Texte grec :
| [3,35] ἢ σὺ {τὸν} ἰσχυρὸν εἶναι λέγεις τὸν καὶ τοῦ μαλακωτάτου πάντων
ἀσθενέστερον, ὕπνου; ὑφ´ οὗ ξυμποδισθεὶς πολλάκις ἄνευ δεσμῶν
οὐχ ὅπως ἄλλοις, ἀλλ´ οὐδ´ ἑαυτῷ δύναται βοηθεῖν οὐδὲ ἐπίκουρον
(36) οὐδένα καλέσαι τῶν βουλομένων ἀμύνειν; ταῦτα δὲ ἀκούσας εἶπεν,
Ἐκεῖνο μέντοι οἶσθα δήπου, ὦ Σώκρατες, ὅτι τῆς ἁπάσης οἰκουμένης τοῦ
πλείστου καὶ ἀρίστου βασιλεύει μέρους. ἔξω γὰρ τῆς
Ἑλλάδος καὶ τῆς Ἰταλίας καί τινων ὀλίγων ἐθνῶν ἄλλων τῶν κατὰ
(37) τὴν Εὐρώπην ξύμπαντα τἄλλα ὑφ´ ἑαυτῷ πεποίηται, καὶ τῆς μὲν
καλουμένης Ἀσίας ὅλης ἄρχει μέχρις Ἰνδῶν· πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν
φασιν ὑπακούειν· τῆς δὲ Λιβύης τοῦ πλείονος μέρους· ἐν δὲ τῇ
Εὐρώπῃ Θρᾴκης καὶ Μακεδονίας· ἁπάντων τούτων κρατεῖ· ὅθεν
δὴ καὶ μέγας βασιλεὺς κέκληται μόνος ἐκεῖνος.
(38) καὶ ὁ Σωκράτης εἶπεν, Ἀλλ´ οὐδὲ τοῦτο οἶδα ὅλως γε, εἰ βασιλεύς ἐστι τὴν
ἀρχὴν οὐδεμιᾶς πόλεως ἢ κώμης. Σὺ ἄρα, εἶπε, μόνος ἀνήκοος εἶ τούτων
ἃ πάντες ἴσασιν; Ἀκούω, ἔφη, πολλῶν λεγόντων ἃ σὺ λέγεις
καὶ Ἑλλήνων καὶ βαρβάρων· ὃ δὲ οὐκ ἐᾷ με γιγνώσκειν ὃ λέγω τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν·
(39) οὐκ οἶδα, ὦ ἄριστε, εἰ νομίμως καὶ δικαίως τούτων
ἁπάντων προέστηκεν καὶ τοιοῦτος ὢν ὁποῖον εἴρηκα πολλάκις·
εἰ μὲν γὰρ εὐγνώμων καὶ φιλάνθρωπος καὶ νόμιμος ὢν ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ
καὶ τῷ συμφέροντι τῶν ἀρχομένων ἐπιμελεῖται, αὐτὸς πρῶτος εὐδαίμων {καὶ
φρόνιμος} ὤν, καθάπερ εἶπον, καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις μεταδιδοὺς
{καὶ} τῆς αὑτοῦ εὐδαιμονίας, οὐ δίχα θεὶς τό τε αὑτοῦ καὶ τὸ τῶν
ἀρχομένων συμφέρον, ἀλλὰ τότε χαίρων μάλιστα καὶ τότε νομίζων
ἄριστα πράττειν, ὅταν ὁρᾷ καλῶς πράττοντας τοὺς ἀρχομένους,
δυνάμει τε μέγιστός ἐστιν καὶ βασιλεὺς ἀληθῶς·
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Traduction française :
| [3,35] Or do you call that man strong who is
weaker than the softest of things ?I mean sleep,
enchained by which, often without fetters, he cannot
help himself, let alone others, nor call to his aid
anyone willing to fight in his defence."
(36) On hearing this, the other exclaimed : " However,
I presume you know, Socrates, that of the entire
inhabited world the Persian king rules over the
largest and best part; for, excluding Greece, Italy,
and a few other peoples scattered throughout Europe,
he has made all the rest subject to him; and of
what we call Asia he governs everything as far as the
Indies, many of whose people are said to own his
sway too, as well as the greater part of Africa; while
in Europe he governs Thrace and Macedonia. All
these he holds in subjection, and this is the reason that
he alone has received the title of ` The Great King.' "
(38) " But I am not absolutely sure even on this point,"
replied Socrates, "whether he is king of any city or
hamlet at all." " Have you alone," interjected the
other, " never heard what all the world knows ?
Yes," he replied, " I do hear many people say just
what you are sayingmany, both Greeks and barbarians;
but what keeps me from forming a definite
opinion on the point I raise is this : I do not know,
my good sir, whether he is placed in right and lawful
authority over all these people and is a man of the
stamp I have mentioned time and again. If he is a
man of good mind and heart, respects the law, cares
for his subjects with an eye to their safety and welfare,
and is, to begin with, happy and wise himself, as I have
described him, and shares this happiness of his with
others, not divorcing his own interest from that of his
subjects, but rejoicing most and regarding himself as
most prosperous when he sees his subjects prosperous
toothen he is most powerful and a king in very truth.
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