第76章 BOOK VII(11)

Ath.I think that I am not wholly in want of a pattern,for when Iconsider the words which we have spoken from early dawn until now,and which,as I believe,have been inspired by Heaven,they appear to me to be quite like a poem.When I reflected upon all these words of ours.I naturally felt pleasure,for of all the discourses which Ihave ever learnt or heard,either in poetry or prose,this seemed to me to be the justest,and most suitable for young men to hear;Icannot imagine any better pattern than this which the guardian of the law who is also the director of education can have.He cannot do better than advise the teachers to teach the young these words and any which are of a like nature,if he should happen to find them,either in poetry or prose,or if he come across unwritten discourses akin to ours,he should certainly preserve them,and commit them to writing.And,first of all,he shall constrain the teachers themselves to learn and approve them,and any of them who will not,shall not be employed by him,but those whom he finds agreeing in his judgment,he shall make use of and shall commit to them the instruction and education of youth.And here and on this wise let my fanciful tale about letters and teachers of letters come to an end.

Cle.I do not think,Stranger,that we have wandered out of the proposed limits of the argument;but whether we are right or not in our whole conception,I cannot be very certain.

Ath.The truth,Cleinias,may be expected to become clearer when,as we have often said,we arrive at the end of the whole discussion about laws.

Cle.Yes.

Ath.And now that we have done with the teacher of letters,the teacher of the lyre has to receive orders from us.

Cle.Certainly.

Ath.I think that we have only to recollect our previous discussions,and we shall be able to give suitable regulations touching all this part of instruction and education to the teachers of the lyre.

Cle.To what do you refer?

Ath.We were saying,if I remember rightly,that the sixty-year-old choristers of Dionysus were to be specially quick in their perceptions of rhythm and musical composition,that they might be able to distinguish good and bad imitation,that is to say,the imitation of the good or bad soul when under the influence of passion,rejecting the one and displaying the other in hymns and songs,charming the souls of youth,and inviting them to follow and attain virtue by the way of imitation.

Cle.Very true.

Ath.And with this view,the teacher and the learner ought to use the sounds of the lyre,because its notes are pure,the player who teaches and his pupil rendering note for note in unison;but complexity,and variation of notes,when the strings give one sound and the poet or composer of the melody gives another-also when they make concords and harmonies in which lesser and greater intervals,slow and quick,or high and low notes,are combined-or,again,when they make complex variations of rhythms,which they adapt to the notes of the lyre-all that sort of thing is not suited to those who have to acquire a speedy and useful knowledge of music in three years;for opposite principles are confusing,and create a difficulty in learning,and our young men should learn quickly,and their mere necessary acquirements are not few or trifling,as will be shown in due course.Let the director of education attend to the principles concerning music which we are laying down.As to the songs and words themselves which the masters of choruses are to teach and the character of them,they have been already described by us,and are the same which,when consecrated and adapted to the different festivals,we said were to benefit cities by affording them an innocent amusement.

Cle.That,again,is true.

Ath.Then let him who has been elected a director of music receive these rules from us as containing the very truth;and may he prosper in his office!Let us now proceed to lay down other rules in addition to the preceding about dancing and gymnastic exercise in general.Having said what remained to be said about the teaching of music,let us speak in like manner about gymnastic.For boys and girls ought to learn to dance and practise gymnastic exercises-ought they not?

Cle.Yes.

Ath.Then the boys ought to have dancing masters,and the girls dancing mistresses to exercise them.

Cle.Very good.

Ath.Then once more let us summon him who has the chief concern in the business,the superintendent of youth [i.e.,the director of education];he will have plenty to do,if he is to have the charge of music and gymnastic.

Cle.But how will old man be able to attend to such great charges?