ps my
house so that it does not fall, does this service to me, for the house
itself is without feeling, and as it has none, it is I who am indebted
to him; and he who cultivates my land does so because he wishes to
oblige me, not to oblige the land. I should say the same of a slave; he
is a chattel owned by me; he is saved for my advantage, therefore I am
indebted for him. My son is himself capable of receiving a benefit; so
it is he who receives it; I am gratified at a benefit which comes so
near to myself, but am not laid under any obligation.

SE. Still I should like you, who say that you are under no obligation,
to answer me this. The good health, the happiness, and the inheritance
of a son are connected with his father; his father will be more happy if
he keeps his son safe, and more unhappy if he loses him. What follows,
then? when a man is made happier by me and is freed from the greatest
danger of unhappiness, does he not receive a benefit?

AD. No, because there are some things which are bestowed upon others,
and yet flow from them so as to reach ourselves; yet we must ask the
person upon whom it was bestowed for repayment; as for example, money
must be sought from the man to whom it was lent, although it may,
by some means, have come into my hands. There is no benefit whose
advantages do not extend to the receiver's nearest friends, and
sometimes even to those less intimately connected with him; yet we do
not enquire whither the benefit has proceeded from him to whom it was
first given, but where it was first placed. You must demand repayment
from the defendant himself personally.

SE. Well, but I pray you, do you not say, "you have preserved my son for
me; had he perished, I could not have survived him?" Do you not owe
a benefit for the life of one whose safety you value above your own?
Moreover, should I save your son's life, you would fall down before
my knees, and would pay vows to heaven as though you yourself had been
saved; you would say, "It makes no difference whether you have saved
mine or me; you have saved us both, yet me more than him." Why do you
say this, if you do not receive a benefit?

A.D. Because, if my son were to contract a loan, I should pay his
creditor, yet I should not, therefore, be indebted to him; or if my son
were taken in adultery, I should blush, yet I should not, therefore, be
an adulterer. I say that I am under an obligation to you for saving my
son, not because I really a