise of the qualities fully developed in later years. The term denotes shrewdness and cunning, rather than wisdom,—in fine, the feline attributes which have given name both in the Latin (catus) and in the English to the cat. Reference may, however, be had to Sapiens,—a surname currently given to Cato in his later years.
