225
Soc. And what is love of gain? What can it be, and who are the lovers of gain?
225
Fr. In my opinion, they are those who think it worth while to make gain out of things of no worth.
225
Soc. Is it your opinion that they know those things to be of no worth, or do not know? For if they do not know, you mean that the lovers of gain are fools.
225
Fr. No, I do not mean they are fools, but rascals who wickedly yield to gain, because they know that the things out of which they dare to make their gain are worthless, and yet they dare to be lovers of gain from mere shamelessness.
225
Soc. Well now, do you mean by the lover of gain such a man, for instance, as a farmer who plants something which he knows is a worthless herb, and thinks fit to make gain out of it when he has reared it up? Is that the sort of man you mean?
225
Fr. The lover of gain, as such, Socrates, thinks he ought to make gain from everything.
225
Soc. Please do not speak so recklessly, as though you had been wronged by someone, but give me your attention and answer just as you would if I were beginning my questions over again. Do you not admit that the lover of gain has knowledge of the worth of the thing from which he thinks it worth while to make gain?
225
Fr. I do.
225
Soc. Then who has knowledge of the worth of plants, and of the sort of season and soil in which they are worth planting—if we too may throw in one of those artful phrases The “artful phrase” here is the jingling ὥρᾳ καὶ χώρᾳ, characteristic of the rhetoric taught by Gorgias and his followers. which adroit pleaders use to trick out their speeches in the law courts?
225
Fr. For my part, I should say a farmer.
225
Soc. And by “think it worth while to make gain” do you mean aught but “thinking one ought to make gain”?
225
Fr. I mean that.
