Pagina 663 van 1391

I listened in admiration, and wanting to draw him out, that he

might go on-Yes, Cephalus, I said: but I rather suspect that

people in general are not convinced by you when you speak thus;

they think that old age sits lightly upon you, not because of

your happy disposition, but because you are rich, and wealth is

well known to be a great comforter.

You are right, he replied; they are not convinced: and there is

something in what they say; not, however, so much as they

imagine. I might answer them as Themistocles answered the

Seriphian who was abusing him and saying that he was famous, not

for his own merits but because he was an Athenian: 'If you had

been a native of my country or I of yours, neither of us would

have been famous.' And to those who are not rich and are

impatient of old age, the same reply may be made; for to the good

poor man old age cannot be a light burden, nor can a bad rich man

ever have peace with himself.