uld go wherever he pleased and touch what
he would. And so far he was right, for that Cyclops was a being of not
much more understanding than his ram.

XL. Now, as to the evil of being deaf: M. Crassus was a little thick of
hearing; but it was more uneasiness to him that he heard himself ill
spoken of, though, in my opinion, he did not deserve it. Our Epicureans
cannot understand Greek, nor the Greeks Latin: now, they are deaf
reciprocally as to each other's language, and we are all truly deaf with
regard to those innumerable languages which we do not understand. They do
not hear the voice of the harper; but then they do not hear the grating of
a saw when it is setting, or the grunting of a hog when his throat is
being cut, nor the roaring of the sea when they are desirous of rest. And
if they should chance to be fond of singing, they ought in the first place
to consider that many wise men lived happily before music was discovered;
besides, they may have more pleasure in reading verses than in hearing
them sung. Then, as I before referred the blind to the pleasures of
hearing, so I may the deaf to the pleasures of sight: moreover, whoever
can converse with himself doth not need the conversation of another. But
suppose all these misfortunes to meet in one person: suppose him blind and
deaf,--let him be afflicted with the sharpest pains of body, which, in the
first place, generally of themselves make an end of him; still, should
they continue so long, and the pain be so exquisite, that we should be
unable to assign any reason for our being so afflicted,--still, why, good
Gods! should we be under any difficulty? For there is a retreat at hand:
death is that retreat--a shelter where we shall for ever be insensible.
Theodoras said to Lysimachus, who threatened him with death, "It is a
great matter, indeed, for you to have acquired the power of a Spanish
fly!" When Perses entreated Paulus not to lead him in triumph, "That is a
matter which you have in your own power," said Paulus. I said many things
about death in our first day's disputation, when death was the subject;
and not a little the next day, when I treated of pain; which things if you
recollect, there can be no danger of your looking upon death as
undesirable, or at least it will not be dreadful.

That custom which is common among the Grecians at their banquets should,
in my opinion, be observed in life:--Drink, say they, or leave the company:
and rightly enough; for