Letters to Atticus Passage 4

sed illud quid sit scire cupio, quod iacis obscure iam etiam ex ipsis quinque viris loqui quosdam. quidnam id est? si est enim aliquid, plus est boni quam putaram. atque haec sic velim existimes non me abs te κατὰ τὸ πρακτικὸν quaerere, quod gestiat animus aliquid agere in re publica. iam pridem gubernare me taedebat, etiam cum licebat; nunc vero cum cogar exire de navi non abiectis sed ereptis gubernaculis, cupio istorum naufragia ex terra intueri, cupio, ut ait tuus amicus Sophocles, κἂν ὑπὸ στέγῃ πυκνῆσ ἀκούειν ψακάδοσ εὑδούσῃ φρενί.

But I want to know what you mean by that obscure hint that some of the Five Commissioners themselves are now speaking out. What can it be? For if there is something in it, there is more good than I had thought. I want you to understand that I do not ask you these things from a practical standpoint, because my spirit is eager to do something in politics. I had long grown tired of steering even when I was permitted to do so. Now that I am forced to leave the ship, not because I cast away the helm but because it has been torn from me, I want to watch their shipwrecks from the shore. I want, as your friend Sophocles says, ‘even beneath a solid roof, to hear the patter of rain with a sleeping mind.’

Mais je désire savoir ce que signifie ton obscure allusion: certains des cinq commissaires eux-mêmes commenceraient déjà à parler. De quoi s’agit-il donc? S’il y a quelque chose, le bien est plus grand que je ne le pensais. Je voudrais que tu comprennes bien que je ne te questionne pas κατὰ τὸ πρακτικόν, comme si mon âme brûlait d’agir dans la République. Depuis longtemps déjà, j’étais las de tenir le gouvernail, même quand cela m’était permis. Maintenant que je suis contraint de quitter le navire, les gouvernails non pas abandonnés mais arrachés de mes mains, je désire contempler depuis la terre leurs naufrages. Je désire, comme le dit ton ami Sophocle, κἂν ὑπὸ στέγῃ πυκνῆς ἀκούειν ψακάδος εὑδούσῃ φρενί.