"
"You're a clever man. I've often said so. I kept only three of my ten
oaths, and I didn't deal differently with the other gods. If the same
is the case with you, isn't that the reason, possibly, why we are now
abandoned by the gods? To be sure, I ordered Larissa to sacrifice a
whole hecatomb after my death."
"But that is Larissa's affair, whereas it was you, friend Elpidias,
who made the promises."
"That's true, that's true. But you, good Socrates, could you, godless
as you are, deal better with the gods than I who was a god-fearing
tanner?"
"My friend, I know not whether I dealt better or worse. At first I
brought offerings without having made vows. Later I offered neither
calves nor vows."
"What, not a single calf, you unfortunate man?"
"Yes, friend, if Hermes had had to live by my gifts, I am afraid he
would have grown very thin."
"I understand. You did not traffic in cattle, so you offered articles
of some other trade--probably a mina or so of what the pupils paid
you."
"You know, my friend, I didn't ask pay of my pupils, and my trade
scarcely sufficed to support me. If the gods reckoned on the sorry
remnants of my meals they miscalculated.
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