§49ΚΡ. ἀλλὰ πειράσομαι.
Crito: Well, I will try.
ΣΩ. οὐδενὶ τρόπῳ φαμὲν ἑκόντας ἀδικητέον εἶναι, ἢ τινὶ μὲν ἀδικητέον τρόπῳ τινὶ δὲ οὔ;
Socrates: Do we say that in no way must we intentionally do injustice, or that in some way we must but in another we must not?
ἢ οὐδαμῶς τό γε ἀδικεῖν οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὔτε καλόν, ὡς πολλάκις ἡμῖν καὶ ἐν τῷ ἔμπροσθεν χρόνῳ ὡμολογήθη;
Or is doing injustice in no way either good or beautiful, as was often agreed by us in the past?
ἢ πᾶσαι ἡμῖν ἐκεῖναι αἱ πρόσθεν ὁμολογίαι ἐν ταῖσδε ταῖς ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις ἐκκεχυμέναι εἰσίν, καὶ πάλαι, ὦ Κρίτων, ἄρα τηλικοίδε ἄνδρες πρὸς ἀλλήλους σπουδῇ διαλεγόμενοι ἐλάθομεν ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς παίδων οὐδὲν διαφέροντες;
Or have all those former agreements of ours been poured away in these few days, and have we, Crito, of such an age, talking seriously with one another, long been unaware that we differ in no way from children?
ἢ παντὸς μᾶλλον οὕτως ἔχει ὥσπερ τότε ἐλέγετο ἡμῖν· εἴτε φασὶν οἱ πολλοὶ εἴτε μή, καὶ εἴτε δεῖ ἡμᾶς ἔτι τῶνδε χαλεπώτερα πάσχειν εἴτε καὶ πρᾳότερα, ὅμως τό γε ἀδικεῖν τῷ ἀδικοῦντι καὶ κακὸν καὶ αἰσχρὸν τυγχάνει ὂν παντὶ τρόπῳ;
Or is it, more than anything, just as it was then said by us: whether the many say so or not, and whether we must suffer even harder things than these or milder ones, nevertheless doing injustice is in every way both bad and shameful for the one who does injustice?
φαμὲν ἢ οὔ;
Do we say so or not?
ΚΡ. φαμέν.
Crito: We say so.
ΣΩ. οὐδαμῶς ἄρα δεῖ ἀδικεῖν.
Socrates: Then we must in no way do injustice.
ΚΡ. οὐ δῆτα.
Crito: Certainly not.
ΣΩ. οὐδὲ ἀδικούμενον ἄρα ἀνταδικεῖν, ὡς οἱ πολλοὶ οἴονται, ἐπειδή γε οὐδαμῶς δεῖ ἀδικεῖν.
Socrates: Then one must not even return injustice when wronged, as the many think, since one must in no way do injustice.
ΚΡ. οὐ φαίνεται.
Crito: It does not seem so.
ΣΩ. τί δὲ δή;
Socrates: What then?
κακουργεῖν δεῖ, ὦ Κρίτων, ἢ οὔ;
Must one do evil, Crito, or not?
ΚΡ. οὐ δεῖ δήπου, ὦ Σώκρατες.
Crito: One must not, of course, Socrates.
ΣΩ. τί δέ;
Socrates: And what of this?
ἀντικακουργεῖν κακῶς πάσχοντα, ὡς οἱ πολλοί φασιν, δίκαιον ἢ οὐ δίκαιον;
Is it just to return evil when one suffers evil, as the many say, or is it not just?
ΚΡ. οὐδαμῶς.
Crito: In no way.
ΣΩ. τὸ γάρ που κακῶς ποιεῖν ἀνθρώπους τοῦ ἀδικεῖν οὐδὲν διαφέρει.
Socrates: For doing evil to people is, I suppose, no different from doing injustice.
ΚΡ. ἀληθῆ λέγεις.
Crito: You speak the truth.
ΣΩ. οὔτε ἄρα ἀνταδικεῖν δεῖ οὔτε κακῶς ποιεῖν οὐδένα ἀνθρώπων, οὐδʼ ἂν ὁτιοῦν πάσχῃ ὑπʼ αὐτῶν.
Socrates: Therefore, one must neither return injustice nor do evil to any human being, no matter what one suffers from them.
καὶ ὅρα, ὦ Κρίτων, ταῦτα καθομολογῶν, ὅπως μὴ παρὰ δόξαν ὁμολογῇς· οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι ὀλίγοις τισὶ ταῦτα καὶ δοκεῖ καὶ δόξει.
And see, Crito, that in agreeing to this, you do not agree contrary to your real opinion; for I know that only to a few people does this seem true and will seem true.
οἷς οὖν οὕτω δέδοκται καὶ οἷς μή, τούτοις οὐκ ἔστι κοινὴ βουλή, ἀλλὰ ἀνάγκη τούτους ἀλλήλων καταφρονεῖν ὁρῶντας ἀλλήλων τὰ βουλεύματα.
For those who have decided thus and those who have not, there is no common counsel, but they must of necessity despise one another when they see each other's decisions.
σκόπει δὴ οὖν καὶ σὺ εὖ μάλα πότερον κοινωνεῖς καὶ συνδοκεῖ σοι καὶ ἀρχώμεθα ἐντεῦθεν βουλευόμενοι, ὡς οὐδέποτε ὀρθῶς ἔχοντος οὔτε τοῦ ἀδικεῖν οὔτε τοῦ ἀνταδικεῖν οὔτε κακῶς πάσχοντα ἀμύνεσθαι ἀντιδρῶντα κακῶς, ἢ ἀφίστασαι καὶ οὐ κοινωνεῖς τῆς ἀρχῆς;
Consider then very carefully, whether you share this and agree, and let us start our deliberation from this principle: that neither doing injustice nor returning injustice nor defending oneself against suffering evil by returning evil is ever correct; or do you stand aloof and not share this starting point?
ἐμοὶ μὲν γὰρ καὶ πάλαι οὕτω καὶ νῦν ἔτι δοκεῖ, σοὶ δὲ εἴ πῃ ἄλλῃ δέδοκται, λέγε καὶ δίδασκε.
For to me, both long ago and now, it still seems so; but if it seems otherwise to you in any way, speak and instruct me.
εἰ δʼ ἐμμένεις τοῖς πρόσθε, τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ἄκουε.
But if you stand by our previous agreements, hear the next point.
ΚΡ. ἀλλʼ ἐμμένω τε καὶ συνδοκεῖ μοι· ἀλλὰ λέγε.
Crito: But I do stand by them and I agree with you; so speak.
ΣΩ. λέγω δὴ αὖ τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο, μᾶλλον δʼ ἐρωτῶ· πότερον ἃ ἄν τις ὁμολογήσῃ τῳ δίκαια ὄντα ποιητέον ἢ ἐξαπατητέον;
Socrates: Then I say next, or rather I ask: should a person do what they have agreed with someone to be just, or should they cheat on it?
ΚΡ. ποιητέον.
Crito: One should do them.