Page:The Eleven Comedies (1912) Vol 2.djvu/408

398 honoured the gods and did what was right, and yet I was none the less poor and unfortunate.

I know it but too well.

Others amassed wealth—the sacrilegious, the demagogues, the informers, indeed every sort of rascal.

I believe you.

Therefore I came to consult the oracle of the god, not on my own account, for my unfortunate life is nearing its end, but for my only son; I wanted to ask Apollo, if it was necessary for him to become a thorough knave and renounce his virtuous principles, since that seemed to me to be the only way to succeed in life.

And with what responding tones did the sacred tripod resound?

You shall know. The god ordered me in plain terms to follow the first man I should meet upon leaving the temple and to persuade him to accompany me home.

And who was the first one you met?