§17#2μᾶλλον δὲ πρὸ πάντων κάθησο·
"Rather, sit down before all else.
ὁρῇς δὲ ὡς ἔστιν οὗτος οὐκ ἀηδὴς φύλλων θῶκος ἔτι χλωρὸς καὶ μαλθακὸς, ἐγκαθίσαι προσηνέστερος τῶν τῆς τύχης ἐπιφθόνων θώκων. Καθίσαντος δέ μου, πάλιν φησὶν, ἴδιον οὖν ἢ ἐπιδήμιον πρῆγμα διζήμενος δεῦρο ἀφῖξαι, φράζεο σαφέως· καὶ γὰρ ἡμεῖς ὅ τι δυναίμεθα συνεργοῖμεν ἄν. Κᾀγὼ, τὸ μὲν κατ’ ἀλήθειαν, ἔφην, αἴτιον, δεῦρο σέο χάριν ἥκω ξυντυχεῖν σοφῷ ἀνδρί· ἔχεὶ δὲ πρόφασιν ἡ πατρὶς, ἧς πρεσβείην τελέω. Ὁ δὲ, ξενίῃ τοίνυν, φησὶ, τὰ πρῶτα κέχρησο ἡμετέρῃ. Πειρεύμενος δὲ κᾀγὼ κατὰ πάντα τἀνδρὸς, καίπερ ἤδη μοι δήλου μὴ παρακόπτειν ἐόντος, Φιλοποίμενα οἶσθα, ἔφην, πολίτην ἐόντα ὑμέτερον; ὁ δὲ, καὶ μάλα, εἶπεν, τὸν Δάμωνος λέγεις υἱὸν, τὸν οἰκεῦντα παρὰ τὴν Ἑρμαίδα κρήνην. Τοῦτον, εἶπον, οὗ καὶ τυγχάνω ἐκ πατέρων ἴδιος ξένος·
And you see how this seat of leaves is not unpleasant, still green and soft, more pleasant to sit upon than the enviable seats of fortune." And when I sat down, he said again, "Tell me clearly, then, whether you have come here seeking a private or a public matter; for we too would cooperate in whatever way we can." And I said, "As for the true cause, I have come here for your sake, to meet a wise man; but my homeland serves as a pretext, whose embassy I am performing." And he said, "Use then, first of all, our hospitality." And I, trying the man in all ways, although it was already clear to me that he was not mad, said, "Do you know Philopoemen, who is your fellow citizen?" And he said, "Indeed, you mean the son of Damon, who lives near the Hermaic spring." "That is the one," I said, "with whom I also happen to have an ancestral bond of hospitality.
ἀλλὰ σὺ, Δημόκριτε, τῇ κρείσσονί με ξενίῃ δέχου, καὶ πρῶτόν γέ τί τοῦτο τυγχάνεις γράφων φράζε. Ὁ δ’ ἐπισχὼν ὀλίγον, περὶ μανίης, ἔφη. Κᾀγώ, ὦ Ζεῦ βασιλεῦ, φημὶ, εὐκαίρως γε ἀντιγράφεις πρὸς τὴν πόλιν. Ὁ δὲ, ποίην, φησὶ, πόλιν, Ἱππόκρατες; ἐγὼ δὲ, οὐδὲν, ἔφην, ὦ Δημόκριτε, ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως προΰπεσον·
But you, Democritus, receive me with the better hospitality, and first tell me what this is that you happen to be writing." And he, pausing for a moment, said, "About madness." And I said, "O King Zeus, you are indeed writing a timely reply to the city." And he said, "What city, Hippocrates?" And I said, "Nothing, Democritus, but I do not know how I let it slip.
ἀλλὰ τί περὶ μανίης γράφεις; Τί γὰρ; εἱπεν, ἄλλο, πλὴν ἥτις τε εἴη, καὶ ὅκως ἀνθρώποισιν ἐγγίνεται, καὶ τίνα τρόπον ἀπολωφέοιτο·
But what are you writing about madness?" He said, "What else indeed but what it is, and how it arises in humans, and in what way it might cease?
