Toxaris It is all very well that you spur me on to speak! Don't you care whether you lose your tongue by defeat in the contest? But I will begin directly without any of your phrase-making; that is not our way in Scythia, particularly when the deeds speak louder than the words that tell of them. You need not expect me to follow you in elaborating the praises of a hero who married a plain wife without a dowry, or another who gave two thousand dollars as a wedding-present to a friend's daughter, or even one who offered himself for imprisonment with the certainty of a speedy release. For all these are trifles, and not one of them calls for exertion or courage.
But I will tell you of many a murder and war and death for the sake of a friend, to show that it is childish to compare your case with ours in Scythia. Still, your feeling is reasonable enough, and it is natural that you should eulogize these small matters, for you have no great occasions for displaying friendship, sunk in peace as you are, just as calm weather furnishes no opportunity to learn a pilot's quality. You need a storm for that. But with us one war follows on the heels of another, and we are either riding against some one else, or retiring before invaders, or falling to and fighting about pasturage or booty. In these emergencies, above all others, a man needs stanch friends. Accordingly, we cement friendships in the most enduring way, deeming them our only invincible weapons.
