§5Λυσίας τινὶ δίκην ἔχοντι λόγον συγγράψας ἔδωκεν·
Lysias wrote a speech for someone who had a lawsuit and gave it to him.
ὁ δὲ πολλάκις ἀναγνοὺς ἧκε πρὸς τὸν Λυσίαν ἀθυμῶν καὶ λέγων τὸ μὲν πρῶτον αὐτῷ διεξιόντι θαυμαστὸν φανῆναι τὸν λόγον, αὖθις δὲ καὶ τρίτον ἀναλαμβάνοντι παντελῶς ἀμβλὺν καὶ ἄπρακτον·
The man, having read it many times, came to Lysias in dejection, saying that when he first went through it by himself, the speech seemed wonderful to him, but as he took it up a second and a third time, it seemed altogether blunt and useless.
ὁ δὲ Λυσίας γελάσας
τί οὖν
εἶπεν
οὐχ ἅπαξ μέλλεις λέγειν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῶν δικαστῶν;
But Lysias laughed and said, "What of it?
καὶ σκόπει τὴν Λυσίου πειθὼ καὶ χάριν· κἀκεῖνον γάρ
"ἐγώ φαμὶ ἰοπλοκάμων Μοισᾶν εὖ λαχεῖν. "
τῶν δὲ περὶ τοῦ ποιητοῦ λεγομένων ἀληθέστατόν ἐστιν, ὅτι μόνος Ὅμηρος τῆς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἁψικορίας περιγέγονεν, ἀεὶ καινὸς ὢν καὶ πρὸς χάριν ἀκμάζων·
Are you not going to speak it just once before the judges?" And behold the persuasiveness and grace of Lysias; for of him too it might be said, "I claim to have obtained by lot a good share of the violet-crowned Muses." And of the things said about the poet, the truest is that Homer alone has overcome human satiety, being always fresh and blooming with favor.
ἀλλʼ ὅμως εἰπὼν καὶ ἀναφωνήσας ἐκεῖνο περὶ αὑτοῦ, τὸ
"
ἐχθρὸν δὲ μοί ἐστιν
αὖτις ἀριζήλως εἰρημένα μυθολογεύειν
"
φεύγει καὶ φοβεῖται τὸν ἐφεδρεύοντα παντὶ λόγῳ κόρον, εἰς ἄλλα ἐξ ἄλλων διηγήματα τὴν ἀκοὴν ἄγων καὶ τῇ καινότητι τὴν πλησμονὴν αὐτῆς παραμυθούμενος.
Yet, despite having said and proclaimed that about himself: "And it is hateful to me to tell again tales already clearly spoken," he avoids and fears the satiety that lies in wait for every speech, leading the audience's attention from some stories to others, and comforting its fullness with novelty.
οἱ δʼ ἀποκναίουσι δήπου τὰ ὦτα ταῖς ταυτολογίαις ὥσπερ παλίμψηστα διαμολύνοντες.
But those babblers wear away our ears with their repetitions, defiling them like palimpsests.
§6τοῦτο τοίνυν πρῶτον ὑπομιμνήσκωμεν αὐτούς, ὅτι, καθάπερ τὸν οἶνον ἡδονῆς ἕνεκα καὶ φιλοφροσύνης εὑρημένον οἱ προσβιαζόμενοι πολὺν πίνειν καὶ ἄκρατον ἐνίους εἰς ἀηδίαν καὶ παροινίαν τρέπουσιν, οὕτω τὸν λόγον ἣδιστον ὄντα καὶ φιλανθρωπότατον συμβόλαιον οἱ χρώμενοι κακῶς καὶ προχείρως ἀπάνθρωπον ποιοῦσι καὶ ἄμικτον, οἷς οἴονται χαρίζεσθαι λυποῦντες καὶ ἀφʼ ὧν θαυμάζεσθαι καταγελώμενοι καὶ διʼ ὧν φιλεῖσθαι δυσχεραινόμενοι.
