of fruits, it was an
immemorial custom "not to hinder (10) the hunter from hunting any of
earth's offspring"; and in addition, "not to hunt by night (11) within
many furlongs of the city," in order that the adepts in that art might
not rob the young lads of their game. They saw plainly that among the
many pleasures to which youth is prone, this one alone is productive of
the greatest blessings. In other words, it tends to make them sound of
soul and upright, being trained in the real world of actual things (12)
(and, as was said before, our ancestors could not but perceive they owed
their success in war to such instrumentality (13)); and the chase alone
deprives them of none of the other fair and noble pursuits that they may
choose to cultivate, as do those other evil pleasures, which ought never
to be learned. Of such stuff are good soldiers and good generals made.
(14) Naturally, those from whose souls and bodies the sweat of toil
has washed all base and wanton thoughts, who have implanted in them a
passion for manly virtue--these, I say, are the true nobles. (15) Not
theirs will it be to allow their city or its sacred soil to suffer
wrong.

(9) Al. "looked upon the chase as a pursuit incumbent on the young."

(10) {me koluein (dia) to meden ton epi te ge phuomenon agreuein}. The
commentators generally omit {dia}, in which case translate as in
text. Lenz reads {un koluein dia meden} (see his note ad v. 34),
and translates (p. 61), "Dass man die Jager nicht hindern solle,
in allem was die Erde hervorbrachte zu jagen," "not to hinder the
huntsmen from ranging over any of the crops which spring from
earth"; (but if so, we should expect {dia medenos}). Sturz, s.v.
{agreuein}, notes "festive," "because the hunter does not hunt
vegetable products." So Gail, "parce que le chasseur rien veut pas
aux productions de la terre."

(11) Or, "set their face against night-hunting," cf. "Mem." IV. vii.
4; Plat. "Soph." 220 D; "Stranger: There is one mode of striking
which is done at night, and by the light of a fire, and is called
by the hunters themselves firing, or spearing by firelight"
(Jowett); for which see Scott, "Guy Mannering," ch. x. It seems
"night hunting was not to be practised within a certain
considerable radius, whereby the proficients in that art might
deprive it (lit. in order that they might not deprive) them (the
young huntsmen) of their gam