§21ἃ δὴ λέγει πρὸς ταῦτα ἀκούσατε.
Listen to what he says in answer to this.
φησὶ γὰρ τὴν ναῦν πλέουσαν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ῥαγῆναι, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ἀναγκασθῆναι καὶ προσσχεῖν εἰς τὴν Ῥόδον κἀκεῖ ἐξελέσθαι τὸν σῖτον.
For he claims that the ship, while sailing from Egypt, sprang a leak, and that for this reason he was forced both to put into Rhodes and to unlade the grain there.
καὶ τούτου τεκμήριον λέγει, ὡς ἄρα ἐκ τῆς Ῥόδου μισθώσαιτο πλοῖα καὶ δεῦρο ἀποστείλειε τῶν χρημάτων ἔνια.
And as proof of this, he says that he hired other vessels from Rhodes and dispatched some of the cargo hither.
ἓν μὲν τοῦτό ἐστιν αὐτῷ μέρος τῆς ἀπολογίας, δεύτερον δʼ ἐκεῖνο· §22φησὶ γὰρ ἑτέρους τινὰς δανειστὰς συγκεχωρηκέναι αὑτῷ τοὺς τόκους τοὺς εἰς Ῥόδον· δεινὸν οὖν, εἰ ἡμεῖς μὴ συγχωρήσομεν ταὐτὰ ἐκείνοις.
This is one part of his defense, and the second is this: he says that certain other lenders agreed to accept from him the interest to Rhodes; and that it would be hard if we should not make the same concession as they did.
τρίτον πρὸς τούτοις τὴν συγγραφὴν κελεύειν φησὶν αὑτὸν σωθείσης τῆς νεὼς ἀποδοῦναι τὰ χρήματα, τὴν δὲ ναῦν οὐ σεσῷσθαι εἰς τὸν Πειραιᾶ.
Third, in addition to this, he says that the contract bids him pay back the money if the ship is saved, but that the ship has not been saved into the Peiraeus.
πρὸς ἕκαστον δὴ τούτων, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, ἀκούσατε ἃ λέγομεν δίκαια.
In reply to each of these points, men of the jury, listen to the just arguments we have to offer.
§23πρῶτον μὲν τὸ ῥαγῆναι τὴν ναῦν ὅταν λέγῃ, οἶμαι πᾶσιν ὑμῖν φανερὸν εἶναι ὅτι ψεύδεται.
In the first place, when he speaks of the ship having sprung a leak, I think it is manifest to you all that he is lying.
εἰ γὰρ τοῦτο συνέβη παθεῖν τῇ νηί, οὔτʼ ἂν εἰς τὴν Ῥόδον ἐσώθη οὔτʼ ἂν ὕστερον πλόϊμος ἦν.
For if this accident had happened to the ship, she would neither have been saved to Rhodes nor would she have been seaworthy afterwards.
νῦν δὲ φαίνεται εἰς τὴν Ῥόδον σωθεῖσα καὶ πάλιν ἐκεῖθεν ἀποσταλεῖσα εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἔτι καὶ νῦν πλέουσα πανταχόσε, πλὴν οὐκ εἰς Ἀθήνας.
But as it is, she appears to have been saved to Rhodes, and to have been dispatched from there back again to Egypt, and to be sailing everywhere even now, except to Athens.
καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἄτοπον, ὅταν μὲν εἰς τὸ Ἀθηναίων ἐμπόριον δεήσῃ κατάγειν τὴν ναῦν, ῥαγῆναι φάσκειν, ὅταν δὲ εἰς τὴν Ῥόδον τὸν σῖτον ἐξελέσθαι, τηνικαῦτα δὲ πλόϊμον οὖσαν φαίνεσθαι τὴν αὐτὴν ναῦν;
And yet is it not absurd, when it was necessary to bring the ship into the port of Athens, to claim that she sprang a leak, but when the grain was to be unladen in Rhodes, that this same ship should then appear to be seaworthy?
§24διὰ τί οὖν, φησίν, ἐμισθωσάμην ἕτερα πλοῖα καὶ μετεξειλόμην τὸν γόμον καὶ δεῦρʼ ἀπέστειλα; ὅτι, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐ τῶν ἁπάντων ἀγωγίμων οὔθʼ οὗτος ἦν κύριος οὔθʼ ὁ κοινωνὸς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλʼ οἱ ἐπιβάται τὰ ἑαυτῶν χρήματα ἀπέστελλον οἶμαι δεῦρο ἐν ἑτέροις πλοίοις ἐξ ἀνάγκης, ἐπειδὴ προκατέλυσαν οὗτοι τὸν πλοῦν· ὧν μέντοι αὐτοὶ ἦσαν κύριοι, οὐδὲ ταῦτα ἀπέστελλον πάντα δεῦρο, ἀλλʼ ἐκλεγόμενοι τίνων αἱ τιμαὶ ἐπετέταντο.