So let us first of all remind them of this: that just as those who force people to drink much and unmixed wine—which was invented for the sake of pleasure and friendliness —turn some to unpleasantness and drunken behavior, so those who use speech badly and carelessly make what is the sweetest and most human of associations into something inhuman and antisocial, hurting those whom they think they are pleasing, being laughed at by those by whom they wish to be admired, and being disliked for the very means by whom they wish to be loved.
ὥσπερ οὖν ὁ τῷ κεστῷ τοὺς ὁμιλοῦντας ἀποστρέφων καὶ ἀπελαύνων ἀναφρόδιτος, οὕτως τῷ λόγῳ λυπῶν καὶ ἀπεχθανόμενος ἄμουσός τις καὶ ἄτεχνός ἐστι.
Therefore, just as he who turns away and drives off his companions with the magic girdle is unlovely, so he who hurts and becomes hated by his speech is unmusical and unskilled.
§7τῶν δʼ ἄλλων παθῶν καὶ νοσημάτων τὰ μέν ἐστιν ἐπικίνδυνα τὰ δὲ μισητὰ τὰ δὲ καταγέλαστα, τῇ δʼ ἀδολεσχίᾳ πάντα συμβέβηκε.
Among the other passions and diseases, some are dangerous, some are hateful, and some are ridiculous, but to babbling all these have happened.
χλευάζονται μὲν γὰρ ἐν ταῖς κοιναῖς διηγήσεσι, μισοῦνται δὲ διὰ τὰς τῶν κακῶν προσαγγελίας, κινδυνεύουσι δὲ τῶν ἀπορρήτων μὴ κρατοῦντες, ὅθεν Ἀνάχαρσις ἑστιαθεὶς παρὰ Σόλωνι καὶ κοιμώμενος, ὤφθη τὴν μὲν ἀριστερὰν χεῖρα τοῖς μορίοις τὴν δὲ δεξιὰν τῷ στόματι προσκειμένην ἔχων·
For they are mocked in ordinary narratives, hated because of their reports of evils, and they run risks because they do not control secrets.
ἐγκρατεστέρου γὰρ ᾤετο χαλινοῦ δεῖσθαι τὴν γλῶτταν, ὀρθῶς οἰόμενος.
Hence Anacharsis, having been entertained at Solon's house and falling asleep, was seen to have his left hand placed on his private parts and his right hand on his mouth; for he thought that the tongue required a stronger bridle, thinking correctly.
οὐ γὰρ ἄν τις ἐξαριθμήσαιτο ῥᾳδίως ἄνδρας τοσούτους ἀφροδισίων ἀκρασίᾳ πεπτωκότας, ὅσας πόλεις καὶ ἡγεμονίας λόγος ἐξενεχθεὶς ἀπόρρητος ἀναστάτους ἐποίησε.
For one could not easily count up as many men who have fallen through the intemperance of sexual pleasures as the number of cities and empires that have been ruined by a secret word being let slip.
Σύλλας ἐπολιόρκει τὰς Ἀθήνας, οὐκ ἔχων σχολὴν ἐνδιατρῖψαι χρόνον πολὺν
ἐπεὶ πόνος ἄλλος ἔπειγεν
ἡρπακότος μὲν Ἀσίαν Μιθριδάτου τῶν δὲ περὶ Μάριον αὖθις ἐν Ῥώμῃ κρατούντων·
Sulla was besieging Athens, having no leisure to spend a long time there, since another labor urged him on, Mithridates having seized Asia, and those around Marius again holding power in Rome.
ἀλλὰ πρεσβυτῶν τινων ἐπὶ κουρείου διαλεγομένων ὡς οὐ φυλάττεται τὸ Ἑπτάχαλκον καὶ κινδυνεύει τὸ ἄστυ κατʼ ἐκεῖνο ληφθῆναι τὸ μέρος, ἀκούσαντες οἱ κατάσκοποι πρὸς τὸν Σύλλαν ἐξήγγειλαν.
But when certain old men were talking at a barbershop, saying that the Heptachalcon was not guarded and that the city was in danger of being taken at that part, the spies heard this and reported it to Sulla.
