Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 16

Mutum animal sensu conprendit praesentia. Praeteritorum reminiscitur, cum id incidit, quo sensus admoneretur; tamquam equus reminiscitur viae, cum ad initium eius admotus est. In stabulo quidem nulla illi viae est quamvis saepe calcatae memoria. Tertium vero tempus, id est futurum, ad muta non pertinet.

La brute perçoit les sensations présentes, se rappelle les
sensations passées quand d’aventure ses organes en sont avertis : un cheval mis en face d’une route se ressouvient s’il l’a déjà prise ; dans l’écurie il n’a nulle mémoire du chemin qu’il aura mille fois parcouru. L’idée de la troisième division du temps, l’idée de l’avenir n’est pas faite pour lui.

The dumb animal comprehends the present world about him through his senses alone. He remembers the past only by meeting with something which reminds his senses; a horse, for example, remembers the right road only when he is placed at the starting-point. In his stall, however, he has no memory of the road, no matter how often he may have stepped along it. The third state - the future - does not come within the ken of dumb beasts.