Capítulo XII: QUE EN LAS CORTES DE LOS PRÍNCIPES TODOS DIZEN «HAREMOS) Y NINGUNO DIZE (HAGAMOS»
The Blindness of Self-Rule
Men are often adept at advising others while failing to govern their own households, a dangerous form of self-deception.
Bias the philosopher, a man very famous among the Greeks, often said at Alexander the Great's table: "Everyone is duller in his own affairs than in someone else's."1 In other words: by nature, a person is sharp at giving advice to others, but blunt and clumsy when it comes to their own concerns. This is certainly a weighty saying, worthy of the one who said it and very worthy of the one it was said to; because if there are a thousand who get other people's affairs right, there are ten thousand who go wrong in their own. There are men in this world who, when it comes to giving sound advice and quickly arranging a remedy, have heroic judgments and very fine minds—yet when those same men are taken out of other people's business and put into their own, it's a pity to hear what they say and a shame to see what they do; because they don't have the sense to govern their own households, nor even the prudence to hide their miseries. Gaius Caesar, Octavian Augustus, Mark Antony, Septimius Severus, and the good Marcus Aurelius—all these, and countless others with them, were very illustrious princes, both in their exploits2 ...deeds they did as in the commonwealths they governed; yet along with this they were so unfortunate in the order of their households and in the chastity of their wives and daughters that they lived in great affliction and died under deep infamy.3 There are men in this life who are highly skilled at commanding and very unfit to be commanded, and, on the contrary, there are others who are good at being commanded and worth nothing when it comes to commanding. What I mean by this is that there are people who have a gift from God for governing a commonwealth, and yet, on the other hand, if you look into the way they keep their house and family, you'll find that it's a wreck, and that like incapable men they ought to be given tutors.4 Plutarch says that the famous captain Nicias never went wrong when he followed another's counsel, nor did he ever succeed in anything he undertook based on his own judgment.5 If we believe Bias the philosopher, far greater harm comes to a valiant man from falling in love with his own opinion than from falling in love with a woman; because the lover can err no further than for his own person alone, but the stubborn man errs to the harm of the whole commonwealth.6
The Necessity of Wise Counsel
The courtier must seek virtuous friends to provide correction and guidance, rather than falling into the trap of sycophantic cliques.
Everything we have said above is meant to warn and persuade courtiers to always speak, interact, and keep company with serious, learned, and experienced people; gravity shows them what they must guard against, while experience shows them what they must do. However wise, sharp, expert, rich, and favored a man may be at court, he still needs a father to counsel him, a brother to set him on the right path, a leader to guide him, a friend to warn him, a master to teach him, and even a tutor to correct him; because the court's hubbub, bustle, and lies are so many that one man alone cannot grasp them, much less resist and set them right. In the courts of princes there is no straighter road to a man's ruin than wanting to govern himself by his own judgment alone; because the court is a dream that puts you into a stupor, a bottomless sea, a shadow with no substance, an enchanted phantom, and even a labyrinth with no way out, because everyone who enters there either stays lost inside or comes out dazed. The most necessary thing a courtier needs is a faithful and true friend—not one to flatter him, but to rebuke him: if he keeps late hours, arrives late to the palace, fails to stay clean, acts ill-mannered, speaks loosely, lives dissolutely, lies, gambles, gluttonizes, or acts as a dishonest lover. For any of these vices, he goes about the court not only shamed, but defamed. Oh, how contrary what my pen writes is to what actually happens at court! Because we see nothing else but two or three or four light-minded men banding together, who make their cabals, their confederacies, and their oaths to eat together, go about together, lodge together, steal together, and even cut one another with swords together; so that their friendships are not for correcting one another, but for covering one another up. A courtier ought to have some sensible friends, and among them, he should choose the most virtuous one to keep such a close friendship with that he can open his whole heart to him without misgiving, and the other can correct him without fear. He should have other friends to talk with, but that one alone to rest in. As for restless busybodies who are meddlesome, hot-tempered, partisan, factional, vagrant, and chasing after every novelty—the courtier should beware of taking them as friends. Such men only come to say that the king doesn't pay, the Council is negligent, the favorites triumph, the officials steal, the constables take bribes, the kingdom is going to ruin, services aren't rewarded, and good men aren't recognized. With this kind of talk, they make the poor courtier grow faint in serving and bold in murmuring.
