Ἃπερ πάρεστι καὶ πέφυχ’ ἡμᾶς τρέφειν·
Ὧν οὐκ ἀπαρκεῖ πλησμονή· τρυφῇ γέ τοι
Ἄλλων ἐδεστῶν μηχανὰς θηρεύομεν.”
Which may be translated:—
“Since what need mortals, save twain things alone,
Crush’d grain (heaven’s gift), and streaming water-draught?
Food nigh at hand, and nature’s aliment—
Of which no glut contents us. Pampered taste
Hunts out device of other eatables.”
(Fragment of lost drama of Euripides, preserved in Athenæus iv. and in Gellius vii.)