| CONSOLATIO PHILOSOPHIAE 5 metrum 1 | LAW OF CHANCE |
| Boethius | tr. James Harpur |
Rupis Achaemeniae scopulis, ubi uersa sequentum pectoribus figit spicula pugna fugax, Tigris et Euphrates uno se fonte resoluunt et mox abiunctis dissociantur aquis. Si coeant cursumque iterum reuocentur in unum, confluat alterni quod trahit unda uadi, conuenient puppes et uulsi flumine trunci mixtaque fortuitos implicet unda modos; quos tamen ipsa uagos terrae decliuia casus gurgitis et lapsi defluus ordo regit. Sic quae permissis fluitare uidetur habenis fors patitur frenos ipsaque lege meat. | ‘If everything is ordered by God, no random events are possible.’.............Consolation 5.1 The Tigris and Euphrates have one source that bubbles from the rocky heights of Persia, where fleeing Parthians turn to shoot pursuers, but soon their waters take a separate course. Yet if they joined again and formed one stream then everything transported by each river – ships and uprooted trees – would come together and the mingled waters flow haphazardly. and yet topography and downward flow would still control the random swirling currents. So chance, which seems to run with loosened reins, bites on the bit, and must obey the law. |
Transl. Copyright © James Harpur 2007