After this he is dragged from one Assyrian mart to another; next in the train of a Galatian slave-merchant he stands for sale in many a market and knows many diverse houses. Who could tell the names of all his buyers? Among these Ptolemy, servant of the post-house,[88] was one of the better known. Then Ptolemy, tired of Eutropius’ long service to his lusts, gives him to Arinthaeus;--gives, for he is no longer worth keeping nor old enough to be bought. How the scorned minion wept at his departure, with what grief did he lament that divorce! “Was this thy fidelity, Ptolemy? Is this my reward for a youth lived in thine arms, for the bed of marriage and those many nights spent together in the inn? Must I lose my promised liberty? Leav’st thou Eutropius a widow, cruel wretch, forgetful of such wonderful nights of love? How hard is the lot of my kind! When a woman grows old her children cement the marriage tie and [88] I take Ptolemy to have been a _stationarius_, _i.e._ a servant in a public post-house, but there is possibly some covert allusion to _stabulum_ in the sense of _prostibulum_, a brothel. * * * * * Page 144 uxorisque decus matris reverentia pensat. nos Lucina fugit, nec pignore nitimur ullo. cum forma dilapsus amor; defloruit oris 75 gratia: qua miseri scapulas tutabimur arte? qua placeam ratione senex?” Sic fatus acutum adgreditur lenonis opus, nec segnis ad artem mens erat officiique capax omnesque pudoris hauserat insidias. custodia nulla tuendo 80 fida toro; nulli poterant excludere vectes: ille vel aerata Danaën in turre latentem eliceret. fletus domini fingebat amantis, indomitasque mora, pretio lenibat avaras lascivasque iocis; non blandior ullus euntis 85 ancillae tetigisse latus leviterque reductis vestibus occulto crimen mandasse susurro nec furtis quaesisse locum nec fraude reperta cautior elusi fremitus vitare mariti. haud aliter iuvenum flammis Ephyreia Lais 90 e gemino ditata mari; cum serta refudit canities, iam turba procax noctisque recedit ambitus et raro pulsatur ianua tactu, seque reformidat speculo damnante senectus; stat tamen atque alias succingit lena ministras 95 dilectumque diu quamvis longaeva lupanar circuit et retinent mores, quod perdidit aetas. * * * * * Page 145 a mother’s dignity compensates for the lost charms of a wife. Me Lucina, goddess of childbirth, will not come near; I have no children on whom to rely. Love perishes with my beauty; the roses of my cheeks are faded. What wits can save my wretched back from blows? How can I, an old man, please?”