oses wisely and will live diligently, there is appointed a happy and
not undesirable existence. Let not him who chooses first be careless,
and let not the last despair.' And when he had spoken, he who had the
first choice came forward and in a moment chose the greatest tyranny;
his mind having been darkened by folly and sensuality, he had not
thought out the whole matter before he chose, and did not at first
sight perceive that he was fated, among other evils, to devour his own
children. But when he had time to reflect, and saw what was in the
lot, he began to beat his breast and lament over his choice, forgetting
the proclamation of the prophet; for, instead of throwing the blame of
his misfortune on himself, he accused chance and the gods, and
everything rather than himself. Now he was one of those who came from
heaven, and in a former life had dwelt in a well-ordered State, but his
virtue was a matter of habit only, and he had no philosophy. And it
was true of others who were similarly overtaken, that the greater
number of them came from heaven and therefore they had never been
schooled by trial, whereas the pilgrims who came from earth, having
themselves suffered and seen others suffer, were not in a hurry to
choose. And owing to this inexperience of theirs, and also because the
lot was a chance, many of the souls exchanged a good destiny for an
evil or an evil for a good. For if a man had always on his arrival in
this world dedicated himself from the first to sound philosophy, and
had been moderately fortunate in the number of the lot, he might, as
the messenger reported, be happy here, and also his journey to another
life and return to this, instead of being rough and underground, would
be smooth and heavenly. Most curious, he said, was the spectacle--sad
and laughable and strange; for the choice of the souls was in most
cases based on their experience of a previous life. There he saw the
soul which had once been Orpheus choosing the life of a swan out of
enmity to the race of women, hating to be born of a woman because they
had been his murderers; he beheld also the soul of Thamyras choosing
the life of a nightingale; birds, on the other hand, like the swan and
other musicians, wanting to be men. The soul which obtained the
twentieth lot chose the life of a lion, and this was the soul of Ajax
the son of Telamon, who would not be a man, remembering the injustice
which was done him the judgment about the ar