[20,15] οἶδα γὰρ ἔγωγε καὶ τῶν κυνῶν τὰς μὲν καλῶς ἀχθείσας καὶ φιλοπόνους, ἐπειδὰν ἀφεθῶσιν, εὐθὺς ἀναζητούσας τὸ ἴχνος, καὶ οὐδ´ εἰ πάντες ἀποκαλοῖεν, οὐκ ἄν ποτε τοῦτο ἀπολειπούσας, οὐδ´ εἰ πολλαὶ μὲν φωναὶ πανταχόθεν φέροιντο, πολλαὶ δὲ ὀσμαὶ ἀπό τε τῶν καρπῶν καὶ ἀνθῶν ἐμπλέκοιντο, πολὺ δὲ πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων τε καὶ ἄλλων ζῴων φαίνοιτο καὶ ἴχνη τὰ μὲν ἵππων, τὰ δὲ βοῶν, τὰ δὲ προβάτων—οὐδὲν οὔτε ὁρᾷ τούτων οὔτε αἰσθάνεται αὐτῶν οὐδενός, ἀλλὰ ἐκεῖνο {παριδοῦσα} πανταχόθεν ἐκλέγει τὸ ἴχνος κἀκείνῳ ἕπεται, μέχρις ἂν εὕρῃ τε καὶ ἀναστήσῃ τὸν λαγών, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα κατέχει διώκουσα, δι´ ὁποίων ἄν ποτε ἴῃ χωρίων, καὶ οὔτε πεδίον οὔτε ὄρος οὔτε τὰ λίαν τραχέα οὔτε χαράδρα ἢ ῥεῦμα ἀποκωλύει αὐτήν, πολλούς τινας δρόμους τοῦ λαγὼ θέοντος καὶ (16) πειρωμένου ἐξαπατᾶν· τὰς δὲ ἀμαθεῖς τε καὶ ἀπαιδεύτους κύνας βραδέως μὲν αἰσθανομένας, ταχέως δὲ ἀπαγορευούσας, εἰ δέ ποθεν ἀλλαχόθεν προσπέσοι θροῦς, εἴτε ὑλακὴ κυνῶν εἴτε ἀνθρώπων φθεγξαμένων ὁδοιπόρων ἢ νομέων, εὐθὺς ἀνακυπτούσας ἐκ τοῦ ἴχνους κἀκεῖ φερομένας. τούτων δὴ πάντων, ὅπερ ἔφην, τὸ ἔθος αἴτιον. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἐθίζειν ἂν δέοι μηδέποτε ἀποτρέπεσθαι μηδὲ ἀναχωρεῖν τοῦ δοκοῦντος εἶναι προσήκοντος ἔργου. εἰ δὲ μή, οὐ ῥᾴδιον περιγενέσθαι οὐδὲ ἐξεργάσασθαι οὐδὲν ἱκανῶς. (17) ἢ οὐκ ἐν ταῖς ἐρημίας καὶ ἡσυχίαις, οὐκ ἐνταῦθα μάλιστα ἀνευρήκασιν οἱ ἀνόητοι ἄνθρωποι, ὅπως μηδὲν διανοῶνται τῶν δεόντων, ἕτερα πολλὰ καὶ ἄτοπα διανοήματα, οἷς ἀγαπῶσι ξυνόντες, τυραννίδας τε καὶ πλούτους καὶ ἄλλ´ ἄττα θαυμαστὰ ἀναπλάττοντες αὑτοῖς; οἱ μὲν θησαυρούς τινας {ἀναπλάττοντες} χρυσοῦ τε καὶ ἀργύρου πλῆθος ἐξαίφνης ἀμήχανον ὅσον κτώμενοι, οἱ δὲ βασιλεῖς τε καὶ μονάρχους πόλεών τε καὶ ἐθνῶν ἀποδεικνύντες σφᾶς αὐτούς, ἔπειτα ἤδη τὰ ἑξῆς περὶ τὴν τυραννίδα πάντα πράττοντες, τοὺς μέν τινας ἀποκτιννύντες, τοὺς δὲ ἐλαύνοντες, παρθένοις δὲ καὶ μειρακίοις καὶ γυναιξὶ πλησιάζοντες αἷς ἂν ἐθέλωσιν, ἑστιάσεων δὲ καὶ εὐωχιῶν τῶν πολυτελεστάτων μεταλαμβάνοντες, (18) οἱ δέ τινες ἀργύριον ἐκδανείζοντες ἢ ἄλλας ἐργασίας οἷον ἐγρηγορότες τε καὶ ὁρῶντες ὀνείρατα ποικίλα καὶ παντοδαπὰ πλάττοντες αὑτοῖς. ἐνίοτέ γε μὴν ἐκ τῶν ὀνειράτων τούτων ἀποβαίνει καὶ ὕπαρ αὐτοῖς τὰ φαυλότατα καὶ ἀτοπώτατα. τυραννίδες μὲν γὰρ οὐ πάνυ τι ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων γίγνονται· οὐ γὰρ ἐθέλει ἡ τυραννὶς ὑπὸ ῥᾳθύμου τε καὶ τρόπον τινὰ ἀεὶ κοιμωμένης διανοίας θηρεύεσθαι, ἀλλὰ τοὐναντίον ὑπὸ δριμείας τε καὶ ἀγρύπνου φροντίδος· δαπάναι δὲ καὶ ἔρωτες καὶ τοιαῦταί τινες διατριβαὶ πολλοῖς (19) ἤδη πολλάκις ἀπήντησαν. οἷον δὴ ἐγὼ οἶμαι τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον, ὡς ἐτύγχανε σχολὴν ἄγων ἐν τῇ Ἴδῃ περὶ τὰ βουκόλια, τοιαύτης ἐννοίας καὶ ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῷ γενομένης ὡς ἄρα εὔδαιμόν τε καὶ μακάριον τὸ τὴν πασῶν καλλίστην γυναῖκα ἔχειν, καὶ οὔτε βασιλεία τούτου ἄξιον τοῦ χρήματος οὔτε πλοῦτος οὔτε κρατεῖν μαχόμενον ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων, μετὰ ταῦτα ἤδη διανοεῖσθαι τίς τε δὴ καὶ παρὰ τίσιν ἡ τοιαύτη γυνὴ καὶ πόθεν ἂν αὐτῷ τοιοῦτος ὑπάρξαι γάμος·

