Plato reprehending a boy for playing at nuts, "You reprove me," says the boy, "for a very little thing." "Custom," replied Plato, "is no little thing." I find that our greatest vices derive their first propensity from our most tender infancy, and that our principal education depends upon the nurse. Mothers are mightily pleased to see a child writhe off the neck of & chicken, or to please itself with hurting a dog or a cat; and such wise fathers there are in the world, who look upon it as a notable mark of a martial spirit, when they hear a son miscall, or see him domineer over a poor peasant, or a lackey, that dares not reply, nor turn again; and a great sign of wit, when they see him cheat and overreach his playfellow by some malicious treachery and deceit. Yet these are the true seeds and roots of cruelty, tyranny, and treason; they bud and put out there, and afterwards shoot up vigorously, and grow to prodigious bulk, cultivated by custom. And it is a very dangerous mistake to excuse these vile inclinations upon the tenderness of their age, and the triviality of the subject: first, it is nature that speaks, whose declaration is then more sincere, and inward thoughts more undisguised, as it is more weak and young; secondly, the deformity of cozenage does not consist nor depend upon the difference between crowns and pins; but I rather hold it more just to conclude thus: why should he not cozen in crowns since he does it in pins, than as they do, who say they only play for pins, they would not do it if it were for money? Children should carefully be instructed to abhor vices for their own contexture; and the natural deformity of those vices ought so to be represented to them, that they may not only avoid them in their actions, but especially so to abominate them in their hearts, that the very thought should be hateful to them, with what mask soever they may be disguised.
柏拉图曾严厉地训斥一个玩骰子的小男孩儿,孩子却抱怨道:“你就为这么一点小事责备我。”柏拉图回答说:“习惯绝非小事。”我发现,我们身上最大的恶习往往是在很小的时候养成的,而父母则是我们小时候的教育的全权负责人。母亲看到孩子无缘无故地用手拧小鸡的脖子、用脚踢打小猫小狗时,不以为意;世上还有一些“英明”的父亲，把儿子辱骂、欺侮一个不敢还手的农夫或仆人的现象,当做是尚武的好兆头,把儿子用狡诈的手段去欺骗、愚弄同伴,当做是聪明伶俐的表现。殊不知,这恰恰是残忍、暴虐、叛逆的根源所在。这些邪恶的种子在孩子小的时候就已经开始生根发芽,然后,在习惯的栽培下苗壮成长,直至长成参天大树。如果以孩子年幼无知为借口,就放任这些不良倾向,那么这样的教育方法必然不利于孩子的健康成长。首先,这是源于孩子天性的声音,尽管稚嫩柔弱,但却极为真实，不加丝毫掩饰。其次,欺骗本身就是一种丑恶的行为,无论采取什么样的手段都是一样的卑郾。关于这一点，有两种说法,一种是:“既然他能在别针上进行欺骗,为什么在金币上就不会呢?”另一种是:“他只是玩玩别针罢了,如果换成金币,他就不会这么做了。”我认为前者比后者更能说明欺骗的丑恶性。应该教导孩子憎恶本性中的恶习,并认清其丑恶本质,使他们不仅在行动上加以克制,更要从内心深处痛恨这种行为一一不管它戴上什么样的面具,只要一看到它就心生厌恶。
I know very well, for what concerns myself, that from having been brought up in my childhood to a plain and straightforward way of dealing, and from having had an aversion to all manner of juggling and foul play in my childish sports and recreations (and, indeed, it is to be noted, that the plays of children are not performed in play, but are to be judged in them as their most serious actions), there is no game so small wherein from my own bosom naturally, and without study or endeavour, I have not an extreme aversion from deceit. I shuffle and cut and make as much clatter with the cards, and keep as strict account for farthings, as it were for double pistoles; when winning or losing against my wife and daughter, it is indifferent to me, as when I play in good earnest with others, for round sums. At all times, and in all places, my own eyes are sufficient to look to my fingers; I am not so narowly watched by any other, neither is there any I
have more respect to.
就我自己而言,我从小就被教育要走正路,要厌恶游戏或娱乐活动中的欺诈和不公平行为(必须指出的是,实际上，孩子们的游戏并不只是单纯的玩耍而已,而应该被看作是对于他们而言最严肃的事情)。即使是最不起眼的小游戏一-无需努力思考的那种，我也坚决反对作弊，这是我的天性使然。我与妻子、女儿玩牌时，对待两个辅币的输赢就像对待两个真正的金币一样,而且洗牌、切牌、下注时我也都非常认真;在与其他人玩赌注更大的游戏时，我也是同样认真,并没有丝毫不同之处。无论何时何地,我的眼睛都称职地留意着我的手指,没有任何人能像我的习惯这样严密地监督我,也没有任何人能得到与我对待这一习惯时相同的尊重。
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