Then I with a smile said: But, sir, that fish there, that according to
the proverb is laid up, why do not we bring out into play together with
Pythagoras's choenix, which he forbids any man to sit upon, thereby
teaching us that we ought to leave something of what we have before us
for another time, and on the present day be mindful of the morrow?
We Boeotians use to have that saying frequently in our mouths, "Leave
something for the Medes," ever since the Medes overran and spoiled
Phocis and the marches of Boeotia; but still, and upon all occasions,
we ought to have that ready, "Leave something for the guests that may
come." And therefore I must needs find fault with that always empty and
starving table of Achilles; for, when Ajax and Ulysses came ambassadors
to him, he had nothing ready, but was forced out of hand to dress
a fresh supper. And when he would entertain Priam, he again bestirs
himself, kills a white ewe, joints and dresses it, and in that work
spent a great part of the night. But Eumaeus (a wise scholar of a wise
master) had no trouble upon him when Telemachus came home, but presently
desired him to sit down, and feasted him, setting before him dishes of
boiled meat,
The cleanly reliques of the last night's feast.
But if this seems trifling, and a small matter, I am sure it is no small
matter to command and restrain appetite while there are dainties before
you to satisfy and please it. For those that are used to abstain from
what is present are not so eager for absent things as others are.
Lucius subjoining said, that he had heard his grandmother say, that the
table was sacred, and nothing that is sacred ought to be empty. Beside
[omitted]. Therefore as we desire that the earth should always have and
bear something that is useful for us, so we think that we should not let
the table be altogether empty and void of all provision.
QUESTION V. THAT WE OUGHT CAREFULLY TO PRESERVE OURSELVES FROM PLEASURES
ARISING FROM BAD MUSIC AND HOW IT MAY BE DONE.
CALLISTRATUS, LAMPRIAS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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