Chapter 5

"And why is this?" I asked. "Merely because they lie in an appointed place. But now, if you are seeking for a human being, and that too at times when he is seeking you on his side also, often and often shall you give up the search in sheer despair: and of this again the reason? Nothing else save that no appointed place was fixed where one was to await the other." Such, so far as I can now recall it, was the conversation which we held together touching the arrangement of our various chattels and their uses.

IX

Well (I replied), and did your wife appear, Ischomachus, to lend a willing ear to what you tried thus earnestly to teach her?

Isch. Most certainly she did, with promise to pay all attention. Her delight was evident, like some one's who at length has found a pathway out of difficulties; in proof of which she begged me to lose no time in making the orderly arrangement I had spoken of.

And how did you introduce the order she demanded, Ischomachus? (I asked).

Isch. Well, first of all I thought I ought to show her the capacities of our house. Since you must know, it is not decked with ornaments and fretted ceilings, [1] Socrates; but the rooms were built expressly with a view to forming the most apt receptacles for whatever was intended to be put in them, so that the very look of them proclaimed what suited each particular chamber best. Thus our own bedroom, [2] secure in its position like a stronghold, claimed possession of our choicest carpets, coverlets, and other furniture. Thus, too, the warm dry rooms would seem to ask for our stock of bread-stuffs; the chill cellar for our wine; the bright and well-lit chambers for whatever works or furniture required light, and so forth.

[1] Or, "curious workmanship and paintings." See "Mem." III. viii. 10. Cf. Plat. "Rep." vii. 529 B; "Hipp. maj." 298 A. See Becker, "Charicles," Exc. i. 111.

[2] Or, "the bridal chamber." See Becker, op. cit. p. 266. Al. "our store-chamber." See Hom. "Od." xxi. 9:

{be d' imenai thalamonde sun amphipoloisi gunaixin eskhaton, k.t.l.}

"And she (Penelope) betook her, with her handmaidens, to the treasure-chamber in the uttermost part of the house, where lay the treasures of her lord, bronze and gold and iron well wrought."--Butcher and Lang. Cf. "Od." ii. 337; "Il." vi. 288.

Next I proceeded to point out to her the several dwelling-rooms, all beautifully fitted up for cool in summer and for warmth in winter. [3] I showed her how the house enjoyed a southern aspect, whence it was plain, in winter it would catch the sunlight and in summer lie in shade. [4] Then I showed her the women's apartments, separated from the men's apartments by a bolted door, [5] whereby nothing from within could be conveyed without clandestinely, nor children born and bred by our domestics without our knowledge and consent [6]--no unimportant matter, since, if the act of rearing children tends to make good servants still more loyally disposed, [7] cohabiting but sharpens ingenuity for mischief in the bad.

[3] See "Mem." III. viii. 8.

[4] See "Mem." ib. 9.

[5] "By bolts and bars." Lit. "a door fitted with a bolt-pin." See Thuc. ii. 4; Aristoph. "Wasps," 200.

[6] Cf. (Aristot.) "Oecon." i. 5, {dei de kai exomereuein tais teknopoiiais}.

[7] Lit. "since (you know) if the good sort of servant is rendered, as a rule, better disposed when he becomes a father, the base, through intermarrying, become only more ripe for mischief."

When we had gone over all the rooms (he continued), we at once set about distribution our furniture [8] in classes; and we began (he said) by collecting everything we use in offering sacrifice. [9] After this we proceeded to set apart the ornaments and holiday attire of the wife, and the husband's clothing both for festivals and war; then the bedding used in the women's apartments, and the bedding used in the men's apartments; then the women's shoes and sandals, and the shoes and sandals of the men. [10] There was one division devoted to arms and armour; another to instruments used for carding wood; another to implements for making bread; another to utensils for cooking condiments; another to utensils for the bath; another connected with the kneading trough; another with the service of the table. All these we assigned to separate places, distinguishing one portion for daily and recurrent use and the rest for high days and holidays. Next we selected and set aside the supplies required for the month's expenditure; and, under a separate head, [11] we stored away what we computed would be needed for the year. [12] For in this way there is less chance of failing to note how the supplies are likely to last to the end.

