Page:The Odyssey of Homer, with the Hymns, Epigrams, and Battle of the Frogs and Mice (Buckley 1853).djvu/13

Rh ing married, engaged Critheïs to manage his household, and spin the flax he received as the price of his scholastic labours. She acquitted herself of the task so satisfactorily, and conducted herself so modestly, that she won his esteem. He proposed to marry her, and, as an inducement to it, promised to adopt her son, intimating that the boy, carefully educated and instructed, would become a clever man; for he perceived in him a thoughtful and studious disposition. Critheïs, moved by these solicitations, consented to become his wife.

Care and an excellent education seconding the happy talents with which nature had endowed him, Melesigenes soon surpassed his schoolfellows in every attainment, and when older, he became as wise as his instructor. Phemius died, leaving him heir to his property; his mother did not long survive her husband. Melesigenes, now his own master, taught in the school of Phemius, where every one applauded him. He excited the admiration, not only of the inhabitants of Smyrna, but also of the numerous strangers who resorted to that port on account of the trade carried on there, particularly in the exportation of corn, much of which came from the environs of the town. These, when their business was finished, frequented his school in great numbers.

Among these strangers, was one whose name was Mentes. He had come from the island of Leucadia to buy corn; the vessel in which he had arrived was his own; he also was a lettered man, and well educated for those times.