§26τὸ δʼ ἕτερον ῥᾴδιον, τὸ μηκέτι ὠνεῖσθαι βιβλία.
But the other is easy, namely, no longer to buy books.
ἱκανῶς πεπαίδευσαι, ἅλις σοι τῆς σοφίας.
You have been sufficiently educated, and you have enough of wisdom.
μόνον οὐκ ἐπʼ ἄκρου τοῦ χείλους ἔχεις τὰ παλαιὰ πάντα.
You almost have all ancient things on the tip of your lip.
πᾶσαν μὲν ἱστορίαν οἶσθα, πάσας δὲ λόγων τέχνας καὶ κάλλη αὐτῶν καὶ κακίας καὶ ὀνομάτων χρῆσιν τῶν Ἀττικῶν· πάνσοφόν τι χρῆμα καὶ ἄκρον ἐν παιδείᾳ γεγένησαι διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν βιβλίων.
You know all history, and all the arts of speeches, their beauties and defects, and the use of Attic words; you have become an all-wise thing and at the height of education because of the multitude of your books.
κωλύει γὰρ οὐδὲν κἀμέ σοι ἐνδιατρίβειν, ἐπειδὴ χαίρεις ἐξαπατώμενος.
For nothing prevents me too from spending time on you, since you delight in being deceived.
§27ἡδέως δʼ ἂν καὶ ἐροίμην σε, τὰ τοσαῦτα βιβλία ἔχων τί μάλιστα ἀναγιγνώσκεις αὐτῶν;
And I would also gladly ask you, having so many books, what of them you especially read?
τὰ Πλάτωνος;
Plato's?
τὰ Ἀντισθένους;
Antisthenes'?
τὰ Ἀρχιλόχου;
Archilochus'?
τὰ Ἱππώνακτος;
Hipponax'?
ἢ τούτων μὲν ὑπερφρονεῖς, ῥήτορες δὲ μάλιστά σοι διὰ χειρός;
Or do you despise these, and are the orators especially in your hands?
εἰπέ μοι, καὶ Αἰσχίνου τὸν κατὰ Τιμάρχου λόγον ἀναγιγνώσκεις;
Tell me, do you also read Aeschines' speech against Timarchus?
ἢ ἐκεῖνά γε πάντα οἶσθα καὶ γιγνώσκεις αὐτῶν ἕκαστον, τὸν δὲ Ἀριστοφάνην καὶ τὸν Εὔπολιν ὑποδέδυκας;
Or do you know all of those things indeed and understand each of them, and have slipped into Aristophanes and Eupolis?
ἀνέγνως καὶ τοὺς Βάπτας, τὸ δρᾶμα ὅλον;
Did you read also the 'Baptae', the whole play?
εἶτʼ οὐδέν σου τἀκεῖ καθίκετο, οὐδʼ ἠρυθρίασας γνωρίσας αὐτά;
Then did nothing of what is there touch you, nor did you blush recognizing them?
τοῦτο γοῦν καὶ μάλιστα θαυμάσειεν ἄν τις, τίνα ποτὲ ψυχὴν ἔχων ἅπτῃ τῶν βιβλίων, ὁποίαις αὐτὰ χερσὶν ἀνελίττεις.
This at least anyone would especially wonder at, with what kind of soul you touch the books, and with what sort of hands you unroll them.
πότε δὲ ἀναγιγνώσκεις;
And when do you read?
μεθʼ ἡμέραν;
By day?
ἀλλʼ οὐδεὶς ἑώρακε τοῦτο ποιοῦντα.
But no one has seen you doing this.
ἀλλὰ νύκτωρ;
Then at night?
πότερον ἐπιτεταγμένος ἤδη ἐκείνοις ἢ πρὸ τῶν λόγων;
Is it when you have already been ordered by those fellows, or before the acts?
§28ἀλλὰ πρὸς Κότυος μηκέτι μὴ τολμήσῃς τοιοῦτο μηδέν, ἄφες δὲ τὰ βιβλία καὶ μόνα ἐργάζου τὰ σαυτοῦ.
But by Cotys, do not dare any such thing any longer, but let go of the books and do only your own business.
καίτοι ἐχρῆν μηκέτι μηδὲ ἐκεῖνα„ αἰδεσθῆναι δὲ τὴν τοῦ Εὐριπίδου Φαίδραν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν γυναικῶν ἀγανακτοῦσαν καὶ λέγουσαν,
"
οὐδὲ σκότον φρίσσουσι τὸν συνεργάτην
τέρεμνά τʼ οἴκων μή ποτε φθογγὴν ἀφῇ. "
εἰ δὲ πάντως ἐμμένειν τῇ ὁμοίᾳ νόσῳ διέγνωσται, ἴθι, ὠνοῦ μὲν βιβλία καὶ οἴκοι κατακλείσας ἔχε καὶ καρποῦ τὴν δόξαν τῶν κτημάτων.
And yet, you ought not to do those things either, but to feel shame before Euripides' Phaedra, who is indignant on behalf of women and says, 'Neither do they shudder at the darkness, their accomplice, nor do they fear lest the chambers of the house should ever utter a voice.' But if you are entirely resolved to persist in the same disease, go, buy books, keep them locked up at home, and enjoy the reputation of your possessions.
ἱκανόν σοι καὶ τοῦτο.
This too is enough for you.
