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Whereupon he contrived to be chosen one of the messengers who

were sent to the court; whereas soon as he arrived he seduced the

queen, and with her help conspired against the king and slew him,

and took the kingdom. Suppose now that there were two such magic

rings, and the just put on one of them and the unjust the other;

no man can be imagined to be of such an iron nature that he would

stand fast in justice. No man would keep his hands off what was

not his own when he could safely take what he liked out of the

market, or go into houses and lie with any one at his pleasure,

or kill or release from prison whom he would, and in all respects

be like a God among men. Then the actions of the just would be as

the actions of the unjust; they would both come at last to the

same point.