Very often, then, as I have said, when such a dessert as this is set before us, some one of the guests who were present would say—
Certainly, second thoughts are much the best;as Euripides says in his Cretan Women: and, as Eubulus said in his Rich Woman—
For what now can the table want? or what
Is there with which it is not amply loaded?
'Tis full of fish fresh from the sea, besides
Here's tender veal, and dainty dishes of goose,
Tartlets, and cheesecakes steep'd most thoroughly
In the rich honey of the golden bee;
And in the same way everything is soldAccordingly, when Pontianus was about to say something about each of the dishes of the second course,—We will not, said Ulpian, hear you discuss these things until you have spoken about the sweetmeats (ἐπιδορπίσματα). And Pontianus replied:—Cratinus says that Philippides has given this name to the τραγήματα, in his Miser, where he says—
Together at Athens; figs and constables,
Grapes, turnips, pears and apples, witnesses,
Roses and medlars, cheesecakes, honeycombs,
Vetches and law-suits; bee-strings of all kinds,
And myrtle-berries, and lots for offices,
Hyacinths, and lambs, and hour-glasses too,
And laws and prosecutions.
Cheesecakes, ἐπιδορπίσματα, and eggs,And Diphilus, in his Telesias, says—
And sesame; and were I to endeavour
To count up every dish, the day would fail me.
τράγημα, myrtle-berries, cheesecakes too,And Sophilus, in his Deposit, says—
And almonds; so that with the greatest pleasure
I eat the second course (ἐπιδορπίζομαι).
'Tis always pleasant supping with the Greeks;And Plato, in his Atlanticus, calls these sweetmeats μεταδόρπια; saying—“And at that time the earth used to produce all sorts of sweet-smelling things for its inhabitants; and a great [p. 1024] deal of cultivated fruit, and a great variety of nuts; and all the μεταδόρπια which give pleasure when eaten.”
They manage well; with them no one cries out—
Here, bring a stronger draught; for I must feast
With the Tanagrian; that there, lying down,
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