Then you have a master?
Yes, my tutor; there he is.
And is he a slave?
To be sure; he is our slave, he replied.
Surely, I said, this is a strange thing, that a free man should be
governed by a slave. And what does he do with you?
He takes me to my teachers.
You do not mean to say that your teachers also rule over you?
Of course they do.
Then I must say that your father is pleased to inflict many lords
and masters on you. But at any rate when you go home to your mother,
she will let you have your own way, and will not interfere with your
happiness; her wool, or the piece of cloth which she is weaving, are
at your disposal: I am sure that there is nothing to hinder you from
touching her wooden spathe, or her comb, or any other of her
spinning implements.
Nay, Socrates, he replied, laughing; not only does she hinder me,
but I should be beaten if I were to touch one of them.
Well, I said, this is amazing. And did you ever behave ill to your
father or your mother?
No, indeed, he replied.
But why then are they so terribly anxious to prevent you from
being happy, and doing as you like?-keeping you all day long in
subjection to another, and, in a word, doing nothing which you desire;
so that you have no good, as would appear, out of their great
possessions, which are under the control of anybody rather than of
you, and have no use of your own fair person, which is tended and
taken care of by another; while you, Lysis, are master of nobody,
and can do nothing?
Why, he said, Socrates, the reason is that I am not of age.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25