English Original
When Jupiter was creating man, he instructed Mercury to concoct an infusion of lies and to add a small measure of it to the ingredients used in making tradesmen. Mercury complied, administering an equal portion to each in turn—the tallow-chandler, the greengrocer, the haberdasher, and all the others. When he finally reached the horse-dealer, who was last on the list, he found he still had a considerable quantity of the infusion remaining. So, he poured all of it into him. This explains why all tradesmen are prone to lying to some degree, but none can match the horse-dealer in deceit.
中文翻译
朱庇特创造人类时，他吩咐墨丘利调制一种谎言的“药水”，并在制造各类商贩时，将少量这种药水加入他们的构成原料中。墨丘利照做了，他依次给每一位商贩——制烛商、蔬果商、布匹杂货商等等——都注入了等量的谎言药水。当他最后轮到名单上排在末位的马贩时，发现药水还剩下了许多。于是，他把所有的剩余药水都倒进了马贩的身体里。这就是为什么所有的商贩或多或少都会说谎，但谁也比不上马贩那样谎话连篇。