§15.1.64διαλεχθῆναι δʼ ἑνὶ τούτων Καλάνῳ, ὃν καὶ συνακολουθῆσαι τῷ βασιλεῖ μέχρι Περσίδος καὶ ἀποθανεῖν τῷ πατρίῳ νόμῳ τεθέντα ἐπὶ πυρκαϊάν· τότε δʼ ἐπὶ λίθων τυχεῖν κείμενον.
Onesicritus says that he conversed with one of them, Kalanos, who also followed the king as far as Persis and died according to his ancestral custom, having been placed on a pyre; but at that time he happened to be lying on stones.
προσιὼν οὖν καὶ προσαγορεύσας εἰπεῖν ἔφη, διότι πεμφθείη παρὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ἀκροασόμενος τῆς σοφίας αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπαγγελῶν πρὸς αὐτόν· εἰ οὖν μηδεὶς εἴη φθόνος, ἕτοιμος εἴη μετασχεῖν τῆς ἀκροάσεως.
Having approached and addressed him, he said that he had been sent by the king to hear their wisdom and report it to him; therefore, if there were no objection, he was ready to share in this hearing.
ἰδόντα δʼ ἐκεῖνον χλαμύδα καὶ καυσίαν φοροῦντα καὶ κρηπῖδα, καταγελάσαντα
τὸ παλαιόν
φάναι
πάντʼ ἦν ἀλφίτων καὶ ἀλεύρων πλήρη καθάπερ νῦν κόνεως· καὶ κρῆναι δʼ ἔρρεον αἱ μὲν ὕδατος γάλακτος δʼ ἄλλαι καὶ ὁμοίως μέλιτος, αἱ δʼ οἴνου τινὲς δʼ ἐλαίου·
But when Kalanos saw him wearing a chlamys, a causia, and boots, he laughed and said: "Of old, all things were full of barley-meal and flour, just as now they are of dust; and springs flowed, some of water, others of milk, and likewise of honey, some of wine, and some of oil; but because of satiety and luxury, men fell into insolence.
ὑπὸ πλησμονῆς δʼ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ τρυφῆς εἰς ὕβριν ἐξέπεσον. Ζεὺς δὲ μισήσας τὴν κατάστασιν ἠφάνισε πάντα καὶ διὰ πόνου τὸν βίον ἀπέδειξε·
And Zeus, hating this state of affairs, made everything disappear and appointed life through toil.
σωφροσύνης δὲ καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀρετῆς παρελθούσης εἰς μέσον πάλιν εὐπορία τῶν ἀγαθῶν ὑπῆρξεν·
But when moderation and the other virtue came into their midst, again an abundance of good things existed.
ἐγγὺς δʼ ἐστὶν ἤδη νυνὶ κόρου καὶ ὕβρεως τὸ πρᾶγμα, κινδυνεύει τε ἀφανισμὸς τῶν ὄντων γενέσθαι. ταῦτα εἰπόντα κελεύειν, εἰ βούλοιτο ἀκροάσασθαι, καταθέμενον τὴν σκευὴν γυμνὸν ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτῶν λίθων κείμενον μετέχειν τῶν λόγων.
But now the state of affairs is already near to satiety and insolence, and there is a danger that a disappearance of the things that exist will occur." Having said these things, Kalanos commanded him, if he wished to hear, to lay aside his equipment and, lying naked upon the same stones, to share in the discussions.
ἀπορουμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ, Μάνδανιν ὅσπερ ἦν πρεσβύτατος καὶ σοφώτατος αὐτῶν, τὸν μὲν ἐπιπλῆξαι ὡς ὑβριστήν, καὶ ταῦτα ὕβρεως κατηγορήσαντα, αὐτὸν δὲ προσκαλέσασθαι καὶ εἰπεῖν ὡς τὸν μὲν βασιλέα ἐπαινοίη, διότι ἀρχὴν τοσαύτην διοικῶν ἐπιθυμοίη σοφίας· μόνον γὰρ ἴδοι αὐτὸν ἐν ὅπλοις φιλοσοφοῦντα·
But as he was at a loss, Mandanis, who was the oldest and wisest of them, rebuked Kalanos as insolent (and that too, after having accused him of insolence), and called Onesicritus to himself and said that he praised the king, because, ruling so great an empire, he desired wisdom; for he was the only one he had seen philosophizing in arms.
ὠφελιμώτατον δʼ εἴη τῶν ἁπάντων, εἰ οἱ τοιοῦτοι φρονοῖεν οἷς πάρεστι δύναμις τοὺς μὲν ἑκουσίους πείθειν σωφρονεῖν τοὺς δʼ ἀκουσίους ἀναγκάζειν·
And it would be the most beneficial of all things, if such men should be wise, to whom power is present to persuade the willing to be temperate, and to compel the unwilling.
αὐτῷ δὲ συγγνώμη εἴη, εἰ διʼ ἑρμηνέων τριῶν διαλεγόμενος πλὴν φωνῆς μηδὲν συνιέντων πλέον ἢ οἱ πολλοί, μηδὲν ἰσχύσει τῆς ὠφελείας ἐπίδειξιν ποιήσασθαι· ὅμοιον γὰρ ὡς ἂν εἰ διὰ βορβόρου καθαρὸν ἀξιοῖ τις ὕδωρ ῥεῖν.
