§§ 21, 22. Now hear his excuse. He pretends that the ship sprang a leak in the voyage from Egypt, and so he was forced to put in at Rhodes and sell the cargo there. And he points to the fact in confirmation, that he had to hirc other craft, and send off some of the goods to Athens. Another plea is, that other lenders agreed to take the interest as far as Rhodes, thereby showing that they believed his story. Thirdly, the contract says, ‘if the ship gets safe’; but she did not get safe.
καὶ προσσχεῖν εἰς — κ. τ. λ. ‘That both the putting in to Rhodes and the unlading of the corn (viz. to get at the leak) were matters of necessity with him.’ It might have been urged that at least one of these two expedients was unnecessary. Thus in § 42 it is denied that there was any need for going to Rhodes at all.
