"And am I to endure this insolence from a young stripling?" cried Bodmilcar, angrily; "am I to put up with it from a fresh-water lubber, who will cry like a baby at the first gust of wind, and implore us to put him on shore again? He has lived among women and scribblers till he has no more pluck in him than a garden-tortoise."
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"I confess," rejoined Hanno, sarcastically, "that I have not had your experience; I have not had the advantage of being pounced upon by the Chaldeans, or of being thrashed by my own slaves. But let me say, I am twenty, and that I hope the first time you find me funking the sea, you will pitch me overboard like an old sandal. Anyhow, I have had a voyage as far as Chittim;[18] I have been amongst the Ionians, and can speak their language ten times better than any one among you."
"Talk to me about the Ionians," shouted Bodmilcar in a fury, "and I will break every bone in your precious skin."
And, as he spoke, he laid his hand upon his knife; but Hanno, without flinching for a moment, caught up a large pitcher that was standing on the table.
"Steady, steady!" interposed Himilco, "or you will be spilling all the nectar;"[19] and whilst I laid a firm grasp upon Bodmilcar's arm, he rescued the pitcher, and deposited it safely in the corner of the room.
Then addressing myself to the two excited combatants, I said: "Now then, I cannot permit this altercation; you are both under my orders, and you must both submit; conduct yourselves amicably, or it shall be the worse for him that disturbs the peace. But what is the meaning of this chatter about the Ionians?"
Hanno held out his hand to me, in token of submission, expressed his regret for having given offence to Bodmilcar, and assured me that he had only spoken in jest.