And in his Murdered Woman he says—

I Mars invoke, and mighty Victory,
To favour this my expedition.
I also call on Chærephon—but then
He's sure to come, e'en if I call him not.

And Machon the comic writer says—

Once Chærephon a lengthen'd journey took
Out of the city to a wedding feast,
And on his way met Diphilus the poet,
Who greeted him—"Take my advice, O Chærephon,
And fasten four stout nails to your two cheeks;
Lest, while you shake your head in your long journey,
You should put both your jaws quite out of joint.

And in another place he says—

Chærephon once was purchasing some meat,
And when the butcher was by chance, he says,
Cutting him out a joint with too much bone,
He said, O butcher, don't weigh me that bone.
Says he, The meat is sweet, indeed men say
The meat is always sweetest near the bone.
But Chærephon replied, It may be sweet,
But still it weighs much heavier than I like.

And Callimachus attributes to Chærephon a certain treatise, in the list which he gives, entitled, A Catalogue of all sorts of Things. And he writes thus:—"Those who have written about feasts:—Chærephon in his Cyrebion;" and then he quotes the first sentence—"Since you have often written to me;" and says that the work consisted of three hundred and seventy-five lines. And that Cyrebion was a parasite has been already mentioned.

44. Machon also mentions Archephon the parasite, and says—

There was a parasite named Archephon,
Who, having sail'd from Attica to Egypt,
Was ask'd by Ptolemy the king to supper.
Then many kinds of fish which cling to rocks
Were served up, genuine crabs, and dainty limpets;
And last of all appear'd a large round dish
With three boil'd tench of mighty size, at which
The guests all marvell'd; and this Archephon
Ate of the char, and mackerel, and mullets,

[[384]] Till he could eat no longer; when he never
Had tasted anything before more tender
Than sprats and worthless smelts from the Phalerum;
But from the tench he carefully abstain'd.
And this did seem a most amazing thing,
So that the king inquired of Alcenor,
Whether the man had overlook'd the tench.
The hunchback said; No, quite the contrary,
He was the first to see them, Ptolemy,
But still he will not touch them, for this fish
Is one he holds in awe; and he's afraid
And thinks it quite against his country's rules
That he, while bringing nothing to the feast,
Should dare to eat a fish which has a vote.