ourney from this to
that other world--may this, then, which is my prayer, be granted to
me!" Then holding the cup to his lips, quite readily and
cheerfully, he drank off the poison. And hitherto most of us had
been able to control our sorrow; but now we saw him drinking, and
saw, too, that he had finished the draft, we could no longer
forbear, and in spite of myself, my own tears were flowing fast; so
that I covered my face and wept over myself, for certainly I was
not weeping over him, but at the thought of my own calamity in
having lost such a companion. Nor was I the first, for Crito, when
he found himself unable to restrain his tears, had got up and moved
away, and I followed; and at that moment, Apollodorus, who had been
weeping all the time, broke out into a loud cry, which made cowards
of us all. Socrates alone retained his calmness. "What is this
strange outcry?" he said, "I sent away the women mainly in order
that they might not offend in this way, for I have heard that a man
should die in peace. Be quiet, then, and have patience." When we
heard that, we were ashamed, and refrained our tears; and he
walked about until, as he said, his legs began to fail, and then he
lay on his back, according to directions, and the man who gave him
the poison, now and then looked at his feet and legs; and after a
while, he pressed his foot hard and asked him if he could feel; and
he said, "No"; and then his leg, and so upwards and upwards, and
showed us that he was cold and stiff. And he felt them himself, and
said, "When the poison reaches the heart, that will be the end." He
was beginning to grow cold, when he uncovered his face, for he had
covered himself up, and said (they were his last words), "Crito, I
owe a cock to Asclepius; will you remember to pay the debt?"

"The debt shall be paid," said Crito. "Is there anything else?"
There was no answer to this question; but in a minute or two, a
movement was heard, and the attendants uncovered him; his eyes were
set, and Crito closed his eyes and mouth.

Such was the end, Echecrates, of our friend, whom I may truly call
the wisest, the justest, and best of all the men whom I have ever
known.

SENECA

If we wish to be just judges of all things, let us first persuade
ourselves of this: that t