"I thought you knew everything," returned the carter, in surprise.
"I do," declared Pericles; "but you have not told me what her symptoms
are."
"She refuses to eat anything," said the carter.
"Then she is not hungry," returned Pericles; "for neither man nor
beast will refuse to eat when hungry."
And the people who heard him whispered together and said,
"Surely this is a wise man, for he has told the carter what is wrong
with his mare."
After a few days the fame of Pericles' sayings came to the ears of
both Socrates and Sophocles, and they resolved to see him, for each
feared he would prove more wise than they were, knowing themselves to
be arrant humbugs. So one morning the three wise men met together
outside the hut of Pericles, and they sat themselves down upon stools,
facing each other, while a great crowd of people gathered around to
hear the words of wisdom that dropped from their lips.
But for a time all three were silent, and regarded one another
anxiously, for each feared he might betray himself.
Finally Sophocles winked his one eye at the others and said, in a
grave voice,
"The earth is flat; for, were it round, as some fools say, all the
people would slide off the surface."
Then the people, who had listened eagerly, clapped their hands
together and murmured,
"Sophocles is wisest of all.
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