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the youth has devoured most of the dried figs and I do not know how he has gulped down the locusts—and Trygias was gaping—and after being sated, he carries some portion home. Henceforth, let Kleinias be gone from my fields; for it is more preferable to endure distant evils than to nourish a hidden enemy at home.

15 Atalanta to Corinna In the palaestra I have seen Augeias, Corinna; and neither speech could describe the sight, nor could the hands of a painter imitate it. For the youth was strong, upright, his chest hairy, and his eyes like a gazelle's. His gaze was neither flushed with passion nor softer with moisture, but both manly and gentle at once. The complexion of his body was neither whitened towards the effeminate nor darkened towards the swarthy. His hair gently waved with its curliness and was like the sea turning dark blue in an hour of calm, when, having left aside the raging and barbarous surge, it enfolds the neighboring shore with a gentle stream. And his cheeks were not ruddy—for that is womanish—nor again did they darken his comeliness with pallor. His nose was very majestically turned and proved the great skill of its creator, nature. The oil, poured on, glistened like the sun and with the flashing of its gleams it adorned the palaestra like rays of light. I have been wounded, Corinna, in my soul, and I feel a sharper pain; for the female kind is ashamed to recount a passion of love.

16 Gorgias to Aristeides When borrowing you are glad, when being pressed for payment you are vexed, and meeting your creditors you are struck with fear, as if you thought you were encountering some fearful and untamed wild beasts; and you look around the crossroads and glance towards the stoas, eager to escape your creditors, just as sailors in a great surge long to reach a harbor. But you also heap evil upon evil; for by borrowing from some you pay off the debt to others, doing the very same thing as those who through fear of death hurl themselves from a cliff. Since, therefore, borrowing is a many-branched evil for men and is more grievous than the mythical Hydra with its spontaneous growths, be wary of borrowing even in the visions of your sleep; for thus you may freely look upon the rays of the sun and breathe the air above the earth very pleasantly.

17 Lophon to Pedias May Leucippus not reach ripeness of age; for the place was nurturing for us a wicked beast. A court had been convened for me and Sostratus concerning the boundaries of the small hill. But Leucippus was wholly corrupt in his mind and longed to see the court as golden; such a gold-loving passion possessed the wretched man. Sostratus, realizing this, bought the victory with gold and stuffed Leucippus's throat with gifts. The maiden Justice is corrupted, and gold weighs out victory for men. For balanced judgment has perished; for gifts are more trustworthy than what is just.

18 Erotulus to Hypsipyle Even palm-trees are lustful with a natural love, and the male desires the female, and the male bends over with love and intertwines with the foliage of its beloved. And if the female is far from the male, they take pollen from the female and attach it to the male and by this device they charm its love. If, therefore, you are not able to return to us more quickly, console my love through a painter, and on tablets let the painting provide me with a vision of your appearance; for even an image is enough to beguile those who are exceedingly in love.

19 Diogenes to Chryse I say that you are a steward of wealth, not a master of money; for such is the sentence your own ways have pronounced against you. For it is not right for unholy souls to partake of any good. Bury it in the earth, therefore, and guard the gold, thrice-wretched one; for the wealth is not yours, but is with you

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νεανίας τῶν ἰσχάδων τὰς πλείστας ἐκβέβρωκε καὶ τὰς ἀκρίδας οὐκ οἶδ' ὅπως ἐξερρόφησεν-ὁ δὲ Τρυγίας ἐκεχήνει-καὶ μοῖράν τινα μετὰ κόρον κομίζεται οἴκαδε. ἀπίτω μοι λοιπὸν τῶν ἀγρῶν ὁ Κλεινίας· τῶν γὰρ πόρρω κακῶν αἱρετώτερόν ἐστιν ἀνέχεσθαι ἢ πολέμιον οἴκαδε τρέφειν κρυπτόμενον.

15 Ἀταλάντη Κορίννῃ Ἐν τῇ παλαίστρᾳ τὸν Αὐγείαν τεθέαμαι, Κόριννα· τὴν δὲ θέαν οὔτε λόγος ἐκφράσειεν οὔτε ζωγράφου χεῖρες μιμήσαιντο. ἦν γὰρ ὁ νεανίας εὐσθενής, ὄρθιος, τὸ περιστέρνιον λάσιος, οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ δορκάδος αὐτῷ. τὸ δὲ βλέμμα οὔτε θυμῷ φοινισσόμενον οὔτε μαλακώτερον τῇ ὑγρότητι, ἀλλ' ἀνδρεῖον καὶ πρᾶον ὁμοῦ. ἡ δὲ χροιὰ ἡ τοῦ σώματος οὔτε πρὸς τὸ θηλυπρεπὲς ἐλευκαίνετο οὔτε πρὸς τὸ μελάντερον κατεσκίαστο. ἡ δὲ θρὶξ ἠρέμα πως ἐπεκύμαινε τῇ οὐλότητι καὶ κυανίζουσαν ὥρᾳ γαλήνης τὴν θάλατταν εἰκονίζετο, ὅτε καὶ τὴν γείτονα χέρσον ἁπαλῷ περιπτύσσεται ῥείθρῳ τὸ μανιῶδες τοῦ κλύδωνος καὶ βάρβαρον παρεάσασα. αἱ δὲ παρειαὶ οὔτε κατέρυθροι-γυναικῶδες γάρ-οὔτε πάλιν ὠχρότητι τὴν εὐπρέπειαν ἐπεστύγναζον. ἡ δὲ ῥὶν λίαν σεμνῶς ἐτετόρνευτο καὶ πολλὴν τῆς δημιουργοῦ φύσεως τὴν ἐπιστήμην ἀπήλεγχε. τὸ δὲ ἔλαιον ἐπιχεόμενον ἡλιοειδῶς περιήστραπτε καὶ ταῖς μαρμαρυγαῖς τῶν ἐκλάμψεων τὴν παλαίστραν ἀκτίνων δίκην ἠγλάιζε. πέπονθα, Κόριννα, τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ δριμυτέρας τῆς ἀλγηδόνος αἰσθάνομαι· ἐρωτικὸν γὰρ διηγήσασθαι πάθος τὸ γυναικεῖον φῦλον αἰσχύνεται.

