Page:Key to Easy Latin Stories for beginners.djvu/26

 to earth. He set out for the infernal regions with Hermes and Athene. Then, having caught Cerberus in his hands with the greatest difficulty, he brought him with him to earth. Having performed these labours, Hercules was freed from slavery by Eurystheus.  67.Once when Aristippus was travelling to Corinth, a great storm arose. Now some one had said, ‘We sailors are afraid of nothing, but you philosophers are afraid of everything.’ Aristippus in reply said, ‘It is not wonderful, for like minds will not perish.’ A certain man had pleaded a case for the same, and had freed him from the accusation. Then he questioned Aristippus in these words: ‘What good have you derived from Socrates?’ To him the philosopher answered: ‘This is what I have derived: you have said many good things about me, and they are true.’  68.The Spartans used to sup in a public place. Several men used one table. Every month, each one used to bring corn, wine, fruit, and milk. They were compelled to sup in public for a long time. Once King Agis himself, having returned after waging war successfully, wished to sup at home with his wife. Not even then did the Ephors allow this. The king being angry on account of this, was not willing to offer the usual sacrifices after a victory, therefore they fined him in money.   69.Psammeticlius, having obtained the empire of Egypt, wished to discover the most ancient people in the world; so he used an artifice of the following kind. He gave two boys born quite lately to a slave, and said to him: ‘Do not utter any sound before them; give them milk only.’ The slave did this for two successive years. At last the boys used to call out ‘becos’ to him when opening the door. The slave, on first 