[8] "Movable property," "meubles."

[9] Holden cf. Plut. "De Curios." 515 E, {os gar Xenophon legei toi Oikonomikois, k.t.l.}

[10] Cf. "Cyrop." VIII. ii. 5. See Becker, op. cit. p. 447.

[11] See Cic. ap. Col. who curiously mistranslates {dikha}.

[12] Schneider, etc., cf. Aristot. "Oecon." i. 6.

And so having arranged the different articles of furniture in classes, we proceeded to convey them to their appropriate places. That done, we directed our attention to the various articles needed by our domestics for daily use, such as implements or utensils for making bread, cooking relishes, spinning wool, and anything else of the same sort. These we consigned to the care of those who would have to use them, first pointing out where they must stow them, and enjoining on them to return them safe and sound when done with.

As to the other things which we should only use on feast-days, or for the entertainment of guests, or on other like occasions at long intervals, we delivered them one and all to our housekeeper. Having pointed out to her their proper places, and having numbered and registered [13] the several sets of articles, we explained that it was her business to give out each thing as required; to recollect to whom she gave them; and when she got them back, to restore them severally to the places from which she took them. In appointing our housekeeper, we had taken every pains to discover some one on whose self-restraint we might depend, not only in the matters of food and wine and sleep, but also in her intercourse with men. She must besides, to please us, be gifted with no ordinary memory. She must have sufficient forethought not to incur displeasure through neglect of our interests. It must be her object to gratify us in this or that, and in return to win esteem and honour at our hands. We set ourselves to teach and train her to feel a kindly disposition towards us, by allowing her to share our joys in the day of gladness, or, if aught unkind befell us, by inviting her to sympathise in our sorrow. We sought to rouse in her a zeal for our interests, an eagerness to promote the increase of our estate, by making her intelligent of its affairs, and by giving her a share in our successes. We instilled in her a sense of justice and uprightness, by holding the just in higher honour than the unjust, and by pointing out that the lives of the righteous are richer and less servile than those of the unrighteous; and this was the position in which she found herself installed in our household. [14]

[13] Or, "having taken an inventory of the several sets of things." Cf. "Ages." i. 18; "Cyrop." VII. iv. 12. See Newman, op. cit. i. 171.

[14] Or, "and this was the position in which we presently established her herself."

And now, on the strength of all that we had done, Socrates (he added), I addressed my wife, explaining that all these things would fail of use unless she took in charge herself to see that the order of each several part was kept. Thereupon I taught her that in every well-constituted city the citizens are not content merely to pass good laws, but they further choose them guardians of the laws, [15] whose function as inspectors is to praise the man whose acts are law-abiding, or to mulct some other who offends against the law. Accordingly, I bade her believe that she, the mistress, was herself to play the part of guardian of the laws to her whole household, examining whenever it seemed good to her, and passing in review the several chattels, just as the officer in command of a garrison [16] musters and reviews his men. She must apply her scrutiny and see that everything was well, even as the Senate [17] tests the condition of the Knights and of their horses. [18] Like a queen, she must bestow, according to the power vested in her, praise and honour on the well-deserving, but blame and chastisement on him who stood in need thereof.

[15] See Plat. "Laws," vi. 755 A, 770 C; Aristot. "Pol." iii. 15, 1287 A; iv. 14, 1298 B; vi. 8, 1323 A; "Ath. Pol." viii. 4; and Cic. ap. Col. xii. 3. 10 f. Holden cf. Cic. "de Legg." iii. 20, S. 46; "C. I. G." 3794.

[16] Lit. Phrourarch, "the commandant."

[17] Or, "Council" at Athens.

[18] Cf. "Hipparch." i. 8, 13.

Nor did my lessons end here (added he); I taught her that she must not be annoyed should I seem to be enjoining upon her more trouble than upon any of our domestics with regard to our possessions; pointing out to her that these domestics have only so far a share in their master's chattels that they must fetch and carry, tend and guard them; nor have they the right to use a single one of them except the master grant it. But to the master himself all things pertain to use as he thinks best. And so I pointed the conclusion: he to whom the greater gain attaches in the preservation of the property or loss in its destruction, is surely he to whom by right belongs the larger measure of attention. [19]

[19] Or, "he it is on whom devolves as his concern the duty of surveillance."

