As for you, Eurydice, above all things do your best to keep touch with the sayings of wise and good men, and to have continually in your mouth those utterances which you learned by heart in my school when a girl. By so doing, you will not only be a joy to your husband, but the admiration of other women, when they see how, at no expense, you can adorn yourself with so much distinction and dignity.
This rich woman’s pearls, that foreign lady’s silks, are not to be worn without paying a large price for them. But the ornaments |F| of Theano, of Cleobuline, of Gorgo the wife of Leonidas, of Timoclea the sister of Theagenes, of the Claudia of ancient history, and of Cornelia the daughter of Scipio, you may wear for nothing; and with this adornment your life may be as happy as it is distinguished.
|146| Sappho thought so much of her skill as a lyrist that she wrote—addressing a wealthy woman—
When thou art dead, thou shalt lie with none to remember thy name:
For no portion hast thou in the roses Pierian....
You will assuredly have more occasion to think highly and proudly of yourself, if you have a portion, not only in the roses, but also in the fruits, which the Muses bring as free gifts to those who prize culture and philosophy.
CONCERNING BUSYBODIES
If a house is stuffy, dark, chilly, or unhealthy, it is perhaps |515 B| best to get out of it. But if long association makes you fond of the place, you may alter the lights, shift the stairs, open a door here and close one there, and so make it brighter, fresher, and more wholesome. Even cities have sometimes been improved |C| by such rearrangement. For instance, it is said that my own native town, which used to face the west and receive the full force of the afternoon sun from Parnassus, was turned by Chairon so as to front the east. Empedocles, the natural philosopher, once blocked up a mountain gorge, which sent a destructive and pestilential south wind blowing down upon the plains. By this means, it was thought, he shut the plague out of the district.
Well, since there are certain injurious and unhealthy states of mind which chill and darken the soul, it would be best to get rid of them—to make a clean sweep to the foundations, and give ourselves the benefit of a clear sky, light, and pure air |D| to breathe. If not, we should reform and readjust them by turning them some other way about.
We may take the vice of the busybody as an instance in point. It is a love of prying into other people’s troubles, a disease tainted—we may believe—with both envy and malice.