And did you happen to observe, Ischomachus (I asked), whether, as the result of what was said, your wife was stirred at all to greater carefulness?
Yes, certainly (Ischomachus answered), and I remember how piqued1 she was at one time and how deeply she blushed, when I chanced to ask her for something which had been brought into the house, and she could not give it me. So I, when I saw her annoyance2, fell to consoling her. “Do not be at all disheartened, my wife, that you cannot give me what I ask for. It is plain poverty,155 no doubt, to need a thing and not to have the use of it. But as wants go, to look for something which I cannot lay my hands upon is a less painful form of indigence3 than never to dream of looking because I know full well that the thing exists not. Anyhow, you are not to blame for this,” I added; “mine the fault was who handed over to your care the things without assigning them their places. Had I done so, you would have known not only where to put but where to find them.156 After all, my wife, there is nothing in human life so serviceable, nought4 so beautiful as order.157
“For instance, what is a chorus?— a band composed of human beings, who dance and sing; but suppose the company proceed to act as each may chance — confusion follows; the spectacle has lost its charm. How different when each and all together act and recite158 with orderly precision, the limbs and voices keeping time and tune5. Then, indeed, these same performers are worth seeing and worth hearing.
“So, too, an army,” I said, “my wife, an army destitute6 of order is confusion worse confounded: to enemies an easy prey7, courting attack; to friends a bitter spectacle of wasted power;159 a mingled8 mob of asses9, heavy infantry10, and baggage-bearers, light infantry, cavalry11, and waggons12. Now, suppose they are on the march; how are they to get along? In this condition everybody will be a hindrance13 to everybody: ‘slow march’ side by side with ‘double quick,’ ‘quick march’ at cross purposes with ‘stand at ease’; waggons blocking cavalry and asses fouling14 waggons; baggage-bearers and hoplites jostling together: the whole a hopeless jumble15. And when it comes to fighting, such an army is not precisely16 in condition to deliver battle. The troops who are compelled to retreat before the enemy’s advance160 are fully17 capable of trampling18 down the heavy infantry detachments in reserve.161
“How different is an army well organised in battle order: a splendid sight for friendly eyes to gaze at, albeit19 an eyesore to the enemy. For who, being of their party, but will feel a thrill of satisfaction as he watches the serried20 masses of heavy infantry moving onwards in unbroken order? who but will gaze with wonderment as the squadrons of the cavalry dash past him at the gallop21? And what of the foeman? will not his heart sink within him to see the orderly arrangements of the different arms:162 here heavy infantry and cavalry, and there again light infantry, there archers22 and there slingers, following each their leaders, with orderly precision. As they tramp onwards thus in order, though they number many myriads23, yet even so they move on and on in quiet progress, stepping like one man, and the place just vacated in front is filled up on the instant from the rear.
“Or picture a trireme, crammed24 choke-full of mariners25; for what reason is she so terror-striking an object to her enemies, and a sight so gladsome to the eyes of friends? is it not that the gallant26 ship sails so swiftly? And why is it that, for all their crowding, the ship’s company163 cause each other no distress27? Simply that there, as you may see them, they sit in order; in order bend to the oar28; in order recover the stroke; in order step on board; in order disembark. But disorder29 is, it seems to me, precisely as though a man who is a husbandman should stow away164 together in one place wheat and barley30 and pulse, and by and by when he has need of barley meal, or wheaten flour, or some condiment31 of pulse,165 then he must pick and choose instead of laying his hand on each thing separately sorted for use.
“And so with you too, my wife, if you would avoid this confusion, if you would fain know how to administer our goods, so as to lay your finger readily on this or that as you may need, or if I ask you for anything, graciously to give it me: let us, I say, select and assign166 the appropriate place for each set of things. This shall be the place where we will put the things; and we will instruct the housekeeper32 that she is to take them out thence, and mind to put them back again there; and in this way we shall know whether they are safe or not. If anything is gone, the gaping33 space will cry out as if it asked for something back.167 The mere34 look and aspect of things will argue what wants mending;168 and the fact of knowing where each thing is will be like having it put into one’s hand at once to use without further trouble or debate.”
