Transcription of The Crito
1 The Critoby PlatoSOCRATES: Here already, Crito ? Surely it is stillearly? Crito : Indeed it : About what time? Crito : Just before : I wonder that the warder paid anyattention to : He is used to me now, Socrates, becauseI come here so often. Besides, he is under some smallobligation to : Have you only just come, or haveyou been here for long? Crito : Fairly : Then why didn t you wake me atonce, instead of sitting by my bed so quietly? Crito : I wouldn t dream of such a thing,Socrates. I only wish I were not so sleepless and depressed myself. I have been wondering atyou, because I saw how comfortably you were Sleeping, and I deliberately didn t wake youbecause I wanted you to go on being as comfortable as you could.
2 I have often felt before in thecourse of my life how fortunate you are in your disposition, but I feel it more than ever now inyour present misfortune when I see how easily and placidly you put up with : Well, really, Crito , it would be hardly suitable for a man of my age to resenthaving to : Other people just as old as you are get involved in these misfortunes, Socrates, buttheir age doesn t keep them from resenting it when they find themselves in your : Quite true. But tell me, why have you come so early? Crito : Because I bring bad news, Socrates not so bad from your point of view, Isuppose, but it will be very hard to bear for me and your other friends, and I think that I shallfind it hardest of : Why, what is this news?
3 Has the boat come in from Delos the boat whichends my reprieve when it arrives? Crito : It hasn t actually come in yet, but I expect that it will be here today, judging fromthe report of some people who have just arrived from Sunium and left it there. It s quite clearfrom their account that it will be here today, and so by tomorrow, Socrates, you will have to ..to end your : Well, Crito , I hope that it may be for the best. If the gods will it so, so be the same, I don t think it will arrive : What makes you think that?SOCRATES: I will try to explain. I think I am right in saying that I have to die on the dayafter the boat arrives? Crito : That s what the authorities say, at any : Then I don t think it will arrive on this day that is just beginning, but on theday after.
4 I am going by a dream that I had in the night, only a little while ago. It looks as thoughyou were right not to wake me to Western PhilosophyThe Crito 2 Crito : Why, what was the dream about?SOCRATES: I thought I saw a gloriously beautiful woman dressed in white robes, whocame up to me and addressed me in these words: Socrates, To the pleasant land of Phthia onthe third day thou shalt : Your dream makes no sense, : To my mind, Crito , it is perfectly : Too clear, apparently. But look here, Socrates, it is still not too late to take myadvice and escape. Your death means a double calamity for me. I shall not only lose a friendwhom I can never possibly replace, but besides a great many people who don t know you andme very well will be sure to think that I let you down, because I could have saved you if I hadbeen willing to spend the money.
5 And what could be more contemptible than to get a name forthinking more of money than of your friends? Most people will never believe that it was youwho refused to leave this place although we tried our hardest to persuade : But my dear Crito , why should we pay so much attention to what mostpeople think? The really reasonable people, who have more claim to be considered, will believethat the facts are exactly as they : You can see for yourself, Socrates, that one has to think of popular opinion as present position is quite enough to show that the capacity of ordinary people for causingtrouble is not confined to petty annoyances, but has hardly any limits if you once get a bad namewith : I only wish that ordinary people had an unlimited capacity for doing harm;then they might have an unlimited power for doing good, which would be a splendid thing, if itwere so.
6 Actually they have neither. They cannot make a man wise or stupid; they simply act : Have it that way if you like, but tell me this, Socrates. I hope that you aren tworrying about the possible effects on me and the rest of your friends, and thinking that if youescape we shall have trouble with informers for having helped you to get away, and have toforfeit all our property or pay an enormous fine, or even incur some further punishment? If anyidea like that is troubling you, you can dismiss it altogether. We are quite entitled to run thatrisk in saving you, and even worse, if necessary. Take my advice, and be : All that you say is very much in my mind, Crito , and a great deal : Very well, then, don t let it distress you.
7 I know some people who are willing torescue you from here and get you out of the country for quite a moderate sum, And then surelyyou realize how cheap these informers are to buy off; we shan t need much money to settlethem, and I think you ve got enough of my money for yourself already. And then evensupposing that in your anxiety for my safety you feel that you oughtn t to spend my money,there are these foreign gentlemen staying in Athens who are quite willing to spend theirs. Oneof them, Simmias of Thebes, has actually brought the money with him for this very purpose, andCebes and a number of others are quite ready to do the same. So, as I say, you mustn t let anyfears on these grounds make you slacken your efforts to escape, and you mustn t feel anymisgivings about what you said at your trial that you wouldn t know what to do with yourselfif you left this country.
8 Wherever you go, there are plenty of places where you will find awelcome, and if you choose to go to Thessaly, I have friends there who will make much of youand give you complete protection, so that no one in Thessaly can interfere with , Socrates, I don t even feel that it is right for you to try to do what you are doing,throwing away your life when you might save it. You are doing your best to treat yourself inexactiy the same way as your enemies would, or rather did, when they wanted to ruin you. Whatis more, it seems to me that you are letting your sons down too. You have it in your power tobcde45bcIntroduction to Western PhilosophyThe Crito 3finish their bringing-up and education, and instead of that you are proposing to go off and desertthem, and so far as you are concerned they will have to take their chance.
9 And what sort ofchance are they likely to get? The sort of thing that usually happens to orphans when they losetheir parents. Either one ought not to have children at all, or one ought to see their upbringingand education through to the end. It strikes me that you are taking the line of least resistance,whereas you ought to make the choice of a good man and a brave one, considering that youprofess to have made goodness your object all through life. Really, I am ashamed, both onyour account and on ours, your friends . It will look as though we had played something like acoward s part all through this affair of yours. First there was the way you came into court whenit was quite unnecessary that was the first act.
10 Then there was the conduct of thedefense that was the second. And finally, to complete the farce, we get this situation, whichmakes it appear that we have let you slip out of our hands through some lack of courage andenterprise on our part, because we didn t save you, and you didn t save yourself, when it wouldhave been quite possible and practicable, if we had been any use at , Socrates, if you aren t careful, besides the suffering there will be all this disgrace foryou and us to bear. Come, make up your mind. Really it s too late for that now; you ought tohave it made up already. There is no alternative; the whole thing must be carried through duringthis coming night.
