The same.
I must confess that hitherto I deem'd
The Gorgons a mere fable, but just now
I stepp'd into the fish-market, and there
I saw, at once, the dread reality;
And I was petrified, indeed, so much,
That, to converse with them, I turn'd my back
For fear of being turn'd to stone; they ask'd
A price so high and so extravagant
For a poor despicable paltry fish.—Anon.
Amphis. (Book vi. § 5, p. 356.)
The general of an army is at least
A thousand times more easy of access,
And you may get an answer quicker too
Than from these cursed fishmongers: ask them
The price of their commodity, they hold
A wilful silence, and look down with shame,
Like Telephus; with reason good; for they
Are, one and all, without exception,
A set of precious scoundrels. Speak to one,
He'll measure you from top to toe, then look
Upon his fish, but still no answer give.
Turn o'er a polypus, and ask another
The price, he soon begins to swell and chafe,
And mutters out half-words between his teeth,
But nothing so distinct that you may learn
His real meaning—so many oboli;
But then the number you are still to guess,
The syllable is wilfully suppress'd,
Or left half utter'd. This you must endure,
And more, if you attend the fish-market.—Anon.
The same.
Ten thousand times more easy 'tis to gain
Admission to a haughty general's tent,
And have discourse of him, than in the market
Audience to get of a cursed fishmonger.
If you draw near and say, How much, my friend,
