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[10,11] πρὸς δὲ τούτοις σύμμετρον ἐποίησε τὴν γαστέρα, καὶ οὐ δεῖται πλείονος
τροφῆς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἢ δυνατός ἐστιν αὑτῷ πορίζειν, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μέτρον
ἑκάστῳ ἱκανώτατον καὶ ἄριστον καὶ ὑγιέστατον. ὥσπερ οὖν ἡ χεὶρ
ἀσθενεστέρα ἐστὶν ἡ πλείονας δακτύλους ἔχουσα τῶν φύσει γιγνομένων,
καὶ ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄνθρωπος ἀνάπηρος καλεῖται τρόπον τινὰ
ᾧ ἂν ἔξωθεν προσφυῇ δάκτυλος περιττός, καὶ μηδὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις
χρῆσθαι δύναται κατὰ τρόπον, οὕτως ὅταν πολλοὶ πόδες καὶ πολλαὶ
χεῖρες καὶ πολλαὶ γαστέρες ἀνθρώπῳ τινὶ προσγένωνται, μὰ Δί´
οὐκ ἰσχυρότερος οὗτος γίγνεται πρὸς οὐδὲν οὐδὲ μᾶλλον τυγχάνει
ὧν δεῖ τυγχάνειν αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ πολὺ ἔλαττον καὶ δυσχερέστερον.
| [10,11] Besides, she has made his stomach of a size in keeping,
so that man does not require more nourishment
than he is able to provide for himself, but this amount
represents what is quite adequate for each man and
best and most wholesome. Just as a hand is all the
weaker for having more fingers than belong there
naturally, and such a man is called a sort of cripple
when he has an extra finger on the outside and
cannot use the other fingers properly ; so when a
man gets equipped with many additional feet, hands,
and stomachs, by heavens, he becomes not a whit
more efficient for any task whatever, nor does he
obtain what he must obtain any better, but rather,
much less well and with greater difficulty.
| [10,12] σὺ δέ, ἔφη, νῦν μὲν ἑνὶ ἀνθρώπῳ ζητεῖς τροφήν, τότε δὲ δυσί·
καὶ νῦν μὲν σαυτὸν νοσηλεύσεις, ἐὰν ἄρα συμβῇ τις ἀσθένεια, τότε
δὲ ἀνάγκη θεραπεύειν κἀκεῖνον νοσοῦντα· καὶ νῦν μὲν ὅταν αὐτὸς
ᾖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ, οὐ φροντίζεις μή τι αὐτὸς ὑφέλῃ, οὐδὲ ὅταν καθεύδῃς,
μὴ ἐγρηγορὼς ὁ παῖς κακόν τι ἐργάσηται. πάντα δὴ ταῦτα
δεῖ σε σκοπεῖν. γυναῖκα τοίνυν εἰ ἔχεις, τότε μὲν οὐκ ἂν ἠξίου
σε θεραπεύειν, ὁρῶσα οἰκέτην ἔνδον τρεφόμενον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐκείνῳ
μαχομένη, τὰ δὲ αὐτὴ τρυφῶσα, ἐνοχλεῖν σε ἔμελλεν· νῦν δὲ ἧττον
μὲν αὐτὴ ἀργήσει, μᾶλλον δὲ σοῦ ἐπιμελήσεται.
| [10,12] "You now provide food for one person," he continued,
"but then it was for two ; and now, if any
illness attacks you, you will have only yourself to
treat, but then you had to take care of him, too,
when he was ill. Now, when you are in the house
all by yourself, you do not worry for fear that you
may steal something yourself, nor, when you retire,
lest your slave be awake and doing some mischief.
All these things you should surely think about. And
further, if you have a wife, she would then not have
considered it her duty to look after you when she
saw a domestic kept in the family, and she would
have been likely to annoy you, sometimes by
quarrelling with him, at other times by being hard
to suit herself; but now she will be less discontented
herself and will take better care of you.
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