16 Γοργίας Ἀριστείδῃ ∆ανειζόμενος γέγηθας, εἰσπραττόμενος ἀνιᾷ, καὶ συναντῶν τοῖς δανεισταῖς καταπλήττῃ τῷ φόβῳ, ὥσπερ θηρίοις τισὶ φοβεροῖς καὶ ἀνημέροις ἐντυγχάνειν δοκῶν· καὶ περισκοπεῖς τὰς τριόδους καὶ πρὸς τὰς στοὰς ἀφορᾷς τοὺς δανειστὰς δραπετεύειν γλιχόμενος, ὥσπερ οἱ ναυτιλλόμενοι ἐν μεγάλῳ τῷ κλύδωνι λιμένος τυγχάνειν ὀρέγονται. ἀλλὰ καὶ κακῷ τὸ κακὸν ἐπινέμεις· δανειζόμενος γὰρ παρ' ἄλλων ἄλλοις ἀποδίδως τὸ ὄφλημα, ταὐτόν τι ποιῶν τοῖς διὰ φόβον θανάτου κατακρημνίζουσιν ἑαυτούς. ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὸ δανείζεσθαι πολυσχιδές τι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ἐστὶ κακὸν καὶ τῆς μυθικῆς ὕδρας τοῖς αὐτομάτοις γεννήμασίν ἐστι χαλεπώτερον, καὶ ἐν ταῖς καθ' ὕπνον φαντασίαις εὐλαβοῦ τὸ δανείζεσθαι· οὕτω γὰρ ἐλευθέρως τὰς ἡλιακὰς ἀκτῖνας προσβλέψειας καὶ τὸν ὑπὲρ γῆς ἀέρα λίαν προσηνῶς ἀναπνεύσειας.

17 Λόφων Πεδιάδι Μὴ ἵκοιτο ὥρας ὁ Λεύκιππος· κακὸν γὰρ ἡμῖν ἔτρεφε τὸ χωρίον θηρίον. περὶ τῶν ὅρων τοῦ λοφιδίου ἐμοὶ καὶ Σωστράτῳ συνεκεκρότητο δικαστήριον. ὁ δὲ Λεύκιππος ὅλος τὰς φρένας διέφθαρτο καὶ χρυσοῦν τὸ δικαστήριον θεάσασθαι ὠρέγετο· τοιοῦτον φιλόχρυσον πάθος κατεῖχε τὸν δύστηνον. τοῦτο καὶ Σώστρατος ἐπιγνοὺς χρυσῷ τὴν νίκην ὠνήσατο καὶ τὸν λαιμὸν τοῖς δώροις τοῦ Λευκίππου ἐπέβυσεν. ἡ παρθένος ∆ίκη διέφθαρται, καὶ χρυσὸς τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τὸ νικᾶν ταλαντεύεται. ἡ γὰρ ἰσόρροπος κρίσις ἀπόλωλε· δῶρα γὰρ μᾶλλον ἢ τὸ δίκαιον ἀξιόπιστον.

18 Ἐρωτύλος Ὑψιπύλῃ Ὀργῶσι καὶ φοίνικες ἔρωτι φυσικῷ, καὶ τοῦ θήλεος τὸ ἄρρεν ἐφίεται, καὶ περικυρτοῦται ὁ ἄρρην τῷ ἔρωτι καὶ τῇ κόμῃ τῆς ἐρωμένης προσπλέκεται. εἰ δὲ καὶ πόρρω τὸ θῆλυ τοῦ ἄρρενος ἔνεστι, ψῆνας ἐκ τῆς θηλείας ἀράμενοι τῷ ἄρρενι περιάπτουσι καὶ σοφίσματι ψυχαγωγοῦσι τούτου τὸν ἔρωτα. εἰ τοίνυν ἐπανήκειν θᾶττον οὐχ οἵα τε εἶ πρὸς ἡμᾶς, παρηγόρει μοι διὰ ζωγράφου τὸν ἔρωτα, καὶ πίναξιν ἡ γραφὴ φαντασίαν τῆς σῆς παρεχέτω μοι θέας· ἱκανὴ γὰρ καὶ δόκησις τοὺς ἄγαν ἐρῶντας σοφίσασθαι.

19 ∆ιογένης Χρύσῃ Πλούτου σε ταμίαν, οὐ δεσπότην χρημάτων εἶναί φημι· τοιαύτην γὰρ τὴν καταδίκην οἱ σοὶ κατὰ σοῦ προηνέγκαντο τρόποι. ἀγαθοῦ γὰρ μετέχειν τινὸς τὰς ἀνοσίους οὐ θέμις ψυχάς. κατόρυττε τοίνυν τὴν γῆν καὶ τὸν χρυσὸν περιφρούρει, τρισάθλιε· οὐ γὰρ σός, ἀλλὰ παρὰ σοὶ ὁ πλοῦτος εἶναι