Letter 186: Philosophy is an excellent thing, if only for this, that it even heals its disciples at small cost; for, in philosophy, the same thing is both dainty and healthy fare. I am told that you have recovered your failing appetite by pickled cabbage. Formerly I used to dislike it, both on account of the proverb, and because it reminded me of the pover...
Philosophy is an excellent thing, if only for this: it heals its students cheaply. In philosophy, the same dish is both a delicacy and good medicine.
I am told that you have restored your failing appetite with pickled cabbage. I used to look down on the stuff -- partly because of the proverb [a Greek proverb about cabbage being a sign of poverty], and partly because it reminded me of the poverty that came with it. But now I am forced to change my mind. I laugh at the proverb when I see that cabbage is such a fine nursemaid of men, and has restored our governor to the vigor of youth.
From now on I shall think nothing compares to cabbage -- not Homer's lotus, not even that ambrosia, whatever it was, that fed the gods on Olympus.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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