E'en while he speaks, his head rolls in the dust.1Whereas if he could but have held his peace and mastered his tongue for a little while, till the king, as afterwards he did, had recovered his good fortune and grandeur, he had been doubtless better rewarded for his silence than he was for his hospitality. And yet this poor man had some colorable excuse for letting his tongue at liberty; that is to say, his hopes, and the kindness he had done the king.
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Truly therefore was it said by Philippides the comedian, who being courteously and familiarly asked by King
Lysimachus, what he should bestow upon him of all the
treasure that he had, made answer, Any thing, O King, but
your secrets.
But there is another vice no less mischievous that attends
garrulity, called Curiosity. For there are a sort of people
that desire to hear a great deal of news, that they may
have matter enough to tattle abroad; and these are the
most diligent in the world to pry and dive into the secrets
of others, that they may enlarge and aggravate their own
loquacity with new stories and fooleries. And then they
are like children, that neither can endure to hold the ice in
their hands nor will let it go ; or rather they may be said
to lodge other men's secrets in their bosoms, like so many
serpents, which they are not able to keep there long, because they eat their way through. It is said that the fish
called the sea-needle and vipers rive asunder and burst
themselves when they bring forth; in like manner, secrets,
[p. 237]
dropping from the mouths of those that cannot contain
them, destroy and overthrow the revealers. Seleucus Callinicus, having lost his whole army in a battle fought with
the Galatians, threw off his royal diadem, and flew away
full speed on a horse with three or four attendants, wandering through by-roads and deserts, till at last he began to
faint for want of food. At length coming to a certain
countryman's house, and finding the owner himself within,
he asked him for a little bread and water; which the
countryman not only readily fetched him, but what else his
ground would afford he very liberally and plentifully set
before the king and his companions, making them all as
heartily welcome as it was possible for him to do. At
length, in the midst of their cheer, he knew the king's
face. This overjoyed the man to such a degree,—that he
should have the happiness to relieve the king in his necessity,—that he was not able to contain himself or dissemble his knowledge of the king; but after he had rode a
little way with him and came to take his leave; Farewell,
King Seleucus, said the poor man. But then the king,
stretching forth his right hand and pulling his host to his
breast, as if he had intended to kiss him, nodded to one
of his followers to strike off the countryman's head with
his sword.
1 Il. X. 457.
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