When, then (I asked), Ischomachus, how fared it? was your wife disposed at all to lend a willing ear to what you told her? [20]

[20] Lit. "when she heard did she give ear at all?"

Bless you, [21] Socrates (he answered), what did she do but forthwith answer me, I formed a wrong opinion if I fancied that, in teaching her the need of minding our property, I was imposing a painful task upon her. A painful task it might have been [22] (she added), had I bade her neglect her personal concerns! But to be obliged to fulfil the duty of attending to her own domestic happiness, [23] that was easy. After all it would seem to be but natural (added he); just as any honest [24] woman finds it easier to care for her own offspring than to neglect them, so, too, he could well believe, an honest woman might find it pleasanter to care for than to neglect possessions, the very charm of which is that they are one's very own.

[21] Lit. "By Hera!" Cf. the old formula "Marry!" or "By'r lakin!"

[22] Lit. "more painful had it been, had I enjoined her to neglect her own interests than to be obliged..."

[23] {ton oikeion agathon}, cp. "charity begins at home." See Joel, op. cit. p. 448.

[24] Or, "true and honest"; "any woman worthy of the name." {sophroni} = with the {sophrosune} of womanhood; possibly transl. "discreet and sober-minded."

X

So (continued Socrates), when I heard his wife had made this answer, I exclaimed: By Hera, Ischomachus, a brave and masculine intelligence the lady has, as you describe her.

(To which Ischomachus) Yes, Socrates, and I would fain narrate some other instances of like large-mindedness on her part: shown in the readiness with which she listened to my words and carried out my wishes.

What sort of thing? (I answered). Do, pray, tell me, since I would far more gladly learn about a living woman's virtues than that Zeuxis [1] should show me the portrait of the loveliest woman he has painted.

[1] See "Mem." I. iv. 3.

Whereupon Ischomachus proceeded to narrate as follows: I must tell you, Socrates, I one day noticed she was much enamelled with white lead, [2] no doubt to enhance the natural whiteness of her skin; she had rouged herself with alkanet [3] profusely, doubtless to give more colour to her cheeks than truth would warrant; she was wearing high-heeled shoes, in order to seem taller than she was by nature. [4]

[2] Cf. Aristoph. "Eccl." 878; ib. 929, {egkhousa mallon kai to son psimuthion}: ib. 1072; "Plut." 1064.

[3] Lit. "enamelled or painted with anchusa or alkanet," a plant, the wild bugloss, whose root yields a red dye. Cf. Aristoph. "Lys." 48; Theophr. "H. Pl." vii. 8. 3.

[4] See Becker, op. cit. p. 452; Breit. cf. "Anab." III. ii. 25; "Mem." II. i. 22; Aristot. "Eth. Nic." iv. 3, 5, "True beauty requires a great body."

Accordingly I put to her this question: [5] "Tell me, my wife, would you esteem me a less lovable co-partner in our wealth, were I to show you how our fortune stands exactly, without boasting of unreal possessions or concealing what we really have? Or would you prefer that I should try to cheat you with exaggeration, exhibiting false money to you, or sham [6] necklaces, or flaunting purples [7] which will lose their colour, stating they are genuine the while?"

[5] Lit. "So I said to her, 'Tell me, my wife, after which fashion would you find me the more delectable partner in our joint estate --were I to...? or were I to...?'"

[6] Lit. "only wood coated with gold."

[7] See Becker, op. cit. p. 434 f; Holden cf. Athen. ix. 374, xii. 525; Ael. "V. H." xii. 32; Aristoph. "Plut." 533.

She caught me up at once: "Hush, hush!" she said, "talk not such talk. May heaven forfend that you should ever be like that. I could not love you with my whole heart were you really of that sort."

"And are we two not come together," I continued, "for a closer partnership, being each a sharer in the other's body?"

"That, at any rate, is what folk say," she answered.

