17–18
Micyllus
Well, and Achilles: was he so much better than other people, or is that all stuff and nonsense?
Cock
Ah, I never came across Achilles; I am not very strong on the Greeks; I was on the other side, of course. ‘There is one thing, though: I made pretty short work of his friend Patroclus—ran him clean through with my spear.
Micyllus
After which Menelaus settled you with still greater facility. Well, that will do for ew And when you were Pythagoras?
Cock
When I was Pythagoras, I was—not to deceive you— a sophist; that is the long and short of it. At the same time, I was not uncultured, not unversed in polite learning. I travelled in Egypt, cultivated the acquaintance of the priests, and learnt wisdom from their mouths; I penetrated into their temples and mastered the sacred books of Orus and Isis; finally, I took ship to Italy, where I made such an impression on the Greeks that they reckoned me among the Gods.
Micyllus
I have heard all about that; and also how you were supposed to have risen from the dead, and how you had a golden thigh, and favoured the public with a sight of it on occasion. But what put it into your head to make that law about meat and beans?
Cock
Ah, don’t ask me that, Micyllus.
Cock
I am ashamed to answer you.
5
Micyllus
Come, out with it! I am your friend and fellow lodger; we will drop the ‘master’ now.
