Chapter 17

I neither know nor care to know whether you have slaves to till your fields or whether you do so by interchange of service with your neighbours. But you know that at Oea I gave three slaves their freedom on the same day, and your advocate has cast it in my teeth together with other actions of mine of which you have given him information. And yet but a few minutes earlier he had declared that I came to Oea accompanied by no more than one slave. I challenge you to tell me how I could have made one slave into three free men. But perhaps this is one of my feats¹ of magic. Has lying made you blind, or shall I rather say that from force of habit you are incapable² of speaking the truth? ‘Apuleius,’ you say, ‘came to Oea with one slave,’ and then only a very few words later you blurt³ out, ‘Apuleius on one and the same day at Oea gave three slaves their freedom.’ Not even the assertion that I had come with three slaves and had given them all their freedom would have been credible⁴: but suppose I had done so, what reason do you have for regarding three slaves as a mark of my poverty, rather than for considering three freed men as a proof of my wealth?

You don’t know, really, Aemilianus, you don’t know how to accuse a philosopher: you reproach me for the scantiness⁵ of my household, whereas it would really have been my duty to have laid claim, however falsely, to such poverty. It would have redounded⁶ to my credit, for I know that not only philosophers of whom I boast myself a follower⁷, but also generals of the Roman people have gloried in the small number of their slaves. Have your advocates really never read that Marcus Antonius, a man who had filled the office of consul⁸, had but eight slaves in his house? That that very Carbo who obtained supreme⁹ control of Rome had fewer by one? That Manius Curius, famous beyond all men for the crowns of victory that he had won, Manius Curius who thrice led the triumphal procession through the same gate of Rome, had but two servants to attend him in camp, so that in good truth that same man who triumphed over the Sabines, the Samnites, and Pyrrhus had fewer slaves than triumphs? Marcus Cato did not wait for others to tell it of him, but himself records the fact in one of his speeches that when he set out as consul for Spain he took but three slaves from the city with him. When, however, he came to stay at a state residence, the number seemed insufficient¹⁰, and he ordered two slaves to be bought in the market to wait on him at table, so that he took five in all to Spain.

Had Pudens come across these facts in his reading, he would, I think, either have omitted this particular slander¹¹ or would have preferred to reproach me on the ground that three slaves were too large rather than too small an establishment for a philosopher.

1 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

2 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

3 blurt   

vt.突然说出，脱口说出

参考例句：

• If you can blurt out 300 sentences,you can make a living in America.如果你能脱口而出300句英语，你可以在美国工作。
• I will blurt out one passage every week.我每星期要脱口而出一篇短文！

4 credible   

adj.可信任的，可靠的

参考例句：

• The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
• Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法？

5 scantiness   

n.缺乏

参考例句：

6 redounded   

v.有助益( redound的过去式和过去分词 )；及于；报偿；报应

参考例句：

• The ill-doings of the fascist chieftain redounded upon himself. 法西斯头子干的种种坏事使他自食其果。 来自辞典例句
• His past misdeeds redounded on him. 他过去所做的坏事报应在他自己身上。 来自辞典例句

7 follower   

n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒

参考例句：

• He is a faithful follower of his home football team.他是他家乡足球队的忠实拥护者。
• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。

8 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

9 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

11 slander   

n./v.诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。
• He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。