Page:The Deipnosophists (Volume 3).djvu/407

 Slave. What? is the matter thus?

Cook.                           Yes, you Barbarian! It freed us from a beast-like, faithless life, And hateful cannibalism, and introduced us To order, and enclosed us in the world Where we now live.

Slave.          How?

Cook.                Listen, and I'll tell you. When cannibalism and many other crimes Were rife, a certain man, who was no fool, Slaughter'd a victim and then roasted it. So, when they found its flesh nicer than man's flesh, They did not eat each other any longer, But sacrificed their beasts and roasted them. And when they once had tasted of this pleasure, And a beginning had been made, they carried To greater heights the art of cookery. Hence, from remembrance of the past, men roast E'en to the present day the gods' meat-offerings Without employing salt; for in olden times It had not yet been used for such a purpose; So when their taste changed afterwards, they ate Salt also with their meat, still strictly keeping Their fathers' custom in the rites prescribed them. All which new ingenuity, and raising To greater heights the art of cookery, By means of sauces, has alone become The cause of safety unto all of us.

Slave. This fellow is a fresh Palæphatus!

Cook. Then, after this, as time was now advancing, One person introduced a season'd haggis; Another stew'd a kid right exquisitely, Or made some mince-meat, or slipp'd in a fish Disguised so quaintly that no eye observed it, Or greens, or pickled fish, or wheat, or honey. When through the pleasures that I'm now explaining, Each man was far removed from ever wishing To eat a portion of a human corpse; They all agreed to live with one another— A populace collected—towns were built— All through the cooking art, as I have shown.