Xenophon of Ephesus, An Ephesian Tale 2.5.4 · 2.5.4
Habrocomes writes his refusal
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Κἀκείνην μὲν τὴν πινακίδα κατέχει, ἄλλην δὲ γράφει καὶ δίδωσι τῇ θεραπαίνῃ· ἦν δὲ τὰ ἐγγεγραμμένα ⟨τοιάδε⟩. Δέσποινα, ὅ τι βούλει ποίει, καὶ χρῶ σώματι ὡς οἰκέτου· καὶ εἴτε ἀποκτείνειν θέλεις, ἕτοιμος, εἴτε βασανίζειν, ὅπως ἐθέλεις βασάνιζε· εἰς εὐνὴν δὲ τὴν σὴν οὐκ ἂν ἔλθοιμι, οὐδ’ ἂν τοιαῦτα πεισθείην κελευούσῃ.
He kept that tablet, and wrote another and gave it to the maid. This is what it said: "Mistress, do whatever you want, and use my body as a slave's. If you want to kill me, I am ready; if you want to torture me, torture me however you like. But I would not come to your bed, nor would I be persuaded to such things at your command."
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The setting
Book 2, chapter 5. Habrocomes answers Manto in writing, by the same maid.
A note on this passage
His answer takes up her words. She called herself "your mistress," and he opens with Δέσποινα, "Mistress," and offers her his body to use as a slave's; he had told Leucon that his masters have power over his body and that his soul is free (2.4.4). Her bargain began with πεισθῇς, "if you are persuaded," and he refuses with the verb he used to Leucon, πεισθείην, "would I be persuaded." He keeps her tablet, and in 2.10.1 her father finds it and learns the truth.
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