The Tablet of Cebes

The Tablet of Cebes

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Wisdom of the Ancients Library

Volume First

The Greek Pilgrim’s Progress

Generally known as the Picture

by

Kebes, a disciple of Sokrates?

Translated from the Greek Text

Published by B. G. Teubner of Leipzig

Set in Type, Illustrated, and Ornamented by

Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, Ph. D.

London: Luzac and Company

46 Great Russell Street W.

Philidelphia: Monsalvat Press

1501 North Marshall Street.

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Copyright, 1910, by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie.

This Edition is limited to Actual Subscribers.

This is the ______ Copy, specially inscribed for ________.

Issued at the Comparative Literature Press by _________.

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First: The Gate of Life and its Delusions

Happening oneday to be meditatively visiting a Temple of Saturn, we reverently contemplated its votive inscriptions. Prominently affixed to the front of the Temple, loomed up large a strange pictorial Tablet, containing certain peculiar words, whose significance we were not able to fathom.

It seemed to represent, not some city or military camp, but a triple ring, formed by three concentric walled enclosures.

Within the outer circular wall might be seen a crowd of women; while outside, around the outer gate, surged a large mob, to whose entering streams a certain old man seemed, by his gestures, to be uttering some command.

We stood a long while, questioning with each other about the symbology of the Picture. Then an Old Man who chanced to pass by stopped, and addressed us, in the following words:

“O Strangers! Not exceptional is this your experience of uncertainty about this Picture: for it is a puzzle even to many of the local inhabitants. This votive symbol does not originate from this locality. A Stranger, full of understanding, and impressive with wisdom, arrived here long since, following with zeal the rule of life of Pythagoras or Parmenides in word and deed. It was he who dedicated to Saturn both Temple and Picture.”

“So you yourself saw and knew this Man, did you?” asked I.

“Yes, indeed! And what is more, I admired him for a long time during my youth.

“It was his way to indulge in many serious conversations. Many is the time that I have heard him expound this symbolic Picture!”

“By Jupiter!” cried I, “unless you happen to have a most pressing engagement elsewhere, do please explain the Picture to us also! I assure you that we are most anxious to understand the meaning of this symbol!”

“With pleasure, Strangers!” said he. “But first you must hear that such an explanation is not without its very real dangers.”

“How so?” cried we all.

“Should you,” said he, “understand and assimilate what I should say, you shall become wise and happy; but if not, you will live badly, having become foolish, unfortunate, bitter, and ignorant.”

“For the explanation is not unlike the Sphinx’s Riddle, that he propounded to all men. Whoever solved it was saved; but destruction by the Sphinx overtook those who could not. And this was the Sphinx’s question: Within our life, what is a good? What is an evil? What is neither?”

“If anyone does not solve this, the Sphinx destroys him; not all at once, as in ancient times, but gradually, in his whole life, he perishes away, just like victims tortured to death.”

“But if he understands, he is saved, and attains felicity.”

“Attention, therefore! and make sure you understand!”

“Now, by Hercules! What fires has thou lit in us, if what thou sadist is true!”

“Why, surely!” said he.

“Start in to explain immediately, then! For we shall attend to some purpose, especially in view of the nature of the retribution.”

“Well,” said the Old Man, pointing with a wand, “do you see that outer circular wall?”

“Yes, indeed!”

“First, you must know that the name of this whole place is THE LIFE. This innumerable multitude surging in front of the Gate, are they who are about to enter into Life.”

“The Old Man who holds in one hand a scroll, and with the other is pointing out something is the GOOD GENIUS.”

“To those who are entering is he setting forth what they should do when they shall have entered; and he is pointing out to them which WAY they shall have to walk in IF THEY PROPOSE TO BE SAVED in ‘the Life.’”

“Which way does he command them to go? And why?” said I.

“You see,” said he, “by the side of the Gate by which the multitude are to enter, a throne, on which is seated a Woman dressed stylishly—indeed, over-dressed, who holds in her hands as it were some sort of cups—do you see that?

“Indeed I do,” responded I; “but who is she?”

“Delusion is her name,” answered he, “for the reason that She deludes and misleads every human being.”

“But what is her office?”

“She quenches the thirst of every soul that proceeds into Life, by making it drink of her very own essence.”

“And what might her drink be, I wonder?”

“ERROR and IGNORANCE” said he.

“Why so?”

“Because they would not enter into  the Life, unless they were under that influence.”

“I wonder whether this Delusion is drunk by all, or only by some?”

“All drink,” said he; “although there are degrees, some drinking more, others less.”

“Then, do you not see within the Gate a crowd of Women wearing the motley garb of Courtesans?”

“Indeed do I see them!”

“Well, their names are FALSE OPINION, DESIRES, and PLEASURES. Upon the entering souls fall these, each of them embracing and leading away a soul.”

“And whither? Would I like to know!”

