Orator Passage 162

haec dixi brevius quam si hac de re una disputarem - est enim locus hic late patens de natura usuque verborum - longius autem quam instituta ratio postulabat. sed quia rerum verborumque iudicium in prudentia est, vocum autem et numerorum aures sunt iudices, et quod illa ad intellegentiam referuntur, haec ad voluptatem, in illis ratio invenit, in his sensus artem. Aut enim neglegenda fuit nobis voluntas aurium, quibus probari nitebamur , aut ars eius conciliandae reperienda.

I have spoken more briefly than I would if discussing this subject alone, for the field concerning the nature and usage of words extends widely, but at greater length than the plan I undertook required. Yet judgment concerning facts and words belongs to understanding, while the ears judge sounds and rhythms. The former are directed toward comprehension and the latter toward pleasure. In the former, reason discovered art; in the latter, sensation did so. We therefore had either to disregard the wishes of the ears, whose approval we sought, or discover the art of winning them.

J’ai parlé plus brièvement que si je n’avais traité que cette question, car le sujet de la nature et de l’usage des mots s’étend largement, mais plus longuement que ne l’exigeait mon plan. Toutefois, puisque le jugement des choses et des mots appartient à l’intelligence, tandis que les oreilles jugent les sons et les rythmes, et puisque les premières se rapportent à la compréhension, les seconds au plaisir, dans un cas la raison a découvert l’art, dans l’autre la sensation. Il nous fallait soit négliger le goût des oreilles, dont nous cherchions l’approbation, soit découvrir l’art de nous les concilier.