Περὶ τοῦ Παρασίτου ὅτι Τέχνη ἡ Παρασιτική

Bölümler

1 1–2 3–4 4–5 5–8 8–9 10 11–12 12 13 14–18 19–22 23–26 27–28 29–31 31–34 35–39 40–41 42 42–43 43–44 44–45 45 46–47 47–48 49–50 51 51 52 53–54 55 56–57 58–59 60–61

İngilizce İngilizce Yunanca

1–2

Tychiades No, no; I will not be put off like that.

Simon Well, I am afraid my profession would be rather a shock to you.

Tychiades I like shocks.

Simon Well, I will tell you some day. 20

Tychiades Now, I say; or else I shall know you are ashamed of it.

Simon Well, then, I sponge.

Tychiades Why, what sane man would call sponging a profession?

Simon I, for one. And if you think I am not sane, put down my innocence of other professions to insanity, and let that be my sufficient excuse. My lady Insanity, they say, is unkind to her votaries in most respects; but at least she excuses their offences, which she makes herself responsible for, like a schoolmaster or tutor.

Tychiades So sponging is an art, eh?

Simon It is; and I profess it.

Tychiades So you are a sponger? 5

Simon What an awful reproach! Tyé, What! you do not blush to call yourself a sponger?

Simon On the contrary, I should be ashamed of not calling myself so.

Tychiades And when we want to distinguish you for the benefit of any one who does not know you, but has occasion to find you out, we must say ‘the sponger,’ naturally?

Simon The name will be more welcome to me than ‘statuary ” to Phidias; I am as proud of my profession as Phidias of his Zeus.

Tychiades Ha, ha, ha! Excuse me—just a particular that occurred to me. 10

Simon Namely-——?

Tychiades Think of the address of your letters—Simon the Sponger!

Simon Simon the Sponger, Dion the Philosopher. I shall like mine as well as he his.