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Let us now take up each topic anew once more; and in the first place, on the
subject of exercises suitable for scholars, we beg to remark that one might
follow the example of the man who, by saying that he had nothing to write
for people dwelling by the sea on the subject of ships, showed clearly that
they were in use ; and so in the same way one [p. 257] might say
that he was not writing for scholars on the subject of exercise. For it is
wonderful what an exercise is the daily use of the voice in speaking aloud,
conducing, not only to health, but also to strength—not the
strength of the wrestler which lays on flesh and makes the exterior solid
like the walls of a building, but a strength which engenders an
all-pervasive vigour and a real energy in the most vital and dominant parts.
That breathing gives strength the athletic trainers make clear in telling
the athletes to brace themselves against the rubbing and stop their breath
meantime, and keep tense the portions of the body that are being kneaded and
massaged. Now the voice is a movement of the breath, and if it be given
vigour, not in the throat, but, as it were, at its source in the lungs, it
increases the warmth, tones down the blood, clears out every vein, opens
every artery, and does not permit of any concretion or solidifying of
superfluous fluid like a sediment to take place in the containing organs
which take over and digest the food. For this reason we ought especially to
make ourselves habituated and used to this exercise by continual speaking,
or, if there be any suspicion that our body is not quite up to the mark or
is somewhat fatigued, then by reading aloud or declaiming. For reading
stands in the same relation to discussion as riding in a carriage to active
exercise, and as though upon the vehicle of another's words it moves softly,
and carries the voice gently this way and that. But discussion adds
contention and vehemence, as the mind joins in the encounter along with the
body. We must, however, be cautious about passionate and convulsive
vociferations. For
[p. 259] spasmodic expulsion and straining of the breath
produces ruptures and sprains.
After reading or discussion, before going to walk, one should make use of
rubbing with oil in a warm room to render the flesh supple, extending the
massage so far as practicable to the inward parts, and gently equalizing the
vital spirit and diffusing it into the extremities. Let the limits of the
amount of this rubbing be what is agreeable to the senses and not
discomforting. For the man who thus composes the inward disquiet and tension
in his vital spirit manages the superfluous in his body without discomfort,
and if unfavourable weather or some engagement prevent his going to walk, it
does not matter, for Nature has received her proper due. Wherefore neither
travelling nor stopping at an inn ought to be made an excuse for silence,
nor even if everybody there deride one. For where it is not disgraceful to
eat it is certainly not disgraceful to take exercise; nay, it is more
disgraceful to feel timid and embarrassed before sailors, muleteers, and
innkeepers, who do not deride the man who plays ball and goes through the
movements of sparring alone, but the man who speaks, even though in his
exercises he instruct, question, learn, and use his memory. Socrates said 1
that for a man's movements in dancing a room that would accommodate seven
persons at dinner was large enough to take exercise in, but for a man who
takes his exercise through singing or speaking every place affords him
adequate room for this exercise both when standing up and when lying down.
But we must observe this one caution—not to strain our voices too
hard
[p. 261] when we are conscious of a fullness, venery, or
fatigue. This is the experience of many of the public speakers and sophists,
some of whom are led on by repute and ambition, others on account of
emoluments or political rivalries, to competition in excess of what is best
for them. Our Niger, when he was giving public lectures in Galatia, happened
to swallow a fish bone. But, as another sophist from abroad had made his
appearance and was lecturing, Niger, dreading to give the impression that he
had yielded to his rival, still lectured although the bone was sticking in
his throat; unable to bear the distress from the great and stubborn
inflammation that arose, he submitted to a deep incision from the outside,
and through the opening the bone was removed ; but the place grew sore and
purulent and caused his death. But comment on these matters may well be
postponed to a later occasion. 2