The Illusion of Deferred Amendment
Many courtiers foolishly delay their moral conversion until old age, only to find themselves still trapped by worldly greed and vanity.
A courtier shouldn't put off changing his life in the hope that he has plenty of time left, because old men spend more time hunting for new pleasures than weeping over old sins. Many at court say they will mend their ways in old age—some of whom die without ever having mended them—and the whole harm of this is that I hear everyone say "we will," and I see no one say "let us."7 What a thing it is to hear an old man at court tell of the kings he has known, the favorites who have fallen, the great lords who have died, the houses that have come to an end, the officials who have been replaced, the misfortunes he has seen, the wars that have passed, the rivals he has endured, and even the love affairs he has had—and with all he has seen, and far more that has gone through him, he is still as green in sinning and as greedy to pile up wealth as if he would never die and were only then beginning his service.8 It’s no wonder for a man to spend his boyhood at court—up to fifteen—his youth—up to twenty-five—his manhood—up to forty—and his later years—up to sixty—if it’s to support his household and raise his honor; but the old man who stays on at court after that serves no purpose but to damn himself and give everyone something to talk about.9
The Futility of Complaining
Complaining about fortune is a sign of folly, as the courtier chose to enter the court of his own free will.
The courtier shouldn't complain about anything until he sees whether he has reason to complain about it or not; because often we complain about things in this life that would complain about us if they had a tongue. The moment the courtier finds himself low in standing, poor in what he owns, forgotten in favor, sad at heart, and cheated in whatever he meant to negotiate, he at once curses his luck and complains that fortune has cheated him; which is certainly not so, because for all those fortune kicks and tramples, it is not that she went to their houses to call them, but that they went to court to seek her out. As soon as a man enters the court, he assumes he’ll be one of the most honored, wealthiest, and most esteemed people there, perhaps even one of the prince's closest favorites. When he later finds himself poor, cast down, forgotten, and out of favor, he calls himself a wretched man and claims the world is lost—when the truth is that the world isn't to blame, he is, because he’s a massive fool.10 I’ll say it again: his harm doesn't lie in being unlucky or in the world being lost, but in his being a remarkable fool for choosing to leave the quiet of his home to trust himself to the jolts and swings of fortune. The man who lives at court has no right to complain about the court; because if you came of your own free will, who are you complaining of?11 If someone else brought you, complain of him; if you want to stick it out, put a good face on it; if you want to get ahead, put your back into it; if it suits you, keep quiet; and if you don't feel at home, leave—because the great discontent you carry doesn't lie in the court where you live, but in the ambitious heart you have.
The Unending Restlessness of the Court
Contentment is impossible at court, where everyone lives in a state of perpetual anxiety, waiting for shifts in fortune that often lead only to further disappointment.
There's no innocence in the world like thinking contentment is found at court and nowhere else, when the truth is that everyone there goes about unsettled, bored, worn out, bitter, and even shamed; for of the twelve hours in the day, if by chance he laughs with friends for two, he sighs alone for the other ten.12 Take it as said, Sir Courtier: however rich, favored, esteemed, and intimate a favorite you may be at court, if two things go for you as you wish, ten will go the wrong way.13 A man goes to court who has business to negotiate with the king, with the favorite, with the Council, with the accountants, or with the magistrates, and if he settles his own affair he couldn't settle his brother's, his brother-in-law's, his father-in-law's, or his friend's; so that he feels more shame for what they denied him than joy for what they granted him. The clearest sign that no one lives content at court is that while they're inside the court, walking through the court, and handling court business, they ask one another what news there is at court; from which it follows that anyone who asks at court for news wants to see changes there.14 A well-known hardship of court life is that, since no one is content with their lot, everyone hopes for a change in fortune—the poor thinking they'll get rich, and the rich thinking they'll gain more power. Oh, how many people there are at princes' courts who stay there growing old, wasting away, sighing, and waiting for the day when—sooner or later—someone will die, fortune will shift, and they themselves will rise; and afterward it happens to such a man that just when he is about to pocket the ball and drop anchor on land, death springs on him unlooked for, and he never sees the fortune he longed for!15 Oh, how many at princes' courts have watched the very people they longed to see dead pass away!16 And because their luck turned so that they not only failed to step into those offices, but the posts were given to their rivals—who treat them worse than the dead men did—they mourn those who died and they mourn those who took their places.
