writer is not familiar with its treatment of the famous homosexual pas-

sage.

Other than these translations, there are only three translations in the "rare book" category: 1) by William Burton in 1597; 2) by Anthony Hodges in 1638; 3) by an anonymous translator in 1720. The first, by Burton, was reprinted in an almost equally rare de luxe subscribers' edition by Blackwell, London, 1923.

Leaving till later the famous homosexual passage found at the end of Book II, the plot of the novel is as follows:

The hero, a handsome youth of Tyre named Clitophon, falls in love with his visiting cousin, a beautiful girl from Byzantium named Leucippe. Somewhat innocent, he gets detailed advice of the "Let's Make Mary" variety from, of all things, his homosexual best friend and cousin, Clinias. The helpful and experienced Clinias himself is to suffer two terrible blows, one worse than the other. His beloved boy, Charicles, has had a marriage arranged by his father, and with an ugly woman. As he puts it, ". . . a double evil therefore: even if she were pretty, a female would be repulsive to my taste, and she becomes doubly so if ugly" (Smith, p. 358). Shortly afterwards comes the even worse blow for Clinias: Charicles escapes the fate worse than death by death, killed in a riding accident on a horse given him by Clinias.

Pursuing Clinias' advice, our hero is making ever more progress with Leucippe until, on the very verge of success, he is discovered in her bedroom one night by her mother. In desperation, they elope, going first by carriage to Sidon, then by short sea voyage to Berytus (now Beirut) and finally on board a vessel bound for Alexandria. They are accompanied by Clitophon's helpful buddy, the homosexual Clinias, and on board

the vessel is another passenger with whom they become friendly, a homosexual youth named Menelaus. In an exchange of stories, it is learned that Menelaus, like Clinias, is grieving over the sudden death of his beloved boyfriend, whom he accidentally killed in a hunting accident with his javelin. To cheer up his two homosexual friends (who seem to remain just friends), Clitophon initiates a bull-session on love:

"How much better off is Clinias than I am; he was no doubt longing to inveigh against women, according to his wont, and he can do so all the better now, having found one who sympathizes with his tastes; but why so many should be addicted to the love of youths, for my part I cannot tell." "There can be no doubt," said Menelaus, "which is preferable. Youths are much more open and free from affection than women, and their beauty stimulates the senses much more powerfully." "How so?" I asked, "it no sooner appears than it is gone. It affords no enjoyment to the lover, but is like the cup of Tantalus, while one is drinking the liquid disappears; and even the little which has been swallowed is unsatisfying. No one can leave such favorites without feeling his pleasure alloyed with pain, the draught of love still leaves him thirsty."

"You do not understand," rejoined Menelaus, "that the perfection of pleasure consists in its bringing with it no satiety; the very fact of its being of a permanent and satisfying kind takes away from its delight. What we snatch but now and then is always new, and always in full beauty. Of such things the pleasure is not liable to decay and age, and it gains in intensity what it loses by briefness of duration; for this