I must tell you, Socrates, what strikes me as the finest and most accurate arrangement of goods and furniture it was ever my fortune to set eyes on; when I went as a sightseer on board the great Phoenician merchantman,169 and beheld35 an endless quantity of goods and gear of all sorts, all separately packed and stowed away within the smallest compass.170 I need scarce remind you (he said, continuing his narrative) what a vast amount of wooden spars and cables171 a ship depends on in order to get to moorings; or again, in putting out to sea;172 you know the host of sails and cordage, rigging173 as they call it, she requires for sailing; the quantity of engines and machinery36 of all sorts she is armed with in case she should encounter any hostile craft; the infinitude of arms she carries, with her crew of fighting men aboard. Then all the vessels37 and utensils38, such as people use at home on land, required for the different messes, form a portion of the freight; and besides all this, the hold is heavy laden39 with a mass of merchandise, the cargo40 proper, which the master carries with him for the sake of traffic.
Well, all these different things that I have named lay packed there in a space but little larger than a fair-sized dining-room.174 The several sorts, moreover, as I noticed, lay so well arranged, there could be no entanglement41 of one with other, nor were searchers needed;175 and if all were snugly43 stowed, all were alike get-atable,176 much to the avoidance of delay if anything were wanted on the instant.
Then the pilot’s mate177 —“the look-out man at the prow,” to give him his proper title — was, I found, so well acquainted with the place for everything that, even off the ship,178 he could tell you where each set of things was laid and how many there were of each, just as well as any one who knows his alphabet179 could tell you how many letters there are in Socrates and the order in which they stand.
I saw this same man (continued Ischomachus) examining at leisure180 everything which could possibly181 be needful for the service of the ship. His inspection44 caused me such surprise, I asked him what he was doing, whereupon he answered, “I am inspecting, stranger,”182 “just considering,” says he, “the way the things are lying aboard the ship; in case of accidents, you know, to see if anything is missing, or not lying snug42 and shipshape.183 There is no time left, you know,” he added, “when God mkes a tempest in the great deep, to set about searching for what you want, or to be giving out anything which is not snug and shipshape in its place. God threatens and chastises45 sluggards.184 If only He destroy not innocent with guilty, a man may be content;185 or if He turn and save all hands aboard that render right good service,186 thanks be to Heaven.”187
So spoke46 the pilot’s mate; and I, with this carefulness of stowage still before my eyes, proceeded to enforce my thesis:
“Stupid in all conscience would it be on our parts, my wife, if those who sail the sea in ships, that are but small things, can discover space and place for everything; can, moreover, in spite of violent tossings up and down, keep order, and, even while their hearts are failing them for fear, find everything they need to hand; whilst we, with all our ample storerooms188 diversely disposed for divers47 objects in our mansion48, an edifice49 firmly based189 on solid ground, fail to discover fair and fitting places, easy of access for our several goods! Would not that argue great lack of understanding in our two selves? Well then! how good a thing it is to have a fixed50 and orderly arrangement of all furniture and gear; how easy also in a dwelling-house to find a place for every sort of goods, in which to stow them as shall suit each best — needs no further comment. Rather let me harp51 upon the string of beauty — image a fair scene: the boots and shoes and sandals, and so forth52, all laid in order row upon row; the cloaks, the mantles53, and the rest of the apparel stowed in their own places; the coverlets and bedding; the copper54 cauldrons; and all the articles for table use! Nay55, though it well may raise a smile of ridicule56 (not on the lips of a grave man perhaps, but of some facetious57 witling) to hear me say it, a beauty like the cadence58 of sweet music190 dwells even in pots and pans set out in neat array: and so, in general, fair things ever show more fair when orderly bestowed59. The separate atoms shape themselves to form a choir60, and all the space between gains beauty by their banishment61. Even so some sacred chorus,191 dancing a roundelay in honour of Dionysus, not only is a thing of beauty in itself, but the whole interspace swept clean of dancers owns a separate charm.192
“The truth of what I say, we easily can test, my wife,” I added, “by direct experiment, and that too without cost at all or even serious trouble.193 Nor need you now distress yourself, my wife, to think how hard it will be to discover some one who has wit enough to learn the places for the several things and memory to take and place them there. We know, I fancy, that the goods of various sorts contained in the whole city far outnumber ours many thousand times; and yet you have only to bid any one of your domestics go buy this, or that, and bring it you from market, and not one of them will hesitate. The whole world knows both where to go and where to find each thing.
