§266ΞΕ. καὶ μὴν τό γε ζῷον, ὅσον ἥμερον καὶ ἀγελαῖον, σχεδὸν πλὴν γενοῖν δυοῖν πᾶν ἤδη κατακεκερμάτισται.
STRANGER: And indeed, the animal kingdom, as much as is tame and herd-dwelling, has already been almost entirely broken up, except for two classes.
τὸ γὰρ τῶν κυνῶν οὐκ ἐπάξιον καταριθμεῖν γένος ὡς ἐν ἀγελαίοις θρέμμασιν.
For the class of dogs is not worthy to be counted among the herd-dwelling animals.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. οὐ γὰρ οὖν.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Certainly not.
ἀλλὰ τίνι δὴ τὼ δύο διαιροῦμεν;
But by what then do we divide the two?
ΞΕ. ὧιπερ καὶ δίκαιόν γε Θεαίτητόν τε καὶ σὲ διανέμειν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ γεωμετρίας ἅπτεσθον.
STRANGER: By that which is indeed just for Theaetetus and you to distribute, since you both touch upon geometry.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. τῷ;
YOUNG SOCRATES: By what?
ΞΕ. τῇ διαμέτρῳ δήπου καὶ πάλιν τῇ τῆς διαμέτρου διαμέτρῳ.
STRANGER: By the diagonal, of course, and in turn by the diagonal of the diagonal.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς εἶπες;
YOUNG SOCRATES: How did you say?
ΞΕ. ἡ φύσις, ἣν τὸ γένος ἡμῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων κέκτηται, μῶν ἄλλως πως εἰς τὴν πορείαν πέφυκεν ἢ καθάπερ ἡ διάμετρος ἡ δυνάμει δίπους;
STRANGER: Does the nature which our human race possesses lie in any other way with respect to walking than as the diagonal which is in power two-feet?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. οὐκ ἄλλως.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Not otherwise.
ΞΕ. καὶ μὴν ἥ γε τοῦ λοιποῦ γένους πάλιν ἐστὶ κατὰ δύναμιν αὖ τῆς ἡμετέρας δυνάμεως διάμετρος, εἴπερ δυοῖν γέ ἐστι ποδοῖν δὶς πεφυκυῖα.
STRANGER: And indeed, that of the remaining class is in turn, in power, the diagonal of our power, if indeed it is born twice of two feet.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς δʼ οὐκ ἔστι;
YOUNG SOCRATES: How is it not?
καὶ δὴ καὶ σχεδὸν ὃ βούλει δηλοῦν μανθάνω.
And indeed, I almost understand what you want to show.
ΞΕ. πρὸς δὴ τούτοις ἕτερον αὖ τι τῶν πρὸς γέλωτα εὐδοκιμησάντων ἄν, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἆρα καθορῶμεν ἡμῖν γεγονὸς ἐν τοῖς διῃρημένοις;
STRANGER: In addition to these, Socrates, do we see another thing among the divided parts that would have been well-approved for laughter?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. τὸ ποῖον;
YOUNG SOCRATES: What kind of thing?
ΞΕ. τἀνθρώπινον ἡμῶν ἅμα γένος συνειληχὸς καὶ συνδεδραμηκὸς γένει τῷ τῶν ὄντων γενναιοτάτῳ καὶ ἅμα εὐχερεστάτῳ.
STRANGER: That our human race is lumped together and running along with the most noble and at the same time most easy-going class of existing things.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. καθορῶ καὶ μάλʼ ἀτόπως συμβαῖνον.
YOUNG SOCRATES: I see, and it is happening in a very strange way.
ΞΕ. τί δʼ;
STRANGER: What then?
οὐκ εἰκὸς ὕστατα ἀφικνεῖσθαι τὰ βραδύτατα;
Is it not likely that the slowest arrive last?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ναί, τοῦτό γε.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Yes, that indeed.
ΞΕ. τόδε δὲ οὐκ ἐννοοῦμεν, ὡς ἔτι γελοιότερος ὁ βασιλεὺς φαίνεται μετὰ τῆς ἀγέλης συνδιαθέων καὶ σύνδρομα πεπορευμένος τῷ τῶν ἀνδρῶν αὖ πρὸς τὸν εὐχερῆ βίον ἄριστα γεγυμνασμένῳ;
STRANGER: And do we not notice this, how the king appears even more ridiculous running along with his herd and having completed his course together with the one of men who is best trained for the easy-going life?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. παντάπασι μὲν οὖν.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Entirely so, indeed.
