第 9 节
作者:      更新:2021-02-18 23:31      字数:9322
  Soc。 Well; and doubtless you feel to have a spark of wisdom yourself?
  Ar。 Put your questions; and I will answer。
  Soc。 And yet you imagine that elsewhere no spark of wisdom is to be
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  found? And that; too; when you know that you have in your body a tiny
  fragment only of the mighty earth; a little drop of the great waters; and of
  the other elements; vast in their extent; you got; I presume; a particle of
  each towards the compacting of your bodily frame? Mind alone; it would
  seem;   which   is   nowhere   to   be   found;'10'   you   had   the   lucky   chance   to
  snatch up and make off with; you cannot tell how。 And these things around
  and   about   us;   enormous   in   size;   infinite   in   number;   owe   their   orderly
  arrangement; as you suppose; to some vacuity of wit?
  '10' Cf。 Plat。 〃Phileb。〃 30 B: 〃Soc。  May our body be said to have   a
  soul?     Pro。    Clearly。    Soc。    And     whence       comes     that   soul;    my    dear
  Protarchus; unless the body of the universe; which contains                         elements
  similar   to   our   bodies   but   finer;   has   also   a   soul?   Can      there   be   any
  other source?〃Jowett。 Cic。 〃de N。 D。〃 ii。 6; iii。                  11。
  Ar。 It may be; for my eyes fail to see the master agents of these; as one
  sees the fabricators of things produced on earth。
  Soc。 No more do you see your own soul; which is the master agent of
  your body; so that; as far as that goes; you may maintain; if you like; that
  you do nothing with intelligence;'11' but everything by chance。
  '11' Or; 〃by your wit;〃 {gnome}。
  At this point Aristodemus: I assure you; Socrates; that I do not disdain
  the   Divine   power。   On   the   contrary;   my   belief   is   that   the   Divinity   is   too
  grand to need any service which I could render。
  Soc。 But the grander that power is; which deigns to tend and wait upon
  you; the more you are called upon to honour it。
  Ar。   Be   well   assured;   if   I   could   believe   the  gods   take   thought   for   all
  men; I would not neglect them。
  Soc。 How can you suppose that they do not so take thought? Who; in
  the   first   place;   gave   to   man   alone   of   living   creatures   his   erect   posture;
  enabling him to see farther in front of him and to contemplate more freely
  the   height   above;   and   to   be   less   subject   to   distress   than   other   creatures
  'endowed like himself with eyes and ears and mouth'。'12' Consider next
  how they gave to the beast of the field'13' feet as a means of progression
  only;   but   to   man   they   gave   in   addition   hands   those   hands   which   have
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  achieved so much to raise us in the scale of happiness above all animals。
  Did   they  not   make   the  tongue   also?   which   belongs   indeed   alike   to   man
  and beast; but in man they fashioned it so as to play on different parts of
  the mouth   at different   times; whereby  we can   produce articulate   speech;
  and have a code of signals to express our every want to one another。 Or
  consider   the   pleasures   of   the   sexual   appetite;   limited   in   the   rest   of   the
  animal      kingdom      to  certain    seasons;    but   in  the   case    of  man    a   series
  prolonged unbroken to old age。 Nor did it content the Godhead merely to
  watch over the interests of man's body。 What is of far higher import; he
  implanted in   man   the   noblest   and   most   excellent   type   of soul。  For   what
  other creature; to begin with; has a soul to appreciate the existence of the
  gods   who have   arranged   this grand   and   beauteous   universe? What   other
  tribe of animals save man can render service to the gods? How apt is the
  spirit of man to take precautions against hunger and thirst; cold and heat;
  to alleviate disease and foster strength! how suited to labour with a view to
  learning!   how   capable   of   garnering   in   the   storehouse   of   his   memory   all
  that he has heard or seen or understood! Is it not most evident to you that
  by the side of other animals men live and move a race of godsby nature
  excellent; in beauty of body and of soul supreme? For;  mark you; had a
  creature   of   man's   wit   been   encased   in   the   body   of   an   ox;'14'   he   would
  have   been   powerless   to   carry   out   his   wishes;   just   as   the   possession   of
  hands divorced from human wit is profitless。 And then you come; you who
  have   obtained   these   two   most   precious   attributes;   and   give   it   as   your
  opinion; that the gods take no thought or care for you。 Why; what will you
  have them to do; that you may believe and be persuaded that you too are in
  their thoughts?
  '12' See Kuhner for an attempt to cure the text。
  '13' {erpetois}; a 〃poetical〃 word。 Cf。 〃Od。〃 iv。 418; Herod。 i。 140。
  '14' See Aristot。 〃de Part。 Animal。〃 iv。 10。
  Ar。   When   they   treat   me   as   you   tell   us   they   treat   you;   and   send   me
  counsellors to warn me what I am to do and what abstain from doing;'15'
  I will believe。
  '15' See IV。 iii。 12。
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  Soc。    Send   you    counsellors!    Come     now;   what    when    the   people   of
  Athens make inquiry by oracle; and the gods' answer comes? Are you not
  an Athenian? Think   you   not that to   you   also the   answer   is   given? What
  when they send portents to forewarn the states of Hellas? or to all mankind?
  Are you not a man? a Hellene? Are not these intended for you also? Can it
  be   that   you   alone   are   excepted   as   a   signal   instance   of   Divine   neglect?
  Again; do you suppose that the gods could have implanted in the heart of
  man the belief in their capacity to work him weal or woe had they not the
  power? Would not men have discovered the imposture in all this lapse of
  time? Do you not perceive that the wisest and most perdurable of human
  institutionsbe they cities or tribes of menare ever the most God…fearing;
  and in the individual man the riper his age and judgment; the deeper his
  religousness? Ay; my good sir (he broke forth); lay to heart and understand
  that even as your own mind within you can turn and dispose of your body
  as it lists; so ought we to think that the wisdom which abides within the
  universal frame does so dispose of all things as it finds agreeable to itself;
  for hardly may it be that your eye is able to range over many a league; but
  that the eye of God is powerless to embrace all things at a glance; or that
  to your soul it is given to dwell in thought on matters here or far away in
  Egypt or in Sicily; but that the wisdom and thought of God is not sufficient
  to include all things at one instant under His care。 If only you would copy
  your own behaviour'16' where human beings are concerned。 It is by acts
  of   service   and   of   kindness   that   you   discover   which   of   your   fellows   are
  willing to requite you in kind。 It is by taking another into your counsel that
  you arrive at the secret of his wisdom。 If; on like principle; you will but
  make trial of the gods by acts of service; whether they will choose to give
  you   counsel   in   matters   obscure   to   mortal   vision;   you   shall   discover   the
  nature and the greatness of Godhead to be such that they are able at once
  to see all things and to hear all things and to be present everywhere; nor
  does the least thing escape their watchful care。
  '16' Or; 〃reason as you are wont to do。〃
  To my   mind   the   effect of   words like these was   to   cause those   about
  him to hold aloof from unholiness; baseness; and injustice; not only whilst
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  they   were   seen   of   men;   but   even   in   the   solitary   place;   since   they   must
  believe that no part of their conduct could escape the eye of Heaven。
  V
  I   suppose   it   may   be   taken   as   admitted   that   self…control   is   a   noble
  acquirement   for   a   man。'1'   If   so;   let   us   turn   and   consider   whether   by
  language like the following he was likely to lead his listeners onwards'2'
  to the attainment of this virtue。 〃Sirs;〃 he would say; 〃if a war came upon
  us   and   we   wished     to  choose   a   man   who   would   best   help   us   to   save
  ourselves and to subdue our en