Texte grec :
| [1,25] τοῦτον οἱ μὲν πολέμιοι δεδοίκασι καὶ οὐδεὶς ὁμολογεῖ
πολέμιος εἶναι, οἱ δὲ φίλοι θαρροῦσιν, καὶ οἱ σφόδρα ἐγγὺς ἡγοῦνται
πάντων ἐν τῷ ἀσφαλεστάτῳ εἶναι. {οὗ τἀναντία ὑπάρχει τῷ
κακῷ, τοὺς μὲν ἐχθροὺς θαρρύνειν, τοὺς δὲ φίλους καὶ τοὺς ἐγγὺς
ἐκπλήττειν καὶ φοβεῖν.} {τῷ γε μὴν ἡμέρῳ καὶ ἀβλαβεῖ τοὺς μὲν
προσλιπαροῦντας μετὰ τοῦ πεποιθότος περιγίγνεται βιοῦν·} τοὺς
δὲ προσιόντας καὶ ὁρῶντας οὐκ ἔκπληξις οὐδὲ φόβος, ἀλλ´ αἰδὼς
ὕπεισι, πολὺ κρεῖττον καὶ ἰσχυρότερον φόβου· τοὺς μὲν γὰρ φοβουμένους
ἀνάγκη μισεῖν καὶ ἀποδρᾶναι θέλειν, τοὺς δὲ αἰδουμένους
παραμένειν καὶ θαυμάζειν.
(26) τὴν μὲν οὖν ἁπλότητα καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἡγεῖται βασιλικὸν καὶ φρόνιμον,
τὴν δὲ πανουργίαν καὶ τὴν ἀπάτην ἀνόητον καὶ δουλοπρεπές,
ὁρῶν ὅτι καὶ τῶν θηρίων τὰ δειλότατα καὶ ἀγεννέστατα, ἐκεῖνα καὶ ψεύδεται
πάντων μάλιστα καὶ ἐξαπατᾷ.
(27) φιλότιμος δὲ ὢν τὴν φύσιν καὶ εἰδὼς ὅτι τοὺς ἀγαθοὺς
πεφύκασιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι τιμᾶν, ἧττον ἐλπίζει τιμᾶσθαι ἂν
ὑπὸ ἀκόντων ἢ παρὰ μισούντων φιλίας τυγχάνειν.
καὶ πολεμικὸς μὲν οὕτως ἐστὶν ὥστ´ ἐπ´ αὐτῷ εἶναι τὸ πολεμεῖν, εἰρηνικὸς
δὲ οὕτως ὡς μηδὲν ἀξιόμαχον αὐτῷ λείπεσθαι. καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τόδε
οἶδεν, ὅτι τοῖς κάλλιστα πολεμεῖν παρεσκευασμένοις, τούτοις μάλιστα
ἔξεστιν εἰρήνην ἄγειν.
(28) φιλέταιρος δὲ καὶ φιλοπολίτης καὶ φιλοστρατιώτης ὁμοίως πέφυκεν·
ὅστις μὲν γὰρ ὑπερόπτης τῶν στρατευομένων
καὶ οὐδεπώποτε ἢ σπανίως ἑώρακε τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς
ἀρχῆς κινδυνεύοντας καὶ πονοῦντας, τὸν δὲ ἀνόνητον καὶ ἄνοπλον
ὄχλον διατελεῖ θωπεύων, ὅμοιόν γε πέπονθε καθάπερ εἰ ποιμὴν
τοὺς συμφυλάττοντας αὐτῷ κύνας ἀγνοοίη καὶ μήτε τροφὴν αὐτοῖς
ὀρέγοι μήτε συναγρυπνήσειέ ποτε φυλάττουσιν· οὗτος γὰρ οὐ τὰ
θηρία μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς κύνας ἀναπείθει μὴ ἀπέχεσθαι τῆς ποίμνης.
(29) ὅστις δὲ τοὺς μὲν στρατιώτας διαθρύπτει, μήτε γυμνάζων
μήτε πονεῖν παρακελευόμενος, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἠμέλησεν,
ὅμοιός ἐστι κυβερνήτῃ τοὺς μὲν ναύτας διαφθείροντι πλησμονῇ
τε καὶ ὕπνῳ δι´ ἡμέρας, τῶν δ´ ἐπιβατῶν καὶ τῆς νεὼς
ἀπολλυμένης οὐδὲν φροντίζοντι.
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Traduction française :
| [1,25] His enemies fear him, and no one acknowledges himself
his foe; but his friends are full of courage, and those
exceeding near unto him deem themselves of all
men most secure. They who come into his presence
and behold him feel neither terror nor fear; but
into their hearts creeps a feeling of profound respect,
something much stronger and more powerful
than fear. For those who fear must inevitably hate
and want to escape; those who feel respect must
linger and admire.
(26) He holds that sincerity and truthfulness are
qualities befitting a king and a prudent man, while
unscrupulousness and deceit are for the fool and the
slave, for he observes that among the wild beasts also
it is the most cowardly and ignoble which surpass all
the rest in lying and deceiving.
(27) Though naturally covetous of honour, and knowing
that it is the good that men are prone to honour, he
has less hope of winning honour from the unwilling
than he has of gaining the friendship of those who
hate him.
He is warlike to the extent that the making of war
rests with him, and peaceful to the extent that there
is nothing left worth his fighting for. For assuredly
he is well aware that they who are best prepared for
war have it most in their power to live in peace.
(28) He is also by nature fond of his comparions,
fellow-citizens, and soldiers in like measure ; for a
ruler who is suspicious of the military and has never
or rarely seen those who face peril and hardship in
support of his kingdom, but continually flatters the
unprofitable and unarmed masses, is like a shepherd
who does not know those who help him to keep
guard, never proffers them food, and never shares the
watch with them; for such a man tempts not only
the wild beasts, but even his own dogs, to prey upon
the fold. He, on the contrary, who pampers his
soldiers by not drilling them or encouraging them to
work hard and, at the same time, evinces no concern
for the people at large, is like a skip-captain who
demoralizes his crew with surfeit of food and noonday
sleep and takes no thought for his passengers or for
his ship as it goes to ruin.
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