“Some to be saved, indeed; but others, alas! To be destroyed by DELUSION.”

“O Good Genius of ours, how fateful is that Drink!”

“Surely, for each of those Courtesans promises to the soul that she has embraced that she will lead it to the best things and to a life happy and profitabl4e; and she succeeds, for because of that Drink the souls themselves are not able to discover which is the veritable road in the Life but wander around as you see—for those who have already entered are cruising around, as if by chance.”

“I SEE them indeed,” said I. “But tell me, who can be that Woman, who seems to be both wild and blind, standing on a globular-shaped stone?”

“Her name,” answered he, “is LUCK.”

“Not only blind and wild is she, but deaf.”

“And what might her business be?”

“She circulates everywhere,” said he. “From some she takes their substance, and freely gives it away to others. Then, again, she suddenly withdraws what she has given, and gives it to others without any plan or steadfastness. So you see that her symbol fits her perfectly.”

“Which symbol,” asked I.

“Why, the Globular Stone on which she stands.”

“And what does that betoken, I wonder?”

“That Globular stone signifies that no gift of hers is safe or lasting; for whosoever reposes any confidence in her, is sure to suffer great and right grievous misfortune.”

“But what is the wish and the name of that great Multitude standing around her?”

“Oh! They are known as the UNREFLECTING they who desire whatever Luck might throw them.”

“But then, how is it that they do not behave in the same manner? For some seem to rejoice, while others are agonizing, with hands outstretched?”

Well, those who seem to rejoice and laugh are they who have received somewhat from her—and you may be sure that they call her FORTUNE! On the contrary, those who seem to weep and stretch out their hands are they from whom She has taken back what She had given—they call her MISFORTUNE!”

“And what sort of things does She deal in, that they who receive them laugh, while they who lose them, weep?”

“Why, what to the great Multitudes seems Good—of course Wealth, then Glory, Good Birth, Children, Power, Palaces, and the like.”

“But such things, are they not really good?”

“That question, let us postpone!”

“Willingly,” said I.

“Now, as you enter within the Gate, do you see the second circular enclosure, and without it, certain Women clad like courtesans?”

“Clearly!”

“Well, their names are INCONTINENCE, INDULGENCE, INSATIABLENESS, and FLATTERY.”

“And why do they stand there?”

“They are watching for those who may have received anything from the Luck-Goddess.”

“And then, what happens?”

“The Courtesans spring on those souls, embrace them, flatter them and coax them not to go away, but to stay for a life of comfort, without effort or misadventure. Should, however, any soul be by them persuaded to enter into Enjoyment, this seems a pleasant pastime until he is satiated, but no longer. For whenever he sobers up, he notices that he has not eaten, but that he has, by her, been devoured, and maltreated. Wherefore, when he has not consumed all the goods he received from Fortune, he is forced to slave to those Women, to suffer all things, to be dishonored, and on their account to do many pitiable deeds—such as to steal, to profane Temples, to perjure himself, to betray, to plunder. However whenever he has degraded himself to the point of utter destitution, then he is handed over to PUNISHMENT.”

“But who is she?”

“Do you not see behind them,” said he, “something that looks like a small door, and a narrow, dank place?”

“Yes, indeed!”

“And you notice therein Women—shameful, bedraggled, and ragged?”

“Why yes!”

“Well, among them, the one who holds the whip is called PUNISHMENT; while the one who holds her head bent over to her knees is SORROW; and the one who is pulling her own hair, is GRIEF.”

“But what about that THING standing by them,--so repulsive, thin and naked; and near to it that other similarly shameful female,--who is she?”

“Ah,” said he, “that is LAMENTATION, and his sister is DESPAIR. To these therefore is the soul handed over, and is punished by association with them. Hence, however, he is cast into another dwelling, into Unhappiness, where he ekes out his existence in every misery unless, indeed, to him unexpectedly, REPENTANCE, having planned it, should meet him.”

“Well, what happens, should REPENTANCE chance to meet him?”

“She releases him from his evils, and associates with him another OPINION and DESIRE, who will lead him to genuine CULTURE—though indeed he might just as well be misled even then into SHAM-CULTURE.”

“Well, what happens then?”

“In the case,” said he, “that he is taken in charge by this RIGHT-OPINION who will  lead him to genuine CULTURE, he is, on being purified, by her saved, so that his life grows blissful and happy; --otherwise, again he wanders, to be deceived by SHAM-CULTURE.”

“BY Hercules! What other great danger is here! Pray speak to me more definitely of SHAM CULTURE!”

“Well, do you see standing by the Gate of the inner enclosure a Woman seeming neat and well-groomed?”

“Well, she is, by the unreflecting Majority called CULTURE,--but that is an error, for she is no more than a SHAM.”

“Nevertheless, those who are being saved must, in order to reach genuine CULTURE, first pass here.”

