§4ὅταν ἰατρὸς πρὸς ἄνθρωπον εἰσελθὼν ἐρριμμένον ἐν τῷ κλινιδίῳ καὶ στένοντα καὶ μὴ βουλόμενον τροφὴν λαβεῖν, ἅψηται καὶ ἀνακρίνῃ καὶ εὕρῃ μὴ πυρέττοντα,
ψυχικὴ νόσος
ἔφη καὶ ἀπῆλθεν οὐκοῦν καὶ ἡμεῖς ὅταν ἴδωμεν ἄνδρα τῷ πορισμῷ προστετηκότα καὶ τοῖς ἀναλώμασιν ἐπιστένοντα καὶ μηδενὸς εἰς χρηματισμὸν συντελοῦντος αἰσχροῦ μηδʼ ἀνιαροῦ φειδόμενον, οἰκίας δʼ ἔχοντα καὶ χώρας καὶ ἀγέλας καὶ ἀνδράποδα σὺν ἱματίοις, τί φήσομεν τὸ πάθος εἶναι τἀνθρώπου ἢ πενίαν ψυχικήν;
When a physician, having come in to a man who is cast down on a small bed and groaning and unwilling to take food, touches and examines him and finds him not suffering from fever, he says, "It is a disease of the soul," and departs. Therefore, we too, when we see a man wasted away by acquisition and groaning over expenses, and sparing nothing, however shameful or painful, that contributes to making money, while possessing houses and lands and herds and slaves along with garments, what shall we say that man's ailment is, if not a poverty of the soul?
ἐπεὶ τήν γε χρηματικήν, ὥς φησιν ὁ Μένανδρος, εἷς ἂν φίλος ἀπαλλάξειεν εὐεργετήσας· τὴν δὲ ψυχικὴν ἐκείνην οὐκ ἂν ἐμπλήσειαν ἅπαντες οὔτε ζῶντες οὔτε ἀποθανόντες.
Since, as Menander says, one friend by conferring a benefit might relieve pecuniary poverty; but that other, the poverty of the soul, not all men, whether living or dead, could ever satisfy.
ὅθεν εὖ πρὸς τούτους λέλεκται ὑπὸ τοῦ Σόλωνος
"πλούτου δʼ οὐδὲν τέρμα πεφασμένον ἀνθρώποισιν. "
ἐπεὶ τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσιν ὁ τῆς φύσεως πλοῦτος ὥρισται καὶ τὸ τέρμα πάρεστι τῆς χρείας καθάπερ κέντρῳ καὶ διαστήματι περιγραφόμενον.
Hence it was well said by Solon against such people: "No limit of wealth has been made manifest to men." Since, for those who have sense, the wealth of nature is limited, and the boundary of need is present, circumscribed as if by a center and a radius.
ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῦτο τῆς φιλαργυρίας ἴδιον· ἐπιθυμία γάρ ἐστι μαχομένη πρὸς τὴν αὑτῆς πλήρωσιν·
But this too is peculiar to the love of money: for it is a desire that fights against its own fulfillment; whereas other desires even cooperate.
αἱ δʼ ἄλλαι καὶ συνεργοῦσιν οὐδεὶς γοῦν ἀπέχεται χρήσεως ὄψου διὰ φιλοψίαν οὐδʼ οἴνου διʼ οἰνοφλυγίαν, ὡς χρημάτων ἀπέχονται διὰ φιλοχρηματίαν.
At any rate, no one abstains from eating relish because of being fond of relish, nor from wine because of being fond of wine, in the way they abstain from money because of the love of money.
καίτοι πῶς οὐ μανικὸν οὐδʼ οἰκτρὸν τὸ πάθος, εἴ τις ἱματίῳ μὴ χρῆται διὰ τὸ ῥιγοῦν μηδʼ ἄρτῳ διὰ τὸ πεινῆν μηδὲ πλούτῳ διὰ τὸ φιλοπλουτεῖν;
And yet, how is this ailment not crazy and pitiable, if someone does not use a garment because of shivering, nor bread because of hungering, nor wealth because of being fond of wealth?
