24.04.2013 Views

The Laughable Stories Collected by Mar Gregory John

The Laughable Stories Collected by Mar Gregory John

The Laughable Stories Collected by Mar Gregory John

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

I 2 THE LAUGHABLE STORIES OF BAR-HEBR^EUS.<br />

root of a tree, and he said to him, "If thou wert a<br />

"servant of the king thou wouldst have no need to eat<br />

"such food as this." And Socrates replied, saying, "If<br />

"thou also didst eat such food as this thou wouldst<br />

"have no need to serve the king."<br />

XXXIII. It is said that when Alexander [the Great]<br />

X. had been poisoned' and was nigh unto death, he wrote<br />

to his mother and said unto her, "When thou hast read<br />

"this letter make ready much meat and make a feast<br />

"for [thy] people, but do not allow to eat those who<br />

"have not lost some relative <strong>by</strong> death." Now he did<br />

this so that when she considered and saw that no<br />

man had escaped this calamity she might be consoled<br />

and not be sad^<br />

XXXIV. To another philosopher it was said, "How<br />

"is it that thou dost condescend to learn from every<br />

"man?" He replied, "Because I know that learning is a<br />

"profitable thing come it from whatsoever source it may."<br />

XXXV. Another philosopher whilst teaching his dis-<br />

ciple said to him, "Dost thou understand?" and he re-<br />

plied, "Yes." <strong>The</strong> philosopher then said, "Thou liest,<br />

"for the mark of intelligence is the joy which shew-<br />

"eth itself in the disciple's face, and not his answer<br />

"'Yes'."<br />

^ XXXVI. It was said to Diogenes, "Dost thoi* possess<br />

"anywhere a house wherein to rest?" And he replied,<br />

"Wheresoever I rest there is my house."<br />

XXXVII. Alius quidam in foro Venerem palam exer-<br />

cebat: qui interrogatus, "Nonne tui pudet? Quid facis?"<br />

' See my Life and Exploits of Alexander the Great, pp. 339, 373,<br />

427 and 430.<br />

* Compare Historia Compendiosa Dynastiarum^ ed. Pococke, Arabic<br />

text, p. 96; and Contextio Gemmarum, ed. Pococke, p. 287.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!