Over the Wine Dark Sea

I'd make a mistake if I did it.'   Sostratos stared, Menedemos usually amused himself by giving him a hard time, not by paying him compliments. He did that so seldom, in fact, that Sostratos concluded he had to mean this one. He bowed. 'Thank you, cousin.'   'You're welcome.' Menedemos' eyes glinted. Maybe it was just the firelight, but Sostratos didn't think so. And, sure enough, his cousin went on, 'See how much you thank me when you're trying to round up the peafowl in a hurry because it's starting to blow a gale.'   That didn't sound like anything Sostratos much wanted to do. Still . . . 'I'd sooner chase them than throw them over the side with rocks tied to their feet so they'll sink.'   'Oh, you're right, no doubt about it.' But that glint remained in Menedemos' eyes. 'Remember what you just said. It's the sort of thing the gods like to listen for.'   Several sailors dipped their heads in agreement. Sostratos thought of himself as a modern, well-educated man. Unlike the sailors -  even unlike his own cousin -  he didn't get most of his ideas about the gods from the Iliad and the Odyssey. But what Menedemos said had a horrid feeling of probability to him, too. He spat in the bosom of his tunic to turn aside the omen.   'You don't do that very often,' Menedemos remarked.   Sostratos answered with a shrug: 'We're on the sea now. Diokles said it -  things are different here.'   'I know that,' Menedemos said. 'I'm surprised you're willing to admit it.'   'We're on the sea,' Sostratos repeated. 'And we're on the sea with peafowl. If that doesn't make things different, I don't know what would.' He plucked at his beard. Since he'd got what he wanted from his cousin, changing the subject looked like a good idea. And so he did, asking, 'Do you plan on putting in at Knidos tomorrow?'   'I planned to, yes,' Menedemos answered. 'It's a good harbor, and a good day's journey from here, too. A couple of hundred stadia -  we'll be able to use the sail some, I expect, as long as the breeze holds, but the boys will do some rowing, too. We can put some fresh water aboard, buy some food . . .. Why? Did you have some different scheme in mind?'   'No.' Sostratos tossed his head. 'I was just wondering if you intended to lay over for a day and do some business there.'   'Not unless you find something that drives you wild,' Menedemos said. 'My thinking is, it's too close to home. What's the point to taking all our expensive goods for a short haul when we're bound to get a lot more for them farther west?'   'Good. We're sailing in the same direction,' Sostratos said.   One of the sailors by the fire, a skinny bald man named Alexion, nudged Menedemos and said, 'Once we're in the harbor at Knidos, skipper, you ought to charge folks a khalkos apiece, say, to watch master Sostratos here go chasing after all those