Pol. Why did Varro say that the number of guests ought not to exceed the number of the Muses, when the number of the Muses is not settled? For some put the number at three; others six; others nine.
Crit. He spoke as if it were established that there were nine, and so it was commonly accepted. Whence Diogenes made his joke at the expense of the schoolmaster, who had only a small number of scholars in the school, whilst he had the Muses painted on the walls. The master, said he, has many scholars, if you reckon in the Muses (σὺν ταῖς μοῦσαις).
Dem. But is it true that the Persians introduced into Greece the fruit which they regarded as so deadly as to be a pestilence to those against whom they were waging war?
Crit. So I have heard.
Dem. How wonderful is the variety of products in the different nature of soils!
Crit. India sends ivory, says Vergil,[74] the effeminate Sabaeans their frankincense. Oh! look at those Persian quinces!
Sim. This is a new kind of grafting which the ancients did not know of. Reach me the bowl with the hard-skinned figs, which are, as you know, early ripe.
Scop. Enough of the fruits! Let us be filled with more healthful foods of the body.
Crit. What is, then, healthier?