1It would take long to go further back, and it does not matter, how it came about that I, hardly an intimate of his, was dining with a man who was, as he thought, elegant and careful, but, as I thought, mean and extravagant at the same time. 2For he served certain rich dishes to himself and a few others, cheap scraps to the rest. 2Even the wine he had divided, in tiny little flasks, into three kinds, not so that there might be the power of choosing, but so that there might be no right of refusing: one for himself and for us, another for his lesser friends – for he has his friends in grades –, another for his freedmen and ours.
3The man reclining next to me noticed, and asked whether I approved. 3I said no. 3'Then what practice do you follow?' he said. 3'I serve the same to everyone; 3for I invite people to dinner, not to be marked down, and in all things I treat as equals those whom I have made equal at my table and on my couch.' 4'Even freedmen?' 4'Even them; 4for at that time I regard them as fellow guests, not as freedmen.' 4And he said: 'It costs you a great deal.' 4'Not at all.' 4'How can that be?' 4'Because, of course, my freedmen do not drink what I drink, but I drink what my freedmen drink.' 5And, by Hercules, if you restrain your gluttony, it is no burden to share with several others what you use yourself.
5That, then, must be checked, that must be reduced, as it were, to the ranks, if you would be sparing of expense, for which you would provide far more properly by your own self-restraint than by insulting others. 6Where is all this leading? 6To this: that the extravagance of certain people at table may not impose on you, a young man of the finest character, under the guise of thrift. 6It befits my love for you, whenever anything of the kind occurs, to warn you beforehand by an example of what you ought to avoid. 7Remember, then, that nothing is more to be shunned than this novel alliance of extravagance and meanness; 7for though these are most disgraceful when kept distinct and apart, they are more disgraceful joined together.
7Farewell.