23
What is your opinion, Toxaris, of this man Aretaeus? Has he set a bad example of friendship in accepting such legacies and not playing false to his his friend’s last will? Or shall we put him down among those definitely elected as one of the five?
23
TOXARIS Yes, he too is noble; but to me Eudamidas is far more wonderful for the confidence he had in his friends. He made it plain that he himself would have done likewise for them; indeed, he would not have hung back if it had not been set down in a will, but would have presented himself before all the rest as an heir to such bequests by intestate succession.
24
MNESIPPUS You are quite right.—As the fourth I shall tell you of Zenothemis, son of Charmolaus, of Massilia.
24
He was pointed out to me in Italy when I was there as an ambassador of my country, a handsome, tall man, and a wealthy one, it seemed. His wife sat beside him as he passed through the street on a chariot; not only was she repulsive in general, but her right side was shrivelled and the eye wanting— a hideously disfigured, unapproachable nightmare. Then, when I expressed my surprise that he, a handsome and attractive man, could endure to have such a woman riding at his side, the person who had pointed him out told me what had made the marriage obligatory. He was accurately informed about it all, for he too was a Massaliote.
