Book vii chapter 30

“I have lost,” say you, “the benefit which I bestowed¹.” You are a fool, and do not understand when your loss took place; you have indeed lost it, but you did so when you gave it, the fact has only now come to light. Even in the case of those benefits which appear to be lost, gentleness will do much good; the wounds of the mind ought to be handled as tenderly as those of the body. The string, which might be disentangled by patience, is often broken by a rough pull. What is the use of abuse, or of complaints? why do you overwhelm him with reproaches? why do you set him free from his obligation? even if he be ungrateful he owes you nothing after this. What sense is there in exasperating² a man on whom you have conferred great favours, so as out of a doubtful friend to make a certain enemy, and one, too, who will seek to support his own cause by defaming you, or to make men say, “I do not know what the reason is that he cannot endure a man to whom he owes so much; there must be something in the background?” Any man can asperse³, even if he does not permanently⁴ stain the reputation of his betters by complaining of them; nor will any one be satisfied with imputing⁵ small crimes to them, when it is only by the enormity of his falsehood that he can hope to be believed.

1 bestowed   

赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It was a title bestowed upon him by the king. 那是国王赐给他的头衔。
• He considered himself unworthy of the honour they had bestowed on him. 他认为自己不配得到大家赋予他的荣誉。

2 exasperating   

adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Our team's failure is very exasperating. 我们队失败了，真是气死人。
• It is really exasperating that he has not turned up when the train is about to leave. 火车快开了， 他还不来，实在急人。

3 asperse   

v.流言；n.流言

参考例句：

• He said law enforcement facts turn the tide upon those who seek to asperse the country's good name.他说执法的事实遏阻了那些想要破坏国家名誉的人。
• The difference between libel and asperse is that libel is printed while slander is spoken.诽谤和流言的区别在于前者是书面的，而后者是口头的。

4 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

5 imputing   

v.把（错误等）归咎于( impute的现在分词 )

参考例句：