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ANACHARSIS Ah! that is just what I used to hear about you Athenians, that you never really mean what you say. For how could I, a nomad and a rover, who have lived my life on a wagon, visiting different lands at different seasons, and have never dwelt in a city or seen one until now—how could I hold forth upon statecraft and teach men sprung from the soil, who have inhabited this very ancient city for so many years in law and order? Above all, how could I teach you, Solon, who from the first, they say, have made it a special study to know how the government of a state can be conducted best and what laws it should observe to be prosperous? However, in this too, since you are a law-giver, I must obey you; so I shall contradict you if I think that you are incorrect in anything that you say, in order that I may learn my lesson more thoroughly. See, we have escaped the sun and are now in the shade; here is a very delightful and opportune seat on the cool stone. So begin at the beginning and tell why you take your young men in hand and train them from their very boyhood, how they turn out excellent men as a result of the mud and the exercises, and what the dust and the somersaults contribute to their excellencé. That is what I was most eager to hear at the beginning: the rest you shall teach me later, as opportunity offers, each particular in its turn. But bear this in mind, please, Solon, throughout your talk, that you will be speaking to a foreigner. I say this in order that you may not make your explanations too involved or too long, for I am afraid that I may forget the commencement if the sequel should be too profuse in its flow.