ΞΕ. νῦν γάρ, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἐκεῖνό ἐστι καταφανὲς μᾶλλον τὸ ῥηθὲν τότʼ ἐν τῇ περὶ τὸν σοφιστὴν ζητήσει.
STRANGER: For now, Socrates, that which was said then in the search concerning the sophist is more clearly manifest.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. τὸ ποῖον;
YOUNG SOCRATES: What kind of thing?
ΞΕ. ὅτι τῇ τοιᾷδε μεθόδῳ τῶν λόγων οὔτε σεμνοτέρου μᾶλλον ἐμέλησεν ἢ μή, τόν τε σμικρότερον οὐδὲν ἠτίμακε πρὸ τοῦ μείζονος, ἀεὶ δὲ καθʼ αὑτὴν περαίνει τἀληθέστατον.
STRANGER: That to such a method of arguments there is no more care for the grander than the not-so-grander, nor has it dishonored the smaller in any way before the greater, but always by itself accomplishes what is truest.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ἔοικεν.
YOUNG SOCRATES: It seems so.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν μετὰ τοῦτο, ἵνα μή με φθῇς ἐρωτήσας τὴν βραχυτέραν ὁδὸν ἥτις τότε ἦν ἐπὶ τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως ὅρον, αὐτός σοι πρότερον ἔλθω;
STRANGER: Therefore after this, so that you do not anticipate me by asking what was the shorter path then to the definition of the king, shall I myself go to it first for you?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. σφόδρα γε.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Very much so.
ΞΕ. λέγω δὴ δεῖν τότε εὐθὺς τὸ πεζὸν τῷ δίποδι πρὸς τὸ τετράπουν γένος διανεῖμαι, κατιδόντα δὲ τἀνθρώπινον ἔτι μόνῳ τῷ πτηνῷ συνειληχὸς τὴν δίποδα ἀγέλην πάλιν τῷ ψιλῷ καὶ τῷ πτεροφυεῖ τέμνειν, τμηθείσης δὲ αὐτῆς καὶ τότʼ ἤδη τῆς ἀνθρωπονομικῆς δηλωθείσης τέχνης, φέροντα τὸν πολιτικὸν καὶ βασιλικὸν οἷον ἡνίοχον εἰς αὐτὴν ἐνστήσαντα, παραδοῦναι τὰς τῆς πόλεως ἡνίας ὡς οἰκείας καὶ αὐτῷ ταύτης οὔσης τῆς ἐπιστήμης.
STRANGER: I say then that we ought then immediately to have divided the land-dwelling from the two-footed against the four-footed class, and, seeing the human race still lumped together only with the winged, to split the two-footed herd again into the bare and the wing-bearing; and once this had been split and at that point the art of shepherding humans had already been made clear, to place the statesman and king into it, like a charioteer, and hand over to him the reins of the state, since this science belongs to him and is his own.
§267ΝΕ. ΣΩ. καλῶς καὶ καθαπερεὶ χρέος ἀπέδωκάς μοι τὸν λόγον, προσθεὶς τὴν ἐκτροπὴν οἷον τόκον καὶ ἀναπληρώσας αὐτόν.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Beautifully, and just as if paying back a debt, you have returned the argument to me, adding the detour like interest and completing it.
ΞΕ. φέρε δὴ καὶ συνείρωμεν ἐπανελθόντες ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν μέχρι τῆς τελευτῆς τὸν λόγον τοῦ ὀνόματος τῆς τοῦ πολιτικοῦ τέχνης.
STRANGER: Come then, let us also, going back to the beginning, weave together the argument to the end concerning the name of the art of the statesman.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
YOUNG SOCRATES: By all means.
ΞΕ. τῆς γνωστικῆς τοίνυν ἐπιστήμης ἡμῖν ἦν κατʼ ἀρχὰς μέρος ἐπιτακτικόν· τούτου δὲ ἀπεικασθὲν τὸ μόριον αὐτεπιτακτικὸν ἐρρήθη.
STRANGER: In our hands, then, at the beginning, a part of cognitive science was the commanding part; and the part of this that was made in its likeness was called self-commanding.
ζῳοτροφικὴ δὲ πάλιν αὐτεπιτακτικῆς οὐ τὸ σμικρότατον τῶν γενῶν ἀπεσχίζετο· καὶ ζῳοτροφικῆς εἶδος ἀγελαιοτροφικόν, ἀγελαιοτροφικοῦ δʼ αὖ πεζονομικόν· τοῦ δὲ πεζονομικοῦ μάλιστα ἀπετέμνετο τέχνη τῆς ἀκεράτου φύσεως θρεπτική.
