על שהרע נוהג לארוב לטוב י״אThat the Worse is wont to Attack the Better 11
א׳
1[35] When they have covered the dreary length of a long-distance course of talk like this, they are held to have defeated men unaccustomed to quibbling arguments. But their victory lies not in the strength of those who have won, but in their opponents’ weakness at this sort of thing. For those who apply themselves to the pursuit of virtue may be placed in two classes. Some, making the soul alone the treasure-house of the good at which they aim, devote themselves to praiseworthy actions, without having so much as dreamt of jugglery with words. The others are doubly successful; their mind is secured by wisdom in counsel and good deeds, their speech by the arts of eloquence.
ב׳
2[36] Now to encounter the wranglings in which some folk delight is eminently fitting for these latter, ready and equipped as they are with the means of withstanding their enemies, but for the former class it is not at all safe to do so. For who are there that unarmed could meet armed men, and fight them on equal terms, seeing that, even were they fully equipped, the combat would be an unequal one?
ג׳
3[37] Now Abel has never learned arts of speech, and knows the beautiful and noble with his mind only. For this reason he should have declined the meeting on the plain, and have paid no regard to the challenge of the man of ill-will: for any shrinking back is better than defeat, and such shrinking back as this, though our enemies call it cowardice, is called caution by our friends; and since they are free from falsehood, we should believe friends in preference to men who have ill-will towards us.