§1306ἔκλειπε βωμὸν καὶ θεηλάτους ἕδρας.
Leave the altar and the god-driven seats.
§1307τὴν σὴν ὅπου σοι μητέρʼ ἐστὶ νουθέτει.
Admonish your own mother, wherever she is.
§1308σὺ δʼ οὐχ ὑφέξεις ζημίαν, κτείνουσʼ ἐμέ;
But will you not pay the penalty, if you kill me?
§1309ἤν γʼ ἐντὸς ἀδύτων τῶνδέ με σφάξαι θέλῃς.
Yes, if you wish to slaughter me inside these sacred precincts.
§1310τίς ἡδονή σοι θεοῦ θανεῖν ἐν στέμμασι;
What pleasure is there for you to die in the garlands of the god?
§1311λυπήσομέν τινʼ, ὧν λελυπήμεσθʼ ὕπο.
I shall cause grief to one of those by whom I have been grieved.
§1312φεῦ.
Alas!
§1312aδεινόν γε, θνητοῖς τοὺς νόμους ὡς οὐ καλῶς §1313ἔθηκεν ὁ θεὸς οὐδʼ ἀπὸ γνώμης σοφῆς· §1314τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἀδίκους βωμὸν οὐχ ἵζειν ἐχρῆν, §1315ἀλλʼ ἐξελαύνειν· οὐδὲ γὰρ ψαύειν καλὸν §1316θεῶν πονηρὰν χεῖρα· τοῖσι δʼ ἐνδίκοις — §1317ἱερὰ καθίζειν, ὅστις ἠδικεῖτʼ, ἐχρῆν· §1318καὶ μὴ ʼπὶ ταὐτὸ τοῦτʼ ἰόντʼ ἔχειν ἴσον §1319τόν τʼ ἐσθλὸν ὄντα τόν τε μὴ θεῶν πάρα.
How strange it is that the god has established laws for mortals not well nor from a wise judgment: for the unjust ought not to sit at the altar, but to be driven away; for it is not well for a wicked hand to touch the things of the gods; but for the righteous, whoever was wronged, it was right to sit at the holy places, and not for both to come to the same place and have equal treatment from the gods, the good and the bad alike.
§1320ἐπίσχες, ὦ παῖ· τρίποδα γὰρ χρηστήριον §1321λιποῦσα θριγκοῦ τοῦδʼ ὑπερβάλλω πόδα §1322Φοίβου προφῆτις, τρίποδος ἀρχαῖον νόμον §1323σῴζουσα, πασῶν Δελφίδων ἐξαίρετος.
Hold, my child; for leaving the prophetic tripod, I cross over this threshold, I, the prophetess of Phoebus, preserving the ancient custom of the tripod, chosen from among all the women of Delphi.
§1324χαῖρʼ, ὦ φίλη μοι μῆτερ, οὐ τεκοῦσά περ.
Greetings, my dear mother, though you did not give me birth.
§1325ἀλλʼ οὖν λεγώμεθʼ· ἡ φάτις δʼ οὔ μοι πικρά.
But still let us be so called; for the report is not bitter to me.
§1326ἤκουσας ὥς μʼ ἔκτεινεν ἥδε μηχαναῖς;
Did you hear how this woman tried to kill me by intrigues?
§1327ἤκουσα· καὶ σὺ δʼ ὠμὸς ὢν ἁμαρτάνεις.
I heard; and you also, being harsh, are in error.
§1328οὐ χρή με τοὺς κτείνοντας ἀνταπολλύναι;
Ought I not to destroy in return those who would kill me?
§1329προγονοῖς δάμαρτες δυσμενεῖς ἀεί ποτε.
Wives are always hostile to stepchildren.
§1330ἡμεῖς δὲ μητρυιαῖς γε πάσχοντες κακῶς.
And we suffer evil at the hands of stepmothers.
No more of this; leaving the sanctuary and going to your fatherland, what indeed must I do, being thus admonished?
§1333καθαρὸς Ἀθήνας ἔλθʼ ὑπʼ οἰωνῶν καλῶν.
Go pure to Athens under good omens.
§1334καθαρὸς ἅπας τοι πολεμίους ὃς ἂν κτάνῃ.
Surely everyone is pure who kills his enemies.
§1335μὴ σύ γε· παρʼ ἡμῶν δʼ ἔκλαβʼ οὓς ἔχω λόγους.
Do not say so; but receive from me the words which I have.
§1336λέγοις ἄν· εὔνους δʼ οὖσʼ ἐρεῖς ὅσʼ ἂν λέγῃς.
Speak; and being well-disposed, you will say whatever you say.
§1337ὁρᾷς τόδʼ ἄγγος χερὸς ὑπʼ ἀγκάλαις ἐμαῖς;
Do you see this vessel under my arms?
§1338ὁρῶ παλαιὰν ἀντίπηγʼ ἐν στέμμασιν.
I see an old chest wrapped in garlands.
§1339ἐν τῇδέ σʼ ἔλαβον νεόγονον βρέφος ποτέ.
In this I once received you as a newborn babe.
§1340τί φῄς;
What do you say?
ὁ μῦθος εἰσενήνεκται νέος.
A new story has been introduced.
