§11ὁ μὲν οὖν Ζήνων, πυθόμενος ἣν ἔτι λοιπὴν εἶχε ναῦν μετὰ τῶν φορτίων καταπεπομένην ὑπὸ τῆς θαλάσσης,
εὖγʼ
εἶπεν
ὦ τύχη, ποιεῖς, εἰς τρίβωνα καὶ βίον φιλόσοφον συνελαύνουσʼ ἡμᾶς. ἀνὴρ δὲ μὴ τετυφωμένος παντάπασι μηδʼ ὀχλομανῶν οὐκ ἂν οἶμαι τὴν τύχην μέμψαιτο συνελαυνόμενος εἰς νῆσον, ἀλλʼ ἐπαινέσειεν ὅτι τὸν πολὺν ἄλυν καὶ ῥέμβον ἑαυτοῦ καὶ πλάνας ἐν ἀποδημίαις καὶ κινδύνους ἐν θαλάσσῃ καὶ θορύβους ἐν ἀγορᾷ περιελοῦσα, μόνιμον καὶ σχολαῖον καὶ ἀπερίσπαστον καὶ ἴδιον βίον ὡς ἀληθῶς δίδωσι, κέντρῳ καὶ διαστήματι περιγράψασα τὴν τῶν ἀναγκαίων χρείαν.
So Zenon, when he heard that his last remaining ship, together with its cargo, had been swallowed up by the sea, said: "Well done, said he, O Fortune, you do well in driving us to the threadbare cloak and the life of a philosopher." And a man who is not completely puffed up with pride nor mad for the crowd would not, I think, blame Fortune when driven to an island, but would rather praise her because, by removing his much restlessness, wandering, travels abroad, dangers at sea, and turmoils in the market-place, she gives him a truly stable, leisurely, undistracted, and personal life, having circumscribed the need for necessities with a center and a radius.
ποία γὰρ νῆσος οἰκίαν οὐκ ἔχει περίπατον λουτρὸν ἰχθῦς λαγωοὺς ἄγρᾳ καὶ παιδιᾷ χρῆσθαι βουλομένοις;
For what island does not have a house, a walk, a bath, fish, and hares for those who wish to employ them in hunting and sport?
τὸ μέγιστον, ἡσυχίας, ἧς διψῶσιν ἕτεροι, σοὶ πολλάκιςτυχεῖν ἔνεστιν ἀλλὰ πεττεύοντας καὶ ἀποκρυπτομένους οἴκοι συκοφάνται καὶ πολυπράγμονες ἐξιχνεύοντες καὶ διώκοντες ἐκ τῶν προαστείων καὶ τῶν κήπων εἰς ἀγορὰν καὶ εἰς αὐλὴν βίᾳ κατάγουσιν·
The greatest thing, quietness, which others thirst for, is often within your power to obtain. But, even when people are playing draughts and hiding at home, sycophants and busybodies track them down and, chasing them out of the suburbs and gardens, drag them by force to the market-place and the court.
εἰς δὲ νῆσον οὐκ ἐνοχλῶν τις οὐκ αἰτῶν οὐ δανειζόμενος οὐκ ἐγγυήσασθαι παρακαλῶν οὐ συναρχαιρεσιάσαι, διʼ εὔνοιαν δὲ καὶ πόθον οἱ βέλτιστοι τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ οἰκείων πλέουσιν· ὁ δʼ ἄλλος βίος ἄσυλος καὶ ἱερὸς ἀνεῖται τῷ βουλομένῳ καὶ μεμαθηκότι σχολάζειν.
Whereas to an island, no one comes to annoy you, no one to ask for favors, no one to borrow money, no one to entreat you to be a surety or to campaign together with him; but out of goodwill and affection, the best of your close friends and relatives sail to you; and the rest of your life, inviolable and sacred, is set apart for anyone who wishes and has learned to enjoy leisure.
ὁ δὲ τοὺς περιτρέχοντας ἔξω καὶ τοῦ βίου τὸ πλεῖστον ἐν πανδοκείοις καὶ πορθμείοις ἀναλίσκοντας εὐδαιμονίζων, ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ τοὺς πλάνητας οἰομένῳ τῶν ἀπλανῶν ἀστέρων πράττειν ἄμεινον· καίτοι τῶν πλανήτων ἕκαστος ἐν μιᾷ σφαίρᾳ καθάπερ ἐν νήσῳ περιπολῶν διαφυλάττει τὴν τάξιν
ἥλιος γὰρ οὐχ ὑπερβήσεται τὰ μέτρα
φησὶν ὁ Ἡράκλειτος· εἰ δὲ μή, Ἐρινύες μιν Δίκης ἐπίκουροι ἐξευρήσουσιν. §12ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μέν, ὦ φίλε, καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἐκείνους λέγωμεν κἀκείνοις ἐπᾴδωμεν, οἷς εἰς νῆσον ἀπῳκισμένοις ἀνεπίμικτα ποιεῖ τἄλλα; "πόντος ἁλὸς, ὃ πολεῖς ἀέκοντας ἐρύκει· "
σοὶ δʼ οὐχ ἑνὸς δεδομένου μόνον, ἀλλʼ ἀπειρημένου τόπου, πασῶν ἐστιν ἐξουσία πόλεων ἡ μιᾶς κώλυσις.
