VIII. Do you also find fault with the
raggedness of my dress, and the want of elegance in the disposition of
my face? for these are the points upon which I see that some persons
who are very insignificant pride themselves. Will you leave my
head alone, and not jeer at it, as the children did at
Elissæus? What followed I will not mention. And will
you leave out of your allegations my want of education, and what seems
to you the roughness and rusticity of my elocution? And where
will you put the fact that I am not full of small talk, nor a jester
popular with company, nor great hunter of the marketplace, nor given to
chatter and gossip with any chance people upon all sorts of subjects,
so as to make even conversation grievous; nor a frequenter of
Zeuxippus, that new Jerusalem; It is not certain what
is the allusion here. Some think a great Circus or Hippodrome for
chariot races; others say an institution in which were heretical
schools; others again, the great baths of Zeuxippus. nor one who strolls
from house to house flattering and stuffing himself; but for the most
part staying at home, of low spirits and with a melancholy cast of
countenance, quietly associating with myself, the genuine critic of my
actions; and perhaps worthy of imprisonment for my uselessness?
How is it that you pardon me for all this, and do not blame me for
it? How sweet and kind you are.