Book 10
32
And it is on this account that Hesiod, in his Eoæ, has said— What joys and also what exceeding pains Has Bacchus given to mortal men who drink, Indulging in excess: for to such men Wine is an insolent master, binding fast' Their feet and hands, their tongues and intellects, With chains unspeakable, unnoticeable; And tender sleep loves on their eyes to fall. And Theognis says— I come like wine, the sweetest drink of men,— I am not sober, nor yet very drunk; But he who goes to great excess in drink Is no more master of his mind or senses; Then he talks unintelligible nonsense, Which seems to sober men a shameful thing; But he, when drunk, is not ashamed of anything, E'en though at other times a modest man And gentle-minded. Mind you this, my friend, And don't indulge in drinking to excess, But rise from table ere the wine begins To take effect; nor let your appetite Reduce you to become its daily slave. But Anacharsis the philosopher, wishing to exhibit the power of the vine to the king of the Scythians, and showing him some of its branches, said that if the Greeks did not prune it every year it would by this time have reached to Scythia.
