protagoras   

evil to his inward parts: and for this reason physicians always forbid

their patients the use of oil in their food, except in very small

quantities, just enough to extinguish the disagreeable sensation of

smell in meats and sauces.

When he had given this answer, the company cheered him. And I

said: Protagoras, I have a wretched memory, and when any one makes a

long speech to me I never remember what he is talking about. As

then, if I had been deaf, and you were going to converse with me,

you would have had to raise your voice; so now, having such a bad

memory, I will ask you to cut your answers shorter, if you would

take me with you.

What do you mean? he said: how am I to shorten my answers? shall I

make them too short?

Certainly not, I said.

But short enough?

Yes, I said.

Shall I answer what appears to me to be short enough, or what

appears to you to be short enough?

I have heard, I said, that you can speak and teach others to speak

about the same things at such length that words never seemed to

fail, or with such brevity that no one could use fewer of them. Please

therefore, if you talk with me, to adopt the latter or more

compendious method.

Socrates, he replied, many a battle of words have I fought, and if I

had followed the method of disputation which my adversaries desired,

as you want me to do, I should have been no better than another, and

the name of Protagoras would have been nowhere.

I saw that he was not satisfied with his previous answers, and

that he would not play the part of answerer any more if he could help;

and I considered that there was no call upon me to continue the

conversation; so I said: Protagoras, I do not wish to force the

conversation upon you if you had rather not, but when you are