TRIED AND TRUE ( Clement of Alexandria )
Alexander
of Macedon, having taken ten of the Indian Gymnosophists, that seemed the
best and most sententious,
proposed
to them problems, threatening to put to death him that did not answer to
the purpose; ordering one, who
was the
eldest of them, to decide.
The first,
then, being asked whether he thought that the living were more in number
than the dead, said,
The living;
for that the dead were not.
The second,
on being asked Whether the sea or the land maintained larger beasts, said,
The land;
for the sea was part of it.
And the
third being asked which was the most cunning of animals?
The one,
which has not hitherto been known, man.
And the
fourth being interrogated, For what reason they had made Sabba, who was
their prince, revolt, answered,
Because
they wished him to live well rather than die ill.
And the
fifth being asked, Whether he thought that day or night was first, said,
One day.
For puzzling questions must have puzzling answers.
And the
sixth being posed with the query, How shall one be loved most?
By being
most powerful; in order that he may not be timid.
And the
seventh being asked, How any one of men could become God? said,
If he
do what it is impossible for man to do.
And the
eighth being asked, Which is the stronger, life or death? said,
Life,
which bears such ills.
And the
ninth being interrogated, Up to what point it is good for a man to live?
said,
Till
he does not think that to die is better than to live.
And on
Alexander ordering the tenth to say something, for he was judge, he said,
"One
spake worse than another."
And on
Alexander saying, Shall you not, then, die first, having given such a judgment?
he said, And how
O king,
wilt thou prove true, after saying that thou wouldest kill first the first
man that answered very badly?