Gryn. Our teacher said that he knew indeed the cause, yet he was not willing to explain it, because it would be unseemly. Don’t seek, therefore, to know, for it does not become a well-brought-up youth to inquire into disgraceful matters.
Vel. The Greeks named the finger next to the smallest, δακτυλικόν, i.e. to say, the ring-finger.
Gryn. Clearly so, but on the left, not the right hand, because on it, formerly, they were accustomed to wear rings.
Vel. For what reason?
Gryn. They say that a vein stretches from the heart to it. If the finger is encircled by a ring it is as if the heart itself is crowned. The knots on the fingers are called knuckles, and this word is used for a knock of the fist. Between the knots are joints and these are called by the general term, joints (artus) and knots (articuli). It has been handed down to memory, that Tiberius Caesar had such hard knots that he could bore through a fresh apple with his fingers.
Vel. Have you learned chiromantia?
Gryn. I have only heard the name. What is it?
Vel. You would have been able to interpret the lines on the hands by it.
Gryn. I have said I know nothing of it, and so it is. But if now I were to profess to know something and looked attentively on your hand, gladly you would listen willingly to me, and to a man utterly unskilled in this mode of imposture you would not altogether refuse your confidence!
Vel. How so?