§1341σιγῇ γὰρ εἶχον αὐτά· νῦν δὲ δείκνυμεν.
For I kept them in silence; but now I show them.
§1342πῶς οὖν ἔκρυπτες τόδε λαβοῦσʼ ἡμᾶς πάλαι;
How then did you keep this hidden, having taken us long ago?
§1343ὁ θεός σʼ ἐβούλετʼ ἐν δόμοις ἔχειν λάτριν.
The god wished to have you as a servant in his house.
§1344νῦν δʼ οὐχὶ χρῄζει;
But now does he not wish it?
τῷ τόδε γνῶναί με χρή;
By what must I know this?
§1345πατέρα κατειπὼν τῆσδέ σʼ ἐκπέμπει χθονός.
Having declared your father, he sends you out of this land.
§1346σὺ δʼ ἐκ κελευσμῶν ἢ πόθεν σῴζεις τάδε;
But did you save these things by command, or from where?
§1347ἐνθύμιόν μοι τότε τίθησι Λοξίας
Loxias then put a thought in my mind.
§1348τί χρῆμα δρᾶσαι;
To do what thing?
λέγε, πέραινε σοὺς λόγους.
Speak, finish your words.
§1349σῶσαι τόδʼ εὕρημʼ ἐς τὸν ὄντα νῦν χρόνον.
To save this find until the present time.
§1350ἔχει δέ μοι τί κέρδος ἢ τίνα βλάβην;
And what benefit or what harm does it bring to me?
§1351ἐνθάδε κέκρυπται σπάργανʼ οἷς ἐνῆσθα σύ.
Here are hidden the swaddling clothes in which you were wrapped.
§1352μητρὸς τάδʼ ἡμῖν ἐκφέρεις ζητήματα;
Are you bringing out these clues for me to search for my mother?
§1353ἐπεί γʼ ὁ δαίμων βούλεται· πάροιθε δʼ οὔ.
Yes, since the daimon wishes it; but before he did not.
§1354ὦ μακαρίων μοι φασμάτων ἥδʼ ἡμέρα.
O day of blessed revelations, how pleasant to me!
§1355λαβών νυν αὐτὰ τὴν τεκοῦσαν ἐκπόνει.
Take them now, and work out who gave you birth.
§1356πᾶσάν γʼ ἐπελθὼν Ἀσιάδʼ Εὐρώπης θʼ ὅρους.
Even if I must traverse all Asia and the boundaries of Europe.
§1357γνώσῃ τάδʼ αὐτός.
You will know these things yourself.
τοῦ θεοῦ δʼ ἕκατί σε §1358ἔθρεψά τʼ, ὦ παῖ, καὶ τάδʼ ἀποδίδωμί σοι, §1359ἃ κεῖνος ἀκέλευστόν μʼ ἐβουλήθη λαβεῖν §1360σῶσαί θʼ· ὅτου δʼ ἐβούλεθʼ οὕνεκʼ, οὐκ ἔχω.
For the sake of the god, I reared you, my child, and I restore these things to you, which he wished me to take uncommanded, and to save; but for what purpose he wished it, I cannot tell.
And no one of mortal men knew that we had these things, nor where they were hidden.
§1363καὶ χαῖρʼ· ἴσον γάρ σʼ ὡς τεκοῦσʼ ἀσπάζομαι.
And farewell; for I embrace you just as if I had given you birth.
§1364ἄρξαι δʼ ὅθεν σὴν μητέρα ζητεῖν σε χρή· §1365πρῶτον μὲν εἴ τις Δελφίδων τεκοῦσά σε §1366ἐς τούσδε ναοὺς ἐξέθηκε παρθένος, §1367ἔπειτα δʼ εἴ τις Ἑλλάς. — ἐξ ἡμῶν δʼ ἔχεις §1368ἅπαντα Φοίβου θʼ, ὃς μετέσχε τῆς τύχης.
And begin from where you must search for your mother: first, if any maiden of the Delphians gave you birth and exposed you in these temples, and next, if it was someone of Greece. — But from us you have everything, and from Phoebus, who shared in your fortune.
§1369φεῦ φεῦ·
Alas, alas!
κατʼ ὄσσων ὡς ὑγρὸν βάλλω δάκρυ, §1370ἐκεῖσε τὸν νοῦν δούς, ὅθʼ ἡ τεκοῦσά με §1371κρυφαῖα νυμφευθεῖσʼ ἀπημπόλα λάθρα §1372καὶ μαστὸν οὐκ ὑπέσχεν· ἀλλʼ ἀνώνυμος §1373ἐν θεοῦ μελάθροις εἶχον οἰκέτην βίον.
How I shed warm tears from my eyes, when I turn my mind to that time, when she who gave me birth, having wedded in secret, sold me away by stealth, and did not offer her breast; but nameless I held a servant's life in the halls of the god.
§1374τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ μὲν χρηστά, τοῦ δὲ δαίμονος §1375βαρέα· χρόνον γὰρ ὅν με χρῆν ἐν ἀγκάλαις §1376μητρὸς τρυφῆσαι καί τι τερφθῆναι βίου,
The things of the god indeed were kind, but those of fortune were heavy; for during the time when I ought to have enjoyed luxury in the arms of a mother, and have had some pleasure of life,