Page:Plutarch - Moralia, translator Holland, 1911.djvu/216

194 Lasus, the son of Hermiones, called him coward because he would not play at dice with him: I confess (quoth he) I am a very dastard in those things that be lewd and naught, and I dare do nothing at all; moreover, say thou fall into the hands of a prattling and talkative busybody, who catcheth hold on thee, hangeth upon thee and will not let thee go? be not sheepish and bashful; but interrupt and cut his tale short, shake him off, I say, but go thou forward and make an end of thy business whereabout thou wentest: for such refusals, such repulses, shifts, and evasions in small matters, for which men cannot greatly complain of us, exercising us not to blush and be ashamed when there is no cause, do inure and frame us well beforehand unto other occasions of greater importance.

And here, in this place, it were not amiss to call unto remembrance a speech of Demosthenes: for when the Athenians, being solicited and moved to send aid unto Harpalus, were so forward in the action that they had put themselves in arms against King Alexander, all on a sudden they discovered upon their own coasts Philoxenus, the lieutenant-general of the king's forces, and chief admiral of his armada at sea: now when the people were so astonied upon this unexpected occurrence, that they had not a word to say for very fear: What will these men do (quoth Demosthenes) when they shall see the sun, who are so afraid that they dare not look against a little lamp; even so I say to thee that art given much to blush and be abashed: What wilt thou be able to do in weighty affairs, namely, when thou shalt be encountered by a king; or if the body of some people or state be earnest with thee to obtain ought at thy hand that is unreasonable? when thou hast not the heart to refuse for to pledge a familiar friend if he chance to drink unto thee and offer thee a cup of wine? or if thou canst not find means to escape and wind thyself out of the company of a babbling busybody that hath fastened and taken hold of thee, but suffer such a vain prating fellow as this to walk and lead thee at his pleasure up and down, having not so much power as to say thus unto him: I will see you again hereafter at some other time, now I have no leisure to talk with you.

Over and besides, the exercise and use of breaking yourselves of this bashfulness in praising others for small and light matters, will not be unprofitable unto you; as for example: Say that when you are at a feast of your friends, the harper or minstrel do either play or sing out of tune; or haply an actor of a comedy, dearly hired for a good piece of money, by his ill grace in acting