Deipnosophistae

And though I could repeat to you now a great deal of nonsense which the medicine-seller talked, I forbear to do so, although I know that Epicurus, that most truthful of men, said of him in his letter about Institutions, that he devoted himself to a military life after having squandered his patrimony in gluttony; and that, turning out an indifferent soldier, he then took to selling medicines. Then, when the school of Plato was opened, he says, he changed again, and applied himself to philosophical discussions, and as he was not a man destitute of ability, by little and little he became a speculative philosopher. I know, too, that Epicurus is the only person who ever said this of him; for neither did Eubulides nor Cephisodorus venture to say anything of the kind against the Stagirite, and that, too, though they did write books against him. But in that same letter Epicurus says, that Protagoras also, who became a philosopher from having been a porter and a wood-carrier, was first promoted to be an amanuensis of Democritus; who, wondering at the admirable way in which he used to put the wood together, took him under his eye in consequence of this beginning; and then he began to teach the rudiments of learning in some village, and after that he proceeded on to the study of philosophy. And I now, O fellow feasters, after all this conversation, feel a great desire for something to eat. And when some one said that the cooks were already preparing something, and taking care that the dishes should not be served up cold, on account of the excessive length to which the

feast of words

1. For Plato teaches us that what is good,
2. Is everywhere on all occasions good;
3. Can you deny this? and that what is sweet
4. Is always sweet, here, there, and ev'rywhere.

And when they were now on the point of sitting down to eat again, Daphnus bade them stop, quoting this iambic out of the Mammacythus or Auri of Metagenes—

1. As when we're feasting anywhere,
2. Then we all talk and argue faster.

"But the sparus is harsh-tasted, tender, with no unpleasant smell, good for the stomach, diuretic, and not indigestible; but when he is fried he is indigestible. The mullet is good for the stomach, very astringent, of very firm flesh, not very digestible, apt to bind the bowels, especially when it is broiled; but when it is fried in a frying-pan, then it is heavy and indigestible; and, as a general rule, the whole tribe of mullets has the property of causing secretions of blood. The synodon and the charax are of the same kind, but the charax is the better of the two. The phagrus is found both in the river and in the sea; but that which is found in the sea is the best. The capriscus is called also the mussel; but it has a strong smell, and very hard meat, and it is more indigestible than the citharus; but its skin is very pleasant to the taste. The needle-fish, or belone, and it is also called the ablennes, is indigestible and moist, but good for the bowels. The thrissa, and those of the same kind, such as the chalcis and the eretimis, are very digestible. The cestreus is found in the sea, and in rivers, and in lakes. And this fish, says he, is also called the oxyrhynchus; but the one which is taken in the Nile is called the coracinus. And the black kind is smaller than the white, and when boiled it is not so good as when it is roasted; for when roasted it is good for

"The thynnis and the thynnus are both heavy and nutritious; but the fish which is called the Acarnanian is sweet, very exciting, very nutritious, and easily secreted. The anchovy is heavy and indigestible, and the white kind is called the cobitis; and the hepsetus, a little fish, if of the same genus.

"Of cartilaginous fish, the sea-cow is fleshy, but the shark is superior to that,—that kind, I mean, which is called the asterias. But the alopecias, or sea-fox, is in taste very like the land animal, from which circumstance, indeed, it has its name. The ray is a very delicate fish to the taste; but the stellated ray is tenderer still, and full of excellent juice; but the smooth ray is less wholesome for the stomach, and has an unpleasant smell. But the torpedo, which is hard of digestion, is in the parts below the head very tender, and good for the stomach, and, moreover, very digestible, but its other parts are not so; and the small ones are the best, especially when they are plain boiled. The rhine, which is one of th cartilaginous class, is very digestible and light; but those of the largest size are the most nutritious; and, as a general rule,

1. But if you are in love, O Cteson,
2. What is more useful than these fish I bring?
3. Ceryces, cockles, (onions too, are here,)
4. The mighty polypus, and good-sized turbot.

The pelamys also is very nutritious and heavy, it is also diuretic, and very indigestible; but when cured like the callubium, it is quite as good for the stomach, and it has a tendency to make the blood thin; and the large kind is called the synodontis. The sea-swallow, or chelidonias, is also something like the pelamys, but harder; and the chelidon is like the polypus, and emits juice which purifies the complexion, and stirs up the blood. The orcynus is a fish who delights in the mud; and the larger kind is like the chelidonias in hardness, but the lower part of its abdomen and its collar-bone are palatable and tender; but those which are called costæ, when cured and salted, are a middling fish. The xanthias has rather a strong smell, and is tenderer than the orcynus.

But Mnesitheus the Athenian, in his treatise on Eatables, says,—"The larger breed of fishes are called by some sectile, and by others sea-fish; as, for instance, the chrysophrys, the sea-grayling, and the phagrus. And these are all difficult of digestion, but when they are digested they supply a great deal of nourishment. And the whole class of scaly fish, such as the thynni, the scombri, the tunnies, the congers, and all of those kinds, are also gregarious. But those which are not seen

“But anchovies of all kinds, and membrades, and trichides, and all the other little fish which we eat backbones and all, make the digestion flatulent, and give a good deal of moist nutriment. And so, as the digestion is unequal, the flesh being digested with great rapidity, and the bones dissolving slowly, for the anchovies are very bony of themselves, the digestion of the one part hinders the digestion of the other, and so flatulence arises from the digestion, ad moisture comes from the quantity of nourishment. They are better when they are boiled, but still they have very unequal effects on the bowels. The fish which keep close to the rocks, such as tench, and scorpions, and sea-sparrows, and others of the same kind, supply a dry kind of nourishment to our bodies, but

