BOOK I, PREFACE 2-5 



of all things — because she has always brought forth 

 all thinsrs and is destined to brinff them forth con- 

 tinuouslv — has gro^vn old in mortal fashion." And, 

 furthermore, I do not believe that such misfortunes 

 come upon us as a result of the fury of the elements, 

 but rather because of our ovm fault ; for the matter 

 of husbandry, which all the best of our ancestors had 

 treated with the best of care, we have delivered 

 over to all the worst of our slaves, as if to a hangman 

 for punishment.^ 



As for me, I cannot cease to wonder why those 

 who Mish to become speakers are so careful in the 

 choosing of an orator whose eloquence they may 

 imitate ; those who investigate the science of 

 surveying and mathematics emulate a master of the 

 art of their choice ; those who devote themselves 

 to the study of dancing and music are most scrupulous 

 in their search for one to teach modulation of the 

 speaking and singing voice, and no less for an in- 

 structor in graceful movement of the body ; even 

 those who wish to build call in joiners and master- 

 builders ; those who would entrust ships to the sea 

 send for skilful pilots ; those who make preparations 

 for war call for men practised in arms and in cam- 

 paigning ; and, not to go through the list one by one, 

 for any study which one wishes to pursue he employs 

 the most expert director ; in short, everyone summons 

 from the company of the wise a man to mould his 

 intellect and instruct him in the precepts of virtue ; 

 but agriculture alone, which is \vithout doubt most 

 closely related and, as it were, own sister to wisdom, 

 is as destitute of learners as of teachers. For 

 that there are to this day schools for rhetoricians 

 and, as I have said, for mathematicians and musicians, 



