Yet such was the happiness of his genius, that he
selected Socrates from the rest, and admitted him, while he drove
away the wealthy and the noble who made court to him. In a little
time, they grew intimate and Alcibiades, listening now to language
entirely free from every thought of unmanly fondness and silly
displays of affection, found himself with one who sought to la
open to him the deficiencies of his mind and repress his vain and
foolish arrogance, and
"Dropped like the craven cock his conquered wing."
He esteemed these endeavors of Socrates as most truly a means
which the gods made use of for the care and preservation of youth,
and it was a matter of general wonder, when people saw him joining
Socrates in his meals and his exercises, living with him in the
same tent, while he was reserved and rough to all others who made
their addresses to him.
He behaved in the same manner to all others who courted him,
except one stranger, who, as the story is told, having but a small
estate, sold it all for about a hundred staters, which he
presented to Alcibiades, and besought him to accept. Alcibiades,
smiling and well pleased at the thing, invited him to supper, and,
after a very kind entertainment, gave him his gold again,
requiring him, moreover, not to fail to be present the next day,
when the public revenue was offered to farm, and to outbid all
others.
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