§1ὑπομένει
"πεπραμένον τὸ σῶμα τῆς φερνῆς ἔχων"
ὡς Εὐριπίδης φησίν, βραχέα δεδήλωται καὶ ἀβέβαια τῷ δʼ οὐ πολλῆς διὰ τέφρας, ἀλλὰ πυρκαϊᾶς τινος βασιλικῆς πορευομένῳ καὶ περιφλεγομένῳ, ἄσθματος καὶ φόβου μεστῷ καὶ ἱδρῶτος διαποντίου, πλοῦτόν τινα προσθεῖσα Ταντάλειον ἀπολαῦσαι διʼ ἀσχολίαν οὐ δυναμένῳ.
"Enduring with his body sold for a dowry," as Euripides says, has been shown to be brief and uncertain. But for him who proceeds through not a small amount of ashes, but through some royal pyre and is enveloped in flames, full of panting and fear and sweat of crossing the sea, who is given a Tantalus-like wealth but is unable to enjoy it due to lack of leisure, (wealth is but a torment).
ὁ μὲν γὰρ Σικυώνιος ἐκεῖνος ἱπποτρόφος εὖ φρονῶν ἔδωκε τῷ βασιλεῖ τῶν Ἀχαιῶν θήλειαν ἵππον δρομάδα δῶρον,
"
ἵνα μὴ οἱ ἕποιθʼ ὑπὸ Ἴλιον ἠνεμόεσσαν
ἀλλʼ αὐτοῦ τέρποιτο μένων
"
εἰς βαθεῖαν εὐπορίαν καὶ σχολὴν ἄλυπον ἀνακλίνας ἑαυτόν·
For that Sicyonian horse-breeder, being wise, gave to the king of the Achaians a swift mare as a gift, "so that he might not follow him to windy Ilium, but remain there and enjoy himself," settling himself into deep wealth and painless leisure.
οἱ δὲ νῦν ἄλυποι καὶ πρακτικοὶ δοκοῦντες εἶναι, μηδενὸς καλοῦντος ὠθοῦνται διʼ αὑτῶν ἐπὶ τράχηλον εἰς αὐλὰς καὶ προπομπὰς καὶ θυραυλίας ἐπιπόνους, ἵνʼ ἵππου τινὸς ἢ πόρπης ἢ τοιαύτης τινὸς εὐημερίας τύχωσι.
But those of today who think themselves free of pain and active, though no one calls them, thrust themselves headlong into courts, retinues, and painful nights out of doors, in order to obtain some horse or clasp or some such prosperity.
"
τοῦ δὲ καὶ ἀμφιδρυφὴς ἄλοχος Φυλάκῃ ἐλέλειπτο,
καὶ δόμος ἡμιτελής· "
σύρεται δὲ καὶ πλανᾶται τριβόμενος ἔν τισιν ἐλπίσιν καὶ προπηλακιζόμενος· ἂν δὲ καὶ τύχῃ τινὸς ὧν ποθεῖ, περιενεχθεὶς καὶ σκοτοδινιάσας πρὸς τὸν τῆς τύχης πεταυρισμὸν ἀπόβασιν ζητεῖ καὶ μακαρίζει τοὺς ἀδόξους καὶ ἀσφαλῶς ζῶντας οἱ δʼ ἐκεῖνον πάλιν ἄνω βλέποντες ὑπὲρ αὑτοὺς φερόμενον.
"But his wife was left in Phylace, her cheeks torn on both sides, and his house half-finished," and he is dragged and wanders, worn out in certain hopes and insulted; and if he should obtain any of the things he desires, dizzy and reeling at the springboard of fortune, he seeks a way down and calls blessed those who live without glory and in safety, while they in turn look up at him being carried above them.
§2παντοίως; ἡ κακία διατίθησι πάντας ἀνθρώπους, αὐτοτελής τις οὖσα τῆς κακοδαιμονίας δημιουργός· οὔτε γὰρ ὀργάνων οὔτε ὑπηρετῶν ἔχει χρείαν.
In every way vice affects all men, being a self-sufficient artisan of unhappiness; for it has need of neither tools nor servants.
ἄλλοι δὲ τύραννοι σπουδάζοντες οὓς ἂν κολάζωσιν ἀθλίους ποιεῖν δημίους τρέφουσι καὶ βασανιστάς, ἢ καυτήρια καὶ σφῆνας ἐπιμηχανῶνται, ἀλόγου ψυχῇ ἡ δὲ κακία δίχα πάσης παρασκευῆς τῇ ψυχῇ συνελθοῦσα συνέτριψε καὶ κατέβαλε, λύπης ἐνέπλησε θρήνων βαρυθυμίας μεταμελείας τὸν ἄνθρωπον.
Other tyrants, striving to make miserable those whom they punish, maintain executioners and torturers, or devise branding irons and wedges, for the irrational soul. But vice, having joined the soul without any preparation, shatters and casts down, and fills the man with grief, lamentations, despondency, and repentance.
τεκμήριον δέ· τεμνόμενοι πολλοὶ σιωπῶσι καὶ μαστιγούμενοι καρτεροῦσι, καὶ σφηνούμενοι ὑπὸ δεσποτῶν ἢ τυράννων φωνὴν οὐκ ἀφῆκαν, ὅταν ἡ ψυχὴ μύσασα τῷ λόγῳ τὸν πόνον ὥσπερ χειρὶ πιέσῃ καὶ κατάσχῃ· θυμῷ δʼ οὐκ ἂν ἐπιτάξειας ἡσυχίαν οὐδὲ πένθει σιωπήν· οὔτε φοβούμενον στῆναι πείσειας, οὔτε δυσφοροῦντα μετανοίᾳ μὴ βοῆσαι μηδὲ τῶν τριχῶν λαβέσθαι ἢ τὸν μηρὸν κροῦσαι.
And here is the proof: many when cut remain silent, and when scourged endure, and when wedged by masters or tyrants do not utter a sound, when the soul, shutting its eyes, presses down and restrains the pain with reason as if with a hand; but you cannot command quietness to anger, nor silence to grief; nor could you persuade a frightened man to stand still, nor one who is distressed by repentance not to cry out, nor to tear his hair or beat his thigh.
οὕτω καὶ πυρός ἐστιν ἡ κακία καὶ σιδήρου βιαιοτέρα.
Thus, vice is more violent than both fire and iron.