Ath。Come,then,andifeverwearetocallupontheGods,letuscalluponthemnowinallseriousnesstocometothedemonstrationoftheirownexistence。Andsoholdingfasttotheropewewillventureuponthedepthsoftheargument。Whenquestionsofthissortareaskedofme,mysafestanswerwouldappeartobeasfollows:-Someonesaystome,“OStranger,areallthingsatrestandnothinginmotion,oristheexactoppositeofthistrue,oraresomethingsinmotionandothersatrest?-TothisIshallreplythatsomethingsareinmotionandothersatrest。“Anddonotthingswhichmoveaplace,andarenotthethingswhichareatrestatrestinaplace?“Certainly。“Andsomemoveorrestinoneplaceandsomeinmoreplacesthanone?“Youmeantosay,weshallrejoin,thatthosethingswhichrestatthecentremoveinoneplace,justasthecircumferencegoesroundofglobeswhicharesaidtobeatrest?
“Yes。“Andweobservethat,intherevolution,themotionwhichcarriesroundthelargerandthelessercircleatthesametimeisproportionallydistributedtogreaterandsmaller,andisgreaterandsmallerinacertainproportion。Hereisawonderwhichmightbethoughtanimpossibility,thatthesamemotionshouldimpartswiftnessandslownessindueproportiontolargerandlessercircles。“Verytrue。“Andwhenyouspeakofbodiesmovinginmanyplaces,youseemtometomeanthosewhichmovefromoneplacetoanother,andsometimeshaveonecentreofmotionandsometimesmorethanonebecausetheyturnupontheiraxis;andwhenevertheymeetanything,ifitbestationary,theyaredividedbyit;butiftheygetinthemidstbetweenbodieswhichareapproachingandmovingtowardsthesamespotfromoppositedirections,theyunitewiththem。“Iadmitthetruthofwhatyouaresaying。“Alsowhentheyunitetheygrow,andwhentheyaredividedtheywasteaway-thatis,supposingtheconstitutionofeachtoremain,orifthatfails,thenthereisasecondreasonoftheirdissolution。“Andwhenareallthingscreatedandhow?“Clearly,theyarecreatedwhenthefirstprinciplereceivesincreaseandattainstotheseconddimension,andfromthisarrivesattheonewhichisneighbourtothis,andafterreachingthethirdbecomesperceptibletosense。Everythingwhichisthuschangingandmovingisinprocessofgeneration;onlywhenatresthasitrealexistence,butwhenpassingintoanotherstateitisdestroyedutterly。Havewenotmentionedallmotionsthatthereare,andcomprehendedthemundertheirkindsandnumberedthemwiththeexception,myfriends,oftwo?
Cle。Whicharethey?
Ath。Justthetwo,withwhichourpresentenquiryisconcerned。
Cle。Speakplainer。