Pagina 242 di 734

Now they who exceed in the ridiculous are judged to be Buffoons

and Vulgar, catching at it in any and every way and at any cost,

and aiming rather at raising laughter than at saying what is

seemly and at avoiding to pain the object of their wit. They, on

the other hand, who would not for the world make a joke

themselves and are displeased with such as do are thought to be

Clownish and Stern. But they who are Jocular in good taste are

denominated by a Greek term expressing properly ease of movement,

because such are thought to be, as one may say, motions of the

moral character; and as bodies are judged of by their motions so

too are moral characters.

Now as the ridiculous lies on the surface, and the majority of

men take more pleasure than they ought in Jocularity and Jesting,

the Buffoons too get this name of Easy Pleasantry, as if refined

and gentlemanlike; but that they differ from these, and

considerably too, is plain from what has been said.