To a man who appeared to be of African race, and [p. 219] asserted that he could not hear Cicero when he spoke, Cicero retorted, ‘Yet you have ears that are not wanting in holes.’ 1
1 Cf. Plutarch's Life of Cicero, chap. xxvi. (873 E). The story is told also in Moralia, 631 D. The pierced ears suggest a slave.
Plutarch. Moralia. with an English Translation by. Frank Cole Babbitt. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1931. 3.
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