which he made to the
judges (for he undertook that I should remain); but do you be sureties
that, when I die, I shall not remain, but shall depart, that Crito may
more easily bear it; and, when he sees my body either burned or buried,
may not be afflicted for me, as if I suffered from some dreadful thing;
nor say at my interment that Socrates is laid out, or is carried out, or
is buried. 149. For be well assured," he said, "most excellent Crito,
that to speak improperly is not only culpable as to the thing itself,
but likewise occasions some injury to our souls. You must have a good
courage, then, and say that you bury my body, and bury it in such a
manner as is pleasing to you, and as you think is most agreeable to our
laws."

When he had said thus, he rose, and went into a chamber to bathe, and
Crito followed him, but he directed us to wait for him. We waited,
therefore, conversing among ourselves about what had been said, and
considering it again, and sometimes speaking about our calamity, how
severe it would be to us, sincerely thinking that, like those who are
deprived of a father, we should pass the rest of our life as orphans.
When he had bathed, and his children were brought to him (for he had
two little sons and one grown up), and the women belonging to his family
were come, having conversed with them in the presence of Crito, and
given them such injunctions as he wished, he directed the women and
children to go away, and then returned to us. And it was now near
sunset; for he spent a considerable time within. 150. But when he came
from bathing he sat down, and did not speak much afterward; then the
officer of the Eleven came in, and, standing near him, said, "Socrates,
I shall not have to find that fault with you that I do with others, that
they are angry with me, and curse me, when, by order of the archons, I
bid them drink the poison. But you, on all other occasions during the
time you have been here, I have found to be the most noble, meek, and
excellent man of all that ever came into this place; and, therefore, I
am now well convinced that you will not be angry with me (for you know
who are to blame), but with them. Now, then (for you know what I came to
announce to you), farewell, and endeavor to bear what is inevitable as
easily as possible." And at the same time, bursting into tears, he
turned away and withdrew.

151. And Socrates, looking after him, said, "And thou, too, farewell. We
will do as you direct." At the same time turning to us, he said, "How
courteous the man is! During the whole time I have been here he has
visited me, and conversed with me sometimes, and proved the worthiest of
men; and now how generously he weeps for me! But come, Crito, let us
obey him, and let some one bring the poison, if it is ready pounded; but
if not, let the man pound it."

Then Crito said, "But I think, Socrates, that the sun is still on the
mountains, and has not yet set. Besides, I know that others have drunk
the poison very late, after it had been announced to them, and have
supped and drunk freely, and some even have enjoyed the objects of their
love. Do not hasten, then, for there is yet time."

Upon this Socrates replied, "These men whom you mention, Crito, do these
things with good reason, for they think they shall gain by so doing; and
I, too, with good reason, shall not do so; for I think I shall gain
nothing by drinking a little later, except to become ridiculous to
myself, in being so fond of life, and sparing of it, when none any
longer remains. Go then," he said, "obey, and do not resist."

152. Crito, having heard this, nodded to the boy that stood near. And
the boy, having gone out and staid for some time, came, bringing with
him the man that was to administer the poison, who brought it ready
pounded in a cup. And Socrates, on seeing the man, said, "Well, my good
friend, as you are skilled in these matters, what must I do?"

"Nothing else," he replied, "than, when you have drunk it, walk about
until there is a heaviness in your legs; then lie down: thus it will do
its purpose." And at the same time he held out the cup to Socrates. And
he having received it very cheerfully, Echecrates neither trembling, nor
changing at all in color or countenance, but, as he was wont, looking
steadfastly at the man, said, "What say you of this potion, with respect
to making a libation to any one, is it lawful or not?"

"We only pound so much, Socrates," he said, "as we think sufficient to
drink."

