Nevertheless I shall also examine into the value of the gift in question; for the amount of the sum promised will help my decision. If it is a trifle, I shall give it to you, not because you deserve it, but because I have promised, and I shall not count it as a gift, but shall keep my word, and give my ear a twitch.31 I shall punish my rashness in promising by suffering loss: “You see how sorry you are for yourself; next time take more care before you speak!” As the saying is, I shall pay for my tongue. If the amount is a larger one, “I shall not,” as Maecenas puts it, “let my punishment cost me ten million sesterces.” For I shall match the two sides of the question one against the other. There is something in abiding by what you have promised; on the other hand, there is much in the principle of not bestowing a benefit on one who is unworthy. Yet how great is this benefit? If it is a slight one, let us wink at it; if, however, it is likely to cause me either great loss or shame, should rather excuse myself once for having refused it than ever afterward for having given it. It all depends, I say, upon how much value I attach to the letter of my promise. I shall not only keep back what I have rashly promised, but shall demand back what I have wrongly given. The man is mad who keeps a promise that was a mistake.