§1.23Βούνας δικάζει: ἐπὶ τῶν τὰς κρίσεις ἀναβαλλομένων ἀεὶ καὶ ὑπερτιθεμένων.
Bounas judges: said of those who always postpone and defer judgments.
Βούνας γὰρ Ἀθηναῖος ἐγένετο· τούτῳ Ἠλεῖοι πρὸς Καλλιωναίους † διαφερόμενοι ἐπέτρεψαν δίκας νομίσαντες ἀναμένειν, ἕως ἂν ἀποφήναι· γνοὺς δὲ ὁ Βούνας τοῦτο ἀνεβάλλετο μέχρι τελευτῆς τὴν ἀπόφασιν.
For Bounas was an Athenian; the Eleans, disputing with the Kallionians, entrusted the lawsuits to him, thinking that they would wait until he should declare his decision; but Bounas, having realized this, postponed the decision until his death.
§1.24Λοκρικὸς βοῦς: ἐπὶ τῶν εὐτελῶν.
A Locrian ox: said of cheap and paltry things.
οἱ Λοκροὶ· γὰρ ἀποροῦντες βοῶν πρὸς δημοτελῆ θυσίαν, σικύοις ὑποθέντες ξύλα μικρὰ καὶ σχηματίσαντες βοῦν, τούτῳ τὸ θεῖον ἐθεράπευσαν.
For the Locrians, lacking oxen for a public sacrifice, put small pieces of wood under cucumbers and shaped them into an ox, and with this they worshipped the divinity.
§1.25Θεὸς ἡ Ἀναίδεια: ἐπὶ τῶν διὰ τὴν ἀναισχυντίαν ὠφελουμένων.
Shamelessness is a god: said of those who benefit through their impudence.
§1.26Κάκιον Βάβυς αὐλεῖ: ἐπὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸ χεῖρον ἀσκούντων.
Babys plays the flute worse: said of those who practice for the worse.
§1.27Ἄειδε τοὺς Τέλληνος: ὁ Τέλλης ἐγένετο αὐλητὴς καὶ μελῶν ἀνυποτάκτων ποιητής.
Sing the songs of Telles: Telles was a flute-player and a composer of disorderly songs.
§1.28Ὕδωρ παραῤῥέει: ἐπὶ τῶν ἐκ παντὸς ἔργου ἐπαγγελλομένων καταπράξασθαι τὸ προκείμενον.
Water flows past: said of those who promise to accomplish the task before them by any means.
μετῆκται δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ὑπὸ σπουδῆς καὶ εἰς ῥέοντα πλοῖα ἐμβαινόντων καὶ παραβαλλομένων τῷ κινδύνῳ.
It is metaphorically transferred from those who, out of haste, embark onto moving boats and expose themselves to danger.
§1.29Μιχθοφορῶν: αὕτη λέγεται ἐπὶ τῶν ἐρασμίων διδάσκαλος καὶ ὑπερηφάνων, ὥς φασι καὶ τὴν Σαπφὼ ἐρασθῆναι· μὴ φέρουσαν δὲ τὸ πάθος ῥῖψαι αὑτὴν κατὰ τῶν ἐν Λευκαδίᾳ πετρῶν.
Michthophoron: this is said of a lovely and proud teacher, with whom they say Sappho also fell in love, and being unable to bear the passion, threw herself down from the cliffs in Leucadia.
§1.30Λιμοῦ πεδίον: ἐπὶ τῶν ὑπὸ λιμοῦ πιεζομένων πόλεων.
Plain of Famine: said of cities pressed by famine.
τόπος γάρ ἐστιν οὕτω καλούμενος Λιμοῦ πεδίον.
For there is a place called the Plain of Famine.
§1.31Πεύκης τρόπον: ἐπὶ τῶν πανωλεθρίᾳ ἀπολλυμένων· παρόσον ἡ πεύκη κοπεῖσα οὐκέτι φύεται.
In the manner of a pine: said of those who perish in utter destruction; inasmuch as a pine, once cut down, no longer grows.
§1.32Οὐκ εἰμὶ τούτων τῶν ἡρώων: ἐπὶ τῶν βουλομένων εὖ ποιεῖν.
I am not one of those heroes: said of those who wish to do good.
οἱ γὰρ ἥρωες κακοῦν ἕτοιμοι μᾶλλον ἢ ὠφελεῖν.
For heroes are more ready to do harm than to benefit.
§1.33Βοῦθος περιφοιτᾷ: ἐπὶ τῶν ἀσυνέτων καὶ παχυφρόνων, ἀπό τινος Πυθιονίκου Βούθου καλουμένου.
Boothos wanders about: said of the unintelligent and dull-witted, from a certain Pythian victor called Boothos.
§1.34Λιμοδωριεῖς: σιτοδείας ποτὲ γενομένης ἐν Πελοποννήσῳ ἐφόδια τινὲς λαβόντες ἀπῆραν· πλανωμένους δὲ αὐτοὺς ἀπεδέξατο ἡ ἐν Ῥόδῳ Τρίπολις· ἐκλήθησαν δὲ διὰ τοῦτο Λιμοδωριεῖς.
Famine-Dorians: when a grain shortage once occurred in the Peloponnese, some people took provisions and departed; and while they were wandering, the Tripolis in Rhodes received them; and on this account they were called Famine-Dorians.
§1.35Μερὶς οὐ πνίγει: φασὶ περὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα μὴ εἶναι σύνηθες τοῖς ἀρχαίοις διανέμειν μερίδας· διὰ δὲ προφάσεις τινὰς ἐνδεεστέρων γενομένων τῶν ἐδωδίμων, κρατῆσαι τὸ ἔθος τῶν μερίδων, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο τὴν παροιμίαν εἰρῆσθαι.
