But if, however, we are resolved to leave no
means untried, let us say to the babbler,
Hush, child : in silence many virtues lie,1
and among them the two first and greatest, the
merits of hearing and being heard ; neither of these
can happen to talkative persons, but even in that
which they desire especially they fail miserably. For
in other diseases of the soul,
2 such as love of money,
love of glory, love of pleasure, there is at least the
possibility of attaining their desires, but for babblers
this is very difficult: they desire listeners and cannot
[p. 401]
get them, since every one runs away headlong. If
men are sitting in a public lounge or strolling about
in a portico, and see a talker coming up, they
quickly give each other the counter-sign to break
camp. And just as when silence occurs in an assemblage they say that Hermes has joined the company,
so when a chatterbox comes into a dinner-party or
social gathering, every one grows silent, not wishing
to furnish him a hold ; and if he begins of his own
accord to open his mouth,
As when the North-wind blows along
A sea-beaten headland before the storm,3
suspecting that they will be tossed about and sea-sick,
they rise up and go out. And so it is a talker's lot
when travelling by land or sea, to find volunteer
listeners neither as table-companions nor as tentmates, but only conscripts; for the talker is at
you everywhere, catching your cloak, plucking your
beard, digging you in the ribs.
Then are your feet of the greatest value,
as Archilochus
4 says, and on my word the wise Aristotle will agree. For when Aristotle himself was
annoyed by a chatterer and bored with some silly
stories, and the fellow kept repeating, ‘Isn't it
wonderful, Aristotle?’
‘There's nothing wonderful about that,’ said Aristotle, ‘but that anyone with
feet endures you.’ To another man of the same
sort, who said after a long rigmarole, ‘Poor philosopher, I've wearied you with my talk,’
‘Heavens,
no!’ said Aristotle, ‘I wasn't listening.’ In fact,
[p. 403]
if chatterers force their talk upon us, the soul surrenders to them the ears to be flooded from outside,
but herself within unrolls thoughts of another sort and
follows them out by herself. Therefore talkers do
not find it easy to secure listeners who either pay
attention or believe what they say ; for just as they
affirm that the seed of persons too prone to lusts
of the flesh is barren, so is the speech of babblers
ineffectual and fruitless.
5