τά τε γὰρ ζῶα ταῦτα ὁκόσα, ἔφη, ὁρῇς, τουτέου μέντοι γε ἀνατέμνω εἵνεκα, οὐ μισέων θεοῦ ἔργα, χολῆς δὲ διζήμενος φύσιν καὶ θέσιν·
For indeed," he said, "all these animals that you see, I am dissecting for this very purpose: not because I hate the works of God, but because I am searching for the nature and position of bile.
οἶσθα γὰρ ἀνθρώπων παρακοπῆς ὡς αἰτίη ἐπιτοπολὺ αὕτη πλεονάσασα, ἐπεὶ πᾶσι μὲν φύσει, ἀλλὰ παρ’ οἷς μὲν ἔλαττον, παρ’ οἷς δέ τι πλέον·
For you know that this, when excessive, is for the most part the cause of madness in humans, since it exists by nature in all, though in some less, and in others somewhat more.
ἡ δ’ ἀμετρίη αὐτέης νοῦσοι τυγχάνουσιν, ὡς ὕλης ὁτὲ μὲν ἀγαθῆς, ὁτὲ δὲ φαύλης ὑποκειμένης. Κᾀγὼ, νὴ Δία, ἔφην, ὦ Δημόκριτε, ἀληθέως γε καὶ φρονίμως λέγεις, ὅθεν εὐδαίμονά σε κρίνω τοσαύτης ἀπολαύοντα ἡσυχίης· ἡμῖν δὲ μετέχειν ταύτης οὐκ ἐπιτέτραπται. Ἐρεομένου δὲ διὰ τί, ὦ Ἱππόκρατες, οὐκ ἐπιτέτραπται; ὅτι, ἔφην, ἢ ἀγροὶ ἢ οἰκίη ἢ τέκνα ἢ δάνεια ἢ νοῦσοι ἢ θάνατοι ἢ δμῶες ἢ γάμοι ἢ τοιαῦτά τινα τὴν εὐκαιρίην ὑποτάμνεται. Ἐνταῦθά δὴ ὁ ἀνὴρ εἰς τὸ εἰωθὸς πάθος κατηνέχθη, καὶ μάλα ἀθρόον τι ἀνεκάγχασε, καὶ ἐπετώθασε, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν ἡσυχίην ἦγεν Κᾀγὼ, τί μέντοι, Δημόκριτε, ἔφην, γελᾷς;
And its disproportion turns out to be diseases, just as the underlying material is sometimes good and sometimes bad." And I said, "By Zeus, Democritus, you speak indeed truly and wisely, wherefore I judge you happy in enjoying such great tranquility; but to us, to share in this is not permitted." And when he asked, "Why, Hippocrates, is it not permitted?" I said, "Because either fields, or household, or children, or debts, or sicknesses, or deaths, or slaves, or marriages, or some such things cut short our opportunity." At this point indeed, the man was carried down into his usual state, and laughed out very loud and suddenly, and mocked, and for the rest kept quiet. And I said, "But why indeed, Democritus, do you laugh?
πότερον τὰ ἀγαθὰ ὧν εἶπον, ἢ τὰ κακά; ὁ δὲ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐγέλα, καὶ ἄποθεν ὁρεῦντες οἱ Ἀβδηρῖται, οἱ μὲν τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτέων ἔπαιον, οἱ δὲ τὰ μέτωπα, οἱ δὲ τὰς τρίχας ἔτιλλον· καὶ γὰρ, ὡς ὕστερον ἔφησαν, πλεονάζοντι παρὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς τῷ γέλωτι ἐχρήσατο.
Is it at the good things of which I spoke, or the bad?" And he laughed even more, and the Abderites, watching from a distance, some beat their heads, others their foreheads, and others tore their hair; for, as they said later, he indulged in laughter that was excessive beyond his custom.
Ὑποτυχὼν δ’ ἐγὼ, ἀλλὰ μὴν, ἔφην, σοψῶν ἄριστε, Δημόκριτε, ποθέω γὰρ αἰτίην τοῦ περὶ σὲ πάθεος καταλαβέσθαι, τίνος ἄξιος ἐφάνην ἐγὼ γέλωτος;
And I, interrupting, said, "But indeed, Democritus, best of the wise, for I desire to understand the cause of this state in you, for what reason did I appear worthy of laughter?