A portion does not choke: they say that in Greece it was not customary for the ancients to distribute portions; but due to certain reasons, when food became scarce, the custom of portions prevailed, and on this account the proverb was spoken.
§1.36Ἡράκλειος νόσος: τὴν ἱερὰν νόσον Ἡράκλειον ὠνόμαζον· εἰς ταύτην γὰρ ἐκ μακρῶν πόνων ἐμπεσεῖν Ἡρακλέα.
Heraclean disease: they used to call the sacred disease Heraclean; for Heracles fell into this from his long labors.
§1.37Τάδε Μῆδος οὐ φυλάξει: μελλούσης γενέσθαι τῆς Ξέρξου στρατείας, οἱ Ἕλληνες ἀπογνόντες τὴν σωτηρίαν, τὰς οὐσίας αὑτῶν ἀνήλισκον, ἐπιλέγοντες· Τά δε Μῆδος οὐ φυλάξει. §1.38Ἐκκεκόφθ’ ἡ μουσική: τῶν παλαιῶν ἐν τοῖς συμποσίοις φιλολόγῳ ζητήσει χρωμένων, οἱ ὕστερον τὰς μουσουργοὺς καὶ κιθαριστρίας καὶ ὀρχηστρίας ἐπειςήγαγον, ὅθεν τὴν καινοτομίαν τινὲς αἰτιώμενοι τῇ παροιμίᾳ ἐχρῶντο.
The Mede will not guard these: when the expedition of Xerxes was about to take place, the Greeks, despairing of safety, spent all their property, saying: "The Mede will not guard these." Music has been cut off: while the ancients engaged in literary discussion at banquets, later people introduced female musicians, female lyre-players, and female dancers, whence some, blaming this innovation, used the proverb.
§1.39Λευκὴ στάθμη: αὕτη κατ’ ἔλλειψιν εἴρηται ἐπὶ τῶν μὴ ἀκριβῶς τι διακρινόντων.
A white chalk-line: this is said, with an ellipsis, of those who do not distinguish something accurately.
ἐν γὰρ λευκῷ λίθῳ λευκὴ στάθμη λέγεται· ἥκιστα γὰρ διὰ τὸ ὁμοειδὲς σαφής ἐστιν.
For a white chalk-line on white stone is spoken of; for it is least clear due to being of the same kind.
§1.40Μωρύχου Διονύσου: καὶ, Μωρότερος εἶ Διονύσου, ὃς τἄνδον ἀφεὶς, ἔξω τῆς οἰκίας κάθηται: ἐπὶ τῶν εὔηθές τι διαπεπραγμένων.
Of Morychos Dionysus: and, "You are sillier than Dionysus, who, leaving what is inside, sits outside the house": said of those who have done something foolish.
Μώρυχος δὲ ὁ Διόνυσος κατ’ ἐπίθετον ἀπὸ τοῦ τὸ πρόςωπον αὐτοῦ μολύνεσθαι, ἐπειδὰν τρυγῶσι, τῷ ἀπὸ τῶν βοτρύων γλεύκει καὶ τοῖς χλωροῖς σύκοις.
Dionysus is called Morychos by epithet from his face being stained, whenever they gather the vintage, with the must from the grapes and with green figs.
μωρύξαι δὲ τὸ μολῦναι· καταγνωσθῆναι δὲ αὐτοῦ εὐήθειαν, παρόσον ἔξω τοῦ νεοῦ τὸ ἄγαλμα αὐτοῦ ἐστὶ παρὰ τῇ εἰςόδῳ ἐν ὑπαίδρῳ.
For "moryxai" means to stain; and his foolishness was condemned inasmuch as his statue is outside the temple, near the entrance, in the open air.
§1.41Ἡ Ἀμαία τὴν Ἀζησίαν μετῆλθεν: ἐπὶ τῶν πολυχρονίῳ ζητήσει χρωμένων.
Amaia searched for Azesia: said of those who engage in a long-lasting search.
Ἀμαία γὰρ ἡ Δημήτηρ παρὰ Τροιζηνίοις προςαγορεύεται, Ἀζησία δὲ ἡ Κόρη.
For Amaia is what Demeter is called among the Troezenians, and Azesia is Kore.
§1.42Ὁ Λέσβιος πρύλις: αὕτη καθ’ ὁμοίωσιν λέγεται, ὥςπερ Λέσβιος πρύλις. δοκεῖ δὲ ὁ Πρύλις Ἑρμοῦ παῖς γενέσθαι καὶ μάντις.
The Lesbian Prylis: this is said as a comparison, "like the Lesbian Prylis." And Prylis is thought to have been a son of Hermes and a prophet.
§1.43Ἁ φιλοχρηματία τὰν Σπάρταν ἕλοι, ἄλλο δὲ οὐδέν: ἐπὶ τῶν ἐξ ἅπαντος κερδαίνειν προαιρουμένων.
Love of money will destroy Sparta, and nothing else: said of those who choose to profit by all means.
μετήνεγκται ἀπὸ χρησμοῦ δοθέντος Λακεδαιμονίοις.
It is transferred from an oracle given to the Lacedaemonians.
ἔχρησε γὰρ ὁ θεὸς, τότε ἀπολέσθαι ὅταν ἀργύριον καὶ χρυσίον τιμήσωσιν.
For the god prophesied that they would perish when they should honor silver and gold.