COOKS.
So that e'en now, remembering former days,
They roast the entrails of their victims all
Unto the gods, and put no salt thereon,
For at the first beginning they knew not
The use of salt as seasoning; but now
They have found out its virtue, so they use it
At their own meals, but in their holy offerings
They keep their ancient customs; such as were
At first the origin of safety to us:
That love of art, and various seasoning,
Which carries to perfection the cook's skill.
B. Why here we have a new Palæphatus.
A. And after this, as time advanced, a paunch,
A well-stuff'd paunch was introduced. . . .
Then they wrapp'd up a fish, and quite conceal'd it
In herbs, and costly sauce, and groats, and honey;
And as, persuaded by these dainty joys
Which now I mention, every one gave up
His practice vile of feeding on dead men,
Men now began to live in company,
Gathering in crowds; cities were built and settled;
All owing, as I said before, to cooks.
B. Hail, friend! you are well suited to my master.
A. We cooks are now beginning our grand rites;
We're sacrificing, and libations offering,
Because the gods are most attentive to us,
Pleased that we have found out so many things,
Tending to make men live in peace and happiness.
B. Well, say no more about your piety—
A. I beg your pardon— B. But come, eat with me,
And dress with skill whate'er is in the house.
81. And Alexis, in his Caldron, shows plainly that cookery is an art practised by free-born men; for a cook is represented in that play as a citizen of no mean reputation; and those who have written cookery books, such as Heraclides and Glaucus the Locrian, say that the art of cookery is one in which it is not even every free-born man who can become eminent. And the younger Cratinus, in his play called the Giants, extols this art highly, saying—
A. Consider, now, how sweet the earth doth smell,
How fragrantly the smoke ascends to heaven:
There lives, I fancy, here within this cave
Some perfume-seller, or Sicilian cook.
B. The scent of both is equally delicious.
And Antiphanes, in his Slave hard to Sell, praises the Sicilian cooks, and says—
And at the feast, delicious cakes,
Well season'd by Sicilian art.