ἢ τὰ λεχθέντα, ὅκως μαθὼν παύσομαι τῆς αἰτίης, ἢ σὺ ἐλεγχθεὶς διακρούσῃ τοὺς ἀκαίρους γέλωτας.
Was it myself, or the things that were said?
Ὁ δὲ, Ἡράκλεις, ἔφη, εἰ γὰρ δυνήσῃ με ἐλέγξαι, θεραπείην θεραπεύσεις, οἵην οὐδένα οὐδεπώποτε, ὦ Ἱππόκρατες. Καὶ πῶς οὐκ ἐλεγχθείης, ἔφην, ὦ ἄριστε;
Tell me, so that having learned, I may cease to be the cause of it, or you, being refuted, may ward off your untimely laughter." And he said, "By Heracles, if you can refute me, Hippocrates, you will perform a cure such as no one has ever performed before." And I said, "And how could you not be refuted, my excellent friend?
ἢ οὐκ οἴη ἄτοπός. γε εἶναι γελῶν ἀνθρώπου θάνατον ἢ νοῦσον ἢ παρακοπὴν ἢ μανίην ἢ μελαγχολίην ἢ σφαγὴν ἢ ἄλλο τι χεῖρον;
Or do you not think it is strange to laugh at a human's death, or sickness, or madness, or insanity, or melancholy, or slaughter, or anything else worse?
ἢ τοὔμπαλιν γάμους ἢ πανηγύριας ἢ τεκνογονίην ἢ μυστήρια ἢ ἀρχὰς καὶ τιμὰς ἢ ἄλλο τι ὅλως ἀγαθόν;
Or on the contrary, at marriages, or festivals, or childbirth, or mysteries, or offices and honors, or anything else altogether good?
καὶ γὰρ ἃ δέον οἰκτείρειν γελᾷς, καὶ ἐφ’ οἷσιν ἥδεσθαι χρὴ, καταγελᾷς τουτέων, ὥστε μήτε ἀγαθὸν μήτε κακὸν παρὰ σοὶ διακεκρίσθαι. Ὁ δὲ, ταῦτα μὲν, ἔφη, εὖ λέγεις, ὦ Ἱππόκρτες, ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶσθά πω τοῦ ἡμετέρου γέλωτος αἰτίην, μαθὼν δ’ εὖ οἶδ’ ὅτι κρέσσονα τῆς πρεσβείης ἀντιφορτισάμενος ἀποίσεις θεραπείην τὸν ἐμὸν γέλωτα τῇ πατρίδι καὶ ἑωυτέῳ, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους δυνήσῃ σωφρονίζειν·
For indeed you laugh at what should be pitied, and mock those things in which one ought to rejoice, so that neither good nor bad is distinguished by you." And he said, "You speak well in these things, Hippocrates, but you do not yet know the cause of my laughter; but once you learn it, I know well that you will carry back my laughter as a cure for your homeland and yourself, a cargo better than your embassy, and you will be able to bring others to their senses.
ἀνθ’ ὧν ἴσως κᾀμὲ διδάξεις ἰητρικὴν ἀμοιβηδὸν, γνοὺς ὅση σπουδῇ περὶ τὰ ἀσπούδαστα, φιλοτιμεύμενοι πρήσσειν τὰ μηδενὸς ἄξια, πάντες ἄνθρωποι τὸν βίον ἀναλίσκουσι, γελώτων ἄξια διοικεῦντες. Ἐγὼ δέ φημι, λέγε πρὸς θεῶν, μήποτε γὰρ διαλανθάνῃ ἅπας ὁ κόσμος νοσέων, καὶ οὐκ ἔχει ὅκου διαπέμψηται πρεσβείην πρὸς θεραπείην· τί γὰρ ἂν εἴη ἔξω αὐτέου;
In return for which, perhaps, you will teach me medicine in turn, when you realize with what great eagerness for things not worth being eager for, striving to do things of no value, all humans waste their lives, managing things worthy of laughter." But I say, speak, by the gods, lest perhaps the whole world is secretly diseased, and has nowhere to send an embassy for a cure; for what could there be outside of it?