ed ways; dangers have
come upon him too soon, when the tenderness of youth was unable to meet
them with truth and honesty, and he has resorted to counter-acts of
dishonesty and falsehood, and become warped and distorted; without any
health or freedom or sincerity in him he has grown up to manhood, and is
or esteems himself to be a master of cunning. Such are the lawyers; will
you have the companion picture of philosophers? or will this be too much
of a digression?

'Nay, Socrates, the argument is our servant, and not our master. Who is
the judge or where is the spectator, having a right to control us?'

I will describe the leaders, then: for the inferior sort are not worth
the trouble. The lords of philosophy have not learned the way to the
dicastery or ecclesia; they neither see nor hear the laws and votes of
the state, written or recited; societies, whether political or festive,
clubs, and singing maidens do not enter even into their dreams. And the
scandals of persons or their ancestors, male and female, they know no
more than they can tell the number of pints in the ocean. Neither
are they conscious of their own ignorance; for they do not practise
singularity in order to gain reputation, but the truth is, that the
outer form of them only is residing in the city; the inner man, as
Pindar says, is going on a voyage of discovery, measuring as with line
and rule the things which are under and in the earth, interrogating the
whole of nature, only not condescending to notice what is near them.

'What do you mean, Socrates?'

I will illustrate my meaning by the jest of the witty maid-servant, who
saw Thales tumbling into a well, and said of him, that he was so eager
to know what was going on in heaven, that he could not see what was
before his feet. This is applicable to all philosophers. The philosopher
is unacquainted with the world; he hardly knows whether his neighbour is
a man or an animal. For he is always searching into the essence of man,
and enquiring what such a nature ought to do or suffer different from
any other. Hence, on every occasion in private life and public, as I was
saying, when he appears in a law-court or anywhere, he is the joke, not
only of maid-servants, but of the general herd, falling into wells
and every sort of disaster; he looks such an awkward, inexperienced
creature, unable to say anything personal, when he is abused, in answer
to his adversaries (for he knows no evil of any one); and wh