In turn, animal-rearing split off from self-commanding, not the smallest of classes; and a species of animal-rearing was herd-rearing, and of herd-rearing again, land-dwelling husbandry; and from land-dwelling husbandry, the art of rearing the hornless nature was especially cut off.
ταύτης δʼ αὖ τὸ μέρος οὐκ ἔλαττον τριπλοῦν συμπλέκειν ἀναγκαῖον, ἂν εἰς ἕν τις αὐτὸ ὄνομα συναγαγεῖν βουληθῇ, γενέσεως ἀμείκτου νομευτικὴν ἐπιστήμην προσαγορεύων.
In turn, it is necessary to interweave a part of this that is no less than threefold, if one wishes to bring it together into a single name, calling it the shepherding science of unmixed breeding.
τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ τούτου τμῆμα, ἐπὶ ποίμνῃ δίποδι μέρος ἀνθρωπονομικὸν ἔτι λειφθὲν μόνον, τοῦτʼ αὐτό ἐστιν ἤδη τὸ ζητηθέν, ἅμα βασιλικὸν ταὐτὸν κληθὲν καὶ πολιτικόν.
And the section after this, the part of shepherding humans still left alone over the two-footed flock, is itself already the object of our search, called at once both kingly and statesmanly.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. παντάπασι μὲν οὖν.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Entirely so.
ΞΕ. ἆρά γʼ, ὦ Σώκρατες, ἀληθῶς ἡμῖν τοῦτο καθάπερ σὺ νῦν εἴρηκας οὕτως ἐστὶ καὶ πεπραγμένον;
STRANGER: Now, Socrates, is this truly done and accomplished by us just as you have now said?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. τὸ ποῖον δή;
YOUNG SOCRATES: What kind of thing?
ΞΕ. τὸ παντάπασιν ἱκανῶς εἰρῆσθαι τὸ προτεθέν;
STRANGER: Has the proposed subject been entirely and sufficiently stated?
ἢ τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ καὶ μάλιστα ἡ ζήτησις ἐλλείπει, τὸ τὸν λόγον εἰρῆσθαι μέν πως, οὐ μὴν παντάπασί γε τελέως ἀπειργάσθαι;
Or does our search fall short in this very thing, namely, that the argument has been stated in a way, but has not yet been entirely and perfectly completed?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς εἶπες;
YOUNG SOCRATES: How did you say?
ΞΕ. ἐγὼ νῷν πειράσομαι τοῦτʼ αὐτὸ ὃ διανοοῦμαι νῦν ἔτι μᾶλλον δηλῶσαι.
STRANGER: I shall try to make this very thing that I am thinking still more clear to both of us.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. λέγοις ἄν.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Speak.
ΞΕ. οὐκοῦν τῶν νομευτικῶν ἡμῖν πολλῶν φανεισῶν ἄρτι τεχνῶν μία τις ἦν ἡ πολιτικὴ καὶ μιᾶς τινος ἀγέλης ἐπιμέλεια;
STRANGER: Was not the statesman's art, among the many shepherding arts that appeared to us just now, one certain art, and the care of one certain herd?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. ναί.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Yes.
ΞΕ. ταύτην δέ γε διώριζεν ὁ λόγος οὐχ ἵππων εἶναι τροφὸν οὐδʼ ἄλλων θηρίων, ἀλλʼ ἀνθρώπων κοινοτροφικὴν ἐπιστήμην.
STRANGER: And did not the argument define this, not as the rearer of horses nor of other wild beasts, but as the collective-rearing science of humans?
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. οὕτως.
YOUNG SOCRATES: Thus.
ΞΕ. τὸ δὴ τῶν νομέων πάντων διάφορον καὶ τὸ τῶν βασιλέων θεασώμεθα.
STRANGER: Let us then observe the difference between all the other shepherds and the kings.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. τὸ ποῖον;
YOUNG SOCRATES: What kind of thing?
ΞΕ. εἴ τις τῶν ἄλλων τῳ, τέχνης ἄλλης ὄνομα ἔχων, κοινῇ τῆς ἀγέλης σύντροφος εἶναί φησι καὶ προσποιεῖται.
STRANGER: If any of the others, having the name of another art, claims and pretends to be a joint-rearer of the herd.
ΝΕ. ΣΩ. πῶς φῄς;
YOUNG SOCRATES: How do you mean?