But the places of the sea where rivers and lakes fall into it, and also those where there are large bays and gulfs of the sea, are those where all the fish are more juicy, and more full of fat. They are also more palatable when caught in those places, but less nutritious and less digestible. And on the shore where it is exposed to the open sea, and where it is unprotected, then the fishes found there are for the most part hard and thin, beaten by the continued action of the waves. But where the sea is deep close in shore and less exposed to violent winds, especially if there are any cities near, then there is the greatest number of fish, and they are equally excellent in respect of pleasantness of flavour and ease of digestion, and also in the nourishment which they afford to the body. But of sea fish those are the most indigestible and the heaviest which migrate at certain seasons from the sea to the lakes and rivers; such as the cestreus; and as a general rule that is the character of every fish which can live in both salt and fresh water. But of those which live wholly in rivers and lakes, the river fish are the best; for the water of lakes is more apt to putrefy. And, again, of river fish those are the best which are found in the most rapid rivers; and especially the trout; for those are never found except where the river is rapid and cold, and they are far superior to all other river fish in their digestible properties.

This now, my friends, is my contribution, and I have brought you the wholesomest food with which it was in my power to provide you. For, as you may read in the Parasite of Antiphanes,—

1. For I have never taken any great trouble
2. In buying fish; * *
3. * * * * *
4. * * So that others from rich banquets coming
5. Should blame the gluttonous surfeits of their friends.

1. A. And I to-day will give a feast to all of you;
2. And take you money now, and buy the supper.
3. B. Yes; for unless I've money I should hardly
4. Know how to buy discreetly. But i' the first place,
5. Tell me what food, what dishes you prefer.
6. A. All kinds of food.
7. B. But tell me separately.
8. First now, should you approve of any fish?
9. A. A fishmonger came once into the country
10. With a good basketfull of sprats and triglides,
11. And, by Jove, greatly he pleased all of us.
12. B. Well, tell me then, should you now like some fish?
13. A. Indeed I should, if they were very little.
14. For all large fish I always fancy cannibals.
15. B. What can you mean, my friend?
16. A. Why, cannibals;—
17. How can a man eat fish which eat up men!
18. B. 'Tis plain enough that it is Helen's food
19. This fellow means, just sprats and triglides.

1. A. My father, would you like to go to market
2. And buy some fish for me
3. B. What shall I buy?
4. A. Some grown up fish, my father, no small babies.
5. B. Do not you yet know all the worth of money?

And in the same poet, in his Spit-bearers, there is a very witty young man who disparages everything connected with the purchase of fish. And he speaks thus—

1. A. But while you buy, don't disregard economy,
2. For anything will do.
3. B. Just tell me how.
4. A. Don't be expensive, though not mean or stingy;
5. Whatever you may buy will be enough;
6. Some squids and cuttle-fish; and should there be
7. Some lobsters in the market, let's have one—
8. Some eels will look nice too upon the table—
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9. Especially if from the Theban lake:
10. Then let us have a cock, a tender pigeon,
11. A partridge, and a few such other things;
12. And if a hare should offer, then secure it.
13. B. Why how precise you are in your directions!
14. A. I'd need be, you are so extravagant;
15. And we are certain to have meat enough.
16. B. Has anybody sent you any present?
17. A. No, but my wife has sacrificed the calf
18. Which from Corone came, and we to-morrow
19. Shall surely sup on it.

1. A. I do entreat you, do not lecture me
2. So very fiercely; do not say so much
3. About the money; recollect I'm your uncle;
4. Be moderate, I beg.
5. B. How can I be
6. More moderate than I am?
7. A. At least be briefer,
8. And don't deceive me; use diminutives;
9. For fish say fishlings; if you want aught more,
10. Speak of your bits of dishes; and at least
11. I shall be ruin'd with a better grace.

But since, as fortune would have it so, in the before quoted lines,—my excellent Ulpian, or you too, O you sons of grammarians, just tell me what was Ephippus's meaning in what I have just repeated, when he said—

1. The calf
2. Which from Corone[*](Corone is not a woman's name, as some have fancied; the allusion is to the custom of some beggars, who, pretending to be ashamed to beg for themselves, carried about a talking jackdaw (κορώνη), and professed to be begging only for the use of the bird.) came, and we to-morrow
3. Shall surely sup on it.

1. My friends, I pray you give a handful now
2. Of barley to the jackdaw, Phœbus' daughter;
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3. Or else a plate of wheat; or else a loaf,
4. A halfpenny, or whatsoe'er you please;
5. Give, my good friends, whatever you can spare
6. To the poor jackdaw; e'en a grain of salt;
7. For willingly she feeds on anything;
8. And he who salt bestows to-day, to-morrow
9. May give some honey. Open, boy, the door;
10. Plutus has heard, and straight a serving maid
11. Brings out some figs. Gods, let that maiden be
12. For ever free from harm, and may she find
13. A wealthy husband of distinguished name:
14. And may she show unto her aged father
15. A lusty boy, and on her mother's lap
16. Place a fair girl, her daughter, to bring up
17. A happy helpmate for some lucky cousin.
18. But I, where'er my feet conduct my eyes,
19. Sing with alternate melody at the gates
20. Of him who gives, and him who rude denies.
21. At present I'll leave off, and say no more.

1. But you, my friends, who have good store at home,
2. Give something. Give, O king; give you too, housewife.
3. It is the law that all should give their hand
4. When the crow begs. And you who know this law,
5. Give what you please, and it shall be sufficient.