153. "I understand you," he said; "but it is certainly both lawful and
right to pray to the gods, that my departure hence thither may be happy;
which, therefore, I pray, and so may it be." And as he said this, he
drank it off readily and calmly. Thus far, most of us were with
difficulty able to restrain ourselves from weeping; but when we saw him
drinking, and having finished the draught, we could do so no longer;
but, in spite of myself, the tears came in full torrent, so that,
covering my face, I wept for myself; for I did not weep for him, but for
my own fortune, in being deprived of such a friend. But Crito, even
before me, when he could not restrain his tears, had risen up. 154. But
Apollodorus, even before this, had not ceased weeping; and then,
bursting into an agony of grief, weeping and lamenting, he pierced the
heart of every one present, except Socrates himself. But he said, "What
are you doing, my admirable friends? I, indeed, for this reason chiefly,
sent away the women, that they might not commit any folly of this kind.
For I have heard that it is right to die with good omens. Be quiet,
therefore, and bear up."

When we heard this, we were ashamed, and restrained our tears. But he,
having walked about, when he said that his legs were growing heavy, lay
down on his back; for the man had so directed him. And, at the same
time, he who gave the poison taking hold of him, after a short interval,
examined his feet and legs; and then, having pressed his foot hard, he
asked if he felt it: he said that he did not. And after this he pressed
his thighs; and, thus going higher, he showed us that he was growing
cold and stiff. Then Socrates touched himself, and said that when the
poison reached his heart he should then depart. 155. But now the parts
around the lower belly were almost cold; when, uncovering himself, for
he had been covered over, he said (and they were his last words),
"Crito, we owe a cock to Aesculapius; pay it, therefore; and do not
neglect it."

"It shall be done," said Crito; "but consider whether you have any thing
else to say."

To this question he gave no reply; but, shortly after, he gave a
convulsive movement, and the man covered him, and his eyes were fixed;
and Crito, perceiving it, closed his mouth and eyes.

This, Echecrates, was the end of our friend,--a man, as we may say, the
best of all of his time that we have known, and, moreover, the most wise
and just.


FOOTNOTES

  [25] Phlius, to which Echecrates belonged, was a town of Sicyonia, in
    Peloponnesus.

  [26] A Pythagorean of Crotona.

  [27] Namely, "that it is better to die than to live."

  [28] Hitto, Boetian for hioto.

  [29] Of Pythagoras.

  [30] Some boyish spirit.

  [31] That is, at a time of life when the body is in full vigor.

  [32] In the original there is a play on the words Haides and
    haeides, which I can only attempt to retain by departing from
    the usual rendering of the former word.

  [33] By this I understand him to mean that the soul alone can perceive
    the truth, but the senses, as they are different, receive and convey
    different impressions of the same thing; thus, the eye receives one
    impression of an object, the ear a totally different one.

  [34] kai ahythis eteros kai eteros, that is, "with one argument
    after another" Though Cousin translates it _et successivement tout
    different de luimeme_ and Ast, _et rursus alia atque alia_, which
    may be taken in either sense, yet it appears to me to mean that,
    when a man repeatedly discovers the fallacy of arguments which he
    before believed to be true, he distrusts reasoning altogether, just
    as one who meets with friend after friend who proves unfaithful
    becomes a misanthrope.

  [35] Lib. xx, v. 7.

  [36] Harmony was the wife of Cadmus, the founder of Thebes; Socrates,
    therefore, compares his two Theban friends, Simmias and Cebes, with
    them, and says that, having overcome Simmias, the advocate of
    Harmony, he must now deal with Cebes, who is represented by Cadmus.

  [37] einai ti, literally, "is something."

  [38] That is, to single.

  [39] Sec. 113.

  [40] It is difficult to express the distinction between osia
    and nomima. The former word seems to have reference to the souls of
    the dead; the latter, to their bodies.

  [41] Its place of interment.

  [42] A proverb meaning "a matter of great difficulty."

  [43] "Iliad," lib. viii., v. 14.

  [44] A metallic substance of a deep-blue color, frequently mentioned by
    the earliest Grecian writers, but of which the nature is unknown.