ned to Athens; and this occasionally takes a long time,
when the winds happen to impede their passage. The commencement of the
embassy is when the priest of Apollo has crowned the poop of the ship.
And this was done, as I said, on the day before the trial: on this
account Socrates had a long interval in prison between the trial and his
death.

4. _Ech._ And what, Phaedo, were the circumstances of his death? What was
said and done? and who of his friends were with him? or would not the
magistrates allow them to be present, but did he die destitute of
friends?

_Phaed._ By no means; but some, indeed several, were present.

_Ech._ Take the trouble, then, to relate to me all the particulars as
clearly as you can, unless you have any pressing business.

_Phaed._ I am at leisure, and will endeavor to give you a full account;
for to call Socrates to mind, whether speaking myself or listening to
some one else, is always most delightful to me.

5. _Ech._ And indeed, Phaedo, you have others to listen to you who are of
the same mind. However, endeavor to relate every thing as accurately as
you can.

_Phaed._ I was, indeed, wonderfully affected by being present, for I was
not impressed with a feeling of pity, like one present at the death of a
friend; for the man appeared to me to be happy, Echecrates, both from
his manner and discourse, so fearlessly and nobly did he meet his death:
so much so, that it occurred to me that in going to Hades he was not
going without a divine destiny, but that when he arrived there he would
be happy, if any one ever was. For this reason I was entirely
uninfluenced by any feeling of pity, as would seem likely to be the case
with one present on so mournful an occasion; nor was I affected by
pleasure from being engaged in philosophical discussions, as was our
custom; for our conversation was of that kind. But an altogether
unaccountable feeling possessed me, a kind of unusual mixture compounded
of pleasure and pain together, when I considered that he was immediately
about to die. And all of us who were present were affected in much the
same manner, at one time laughing, at another weeping--one of us
especially, Apollodorus, for you know the man and his manner.

_Ech._ How should I not?

6. _Phaed._ He, then, was entirely overcome by these emotions; and I,
too, was troubled, as well as the others.

_Ech._ But who were present, Phaedo?

_Phaed._ Of his fellow-countrymen, this Apollodorus was p