"Then as regards this bodily relation," I proceeded, "should you regard me as more lovable or less did I present myself, my one endeavour and my sole care being that my body should be hale and strong and thereby well complexioned, or would you have me first anoint myself with pigments, [8] smear my eyes with patches [9] of 'true flesh colour,' [10] and so seek your embrace, like a cheating consort presenting to his mistress's sight and touch vermillion paste instead of his own flesh?"

[8] "Red lead."

[9] Cf. Aristoph. "Ach." 1029.

[10] {andreikelon}. Cf. Plat. "Rep." 501 B, "the human complexion"; "Crat." 424 E.

"Frankly," she answered, "it would not please me better to touch paste than your true self. Rather would I see your own 'true flesh colour' than any pigment of that name; would liefer look into your eyes and see them radiant with health than washed with any wash, or dyed with any ointment there may be."

"Believe the same, my wife, of me then," Ischomachus continued (so he told me); "believe that I too am not better pleased with white enamel or with alkanet than with your own natural hue; but as the gods have fashioned horses to delight in horses, cattle in cattle, sheep in their fellow sheep, so to human beings the human body pure and undefiled is sweetest; [11] and as to these deceits, though they may serve to cheat the outside world without detection, yet if intimates try to deceive each other, they must one day be caught; in rising from their beds, before they make their toilet; by a drop of sweat they stand convicted; tears are an ordeal they cannot pass; the bath reveals them as they truly are."

[11] See "Mem." II. i. 22.

What answer (said I) did she make, in Heaven's name, to what you said?

What, indeed (replied the husband), save only, that thenceforward she never once indulged in any practice of the sort, but has striven to display the natural beauty of her person in its purity. She did, however, put to me a question: Could I advise her how she might become not in false show but really fair to look upon?

This, then, was the counsel which I gave her, Socrates: Not to be for ever seated like a slave; [12] but, with Heaven's help, to assume the attitude of a true mistress standing before the loom, and where her knowledge gave her the superiority, bravely to give the aid of her instruction; where her knowledge failed, as bravely try to learn. I counselled her to oversee the baking woman as she made the bread; to stand beside the housekeeper as she measured out her stores; to go tours of inspection to see if all things were in order as they should be. For, as it seemed to me, this would at once be walking exercise and supervision. And, as an excellent gymnastic, I recommended her to knead the dough and roll the paste; to shake the coverlets and make the beds; adding, if she trained herself in exercise of this sort she would enjoy her food, grow vigorous in health, and her complexion would in very truth be lovelier. The very look and aspect of the wife, the mistress, seen in rivalry with that of her attendants, being as she is at once more fair [13] and more beautifully adorned, has an attractive charm, [14] and not the less because her acts are acts of grace, not services enforced. Whereas your ordinary fine lady, seated in solemn state, would seem to court comparison with painted counterfeits of womanhood.

[12] See Becker, p. 491. Breit., etc., cf. Nicostr. ap. Stob. "Tit." lxxiv. 61.

[13] Lit. "more spotles"; "like a diamond of purest water." Cf. Shakesp. "Lucr." 394, "whose perfect white Showed like an April daisy in the grass."

[14] Or, "is wondrous wooing, and all the more with this addition, hers are acts of grace, theirs services enforced."

And, Socrates, I would have you know that still to-day, my wife is living in a style as simple as that I taught her then, and now recount to you.

XI

The conversation was resumed as follows: Thanking Ischomachus for what he had told me about the occupations of his wife; on that side I have heard enough (I said) perhaps for a beginning; the facts you mention reflect the greatest credit on both wife and husband; but would you now in turn describe to me your work and business? In doing so you will have the pleasure of narrating the reason of your fame. And I, for my part, when I have heard from end to end the story of a beautiful and good man's works, if only my wits suffice and I have understood it, shall be much indebted.

Indeed (replied Ischomachus), it will give me the greatest pleasure to recount to you my daily occupations, and in return I beg you to reform me, where you find some flaw or other in my conduct. [1]

[1] Lit. "in order that you on your side may correct and set me right where I seem to you to act amiss." {metarruthmises}--remodel. Cf. Aristot. "Nic. Eth." x. 9. 5.

