Toxaris; Or, Friendship (21-25)

Toxaris Were they lost, Mnesippos, or were they saved by some miracle? I am greatly alarmed about them.

Mnesippos Be comforted. They were saved, and they are in Athens at this moment, pursuing philosophy. Simylos could only tell me what he saw that night, that the one fell overboard and the other leaped after him, and that they were swimming together as far as they could be seen in the night. But the sequel I learned from Euthydikos's friends. In the first place, they came upon some of the corks and supported themselves on these, swimming with difficulty; and later, towards daybreak, they saw the companion and swam to it, and, mounted on this, they swam easily the rest of the way to Zakynthos.

After these, who are not bad specimens in my opinion, hear of a third man no whit worse than they. Eudamidas of Corinth, himself a very poor

man, had two rich friends, Aretaios of Corinth and Charixenes of Sikyon. When he died he left a will, which perhaps may seem absurd to others, but I am not at all sure that such things do to you, a man of virtue, who honor friendship, and are competing for the first prize in it. The will read: "I bequeath to Aretaios my mother to support and tend in her old age, and to Charixenes my daughter to give in marriage, with as large a dowry as he can afford,”—for he had an aged mother and a young daughter just of marriageable age -"and if, in the mean time, anything happens to either of the legatees, let the other," said the will, "take his share." When this will was read, those who knew the poverty of Eudamidas but were not aware of the friendship between him and the legatees, turned the matter to a jest, and every one of them went off laughing and saying that Aretaios and Charixenes had come into a joyful inheritance if they were to make payment to Eudamidas, and if they who were living were to leave their property to a dead man.

But the heirs to whom these things were bequeathed came as soon as they heard of it, and carried out the provisions of the will. Now, Charixenes died only five days. later, and Aretaios showed himself the best of heirs by assuming both his own share and the other's. He still supports Eudamidas's mother, and the daughter he gave in marriage not long

ago. Of his estate of five thousand dollars he gave two thousand with his own daughter and two thousand with the daughter of his friend, and deemed it right to celebrate both marriages on the same day. What do you think of Aretaios, Toxaris? Does he seem to you to furnish a bad example of friendship, inheriting such a legacy and not betraying his friend's bequest? Or shall our mature decision be to place him as one among the five ?

Toxaris He, too, is a noble man. But I admire far more the confidence which Eudamidas placed in his friends. He showed that he, too, would have done likewise for them, even if the duty had not been left him by will, and would have been the first to come as the unappointed heir of such a legacy.

Mnesippos You are right. But I will tell you of a fourth, Zenothemis, the son of Charmoleos, from Marseilles. He was pointed out to me in Italy when I was there on an embassy from our government, and he was a tall, handsome man, and apparently rich. There sat beside him in his carriage a woman who was hideous in every way. Her right side, moreover, was withered, and she had lost an eye. She was altogether deformed, a revolting scarecrow. On my expressing wonder that a man so handsome and in the prime of life could endure to have such a woman

ure. driving about with him, the man who had pointed him out told me what had necessitated the marriage, for he knew all the circumstances perfectly, being himself a native of Marseilles. He said that Menekrates, the father of the ill-favored woman, and Zenothemis were friends, and equals in riches and position. But after a while Menekrates was deprived of his estate, and at the same time disfranchised by a condemnation of the Six Hundred for proposing an unconstitutional meas- This, he said, was the penalty in Marseilles for making unconstitutional propositions. Now Menekrates was in great grief, partly because of the scandal of the condemnation, and partly because from being a rich and honored man he was now become poor, and of no reputation. But his greatest trouble was his daughter, who was already marriageable, being eighteen years old, but of so ill-favored an aspect that no one, however humbly born or poor, would have seen fit to take her without a struggle, even with all the fortune her father once possessed. She was also said to have epileptic fits at the waxing of the moon.

But Zenothemis, to whom he was pouring out these griefs, said to him, “Cheer up, Menekrates. You are not utterly destitute, nor will your daughter fail to find a bridegroom worthy of her race." So saying, he took him by the hand, led him to his house, and presented him with a share of his

great estate. Then he gave orders for a banquet, and feasted his friends and Menekrates just as if he had persuaded one of his companions to agree to marry the girl. When the banquet was over, and they had poured libations to the gods, he offered a brimming goblet to Menekrates and said: "Receive a loving-cup from your son-in-law, for this day I shall marry your daughter, Kydimache. Her dowry I took a long time ago, twenty-five thousand dollars." "Out with you!" cried Menekrates. “I hope neither you nor I is so mad as to forget your youth and beauty, and see you yoked with this unsightly, disfigured girl." But while he was still speaking the other carried off the bride and presently came back, having married her. And from that day he has held to her with great affection, and takes her everywhere with him, as you see.