When I behold a general looking stern,
I think him wrong, but do not greatly wonder,
That one in high command should think himself
Above the common herd. But when I see
The fishmongers, of all tribes far the worst,
Bending their sulky eyes down to the ground,
And lifting up their eyebrows to their foreheads,
I am disgusted. And if you should ask,
"Tell me, I pray you, what's this pair of mullets?"
"Tenpence." "Oh, that's too much; you'll eightpence take?"
"Yes, if you'll be content with half the pair."
"Come, eightpence; that is plenty." "I will not
Take half a farthing less: don't waste my time."
Is it not bitter to endure such insolence?

6. And Diphilus says in his Busybody—

I used to think the race of fishmongers
Was only insolent in Attica;
But now I see that like wild beasts they are
Savage by nature, everywhere the same.
But here is one who goes beyond his fellows,
Nourishing flowing hair, which he doth call
Devoted to his god—though that is not the reason,
But he doth use it as a veil to hide
The brand which marks his forehead. Should you ask him,
What is this pike's price? he will tell you "tenpence;"
Not say what pence he means; then if you give him
The money, he will claim Ægina's coinage;
While if you ask for change, he'll give you Attic.
And thus he makes a profit on both sides.

And Xenarchus says in his Purple—

[[357]] Poets are nonsense; for they never say
A single thing that's new. But all they do
Is to clothe old ideas in language new,
Turning the same things o'er and o'er again,
And upside down. But as to fishmongers,
They're an inventive race, and yield to none
In shameless conduct. For as modern laws
Forbid them now to water their stale fish,
Some fellow, hated by the gods, beholding
His fish quite dry, picks with his mates a quarrel,
And blows are interchanged. Then when one thinks
He's had enough, he falls, and seems to faint,
And lies like any corpse among his baskets.
Some one calls out for water; and his partner
Catches a pail, and throws it o'er his friend
So as to sprinkle all his fish, and make
The world believe them newly caught and fresh.

7. And that they often do sell fish which is dead and stinking is proved by what Antiphanes says in his Adulterers, as follows—

There's not on earth a more unlucky beast
Than a poor fish, for whom 'tis not enough
To die when caught, that they may find at once
A grave in human stomachs; but what's worse,
They fall into the hands of odious fishmongers,
And rot and lie upon their stalls for days;
And if they meet with some blind purchaser,
He scarce can carry them when dead away;
But throws them out of doors, and thinks that he
Has through his nose had taste enough of them.

And in his Friend of the Thebans he says—

Is it not quite a shame, that if a man
Has fresh-caught fish to sell, he will not speak
To any customer without a frown
Upon his face, and language insolent?
And if his fish are stale, he jokes and laughs—
While his behaviour should the contrary be:
The first might laugh, the latter should be shamed.

And that they sell their fish very dear we are told by Alexis in his Pylæan Women—