[221a]
as tridents do, but only the head and mouth of the fish caught, and proceeds from below upwards, being pulled up by twigs and rods. By what name, Theaetetus, shall we say this ought to be called?Theaetetus
I think our search is now ended and we have found the very thing we set before us a while ago as necessary to find.Stranger
Now, then, you and I are not only agreed [221b] about the name of angling, but we have acquired also a satisfactory definition of the thing itself. For of art as a whole, half was acquisitive, and of the acquisitive, half was coercive, and of the coercive, half was hunting, and of hunting, half was animal hunting, and of animal hunting, half was water hunting, and, taken as a whole, of water hunting the lower part was fishing, and of fishing, half was striking, and of striking, half was barb-hunting, and of this the part in which the blow is pulled from below upwards at an angle1 [221c] has a name in the very likeness of the act and is called angling, which was the object of our present search.Theaetetus
That at all events has been made perfectly clear.Stranger
Come, then, let us use this as a pattern and try to find out what a sophist is.Theaetetus
By all means.Stranger
Well, then, the first question we asked was whether we must assume that the angler was just a man or was a man with an art.Theaetetus
Yes.Stranger
Now take this man of ours, Theaetetus. [221d] Shall we assume that he is just a man, or by all means really a man of wisdom?Theaetetus
Certainly not just a man; for I catch your meaning that he is very far from being wise, although his name implies wisdom.Stranger
But we must, it seems, assume that he has an art of some kind.Theaetetus
Well, then, what in the world is this art that he has?Stranger
Good gracious! Have we failed to notice that the man is akin to the other man?Theaetetus
Who is akin to whom?Stranger
The angler to the sophist.Theaetetus
How so?Stranger
They both seem clearly to me to be a sort of hunters. [221e] Theaetetus
What is the hunting of the second? We have spoken about the first.Stranger
We just now divided hunting as a whole into two classes, and made one division that of swimming creatures and the other that of land-hunting.Theaetetus
Yes.Stranger
And the one we discussed, so far as the swimming creatures that live in the water are concerned; but we left the land-hunting undivided, merely remarking that it has many forms.
I think our search is now ended and we have found the very thing we set before us a while ago as necessary to find.Stranger
Now, then, you and I are not only agreed [221b] about the name of angling, but we have acquired also a satisfactory definition of the thing itself. For of art as a whole, half was acquisitive, and of the acquisitive, half was coercive, and of the coercive, half was hunting, and of hunting, half was animal hunting, and of animal hunting, half was water hunting, and, taken as a whole, of water hunting the lower part was fishing, and of fishing, half was striking, and of striking, half was barb-hunting, and of this the part in which the blow is pulled from below upwards at an angle1 [221c] has a name in the very likeness of the act and is called angling, which was the object of our present search.Theaetetus
That at all events has been made perfectly clear.Stranger
Come, then, let us use this as a pattern and try to find out what a sophist is.Theaetetus
By all means.Stranger
Well, then, the first question we asked was whether we must assume that the angler was just a man or was a man with an art.Theaetetus
Yes.Stranger
Now take this man of ours, Theaetetus. [221d] Shall we assume that he is just a man, or by all means really a man of wisdom?Theaetetus
Certainly not just a man; for I catch your meaning that he is very far from being wise, although his name implies wisdom.Stranger
But we must, it seems, assume that he has an art of some kind.Theaetetus
Well, then, what in the world is this art that he has?Stranger
Good gracious! Have we failed to notice that the man is akin to the other man?Theaetetus
Who is akin to whom?Stranger
The angler to the sophist.Theaetetus
How so?Stranger
They both seem clearly to me to be a sort of hunters. [221e] Theaetetus
What is the hunting of the second? We have spoken about the first.Stranger
We just now divided hunting as a whole into two classes, and made one division that of swimming creatures and the other that of land-hunting.Theaetetus
Yes.Stranger
And the one we discussed, so far as the swimming creatures that live in the water are concerned; but we left the land-hunting undivided, merely remarking that it has many forms.
