登陆注册
15427600000028

第28章 BOOK III(8)

Cle.The enquiry,no doubt,has a bearing upon our subject.

Ath.I imagine that Cyrus,though a great and patriotic general,had never given his mind to education,and never attended to the order of his household.

Cle.What makes you say so?

Ath.I think that from his youth upwards he was a soldier,and entrusted the education of his children to the women;and they brought them up from their childhood as the favourites of fortune,who were blessed already,and needed no more blessings.They thought that they were happy enough,and that no one should be allowed to oppose them in any way,and they compelled every one to praise all that they said or did.This was how they brought them up.

Cle.A splendid education truly!

Ath.Such an one as women were likely to give them,and especially princesses who had recently grown rich,and in the absence of the men,too,who were occupied in wars and dangers,and had no time to look after them.

Cle.What would you expect?

Ath.Their father had possessions of cattle and sheep,and many herds of men and other animals,but he did not consider that those to whom he was about to make them over were not trained in his own calling,which was Persian;for the Persians are shepherds-sons of a rugged land,which is a stern mother,and well fitted to produce sturdy race able to live in the open air and go without sleep,and also to fight,if fighting is required.He did not observe that his sons were trained differently;through the so-called blessing of being royal they were educated in the Median fashion by women and eunuchs,which led to their becoming such as people do become when they are brought up unreproved.And so,after the death of Cyrus,his sons,in the fulness of luxury and licence,took the kingdom,and first one slew the other because he could not endure a rival;and,afterwards,the slayer himself,mad with wine and brutality,lost his kingdom through the Medes and the Eunuch,as they called him,who despised the folly of Cambyses.

Cle.So runs the tale,and such probably were the facts.

Ath.Yes;and the tradition says,that the empire came back to the Persians,through Darius and the seven chiefs.

Cle.True.

Ath.Let us note the rest of the story.Observe,that Darius was not the son of a king,and had not received a luxurious education.When he came to the throne,being one of the seven,he divided the country into seven portions,and of this arrangement there are some shadowy traces still remaining;he made laws upon the principle of introducing universal equality in the order of the state,and he embodied in his laws the settlement of the tribute which Cyrus promised-thus creating a feeling of friendship and community among all the Persians,and attaching the people to him with money and gifts.Hence his armies cheerfully acquired for him countries as large as those which Cyrus had left behind him.Darius was succeeded by his son Xerxes;and he again was brought up in the royal and luxurious fashion.Might we not most justly say:"O Darius,how came you to bring up Xerxes in the same way in which Cyrus brought up Cambyses,and not to see his fatal mistake?"For Xerxes,being the creation of the same education,met with much the same fortune as Cambyses;and from that time until now there has never been a really great king among the Persians,although they are all called Great.And their degeneracy is not to be attributed to chance,as I maintain;the reason is rather the evil life which is generally led by the sons of very rich and royal persons;for never will boy or man,young or old,excel in virtue,who has been thus educated.And this,I say,is what the legislator has to consider,and what at the present moment has to be considered by us.Justly may you,O Lacedaemonians,be praised,in that you do not give special honour or a special education to wealth rather than to poverty,or to a royal rather than to a private station,where the divine and inspired lawgiver has not originally commanded them to be given.For no man ought to have pre-eminent honour in a state because he surpasses others in wealth,any more than because he is swift of foot or fair or strong,unless he have some virtue in him;nor even if he have virtue,unless he have this particular virtue of temperance.

Meg.What do you mean,Stranger?

Ath.I suppose that courage is a part of virtue?

Meg.To be sure.

Ath.Then,now hear and judge for yourself:-Would you like to have for a fellow-lodger or neighbour a very courageous man,who had no control over himself?

Meg.Heaven forbid!

Ath.Or an artist,who was clever in his profession,but a rogue?

Meg.Certainly not.

Ath.And surely justice does not grow apart from temperance?

Meg.Impossible.

Ath.Any more than our pattern wise man,whom we exhibited as having his pleasures and pains in accordance with and corresponding to true reason,can be intemperate?

Meg.No.

Ath.There is a further consideration relating to the due and undue award of honours in states.

Meg.What is it?

Ath.I should like to know whether temperance without the other virtues,existing alone in the soul of man,is rightly to be praised or blamed?

Meg.I cannot tell.

Ath.And that is the best answer;for whichever alternative you had chosen,I think that you would have gone wrong.

Meg.I am fortunate.

Ath.Very good;a quality,which is a mere appendage of things which can be praised or blamed,does not deserve an expression of opinion,but is best passed over in silence.