προσάψῃ δὲ μηδέποτε μηδὲ ἀναγνῷς μηδὲ ὑπαγάγῃς τῇ γλώττῃ παλαιῶν ἀνδρῶν λόγους καὶ ποιήματα μηδὲν δεινόν σε εἰργασμένα.
And never touch, nor read, nor bring to your tongue the speeches and poems of ancient men, which have done you no harm.
οἶδα ὡς μάτην ταῦτά μοι λελήρηται καὶ κατὰ τὴν παροιμίαν Αἰθίοπα σμήχειν ἐπιχειρῶ· σὺ γὰρ ὠνήσῃ καὶ χρήσῃ εἰς οὐδὲν καὶ καταγελασθήσῃ πρὸς τῶν πεπαιδευμένων, οἷς ἀπόχρη ὠφελεῖσθαι οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ κάλλους τῶν βιβλίων οὐδʼ ἐκ τῆς πολυτελείας αὐτῶν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ τῆς φωνῆς καὶ τῆς γνώμης τῶν γεγραφότων.
I know that I have prated these things in vain and, according to the proverb, I am attempting to wash an Ethiopian clean; for you will buy and use them for nothing, and you will be laughed at by the educated, for whom it is sufficient to benefit not from the beauty of the books nor from their costliness, but from the voice and the mind of those who wrote them.
§29σὺ δὲ οἴει θεραπεύσειν τὴν ἀπαιδευσίαν καὶ ἐπικαλύψειν τῇ δόξῃ ταύτῃ καὶ ἐκπλήξειν τῷ πλήθει τῶν βιβλίων, οὐκ εἰδὼς ὅτι καὶ οἱ ἀμαθέστατοι τῶν ἰατρῶν τὸ αὐτὸ σοὶ ποιοῦσιν, ἐλεφαντίνους νάρθηκας καὶ σικύας ἀργυρᾶς ποιούμενοι καὶ σμίλας χρυσοκολλήτους· ὁπόταν δὲ καὶ χρήσασθαι τούτοις δέῃ, οἱ μὲν οὐδὲ ὅπως χρὴ μεταχειρίσασθαι αὐτὰ ἴσασιν· παρελθὼν δέ τις εἰς τὸ μέσον τῶν μεμαθηκότων φλεβότομον εὖ μάλα ἠκονημένον ἔχων ἰοῦ τἄλλα μεστὸν ἀπήλλαξε τῆς ὀδύνης τὸν νοσοῦντα.
And you think you will cure your ignorance and cover it over with this reputation and astound people with the multitude of books, not knowing that even the most ignorant of doctors do the same as you, making ivory splints, silver cupping-glasses, and gold-inlaid scalpels; and whenever there is need to use them, they indeed do not even know how they ought to handle them; while someone of those who have learned, stepping forward into the midst with a very well-sharpened lancet, though otherwise full of rust, delivers the sick person from his pain.
ἵνα δὲ καὶ γελοιοτέρῳ τινὶ τὰ σὰ εἰκάσω, τοὺς κουρέας τούτους ἐπίσκεψαι, καὶ ὄψει τοὺς μὲν τεχνίτας αὐτῶν ξυρὸν καὶ μαχαιρίδας καὶ κάτοπτρον σύμμετρον ἔχοντας, τοὺς δὲ ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἰδιώτας πλῆθος μαχαιρίδων προτιθέντας καὶ κάτοπτρα μεγάλα, οὐ μὴν λήσειν γε διὰ ταῦτα οὐδὲν εἰδότας.
And that I may compare your affairs to something even more ridiculous, look at these barbers, and you will see that the skilled among them have a razor, scissors, and a moderate mirror, whereas the ignorant and unskilled display a multitude of scissors and large mirrors, not indeed escaping notice through these that they know nothing.
ἀλλὰ τὸ γελοιότατον ἐκεῖνο πάσχουσιν, ὅτι κείρονται μὲν οἱ πολλοὶ παρὰ τοῖς γείτοσιν αὐτῶν, πρὸς δὲ τὰ ἐκείνων κάτοπτρα προσελθόντες τὰς κόμας εὐθετίζουσιν.
But they suffer that most ridiculous thing: that most people get their hair cut at their neighbors' shops, but, coming to their mirrors, they arrange their hair.
§30καὶ σὺ τοίνυν ἄλλῳ μὲν δεηθέντι χρήσειας ἂν τὰ βιβλία, χρήσασθαι δὲ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἂν δύναιο.
And you, therefore, might lend the books to another who has need, but you yourself would not be able to use them.
καίτοι οὐδὲ ἔχρησάς τινι βιβλίον πώποτε, ἀλλὰ τὸ τῆς κυνὸς ποιεῖς τῆς ἐν τῇ φάτνῃ κατακειμένης, ἣ οὔτε αὐτὴ τῶν κριθῶν ἐσθίει οὔτε τῷ ἵππῳ δυναμένῳ φαγεῖν ἐπιτρέπει.
And yet, you never lent a book to anyone, but you do the thing of the dog lying in the manger, which neither eats the barley itself nor allows the horse, who is able, to eat.
ταῦτα τό γε νῦν εἶναι ὑπὲρ μόνων τῶν βιβλίων παρρησιάζομαι πρὸς σέ, περὶ δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα κατάπτυστα καὶ ἐπονείδιστα ποιεῖς, αὖθις ἀκούσῃ πολλάκις.
These things, at least for the present, I speak freely to you concerning books alone, but concerning the other things, as many as you do that are detestable and shameful, you shall hear again many times.