Read the original Latin
Byas el filósofo, varón que fué muy nombrado entre los griegos, muchas vezes dezía a la mesa del magno Alexandro: «Quilibet in suo proprio negotio haebetior est quam in alieno.» Como si más claramente dixesse: Naturalmente es el hombre agudo en dar parescer a otros y boto e inhábil en lo que le toca a él. Grave, por cierto, sentencia es ésta, digna del que la dixo y muy digna de quien se dixo; porque si ay mil que aciertan en cosas agenas, ay diez mil que yerran en las propias. Ay hombres en este mundo que para dar un sano consejo y para ordenar un remedio de presto tienen paresceres heroycos e ingenios muy delicados, los quales, sacados de negocios agenos y traídos a negocios suyos, es lástima ver lo que dizen y es vergüença lo que hazen; porque ni tienen cordura para governar sus casas, ni aun prudencia para encubrir sus miserias. Cayo César, Octavio Augusto, Marco Antonio, Septimio Severo y el buen Marco Aurelio, todos estos y otros infinitos con ellos fueron príncipes muy ilustres, así en las haza.
ñas que hizieron como en las repúblicas que governaron; mas junto con esto fueron tan desdichados en la policía de sus casas y en la pudicia de sus mujeres y hijas, que bivieron muy lastimados y murieron muy infamados. Ay hombres en esta vida muy hábiles para mandar y muy inhábiles para ser mandados, y, por el contrario, ay otros que son buenos para ser mandados y no valen cosa para mandar; quiero por esto dezir que ay personas las quales tienen don de Dios para governar una república, y por otra parte, si pesquisan la manera que tienen en su casa y familia, hallarán que es una pérdida y que ccino a hombres incapaces les habían de dar tutores. Plutarco dize que el muy famoso capitán Nicias nunca erró cosa que hiziesse por consejo ageno di acertó cosa que emprendiesse por su parescer propio. Si a Byarcas el filósofo creemos, muy mayor daño se le sigue a un hombre valeroso enamorarse de su propio parescer que no de una muger; porque el enamorado no puede errar más de para sola su persone, mas el porfiado yerra en dañio de toda la república.
Todo lo sobre dicho dezimos para amonestar y persuadir a los cortesanos que biven en la corte que siempre hablen, traten y conversen allí con personas graves, doctas y experimentadas; porque la gravedad amuestra de lo que se han de guardar y la experiencia de lo que han de hazer. Por sabio, agudo, experto, rico y privado que sea uno en la corte, tiene necessidad de padre que le aconseje, de hermano que le encamine, de adelid que le guíe, de amigo que le avise, de maestro que le enseñe y aun de preceptor que le castigue; porque son tantas las barbullas , tráfagos y mentiras de la corte que es imposible poderlas un hombre solo entender, quanto más resistir y remediar. En las cortes de los príncipes no ay camino más derecho para un hombre se perder que es por su solo parescer quererse governar; porque la corte es un sueño que echa modorra, es un piélago que no tiene suelo, es una som— bra que no tiene tomo , es una fantasma que está encantada y aun es un labirinto que no tiene salida, porque todos los que allí entran, o quedan allí perdidos o salen de allá assombrados. La cOE& más necessaria de que el cortesano tiene necessidad es tener en la corte un fiel y verdadero amigo, no para que le lisonjee, sino para que le reprenda, es a saber, si se recoge tarde, si va tarde a palacio, si anda limpio, si es bien criado, si es boquirroto , si es dissoluto, si es mentiroso, si es tahur, si es goloso o si es deshonesto enamorado; porque por cualquiera destos vicios anda en la corte, no sólo affrentado, mas aun infamado. ¡O quán contrario es lo que escrive mi pluma a lo que en la corte passa! ; porque no vemos otra cosa sino que se juntan dos o tres o quatro livianos, los quales hazen sus monipodios, sus confederaciones y juramentos de comer juntos, de andar juntos, posar juntos, hurtar juntos y aun se acuchillar juntos; por manera que sus amistades no son para se corregir, sino para se encubrir. Deve, pues, el cortesano tener en la corte algunos amigos cuerdos, entre los quales ha de eligir uno que sea el más cuerdo y virtuoso, con el qual ha de tener tan estrecha amistad que pueda sin rezelo descubrirle todo su coraçón y que el otro sin ningún temor le ponga en razón, por manera que tenga a los otros amigos para conversar y a aquél sólo para descansar. A los hombres que son bulliciosos, entremetidos, apassionados, bandoleros , vagamundos y noveleros, guardese el cortesano de tomarlos por amigos, porque los tales no vienen a dezir sino que el rey no paga, el Consejo se descuyda, los privados triunfan, los oficiales roban, los alguaciles cohechan, el reyno se pierde, los servicios no se agradescen ni que los buenos se conoscen; con estas y con otras semejantes cosas hazen al pobre cortesano que desmaye en el servir y crezca en el murmurar.
