They asked a man by the name of Draco to provide them with a set of laws that would protect the poor against the aggressions of the rich. Draco set to work. Unfortunately he was a professional lawyer and very much out of touch with ordinary life. In his eyes a crime was a crime and when he had finished his code, the people of Athens discovered that these Draconian laws were so severe that they could not possibly be put into effect. There would not have been rope enough to hang all the criminals under their new system of jurisprudence which made the stealing of an apple a capital offence.
他们让一位名叫德拉古的人制定一套法律，以保护穷人免遭富人的侵害。德拉古立即投入工作。很不幸的是，他是职业律师出身，与普通人民的日常生活格格不入。在他看来，一项罪行就是一项罪行，无论轻重，都应受到严厉惩处。等他完成工作后，雅典人发现德拉古法典显得过分严苛了，根本不可能付诸实施。这套新的法律把偷盗一个苹果也定为死罪，照此施行，人们将没有足够的绳子来绞死所有罪犯。
The Athenians looked about for a more humane reformer. At last they found some one who could do that sort of thing better than anybody else. His name was Solon. He belonged to a noble family and he had travelled all over the world and had studied the forms of government of many other countries. After a careful study of the subject, Solon gave Athens a set of laws which bore testimony to that wonderful principle of moderation which was part of the Greek character. He tried to improve the condition of the peasant without however destroying the prosperity of the nobles who were(or rather who could be) of such great service to the state as soldiers.
雅典人于是去寻找一位更有同情心的改革者。最终，他们找到了一个做这项工作的最佳人选。他名叫梭伦，来自一个贵族家庭。他曾漫游世界上的各个地方，考察过许多国家的政治体制。经过缜密的研究工作，梭论给雅典人拿出了一套法典，它极好地体现了作为希腊人的"适度"原则。梭伦尽力在改善农民状况的同时，又小心翼翼地不触犯富人的利益，因为富人作为主要的兵源，对城市是极有用处的。