Text.BP190.!8v
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Source: Paracelsus, Centum quindecim curationes experimentaque, ed. Bernard Gilles Penot, Lyon: Jean Lertout, 1582, sig. ¶8v [BP190] [see also BP.Penot.1595-01]
Summary: This epigram emphasizes the value of a small booklet that succinctly encapsulates the profound and complex knowledge found in the extensive works of ancient and contemporary scholars on wisdom and alchemy. It suggests that the essence of these vast teachings, which originally required significant effort, time, and resources to acquire, can now be accessed more easily and affordably through this concise text. The author encourages readers to appreciate the booklet's ability to distill and convey the rich insights of both old and new wisdom without the extensive labor previously necessary. (generated by ChatGPT)
Text
Qui puros sophiæ videre fontes,
Arcanos chymiæ tenere calles,
Fructus Hesperidum suaueolentes,
Necnon Æsonidum referre gemmas
Exoptas, veteres legas nouósque.
At scriptis veterum nouísque lectis,
Magno quod fuerit labore partum,
Longa quod fuerit die petitum,
Jngenti fuerit quod ære oblatum,
Angustus dabit hic tibi libellus:
Non magno tibi comparatus ære,
Magno non animi labore lectus,
Longo tempore non tibi relectus.
Et cessas veterum libris nouísque,
Hunc æquare, licet breuem libellum?
Modern English Raw Translation
Those who wish to see the pure springs of wisdom, to grasp the secret pathways of alchemy, to savor the fruits of the Hesperides, and to bring back the sought-after gems of the Argonauts, should read both ancient and new works. However, after reading the works of the ancients and the moderns, you will realize the great effort it took to acquire this knowledge, the long days it took to seek it out, and the immense cost it was to obtain it.
This small booklet will give you the essence of that knowledge: not acquired at great expense, not read with great mental effort, not reconsidered over a long period. And yet you hesitate to equate it with the books of the old and the new, although this brief booklet allows it.