Page:Plutarch - Moralia, translator Holland, 1911.djvu/194

172 he inferred presently upon it:

In feats of arms; but for to speak and plead Others there be who can him teach and lead.

Megabyzus the Persian, a great lord, went up one day into the shop of Apelles, where he used to paint; and when he was about to speak (I wot not what) as touching painting-craft, Apelles, not enduring to hear him talk so foolishly, stayed him and stopped his mouth, saying prettily thus unto him: So long, sir, as you held your tongue, you were taken to be some great man, by reason of your chains, corquans, and brooches of gold; your purple robes also, which together with your silence commended your person: but now the very prentice boys here, who grind ochre and such-like colours, are ready to laugh at you, hearing you talk so foolishly, you know not what. And yet some there be who think that the Stoics do but mock and jest when they hear them hold this opinion: That the wise man (such as they imagine to themselves) is not only prudent, just and valiant, but ought also to be called an orator, a captain, and a poet, a rich and mighty man, yea and a very king; whiles they themselves will needs be invested in these titles, and if they be not, then they are displeased and miscontent by and by; what reason they have so to be let them answer. Sure I am that among the gods themselves, some have power one way, and some another; and thereupon took their sundry denominations accordingly, and rest contented therewith: as for example, one is sumamed Enyalius, i.e., the god of war; another Mantous, i.e., the president of prophecies; and a third Cerdous, which is as much to say, as the patron of those that gain by traffic. And hereupon it is that Jupiter in Homer, forbidding Venus to meddle in warlike and martial affairs, as nothing pertinent unto her, sendeth her to weddings and bride-chambers, and bids her attend them.

Moreover, some qualities and things there be that we seem to affect and wish; the which are in nature contrary, and will not concur and sort well together: as for example, the profession of eloquence and the study of arts mathematical require rest and quietness, neither have the students therein need to be employed in any affairs. Contrariwise, policy and managing of the state and weal public, the favours of princes and potentates, are not compassed without much ado; neither can a man be idle at any time, who either is employed in the service of his country, or attendant in the court. Much feeding upon flesh