Section 488

So, said I, you are making fun of me after driving me into such an impasse of argument. But, all the same, hear my comparison so that you may still better see how I strain after 1 imagery. For so cruel is the condition of the better sort in relation to the state that there is no single thing 2 like it in nature. But to find a likeness for it and a defence for them one must bring together many things in such a combination as painters mix when they portray goat-stags 3 and similar creatures. 4 Conceive this sort of thing happening either on many ships or on one: Picture a shipmaster 5 in height and strength surpassing all others on the ship, but who is slightly deaf 6 and of similarly impaired vision, and whose knowledge of navigation is on a par with 7 his sight and hearing. Conceive the sailors to be wrangling with one another for control of the helm, each claiming that it is his right to steer though he has never learned the art and cannot point out his teacher 8 or any time when he studied it. And what is more, they affirm that it cannot be taught at all, 9 but they are ready to make mincemeat of anyone 10 who says that it can be taught, and meanwhile they are always clustered about 11 the shipmaster importuning him and sticking at nothing 12 to induce him to turn over the helm to them. And sometimes, if they fail and others get his ear, they put the others to death or cast them out 13 from the ship, and then, after binding 14 and stupefying the worthy shipmaster 15 with mandragora or intoxication or otherwise, they take command of the ship, consume its stores and, drinking and feasting, make such a voyage 16 of it as is to be expected 17 from such, and as if that were not enough, they praise and celebrate as a navigator, a pilot, a master of shipcraft, the man who is most cunning to lend a hand 18 in persuading or constraining the shipmaster to let them rule, 19 while the man who lacks this craft 20 they censure as useless. They have no suspicions 21 that the true pilot must give his attention 22 to the time of the year, the seasons, the sky, the winds, the stars, and all that pertains to his art if he is to be a true ruler of a ship, and that he does not believe that there is any art or science of seizing the helm 23 with or without the consent of others, or any possibility of mastering this alleged art 24 and the practice of it at the same time with the science of navigation.