ny of the
other soldiers who had their shoes on, and they looked daggers at him
because he seemed to despise them.

"I have told you one tale, and now I must tell you another, which is
worth hearing, of the doings and sufferings of this enduring man while
he was on the expedition. One morning he was thinking about something
which he could not resolve; and he would not give up, but continued
thinking from early dawn until noon--there he stood fixt in thought;
and at noon attention was drawn to him, and the rumor ran through the
wondering crowd that Socrates had been standing and thinking about
something ever since the break of day. At last, in the evening after
supper, some Ionians out of curiosity (I should explain that this was
not in the winter but in summer) brought out their mats and slept in
the open air that they might watch him and see whether he would stand
all night. There he stood all night as well as all day and the
following morning; and with the return of light he offered up a prayer
to the sun, and went his way. I will also tell, if you please--and
indeed I am bound to tell--of his courage in battle; for who but he
saved my life? Now this was the engagement in which I received the
prize for valor; for I was wounded and he would not leave me, but he
rescued me and my arms; and he ought to have received the prize of
valor which the generals wanted to confer on me partly on account of
my rank, and I told them so (this Socrates will not impeach or deny),
but he was more eager than the generals that I and not he should have
the prize. There was another occasion on which he was very noticeable;
this was in the flight of the army after the battle of Delium, and I
had a better opportunity of seeing him than at Potidaea, as I was
myself on horseback, and therefore comparatively out of danger. He and
Laches were retreating as the troops were in flight, and I met them
and told them not to be discouraged, and promised to remain with them;
and there you might see him, Aristophanes, as you describe, just as he
is in the streets of Athens, stalking like a pelican, and rolling his
eyes, calmly contemplating enemies as well as friends, and making very
intelligible to anybody, even from a distance, that whoever attacks
him will be likely to meet with a stout resistance; and in this way he
and his companion escaped--for these are the sort of persons who are
never touched in war; they pursue only those who are running away
h