The Scythian or Consul (5)

“Your words,” said Toxaris, “betray little affection if you mean to come to the very doors and then go back again. Cheer up now! You won’t go away, in the way you suggest, and the city will not readily let you go: she has more charms than that to captivate the stranger. She will grip your heart so tightly that you will not remember wife or children, if you have any, any more. Now I’ll show you the quickest way of seeing the whole city of Athens and more—all Greece and the glories of the Greek nation. There is a certain wise man in Athens. He is Athenian by birth but has travelled abroad widely to Asia and Egypt and has mixed with the cream of mankind. But for all that he is not one of the rich; actually he is quite poor. You’ll see he is an old man dressed in very humble fashion. Nevertheless he is held in great honour for his wisdom and other qualities. As

a result they employ him to frame laws for the government of the city and are resolved to live in accordance with his ordinances. Make him your friend, get to know what sort of man he is, and you will find all Greece in him, and know already the sum of her glories. I could do you no greater favour than to introduce you to him.”