Page:Plutarch - Moralia, translator Holland, 1911.djvu/149

Rh upon it thus, between you and the light, and then you will think it much more beautiful. Aristippus fell out upon a time (I know not how) with Æschines, and was in a great choler and fit of anger: How now, Aristippus (quoth one who heard him so high and at such hot words), where is your amity and friendship all this while? Marry, asleep (quoth he), but I will waken it anon. With that he stept close to Æschines, and said: Think you me so unhappy every way and incurable, that I deserved not one admonishment at your hands? No marvel (quoth Æschines again) if I thought you (who for natural wit in all things else excel me) to see better in this case also than I, what is meet and expedient to be done. For true it is that the poet saith:

And we ourselves can skill how to tame wild beasts, we know how to make young wolves gentle, yea, and lions' whelps otherwhiles we carry about with us in our arms: but see, how we again afterwards, in a raging fit of choler, be ready to fling from us and cast out of our sight our own children, our friends and familiars, and all our household servants, our fellow-citizens and neighbours, we let loose our ire like some savage and furious beast, and this rage of ours we disguise and cloak forsooth with a colourable and false name, calling it hatred of vice. But herein (I suppose) we do no otherwise than in the rest of our passions and diseases of the mind; terming one, providence and forecast; another, liberality; and a third, piety and religion: and yet for all these pretences of goodly names, we cannot be cured of the vices which they palliate; to wit, timorousness, prodigality and superstition.

And verily, like as our natural seed (as Zeno said) is a certain mixture and composition derived and extracted from all the powers and faculties of the soul; even so, in mine opinion, a man may say that choler is a miscellany seed (as it were) and a dreg, made of all the passions of the mind: for plucked it is from pain, pleasure and insolent violence: Of envy it hath this quality, to joy in the harms of other men: it standeth much upon murder, but worse it is simply than murder: for the wrathful person striveth and laboureth not to defend and save himself from taking harm; but so he may mischief and