Others say that poverty in itself would not frighten
or cow them.if they could get their daily bread by
working like the rest, but as things are, since their
bodies have been debilitated by old age or by illnesses,
they have resorted to this form of wage-earning,
which is the easiest. Come, then, let us see if what
they say is true and they secure their gifts easily,
without working much, or any more than the rest.
It would indeed be a godsend to get money readily


 

without toiling and moiling. As a matter of fact,
the thing cannot even be put into adequate words.
They toil and moil so much in their household positions that they need better health there and need
health more than anything else for that occupation,
since there are a thousand things every day that
fret the body and wear it down to the lowest depths
of despair. We shall speak of these at the proper
time, when we recount their other hardships. For —
the present it is enough to indicate that those
who allege this reason for selling themselves are not
telling the truth either.
 
One motive remains, which is exceedingly genuine
but not mentioned at all by them, namely, that they
plunge into these households for the sake of pleasure
and on account of their many extravagant expectations, dazzled by the wealth of gold and silver,
enraptured over the dinners and the other forms of
indulgence, and assured that they will immediately
drink gold in copious draughts, and that nobody
will stop their mouths. That is what seduces them
and makes them slaves instead of freemen—not
lack of necessaries, as they alleged, but desire for unnecessaries and envy of that abundance and luxury.
Therefore, like unsuccessful and unhappy lovers,
they fall into the hands of shrewd, experienced
minions who treat them superciliously, taking good
care that they shall always love them, but not permitting them ta enjoy the objects of their affection
even to the extent of a meagre kiss; for they know
that success will involve the dissolution of love. So
they hold that under lock and key and guard it
jealously, but otherwise they keep their lover always
hopeful, since they fear that despair may wean him

 

from his overmastering desire, and that he may grow
out of love for them. They smile upon him, then,
and make promises, and are always on the point of
being good to him, and generous, and lavish with
their attentions. Then before they know it, they
both are old, the one has passed the season for
loving, the other for yielding to love. Consequently
they have done nothing in all their life except to
hope.
 
Now to put up with everything on account of
desire for pleasure is perhaps not altogether blameworthy, even excusable, if a man likes pleasure and
makes it his aim above all else to partake of it. Yet
perhaps it is shameful and ignoble for him to sell
himself on that account; for the pleasure of freedom
is far sweeter. Nevertheless, let us grant that he
would be excusable in a measure, if he obtained it.
But to put up with many unpleasantnesses just on
account of the hope of pleasure is ridiculous in my
opinion and senseless, particularly when men see
that the discomforts are definite and patent in
advance and inevitable, while the pleasure that is
hoped for, whatever it is, has never yet come in all
the past, and what is more, is not even likely to
come in the future, if one should figure the matter
out on the basis of hard fact. The companions: of
Odysseus neglected all else because they were eating
the lotus and found it sweet, and they contemned
what was honourable because they contrasted it
with their immediate pleasure; therefore it was not
entirely unreasonable of them to forget honour while
their souls dwelt upon that sweetness. But for a
man in hunger to stand beside another who eats his
fill of lotus without giving him any, and to be chained

 

to the spot, forgetful of all that is honourable and
right, by the mere hope that he himself may get a
taste some day—Heracles! how ridiculous and in
very truth deserving of a proper Homeric thrashing! Like that bestowed upon Thersites by Odysseus (Iliad2, 199, 265). 
 
Well, the motives which attract them to these
household positions, which cause them to put themselves eagerly into the power of the rich to treat as
they will, are these or as near as may be to these,
unless one should think it worth while to mention also
those men who are impelled by the mere name of
associating with men of noble family and high social
position. There are people who think that even
this confers distinction and exalts them above the
masses, just as in my own case, were it even the
Great King, merely to associate with him and to be
seen associating with him without getting any real
benefit out of the association would not be acceptable
to me.
 
So much for their object. Let us now consider
between ourselves what they put up with before
they are received and gain their end, and what they
endure when they are fairly in the thing, and to cap
the climax, what the outcome of the drama proves to
be. For surely it cannot be said that even if all this
is unworthy, at least it is easy to get and will not
call for much trouble; that you need only wish, and
then the whole thing is accomplished for you without
any effort. No, it calls for much running hither and
thither, and for continual camping on doorsteps;
you must get up early and wait about; meanwhile
you are elbowed, you are kept locked out, you are
sometimes thought impudent and annoying, you are


 

subordinate to a door-man with a vile Syrian accent
and to a Libyan master of ceremonies, and you tip
them for remembering your name. Moreover you
must provide yourself with clothing beyond the
means at your command, to correspond with the
dignity of the man whom you are cultivating, and
choose whatever colours he likes in order that you
may not be out of harmony or in discord when he
looks at you, and you must follow him zealously, or
rather, lead the way, shoved on by the servants and
filling out a guard of honour, as it were. 
But your man does not even look at you for many
days on end. And if ever you have a rare stroke of
luck—