The Good Book (12 page)

14. ‘And as rest is the antidote of labour, so play is the relief of study and business.’

15. ‘And I have heard it said,’ Philologus replied, ‘that study is like husbandry, in which we till the ground and sow with seed to reap thereafter;

16. ‘For I heard myself a good husbandman at his book once say, that to rest from study some time of the day and some time of the year, made as much for the increase of learning as to let the land lie fallow for a season.’

17.   Thus persuaded, Toxophilus went with his friend to the butts to shoot arrows as well-feathered as Plato’s thoughts; and by that rest and diversion found refreshment for his mind.

Chapter 23

  1. One evening, when the old woman’s grandchildren demanded a story, she asked them,

  2. ‘Have you heard about the sisters who hunted deer in the clouds and caught the wind in a net?’ They shook their heads.

  3. So she pointed at the space under a tree which served as the village school, and said,

  4. ‘When I was a child there was no school here, and never had been.

  5. ‘One day a foreigner was brought to the village by some of our men.

  6. ‘They had found him lying injured in the forest, where he had fallen from a tree trying to catch butterflies.

  7. ‘My uncle was our medicine man, and he mended his bones and brought him back to health.

  8. ‘As he recovered he spent many hours talking to my uncle about the country he came from. And my mother’s youngest sister sat listening from the next room.

  9. ‘There in that other country, the foreigner said, not only boys but girls go to school, and learn to read books, and thereby come to know many things,

10. ‘And as a result they do many things, and some of them travel the world to learn even more, as he himself had done.

11. ‘My mother’s sister grew thoughtful. When it was time for the foreigner to leave, she told her family,

12. ‘“I want to go to this man’s country to learn to read, if he will take me.”

13. ‘The family said that it would be easier to hunt deer among the clouds and catch the wind in a net than to leave the village and travel far and learn to read.

14. ‘But the foreigner said there were towns in the distant lowlands of our own country where she could do just such a thing.

15. ‘Oh what discussion and argument there was about it! But my mother’s youngest sister was determined, and at last the family agreed.

16. ‘So when the foreigner left, accompanied by some of our men to show him to the edge of the forest, she went with him,

17. ‘And her next eldest sister was sent with her as chaperone.

18. ‘There was sorrow at their departure in the whole village, and some criticism that our family had let them go,

19. ‘Not least for such a reason, which many were sceptical about; and no one thought to see either of the sisters again.

20. ‘But they returned several years later, to the great excitement of all; and they were full of wonderful stories about what they had seen and done.

21. ‘Moreover they could read, and they read marvels to us from books they had brought with them;

22. ‘And the people of the village passed the books from one to another,

23. ‘Looking in awe at the marks that covered every part of them, and wondering at the mystery they contained.

24. ‘And the sisters said they would start a school, and teach anyone in the village who wished to read, and especially the children.

25. ‘But the headman said they might as well sow cornseed in the treetops and build huts out of water,

26. ‘For where would they get what was needed to build and furnish a school such as the women had seen during their travels?

27. ‘So my mother’s youngest sister opened one of the books at a certain page,

28. ‘And read out a passage to the headman and the whole village, which was part of a story and went as follows:

29. ‘“A young woman rose from her seat in the middle of the crowded hall where everyone was discussing how this thing should be done,

30. ‘“And she addressed the men on the platform, saying,

31. ‘“‘When a plan is laid, men always say, “Where shall we get the wherewithal?”

32. ‘“‘But women say, “What have we already got available?”’”

33. ‘And immediately the whole village saw that they had a school in any space under a tree, and stones to sit on,

34. ‘And two teachers in my mother’s sisters, and books in their hands that they had brought with them.

35. ‘Now,’ the old woman concluded, again pointing down the lane to the tree, ‘You can see what their teaching has already done:

36. ‘The space under that tree has become a school-house, and into it all the world comes through the pages of the books,

37. ‘And the past and future gather round you when you and your teacher are sitting there.

38. ‘So the sisters hunted deer in the clouds, and caught the wind in a net;

39. ‘And they planted cornseeds in the treetops, and they have grown; and built huts out of water, stronger than huts of wood.’

Concord

Chapter 1

  1. Fannius said to Laelius, ‘Since you have mentioned the word friendship, and we are at leisure,

  2. ‘You would be doing us a great kindness, Laelius, if you would tell us what you mean by it, for you are famous for your friendships,

  3. ‘And before now have spoken so eloquently about their importance to us and to the possibility of good lives.’

  4. Laelius replied: ‘I should certainly have no objection if I felt confidence in myself, Fannius,

  5. ‘For the theme of friendship is a noble one, and we are indeed at leisure;

  6. ‘But who am I to speak of this? What ability do I have? What you propose is a task for philosophers;

  7. ‘For a set discourse on friendship, and an analysis of its meaning, you must go to them.’

  8. To which Fannius said, ‘But you have much practical experience in friendship, and are accounted the best of friends by your friends;

  9. ‘Surely this is the best qualification to speak of so important a relationship?

10. ‘Not least, Laelius, is the fact that your great friendship with Scipio is the subject almost of legend; and from its example we all wish to learn.’

11. ‘Well,’ replied Laelius, ‘all I can do is to urge you to regard friendship as indeed the greatest thing in the world,

12. ‘For there is nothing which so fits human nature, or is so exactly what we both desire and need, whether in prosperity or adversity.

