על הבריחה והמציאה ל״חOn Flight and Finding 38
א׳
1[207] Her monitor, then, pleased with her for her compliance, bids her “Go back to thy mistress”; for the teacher’s authority is an advantage to the learner, and bond-service under Good Sense a gain to her that is imperfect. “And when thou hast returned humble thyself under her hands” (ibid. 9), with a noble humiliation which carries with it the overthrow of irrational highmindedness.
ב׳
2[208] For so doing thou shalt give birth with easy travail to a male offspring, Ishmael by name (ibid. 11), since thou shalt have been chastened by hearkening to words of God; for “Ishmael” means “hearkening to God.” Hearing takes the second place, yielding the first to sight, and sight is the portion of Israel, the son free-born and first-born; for “seeing God” is the translation of “Israel.” It is possible to hear the false and take it for true, because hearing is deceptive, but sight, by which we discern what really is, is devoid of falseness.
ג׳
3[209] The character thus given birth to is described first by the statement that it will be rude, of rude “mother wit” as it were, not yet admitted to the privilege of the refined and truly civilized lot, virtue, that is, the natural refiner and tamer of character; next by the words “his hands shall be against all men, and all men’s hands against him” (ibid. 12); for this is just the Sophist’s way, with his pretence of excessive open-mindedness, and his love of arguing for arguing’s sake.
ד׳
4[210] This character aims its shafts at all representatives of the sciences, opposing each individually and all in common, and is the target of them all since they naturally shew fight, as in defence of offspring of their own, that is of the doctrines to which their soul has given birth.
ה׳
5[211] And he adds a third characteristic in the words “he shall dwell face to face with all his brethren” (ibid.), words which are almost a distinct picture of combat face to face and perpetual opposition.
ו׳
6The soul, then, which is pregnant with the sophist-principle says to the monitor who is talking to her: “Thou art God that didst look upon me,” which is equivalent to saying “Thou art the Maker of my wishes and offspring”; and well may she say this,
ז׳
7[212] for of free and really high-born souls He who is free and sets free is the Creator, while slaves are makers of slaves: and angels are God’s household-servants, and are deemed gods by those whose existence is still one of toil and bondage.
ח׳
8“For this reason,” it says, “she called the well ‘Well where I saw Him before me’ ” (ibid. 14).
ט׳
9[213] Nay, how couldst thou fail, thou soul, who in thy progress art dipping deep into the school-lore knowledge, to see reflected in thy training as in a mirror the Author of that knowledge?
י׳
10Most appropriate too is the situation of such a well “between Kadesh and Bered” (ibid. 14): “Bered” means “in evils,” and Kadesh “holy,” for he that is in gradual progress is on the borderland between the holy and the profane, fleeing from bad things, but not yet competent to share the life of perfect goodness.