Now stupefaction is a bad remedy for desperate pain in the body, and
verily he would be no better physician for the soul who should order
idleness, softness, and neglect of friends, kinsfolk, and country, in
order to remove its trouble and grief. It is likewise a false position
that those live most contentedly who have the least to do; for then by
this rule women should be of more sedate dispositions than men, since
they only sit at home and mind their domestic affairs. Whereas in fact,
as Hesiod expresseth it,—
The virgins’ tender limbs are kept from cold;
Not the least wind to touch them is so bold;[71]
but nevertheless we see that grief and troubles and discontentments,
arising from jealousy or superstition or vain opinions, flow as it were
with a torrent into the apartments of the females. And though Laertes
lived twenty years in the fields secluded from the world, and
Only a toothless hag did make his bed,
Draw him his drink, and did his table spread,[72]
though he forsook his house and country, and fled from a kingdom, yet
grief with his sloth and sadness still kept him company. There are some
to whom idleness hath been an affliction; as for instance,—
But raging still, amidst his navy sat
The stern Achilles, steadfast in his hate;
Nor mix’d in combat, nor in council join’d;
But wasting cares lay heavy on his mind:
In his black thoughts revenge and slaughter roll,
And scenes of blood rise dreadful in his soul.[73]
And he himself complains of it, being mightily disturbed, after this
manner:—