13. ‘But I must at the very beginning lay down this principle: that true friendship can only exist between good people.

14. ‘I do not, however, press this too closely, like those who give their definitions a pedantic accuracy.

15. ‘There is no practical use in doing that: we must concern ourselves with the facts of everyday life as we find it, not imaginary and ideal perfections.

16. ‘Let us mean by “good people” those whose actions and lives leave no question as to their honour, sense of justice, and generosity both of hand and heart;

17. ‘Who have the courage to stand by their principles, and who are free from greed, intemperance and violence.

18. ‘Such people as these are generally accounted “good”, so let us agree to call them that,

19. ‘On the ground that to the best of their ability they take nature and human fellow-feeling as the true guides to an honourable and well-lived life.’

Chapter 2

  1. ‘Now this truth seems clear to me, that nature has so formed us that a certain tie unites us all, but that this tie becomes stronger with proximity.  

  2. ‘So it is that we prefer our fellow-citizens to foreigners, relations to strangers;

  3. ‘For in their case nature herself has caused a kind of friendship to exist, though it is one which lacks some of the elements of permanence.  

  4. ‘Friendship excels mere acquaintanceship in this, that whereas you may eliminate affection from acquaintanceship,

  5. ‘You cannot do so from friendship. Without affection, acquaintanceship still exists in name; but friendship does not.

  6. ‘You may best understand friendship by considering that, whereas merely social ties uniting people are indefinite,

  7. ‘Friendship is a tie concentrated into affection, which is the bond one shares most deeply only with a few.

  8. ‘And now we can try to define friendship, as: enjoyment of the other’s company, accord on many things, mutual goodwill and liking.

  9. ‘With the exception of wisdom, I am inclined to think nothing better than this can be found in human experience.

10. ‘There are people who give the palm to riches or to good health, or to power and office;

11. ‘Many give the name of the best thing in life to sensual pleasures.  

12. ‘But all these we may say are frail and uncertain, and depend less on our own prudence than on the caprice of fortune.

13. ‘Then there are those who find the “chief good” in virtue.   And that is a noble doctrine.

14. ‘But the very virtue they talk of is the parent and preserver of friendship, and without it friendship cannot exist.’

Chapter 3

  1. ‘I repeat: let us account as good the persons usually considered so; such as are good in the true sense of everyday life;

  2. ‘And we need not trouble ourselves about ideal characters who are nowhere to be met.

  3. ‘Between people like these, Fannius, the advantages of friendship are almost more than I can say.

  4. ‘To begin with, how can life be worth living, which lacks the repose to be found in the companionship and goodwill of a friend?

  5. ‘What can be more delightful than to have someone you can say anything to, with the same absolute confidence as to yourself?  

  6. ‘Is not prosperity robbed of half its value if you have no one to share your joy?

  7. ‘On the other hand, misfortunes would be hard to bear if there were no one to feel them even more acutely than yourself.  

  8. ‘In a word, other objects of ambition serve for particular ends:

  9. ‘Thus, riches for use, power for securing homage, office for reputation,

10. ‘Pleasure for enjoyment, health for freedom from pain and the full use of the functions of the body.  

11. ‘But friendship alone embraces all advantages. Turn which way you please, you will find it at hand;

12. ‘It is everywhere; and yet never out of place, never unwelcome. Fire and water themselves are not of more universal value.

13. ‘I am not now speaking of the common or modified form of friendship, Fannius, though even that is a source of pleasure and profit,

14. ‘But of that true and complete friendship which enhances prosperity, and relieves adversity of its burden by halving and sharing it.

15. ‘And great and numerous as are the blessings of friendship, this certainly is the sovereign one, that it gives us bright hopes for the future, supports our weakness, and banishes despair.

16. ‘In the face of a true friend we see as it were a second self. So that where a man’s friend is, he is; if his friend be rich, he is not poor;

17. ‘Though he be weak, his friend’s strength is his; and in his friend’s life he enjoys a second life after his own is finished.

18. ‘This last is perhaps the most difficult to understand. But such is the effect of the respect, the loving remembrance, and the regret of friends which follow us to the grave.  

19. ‘While they take the sting out of death, they add a glory to the life of the survivors.

20. ‘And indeed: if you eliminate from nature the tie of affection, there will be an end of house and city, nor will so much as the cultivation of the soil be left.’

Chapter 4

  1. ‘Anyone who does not see the virtue of friendship for its own sake, Fannius, may learn it by observing the effects of quarrels and feuds.

  2. ‘Was any family ever so well established, any state so firmly settled, as to be beyond destruction by animosities and factions?

  3. ‘This may teach the immense advantage of friendship; a truth which everybody understands through experience.

  4. ‘For if any instance of loyal friendship in confronting or sharing danger becomes apparent, everyone applauds it greatly.

  5. ‘One can easily see what a natural feeling it is, when men who would not have the courage to help a friend, themselves show how right they think it when another does so.

  6. ‘And it often occurs to me, when thinking about friendship, to ask: is it weakness and want of means that make friendship desired?

  7. ‘Is its aim an exchange of services, so that each may give that in which he is strong, and receive that in which he is weak?

  8. ‘Or is it not rather true that, although mutual help is an advantage naturally belonging to friendship,