Not only does he injure his own kinsfolk of the alphabet, but he has already attacked the human race also; for he does not allow them to talk straight with their tongues. Indeed , jurymen—for speaking of men has suddenly put mein mind of the tongue—he has banished me from this member too, as far as in him lay, and makes glotta out of glossa. O Tau, thou very plague o’ the tongue! But I shall attack him another time and advise men of his sins against them, in trying to fetter their speech, as it were, and to mangle it. A man on seeing something pretty (καλόν) wants to call it so, but Tau interferes and makes him say something else (ταλόν), One would expect a pun here, but ταλόν is not in the dictionaries. wanting to have precedence in everything. Again, another is talking about a palm-branch (κλῆμα), but Tau, the very criminal (τλήμων), turns the palm-branch into a crime (τλῆμα). And not only does he injure ordinary people, but even the Great King, in whose honour, they say, even land and sea give place and depart from their own natures—even he is plotted against by Tau, who instead of Cyrus makes him out something of a cheese (Κῦρος—τυρός).

That is the way he injures mankind as far as their speech is concerned, but look at the material injury he has done them! Men weep and bewail their lot and curse Cadmus over and over for putting Tau into the alphabet, for they say that their tyrants, following his figure and imitating his build, have fashioned timbers in the same shape and crucify men upon them; and that it is from him that the sorry device gets its sorry name (stauros, cross). For all this do you not think that Tau deserves to die many times over? As for me, I hold that in all justice we can only punish Tau by making a T of him. Te, by crucifying him, Greek crosses being usually T-shaped. MSS. add "for the cross owes its existence to Tau, but its name to man”; see critical note.