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| (1) Soli homini datum fuit ut loqueretur, ut ex premissis manifestum est. Nunc quoque investigandum esse existimo, cui hominum primum locutio data sit, et quid primitus locutus fuerit, et ad quem, et ubi, et quando; nec non et sub quo ydiomate primiloquium emanavit. | (1) So the power of speech was given only to human beings, as is plain from what was said above. I think it now also incumbent upon me to find out to which human being that power was first granted, and what he first said, and to whom, and where, and when; and also in what language that primal utterance was made. | |
| (2) Secundum quidem quod in principio legitur Genesis, ubi de primordio mundi sacratissima scriptura pertractat, mulierem invenitur ante omnes fuisse locutam, scilicet presumptuosissimam Evam, cum diabolo sciscitanti respondit: De fructu lignorum que sunt in paradiso vescimur; de fructu vero ligni quod est in medio paradisi precepit nobis Deus ne comederemus nec tangeremus, ne forte moriamur. | (2) According to what it says at the beginning of Genesis, where sacred scripture describes the origin of the world, we find that a woman spoke before anyone else, when the most presumptuous Eve responded thus to the blandishments of the Devil: 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees that are in Paradise: but God has forbidden us to eat or to touch the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of Paradise, lest we die'. | |
| (3) Sed quanquam mulier in scriptis prius inveniatur locuta, rationabile tamen est ut hominem prius locutum fuisse credamus; et inconvenienter putatur tam egregium humani generis actum prius a femina quam a viro profluisse. Rationabiliter ergo credimus ipsi Ade prius datum fuisse loqui ab eo qui statim ipsum plasmaverat. | (3) But although we find in scripture that a woman spoke first, I still think it more reasonable that a man should have done so; and it may be thought unseemly that so distinguished an action of the human race should first have been performed by a woman rather than a man. Therefore it is reasonable to believe that the power of speech was given first to Adam, by Him who had just created him. | |
| (4) Quid autem prius vox primi loquentis sonaverit, viro sane mentis in promptu esse non titubo ipsum fuisse quod Deus est, scilicet El, vel per modum interrogationis, vel per modum responsionis. Absurdum atque rationi videtur horrificum ante Deum ab homine quicquam nominatum fuisse, cum ab ipso et in ipsum factus fuisset homo! Nam, sicut post prevaricationem humani generis quilibet exordium sue locutionis incipit ab 'heu', rationabile est quod ante qui fuit inciperet a gaudio; et cum nullum gaudium sit extra Deum sed totum in Deo, et ipse Deus totus sit gaudium, consequens est quod primus loquens primo et ante omnia dixisset 'Deus'. | (4) As to what was first pronounced by the voice of the first speaker, that will readily be apparent to anyone in their right mind, and I have no doubt that it was the name of God or El, in the form either of a question or of an answer. It is manifestly absurd, and an offence against reason, to think that anything should have been named by a human being before God, when he had been made human by Him and for Him. For if, since the disaster that befell the human race, the speech of every one of us has begun with 'woe!', it is reasonable that he who existed before should have begun with a cry of joy; and, since there is no joy outside God, but all joy is in God and since God Himself is joy itself, it follows that the first man to speak should first and before all have said 'God'. | |
| (5) Oritur et hinc ista questio, cum dicimus superius per viam responsionis hominem primum fuisse locutum, si responsio fuit ad Deum; nam, si ad Deum fuit, iam videretur quod Deus locutus extitisset; quod contra superius prelibata videtur insurgere. | (5) From this arises a question: if, as I said above, the first man spoke in the form of an answer, was that answer addressed to God? For if it was, it would seem that God had already spoken - which would appear to raise an objection to the argument offered above. | |
| (6) Ad quod quidem dicimus quod bene potuit respondisse Deo interrogante, nec propter hoc Deus locutus est ipsam quam dicimus locutionem. Quis enim dubitat, quicquid est ad Dei nutum esse flexibile? quo quidem facta, quo conservata, quo etiam gubernata sunt omnia. Igitur, cum ad tantas alterationes moveatur aer imperio nature inferioris, que ministra et factura Dei est, ut tonitrua personet, ignem fulgoret, aquam gemat, spargat nivem, grandinea lancinet, nonne imperio Dei movebitur ad quedam sonare verba, ipso distinguente qui maiora distinxit? Quid ni? | (6) To this, however, I reply that Adam may well have answered a question from God; nor, on that account, need God have spoken using what we would call language. For who doubts that everything that exists obeys a sign from God, by whom, indeed, all things are created, preserved, and, finally, maintained in order? Therefore, if the air can be moved, at the command of the lesser nature which is God's servant and creation, to transformations so profound that thunderbolts crash, lightning flashes, waters rage, snow falls, and hailstones fly, can it not also, at God's command, so be moved as to make the sound of words, if He distinguishes them who has made much greater distinctions? Why not? | |
| (7) Quare ad hoc et ad quedam alia hec sufficere credimus. | (7) On this account, I think that such an answer is adequate for both this and other questions. | |