ὁ δʼ εὐθὺς τὴν δύναμιν προσαγαγὼν περὶ μέσας νύκτας εἰσήγαγε τὸ στράτευμα, καὶ μικροῦ μὲν κατέσκαψε τὴν πόλιν ἐνέπλησε δὲ φόνου καὶ νεκρῶν, ὥστε τὸν Κεραμεικὸν αἵματι ῥυῆναι.
He immediately brought up his force and about midnight led in his army, and almost razed the city to the ground, and filled it with slaughter and corpses, so that the Cerameicus flowed with blood.
χαλεπῶς δὲ πρὸς τοὺς Ἀθηναίους ἔσχε διὰ τοὺς λόγους μᾶλλον ἢ τὰ ἔργα· κακῶς γὰρ αὐτὸν ἔλεγον καὶ τὴν Μετέλλαν, ἀναπηδῶντες ἐπὶ τὰ τείχη καὶ σκώπτοντες
"συκάμινον ἔσθʼ ὁ Σύλλας ἀλφίτῳ πεπασμένον,ʼ"
καὶ τοιαῦτα πολλὰ φλυαροῦντες ἐπεσπάσαντο κουφοτάτου πράγματος
λόγων
ὥς φησιν ὁ Πλάτων
βαρυτάτην ζημίαν
τὴν δὲ Ῥωμαίων πόλιν ἐκώλυσεν ἐλευθέραν γενέσθαι, Νέρωνος ἀπαλλαγεῖσαν, ἑνὸς ἀνδρὸς ἀδολεσχία.
And he felt bitterly toward the Athenians because of their words rather than their deeds; for they spoke ill of him and of Metella, leaping upon the walls and mocking, "Sulla is a mulberry sprinkled with meal," and babbling many such things, they drew upon themselves, for a most trifling thing— "words," as Plato says— "the heaviest penalty." And the city of the Romans was prevented from becoming free, after being rid of Nero, by the babbling of a single man.
μία γὰρ ἦν νύξ, μεθʼ ἣν ἔδει τὸν τύραννον ἀπολωλέναι, παρεσκευασμένων ἀπάντων· ὁ δὲ μέλλων αὐτὸν ἀποκτιννύναι, πορευόμενος εἰς θέατρον ἰδών τινα τῶν δεδεμένων ἐπὶ θύραις μέλλοντα προσάγεσθαι τῷ Νέρωνι καὶ τὴν αὑτοῦ τύχην ἀποδυρόμενον, ἐγγὺς προσῆλθεν αὐτῷ καὶ προσψιθυρίσας
εὔχου
φησὶν
ὦ ἄνθρωπε, τὴν σήμερον ἡμέραν παρελθεῖν μόνον, αὔριον δέ μοι εὐχαριστήσεις. ἁρπάσας οὖν τὸ αἰνιχθὲν ἐκεῖνος καὶ νοήσας, οἶμαι, ὅτι
"νήπιος, ὃς τὰ ἕτοιμα λιπὼν ἀνέτοιμα διώκει"
τὴν βεβαιοτέραν εἵλετο σωτηρίαν πρὸ τῆς δικαιοτέρας.
For there was but one night, after which the tyrant was to have perished, all things being prepared; but the man who was about to kill him, going to the theater and seeing one of those bound at the doors who was about to be led before Nero and lamenting his fortune, came close to him and whispered, "Pray, my good man, that today alone may pass, and tomorrow you will thank me." So he, grasping the riddle and understanding, I suppose, that "foolish is he who leaves what is ready and pursues what is unready," chose the surer safety before the more just.
ἐμήνυσε γὰρ τῷ Νέρωνι τὴν φωνὴν τἀνθρώπου· κἀκεῖνος εὐθὺς ἀνήρπαστο, καὶ βάσανοι καὶ πῦρ καὶ μάστιγες ἐπʼ αὐτόν, ἀρνούμενον πρὸς τὴν ἀνάγκην ἃ χωρὶς ἀνάγκης ἐμήνυσε.
For he reported the voice of the man to Nero; and that man was immediately snatched away, and tortures, fire, and whips were applied to him, as he denied under compulsion what he had reported without compulsion.