ἀλλʼ ἐν τοῖς Θρασωνίδου κακοῖς ἐστιν· "
παρʼ ἐμοὶ γάρ ἐστιν ἔνδον, ἔξεστιν δέ μοι
καὶ βούλομαι τοῦθʼ ὡς ἂν ἐμμανέστατα
ἐρῶν τις, οὐ ποιῶ δέ· "
κατακλείσας δὲ πάντα καὶ κατασφραγισάμενος, καὶ παραριθμήσας τοκισταῖς καὶ πραγματευταῖς, ἄλλα συνάγω καὶ διώκω· καὶ ζυγομαχῶ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκέτας πρὸς τοὺς γεωργοὺς πρὸς τοὺς χρεώστας· "
Ἄπολλον, ἀνθρώπων τινʼ ἀθλιώτερον
ἑόρακας ἢ ἐρῶντα δυσποτμώτερον; "
Rather, he is in the evils of Thrasonides: "For it is inside with me, and it is permitted to me, and I want this as most madly as anyone in love, but I do not do it." And having locked up everything and sealed it, and having reckoned it out to usurers and merchants, I collect and pursue other things; and I fight with my servants, with my farmers, and with my debtors: "Apollo, have you seen any man more wretched or any lover more ill-fated?" Sophocles, when asked if he was still able to be intimate with a woman, said, "Hush, man!
§5ὁ Σοφοκλῆς ἐρωτηθείς, εἰ δύναται γυναικὶ πλησιάζειν,
εὐφήμει, ἄνθρωπε
εἶπεν
ἐλεύθερος γέγονα, λυττῶντας καὶ ἀγρίους δεσπότας διὰ τὸ γῆρας ἀποφυγών. χάριεν γὰρ ἅμα ταῖς ἡδοναῖς συνεκλιπεῖν τὰς ἐπιθυμίας, ἃς μήτε ἄνδρα φησὶν Ἀλκαῖος; διαφυγεῖν μήτε γυναῖκα.
I have become free, having escaped mad and savage masters because of old age." For it is a pleasant thing for the desires to fail together with the pleasures, which Alcaeus says neither man nor woman can escape.
τοῦτο δʼ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐπὶ τῆς φιλοπλουτίας· ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ βαρεῖα καὶ πικρὰ δέσποινα κτάσθαι μὲν ἀναγκάζει χρῆσθαι δὲ κωλύει, καὶ τὴν μὲν ἐπιθυμίαν ἐγείρει τὴν δʼ ἡδονὴν ἀφαιρεῖται.
But this is not so in the case of the love of money; rather, like a heavy and bitter mistress, she forces one to acquire but prevents using, and arouses the desire while taking away the pleasure.
τοὺς μὲν οὖν Ῥοδίους ὁ Στρατόνικος ἐπέσκωπτεν εἰς πολυτέλειαν, οἰκοδομεῖν μὲν ὡς ἀθανάτους λέγων ὀψωνεῖν δʼ ὡς ὀλιγοχρονίους οἱ δὲ φιλάργυροι κτῶνται μὲν ὡς πολυτελεῖς χρῶνται δʼ ὡς ἀνελεύθεροι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν πόνους ὑπομένουσι τὰς δʼ ἡδονὰς οὐκ ἔχουσιν.
Thus Stratonicus used to mock the Rhodians for their luxury, saying that they built as if they were immortal, but bought provisions as if they were short-lived; but the avaricious acquire as if they were luxurious, but use as if they were illiberal, and they endure the labors but do not have the pleasures.
