discretion of his conduct; and if thou hast many
companions, thou wilt encounter {102} the same disadvantage. And if
thou shouldst say: "I will follow my own inclination, I will withdraw
into seclusion in order the better to study the forms of natural
objects"--I say thou wilt with difficulty be able to do this, because
thou wilt not be able to refrain from constantly listening to their
chatter; and, not being able to serve two masters, thou wilt play the
part of a companion ill, and still worse will be the evil effect on thy
studies in art. And if thou sayest: "I will withdraw myself, so that
their words cannot reach and disturb me"--I, with regard to this, say
thou wilt be regarded as a madman; but seest thou not that by so doing
thou wilt be alone also?

[Sidenote: Advice to the Painter]

47.

The mind of the painter must be like unto a mirror, which ever takes
the colour of the object it reflects, and contains as many images as
there are objects before it. Therefore realize, O painter, that thou
canst not succeed unless thou art the universal master of imitating by
thy art every variety of nature's forms, and this thou canst not do
save by perceiving them and retaining them in thy mind; wherefore when
thou walkest in the country let thy mind play on various objects,
observe now this thing and now that thing, making a store of various
objects selected and chosen from those of lesser value. And thou shalt
not do as some painters, who, when weary of plying {103} their fancy,
dismiss their work from their mind and take exercise in walking for
relaxation, but retain fatigue in the mind, which, though they see
various objects, does not apprehend them, but often when they meet
friends and relations and are saluted by them, they are no more
conscious of them than if they had met empty air.

[Sidenote: Precepts]

48.

And thou, O painter, seek to bring about that thy works may attract
those who gaze upon them and arrest them with great admiration and
delight; and so that they may not attract and forthwith repel them, as
the air does to him who in the night season leaps naked from his bed to
gaze upon the cloudy and serene sky and forthwith is driven back by the
cold, and returns to the bed whence he rose. But let thy works be like
the air which draws men from their beds in the hot season, and retains
them to taste with delight the cool of the summer; and he who will do
well by his art will not strive to be m