_Pl_. They are not blind, my dear boy; but the ignorant misconceptions
now so prevalent obscure their vision. And then I contribute; not to
be an absolute fright when they see me, I put on a charming mask, all
gilt and jewels, and dress myself up. They take the mask for my face,
fall in love with its beauty, and are dying to possess it. If any one
were to strip and show me to them naked, they would doubtless reproach
themselves for their blindness in being captivated by such an ugly
misshapen creature,

_Her_. How about fruition, then? When they are rich, and have put the
mask on themselves, they are still deluded; if any one tries to take
it off, they would sooner part with their heads than with it; and it
is not likely they do not know by that time that the beauty is
adventitious, now that they have an inside view. _Pl_. There too I
have powerful allies.

_Her_. Namely--?

_Pl_. When a man makes my acquaintance, and opens the door to let me
in, there enter unseen by my side Arrogance, Folly, Vainglory,
Effeminacy, Insolence, Deceit, and a goodly company more. These
possess his soul; he begins to admire mean things, pursues what he
should abhor, reveres me amid my bodyguard of the insinuating vices
which I have begotten, and would consent to anything sooner than part
with me.

_Her_. What a smooth, slippery, unstable, evasive fellow you are,
Plutus! there is no getting a firm hold of you; you wriggle through
one's fingers somehow, like an eel or a snake. Poverty is so
different--sticky, clinging, all over hooks; any one who comes near