On the Method of Zadig: Essay #1 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition" — Page 14
At the present day, it would probably be impossible to find any sane advocate of this opinion; and the fact is rather surprising, that among the people from whom the circle-squarers, perpetual-motioners, flat-earthed men and the like, are recruited, to say nothing of table-turners and spirit-rappers, somebody has not perceived the easy avenue to nonsensical notoriety open to any one who will take up the good old doctrine, that fossils are all _lusus naturae._
Nos dias de hoje, seria provavelmente impossível encontrar qualquer defensor são desta opinião; e o fato é bastante surpreendente, que entre as pessoas de quem os quadradores de círculos, os adeptos do movimento perpétuo, os partidários da terra plana e semelhantes são recrutados, para não falar dos que giram mesas e dos que evocam espíritos, ninguém tenha percebido a fácil via à notoriedade absurda aberta a qualquer um que queira adotar a boa e velha doutrina de que os fósseis são todos _lusus naturae_.
The position would be impregnable, inasmuch as it is quite impossible to prove the contrary.
A posição seria inexpugnável, na medida em que é completamente impossível provar o contrário.
If a man choose to maintain that a fossil oyster shell, in spite of its correspondence, down to every minutest particular, with that of an oyster fresh taken out of the sea, was never tenanted by a living oyster, but is a mineral concretion, there is no demonstrating his error.
Se um homem optar por sustentar que uma concha de ostra fóssil, apesar de sua correspondência, até o menor detalhe, com a de uma ostra recém-tirada do mar, nunca foi habitada por uma ostra viva, mas é uma concreção mineral, não há como demonstrar o seu erro.
All that can be done is to show him that, by a parity of reasoning, he is bound to admit that a heap of oyster shells outside a fishmonger's door may also be "sports of nature," and that a mutton bone in a dust-bin may have had the like origin.
Tudo o que se pode fazer é mostrar-lhe que, por uma paridade de raciocínio, ele é obrigado a admitir que um monte de conchas de ostras à porta de uma peixaria também pode ser "caprichos da natureza", e que um osso de carneiro num caixote do lixo pode ter tido origem semelhante.
And when you cannot prove that people are wrong, but only that they are absurd, the best course is to let them alone.
E quando não se pode provar que as pessoas estão erradas, mas apenas que são absurdas, o melhor caminho é deixá-las em paz.
Vocabulary
- Nos
- In the, at the (contraction of em + os)
- dias
- Days; periods of time
- de
- Of, from, by (preposition)
- hoje
- Today; the present day
- seria
- Would be (conditional of ser)
- provavelmente
- Probably; in all likelihood
- impossível
- Impossible; not able to happen
- encontrar
- To find, to encounter someone or something
- qualquer
- Any, whatever, whichever one
- defensor
- Defender, advocate, supporter of a cause
- são
- Are (third person plural of ser)
- desta
- Of this (contraction of de + esta)
- opinião
- Opinion; personal view or judgment
- e
- And (coordinating conjunction)
- o
- The (masculine definite article)
- fato
- Fact; something known to be true
- é
- Is (third person singular of ser)
- bastante
- Quite, rather, enough, sufficiently
- surpreendente
- Surprising; causing astonishment or wonder
- que
- That, which, who (conjunction or pronoun)
- entre
- Among, between two or more things
- as
- The (feminine plural definite article)
- pessoas
- People, persons, individuals
- quem
- Who, whom (relative or interrogative pronoun)
- os
- The (masculine plural definite article)
- círculos
- Circles; round geometric shapes
- adeptos
- Followers, adherents, devoted supporters of something
- do
- Of the (contraction of de + o)
- movimento
- Movement, motion, organized group or cause
- perpétuo
- Perpetual, endless, continuing without stopping
- partidários
- Partisans, supporters, advocates of a position
- da
- Of the (contraction of de + a)
- terra
- Earth, land, ground, soil
- plana
- Flat, level, plane (feminine adjective)
- semelhantes
- Similar, alike; such people or things
- recrutados
- Recruited, enlisted into a group or cause
- para
- For, to, in order to (preposition)
