33. But some one perhaps wishes to have
grandchildren, and to be called grandfather. In the first place,
such a one gives up what is his own, while seeking what is
another’s, and is already losing what is certain, while hoping to
gain what is uncertain; he gives away his own riches, and still more is
asked for; if he does not pay the dowry, it is exacted; if he lives
long, he becomes a burden. This is to buy a son-in-law, not to
gain one who would sell a sight of their daughter to her parents.
Was she borne so long in her mother’s womb in order that she
might pass under the power of another? And so the parents take
the charge of setting off their virgin that she may so be the sooner
removed from them.