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And in sum, it is necessary to restrain young men
from the conversation of debauched persons, lest they take
infection from their evil examples. This was taught by
Pythagoras in certain enigmatical sentences, which I shall
here relate and expound, as being greatly useful to further
virtuous inclinations. Such are these. Taste not of fish
that have black tails; that is, converse not with men that
are smutted with vicious qualities. Stride not over the
beam of the scales; wherein he teacheth us the regard we
ought to have for justice, so as not to go beyond its measures. Sit not on a choenix; wherein he forbids sloth, and
requires us to take care to provide ourselves with the necessaries of life. Do not strike hands with every man; he
means we ought not to be over hasty to make acquaintances
or friendships with others. Wear not a tight ring; that
is, we are to labor after a free and independent way of
living, and to submit to no fetters. Stir not up the fire
with a sword; signifying that we ought not to provoke a
man more when he is angry already (since this is a most
unseemly act), but we should rather comply with him while
his passion is in its heat. Eat not thy heart; which forbids
to afflict our souls, and waste them with vexatious cares
[p. 29]
Abstain from beans; that is, keep out of public offices,
for anciently the choice of the officers of state was made
by beans. Put not food in a chamber-pot; Wherein he
declares that elegant discourse ought not to be put into an
impure mind; for discourse is the food of the mind, which
is rendered unclean by the foulness of the man who receives
it. When men are arrived at the goal, they should not
turn back; that is, those who are near the end of their
days, and see the period of their lives approaching,
ought to entertain it contentedly, and not to be grieved
at it.
But to return from this digression,—our children, as I
have said, are to be debarred the company of all evil men,
but especially flatterers. For I would still affirm what I
have often said in the presence of divers fathers, that there
is not a more pestilent sort of men than these, nor any that
more certainly and speedily hurry youth into precipices.
Yea, they utterly ruin both fathers and sons, making the
old age of the one and the youth of the other full of sorrow,
while they cover the hook of their evil counsels with the unavoidable bait of voluptuousness. Parents, when they have
good estates to leave their children, exhort them to sobriety,
flatterers to drunkenness; parents exhort to continence,
these to lasciviousness; parents to good husbandry, these
to prodigality; parents to industry, these to slothfulness.
And they usually entertain them with such discourses as
these: The whole life of man is but a point of tine; let
us enjoy it therefore while it lasts, and not spend it to no
purpose. Why should you so much regard the displeasure
of your father?—an old doting fool, with one foot already
in the grave, and 'tis to be hoped it will not be long ere we
carry him thither altogether. And some of them there are
who procure young men foul harlots, yea, prostitute wives
to them; and they even make a prey of those things which
the careful fathers have provided for the sustenance of their
[p. 30]
old age. A cursed tribe! True friendship's hypocrites,
they have no knowledge of plain dealing and frank speech.
They flatter the rich, and despise the poor; and they seduce
the young, as by a musical charm. When those who feed
them begin to laugh, then they grin and show their teeth.
They are mere counterfeits, bastard pretenders to humanity,
living at the nod and beck of the rich; free by birth, yet
slaves by choice, who always think themselves abused
when they are not so, because they are not supported in
idleness at others' cost. Wherefore, if fathers have any
care for the good breeding of their children, they ought to
drive such foul beasts as these out of doors. They ought
also to keep them from the companionship of vicious
school-fellows, for these are able to corrupt the most ingenuous dispositions.
Plutarch. Plutarch's Morals. Translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 1.
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