The idea of my reforming you! (I said). How could I with any show of justice hope to reform you, the perfect model [2] of a beautiful, good man--I, who am but an empty babbler, [3] and measurer of the air, [4] who have to bear besides that most senseless imputation of being poor--an imputation which, I assure you, Ischomachus, would have reduced me to the veriest despair, except that the other day I chanced to come across the horse of Nicias, [5] the foreigner? I saw a crowd of people in attendance staring, and I listened to a story which some one had to tell about the animal. So then I stepped up boldly to the groom and asked him, "Has the horse much wealth?" The fellow looked at me as if I were hardly in my right mind to put the question, and retorted, "How can a horse have wealth?" Thereat I dared to lift my eyes from earth, on learning that after all it is permitted a poor penniless horse to be a noble animal, if nature only have endowed him with good spirit. If, therefore, it is permitted even to me to be a good man, please recount to me your works from first to last, I promise, I will listen, all I can, and try to understand, and so far as in me lies to imitate you from to-morrow. To-morrow is a good day to commence a course of virtue, is it not?

[2] Cf. Plat. "Rep." 566 A, "a tyrant full grown" (Jowett).

[3] Cf. Plat. "Phaed." 70 C; Aristoph. "Clouds," 1480.

[4] Or rather, "a measurer of air"--i.e. devoted not to good sound solid "geometry," but the unsubstantial science of "aerometry." See Aristoph. "Clouds," i. 225; Plat. "Apol." 18 B, 19 B; Xen. "Symp." vi. 7.

[5] Nothing is known of this person.

You are pleased to jest, Socrates (Ischomachus replied), in spite of which I will recount to you those habits and pursuits by aid of which I seek to traverse life's course. If I have read aright life's lesson, it has taught me that, unless a man first discover what he needs to do, and seriously study to bring the same to good effect, the gods have placed prosperity [6] beyond his reach; and even to the wise and careful they give or they withhold good fortune as seemeth to them best. Such being my creed, I begin with service rendered to the gods; and strive to regulate my conduct so that grace may be given me, in answer to my prayers, to attain to health, and strength of body, honour in my own city, goodwill among my friends, safety with renown in war, and of riches increase, won without reproach.

[6] "The gods have made well-doing and well-being a thing impossible." Cf. "Mem." III. ix. 7, 14.

I, when I heard these words, replied: And are you then indeed so careful to grow rich, Ischomachus?--amassing wealth but to gain endless trouble in its management?

Most certainly (replied Ischomachus), and most careful must I needs be of the things you speak of. So sweet I find it, Socrates, to honour God magnificently, to lend assistance to my friends in answer to their wants, and, so far as lies within my power, not to leave my city unadorned with anything which riches can bestow.

Nay (I answered), beautiful indeed the works you speak of, and powerful the man must be who would essay them. How can it be otherwise, seeing so many human beings need the help of others merely to carry on existence, and so many are content if they can win enough to satisfy their wants. What of those therefore who are able, not only to administer their own estates, but even to create a surplus sufficient to adorn their city and relieve the burthen of their friends? Well may we regard such people as men of substance and capacity. But stay (I added), most of us are competent to sing the praises of such heroes. What I desire is to hear from you, Ischomachus, in your own order, [7] first how you study to preserve your health and strength of body; and next, how it is granted to you [8] to escape from the perils of war with honour untarnished. And after that (I added), it will much content me to learn from your own lips about your money-making.

[7] "And from your own starting-point."

[8] As to the construction {themis einai} see Jebb ad "Oed. Col." 1191, Appendix.

Yes (he answered), and the fact is, Socrates, if I mistake not, all these matters are in close connection, each depending on the other. Given that a man have a good meal to eat, he has only to work off the effect by toil [9] directed rightly; and in the process, if I mistake not, his health will be confirmed, his strength added to. Let him but practise the arts of war and in the day of battle he will preserve his life with honour. He needs only to expend his care aright, sealing his ears to weak and soft seductions, and his house shall surely be increased. [10]

[9] See "Mem." I. ii. 4; "Cyrop." I. ii. 16. Al. "bring out the effect of it by toil."

[10] Lit. "it is likely his estate will increase more largely."