Page:The Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter (1922), vol. 2.djvu/78

 when she saw that I had read through the entire inditement, “and especially in this city, where the women can lure the moon from the sky! But we’ll find a cure for your trouble. Just return a diplomatic answer to my mistress and restore her self-esteem by frank courtesy for, truth to tell, she has never been herself from the minute she received that affront.” I gladly followed the maid’s advice and wrote upon the tablets as follows:

 

Dear lady, I confess that I have often given cause for offense, for I am only a man, and a young one, too, but I never committed a deadly crime until today! You have my confession of guilt, I deserve any punishment you may see fit to prescribe. I betrayed a trust, I murdered a man, I violated a temple: demand my punishment for these crimes. Should it be your pleasure to slay me I will come to you with my sword; if you are content with a flogging I will run naked Rh