[13]
For sooner will men hold fire in their mouths than
keep a secret. Whatever you let escape you in your hall flows forth and beats at
city walls in sudden rumours. Nor is the breach of faith the end. The work of
betrayal issues forth with increase, and strives[p. 351] to add weight to
the report. So was it that the greedy slave, who feared to unlock his knowledge, dug
in the ground and betrayed the secret of the king's hidden ears. For the earth
brought forth sounds, and the whispering reeds sang how Midas was even such an one
as the tell-tale had revealed.
Petronius Arbiter. Petronius. Michael Heseltine. London. William Heinemann. 1913.
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