Gito perceiving how concern'd I was, spoke not a word of the woman,
but advis'd me to behave myself merrily to Eumolpus, rather than
serious. I pursu'd the counsel, and put on so pleasant a face that he
receiv'd me in drollery, without the grave stiffness of a master. He
was pleasant on the success of my amours; prais'd my meen and wit that
was so agreeable to the ladies: and "I'm no stranger," said he, "to
your love of a very beautiful lady. But now, Encolpius, that rightly
manag'd, may turn to our advantage; therefore do you personate the
lover, I'll continue the character I've begun."
Matrona inter primas honesta, Philomela nomine quae multas saepe
hereditates officio aetati extorserat, tum anus et floris extincti,
filium filiamque ingerebat orbis senibus, et per hanc successionem
artem suam perseverabat extendere. Ea ergo ad Eumolpum venit et
commendare liberos suos eius prudentiae bonitatique . . . credere se
et vota sua. Illum esse solum in toto orbe terrarum, qui praeceptis
etiam salubribus instruere iuvenes quotidie posset. Ad summam,
relinquere se pueros in domo Eumolpi, ut illum loquentem audirent:
quae sola posset hereditas iuvenibus dari. Nec aliter fecit ac
dixerat, filiamque speciosissimam cum fratre ephebo in cubiculo
reliquit simulavitque se in templum ire ad vota nuncupanda. Eumolpus,
qui tam frugi erat ut illi etiam ego puer viderer, non distulit
puellam invitare ad pigiciaca sacra.
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