LEADER FROM WESTERN LYBIA
In general Alexandria liked
the Prince from Western Lybia
Aristomenis, the son of Menelaos,
who stayed there for ten days.
Like his name, his attire, fittingly Greek.
He gladly accepted the honors, but
he did not seek them; he was modest.
He bought Greek books,
mainly historical and philosophical.
Above all he was a man of few words.
He was profound in his thoughts, people said,
and for such men it is natural not to talk a lot.
But he was neither deep in his thoughts, nor anything else.
Just an ordinary, funny man.
He took a Greek name, dressed like the Greeks,
he learned how to behave like a Greek more or less;
and his soul trembled as if he would
to ruin the somewhat good impression he made
by speaking Greek with a few barbarisms,
and the Alexandrians would make fun of him,
as it is their habit, those awful people.
For this reason he restricted himself to a few words,
being careful with the conjunctions and pronunciation;
and he was so terribly bored having
all those unspoken words piled up inside him.
Manolis Aligizakis 