Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-01-01
ALCIBlADES. |.
AlcibiiidcS.
Persons Of the DialogUe.
=. Socrates.

Persons Of the DialogUe.
Alcibiadcs. socrates,
SOCRATES. | dare say that you may
be surprised to find, o son of ClciniaS.
that ]. who am your first lover, not hay
ing spoken to you for many years. when
the rest of the world were wcarying You
with their attentions. am the last of your
lovers who still speaks to YOU. The rea-
son was. that was hindercd from speak
ing to you by Il powcr-not human but
divine. the nature of which will some
day explain to YOU: that impcdiment
has been now removed. and | present
myself before you, hoping that the him
drancc will not again occur. Meanwhile.
have observed that your pride has been
too much for the pride of your admirers;
they were very numerous. but they have
all run away, OverpOWered by your SUI
pcror force of character: not one of
derstand the nature of this aSccndancy
which you exercise over chem. You i'm
aginc that YOU have no need of any other
man at all, as you have great possessions
and abundance of all things. beginning
with the body. and ending with the soul.
In the first place. you think that you are
the fairest and tallcst of the citizens, and
this every one who has eyes sees to be
true: in the second place, that you are
among the nobleSt of them, highly con-
ncctcd both on the fathers and the moth
er'S side, and sprung from one of the
greatest families in your own state.
which is the greatest in IIcllaS, and hav-
ing many friends and kinsmcn of the best
sort. who can assist you when in need:
and there is one potent relative. who Is
more to you than all the rest. Percles,
the son of NanthippuS, whom your faith
or left guardian of you and your brother.
and who cannot only do as he plcaSeS in
this city. but in all IIcllas, and among
many and mighty barbarouS nations.
Moreover, you are rich but ! must say
that you value yourself least of all upon
your possessions. And all these things
have lifted you up, and you have over
come your lovers, and they have acknowl-
edged that YOU were too much for them.
Have YOU not remarked their absence?
And now know that YOU wonder why
have not gone away like the rest of them,
and what can be my motive in remaining.
ALCIBIADES. Perhaps. Socrates, you
are not aware that was just coming to
ask YOU the same question. What do
you want: And what is your motive in
annoying me, and always. wherever |
am, making Il point of coming: do
really wonder what you mean, and should
greatly like to know.
Soc. Then, if you desire to know,
suppose that you will be willing to hear,
and may consider myself to be speaking
to an auditor who will remain. and will
not runaway:
AL. Certainly; let me hear.
Soc. You had better be careful, for
may very likely be as unwilling to end
as | have hitherto been to begin.
Al. Proceed, my good man, and |
will listen.
Soc. will proceed; and, although no
lover likes to speak with one who has no
feeling of love in him. will make an eff
fort, and tell you what meant, My love-
Alcibiades, which | hardly like to con-
fess, would long ago have passed away,
as | flatter myself, if saw you loving
your good things, or thinking that you
ought to live in the enjoyment of them.
But ! know that you entertain other
thoughts; and | will prove to you that
have always had my eye on you by de-
claring them. Suppose that at this mo-
ment some God came to you and said I:
o Alcibiades, will you live as you are,
or die in an instant if you are forbidden
to make any further acquisitiOn?-l
verify believe that you would choose death.
And will tell you the hope in which
you are at present living. Before many
days have elapsed, you think that you
will come before the Athenian assembly,
and will try to prove to them that you
are more worthy of honor than Pericles,
or any other man that ever lived, and
having proved this, you will have the