§8τούτων μὲν δὴ τοιούτους ἀκούω λόγους.
Such are the stories I hear about them.
ἐκεῖνο δʼ οἶδʼ ὅτι, εἰ μὲν οὗτος ἀληθῆ λέγει καὶ δεινὰ πέπονθεν, ὥσπερ φησίν, ὑπὸ τοῦ Εὐέργου, ἔχει δίκην ἧς ἐτιμήσατʼ αὐτός· εἷλεν γὰρ εἰσελθὼν αὐτὸν ὡς ὑμᾶς, καὶ οὐ δήπου τῶν αὐτῶν παρά τε τοῦ πεποιηκότος δίκαιός ἐστιν δίκην λαβεῖν καὶ παρʼ ἐμοῦ τοῦ μηδʼ ἐπιδημοῦντος·
But this I know: if this man is telling the truth and has suffered terrible treatment from Euergos, as he claims, he has already received the damages which he himself estimated; for he brought him to trial before you and won his case, and surely it is not just that he should obtain damages for the same acts both from the one who committed them and from me, who was not even in the country.
εἰ δʼ ὁ Εὔεργος ἀληθῆ λέγει, σεσυκοφάντηται μὲν ὡς ἔοικεν ἐκεῖνος, ἐγὼ δʼ οὐδʼ οὕτως τῶν αὐτῶν φεύγοιμʼ ἂν δίκην εἰκότως.
On the other hand, if Euergos is telling the truth, although the latter has apparently been maliciously prosecuted, even so I cannot reasonably be made a defendant in a suit for the same matters.
ὡς οὖν ταῦτα πρῶτον ἀληθῆ λέγω, τούτων τοὺς μάρτυρας ὑμῖν παρέξομαι.
To prove, first of all, that I am telling the truth in this, I shall present to you the witnesses of these facts.
ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕΣ.
WITNESSES.
§9ὅτι μὲν τοίνυν καὶ πρατὴρ ἦν ἡμῖν τῶν κτημάτων ὅσπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς αὐτὸς ἐώνητο, καὶ κατὰ τὰς συνθήκας οὗτος ἐμισθώσαθʼ ἡμέτερον ὂν τὸ ἐργαστήριον καὶ τἀνδράποδα, καὶ οὔτε παρῆν ἐγὼ τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα πρὸς Εὔεργον τούτῳ πραχθεῖσιν οὔτʼ ἐπεδήμουν ὅλως, ἔλαχέν τε δίκην ἐκείνῳ καὶ οὐδὲν πώποθʼ ἡμῖν ἐνεκάλει, ἀκούετε τῶν μαρτύρων, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί.
That, therefore, the seller of the property to us was the very man who had originally bought it himself, that this man leased the workshop and the slaves, which were ours, in accordance with the agreement, and that I was neither present at what was subsequently done between him and Euergos nor even in the country at all, and that he brought a suit against the latter but never made any complaint against us—hear, gentlemen of the jury, the testimonies of the witnesses to these facts.
§10ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀφικόμην σχεδόν τι πάντʼ ἀπολωλεκὼς ὅσʼ ἔχων ἐξέπλευσα, ἀκούσας καὶ καταλαβὼν τοῦτον μὲν ἀφεστηκότα, τὸν δʼ Εὔεργον ἔχοντα καὶ κρατοῦνθʼ ὧν ἐωνήμεθα, θαυμαστῶς ὡς ἐλυπήθην, ὁρῶν τὸ πρᾶγμά μοι περιεστηκὸς εἰς ἄτοπον·
When, therefore, I returned, having lost almost everything I had when I set sail, and heard and found that this man had withdrawn and that Euergos was in possession and control of what we had purchased, I was wonderfully distressed, seeing that my situation had turned into an awkward one.
ἢ γὰρ κοινωνεῖν ἔδει τῆς ἐργασίας καὶ τῶν ἐπιμελειῶν τῷ Εὐέργῳ, ἢ χρήστην ἀντὶ τούτου τὸν Εὔεργον ἔχειν, καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον πάλιν μίσθωσιν γράφειν καὶ συμβόλαιον ποιεῖσθαι· τούτων δʼ οὐδέτερον προῃρούμην.
For I was forced either to share the work and management with Euergos, or to have Euergos as a lessee instead of this man, and to draw up a lease and make a contract with him in turn; but I preferred neither of these courses.
§11ἀηδῶς δʼ ἔχων οἷς λέγω τούτοις, ἰδὼν τὸν Μνησικλέα τὸν πρατῆρα τούτων ἡμῖν γεγενημένον, προσελθὼν ἐμεμφόμην αὐτῷ, λέγων οἷον ἄνθρωπον προὐξένησέ μοι, καὶ τοὺς ἀμφισβητοῦντας καὶ τί ταῦτʼ ἐστὶν ἠρώτων.
