Nugo. Don’t you know that man there laden with nets accompanied by dogs? He wears a summer hat and soldier’s boots, and rides on the lankest of mules.
Turd. Isn’t it Mannius the verse-maker?
Nugo. Clearly it is.
Turd. Why has he made such a metamorphosis?
IX. Curius the Dicer
Nugo. From Minerva he has gone over to Diana, i.e., from a most honourable occupation to an empty and foolish labour. His father had increased his possessions by his ability in business. He thinks his father’s skill is a dishonour to himself, and turns himself to keeping horses and following the chase, having thought that not otherwise than by hunting can he acquire nobility of race. For if he were to do anything useful, he would not be held of noble family. Curius follows him to the hunt—with dice. He is a very accomplished man, a very well-known dice-player, who understands how to throw the dice in the right way for himself. At home he has for companion Tricongius.
Turd. Say rather an amphora.[34]
Grac. Or indeed a sponge.
Nugo. Better still, the driest sand of Africa.
Bamb. They say that he is always thirsty.