Page:All the works of Epictetus - which are now extant; consisting of his Discourses, preserved by Arrian, in four books, the Enchiridion, and fragments (IA allworksofepicte00epic).pdf/357

RV 305 (Chap. 1.) Fine to the Officer ? No: but because he fancies, that, for want of acquiring his Freedom, he hath hitherto lived under Restraint, and unprosperously. "If I am once set free, says he, it is all Prosperity: I care for no one; I speak to All, as their Equal, and on a Level with them. I go where I will, I come when, and how I will." He is at last made free; and presently, having nowhere to eat, he seeks whom he may flatter, with whom he may sup. He then either submits to the basest and most infamous Prostitution; and, if he can obtain Admission to some great Man's Table, falls into a Slavery much worse than the former; or, if the Creature, void of Sense and right Taste, happens to acquire an affluent Fortune, he doats upon some Girl, laments, and is unhappy, and wishes for Slavery again. "For what Harm did it do me? Another clothed me, another shod me, another fed me, another took care of me when I was sick. It was but in a few Things, by way of Return, I used to serve him. But now, miserable Wretch! what do I suffer, in being a Slave to many, instead of one! Yet, if I can obtain the Equestrian Rings, I shall live with the utmost Prosperity and Happiness." In order to obtain them, he first suffers what he deserves; and, as soon as he hath obtained them, it is all the same again. "But then, says he, if I do but get a military Command, I shall be delivered from all my Troubles." He gets a military Command. He suffers as much as the vilest Rogue of a Slave: and, nevertheless, he asks for a second Command, and a third: and when he hath put the finishing Hand, and is made a Senator, then he is a Slave indeed. When