Chæ. Upon my faith, this is the fact. Now, then, let your promises be made good, if you please, or if indeed the affair is a deserving one for you to exert your energies upon. The girl isn’t like our girls, whom their mothers are anxious to have with shoulders kept down, and chests well girthed,[49] that they may be slender. If one is a little inclined to plumpness, they declare that she’s training for a boxer,[50] and stint her food; although their constitutions are good, by their treatment they make them as slight as bulrushes; and so for that reason they are admired, forsooth.
Par. What sort of a girl is this one of yours?
Chæ. A new style of beauty.
Par. (ironically.) Astounding!
Chæ. Her complexion genuine,[51] her flesh firm and full of juiciness.[52]
Par. Her age?
Chæ. Her age? Sixteen.
Par. The very flower of youth.[53]
Chæ. Do you make it your care to obtain her for me either by force, stealth, or entreaty; so that I only gain her, it matters not how to me.
Par. Well, but to whom does the damsel belong?