Kitap 6
3.19
When, therefore, we speak of the salt of wit, we refer to wit about which there is nothing insipid, wit, that is to say, which serves as a simple seasoning of language, a condiment which is silently appreciated by our judgment, as food is appreciated by the palate, with the result that it stimulates our taste and saves a speech from becoming tedious. But just as salt, if sprinkled freely over food, gives a special relish of its own, so long as it is not used to excess, so in the case of those who have the salt of wit there is something about their language which arouses in us a thirst to hear. Again, I do not regard the epithet facelus as applicable solely to that which raises a laugh.
3.20
If that were so Horace Sat. I. x. 44. molle atque facetum/Vergilio adnuerunt gaudentes rure Camenae. would never have said that nature had granted Vergil the gift of being facetus in song. I think that the term is rather applied to a certain grace and polished elegance. This is the meaning which it bears in Cicero's letters, where he quotes the words of Brutus, This letter is lost. In truth her feet are graceful and soft as she goes delicately on her way. This meaning suits the passage in Horace, Sat. I. x. 44. molle atque facetum/Vergilio adnuerunt gaudentes rure Camenae. to which I have already made reference, To Vergil gave a soft and graceful wit.
