The Ferry (21-25)

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

This is a fine, profitable voyage to-day!

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.

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

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?

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

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?

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

Probably, from the look of her dress.

Receive these people, Tisiphone-a thousand and four.

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

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

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

Why?

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.

And who are you?

Kyniskos, my good sir, of the philosophical persuasion.

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

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

No one comes.

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

How should I be a branded slave?

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

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

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?

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.

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.

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

Who may you be?

Mikyllos, the shoemaker.

Well done, Mikyllos; you are

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.

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