Demonax (41-45)

When he was taking a bath and hesitated to enter the steaming water, a man reproached him with cowardice. “Tell me,’ said he, “was my country at stake in the matter?”

When someone asked him: “What do you think it is like in Hades?” he replied: “Wait a bit, and I'll send you word from there!”

A vile poet named Admetus told him that he had written an epitaph in a single line and had given instructions in his will to have it carved on his tomb- . stone. I may as well quote it exactly:

Earth, in thy bosom receive Admetus’s husk; he’s a god now!

A man saw on the legs of Demonax a discoloration of the sort that is natural to old people, and enquired:

“What’s that, Demonax?”’ With a smile he said: “The ferryman’s toothmark!”