divine, and that it existed before we men were born, you say not at all
hinders, but that all these things may evince, not its immortality, but
that the soul is durable, and existed an immense space of time before,
and knew and did many things. But that, for all this, it was not at all
the more immortal, but that its very entrance into the body of a man was
the beginning of its destruction, as if it were a disease; so that it
passes through this life in wretchedness, and at last perishes in that
which is called death. But you say that it is of no consequence whether
it comes into a body once or often, with respect to our occasion of
fear; for it is right he should be afraid, unless he is foolish, who
does not know, and can not give a reason to prove, that the soul is
immortal. Such, I think, Cebes, is the sum of what you say; and I
purposely repeat it often, that nothing may escape us, and, if you
please, you may add to or take from it."

Cebes replied, "I do not wish at present either to take from or add to
it; that is what I mean."

102. Socrates, then having paused for some time, and considered
something within himself, said, "You inquire into no easy matter, Cebes;
for it is absolutely necessary to discuss the whole question of
generation and corruption. If you please, then, I will relate to you
what happened to me with reference to them; and afterward, if any thing
that I shall say shall appear to you useful toward producing conviction
on the subject you are now treating of, make use of it."

"I do indeed wish it," replied Cebes.

"Hear my relation, then. When I was a young man, Cebes, I was
wonderfully desirous of that wisdom which they call a history of nature;
for it appeared to me to be a very sublime thing to know the causes of
every thing--why each thing is generated, why it perishes, and why it
exists. And I often tossed myself upward and downward, considering first
such things as these, whether when heat and cold have undergone a
certain corruption, as some say, then animals are formed; and whether
the blood is that by means of which we think, or air, or fire, or none
of these, but that it is the brain that produces the perceptions of
hearing, seeing, and smelling; and that from these come memory and
opinion; and from memory and opinion, when in a state of rest, in the
same way knowledge is produced. 103. And, again, considering the
corruptions of these, and the affections incidental to the heavens and