ὁ γοῦν Δημάδης ἐπιστὰς ἀριστῶντί ποτε Φωκίωνι καὶ θεασάμενος αὐτοῦ τὴν τράπεζαν αὐστηρὰν καὶ λιτήν,
θαυμάζω σʼ ὦ Φωκίων
εἶπεν
ὅτι οὕτως ἀριστᾶν δυνάμενος πολιτεύῃ
αὐτὸς γὰρ εἰς τὴν γαστέρα ἐδημαγώγει, καὶ τὰς Ἀθήνας μικρὸν ἡγούμενος τῆς ἀσωτίας ἐφόδιον ἐκ τῆς Μακεδονίας ἐπεσιτίζετο· καὶ διὰ τοῦτʼ Ἀντίπατρος εἶπε θεασάμενος αὐτὸν γέροντα· καθάπερ ἱερείου διαπεπραγμένου μηδὲν ἔτι λοιπὸν ἢ τὴν γλῶσσαν εἶναι καὶ τὴν κοιλίαν
σὲ δʼ οὐκ ἄν τις, ὦ κακόδαιμον, θαυμάσειεν, εἰ δυνάμενος οὕτω ζῆν ἀνελευθέρως καὶ ἀπανθρώπως καὶ ἀμεταδότως καὶ πρὸς φίλους ἀπηνῶς καὶ πρὸς πολίτας ἀφιλοτίμως, κακοπαθεῖς καὶ ἀγρυπνεῖς καὶ ἐργολαβεῖς καὶ κληρονομεῖς καὶ ὑποπίπτεις τηλικοῦτον ἔχων τῆς ἀπραγμοσύνης ἐφόδιον, τὴν ἀνελευθερίαν;
At any rate, Demades once stood by Phocion as he was dining, and having beheld his table, austere and simple, said, "I wonder at you, Phocion, that you, being able to dine thus, engage in public affairs." For he himself played the demagogue for the sake of his belly, and, regarding Athens as a small provision for his prodigality, got supply from Macedonia; and for this reason Antipater, having seen him as an old man, said: "Just like a slaughtered victim, nothing is left but the tongue and the belly." But who would not wonder at you, wretched man, if, being able to live so illiberally, inhumanly, and uncharitably, and harshly towards friends and without ambition towards citizens, you suffer hardship, lie awake, contract for labor, hunt for inheritances, and submit to others, though having so great a provision for freedom from care—namely, your illiberality?
Βυζάντιόν τινα λέγουσιν ἐπὶ δυσμόρφῳ γυναικὶ μοιχὸν εὑρόντʼ εἰπεῖν,
ὦ ταλαίπωρε, τίς ἀνάγκη;
They say that a certain Byzantine, having found an adulterer with his ugly wife, said: "Wretched man, what necessity is there?
σαπραγόρα προῖξ. ἄγε σὺ κυκᾷς ὑφάπτεις, ὦ πόνηρε, τοὺς βασιλεῖς πορίζεσθαι δεῖ τοὺς ἐπιτρόπους τῶν βασιλέων τοὺς ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι πρωτεύειν καὶ ἄρχειν ἐθέλοντας·
A rotten hellebore is her dowry." Come, why do you stir things up and set them on fire, you rogue?
ἐκείνοις ἀνάγκη διὰ τὴν φιλοτιμίαν καὶ ἀλαζονείαν καὶ τὴν κενὴν δόξαν ἑστιῶσιν χαριζομένοις δορυφοροῦσι δῶρα πέμπουσι, στρατεύματα τρέφουσι μονομάχους ὠνουμένοις·
It is necessary to acquire for the governors of kings, and those who wish to be first and rule in the cities; for those men it is necessary, on account of their ambition, boastfulness, and empty glory, to feast others, to gratify them, to keep bodyguards, to send gifts, to maintain armies, and to buy gladiators.
σὺ δὲ τοσαῦτα πράγματα συγχεῖς καὶ ταράττεις καὶ
"στροβεῖς σεαυτόν, κοχλίου βίον ζῶν"
διὰ τὴν μικρολογίαν, καὶ τὰ δυσχερῆ πάνθʼ ὑπομένεις οὐδὲν εὖ πάσχων, ὥσπερ ὄνος βαλανέως ξύλα καὶ φρύγανα κατακομίζων, ἀεὶ καπνοῦ τε καί τέφρας ἀναπιμπλάμενος λουτροῦ δὲ μὴ μετέχων μηδʼ ἀλέας μηδὲ καθαρειότητος.
But you mix up and disturb so many affairs, and "spin yourself around, living the life of a snail," on account of your niggardliness, and you endure all difficulties without receiving any benefit, just like a bath-keeper's donkey bringing down wood and brushwood, always filled with smoke and ashes, but having no share in the bath, nor in warmth, nor in cleanliness.