an hour after
midnight
He repeated the words that he had written to this effect on a tile , and which requested Publius to come quite alone to the spot indicated , since she dare not speak with him in the temple . Finally he was invited to write his answer on the other side of the square of clay . As Klea heard these words , put into her own mouth by a villain , she could have sobbed aloud heartily with anguish , shame , and rage ; but the point now was to keep her ears wide open , for Euergetes asked his odious tool : `` And what was the Roman 's answer ? '' Eulaeus must have handed the tile to the king , for he laughed loudly again , and cried out : `` So he will walk into the trap -- will arrive by half an hour after midnight at the latest , and greets Klea from her sister Irene . He carries on love-making and abduction wholesale , and buys water-bearers by the pair , like doves in the market or sandals in a shoe maker 's stall . Only see how the simpleton writes Greek ; in these few words there are two mistakes , two regular schoolboys ' blunders . `` The fellow must have had a very pleasant day of it , since he must have been reckoning on a not unsuccessful evening -- but the gods have an ugly habit of clenching the hand with which they have long caressed their favorites , and striking him with their fist .