Book 1
12
When I heard this I was disgusted with the wicked ingenuity of the fellow and hated the idea of the contrivance, so I gave him a punishment that fitted, his crime. “Come now, Perilaus,” said I, “if this is not mere empty boasting, show us the real nature of the invention by getting into it yourself and imitating people crying out, so that we may know whether the music you speak of ig really made on the flutes.” Perilaus complied, and when he was inside, I locked him up and had a fire kindled underneath, saying: “Take the reward you deserve for your wonderful invention, and as you are our music-master, play the first tune yourself!” So he, indeed, got his deserts by thus having the enjoyment of his own ingenuity. But I had the fellow taken out while he -was still alive and breathing, that he might not pollute the work by dying in it; then I had him thrown over a cliff to lie unburied, and after purifying the bull, sent it to you to be dedicated to the god. I also had the whole story inscribed on it—my name as the - giver; that of Perilaus, the maker; his idea; my justice; the apt punishment; the songs of the clever metal-worker and the first trial of the music.
