Letter 187: Twice cabbage is death, says the unkind proverb. I, however, though I have called for it often, shall die once. Yes: even though I had never called for it at all!
"Twice cabbage is death," the old proverb goes — not exactly a flattering saying. But I've asked for it many times over, and I'll die only once. Truth is, I'd die anyway, whether I'd asked or not! So don't let the proverb put you off a perfectly good dish — it's been slandered unfairly.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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