Page:Plato (IA platocollins00colliala).pdf/172

 that wishes to draw the chariot of the soul on to unlawful deeds, and can only be curbed by bit and bridle. Happy are they who, with the help of the white immortal steed, can win the victory in this struggle, and end their lives in a peaceful and genuine friendship.

We mortals, says Socrates, know nothing of the real world, for we live along the shores of the Mediterranean like frogs around a swamp; and we think we are on the surface, when we are really only in one of those hollow places of which our earth is full. But if a man could take wings and fly upwards, he would see the true world, which is a thousand leagues above our own; and there all things are "brilliant with colour, and sparkle with gold and purple, and a purer white than any earthly snow. And there are trees and flowers and fruits, and jewels on all the hills, more precious than the sardonyx or emerald. And there are living beings there, both men and animals, dwelling around the air; for our air is like their sea, and their air is purest ether. And they know neither pain nor disease; and they live longer lives than we creatures of a day; and all their senses are keener and more perfect; and they have temples in which their gods really dwell, and they see them face to face, and hear their voices, and call them by their names. Moreover, they know the sun and moon and stars in their proper nature.