[20,15] I myself know that when well trained and willing dogs are unleashed, they straightway pick up the trail, and not even if all the hunters should try to call them back, would they ever leave it ; no, not even if many voices from all sides should reach them, and many odours emanating from the fruits and flowers should be mingled with the scent, and a great host of men and other creatures should come to view, and tracks of horses here and of cattle or sheep there. Such a dog sees none of these things, notices none of them, but disregarding all those other things, picks out the trail on all sides and follows it until she finds and puts up the hare ; and after this she keeps up the pursuit, no matter what country she has to pass through, and neither plain nor road nor exceedingly rough ground, nor ravine nor stream can stop her, in spite of all the doublings the hare makes in its attempts to put her off the scent. But ignorant and untrained dogs I find are slow to pick up the trail and quick to give up the chase, and if a noise reaches their ears from any quarter, whether the barking of dogs, or the shouting of men, whether wayfarers or herdsmen, they straightway lift their noses from the trail and rush off in that direction. For all these things, just as I have said, habit is responsible. And in the sam way the mind also should be made accustomed never to turn aside or withdraw from what it regards as its proper work. Otherwise it will not be easy to rise above one's surroundings or to accomplish anything satisfactorily. (17) Or is it not in wildernesses and places undisturbed by sounds, or chiefly there, that foolish men, trying not to concentrate their thoughts upon the essential things, have conjured up many strange imaginings, things amid which they yearn to live, shaping for themselves in fancy sovereign power and riches and other such marvels ? Some dig up treasures of gold and silver and thus suddenly come into possession of an enormous quantity of them ; and others make themselves emperors and absolute rulers of cities and nations, then straightway putting into practice everything that goes with a tyranny : putting some to death and banishing others, making free with any virgins or boys or matrons that they choose, and taking part in the most costly banquets and feasts ; others put out money on usury or engage in other enterprises, dreaming all kinds of bright dreams to themselves just as if they were wide awake with their eyes open. Aye, and sometimes, to be sure, as the result of these dreams there comes for them the most trivial and absurd awakening from such dreams ! For tyrannies are not at all likely to spring from such things, since a tyranny is not apt to be sought by a mind that is slothful and in a sense always asleep, but on the contrary, by keen and unsleeping thought. But lavish expenditures, love intrigues, and such like adventures have undoubtedly often fallen to the lot of many. (19) I may cite Alexander as an instance : I fancy that, when he happened to be enjoying a respite from his herdsman's duties on Mount Ida, the thought and with it the desire came to him, what a fortunate and blissful thing it world be to have the most beautiful woman in the whole world to wife, and that neither a throne was as valuable as this prize, nor wealth, nor the conquest of the whole world in war ; next he began to speculate as to who and where this woman of his fancy might be, among what people she lived, and by what means he could compass so splendid an alliance ;