第 13 节
作者:      更新:2021-02-18 23:31      字数:9322
  subject states?
  '14' Or; 〃the outer world; the non…Hellenic races and nationalities of
  which we have any knowledge。〃
  '15' Lit。 〃Libya。〃
  Nay;'16' I would have you to understand (exclaimed Aristippus) that I
  am just as far from placing myself in the ranks of slavery; there is; I take it;
  a middle path between the two which it is my ambition to tread; avoiding
  rule and slavery alike; it lies through freedomthe high road which leads
  to happiness。
  '16'   Or;   〃Pardon   me   interrupting   you;   Socrates;   but   I   have   not   the
  slightest intention of placing myself。〃 See W。 L。 Newman; op。 cit。                             i。
  306。
  Soc。 True;   if   only   your   path   could   avoid   human   beings;   as   it   avoids
  rule   and   slavery;   there   would   be   something   in   what   you   say。   But   being
  placed as you are amidst human beings; if you purpose neither to rule nor
  to be ruled; and do not mean to dance attendance; if you can help it; on
  those who rule; you must surely see that the stronger have an art to seat the
  weaker on the stool of repentance'17' both in public and in private; and to
  treat   them  as   slaves。  I   daresay  you   have not   failed to note this   common
  case: a set of people has sown and planted; whereupon in comes another
  set   and   cuts   their   corn   and   fells   their   fruit…trees;   and   in   every   way   lays
  siege   to   them   because;   though   weaker;   they   refuse   to   pay   them   proper
  court; till   at   length they  are   persuaded to   accept slavery  rather   than   war
  against   their   betters。 And   in   private   life   also;   you   will   bear   me   out;   the
  brave   and   powerful   are   known   to   reduce   the   helpless   and   cowardly   to
  bondage; and to make no small profit out of their victims。
  '17'   See   〃Symp。〃   iii。   11;   〃Cyrop。〃   II。   ii。   14;   Plat。   〃Ion;〃   535   E;   L。
  Dindorf ad loc。
  Ar。 Yes; but   I must tell  you I have   a simple remedy  against all such
  misadventures。  I   do   not   confine   myself   to   any  single   civil   community。   I
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  roam the wide world a foreigner。
  Soc。   Well;    now;    that   is  a  masterly   stroke;   upon     my   word!'18'   Of
  course;   ever   since   the   decease   of   Sinis;   and   Sciron;   and   Procrustes;'19'
  foreign   travellers   have had   an   easy  time   of   it。  But still;  if   I bethink   me;
  even in these modern days the members of free communities do pass laws
  in their respective countries for self… protection against wrong…doing。 Over
  and above their personal connections; they provide themselves with a host
  of   friends;   they   gird   their   cities   about   with   walls   and   battlements;   they
  collect armaments to ward off evil…doers; and to make security doubly sure;
  they   furnish   themselves   with   allies   from   foreign   states。   In   spite   of   all
  which   defensive   machinery  these same   free   citizens   do occasionally  fall
  victims to injustice。 But you; who are without any of these aids; you; who
  pass half your days on the high roads where iniquity is rife;'20' you; who;
  into whatever city  you enter; are less   than the least of its free   members;
  and moreover are just the sort of person whom any one bent on mischief
  would single out for attackyet you; with your foreigner's passport; are to
  be exempt from injury? So you flatter yourself。 And why? Will the state
  authorities cause proclamation to be made on your behalf: 〃The person of
  this man Aristippus is secure; let his going out and his coming in be free
  from danger〃? Is that the ground of your confidence? or do you rather rest
  secure   in   the   consciousness   that   you   would   prove   such   a   slave   as   no
  master  would   care   to   keep?   For   who   would   care   to   have  in   his   house   a
  fellow with so slight a disposition to work and so strong a propensity to
  extravagance?   Suppose   we   stop   and   consider   that   very   point:   how   do
  masters deal with that sort of domestic? If I am not mistaken; they chastise
  his   wantonness   by   starvation;   they   balk   his   thieving   tendencies   by   bars
  and bolts where there is anything to steal; they hinder him from running
  away by bonds and imprisonment; they drive the sluggishness out of him
  with the lash。 Is it not so? Or how do you proceed when you discover the
  like tendency in one of your domestics?
