"What goblets shall we use?" asked one. "If the larger ones, I vote for one part wine to three parts water, as Hesiod recommends." "A frog's drink, as Pharecrates called it," replied the Ruler. "Half and half it shall be, and he who shirks the large goblet shall drink from the crater itself. Are we not all philosophers? And did not Socrates drink from the wine cooler?" "Agreed! Agreed!" echoed round the circle. One ruddy-faced veteran knelt in mock adoration at the feet of the Feast Master: "I humbly crave that, since I was born in distant Phrygia, we to-night follow the custom of the barbarians, and drink no water at all. Let us be inspired with the unadulterated soul of the god." "Bacchus pardon thy gluttony for the sake of thy piety," said the Master. "Law the second--Whereas wine should be drunk either hot or cold, and whereas, these Jews who are still above Hades have stopped the way to the mountains where lies the snow to chill it, therefore it is ordained that all drinks shall be heated with both fire and spice." "Agreed! Agreed!" "Law the third--Every goblet shall be quaffed from brim to bottom between two breaths." "It is agreed!" "Oh! my paunch!" cried one. "Do you think me a Deucalion to stand the deluge?" Servants poured the water and wine in equal quantities into the crater, or great bowl, from which it was ladled into the large goblets, holding half a quart each. "A bumper first to Bacchus." It was drunk with avidity. One started a song from the old poet Anacreon: "Thirsty earth drinks up the rain, Trees from earth drink that again, Ocean drinks the air, the sun Drinks the sea, and him the moon. Any reason canst thou think I should thirst while all these drink?" "Eros follows Bacchus," cried the Feast Master. "Now a cup to the Syrian goddess Astarte, since we are in her land, or to Aphrodite, Venus, or whatever name each one calls his lady-love." "Aye, a cup to Bathsheba! if any one has found a Jewess to his taste," shouted Apollonius, lifting his goblet toward Dion. Songs and comic speeches, extemporized pantomimes, riddles and stories, as the wine happened to stir the peculiar talent or caprice of the guest, interspersed the drinking.