§14καίτοι γʼ ὥσπερ οἱ τὰ πικρὰ καὶ τὰ δυσώδη φάρμακα πιόντες δυσχεραίνουσι καὶ τὰς κύλικας, οὕτως οἱ τὰ κακὰ προσαγγέλλοντες ὑπὸ τῶν ἀκουόντων δυσχεραίνονται καὶ μισοῦνται.
And yet, just as those who have drunk bitter and foul-smelling medicines are vexed even with the cups, so those who report bad news are disliked and hated by their hearers.
ὅθεν χαριέντως ὁ Σοφοκλῆς διηπόρηκεν,
""
λυποῦσι δʼ οὖν ὥσπερ οἱ δρῶντες καὶ οἱ λέγοντες, ἀλλʼ ὅμως οὐκ ἔστι γλώσσης ῥεούσης ἐπίσχεσις οὐδὲ κολασμός.
Hence Sophocles has wittily expressed his doubt, "" At any rate, those who speak pain us just as those who act do; but nevertheless there is no restraining or chastising of a running tongue.
ἐν Λακεδαίμονι τῆς Χαλκιοίκου τὸ ἱερὸν ὤφθη σεσυλημένον, καὶ κειμένη ἔνδον κενὴ λάγυνος.
In Lacedaemon, the temple of Athena of the Bronze House was seen to have been plundered, and an empty flask was lying inside.
ἦν οὖν ἀπορία πολλῶν συνδεδραμηκότων, καί τις τῶν παρόντων
εἰ βούλεσθʼ εἶπεν ἐγὼ φράσω ὑμῖν ὁ μοι παρίσταται περὶ τῆς λαγύνου· νομίζω γάρ
ἔφη τοὺς
ἱεροσύλους ἐπὶ τηλικοῦτον ἐλθεῖν κίνδυνον, κώνειον ἐμπιόντας καὶ κομίζοντας οἶνον· ἵνʼ εἰ μὲν αὐτοῖς λαθεῖν ἐγγένοιτο, τῷ ἀκράτῳ ποθέντι σβέσαντες καὶ διαλύσαντες τὸ φάρμακον ἀπέλθοιεν ἀσφαλῶς εἰ δʼ ἁλίσκοιντο, πρὸ τῶν βασάνων ὑπὸ τοῦ φαρμάκου ῥᾳδίως καὶ ἀνωδύνως ἀποθάνοιεν. ταῦτʼ εἰπόντος αὐτοῦ, τὸ πρᾶγμα πλοκὴν ἔχον καὶ περινόησιν τοσαύτην οὐχ ὑπονοοῦντος ἀλλʼ εἰδότος ἐφαίνετο.
There was therefore perplexity among the many who had run together, and one of those present said, "If you wish," he said, "I will tell you what occurs to me concerning the flask; for I think," he said, "that the temple-robbers entered upon so great a danger having drunk hemlock and carrying wine, so that, if they should succeed in escaping detection, they might quench and dissolve the poison by drinking the unmixed wine and depart in safety; but if they should be caught, they might die easily and painlessly by the poison before being tortured." When he said this, since the matter involved such plotting and deep reflection, he seemed not to be guessing but to know.
καὶ περιστάντες αὐτὸν ἀνέκριναν ἄλλοθεν ἄλλος
τίς εἶ; ʼ
καί
τίς σʼ οἶδε; ʼ
καί πόθεν
ἐπίστασαι ταῦτα; καὶ τὸ πέρας ἐλεγχόμενος οὕτως ὡμολόγησεν εἷς εἶναι τῶν ἱεροσύλων.
And standing around him, they questioned him from one side and another, "Who are you?" and "Who knows you?" and "How do you know these things?" And finally, being thus cross-examined, he confessed that he was one of the temple-robbers.
οἱ δʼ Ἴβυκον ἀποκτείναντες οὐχ οὕτως ἑάλωσαν ἐν θεάτρῳ καθήμενοι, καὶ γεράνων παραφανεισῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους; ἅμα γέλωτι ψιθυρίζοντες, ὡς αἱ Ἰβύκου ἔκδικοι πάρεισιν;
And did not the murderers of Ibycus get caught in the same way, as they were sitting in the theater, when cranes appeared, whispering to one another with a laugh that the avengers of Ibycus were present?
ἀκούσαντες γὰρ οἱ καθεζόμενοι πλησίον, ἤδη πολὺν χρόνον τοῦ Ἰβύκου ὄντος ἀφανοῦς καὶ ζητουμένου, ἐπελάβοντο τῆς φωνῆς καὶ προσήγγειλαν τοῖς ἄρχουσιν.
For those sitting near them, hearing this, since Ibycus had already been missing for a long time and was being searched for, seized upon the remark and reported it to the magistrates.
ἐλεγχθέντες δʼ οὕτως ἀπήχθησαν, οὐχ ὑπὸ τῶν γεράνων κολασθέντες ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ τῆς αὑτῶν γλωσσαλγίας ὥσπερ ἐρινύος ἢ Ποινῆς βιασθέντες ἐξαγορεῦσαι τὸν φόνον.
