Xenophon's Symposium, cont.

Those more remote dined in silence, as though ordered to do so by a superior.

Phillipos the fool knocked on the door, and he told the doorman to announce who he was and that as for food he had all sorts--of an appetite for someone else's, and that his slave, he continued, was bent over with his burden--an empty stomach, and no breakfast, either.

Kallias, hearing this, said, "At any rate, gentlemen, to refuse him a roof would be shameful; so let him in." And he gazed at Autolycos, clearly to see what he thought of this pleasantry.

A short bit this time, since I'm a little lazier than usual. Phillipos will be sketched out a bit more in later paragraphs. The word I've translated as "fool" is literally "laugh-maker", and I considered "jester" or "comedian". But "jester" makes me imagine him in a floppy hat with bells, and "comedian" connects him with Greek comedies, which is inappropriate. His entrance here is typical of him. We'll see in a bit how Socrates deals with a fellow like Phillipos.

Earlier attempts:
Part 2
Part 1