LA raison nous ordonne bien d’aller tousiours mesme chemin, mais non toutesfois mesme train. Et ores que le sage ne doiue donner aux passions humaines, de se fouruoyer de la droicte carriere, il peut bien sans interest de son deuoir, leur quitter aussi, d’en haster ou retarder son pas, et ne se planter comme vn colosse immobile et impassible. Quand la vertu mesme seroit incarnée, ie croy que le poux luy battroit plus fort allant à l’assaut, qu’allant disner: voire il est necessaire qu’elle s’eschauffe et s’esmeuue. A cette cause i’ay remarqué pour chose rare, de voir quelquefois les grands personnages, aux plus hautes entreprinses et importans affaires, se tenir si entiers en leur assiette, que de n’en accourcir pas seulement leur sommeil.
Reason does indeed bid us always go the same road, but not always at the same pace. And although the wise man must not allow human passions to make him stray from the right course, he may well, without prejudice to his duty, leave it to them to quicken or slow his step, and not plant himself like an immovable, impassive colossus. Were virtue itself incarnate, I believe its pulse would beat harder going into an assault than going in to dinner; indeed it must needs grow heated and stirred. For this reason I have noted it as a rare thing to see great men sometimes, in the loftiest undertakings and the most important affairs, stay so wholly composed that they do not even cut short their sleep.
Alexandre le grand, le iour assigné à cette furieuse bataille contre Darius, dormit si profondement, et si haute matinée, que Parmenion fut contraint d’entrer en sa chambre, et approchant de son lict, l’appeler deux ou trois fois par son nom, pour l’esueiller, le temps d’aller au combat le pressant. L’Empereur Othon ayant resolu de se tuer, cette mesme nuit, apres auoir mis ordre à ses affaires domestiques, partagé son argent à ses seruiteurs, et affilé le tranchant d’vne espée dequoy il se vouloit donner, n’attendant plus qu’à sçauoir si chacun de ses amis s’estoit retiré en seureté, se print si profondement à dormir, que ses valets de chambre l’entendoient ronfler.
Alexander the Great, on the day appointed for that furious battle against Darius, slept so soundly and so late into the morning that Parmenion was forced to enter his room and, going up to his bed, call him two or three times by name to wake him, since the time to go into battle was pressing. The Emperor Otho, having resolved to kill himself, that same night, after putting his domestic affairs in order, sharing out his money among his servants and sharpening the edge of a sword with which he meant to strike himself, and waiting only to learn whether each of his friends had withdrawn to safety, fell into so deep a sleep that his valets heard him snoring.
La mort de cet Empereur a beaucoup de choses pareilles à celle du grand Caton, et mesmes cecy: car Caton estant prest à se deffaire, cependant qu’il attendoit qu’on luy rapportast nouuelles si les Senateurs qu’il faisoit retirer, s’estoient eslargis du port d’Vtique, se mit si fort à dormir, qu’on l’oyoit souffler de la chambre voisine: et celuy qu’il auoit enuoyé vers le port, l’ayant esueillé, pour luy dire que la tourmente empeschoit les Senateurs de faire voile à leur aise, il y en renuoya encore vn autre, et se r’enfonçant dans le lict, se remit encore à sommeiller, iusques à ce que ce dernier l’asseura de leur partement.
The death of this emperor has many things in common with that of the great Cato, including this one. For Cato, being ready to do away with himself, while he was waiting to be told whether the senators he was sending away had put out from the port of Utica, fell so soundly asleep that he could be heard breathing from the next room. And when the man he had sent to the port woke him to tell him that the storm was keeping the senators from setting sail easily, he sent another, and, burying himself back in the bed, went off to sleep again until this last one assured him of their departure.