No deve el cortesano dexar de enmendar la vida con esperança que ha mucho de bivir, porque los viejos más se ocupan en buscar nuevos regalos que en llorar pecados antiguos. Muchos en la corte dizen que se han de enmendar a la vejez, algunos de los cuales mueren sin averse jamás enmendado; y todo el daño desto consiste en que a todos oyo dezir haremos y a ninguno veo dezir hagamost. Qué cosa es oyr un viejo en la corte los reyes que ha alcançado, los privados que se han perdido, los grandes que se han muerto, los estados que se han acabado, los oficiales que se han mudado, los infortunios que ha visto, las guerras que han passado, los émulos que ha sufrido y aun los amores que ha tenido; y con todo esto que ha visto, y mucho más que por él ha passado, tan verde se está en el pecar y tan codicioso de allegar como si nunca uviesse de morir y començasse entonces a servir. Que un hombre espenda en la corte su puericia, que es hasta los quinze años, y su juventud, que es hasta los veinticinco, y su virilidad, que es hasta los cuarenta, y su senectud, que es hasta los sesenta, no es de maravillar por entretener su casa y aumentar su honra; mas el viejo que está dende en adelante en la corte no sirve ya de más de para él se infernar y dar a todos que murmurar.
No deve el cortesano quexarse de ninguna cosa hasta ver si tiene razón o no de quexarse della; porque muchas vezes nos quexamos de algunas cosas en esta vida las quales se quexarían de nosotros si ellas tuviessen lengua. A la hora que el cortesano se ve en el valer baxo, en el tener pobre, en el favor olvidado, en el coraçón triste y en lo que negociara burlado, luego maldize su ventura y se quexa de averle burlado fortuna; lo qual no es por cierto assí, porque a todos los que fortuna acozea y tropella no es porque ella a sus casas los fué a llamar, sino porque ellos a la corte la fueron a buscar. En entrando uno en la corte piensa ser uno de los más honrados, uno de los más ricos, uno de los más estimados y aun uno de los más privados, y como después se ve pobre, abatido, olvidado y desfavorescido, dize que es un desdichado y que está perdido el mundo, como sea verdad que la culpa no la tiene el mundo, sinó él, porque es un muy gran looo. Digo y torno a dezir que no está su daño en ser él desdichado ni en estar perdido el mundo, sino en ser él muy notable loco, pues quiso dexar el reposo de su casa por fiarse de los sobresaltos y vaivenes que da fortuna.
El hombre que bive en la corte no tiene licencia de quexaise de la corte; porque, si tú te veniste, ¿de quién te quexas? ; si otro te truxo, quéxate dél; si quieres perseverar, dissimula; si quieres medrar, esfuércate; si te agrada, calla; y si no te hallas, vete; porque el gran descontento que traes, no consiste en la corte do bives, sino en el coraçón ambicioso que tienes.
No ay en el mundo igual inocencia con pensar uno que en la corte y no en otra parte está el contentamiento, como sea verdad que allí anden todos alterados, aborridos, gastados, despechados y aun affrentados; porque de doze horas que ay en el día, si por caso rie con los amigos las dos, so8pira a solas las diez. Teneos por dicho, señor cortesano, que por más rico, favorido , estimado y privado que seas en la corte, que si os susceden dos cosas como queréis, se han de hazer diez al revés. Va uno a la corte el qual tiene que negociar con el rey, con el privado, con el Consejo, con contadores o con los alcaldes, y si despacha su negocio no pudo despachar el del hermano, el del cuñado, el del suegro o el del amigo; por manera que siente más affrenta por lo que le negaron que alegría por lo que le dieron. La mayor señal para ver que nadie bive en la corte contento es que estando dentro de la corte y andando por la corte y tratando negocios de corte, se preguntan unos a otros qué nuevas ay en la corte; de lo qual se arguye que el que pregunta en la corte por nuevas, dessea ver allf novedades.
