§12ὀρθῶς οὖν Φιλιππίδης ὁ κωμῳδιοποιὸς φιλοφρονουμένου τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτὸν Λυσιμάχου καὶ λέγοντος
τίνος σοι μεταδῶ τῶν ἐμῶν; οὗ βούλει
φησὶ
βασιλεῦ, πλὴν τῶν ἀπορρήτων
τῇ δʼ ἀδολεσχίᾳ καὶ ἡ περιεργία κακὸν οὐκ ἔλαττον πρόσεστι πολλὰ γὰρ ἀκούειν θέλουσιν, ἵνα πολλὰ λέγειν ἔχωσι· καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς ἀπορρήτους καὶ κεκρυμμένους τῶν λόγων περιιόντες ἐξιχνεύουσι καὶ ἀνερευνῶσιν, ὥσπερ ὕλην πυλαίαν τινὰ φορυτῶν τῇ φλυαρίᾳ παρατιθέμενοι, εἶθʼ ὥσπερ οἱ παῖδες τὸν κρύσταλλον οὔτε κατέχειν οὔτʼ ἀφιέναι θέλουσι·
Rightly therefore did Philippides the comic poet, when King Lysimachus was treating him kindly and saying, "What of my possessions shall I share with you?" reply, "Whatever you wish, O King, except your secrets." And with talkativeness there is also associated curiosity, an evil no less great; for they wish to hear many things so that they may have many things to tell; and they especially track down and search out secret and hidden stories as they go about, providing, as it were, a sort of gathered fuel of rubbish for their babbling, and then, like children with ice, they wish neither to hold on to it nor to let it go.
μᾶλλον δʼ ὥσπερ ἑρπετὰ τοὺς ἀπορρήτους λόγους ἐγκολπισάμενοι καὶ συλλαβόντες οὐ συγκρατοῦσιν ἀλλὰ διαβιβρώσκονται ὑπʼ αὐτῶν.
Or rather, having put secret words into their bosoms and seized them like serpents, they do not hold them tight but are eaten through by them.
τὰς μὲν γὰρ βελόνας φασὶ ῥήγνυσθαι τικτούσας καὶ τὰς ἐχίδνας, οἱ δʼ ἀπόρρητοι λόγοι τοὺς μὴ στέγοντας ἐκπίπτοντες ἀπολλύουσι καὶ διαφθείρουσι.
For they say that needle-fish and vipers burst when giving birth, and secret words, when they break out, ruin and destroy those who cannot contain them.
Σέλευκος ὁ Καλλίνικος ἐν τῇ πρὸς Γαλάτας μάχῃ πᾶν ἀποβαλὼν τὸ στράτευμα καὶ τὴν δύναμιν, αὐτὸς περισπάσας τὸ διάδημα καὶ φυγὼν ἵππῳ μετὰ τριῶν ἢ τεττάρων ἀνοδίαις καὶ πλάναις πολὺν δρόμον, ἤδη διʼ ἔνδειαν ἀπαγορεύων ἐπαυλίῳ τινὶ προσῆλθε, καὶ τὸν δεσπότην αὐτὸν εὑρὼν κατὰ τύχην ἄρτον καὶ ὕδωρ ᾔτησεν.
Seleucus Callinicus, having lost his entire army and force in the battle against the Galatians, tore off his diadem himself and fled on horseback with three or four companions, taking a long journey through pathless ways and wanderings. Exhausted at last by want, he approached a certain country cottage, and happening to find the master of it himself, asked for bread and water.
ὁ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα· καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ὅσα παρῆν ἐν τῷ ἀγρῷ δαψιλῶς ἐπιδιδοὺς καὶ φιλοφρονούμενος ἐγνώρισε τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ βασιλέως, καὶ περιχαρὴς γενόμενος τῇ συντυχίᾳ τῆς χρείας οὐ κατέσχεν οὐδὲ συνεψεύσατο βουλομένῳ λανθάνειν, ἀλλʼ ἄχρι τῆς ὁδοῦ προπέμψας.
And the man, presenting not only these but also giving abundantly of whatever other things were at hand on his farm, and treating him with hospitality, recognized the face of the king; and becoming overjoyed at the chance meeting in his need, he did not restrain himself, nor did he join in the pretense with the king who wished to remain unrecognized, but escorted him as far as the road.
καὶ ἀπολυόμενος
ὑγίαινʼ
εἶπεν
ὦ βασιλεῦ Σέλευκε. κἀκεῖνος ἐκτείνας τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτῷ καὶ προσελκόμενος; ὡς φιλήσων, ἔνευσεν ἑνὶ τῶν μετʼ αὐτοῦ ξίφει τὸν τράχηλον ἀποκόψαι τοῦ ἀνθρώπου· "φθεγγομένου δʼ ἄρα τοῦ γε κάρη κονίῃσιν ἐμίχθη.
And as they parted, he said, "Farewell, King Seleucus." And the king, extending his right hand to him and drawing him near as if to kiss him, signaled to one of his companions to cut off the man's neck with a sword; "and while he was yet speaking, his head was mingled with the dust.
"
εἰ· δʼ ἐσίγησε τότε καρτερήσας ὀλίγον χρόνον, εὐτυχήσαντος ὕστερον τοῦ βασιλέως καὶ μεγάλου γενομένου μείζονας ἂν οἶμαι χάριτας ἐκομίσατο ἀντὶ τῆς σιωπῆς ἢ τῆς φιλοξενίας.
"Yet if he had kept silent at that time, enduring for a little while, when the king later became fortunate and great, he would, I think, have received greater rewards in return for his silence than for his hospitality.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἁμωσγέπως ἔσχε πρόφασιν τῆς ἀκρασίας τὴν ἐλπίδα καὶ τὴν φιλοφροσύνην.
