Dialogues of Plato - MobileReference [378]
Whom then will they allow?
There is a charioteer, whom my father pays for driving.
And do they trust a hireling more than you? and may he do what he likeswith the horses? and do they pay him for this?
They do.
But I dare say that you may take the whip and guide the mule-cart if youlike;--they will permit that?
Permit me! indeed they will not.
Then, I said, may no one use the whip to the mules?
Yes, he said, the muleteer.
And is he a slave or a free man?
A slave, he said.
And do they esteem a slave of more value than you who are their son? Anddo they entrust their property to him rather than to you? and allow him todo what he likes, when they prohibit you? Answer me now: Are you your ownmaster, or do they not even allow that?
Nay, he said; of course they do not allow it.
Then you have a master?
Yes, my tutor; there he is.
And is he a slave?
To be sure; he is our slave, he replied.
Surely, I said, this is a strange thing, that a free man should be governedby a slave. And what does he do with you?
He takes me to my teachers.
You do not mean to say that your teachers also rule over you?
Of course they do.
Then I must say that your father is pleased to inflict many lords andmasters on you. But at any rate when you go home to your mother, she willlet you have your own way, and will not interfere with your happiness; herwool, or the piece of cloth which she is weaving, are at your disposal: Iam sure that there is nothing to hinder you from touching her woodenspathe, or her comb, or any other of her spinning implements.
Nay, Socrates, he replied, laughing; not only does she hinder me, but Ishould be beaten if I were to touch one of them.
Well, I said, this is amazing. And did you ever behave ill to your fatheror your mother?
No, indeed, he replied.
But why then are they so terribly anxious to prevent you from being happy,and doing as you like?--keeping you all day long in subjection to another,and, in a word, doing nothing which you desire; so that you have no good,as would appear, out of their great possessions, which are under thecontrol of anybody rather than of you, and have no use of your own fairperson, which is tended and taken care of by another; while you, Lysis, aremaster of nobody, and can do nothing?
Why, he said, Socrates, the reason is that I am not of age.
I doubt whether that is the real reason, I said; for I should imagine thatyour father Democrates, and your mother, do permit you to do many thingsalready, and do not wait until you are of age: for example, if they wantanything read or written, you, I presume, would be the first person in thehouse who is summoned by them.
Very true.
And you would be allowed to write or read the letters in any order whichyou please, or to take up the lyre and tune the notes, and play with thefingers, or strike with the plectrum, exactly as you please, and neitherfather nor mother would interfere with you.
That is true, he said.
Then what can be the reason, Lysis, I said, why they allow you to do theone and not the other?
I suppose, he said, because I understand the one, and not the other.
Yes, my dear youth, I said, the reason is not any deficiency of years, buta deficiency of knowledge; and whenever your father thinks that you arewiser than he is, he will instantly commit himself and his possessions toyou.
I think so.
Aye, I said; and about your neighbour, too, does not the same rule hold asabout your father? If he is satisfied that you know more of housekeepingthan he does, will he continue to administer his affairs himself, or willhe commit them to you?
I think that he will commit them to me.
Will not the Athenian people, too, entrust their affairs to you when theysee that you have wisdom enough to manage them?
Yes.
And oh! let me put another case, I said: There is the great king, and hehas an eldest son, who is the Prince of Asia;--suppose that you and I go tohim and establish to his satisfaction that we are better cooks than hisson, will he not entrust to us the prerogative of making soup, and puttingin