it is not thine own; it is but finely tempered clay. Since then this I could not do, I have given thee a portion of Myself, in the power of desiring and declining and of pursuing and avoiding, and in a word the power of dealing with the things of sense. And if thou neglect not this, but place all that thou hast therein, thou shalt never be let or hindered; thou shalt never lament; thou shalt not blame or flatter any. What then? Seemeth this to thee a little thing?” — God forbid! — ”Be content then therewith!”

And so I pray the Gods.

VII

What saith Antisthenes?(3) Hast thou never heard? —

It is a kingly thing, O Cyrus, to do well and to be evil spoken of.