Fragments - Lines 0183 - 0192

Among rams and asses and horses, Kyrnos, we look for those Of noble breeding, and a man wants them to mate From worthy stock. Yet a noble man does not mind marrying A base woman of base birth if she brings him money in abundance, Nor does a woman shrink from becoming the wife of a base man With wealth; she prefers a rich husband to a worthy one. Money is what they honor; the noble weds a base man's daughter, The base a worthy man's: wealth mixes stock. Thus do not be amazed, son of Polypaos, that the citizen's stock Is growing feeble, for what is noble is being mixed with what is base.