much as, in obedience to the Law of Moses, he is required to honour him? Perhaps Paulus, in his heart, also wanted to bedevil his father? Anyway, Paulus has the gold and emerald goblet, and that’s worth a pretty penny.’
‘Let the old extortioner tear his hair!’ said Afranius. ‘Let him tear it out by the roots.’
I said: ‘The old gentleman keeps the peace, pays his taxes, doesn’t bend the law beyond breaking-point as far as I know, gives alms to the poor and is highly co-operative with the authorities. I have nothing against him.’
‘If I hadn’t known you all my life, Diomed,’ said Afranius, ‘I’d call you a damned hypocrite. Yes, I’d say: “Diomed publicly defends Paulus’s father, and is guide, philosopher and friend to that man’s son, because it is worth his while.”I’d say –’
I stopped Afranius. ‘But you don’t say, and you have known me all your life. Therefore, go home!’
Afranius said: ‘Oh well, old fellow! I don’t call you a damned hypocrite; but, if I did, it would be because I’d know that you would know I never meant it – which would be a terrible presumption upon the good-will that goes with friendship; in other words, discourtesy and loose manners, which is a crime against humanity. You are not a hypocrite any more than a swordsman is, who makes a double pass … But I tell you this: if Jesus Christ weren’t so disgustingly pitiable, I’d salute his memory, if only for the reason that he spoke against the Pharisees!’
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Now go home.’
Melanion, who could leap sideways and make new tracks quicker than a hare for the sake of an argument, was saying to Tibullus: ‘That which is, is right. Confess this, or deny the propriety of the law!’
‘Here we come to the definition of terms,’ said Tibullus, ‘to the application of Truth. Every right-thinking man knows what is right and what is wrong. It is the law’s business to synthesise the difference. Law should be Truth made practicable.’
‘Now let us assume that the Truth happens to be illegal,’ said Melanion. ‘That Truth is wrong –’
‘No, you don’t,’ said I, interrupting. ‘Away with you, my friends; until the next time!’
Tibullus yawned, and surreptitiously made a sign against the evil eye in front of his open mouth.
Melanion caught the gesture and said: ‘Well done, Tibullus. The beginning of all the evil in the world was, when the first man yawned and said to the second man: “And now, what?” … Come!’
So they went, and I sat alone in the cool, savouring a light, untroubled fatigue and enjoying my own company; for Ihave the old soldier’s knack of unbuckling my spirit and laying aside my troubles with my armour. My father taught me this, without difficulty, for it always came naturally to me.
He would make me pace up and down with pebbles in my sandals while I committed to memory a hundred lines of Homer, or walk a mile over uneven ground carrying a bowl filled to the brim with water, not one drop of which must be spilt. This was to concentrate the mind. He was of the hard school, the school that bred the great men who made Rome. An indomitable soldier and a fine gentleman, he would have risen to great rank under Augustus if it had not been for his harsh tongue and his unyielding spirit, which would not let him reconcile his republican ideals to the world as it had to be.
From him I learned how the greatest glory of man is in proud servitude and reasoned discipline; while from my much-beloved mother I inherited a trace of that warmth of soul and quickness of understanding which, tempering a will of steel, made her a woman who could command the adoration even of my father. I do not compare myself with these people, whose equals, as it seems to me, the world may never see again – I mention myself in the same breath only because I am their son.
The relaxed wakefulness of a man with a calm mind is better than the deep sleep of a man in trouble. I
‘Let the old extortioner tear his hair!’ said Afranius. ‘Let him tear it out by the roots.’
I said: ‘The old gentleman keeps the peace, pays his taxes, doesn’t bend the law beyond breaking-point as far as I know, gives alms to the poor and is highly co-operative with the authorities. I have nothing against him.’
‘If I hadn’t known you all my life, Diomed,’ said Afranius, ‘I’d call you a damned hypocrite. Yes, I’d say: “Diomed publicly defends Paulus’s father, and is guide, philosopher and friend to that man’s son, because it is worth his while.”I’d say –’
I stopped Afranius. ‘But you don’t say, and you have known me all your life. Therefore, go home!’
Afranius said: ‘Oh well, old fellow! I don’t call you a damned hypocrite; but, if I did, it would be because I’d know that you would know I never meant it – which would be a terrible presumption upon the good-will that goes with friendship; in other words, discourtesy and loose manners, which is a crime against humanity. You are not a hypocrite any more than a swordsman is, who makes a double pass … But I tell you this: if Jesus Christ weren’t so disgustingly pitiable, I’d salute his memory, if only for the reason that he spoke against the Pharisees!’
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Now go home.’
Melanion, who could leap sideways and make new tracks quicker than a hare for the sake of an argument, was saying to Tibullus: ‘That which is, is right. Confess this, or deny the propriety of the law!’
‘Here we come to the definition of terms,’ said Tibullus, ‘to the application of Truth. Every right-thinking man knows what is right and what is wrong. It is the law’s business to synthesise the difference. Law should be Truth made practicable.’
‘Now let us assume that the Truth happens to be illegal,’ said Melanion. ‘That Truth is wrong –’
‘No, you don’t,’ said I, interrupting. ‘Away with you, my friends; until the next time!’
Tibullus yawned, and surreptitiously made a sign against the evil eye in front of his open mouth.
Melanion caught the gesture and said: ‘Well done, Tibullus. The beginning of all the evil in the world was, when the first man yawned and said to the second man: “And now, what?” … Come!’
So they went, and I sat alone in the cool, savouring a light, untroubled fatigue and enjoying my own company; for Ihave the old soldier’s knack of unbuckling my spirit and laying aside my troubles with my armour. My father taught me this, without difficulty, for it always came naturally to me.
He would make me pace up and down with pebbles in my sandals while I committed to memory a hundred lines of Homer, or walk a mile over uneven ground carrying a bowl filled to the brim with water, not one drop of which must be spilt. This was to concentrate the mind. He was of the hard school, the school that bred the great men who made Rome. An indomitable soldier and a fine gentleman, he would have risen to great rank under Augustus if it had not been for his harsh tongue and his unyielding spirit, which would not let him reconcile his republican ideals to the world as it had to be.
From him I learned how the greatest glory of man is in proud servitude and reasoned discipline; while from my much-beloved mother I inherited a trace of that warmth of soul and quickness of understanding which, tempering a will of steel, made her a woman who could command the adoration even of my father. I do not compare myself with these people, whose equals, as it seems to me, the world may never see again – I mention myself in the same breath only because I am their son.
The relaxed wakefulness of a man with a calm mind is better than the deep sleep of a man in trouble. I
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