“And why is this?” I asked. “Merely because they lie in an appointed place. But now, if you are seeking for a human being, and that too at times when he is seeking you on his side also, often and often shall you give up the search in sheer despair: and of this again the reason? Nothing else save that no appointed place was fixed where one was to await the other.” Such, so far as I can now recall it, was the conversation which we held together touching62 the arrangement of our various chattels63 and their uses.
1 piqued | |
v.伤害…的自尊心( pique的过去式和过去分词 );激起(好奇心) | |
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2 annoyance | |
n.恼怒,生气,烦恼 | |
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3 indigence | |
n.贫穷 | |
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4 nought | |
n./adj.无,零 | |
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5 tune | |
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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6 destitute | |
adj.缺乏的;穷困的 | |
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7 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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8 mingled | |
混合,混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 ); 混进,与…交往[联系] | |
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9 asses | |
n. 驴,愚蠢的人,臀部 adv. (常用作后置)用于贬损或骂人 | |
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10 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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11 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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12 waggons | |
四轮的运货马车( waggon的名词复数 ); 铁路货车; 小手推车 | |
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13 hindrance | |
n.妨碍,障碍 | |
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14 fouling | |
n.(水管、枪筒等中的)污垢v.使污秽( foul的现在分词 );弄脏;击球出界;(通常用废物)弄脏 | |
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15 jumble | |
vt.使混乱,混杂;n.混乱;杂乱的一堆 | |
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16 precisely | |
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地 | |
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17 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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18 trampling | |
踩( trample的现在分词 ); 践踏; 无视; 侵犯 | |
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19 albeit | |
conj.即使;纵使;虽然 | |
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20 serried | |
adj.拥挤的;密集的 | |
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21 gallop | |
v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔;飞速发展 | |
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22 archers | |
n.弓箭手,射箭运动员( archer的名词复数 ) | |
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23 myriads | |
n.无数,极大数量( myriad的名词复数 ) | |
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24 crammed | |
adj.塞满的,挤满的;大口地吃;快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满;填入;临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
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25 mariners | |
海员,水手(mariner的复数形式) | |
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26 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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27 distress | |
n.苦恼,痛苦,不舒适;不幸;vt.使悲痛 | |
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28 oar | |
n.桨,橹,划手;v.划行 | |
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29 disorder | |
n.紊乱,混乱;骚动,骚乱;疾病,失调 | |
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30 barley | |
n.大麦,大麦粒 | |
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31 condiment | |
n.调味品 | |
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32 housekeeper | |
n.管理家务的主妇,女管家 | |
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33 gaping | |
adj.口的;张口的;敞口的;多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 );张开,张大 | |
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34 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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35 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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36 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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37 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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38 utensils | |
器具,用具,器皿( utensil的名词复数 ); 器物 | |
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39 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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40 cargo | |
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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41 entanglement | |
n.纠缠,牵累 | |
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42 snug | |
adj.温暖舒适的,合身的,安全的;v.使整洁干净,舒适地依靠,紧贴;n.(英)酒吧里的私房 | |
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43 snugly | |
adv.紧贴地;贴身地;暖和舒适地;安适地 | |
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44 inspection | |
n.检查,审查,检阅 | |
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45 chastises | |
v.严惩(某人)(尤指责打)( chastise的第三人称单数 ) | |
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46 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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47 divers | |
adj.不同的;种种的 | |
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48 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
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49 edifice | |
n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿,教室) | |
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50 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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51 harp | |
n.竖琴;天琴座 | |
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52 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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53 mantles | |
vt.&vi.覆盖(mantle的第三人称单数形式) | |
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54 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
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55 nay | |
adv.不;n.反对票,投反对票者 | |
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56 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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57 facetious | |
adj.轻浮的,好开玩笑的 | |
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58 cadence | |
n.(说话声调的)抑扬顿挫 | |
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59 bestowed | |
赠给,授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60 choir | |
n.唱诗班,唱诗班的席位,合唱团,舞蹈团;v.合唱 | |
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61 banishment | |
n.放逐,驱逐 | |
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62 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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63 chattels | |
n.动产,奴隶( chattel的名词复数 ) | |
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