I20 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. i 



2 As Stolo was saying this, the freedman of the 

 temple-guardian came up to us weeping, aid 

 begged us to forgive him for having kept us wait- 

 ing, and asked us to go to his ^ funeral the next d;y. 

 We all started up and cried out with one voice : 

 What? To the funeral? What funeral? What Ibs 

 happened? With tears in his eyes he told us tlat 

 his master had been stabbed with a knife by sone- 

 body, and had fallen to the ground. '^I was lot 

 able," he said, ''to notice in the crowd who it was I 

 only heard clearly a voice saying, ' I have mae a 



3 mistake.' I took him home and sent slaves to jnd 

 a doctor and bring him as soon as possible. Ad I 

 think, gentlemen, I may be pardoned for havng 

 done what I did instead of coming to you. md 

 though I couldn't prevent my old master fpm 

 breathing his last soon after, I do still think Hid \ 

 my duty." We told him he was quite right, nd 

 walking down the temple-steps went our sepaite 

 ways, feeling more sorrow for human misch^e 

 than wonder that such a thing had happenedin 

 Rome. 



^ Ei. I have kept in the translation the ambiguity of le 

 text. JSt cannot, of course, in any way refer to the speaker 



The freedman in his agitation said : * ' please come to is 

 funeral," forgetting that he had not mentioned his old masty 



'\ 



