Far from being ashamed
of his marriage, he seems to take pride in it,
showing that he despises bodily charms or blemishes and wealth and public opinion, but regards
only his friend Menekrates, who, he thinks, is
none the worse in respect of friendship because
of the condemnation of the Six Hundred. However, Fortune herself has rewarded his deeds in
this way this ugly woman bore him a most
beautiful child, and the other day his father took
him up and carried him into the senate, garlanded


 



with the suppliant's twigs and wrapped in black
garments to make him the more pathetic, to plead
for his grandfather. And when the baby laughed
aloud at the senators and clapped his hands, they
warmed to the child and reversed the decision
against Menekrates; and at present he is enfranchised again, thanks to the advocate he employed with the senate.
This, then, is what the man from Marseilles
said Zenothemis had done for his friend, a noble
action, as you see, and such as few Scythians
would do, who are said to be particular in choosing the most beautiful women even for their harems.