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2 7 4 I n t e r p r e t a t i o n Volume 41 / Issue 3all upset, the muddy animal:25 “I do not know whence you come or from what shore;but if you have not come for anything elsethan to draw me out of here, go away.I do not want to live with you, and I refuse;and I see well that you are in that error,30 which had held me even longer.So much your own self-love deceives you,that you do not believe there is any other goodoutside of human existence and value;but if you direct your imagination to me,35 before you depart from my presence,I will make certain that you remain in this error no longer.I want to begin with prudence,excellent virtue, through whichmen increase their excellence.40 They know better how to use this virtue thosewho know, without other discipline, how to pursuefor themselves their own good and avoid distress.Without a doubt, I affirm, and I confessour position to be superior;45 and even you will not deny it shortly.Who is that preceptor that shows uswhat any plant is, either benign or harmful?Not any study, not your ignorance.We change region from shore to shore,50 and leaving a refuge does not pain us,provided one lives content and happy.One flees the ice and the other flees the sun,chasing the weather friendly to our way of life,as nature, who teaches this, desires.55 You, much more unhappy than I can say,go round looking for that country and this,not to find cool air or sunshine,but because your dishonest appetitefor having does not hold your soul firm60 in living frugal, civil, and modest;and often in air rotten and sick,leaving the good air, you move;