- não
- No, not (negation)
- falar
- To speak, to talk
- dos
- Of the (contraction of de + os)
- giram
- Turn, spin, rotate (third person plural present)
- mesas
- Tables; flat-surfaced furniture pieces
- evocam
- Evoke, summon, call forth (third person plural)
- espíritos
- Spirits, ghosts, supernatural beings
- ninguém
- Nobody, no one, not anyone
- tenha
- Has, have (subjunctive of ter)
- percebido
- Perceived, noticed, realized (past participle)
- a
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- fácil
- Easy, simple, not difficult
- via
- Way, route, path to something
- à
- To the (contraction of a + a)
- notoriedade
- Notoriety, fame, being widely known
- absurda
- Absurd, ridiculous, completely unreasonable (feminine)
- aberta
- Open, opened, available (feminine past participle)
- um
- A, an, one (masculine indefinite article)
- queira
- Wants, wishes (subjunctive of querer)
- adotar
- To adopt, to take up an idea
- boa
- Good (feminine adjective)
- velha
- Old (feminine adjective)
- doutrina
- Doctrine, teaching, set of beliefs
- fósseis
- Fossils; preserved remains of ancient organisms
- todos
- All, every, everyone (masculine plural)
- A
- The (feminine singular definite article)
- posição
- Position, stance, viewpoint on an issue
- na
- In the (contraction of em + a)
- medida
- Measure, extent; na medida em que means insofar as
- em
- In, at, on (preposition)
- completamente
- Completely, entirely, totally
- provar
- To prove, to demonstrate truth of something
- contrário
- Contrary, opposite, the reverse
- Se
- If, whether (conditional conjunction)
- homem
- Man, human being
- optar
- To opt, to choose, to decide upon
- por
- For, by, through (preposition)
- sustentar
- To maintain, to uphold, to sustain a claim
- uma
- A, an, one (feminine indefinite article)
- concha
- Shell, seashell
- ostra
- Oyster; bivalve shellfish
- fóssil
- Fossil; preserved remains of ancient life
- apesar
- Despite, in spite of something
- sua
- His, her, its, your (possessive pronoun)
- correspondência
- Correspondence, matching, similarity between things
- até
- Until, even, up to
- menor
- Smaller, lesser, minor
- detalhe
- Detail, small particular aspect of something
- com
- With (preposition)
- mar
- Sea, ocean
- nunca
- Never, at no time
- foi
- Was, went (past tense of ser/ir)
- habitada
- Inhabited, lived in (feminine past participle)
- viva
- Alive, living (feminine adjective)
- mas
- But, however (adversative conjunction)
- mineral
- Mineral; inorganic natural substance
- há
- There is, there are; ago
- como
- How, as, like (adverb or conjunction)
- demonstrar
- To demonstrate, to prove, to show clearly
- seu
- His, her, its, your (possessive pronoun)
- erro
- Error, mistake, wrongness
- Tudo
- Everything, all things
- se
- Reflexive pronoun; oneself, itself
- pode
- Can, is able to (third person singular)
- fazer
- To do, to make
- mostrar-lhe
- To show him/her (verb with indirect object pronoun)
- raciocínio
- Reasoning, logical thinking, argumentation
- ele
- He, him (third person singular pronoun)
- obrigado
- Obliged, forced to; also thank you
- admitir
- To admit, to acknowledge, to accept as true
- monte
- Mount, pile, heap of things
- conchas
- Shells, seashells (plural)
- ostras
- Oysters (plural)
- porta
- Door; at the door of a place
- peixaria
- Fish shop, fishmonger's store
- também
- Also, too, as well
- ser
- To be (infinitive of the verb)
- caprichos
- Whims, caprices, arbitrary quirks of nature
- natureza
- Nature; the natural world
- osso
- Bone; hard part of a skeleton
- num
- In a (contraction of em + um)
- lixo
- Garbage, trash, rubbish
- ter
- To have (infinitive)
- tido
- Had (past participle of ter)
- origem
- Origin, source, beginning
- semelhante
- Similar, alike, of the same kind
- E
- And (coordinating conjunction)
- quando
- When (temporal conjunction or adverb)
- estão
- Are (third person plural of estar)
- erradas
- Wrong, mistaken, incorrect (feminine plural)
- apenas
- Only, just, merely
- absurdas
- Absurd, ridiculous, nonsensical (feminine plural)
- melhor
- Better, best (comparative/superlative)
- caminho
- Path, way, road, course of action
- deixá-las
- To leave them (verb with object pronoun)
- paz
- Peace, tranquility, calm
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