Perceiving that we were all in this state of mind and
apprehending that our fears might lead to some serious consequence, he
now tried to win all of us over by kindness: me in particular he
encouraged, bidding me be of good cheer and entreating me on all
grounds to remain. For my flight from him was not likely to redound to
his credit, but my staying might do so. Therefore, he made a great
pretence of entreating me. And we know that the entreaties of
sovereigns are mixed with compulsion. So to secure his object he
proceeded to render my departure impossible, bringing me into the
acropolis, and establishing me in quarters from which not a single
ship's captain would have taken me away against the will of Dionysios,
nor indeed without a special messenger sent by him to order my
removal. Nor was there a single merchant, or a single official in
charge of points of departure from the country, who would have allowed
me to depart unaccompanied, and would not have promptly seized me
and taken me back to Dionysios, especially since a statement had now
been circulated contradicting the previous rumours and giving out that
Dionysios was becoming extraordinarily attached to Plato. What were
the facts about this attachment? I must tell the truth. As time went
on, and as intercourse made him acquainted with my disposition and
character, he did become more and more attached to me, and wished me
to praise him more than I praised Dion, and to look upon him as more
specially my friend than Dion, and he was extraordinarily eager
about this sort of thing.
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