Prosa 9

section 1

Hactenus: "to this extent, up to this point."
mendacis: < mendax, "lying, untruthful."
ordo: "the order [of the argument]."
deinceps: adverb, "next."
uera: sc. felicitas.

section 2

contingere: "befall, come about (for)," with ablatives.

section 3

Tenui: < tenuis, "slender"; with rimula: "chink, crack."
malim: < malo.

section 4

promptissima: "very ready at hand."
Quod: relative, corresponds to id in following clause.
natura: ablative.
traducit: "transforms."
egere: infinitive of egeo.

section 5

imbecillioris ualentiae: predicative genitive of description.
hac: antecedent is re.
praesidio: praesidio . . . alieno: "protection from outside."
alieno: praesidio . . . alieno: "protection from outside."

section 7

contra: adverb, "on the contrary."

section 8

Addamus: "let us add," hortatory subjunctive.
haec tria unum esse: "[that] these three [things] are [really] one [thing]."

section 9

Quid uero: "What then?" Cf. 3P8.2.
celebritate: "fame, high reputation."

section 10

Considera: "take care, watch out."
ne: ne . . . egere . . . atque . . . uideatur abiectius: (uideatur (sc. esse) abiectius) negative purpose clause after a verb of avoidance. (Gruber reads egeat for egere, to simplify the construction.)
egere: ne . . . egere . . . atque . . . uideatur abiectius: (uideatur (sc. esse) abiectius) negative purpose clause after a verb of avoidance. (Gruber reads egeat for egere, to simplify the construction.)
atque: ne . . . egere . . . atque . . . uideatur abiectius: (uideatur (sc. esse) abiectius) negative purpose clause after a verb of avoidance. (Gruber reads egeat for egere, to simplify the construction.)
uideatur abiectius: ne . . . egere . . . atque . . . uideatur abiectius: (uideatur (sc. esse) abiectius) negative purpose clause after a verb of avoidance. (Gruber reads egeat for egere, to simplify the construction.)

section 11

Non possum: "I am helpless, unable to act"; with the same force as "I am preuented," thus taking quin and subjunctive.

section 12

superioribus: "former."
nihil: adverbial accusative, "in no way."

section 13

egeat: here governs the genitive.
quod: quod . . . possit: sc. facere.
possit: quod . . . possit: sc. facere.

section 14

superiora: sc. argumenta. As logician B. specifies that his assent is dependent on the earlier discussion.

section 15

per eadem: sc. argumenta superiora.

section 16

dispertit: "breaks up into portions."
ipsam: sc. rem, "the thing itself," as a whole.
affectat: "aims at, desires."

section 17

fuga: ablative.

section 18

ualentia: "bodily strength, vigor" (< ualeo, like potentia < possum).

section 19

posse: treat as a verbal noun ("power") object of desiderat.
potentia: ablative with carentem.
nihili: genitive of value.

section 20

hunc: object of deficiant; antecedent is Qui in preceding sentence.
quam multa: "how many things."
id: in apposition with potens esse.

section 21

ratiocinari: < ratiocinor, "argue, infer."
quod cetera: "which the others [are]," i.e., "as the others."
sit: the subject is unumquodque.

section 22

si: si . . . cupiat . . . uelit: future-less-vivid condition; B. poses the condition as a question and P. states the conclusion as her answer.
cupiat: si . . . cupiat . . . uelit: future-less-vivid condition; B. poses the condition as a question and P. states the conclusion as her answer.
uelit: si . . . cupiat . . . uelit: future-less-vivid condition; B. poses the condition as a question and P. states the conclusion as her answer.

section 23

singula quaedam expetendorum: "certain single things [e.g., sufficientia or claritudo] of the [whole group of] things to be sought [the five components of true happiness]."
uestiganda: gerundive of necessity < uestigo, "search for, track, trace."
hoc: ablative of comparison.

section 24

Habes: Habes . . . causas: set out in 3P2-9.
causas: Habes . . . causas: set out in 3P2-9.
in aduersum: "in the other direction."
ueram: sc. felicitatem, subject of the discussion from here till the end of Book 3.

section 25

uel caeco: "even to a blind man."
conaris: The present tense is hard to construe and must be a slip; various medieval scribes substituted the imperfect indicative or subjunctive (conabaris or conareris) to save the syntax.

section 26

26: B.'s cure has progressed far enough that he gives the definition here, rightly.
perficiat: "makes"; but the prefix per- implies bringing to completion, to perfection. The accusative adjectives (sufficientem . . . clarumque) represent states of fulfillment that will result from perfect felicitas.

section 27

me interius animaduertisse: "[that] I have understood more deeply."
quoniam idem cuncta sunt: "since they are all the same thing."

section 28

te: te . . . felicem: accusative of exclamation.
felicem: te . . . felicem: accusative of exclamation.

section 29

ostensum est: < ostendo, "show, demonstrate."

section 30

Haec: sc. res mortales caducaeque.
imagines: for Platonic overtones, see on 3P1.5.

section 31

quae: sc. felicitas.
quae: e.g., res mortales caducaeque.
mentiantur: "feign, claim (falsely) to present."
superest: "it remains [for my argument]."
iam dudum: "for a long time"; here, as usual, followed by a present tense, which should be translated by an English present perfect.

section 32

Timaeo: Plato, Timaeus 27C; this dialogue on cosmology and creation was known in B.'s time in partial Latin translation and had been commented on in Greek by the Neoplatonist Proclus (5th century A.D.).
Platoni: dative after placet.

section 33

Inuocandum: sc. esse censeo.
quo praetermisso: ablative absolute.
exordium: technical term for a formal rhetorical beginning. The following solemn poem opens the second, positive half of the Consolatio, now that the negative argument of the first half is complete.
modulata est: < modulor, "perform musically"; here, "sing."