[30,30] καὶ παρακεῖσθαι δὴ τραπέζας πάντων μεστάς, σίτου τε καὶ ὀπώρας, τῆς μὲν αὐτομάτου, τῆς δὲ εἰργασμένης, ἔτι δὲ καὶ κρεῶν, τῶν μὲν ἡμέρων, τῶν δὲ ἀγρίων, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐκ θαλάττης. εἶναι δὲ τὰς τραπέζας ἔφη, πάνυ ἀγροίκως λέγων, τούς τε λειμῶνας καὶ πεδία καὶ νάπας καὶ ἀκτάς, ἐν οἷς τὰ μὲν φύεσθαι, τὰ δὲ νέμεσθαι, τὰ δὲ θηρᾶσθαι. ἄλλα δὲ ἄλλοις πλείονα παρεῖναι, πρὸς αἷς ἂν ἕκαστοι τραπέζαις κατακλιθῶσιν. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ πρὸς θαλάττῃ τυχεῖν, τοὺς δὲ πρὸς πεδίοις, τοὺς δὲ πρὸς (31) ὄρεσι. διακονεῖσθαι δὲ τὰς Ὥρας, οἷα δὴ νεωτάτας οὔσας τῶν θεῶν, εὖ μὲν ἀμπεχομένας, καλὰς δὲ ἰδεῖν, οὔτι που χρυσῷ κεκοσμημένας, ἀλλὰ παντοίων ἀνθῶν στεφάνοις. διανέμειν δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀνθῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ τἄλλα ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τῆς ἑστιάσεως, τὰ μὲν παρατιθείσας, τὰ δὲ αἰρούσας κατὰ καιρόν. γίγνεσθαι δὲ καὶ χοροὺς (32) καὶ τὴν ἄλλην εὐπάθειαν ἅπασαν. τὸν μέντοι πόνον τοῦτον, ὃν ἔχειν δοκοῦμεν ἐν γεωργίαις τε καὶ θήραις καὶ φυτείαις, εἶναι τοσοῦτον ὅσον τοῖς κατακειμένοις τὸ ἐπορέξασθαί τινος καὶ τῇ χειρὶ λαβεῖν. ὃ δὲ ἔφην, ἄλλον ἀλλαχῇ κατακεῖσθαι, τούτου καὶ ἡ κρᾶσις τῶν ἀέρων αἰτία. τοὺς γὰρ πρώτους καὶ τοὺς ὑστάτους μᾶλλον τῶν ἄλλων εἶναι τοὺς μὲν ἐν ψύχει, τοὺς δὲ ἐν ἀλέᾳ, τοὺς (33) μὲν ἐγγὺς τοῦ φωτὸς ὄντας, τοὺς δὲ πόρρω. τῇ οὖν εὐφροσύνῃ καὶ τῇ εὐωχίᾳ χρῆσθαι οὐχ ἅπαντας ὁμοίως, ἀλλ´ ἕκαστον κατὰ τὴν αὑτοῦ φύσιν. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀσώτους καὶ ἀκρατεῖς οὔτε ὁρᾶν οὐδὲν οὔτε ἀκούειν οὐδενός, ἀλλὰ ἐγκεκυφότας ἐσθίειν, ὥσπερ ἐν συφεῷ ὗς, ἔπειτα νυστάζειν. τινὰς δὲ αὐτῶν μὴ ἀρκεῖσθαι τοῖς παροῦσιν, ἀλλὰ ἐπὶ τὰ πορρωτέρω διατείνειν τὰς χεῖρας, οἷον μεσογείους (34) ὄντας ἰχθύων ὀρέγεσθαι καὶ πράγματα ἔχειν· ἄλλους δὲ ἀπλήστους τε καὶ ἀθλίους ὄντας, φοβουμένους μήποτε αὐτοῖς ἐλλίπῃ, πρὸς αὑτοὺς συνάγειν καὶ σωρεύειν ὅς´ ἂν δύνωνται. καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, ὅταν αὐτοὺς ἀπιέναι δέῃ, πορεύεσθαι μηδενὸς μετασχόντας, ἀλλὰ πάνυ ἐνδεεῖς, καταλείπειν {οἱ} δὲ ταῦτα ἑτέροις· οὐ γὰρ εἶναι φέρεσθαι μεθ´ ἑαυτῶν. τούτους μὲν οὖν καταγελᾶσθαί τε καὶ ἀσχημονεῖν.

[30,30] and tables are set beside us, loaded with everything, with bread and fruit, some of it wild and some cultivated, and with meats too, some from domestic animals, some from wild, and fish also from the sea. And these tables, the peasant said, speaking like a true rustic, are the meadows, plains, vales, and coast-land, on which some things grow, others pasture, and yet others are hunted. And different persons have different things in greater abundance according to the tables at which they have severally reclined. For some happen to have settled by the sea, others on the plains, and yet others in the mountains. And the waiters are the Seasons, as being the youngest of the gods, beautifully dressed and fair to behold, and they are adorned, not, methinks, with gold, but with garlands of all manner of flowers. And some of the flowers themselves they distribute and also attend to the viands of the banquet in general, serving some and removing others at the right time. And there is dancing and every other sort of merrymaking. Furthermore, that labour which we think we undergo in farming and hunting and the care of the vines, is no more than it is for those at a table to reach out for a thing and take it in their hand. To return now to my statement that different persons reclined in different places, the reason for that is the differences in the climate. For those at the head of the tables and those at the foot, more than of the others, are either in the cold or in the heat, because they are either near the light or far from it. (33) "Now all, so the man continued, do not enjoy the merrymaking and banqueting in the same way, but each according to his own nature. The dissolute and intemperate neither see nor hear anything, but bend over and eat, like pigs in a sty, and then nod in sleep. Again, some of them are not satisfied with what is near, but reach out their hands for the things that are farther away, as, for example, people living inland want fish and take trouble to get it; while others, who are insatiable and wretched, fearing that food will fail them, collect and pile up for themselves as much as they can, and after this, when they have to go, they depart without having a share of anything, but utterly destitute, and leave these things to others; for they cannot take them with them. Now these persons are a laughing-stock and disgrace.