Epigram I (Mair)

A stranger from Atarneus thus asked Pittacus of Mytilene, the son of Hyrrhas: “Reverend Father, two marriages invite me. One lady is my equal in wealth and blood: the other is above my station. Which is better? Come advise me whether of those I should lead to the altar.”

So he spake: and Pittacus lifted up his staff, the old man’s weapon, and said: “Lo! these yonder shall tell thee all.” Now these were boys who at a wide crossing were spinning their swift tops with blows of the lash. “Follow their tracks,” saith he. And the stranger stood by them: and they were saying: “Keep your own rank!” When the stranger heard the words, he laid to heart the saying of the boys and spared to grasp at the greater estate. Now, even as he led home the humble bride, so go thou and keep thine own rank.