ne whose desire is to become just and to be
like God, as far as man can attain the divine likeness, by the pursuit
of virtue?

Yes, he said; if he is like God he will surely not be neglected by him.

And of the unjust may not the opposite be supposed?

Certainly.

Such, then, are the palms of victory which the gods give the just?

That is my conviction.

And what do they receive of men? Look at things as they really are,
and you will see that the clever unjust are in the case of runners, who
run well from the starting-place to the goal but not back again from
the goal: they go off at a great pace, but in the end only look
foolish, slinking away with their ears draggling on their shoulders,
and without a crown; but the true runner comes to the finish and
receives the prize and is crowned. And this is the way with the just;
he who endures to the end of every action and occasion of his entire
life has a good report and carries off the prize which men have to
bestow.

True.

And now you must allow me to repeat of the just the blessings which you
were attributing to the fortunate unjust. I shall say of them, what
you were saying of the others, that as they grow older, they become
rulers in their own city if they care to be; they marry whom they like
and give in marriage to whom they will; all that you said of the others
I now say of these. And, on the other hand, of the unjust I say that
the greater number, even though they escape in their youth, are found
out at last and look foolish at the end of their course, and when they
come to be old and miserable are flouted alike by stranger and citizen;
they are beaten and then come those things unfit for ears polite, as
you truly term them; they will be racked and have their eyes burned
out, as you were saying. And you may suppose that I have repeated the
remainder of your tale of horrors. But will you let me assume, without
reciting them, that these things are true?

Certainly, he said, what you say is true.

These, then, are the prizes and rewards and gifts which are bestowed
upon the just by gods and men in this present life, in addition to the
other good things which justice of herself provides.

Yes, he said; and they are fair and lasting.

And yet, I said, all these are as nothing, either in number or
greatness in comparison with those other recompenses which await both
just and unjust after death. And you ought to hear them, and then both
just and un