Prevod

(Those who think that citing an authority, good or bad, excuses any error fail to see that truth can only be one, however many opinions there may be.)

Several friends had been invited to a banquet, and one of them, who had missed the appointed hour and arrived after all the rest, sought to excuse his tardiness. “What excuse 5 can you offer us?” they asked him. He took out his watch, held it up, and said, “Can you not see that I am on time? It is two o’clock precisely.”—“What nonsense!” they replied. “Your watch is 10 more than three quarters of an hour slow.”—“But, my friends!” cried the late-arriving guest. “What more can I do than quote the text? Here is my watch...” Let the discerning reader note that this gentleman of mine was like those 15 who commit some absurdity and excuse themselves by citing the first authority they find. But, to return to my tale, all those present began taking out their watches to establish 20 the truth. Then they discovered that one showed a quarter past two, another half past, another twenty-six minutes past two, this one fourteen minutes more, that one ten minutes less: no two agreed. 25 In short, all was doubt and dispute. Now, as it happened, the master of the house was an enthusiast for astronomy; and, consulting his own infallible timepiece, set by an accurate sundial, 30 he found that it was two minutes past three. Thus he put an end to the dispute, concluding with these words: “Gentlemen! If you think that citing authorities and opinions carries weight against the truth, 35 you can find them for any cause; but fortunately, though they may be many, truth is one.”