The Dinner of the Seven Wise Men (4-5)

When we had entered the dining-room, Thales, in a louder voice than usual, said, Where is the place at table to which the man objected? And when its position was pointed out to him he made his way to it, and placed himself and us there, at the same

time remarking, Why, I would have given money to share the same table with Ardalus. This Ardalus was from Troezene, a flute-player and a priest of the Ardalian Muses, whose worship his forefather, Ardalus of Troezene, had established.[*]

Aesop too, as it happened, having been sent by Croesus only a short time before on a mission both to Periander and to the god at Delphi, was present at the dinner, seated on a low chair next to Solon, who occupied the place just above. Aesop said [*]: A Lydian mule caught sight of his own image reflected in a river, and, suddenly struck with admiration at the beauty and great size of his body, tossed his mane and started to run like a horse, but then, recalling that his sire was an ass, he soon stopped his running, and gave up his pride and animation.

Whereupon Chilon, dropping into Laconian dialect, remarked, It’s slow ye are, and ye’re running on like the mule.

Just then Melissa came in and took her place on the couch next to Periander, but Eumetis sat during the dinner. Then Thales, addressing himself to me (my place was just above that of Bias), said,Diocles, why do you not tell Bias at once that our guest from Naucratis has again come to him with a king’s problems, so that he may hear them stated while he is sober and circumspect?

Hear that! said Bias; this man has been trying for a long time to terrify me with such adjurations; but I know that Dionysus, besides being clever in other ways, is called the solver by virtue of wisdom, so I have no fears that if I become [*]

filled with his spirit [*] I shall compete with less courage.

In such repartee as this did those men indulge while dining; but to me, as I was noticing that the dinner was plainer than usual, there came the thought that the entertainment and invitation of wise and good men involves no expense, but rather curtails expense, since it does away with over-elaborate viands and imported perfumes and sweetmeats and the serving of costly wines, all of which were in fairly free use every day with Periander in his royal position and wealth and circumstance. But on this occasion he tried to make an impression on the men by simplicity and restraint in expenditure. Nor was this limited to these other matters, but he also made his wife put aside and out of sight her usual elaborate attire, and present herself inexpensively and modestly attired.

After the tables had been cleared away, and garlands distributed by Melissa, and we had poured libations, and the flute-girl, after playing a brief accompaniment for our libations, had withdrawn, then Ardalus, addressing Anacharsis, inquired if there were flute-girls among the Scythians.

He answered on the spur of the moment, No, nor grape-vines either,

When Ardalus again said,But the Scythians must have gods, he replied, Certainly, they have gods who understand the language of men; they are not like the Greeks, who, although they think they converse better than the Scythians, yet believe that the gods have more pleasure in listening to the sounds produced by bits of bone and wood.

Thereupon Aesop said, I would have you know,

my friend, that the modern flute-makers have given up the use of bones from fawns, and use bones from asses, asserting that the latter have a better sound. This fact underlies the riddle [*] which Cleobulina made in regard to the Phrygian flute: Full on my ear with a horn-bearing shin did a dead donkey smite me. So we may well be astonished that the ass, which otherwise is most gross and unmelodious, yet provides us with a bone which is most fine and melodious.

That, without question, said Neiloxenus, is the reason for the complaint which the people of Busiris make against us of Naucratis; for we are already using asses’ bones for our flutes. But for them even to hear a trumpet is a sin, because they think it sounds like the bray of an ass; and you know, of course, that an ass is treated with contumely by the Egyptians on account of Typhon. [*]