Saturday, October 15, 2022

 

Prepare for the Worst

Pseudo-Crates, Epistles 18 (tr. Ronald F. Hock):
Accustom yourselves to wash with cold water, to drink only water, to eat nothing that has not been earned by toil, to wear a cloak, and to make it a habit to sleep on the ground. Then the baths will never be closed to you, the vineyards and flocks fail, the fish shops and couch shops go broke, as they will to those who have learned how to wash with hot water, to drink wine, to eat without having toiled, to wear purple clothing, and to rest on a couch.

ἐθίζεσθε ψυχρῷ λούεσθαι καὶ πίνειν ὕδωρ καὶ ἐσθίειν μὴ ἀνιδρωτὶ καὶ ἀμπέχεσθαι τρίβωνα καὶ κατατρίβεσθαι ἐπὶ γῆς, καὶ οὐδέποτε ὑμῖν κλεισθήσεται τὰ βαλανεῖα, αἱ δ' ἄμπελοι καὶ τὰ πρόβατα ἀφορήσει καὶ τὰ ὀψοπώλια καὶ κλινοπώλια πενητεύσει ὥσπερ τοῖς μεμαθηκόσι θερμῷ μὲν λούεσθαι, πίνειν δ' οἶνον καὶ ἐσθίειν μὴ πονήσαντας καὶ ἀμπέχεσθαι ἁλουργῆ καὶ ἀναπαύεσθαι ἐπὶ κλίνης.
Note the close parallelism, e.g. ψυχρῷ λούεσθαι ... τὰ βαλανεῖα ... θερμῷ μὲν λούεσθαι, etc.



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