Texte grec :
| [4,65] ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγεν ὁ Διογένης, προτρέπων αὐτὸν εὐεργεσίᾳ πιστεύειν καὶ
τῷ δίκαιον παρέχειν αὑτόν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τοῖς ὅπλοις. Σὺ δέ, ἔφη, καὶ
τὸν θυμὸν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ φορεῖς ἠκονημένον, χαλεπὸν οὕτως καὶ
(66) βίαιον κέντρον. οὐκ ἀπορρίψας ταῦτα ἃ νῦν ἔχεις, ἐξωμίδα λαβὼν
λατρεύσεις τοῖς αὑτοῦ κρείττοσιν, ἀλλὰ περιελεύσῃ διάδημα ἔχων
καταγέλαστον; μικρῷ δὲ ὕστερον ἴσως λόφον φύσεις καὶ τιάραν,
ὥσπερ οἱ ἀλεκτρυόνες; οὐκ ἐννενόηκας τὴν τῶν Σακῶν ἑορτήν, ἣν
Πέρσαι ἄγουσιν, οὗ νῦν ὥρμηκας στρατεύεσθαι; καὶ ὃς εὐθὺς
(67) ἠρώτα, Ποίαν τινά; ἐβούλετο γὰρ πάντα εἰδέναι τὰ τῶν Περσῶν
πράγματα. Λαβόντες, ἔφη, τῶν δεσμωτῶν ἕνα τῶν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ
καθίζουσιν εἰς τὸν θρόνον τὸν τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ τὴν ἐσθῆτα
διδόασιν αὐτῷ τὴν βασιλικήν, καὶ προστάττειν ἐῶσι καὶ πίνειν καὶ
τρυφᾶν καὶ ταῖς παλλακαῖς χρῆσθαι τὰς ἡμέρας ἐκείνας ταῖς βασιλέως,
καὶ οὐδεὶς οὐδὲν αὐτὸν κωλύει ποιεῖν ὧν βούλεται. μετὰ δὲ
(68) ταῦτα ἀποδύσαντες καὶ μαστιγώσαντες ἐκρέμασαν. τίνος οὖν ἡγῇ
τοῦτο εἶναι σύμβολον καὶ διὰ τί γίγνεσθαι παρὰ τοῖς Πέρσαις;
οὐχ ὅτι πολλάκις ἀνόητοι ἄνθρωποι καὶ πονηροὶ τῆς ἐξουσίας
ταύτης καὶ τοῦ ὀνόματος τυγχάνουσιν, ἔπειτα χρόνον τινὰ ὑβρίσαντες
(69) αἴσχιστα καὶ τάχιστα ἀπόλλυνται; οὐκοῦν τότε, ἐπειδὰν
ἄρωσι τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐκ τῶν δεσμῶν, εἰκός ἐστι τὸν μὲν ἀνόητον
καὶ ἄπειρον τοῦ πράγματος χαίρειν καὶ μακαρίζειν ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς
γιγνομένοις, τὸν δὲ εἰδότα ὀδύρεσθαι καὶ μὴ ἐθέλειν ἑκόντα συνακολουθεῖν,
ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον, ὥσπερ εἶχε, μένειν ἐν ταῖς πέδαις.
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Traduction française :
| [4,65] With these words Diogenes strove to encourage
him to put his trust in well-doing and devotion to
righteousness and not in arms.
"But you," he continued, "also carry in your
soul a keen-whetted temper, a goad difficult to
restrain, as we see, and compelling. Will you not
throw off this armour which you now wear, don
a worker's tunic, and serve your betters, instead
of going about wearing a ridiculous diadem ? And
perhaps before long you will grow a comb or tiara
as cocks do? Have you never heard about the
Sacian feast held by the Persians, against whom you
are now preparing to take the field ? "And
Alexander at once asked him what it was like, for he
wished to know all about the Persians. "Well, they
take one of their prisoners," he explained, "who has
been condemned to death, set him upon the king's
throne, give him the royal apparel, and permit him
to give orders, to drink and carouse, and to dally
with the royal concubines during those days, and no
one prevents his doing anything he pleases. But
after that they strip and scourge him and then hang
him. Now what do you suppose this is meant to
signify and what is the purpose of this Persian
custom ? Is it not intended to show that foolish and
wicked men frequently aequire this royal power and
title and then after a season of wanton insolence
corne to a most shameful and wretched end ? And so,
when the fellow is freed from his chains, the chances
are, if he is a fool and ignorant of the significance of
the procedure, that he feels glad and congratulates
himself on what is taking place; but if he understands,
he probably breaks out into wailing and
refuses to go along without protesting, but would
rather remain in fetters just as he was.
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