374 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



" The lines, six in number, are written entirely across the waxen 



surface, leaving only a narrow margin on each side. They are as 



follows : 



OTAN nOIQN nONHPA 



XPH2TA TI2 AAAH KAI 



TON HAPONTA HAH 



2I0N MH AANGANH AI 



nAA2IS22 AYTO TINE 



TAI H nONHPIA, 



Which, in common Greek character, without accents, is 



orav TT o I a> V tt o v rj p a 



X py (T T a Tis XaX?/ AC a I 



r ov TT a p ovT a ttAt/ 



(Tiov p. t] \ av 6 avrj St 



TrXao-tco? avru) yive ( 



rat T] TT ovrj p la . 



" I brought the writing home in this shape, and whiled away some 

 of the hours of a long National Hotel illness with a critical examina- 

 tion of the documents. 



" On reading the passage, it becomes at once obvious that it has a 

 rhythmical iambic beat, although the verses are not indicated by the 

 way of writing, the reason being that the teacher wished to fill up the 

 whole space with his copy. On further examination, they prove to 

 be three iambic trimeters, constructed with the license of the comic 

 senarius. It is necessary only to change the order of two words, 

 SiTrXao-i'cBs and aur<5, in order to make the second foot in the third line 

 correct. The passage will thus stand, adding breathings and accents : 



"Orav TvoiSiv irovrjpa, ^^pjjo-Tci tis Xakjj 

 Kui Tou Trapovra ttXtjctIov pr] \av6dptj 

 AvTw bnrXaalcos yiver fj TvovTjpia. 



" These trimeters may be literally translated as follows : 



When, doing ill, a man prates virtuous words, 

 Nor hides the secret from the stander-by, 

 Twofold to him becomes the wickedness. 



" The style of these lines, and the peculiar turn of thought, remind 

 one at once of the Fragments of Menander's comedies, several hun- 

 dred of which have been preserved. The neatness of the expression, 

 the subtile satire, and the elegance and spirit of the epigrammatic 



