The Ferry (21-25)

Charon Come, pay me the ferry-charge first! -Give me yours, too. Now they have all paid. -Pay me your obol, too, Mikyllos.

Mikyllos You are joking, Charon, or else your accounts are writ in water, as they say, if you expect any obol from Mikyllos. I absolutely do not know whether an obol is four-sided or round.

Charon This is a fine, profitable voyage to-day!

Klotho Take them and conduct them, Hermes. I myself must sail to the other shore, to bring over Indopatris and Eraminthe, the Seres. They are already dead just now from fighting with each other about the boundaries of their territories.

Hermes Let us proceed, friends, or, rather, all follow me in order.

Mikyllos Goodness, how dark it is. Where now is the handsome Megillos? Or how can any one tell here whether Simmiche is more beautiful than Phryne? All things are equal and of the same complexion, and there are no such things as degrees of beauty. Even my threadbare cloak, which always used to seem hideous to me, is now just as good as the king's purple, for they are both invisible and covered by the same darkness. Kyniskos, where may you happen to be?

Kyniskos Here I am. Let us stroll on together, if agreeable to you.

Mikyllos By all means. Give me your arm. Tell me, is not this much the same sort of thing as the Eleusinian mysteries-for of course you have been initiated?

Kyniskos You are right. See, now, this person advancing with a torch, looking fiercely and

Mikyllos Probably, from the look of her dress.

Hermes Receive these people, Tisiphone-a thousand and four.

Tisiphone Indeed, Rhadamanthos here has been waiting for you a long time.

Rhadamanthos Bring them forward, Erinnys. You, Hermes, officiate as herald and summon them.

Kyniskos Rhadamanthos, in the name of your father, produce me and examine me first.

Rhadamanthos Why?

Kyniskos I have a great desire to accuse some one of the evil deeds I know he committed in his lifetime, and my testimony would not be worthy of credence unless it has first been shown what my character is and how I passed my life.

Rhadamanthos And who are you?

Kyniskos Kyniskos, my good sir, of the philosophical persuasion.

Rhadamanthos Come here and stand your trial first. Hermes, call for the accusers.

Hermes If any one accuses Kyniskos, the defendant, let him come forward.

Kyniskos No one comes.

Rhadamanthos But this is not enough, Kyniskos. Take off your clothes, so that I may judge you by your brands.

Kyniskos How should I be a branded slave?

Rhadamanthos Every evil deed that one of you commits in his life brands invisible marks on his soul.

Kyniskos Here I stand stripped, so look for these brands you talk about.

Rhadamanthos He is spotless from head to foot, except for these three or four blurred and very indistinct brands. But what is this? Here are the prints and traces of many burnings, but they have been washed out somehow, or rather cut out. What do these mean, Kyniskos, and how is it that you look spotless again?

Kyniskos I will tell you. I used to be wicked because I was ignorant, and won many a brand by this means. But as soon as I began to take to philosophy, I washed off, little by little, all the stains from my soul, by the use of this so excellent and effectual medicine.

Rhadamanthos I dismiss you to the islands of the blest, to the society of the noblest, after you have accused the despot you mention. Summon the others.

Mikyllos My case, too, Rhadamanthos, is a trifling one, and calls for a short inquiry. I am stripped for you already, so examine me.

Rhadamanthos Who may you be?

Mikyllos Mikyllos, the shoemaker.

Rhadamanthos Well done, Mikyllos; you are

Hermes Let Megapenthes, son of Lakydes, appear. Which way are you turning? Come forward. I am summoning you, the despot. Shove him out, Tisiphone, head-foremost into the middle.

Rhadamanthos But you, Kyniskos, accuse him now and expose him utterly, for the man is at hand as defendant.