And he mentions Chærephon the parasite in the passage which precedes this. But Menander mentions him likewise in the Cecryphalus: and in his Anger he says—
The man does not differ the least from Chærephon,And in his Drunkenness he says—
Whoever he may be. He once was ask'd to supper
At four o'clock, and so he early rose,
And measuring the shadow on the dial
By the moon's light, he started off and came
To eat his supper at the break of day.
That witty fellow Chærephon delay'd me,And he mentions him also in his Man-woman, or the Cretan. But Timocles in his Letters mentions him especially as having attached himself as a parasite to Demotion, who was an intemperate man—
Saying that he should make a marriage feast
The twenty-second of the month, that then
He might dine with his friends the twenty-fourth,
For that the goddess's affairs were prospering.
But Demotion was one who spared for nothing,And Antiphanes says in his Scythian—
Thinking his money never could run dry,
But dinners gave to all who liked to come.
And Chærephon, that wretchedest of men,
Treated his house as though it were his own.
And yet is not this a most shameful thing,
To take a branded slave for a parasite
For he's a perfect clown, and not in want.
Let us go now to sup, just as we are,And Timotheus says in his Puppy—
Bearing our torches and our garlands with us;
'Twas thus that Chærephon, when supperless,
Used to manœuvre for an invitation.
Let us start off to go to supper now,
'Tis one of twenty covers as he told me;
Though Chærephon perhaps may add himself.