Uno de los famosos trabajos de la corte es que como allí ninguno bive contento con su fortuna, todos dessean ver mudança en la fortuna, porque de aquella manera piensan los pobres de enriquescer y los ricos de más mandar. ¡0 quántos ay en las cortes de los príncipes los quales se están allí envejeciendo, deshaziendo, sospirando y esperando quándo mas quándo vado se morirá, la fortuna se mudará y él se mejorará, y acontéscele después al tal que al tiempo de embocar la bola y echar el ancle en tierra le salteó la muerte, que no esperava, sin ver la fortuna que desseava! 10 quántos ay también en las cortes de los príncipes los quales vieron morir a los que desseavan ver muertos! ; y como fueron tales sus hados a que no sólo no sucedieron en aquellos officios, sino que los dieron a otros sus contrarios y que los tratan peor que los otros, lloran a los que murieron y lloran a los que sucedieron.
Notes
- 1 ↩Source Latin has «haebetior»; read as classical hebetior, 'duller/blunter.' Byas is Bias of Priene (one of the Seven Sages).
- 2 ↩Source ends mid-word at «haza»; completed as «hazañas» from the continuation in MenosprAldea.1.13.2.s1. The full así...como clause and following contrast continue in the next section.
- 3 ↩Section opens mid-word as «ñas», continuing previous sentence’s truncated «hazañas» (deeds/exploits). «Policía» here means household order/management, not modern police.
- 4 ↩Reading «ccino» as «como» (as/like): «y que como a hombres incapaces les habían de dar tutores.»
- 5 ↩Reading «di acertó» as «ni acertó»: parallel never/never (nunca… ni…).
- 6 ↩«Byarcas» matches earlier «Byas» (Bias of Priene). «Persone» = persona; «dañio» = daño.
- 7 ↩Source ends with «hagamost»; reading as «hagamos» (chapter title contrast of future «haremos» vs. present hortative «hagamos»).
- 8 ↩«tan verde se está en el pecar»: «verde» as still unripe/fresh—i.e., as ready to sin as a young man; not merely «inexperienced».
- 9 ↩«se infernar»: strong early-modern sense of bringing oneself to damnation/hell, not mere social disgrace.
- 10 ↩Source ends with corrupt 'looo'; normalized and translated as 'loco' (fool), confirmed by the next sentence's 'muy notable loco'.
- 11 ↩Source form 'quexaise' is treated as 'quejarse' (to complain).
- 12 ↩Source reading so8pira is treated as sospira ('sighs'), a clear OCR/print corruption.
- 13 ↩privado here is the court favorite / royal intimate, not 'private' in the modern sense.
- 14 ↩Source reading allf is treated as allí ('there').
- 15 ↩Normalized reading treats opening ¡0 as ¡O (Oh); ancle as ancla (anchor); and quándo mas quándo vado as roughly 'sooner or later / when so-and-so'—the middle phrase is corrupt or poorly OCR'd and may mean waiting for some rival or favorite to die. Embocar la bola y echar el ancla en tierra is a mixed gaming/nautical image for nearly securing one's prize.
- 16 ↩Opening 10 is treated as ¡O (Oh), matching the exclamatory pattern of the previous sentence.
Menosprecio de Corte y Alabanza de Aldea (Contempt of Court and Praise of Village) companion
Rule yourself daily, not just on retreat
Chosen Portion turns the mirror into a daily practice — a short reading and examining question each morning before you lead anyone.
Chosen Portion makes the mirror daily: the ruler-formation questions this collection preserves become a two-minute morning examination in the app.
- A daily formation reading drawn from centuries of counsel to those in authority
- One pointed examination question a day — two minutes, before the meetings start
- Track your practice over weeks and watch the examined life become a habit