But he should be pardoned, if, conversing through three interpreters who, except for their language, understood nothing more than the vulgar, he should not be able to make any demonstration of utility; for it would be just as if someone should expect clean water to flow through mud.
§15.1.65τὰ γοῦν λεχθέντα εἰς τοῦτʼ ἔφη συντείνειν ὡς εἴη λόγος ἄριστος, ὃς ἡδονὴν καὶ λύπην ψυχῆς ἀφαιρήσεται· καὶ ὅτι λύπη καὶ πόνος διαφέροι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πολέμιον τὸ δὲ φίλιον αὐτοῖς τά γε σώματα ἀσκοῦσι πρὸς πόνον, ἵνʼ αἱ γνῶμαι ῥωννύοιντο, ἀφʼ ὧν καὶ στάσεις παύοιεν καὶ σύμβουλοι πᾶσιν ἀγαθῶν παρεῖεν καὶ κοινῇ καὶ ἰδίᾳ·
At any rate, Onesicritus said that what was said tended to this: that that discourse is best which shall remove pleasure and pain from the soul; and that pain and toil differ; for the former is hostile, but the latter friendly to them, since they train their bodies for toil so that their minds may be strengthened, by which they might stop factions and be present as counselors of good things to all, both publicly and privately.
καὶ δὴ καὶ Ταξίλῃ νῦν συμβουλεύσειε δέχεσθαι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον· κρείττω μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῦ δεξάμενον εὖ πείσεσθαι, χείρω δὲ εὖ διαθήσειν.
And indeed he would now advise Taxiles to receive Alexander; for if he received one better than himself, he would be well treated, and if a worse one, he would put him in a good state.
ταῦτʼ εἰπόντα ἐξερέσθαι εἰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι λόγοι τοιοῦτοι λέγοιντο, εἰπόντος δʼ ὅτι καὶ Πυθαγόρας τοιαῦτα λέγοι κελεύοι τε ἐμψύχων ἀπέχεσθαι, καὶ Σωκράτης καὶ Διογένης οὗ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀκροάσαιτο, ἀποκρίνασθαι ὅτι τἆλλα μὲν νομίζοι φρονίμως αὐτοῖς δοκεῖν, ἓν δʼ ἁμαρτάνειν νόμον πρὸ τῆς φύσεως τιθεμένους· οὐ γὰρ αἰσχύνεσθαι γυμνοὺς ὥσπερ αὐτὸν διάγειν ἀπὸ λιτῶν ζῶντας· καὶ γὰρ οἰκίαν ἀρίστην εἶναι ἥτις ἂν ἐπισκευῆς ἐλαχίστης δέηται·
Having said these things, Mandanis asked if such doctrines were also spoken among the Greeks; and when Onesicritus replied that Pythagoras also said such things and commanded to abstain from living things, and Socrates and Diogenes, whom he himself had also heard, Mandanis replied that in other respects he thought they seemed wise, but in one thing they erred, namely, in putting custom before nature; for otherwise they would not have been ashamed to go about naked as he did, and to live on frugal things; for that house is best which requires the least repair.
ἔφη δʼ αὐτοὺς καὶ τῶν περὶ φύσιν πολλὰ ἐξετάσαι καὶ προσημασιῶν, ὄμβρων αὐχμῶν νόσων· ἀπιόντας δʼ εἰς τὴν πόλιν κατὰ τὰς ἀγορὰς σκεδάννυσθαι· ὅτῳ δʼ ἂν κομίζοντι σῦκα ἢ βότρυς παρατύχωσι, λαμβάνειν δωρεὰν παρέχοντος· εἰ δʼ ἔλαιον εἴη, καταχεῖσθαι αὐτῶν καὶ ἀλείφεσθαι· ἅπασαν δὲ πλουσίαν οἰκίαν ἀνεῖσθαι αὐτοῖς μέχρι γυναικωνίτιδος, εἰσιόντας δὲ δείπνου κοινωνεῖν καὶ λόγων.
And Onesicritus said that they also investigated many things concerning nature and prognostics, of rains, droughts, and diseases; and that, when they went away into the city, they dispersed through the market-places; and whoever they happened upon carrying figs or grapes, they took them for free, the owner offering them; and if it was oil, it was poured over them and they anointed themselves; and that every rich house was open to them, even as far as the women's quarters, and entering in they shared in dinner and conversation.
αἴσχιστον δʼ αὐτοῖς νομίζεσθαι νόσον σωματικήν· τὸν δʼ ὑπονοήσαντα καθʼ αὑτοῦ τοῦτο, ἐξάγειν ἑαυτὸν διὰ πυρὸς νήσαντα πυράν, ὑπαλειψάμενον δὲ καὶ καθίσαντα ἐπὶ τὴν πυρὰν ὑφάψαι κελεύειν, ἀκίνητον δὲ καίεσθαι.
But they considered bodily disease to be most shameful; and he who suspected this in himself, led himself out through fire, having built a pyre, and having anointed himself and sat upon the pyre, commanded to kindle it, and was burned without moving.