Unto the fire 'twas not thus good at need, 110 But even more so when the coiner's trade Was plied by thee.' The swol'n one: 'True indeed! But thou didst not bear witness half so true When Trojans[778] at thee for the truth did plead.' 'If I spake falsely, thou didst oft renew False coin,' said Sinon; 'one fault brought me here; Thee more than any devil of the crew.' 'Bethink thee of the horse, thou perjurer,' He of the swol'n paunch answered; 'and that by All men 'tis known should anguish in thee stir.' 120 'Be thirst that cracks thy tongue thy penalty, And putrid water,' so the Greek replied, 'Which 'fore thine eyes thy stomach moundeth high.' The coiner then: 'Thy mouth thou openest wide, As thou art used, thy slanderous words to vent; But if I thirst and humours plump my hide Thy head throbs with the fire within thee pent. To lap Narcissus' mirror,[779] to implore And urge thee on would need no argument.' While I to hear them did attentive pore 130 My Master said: 'Thy fill of staring take! To rouse my anger needs but little more.' And when I heard that he in anger spake Toward him I turned with such a shame inspired, Recalled, it seems afresh on me to break. And, as the man who dreams of hurt is fired With wish that he might know his dream a dream, And so what is, as 'twere not, is desired; So I, struck dumb and filled with an extreme Craving to find excuse, unwittingly 140 The meanwhile made the apology supreme. 'Less shame,' my Master said, 'would nullify A greater fault, for greater guilt atone; All sadness for it, therefore, lay thou by. But bear in mind that thou art not alone, If fortune hap again to bring thee near Where people such debate are carrying on. To things like these 'tis shame[780] to lend an ear.' FOOTNOTES: [759] _Semele_: The daughter of Cadmus, founder and king of Thebes, was beloved by Jupiter and therefore hated by Juno, who induced her to court destruction by urging the god to visit her, as he was used to come to Juno, in all his glory. And in other instances the goddess took revenge (Ovid, _Metam._ iv.). [760] _Athamas_: Married to a sister of Semele, was made insane by the angry Juno, with the result described in the text. [761] _Hecuba_: Wife of Priam, king of Troy, and mother of Polyxena and Polydorus. While she was lamenting the death of her daughter, slain as an offering on the tomb of Achilles, she found the corpse of her son, slain by the king of Thrace, to whose keeping she had committed him (Ovid, _Metam._ xiii.).