And he who congratulates those who run about outside and waste most of their lives in inns and ferryboats is like one who thinks that the wandering stars fare better than the fixed stars; and yet each of the planets, revolving in a single sphere as if on an island, preserves its own order: "For the sun will not transgress his measures," says Heraclitus; "otherwise, the Furies, the helpers of Justice, will find him out." But these things, my friend, and things of this kind, let us say to those and chant to those, for whom being exiled to an island makes other things unmixable: "the depth of the sea, which keeps back many unwillingly." But for you, since not only one place is given, but rather one place is forbidden, the exclusion from one city is the freedom of all.
ἀλλὰ μὴν τῷ
οὐκ ἄρχομεν οὐδὲ βουλεύομεν οὐδʼ ἀγωνοθετοῦμεν
ἀντίθες τὸ
οὐ στασιάζομεν οὐδʼ ἀναλίσκομεν οὐδὲ προσηρτήμεθα θύραις ἡγεμόνος· οὐδὲν οὖν μέλει ἡμῖν, ὅστις ὁ κεκληρωμένος τὴν ἐπαρχίαν ἐστίν, εἰ ἀκράχολος εἰ ἐπαχθής.
Indeed, against the saying: "We do not rule, nor serve on the council, nor preside over the games," set the saying: "We do not engage in faction, nor waste our wealth, nor do we hang about the doors of a ruler." Therefore, it matters nothing to us who has been allotted the province, whether he is quick-tempered or troublesome.
ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς, καθάπερ Ἀρχίλοχος τῆς Θάσου τὰ καρποφόρα καὶ οἰνόπεδα παρορῶν, διὰ τὸ τραχὺ καὶ ἀνώμαλον διέβαλε τὴν νῆσον εἰπών
"
ἣδε δʼ ὥστʼ ὄνου ῥάχις
ἕστηκεν ὕλης; ἀγρίας ἐπιστεφής,
"
οὕτω τῆς φυγῆς πρὸς ἓν μέρος τὸ ἄδοξον ἐντεινόμενοι παρορῶμεν τὴν ἀπραγμοσύνην καὶ τὴν σχολὴν καὶ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν.
But we, just as Archilochus, overlooking the fruitful and vineyard-clad parts of Thasos, on account of its ruggedness and unevenness slandered the island, saying: "This island stands like an ass's spine, crowned with wild wood," so we, by straining our attention toward only one, the inglorious part of exile, overlook the freedom from business, the leisure, and the liberty.
καίτοι τούς γε Περσῶν βασιλέας ἐμακάριζον ἐν Βαβυλῶνι τὸν χειμῶνα διάγοντας, ἐν δὲ Μηδίᾳ τὸ θέρος, ἐν δὲ Σούσοις τὸ ἥδιστον τοῦ ἔαρος.
And yet people used to congratulate the kings of the Persians for spending the winter in Babylon, the summer in Media, and the sweetest part of spring in Susa.
ἔξεστι δήπου καὶ τῷ, μεθεστῶτι μυστηρίοις ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι διατρίβειν Διονυσίοις ἐν Ἀθήναις, Ὀλύμπιʼ ἐν Πίσῃ Νέμεʼ ἐν Ἄργει πανηγυρίζειν, Πυθίων ἀγομένων εἰς Δελφοὺς παρελθεῖν, Ἰσθμίων εἰς Κόρινθον, ἄνπερ ᾖ φιλοθέωρος· εἰ δὲ μή, σχολὴ περίπατος ἀνάγνωσις ὕπνος ἀθορύβητος·
Surely it is permitted also to the one who has migrated to spend his time in Eleusis during the mysteries, and at the Dionysia in Athens, to celebrate the Olympic games at Pisa and the Nemean games at Argos, to go to Delphi when the Pythian games are held, and to Corinth for the Isthmian games, if he is fond of sightseeing; and if not, there is leisure, walking, reading, and undisturbed sleep.
τὸ τοῦ Διογένους
Ἀριστοτέλης ἀριστᾷ, ὅταν δοκῇ Φιλίππῳ, Διογένης, ὅταν Διογένει
μήτε πραγματείας μήτʼ ἄρχοντος μήθʼ ἡγεμόνος τὴν συνήθη δίαιταν περισπῶντος.
It is like the saying of Diogenes: "Aristotle dines when it seems good to Philip, but Diogenes when it seems good to Diogenes," with neither business, nor ruler, nor governor distracting him from his customary way of life.