And having been thus convicted, they were led away, not punished by the cranes, but compelled by their own talkativeness, as if by a Fury or Vengeance, to confess the murder.
ὡς γὰρ ἐν τῷ σώματι πρὸς τὰ πεπονθότα μέρη καὶ ἀλγοῦντα γίγνεται φορὰ καὶ ὁλκὴ τῶν πλησίον, οὕτως ἡ γλῶττα τῶν ἀδολέσχων ἀεὶ φλεγμονὴν ἔχουσα καὶ σφυγμὸν ἕλκει τι καὶ συνάγει τῶν ἀπορρήτων καὶ κεκρυμμένων ἐφʼ ἑαυτήν.
For just as in the body there is a rush and attraction of neighboring fluids toward the parts that are affected and in pain, so the tongue of babblers, always having an inflammation and throbbing, draws and gathers to itself something of secrets and hidden things.
διὸ δεῖ πεφράχθαι, καὶ τὸν λογισμὸν ὡς πρόβολον ἐμποδὼν ἀεὶ τῇ γλώττῃ κείμενον ἐπέχειν τὸ ῥεῦμα καὶ τὸν ὄλισθον αὐτῆς, ἵνα μὴ τῶν χηνῶν ἀφρονέστεροι εἶναι δοκῶμεν, οὕς φασιν, ὅταν ὑπερβάλλωσιν. ἐκ Κιλικίας τὸν Ταῦρον ἀετῶν ὄντα μεστόν, εἰς τὸ στόμα λαμβάνειν εὐμεγέθη λίθον ὥσπερ κλεῖθρον ἢ χαλινὸν ἐμβάλλοντας τῇ φωνῇ, καὶ νυκτὸς οὕτως ὑπερφέρεσθαι λανθάνοντας.
Therefore it must be fenced in, and reason, lying always in the way of the tongue like a barrier, must hold back its flow and slippage, lest we seem to be more foolish than the geese, which they say, when they fly over the Taurus from Cilicia, which is full of eagles, take a sizable stone into their mouths, putting a lock or bridle, as it were, upon their voices, and so fly over at night without being detected.
§15εἰ τοίνυν ἔροιτό τις
"τὸν κάκιστον ὅστις ἐστὶ καὶ τὸν ἐξωλέστατον,ʼ"
οὐδεὶς ἂν ἄλλον εἴποι τὸν προδότην παρελθών.
If, then, anyone should ask, "Who is the worst and most utterly ruined man?" no one would name anyone else, passing over the traitor.
Εὐθυκράτης μὲν οὖν
ἤρεψε τὴν οἰκίαν τοῖς ἐκ Μακεδονίας ξύλοις
ὥς φησι Δημοσθένης· Φιλοκράτης δὲ χρυσίον πολὺ λαβὼν
πόρνας καὶ ἰχθῦς ἠγόραζεν· Εὐφόρβῳ δὲ καὶ Φιλάγρῳ τοῖς Ἐρέτριαν προδοῦσι χώραν ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔδωκεν.
Euthycrates, then, roofed his house with timber from Macedonia, as Demosthenes says; and Philocrates, having received much gold, bought prostitutes and fish; and to Euphorbus and Philagrus, who betrayed Eretria, the king gave land.
ὁ δʼ ἀδόλεσχος ἄμισθός ἐστι προδότης; καὶ αὐτεπάγγελτος, οὐχ ἵππους οὐδὲ τείχη προδιδούς, ἀλλὰ λόγους ἐκφέρων ἀπορρήτους ἐν δίκαις ἐν στάσεσιν ἐν διαπολιτείαις, μηδενὸς αὐτῷ χάριν ἔχοντος· ἀλλʼ ἂν αὐτός ἀκούηται, προσοφείλων χάριν.
But the babbler is an unpaid and self-appointed traitor, betraying not horses or walls, but carrying out secret disclosures in lawsuits, in factions, in political rivalries, while no one feels grateful to him; on the contrary, if he is listened to, he even owes gratitude.
ὥστε τὸ λελεγμένον πρὸς τὸν εἰκῆ καὶ ἀκρίτως ἐκχέοντα τὰ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ καταχαριζόμενον
"οὐ φιλάνθρωπος σὺ γʼ ἐσσʼ· ἔχεις νόσον, χαίρεις διδούς"
ἐναρμόττει καὶ πρὸς τὸν φλύαρον· οὐ φίλος εἶ σὺ ταῦτα μηνύων οὐδʼ εὔνους· ἔχεις νόσον, χαίρεις λαλῶν καὶ φλυαρῶν.
So that what was said to the man who randomly and thoughtlessly pours out his own possessions and squanders them in favors, "You are not philanthropic; you have a disease, you delight in giving," fits the babbler as well: "You are not a friend in revealing these things, nor well-disposed; you have a disease, you delight in talking and babbling."