Meg.You are speaking of temperance?

Ath.Yes;but of the other virtues,that which having this appendage is also most beneficial,will be most deserving of honour,and next that which is beneficial in the next degree;and so each of them will be rightly honoured according to a regular order.

Meg.True.

Ath.And ought not the legislator to determine these classes?

Meg.Certainly he should.

同类推荐
  • 黄书

    黄书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • The Belgian Twins

    The Belgian Twins

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 黄帝内经素问集注

    黄帝内经素问集注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 宗门拈古汇集

    宗门拈古汇集

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
  • 花间集新注

    花间集新注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。
热门推荐
  • 世间最浪漫的事都是免费的

    世间最浪漫的事都是免费的

    两个人在一起,相爱容易相处难,当激情褪去,怎样留住爱情与浪漫?长久的爱情,要的不是惊天动地、海誓山盟,而是柴米油盐点滴生活里的用心。用创意把两个人的平淡生活点石成金,让生活处处有惊喜:一起收集自然,收藏生活的点滴的美好;一起制作手工:首饰、瓷器、布偶、爱的礼物;一起养宠物,照顾它,给它爱;一起做个吃货,吃遍天下美食;一起去旅行,手牵手走遍各个角落;一起拍照,发现生活中不易被察觉的美丽......
  • 北宋大玩家

    北宋大玩家

    穿越北宋,意外多了个如花似玉的娇妻。可惜情敌太多,威胁太大,成了婚心里都不踏实。有个万人之上,有个浪荡江湖,偏偏娇妻还是个LES,好生凄苦。与情敌斗,其乐无穷,与娇妻斗?娘子饶命!
  • 杨子荣传记

    杨子荣传记

    一个民族不能没有英雄,否则这个民族就不会强大。当国家危难之时,懦弱者选择了逃避、妥协甚至投降,英雄们却挺身而出,用热血捍卫民族的尊严,人民的幸福。本书详细地记录了英雄模范人物杨子荣不平凡的一生,再现了他非凡的人格魅力和精神世界。
  • 英雄无敌之百变小兵

    英雄无敌之百变小兵

    穿越异界之后自带英雄无敌系统,可以变身成任何兵种独闯异界
  • 扑倒总裁:娇妻立正站好

    扑倒总裁:娇妻立正站好

    狗血剧情落到自己头上,顶头婆婆挤压自己出局,再见情郎却遭遇接连壁咚!床壁咚,沙发壁咚,墙壁咚,这是厕所,求不被壁咚〒_〒你姿势好够帅气,我却有些腰疼背痛!
  • 网游的韩娱

    网游的韩娱

    网游还是韩娱?我也不知道······如果当宝蓝成了召唤师,居丽转职成了牧师,素妍当上了法师······你说这是韩娱还是网游?
  • 养仙成妃:小仙不要萌萌哒

    养仙成妃:小仙不要萌萌哒

    如果人生可以重来,九思一定会选择重来!一睁眼一闭眼,好家伙,给我穿越了?!这么强悍?!好歹自己在22世纪也算一个顶级阴阳师吧!就算不算顶级的,好歹也是个鬼医吧!一人之上万人之下的地位去哪了?还有,这个死乞白赖的家伙又是谁?凤千墨:亲亲小思思,你要去哪啊?九思:……去哪管你什么事,还有,你这时候不应该在吹羽国吗?怎么会在这里?凤千墨:因为,想你了嘛!(默默扶额……)请问,那个所谓的一袭白衣胜雪,冰雪傲立人间的轩王去哪了?!
  • 冷帝独宠:逆天邪妃

    冷帝独宠:逆天邪妃

    她,冷千雪,二十一世纪的天才杀手,从小无父无母,带着空间穿到了异世。阴差阳错成了苍云国的公主。他傲天国的帝王。当她遇上他,冰山撞上冰山,是他征服了她,还是她驯服了他。她的宗旨:背叛我者,杀无赦。叱咤风云,王者归来。看她如何玩转风云大陆。
  • 明月共潮生

    明月共潮生

    非小白文,是一部很好的作品,希望大家喜欢
  • 不败仙祖

    不败仙祖

    是他开创了一个仙派并起的修仙时代,是他打造了守护种族的钢铁长城,是他引领了寰宇数千年的风骚!他就是万世仙祖!这是凡夫俗子挣扎反抗的不屈悲歌!这是修仙儿女逆天改命的坚毅宣誓!这是弱小种族救亡图存的壮丽史诗!感谢阅文书评团提供书评支持