On one occasion he saw two Centaurs very badly painted; he said, “Which of the two is the worst?”9
He used to say that a speech, the object of which was solely to please, was a honeyed halter. He called the belly, the Charybdis of life. Having heard once that Didymon the adulterer, had been caught in the fact, he said, “He deserves to be hung by his name.”10
When the question was put to him, why gold is of a pale colour, he said, “Because it has so many people plotting against it.”
When he saw a woman in a litter, he said, “The cage is not suited to the animal.”
And seeing a runaway slave sitting on a well, he said, “My boy, take care you do not fall in.”
Another time, he saw a little boy who was a stealer of clothes from the baths, and said, “Are you going for unguents, (ἐπ’ ἀλειμμάτιον), or for other garments (ἐπ’ ἄλλ’ ἱμάτιον).”
Seeing some women hanging on olive trees, he said, “I wish every tree bore similar fruit.”
At another time, he saw a clothes stealer, and addressed him thus:—
When he was asked whether he had any girl or boy to wait on him, he said, “No.” And as his questioner asked further, “If then you die, who will bury you?” He replied, “Whoever wants my house.” Seeing a handsome youth sleeping without any protection, he nudged him, and said, “Wake up:—