Feeling annoyed at these matters of which I speak, and seeing Mnesicles, who had been the seller of these properties to us, I went to him and blamed him, saying what kind of a man he had introduced to me, and I asked who those disputants were and what all this meant.
ἀκούσας δʼ ἐκεῖνος τῶν μὲν ἀμφισβητούντων κατεγέλα, συνελθεῖν δʼ ἔφη τούτους βούλεσθαι πρὸς ἡμᾶς, καὶ συνάξειν αὐτὸς ἡμᾶς, καὶ παραινέσειν τούτῳ πάντα ποιεῖν τὰ δίκαιʼ ἐμοί, καὶ οἴεσθαι πείσειν.
On hearing this, he laughed at the disputants, and said they wished to meet with us, and that he himself would bring us together, and would advise this man to do all that was just toward me, and thought he would persuade him.
§12ὡς δὲ συνήλθομεν, τὰ μὲν πολλὰ τί δεῖ λέγειν;
When we met, what need is there to tell most of the details?
ἧκον δʼ οἱ δεδανεικέναι φάσκοντες τούτῳ ἐπὶ τῷ ἐργαστηρίῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀνδραπόδοις ἃ ἡμεῖς ἐπριάμεθα παρὰ Μνησικλέους, καὶ οὐδὲν ἦν ἁπλοῦν οὐδʼ ὑγιὲς τούτων.
There came those who claimed to have lent money to this man on the security of the workshop and the slaves which we had bought from Mnesicles, and there was nothing straightforward or honest about them.
πάντα δʼ ἐξελεγχόμενοι ψευδῆ λέγοντες, καὶ τοῦ Μνησικλέους βεβαιοῦντος ἡμῖν, προκαλοῦνται πρόκλησιν ἡμᾶς ὡς οὐ δεξομένους, ἢ κομίσασθαι πάντα τὰ χρήματα παρʼ αὑτῶν καὶ ἀπελθεῖν, ἢ διαλῦσαι σφᾶς ὑπὲρ ὧν ἐνεκάλουν, αἰτιώμενοι πολλῷ πλείονος ἄξιʼ ἔχειν ὧν ἐδεδώκεμεν χρημάτων.
When they were all convicted of lying, and Mnesicles confirmed our title, they made a proposal to us, expecting that we would not accept it, namely, either to receive all our money from them and depart, or to satisfy them for the claims they made, alleging that we held property of far greater value than the money we had advanced.
§13ἀκούσας δʼ ἐγώ, παραχρῆμα, οὐδὲ βουλευσάμενος, κομίσασθαι συνεχώρησα, καὶ τὸν Εὔεργον ἔπεισα.
Upon hearing this, I immediately, without even deliberating, agreed to receive the money and persuaded Euergos to do so.
ἐπειδὴ δʼ ἔδει τὰ χρήμαθʼ ἡμᾶς ἀπολαμβάνειν καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμʼ εἰς τοῦτο προῆκτο, οὐκ ἔφασαν μετὰ ταῦτα δώσειν οἱ τότʼ ἐκεῖνʼ ἐπαγγειλάμενοι, εἰ μὴ πρατῆρες γιγνοίμεθʼ ἡμεῖς τῶν κτημάτων αὐτοῖς, νοῦν ἔχοντες, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατʼ αὐτό γε τοῦτο· ἑώρων γὰρ ἡμᾶς οἷʼ ἐσυκοφαντούμεθʼ ὑπὸ τούτου.
But when we were to receive the money and the matter had reached this point, those who had then made the offer said afterward that they would not pay unless we became the sellers of the property to them, showing good sense, gentlemen of Athens, in this very point; for they saw how we were being maliciously prosecuted by this man.
ὡς οὖν καὶ ταῦτʼ ἀληθῆ λέγω, λαβέ μοι καὶ ταύτας τὰς μαρτυρίας.
To prove that I am telling the truth in this also, please take these depositions as well.
ΜΑΡΤΥΡΙΑΙ.
DEPOSITIONS.
§14ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὸ πρᾶγμʼ ἐνταῦθʼ εἱστήκει, καὶ τὰ μὲν χρήματʼ οὐ προΐενθʼ οὓς ἐπήγαγεν οὗτος, ἡμεῖς δʼ εἰκότως ἐφαινόμεθʼ ὧν ἐωνήμεθα κρατεῖν, ἱκέτευεν, ἐδεῖτο, ἠντεβόλει πρατῆρας ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι.
When, therefore, the matter stood at this point, and those whom this man had brought forward would not part with their money, and we naturally appeared to retain possession of what we had bought, he begged, entreated, and implored us to become the sellers.
ἀξιοῦντος δὲ τούτου καὶ πολλὰ δεηθέντος ἐμοῦ καὶ τί οὐ ποιήσαντος;
Since he demanded this and made many entreaties to me, and what did he not do?
καὶ τοῦθʼ ὑπέμεινα.
I submitted to this also.