Encore auons nous dequoy le comparer au faict d’Alexandre, en ce grand et dangereux orage, qui le menassoit, par la sedition du Tribun Metellus, voulant publier le decret du rappel de Pompeius dans la ville auecques son armée, lors de l’émotion de Catilina: auquel decret Caton seul insistoit, et en auoient eu Metellus et luy, de grosses paroles et grandes menasses au Senat: mais c’estoit au lendemain en la place, qu’il falloit venir à l’execution; où Metellus, outre la faueur du peuple et de Cæsar conspirant lors aux aduantages de Pompeius, se deuoit trouuer, accompagné de force esclaues estrangers, et escrimeurs à outrance, et Caton fortifié de sa seule constance:
We can also compare him to Alexander’s case in that great and dangerous storm that threatened him through the sedition of the tribune Metellus, who wanted to publish the decree recalling Pompey into the city with his army at the time of Catiline’s uprising. Cato alone opposed this decree, and he and Metellus had exchanged hot words and great threats over it in the Senate. But it was the next day, in the Forum, that the thing had to be carried out. There Metellus, besides the favor of the people and of Caesar, who was then conspiring to Pompey’s advantage, was to appear accompanied by a host of foreign slaves and gladiators, and Cato fortified by his constancy alone;
de sorte que ses parens, ses domestiques, et beaucoup de gens de bien, en estoyent en grand soucy: et en y eut qui passerent la nuict ensemble, sans vouloir reposer, ny boire, ny manger, pour le danger qu’ils luy voyoient preparé: mesme sa femme, et ses sœurs ne faisoyent que pleurer et se tourmenter en sa maison: là où luy au contraire, reconfortoit tout le monde: et apres auoir souppé comme de coustume, s’en alla coucher et dormir de fort profond sommeil, iusques au matin, que l’vn de ses compagnons au Tribunat, le vint esueiller pour aller à l’escarmouche.
so that his relatives, his household and many good people were greatly worried, and some of them spent the night together without being willing to rest, or drink, or eat, because of the danger they saw prepared for him. Even his wife and his sisters did nothing but weep and torment themselves in his house. He, on the contrary, comforted everyone, and after supping as usual, went to bed and slept very soundly until morning, when one of his colleagues in the tribunate came to wake him to go to the skirmish.
La connoissance, que nous auons de la grandeur de courage, de cet homme, par le reste de sa vie, nous peut faire iuger en toute seureté, que cecy luy partoit d’vne ame si loing esleuée au dessus de tels accidents, qu’il n’en daignoit entrer en ceruelle, non plus que d’accidens ordinaires.
What we know of this man’s greatness of courage from the rest of his life allows us to judge with complete assurance that this came from a soul raised so far above such accidents that he did not deign to let them into his head any more than ordinary ones.
En la bataille nauale qu’Augustus gaigna contre Sextus Pompeius en Sicile, sur le point d’aller au combat, il se trouua pressé d’vn si profond sommeil, qu’il fallut que ses amis l’esueillassent, pour donner le signe de la bataille. Cela donna occasion à M. Antonius de luy reprocher depuis, qu’il n’auoit pas eu le cœur, seulement de regarder les yeux ouuerts, l’ordonnance de son armée; et de n’auoir osé se presenter aux soldats, iusques à ce qu’Agrippa luy vint annoncer la nouuelle de la victoire, qu’il auoit eu sur ses ennemis.
In the naval battle that Augustus won against Sextus Pompeius off Sicily, just as he was about to go into combat, he was overcome by so deep a sleep that his friends had to wake him to give the signal for battle. This later gave Mark Antony occasion to reproach him that he had not had the heart even to look with open eyes at the array of his forces, and that he had not dared to show himself to the soldiers until Agrippa came to announce the news of the victory he had won over the enemy.
Mais quant au ieune Marius, qui fit encore pis (car le iour de sa derniere iournée contre Sylla, apres auoir ordonné son armée, et donné le mot et signe de la bataille, il se coucha dessoubs vn arbre à l’ombre, pour se reposer, et s’endormit si serré, qu’à peine se peut-il esueiller de la route et fuitte de ses gens, n’ayant rien veu du combat) ils disent que ce fut pour estre si extremement aggraué de trauail, et de faute de dormir, que nature n’en pouuoit plus.
But as for the young Marius, who did even worse (for on the day of his last battle against Sulla, after drawing up his army and giving the word and signal for battle, he lay down in the shade under a tree to rest and fell so fast asleep that he could hardly be woken by the rout and flight of his men, having seen nothing of the fighting), they say it was because he was so utterly weighed down by toil and lack of sleep that nature could hold out no longer.
Et à ce propos les medecins aduiseront si le dormir est si necessaire, que nostre vie en dépende; car nous trouuons bien, qu’on fit mourir le Roy Perseus de Macedoine prisonnier à Rome, luy empeschant le sommeil, mais Pline en allegue, qui ont vescu long temps sans dormir. Chez Herodote, il y a des nations, ausquelles les hommes dorment et veillent par demy années. Et ceux qui escriuent la vie du sage Epimenides, disent qu’il dormit cinquante sept ans de suitte.
And on this subject, let the physicians consider whether sleep is so necessary that our life depends on it. For we do find that King Perseus of Macedon, a prisoner in Rome, was put to death by being prevented from sleeping; but Pliny cites people who lived a long time without sleep. In Herodotus there are nations whose men sleep and wake by half-years. And those who write the life of the wise Epimenides say that he slept for fifty-seven years at a stretch.