“So there is no other way?”

“No, there is not.”

“And can you tell me who are those men, perambulating within the second enclosure?”

“Those,” said he, “are the deluded Votaries of SHAM-CULTURE—honestly, they labor under the impression that they are, right now, associating with genuine CULTURE!”

“And what might they be called?”

“Some, answered he, “are Poets; some so-called Orators. Some are Reasoners; others are Musicians Mathematicians, Geometricians, Astronomers, Critics, Aristippian Pleasure seekers, or Aristotelian Peripatetic scientists!”

“But those Women who seem to circulate among them—indeed, they resemble the first, among whom was Pleasure, and her companions—who are they?”

“They are the very same,” said he.

“But how did they get in?”

“By altering their looks; for here they are needy-looking, and not as before.”

“And have those False-Opinions remained unchanged?” asked I.

“That potion which they received from Delusion remains active in them; so also Ignorance, Senselessness, Prejudice and other Badness. None of this fades out from them till they leave SHAM-CULTURE, enter on the right road, and drink the purifying medicaments. Through this purification having sloughed off all their evils such as Prejudice and Ignorance, then, and not before, shall they be saved.

“Should they, however, elect to remain with SHAM-CULTURE, they shall never be released, nor shall they be released from a single evil merely because of any science.”

* * *

Second: The Road Upwards to Happiness

What then is the road that leads to genuine CULTURE, asked I.

"Do you see up there," said he, "a place where no one dwells, and which seems to be dessert?"

"I do."

"Do you not see a small door, a path not much frequented, -only a few are ascending on it, for it is almost impassable, rough and ready?"

"Yes indeed," said I.

"And do you not see somethign like a steep hill, whose only access is a narrow ascent between precipices?"

"That then is the ROAD TO CULTURE."

"And difficult enough it seems!"

"But it leads up CULTURE'S ROCK, which is large, high, and inaccessible."

"Now do you not further see, standing on the Rock, two healthy and well-formed Women who stretch out their hands invitingly?"

"Yes, but who are they?"

"SELF-CONTROL and ENDURANCE-two sisters."

"But why are they extending their arms so invitingly?"

"They are exhorting th ePilgrims who reach that place not to despair, but to be of good courage, inasmuch as they will reach a fair road if only they will be brave for but a little while longer."

"Encouragement is good, but what is the use of it? as I see, way up on the Road, a gap, where there is no road."

"Those Women will themselves descend from the Cliff, draw the Pilgrims up to their present position. Then only will the Women bid the pilgrims rest, and after a little while give them Strength and Courage, and promise to introduce them into the presense of genuine CULTURE."

"Then the Women point out to the refreshed Pilgrims the further road which, there, is fair, level, passable, and free from all evils, as you see."

"Clearly, by Jupiter!"

"DO YOU not behold, in front of that grove, a place which seems to be fair, grassy and illuminated by a white light?"

"Yes, indeed!"

"Now do you percieve in the midst of the meadow another Enclosure, with its gate?"

"It is so, -but what is the name of that place?"

"It is the Dwelling of the Blessed," said he. "Here abide all the Virtues, and Happiness."

"Is it possible? How beautiful that Place must be!"

"Now, do you see by the Gate, a Woman, fair and composed, of middle, or rather of advanced age, clad in a simple, unadorned robe? She stands, not on a globe, but on a solidly founded cube. With her are standing two other but younger Women who seem to be her daughters.

"So it looks."

"Well the woman who is standing in the centre is CULTURE: the others are TRUTH and CONVICTION.

"But why does Culture stand on a Cube?"

"As a sign that, for approaching Pilgrims, the Road to her is certain and safe--as, indeed, is also the case with her Gifts."

"And what might these her gifts be?"

"COURAGE and FEARLESSNESS!"

"But what do they consist of??" asked I.

"Courage and Fearlessness consist in the Realization that naught that ever could happen to us could prove to be a Misfortune."

"By Herckules!" said I, "what fine gifts! But why does She thus stand outside of the Circle?

"In order to heal the new arrivals," said he. "She furnishes them the cleansing medicament; and whenever they have been purified, She introduces them into the Virtues."

"But how does this happen? I do not understand that."

"But you will," said he. "It is as if an ambitious man should, on becoming sick, go to a physician, who first removes the cause of th esickness, thereby paving th eway through convalescence to health. Should the sick man, however, not carry out th eprescription, it is no more than fair that he should be abandoned to the ravages of the disease."

"Oh, I understand that," said I."

"Just so acts Culture," resumed our Guide. "Whenever any Pilgrim reaches her, she heals him and doses him with her own power, so as first to purify him from all the evils which lodged in him--Ignorance and Error, with which Delusion had infected the Pilgrim; Arrogance, Lust, Intemperance, Anger, Love-of-money, and all the rest of those Evils with which the Pilgrim was affected in the first Enclosure."