From that time
forth, too, he shared his life in every way, attending
and cherishing him; for by hiring himself out to the
shipmen in the harbour from early morning until
noon, he earned a good deal of money as a stevedore.
Then, on returning from his work, he would give part
of his pay to the keeper, thus rendering him tractable
and peaceful, and the rest sufficed well enough for
the maintenance of his friend. Each afternoon he
remained with Antiphilus, keeping him in heart;
and when night overtook him, he ‘sept just in front
of the prison door, where he had made a place to lie
and had put down some leaves. 
For some time they carried on in this way, Demetrius coming in without hindrance and Antiphilus
bearing his misfortune more lightly.
 
But later, after
a certain brigand had died in the prison (by poison,
it was thought) a close guard was instituted, and not
one of those who sought admission could enter the
gaol any longer. Perplexed and distressed over this
situation, as he had no other way to be with his
comrade, he went to the governor and incriminated
himself, alleging that he had been an accomplice in
the attempt upon Anubis. 
When he had made that statement, he was haled
straight to prison, and on being brought in with
Antiphilus, he managed with difficulty, by dint of
urgent entreaties addressed to the warden, to obtain
from him one concession, at least—that of being
confined near Antiphilus and in the same set of irons.
Then indeed, more than any other time, he displayed
the affection which he had for him, neglecting his own

 

adversities (though he himself had fallen ill) but
taking care that Antiphilus should sleep as well as
possible and should suffer less distress. So they bore
their discomforts more easily by sharing them with
each other.
 
In time an accident occurred which relieved them
from further misfortune. One of the men in irons,
having somehow obtained possession of a file and
enlisted many of the prisoners in a plot, cut the chain
to which they were all attached in a row, with their
fetters strung upon it, and so set them allfree; whereupon they easily killed the guards, who were few, and
escaped together. Well, those others scattered at
once, going wherever each one of them could, and
afterwards were arrested, most of them. Demetrius
and Antiphilus, however, remained where they were,
and seized Syrus just as he was about to go. When
daylight came, as soon as the prefect of Egypt
learned what had happened, hesent men tohunt down
the others, but summoned Demetrius and his friend
and freed them from imprisonment, praising them
because they alone did not run away. 
They were not the men, however, to be content
with being released in that way. Demetrius cried
out and made a great stir, saying that grave injustice
was being done them, since it would be thought that
they were criminals, and were being released by way
of mercy or commendation because they had not run
away; and at length they forced the magistrate to
undertake an accurate investigation of the affair.
When he discovered that they were not guilty, he
commended them, expressing very great admiration
for Demetrius, and in dismissing them condoled with
them over the punishment which they had undergone

 

through their unjust imprisonment and presented
each of them with a gift out of his own pocket,
Antiphilus with ten thousand drachmas and Demetrius with twice as much.
 
Antiphilus is still in Egypt, but Demetrius left his
own twenty thousand to his friend and went away to
India, to join the Brahmans, merely saying to Antiphilus that he might fairly be held excusable for
leaving him now; for he himself would not want the
money as long as he remained what he was, able to
content himself with little, and Antiphilus would not
need a friend any longer, since his circumstances had
become easy. 
That, Toxaris, is what Greek friends are like. If
you had not previously calumniated us as priding
ourselves greatly upon words, I should have repeated
for you the very speech, a long one and a good one,
that Demetrius made in the court-room, not defending himself at all but only Antiphilus; weeping,
moreover, and imploring, and taking the whole thing
upon himself until Syrus under the lash exonerated
both of them.

 
I have told you these few instances out of a greater
number (the first that my memory supplied), of
friends that were good and true; and now, dismounting from my steed, I yield the word henceforth to
you. How you are to make out that your Scythians
are not worse, but much better than these men, will
be your own look-out, if you are at all concerned
about your right hand, for fear of having it cut off.
But you must show yourself a man of prowess, for
you would put yourself in a laughable position if,
after your very expert laudation of Orestes and

 

Pylades, you should reveal yourself a poor spokesman
on behalf of Scythia.
 TOXARIS 
Well done, Mnesippus! You are giving me
- encouragement for my speech, as if it did not matter
at all to you whether you get the worst of it in our
dispute and have your tongue docked. However, I
shall begin at once, without any display of fine words
such as you have made; for that is not a Scythian
habit, especially when the deeds speak louder than
the words. And do not expect from us anything like
what you told of when you commended a man if he
married an ugly wife without a dowry, or if he gave
money to the amount of two talents to the daughter
of 'a friend on her marriage, or even, by Zeus, if he
allowed himself to be imprisoned when it was obvious
that he would soon be released; for those are very
paltry matters, and there is nothing of greatness or
bravery in them.