  '18' Or; 〃Well foiled!〃 〃A masterly fall! my prince of wrestlers。〃
  '19'   For   these   mythical   highway   robbers;   see   Diod。   iv。   59;   and   for
  Sciron in particular; Plut。 〃Theseus;〃 10。
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  '20' Or; 〃where so many suffer wrong。〃
  Ar。 I correct them  with all the   plagues; till I force them to serve   me
  properly。 But; Socrates; to return to your pupil educated in the royal art;'21'
  which; if I mistake not; you hold to be happiness: how; may I ask; will he
  be better off than others who lie in evil case; in spite of themselves; simply
  because they suffer perforce; but in his case the hunger and the thirst; the
  cold shivers   and   the   lying   awake   at   nights;   with   all   the   changes   he   will
  ring   on   pain;   are   of   his   own   choosing?   For   my   part   I   cannot   see   what
  difference   it   makes;   provided   it   is   one   and   the   same   bare   back   which
  receives   the   stripes;   whether   the   whipping   be   self…appointed   or   unasked
  for;   nor   indeed   does   it   concern   my   body   in   general;   provided   it   be   my
  body; whether I am beleaguered by a whole armament of such evils'22' of
  my own will or against my willexcept only for the folly which attaches
  to self… appointed suffering。
  '21'   Cf。   below;   IV。   ii。   11;   Plat。   〃Statesm。〃   259   B;   〃Euthyd。〃   291   C;
  K。     Joel;   op。   cit。   p。  387     foll。  〃Aristippus      anticipates     Adeimantus〃
  (〃Rep。〃 419); W。 L。 Newman; op。 cit。 i。 395。
  '22' Cf。 〃suffers the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune。〃
  Soc。 What; Aristippus;  does   it   not   seem  to   you   that;  as   regards   such
  matters;     there   is  all  the  difference     between     voluntary   and     involuntary
  suffering;   in   that   he   who   starves   of   his   own   accord   can   eat   when   he
  chooses; and he who thirsts of his own free will can drink; and so for the
  rest;   but   he   who   suffers   in   these   ways   perforce   cannot   desist   from   the
  suffering   when   the   humour   takes   him?   Again;   he   who   suffers   hardship
  voluntarily; gaily confronts his troubles; being buoyed on hope'23'just as
  a hunter   in pursuit   of wild   beasts;  through hope of   capturing his   quarry;
  finds toil a pleasureand these are but prizes of little worth in return for
  their labours; but what shall we say of their reward who toil to obtain to
  themselves       good    friends;   or   to  subdue     their  enemies;     or   that  through
  strength   of   body   and   soul   they   may   administer   their   households   well;
  befriend their friends; and benefit the land which gave them birth? Must
  we  not   suppose   that   these   too   will   take   their  sorrows   lightly;   looking   to
  these  high   ends?   Must   we   not   suppose  that   they   too   will   gaily   confront
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  existence; who have to support them not only their conscious virtue; but
  the   praise   and   admiration   of   the   world?'24'   And   once   more;   habits   of
  indolence; along with the fleeting pleasures of the moment; are incapable;
  as   gymnastic   trainers   say;   of   setting   up'25'   a   good   habit   of   body;   or   of
  implanting   in   the   soul   any   knowledge   worthy   of   account;   whereas   by
  painstaking endeavour in the pursuit of high and noble deeds; as good men
  tell us; through endurance we shall in the end attain the goal。 So Hesiod
  somewhere says:'26'
  Wickedness may a man take wholesale with ease; smooth is the
  way          and   her  dwelling…place   is   very  nigh;   but   in   front   of   virtue   the
  immortal gods have placed toil and sweat; long is the path and                        steep
  that leads to her; and rugged at the first; but when the                   summit of the
  pass is reached; then for all its roughness the path                 grows easy。
  '23' Cf。 above; I。 vi。 8。
  '24'   Or;   〃in   admiration   of   them