400 PLATO
out in a loud and passionate cry which made cowards of us all. Socrates alone retained his calmness. " AVhat is this strange outcry ? " he said. " I sent away the women mainly in order that they might not misbe- have in this way, for I have been told that a man should die in peace. Be quiet then, and have pa- tience." When we heard his words we were ashamed, and refrained our tears ; and he walked about until, as he said, his legs began to fail, and then he lay on his back, according to the directions, and the man who gave him the poison now and then looked at his feet and legs ; and after a while he pressed his foot hard and asked him if he could feel ; and he said, " No ; " and then his leg, and so upwards and upwards, and showed us that he was growing cold and stiff. And he felt them himself, and said : " When the poison reaches the heart, that will be the end." He was be- ginning to grow cold about the groin, when he uncov- ered his face, for he had C0Λ'ered himself up, and said — they were his last words — he said : " Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius ; ^ will you remember to pay the debt?" " The debt shall be paid," said Crito ; " is there anything else ? " There was no answer to this question ; but in a minute or two a movement was heard, and the attendants uncovered him ; his eyes were set, and Crito closed his eyes and mouth.
Such was the end, Echecrates, of our friend ; con- cerning whom I may truly say, that of all the men of his time whom I have known, he was the wisest and justest and best.
1 A cock was sacrificed to Asclepius (Aescnlapius) on recovery from illness ; thus Socrates means, " I have been released from the ills and sufferings of life.
