§4.67.1οἱ οὖν Ἀθηναῖοι, ἐπειδὴ ἀπό τε τῶν ἔργων καὶ τῶν λόγων παρεσκεύαστο ἀμφοτέροις, ὑπὸ νύκτα πλεύσαντες ἐς Μινῴαν τὴν Μεγαρέων νῆσον ὁπλίταις ἑξακοσίοις, ὧν Ἱπποκράτης ἦρχεν, ἐν ὀρύγματι ἐκαθέζοντο, ὅθεν ἐπλίνθευον τὰ τείχη καὶ ἀπεῖχεν οὐ πολύ·
The Athenians, therefore, when preparations had been made on both sides, as well by deeds as by words, sailed by night with six hundred hoplites, commanded by Hippocrates, to Minoa, the island of the Megarians, and took up a position in a trench from which they had been making bricks for the walls, and which was not far off.
§4.67.2οἱ δὲ μετὰ τοῦ Δημοσθένους τοῦ ἑτέρου στρατηγοῦ Πλαταιῆς τε ψιλοὶ καὶ ἕτεροι περίπολοι ἐνήδρευσαν ἐς τὸ Ἐνυάλιον, ὅ ἐστιν ἔλασσον ἄπωθεν.
And those with Demosthenes, the other general, both the Plataean light-armed troops and other patrol-men, lay in ambush at the Enyalium, which is at a shorter distance.
καὶ ᾔσθετο οὐδεὶς εἰ μὴ οἱ ἄνδρες οἷς ἐπιμελὲς ἦν εἰδέναι τὴν νύκτα ταύτην.
And no one perceived it except the men who were interested in knowing it on that night.
§4.67.3καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἕως ἔμελλε γίγνεσθαι, οἱ προδιδόντες τῶν Μεγαρέων οὗτοι τοιόνδε ἐποίησαν.
And when dawn was about to break, these traitors among the Megarians did as follows.
ἀκάτιον ἀμφηρικὸν ὡς λῃσταί, ἐκ πολλοῦ τεθεραπευκότες τὴν ἄνοιξιν τῶν πυλῶν, εἰώθεσαν ἐπὶ ἁμάξῃ, πείθοντες τὸν ἄρχοντα, διὰ τῆς τάφρου κατακομίζειν τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν καὶ ἐκπλεῖν· καὶ πρὶν ἡμέραν εἶναι πάλιν αὐτὸ τῇ ἁμάξῃ κομίσαντες ἐς τὸ τεῖχος κατὰ τὰς πύλας ἐσῆγον, ὅπως τοῖς ἐκ τῆς Μινῴας Ἀθηναίοις ἀφανὴς δὴ εἴη ἡ φυλακή, μὴ ὄντος ἐν τῷ λιμένι πλοίου φανεροῦ μηδενός.
They had for a long time managed the opening of the gates, and having been accustomed to carry a double-oared boat on a wagon, pretending to be privateers, by persuading the commander, they would convey it through the trench at night to the sea and sail out; and before it was day, they would bring it back again to the wall on the wagon and introduce it through the gates, so that, as there was no ship visible in the harbour, the guard might be unnoticed by the Athenians in Minoa.
§4.67.4καὶ τότε πρὸς ταῖς πύλαις ἤδη ἦν ἡ ἅμαξα, καὶ ἀνοιχθεισῶν κατὰ τὸ εἰωθὸς ὡς τῷ ἀκατίῳ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι (ἐγίγνετο γὰρ ἀπὸ ξυνθήματος τὸ τοιοῦτον) ἰδόντες ἔθεον δρόμῳ ἐκ τῆς ἐνέδρας, βουλόμενοι φθάσαι πρὶν ξυγκλῃσθῆναι πάλιν τὰς πύλας καὶ ἕως ἔτι ἡ ἅμαξα ἐν αὐταῖς ἦν, κώλυμα οὖσα προσθεῖναι· καὶ αὐτοῖς ἅμα καὶ οἱ ξυμπράσσοντες Μεγαρῆς τοὺς κατὰ τὰς πύλας φύλακας κτείνουσιν.
And on this occasion also the wagon was already at the gates, and when they were opened in the usual way as if for the boat, the Athenians (for this was done by preconcerted signal) seeing it, ran at full speed from their ambush, wishing to get there before the gates were closed again, and while the wagon was still in them, preventing their being shut; and at the same time their Megarian accomplices killed the guards at the gates.
§4.67.5καὶ πρῶτον μὲν οἱ περὶ τὸν Δημοσθένη Πλαταιῆς τε καὶ περίπολοι ἐσέδραμον οὗ νῦν τὸ τροπαῖόν ἐστι, καὶ εὐθὺς ἐντὸς τῶν πυλῶν (ᾔσθοντο γὰρ οἱ ἐγγύτατα Πελοποννήσιοι) μαχόμενοι τοὺς προσβοηθοῦντας οἱ Πλαταιῆς ἐκράτησαν καὶ τοῖς τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὁπλίταις ἐπιφερομένοις βεβαίους τὰς πύλας παρέσχον·
And first of all, the Plataeans and patrol-men with Demosthenes rushed in where the trophy now stands, and immediately inside the gates (for the nearest Peloponnesians perceived them) the Plataeans fought and overcame those who came to the rescue, and secured the gates for the advancing Athenian hoplites.