This man, then, had in some way or other hope and friendliness as an excuse for his incontinence.
§13οἱ δὲ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἀδολέσχων οὐδʼ αἰτίαν ἔχοντες ἀπολλύουσιν αὑτούς.
But the majority of babblers destroy themselves without even having an excuse.
οἷον ἐν κουρείῳ τινὶ λόγων γιγνομἑνων περὶ τῆς Διονυσίου τυραννίδος, ὡς ἀδαμαντίνη καὶ ἄρρηκτός ἐστι, γελάσας ὁ κουρεὺς
ταῦθʼ ὑμᾶς
ἔφη
περὶ Διονυσίου δεῖ λέγειν, οὗ ἐγὼ παρʼ ἡμέρας ὀλίγας ἐπὶ τοῦ τραχήλου τὸ ξυρὸν ἔχω; ταῦτʼ ἀκούσας ὁ Διονύσιος ἀνεσταύρωσεν αὐτόν.
For instance, when some talk was going on in a barber's shop concerning the tyranny of Dionysius, how it was adamantine and unbreakable, the barber laughed and said, "Is this what you must say about Dionysius, whose neck I have a razor against every few days?" Having heard this, Dionysius crucified him.
ἐπιεικῶς δὲ λάλον ἐστὶ τὸ τῶν κουρέων γένος οἱ γὰρ ἀδολεσχότατοι προσρέουσι καὶ προσκαθίζουσιν, ὥστʼ αὐτοὺς ἀναπίμπλασθαι τῆς συνηθείας.
Now the race of barbers is naturally talkative, for the most babbling people stream to them and sit there, so that they are infected by their habit.
χαριέντως γοῦν ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀρχέλαος, ἀδολέσχου κουρέως περιβαλόντος αὐτῷ τὸ ὠμόλινον καὶ πυθομένου
πῶς σε κείρω, βασιλεῦ
σιωπῶν
ἔφη.
At any rate, King Archelaus wittily replied, when a talkative barber wrapped the linen cloth around him and asked, "How shall I cut your hair, O King?" "In silence," he said.
κουρεὺς δὲ καὶ τὴν ἐν Σικελίᾳ τῶν Ἀθηναίων μεγάλην κακοπραγίαν ἀπήγγειλε, πρῶτος ἐν Πειραιεῖ πυθόμενος οἰκέτου τινὸς τῶν ἀποδεδρακότων ἐκεῖθεν.
And it was a barber who also reported the great disaster of the Athenians in Sicily, having been the first to learn of it in Piraeus from a certain slave who had escaped from there.
εἶτʼ ἀφεὶς τὸ ἐργαστήριον εἰς ἄστυ συνέτεινε δρόμῳ
"μή τις κῦδος ἄροιτο"
τὸν λόγον εἰς τὴν πόλιν ἐμβαλών,
"ὁ δὲ δεύτερος ἔλθοι. "
γενομένης δὲ ταραχῆς οἷον εἰκός, εἰς ἐκκλησίαν ἀθροισθεὶς ὁ δῆμος ἐπὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐβάδιζε τῆς φήμης.
Then, leaving his shop, he hastened at a run to the upper city, to throw the story into the town, lest "someone else win the glory," "and he come second." When confusion arose, as was natural, the people, gathered in assembly, proceeded to search for the source of the rumor.
ἤγετʼ οὖν ὁ κουρεὺς καὶ ἀνεκρίνετο, μηδὲ τοὔνομα τοῦ φράσαντος εἰδὼς ἀλλʼ εἰς ἀνώνυμον καὶ ἄγνωστον ἀναφέρων τὴν ἀρχὴν πρόσωπον.
The barber was therefore arrested and interrogated, but he did not even know the name of the informant, referring the origin of the story to an anonymous and unknown person.
ὀργὴ δʼ οὖν καὶ βοὴ τοῦ θεάτρου· βασάνιζε καὶ στρέβλου τὸν ἀλάστορα·
So there was anger and shouting from the theater: "Torture and rack the wretch!
πέπλασται ταῦτα καὶ συντέθειται·
This has been fabricated and made up!
τίς δʼ ἄλλος ἤκουσε;
Who else heard it?
τίς δʼ ἐπίστευσεν
ἐκομίσθη τροχός, κατετάθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος.
Who believed it?" The wheel was brought, and the man was stretched upon it.
ἐν τούτῳ παρῆσαν οἱ τὴν συμφορὰν ἀπαγγέλλοντες, ἐξ αὐτοῦ τοῦ ἔργου διαπεφευγότες, ἐσκεδάσθησαν οὖν πάντες ἐπὶ τὰ οἰκεῖα πένθη, καταλιπόντες ἐν τῷ τροχῷ τὸν ἄθλιον ἐνδεδεμένον.
In the midst of this, there arrived those who brought news of the disaster, having escaped from the action itself; so they all dispersed to their own private mournings, leaving the wretched man bound upon the wheel.
ὀψὲ δὲ λυθεὶς ἤδη πρὸς ἑσπέραν ἠρώτα τὸν δημόσιον, εἰ καὶ περὶ Νικίου τοῦ στρατηγοῦ, ὃν τρόπον ἀπόλωλεν, ἀκηκόασιν.
And when he was released late, already towards evening, he asked the public officer if they had also heard how Nicias the general had perished.
οὕτως ἄμαχόν τι κακὸν καὶ ἀνουθέτητον ἡ συνήθεια ποιεῖ τὴν ἀδολεσχίαν.
Thus habit makes talkativeness a certain invincible and unadmonishable evil.