26. IUCUNDUM ... ODIOSUM: elliptic, = _'iucundum' potius quam 'odiosum' senem esse dicendum est_. -- UT ... DELECTANTUR: cf. Lael. 101; also below, 29. -- SAPIENTES SENES: neither of these words is used as an adjective here; the whole expression = _sapientes, cum facti sunt senes_. -- LEVIOR: cf. the fragm. of Callimachus: γηρασκει δ' ‛ο γερων κεινος ελαφροτερον, τον κουροι φιλεουσι. -- COLUNTUR ET DILIGUNTUR: _colere_ rather implies the external marks of respect (cf. _coli_ in 7), _diligere_ the inner feeling of affection. -- PRAECEPTIS etc.: cf. Off. 1, 122 _ineuntis enim aetatis inscitia senum constituenda et regenda prudentia est_. -- ME ... IUCUNDOS: put for _me iucundum esse quam vos mihi estis iucundi_. The attraction of a finite verb into the infinitive after _quam_ is not uncommon; cf. n. on 1 _quibus me ipsum_ (Roby, 1784, _b_; A. 336, _b_, Rem.; H. 524, 1, 2). _Minus_, be it observed, does not qualify _intellego_, but _iucundos_. -- SED: here _analeptic_, _i.e._ it introduces a return to the subject proper after a digression, so in 31. -- VIDETIS, UT ... SIT: here _ut = quo modo_; 'how'. -- SENECTUS ... CUIUSQUE: the abstract _senectus_ is put for _senes_ as in 34; hence _cuiusque, sc. senis_. So above _adulescentia_ = _adulescentes_. -- AGENS ALIQUID: this phrase differs from _agat_ in that while the subjunctive would express the _fact_ of action, the participial phrase expresses rather the constant _tendency_ to act. _Agens aliquid_ forms a sort of attribute to _senectus_, parallel with _operosa. Moliri_ differs from _agere_ in that it implies the bringing into existence of some object. Cf. Off. 3, 102 _agere aliquid et moliri volunt_; Acad. 2, 22 _ut moliatur aliquid et faciat_; N.D. 1, 2 _utrum di nihil agant, nihil moliantur_; Mur. 82 _et agant et moliantur_. -- QUID ... ALIQUID: for the ellipsis in _quid qui_ cf. n. on 22 _quid ... Addiscunt_ = προμανθανουσι = learn on and on, go on learning. -- UT ... VIDEMUS: put, as Allen observes, for _ut Solon fecit, quem videmus_. -- SOLONEM: see also 50. The line (_versibus_ here is an exaggeration; in 50 it is _versiculus_) is preserved by Plato in his Timaeus and by Plutarch, Sol. 31 γαερασκο δ' αει πολλα διδασκομενος. The age of Solon at his death is variously given as 80 or 100 years. -- VIDEMUS: the Latins frequently use 'we see' for 'we read'. See n. on Lael. 39, also below, 69 _ut scriptum video_. -- GLORIANTEM: A. 292, _e_; G. 536, 527, Rem. 1; H. 535, I. 4. Notice the change to the infinitive in _uti_ below. -- SENEX: _i.e. cum senex essem_; so 27 _adulescens desiderabam_; 30 _memini puer_. Plutarch (Cato 2) gives an account of Cato's study of Greek in his old age. -- SIC: this word does not qualify _avide_, but refers on to _quasi_, so that _sic ... quasi cupiens_ = 'thus, _viz._ like one desiring'. Cf. n. on 12 _ita cupide fruebar quasi_; also 35 _tamquam ... sic_. _Quasi_ serves to soften the metaphor in _sitim_; cf. n. on Lael. 3.