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.