"Why then," he says, "did I hire other vessels and transfer the cargo and dispatch it hither?" Because, men of Athens, neither he nor his partner was the owner of all the cargo, but the passengers were dispatching their own property hither, I suppose, in other vessels of necessity, since these men had brought the voyage to a premature end; but of the goods of which they themselves were owners, they did not dispatch all hither, but only selected those of which the prices had risen.
§25ἐπεὶ τί δήποτε μισθούμενοι ἕτερα πλοῖα, ὥς φατε, οὐχ ἅπαντα τὸν γόμον τῆς νεὼς μετενέθεσθε, ἀλλὰ τὸν σῖτον αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ Ῥόδῳ κατελίπετε;
For why on earth, when hiring other vessels, as you say, did you not transfer the entire cargo of the ship, but left the grain behind in Rhodes?
ὅτι, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τοῦτον μὲν συνέφερεν αὐτοῖς ἐκεῖσε πωλεῖν (τὰς γὰρ τιμὰς τὰς ἐνθάδε ἀνεικέναι ἤκουον)· τὰ δʼ ἄλλʼ ἀγώγιμα ὡς ὑμᾶς ἀπέστελλον, ἀφʼ ὧν κερδανεῖν ἤλπιζον.
Because, men of the jury, it was to their interest to sell the grain there (for they heard that prices here had fallen); but they dispatched the other goods to you, from which they hoped to make a profit.
ὥστε τὴν μίσθωσιν τῶν πλοίων ὅταν λέγῃς, οὐ τοῦ ῥαγῆναι τὴν ναῦν τεκμήριον λέγεις, ἀλλὰ τοῦ συμφέροντος ὑμῖν.
So when you speak of the hiring of the vessels, you are not stating a proof of the ship having sprung a leak, but of your own interest.
§26περὶ μὲν οὖν τούτων ἱκανά μοι τὰ εἰρημένα· περὶ δὲ τῶν δανειστῶν, οὕς φασι συγκεχωρηκέναι λαβεῖν παρʼ αὑτῶν τοὺς εἰς Ῥόδον τόκους, ἔστι μὲν οὐδὲν πρὸς ἡμᾶς τοῦτο.
Concerning these matters, then, what I have said is sufficient; but as to the lenders who they say agreed to accept from them the interest to Rhodes, this is nothing to us.
εἰ γάρ τις ὑμῖν ἀφῆκέν τι τῶν αὑτοῦ, οὐδὲν ἀδικεῖται οὔθʼ ὁ δοὺς οὔθʼ ὁ πείσας· ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς οὔτʼ ἀφείκαμέν σοι οὐδὲν οὔτε συγκεχωρήκαμεν τῷ πλῷ τῷ εἰς Ῥόδον, οὐδʼ ἐστὶν ἡμῖν οὐδὲν κυριώτερον τῆς συγγραφῆς.
For if anyone has released to you any part of his own property, neither the giver nor the persuader is wronged; but we have neither released anything to you, nor have we agreed to the voyage to Rhodes, nor is there anything more binding upon us than the contract.
§27αὕτη δὲ τί λέγει καὶ ποῖ προστάττει τὸν πλοῦν ποιεῖσθαι;
And what does the contract itself say, and where does it direct the voyage to be made?
Ἀθήνηθεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἐξ Αἰγύπτου εἰς Ἀθήνας· εἰ δὲ μή, ἀποτίνειν κελεύει διπλάσια τὰ χρήματα.
From Athens to Egypt, and from Egypt to Athens; and if not, it bids you pay double the money.
ταῦτα εἰ μὲν πεποίηκας, οὐδὲν ἀδικεῖς, εἰ δὲ μὴ πεποίηκας μηδὲ κατακεκόμικας τὴν ναῦν Ἀθήναζε, προσήκει σε ζημιοῦσθαι τῷ ἐπιτιμίῳ τῷ ἐκ τῆς συγγραφῆς· τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ δίκαιον οὐκ ἄλλος οὐδείς, ἀλλʼ αὐτὸς σὺ σαυτῷ ὥρισας.
If you have done this, you do no wrong; but if you have not done it, nor have brought the ship into port at Athens, it is proper that you should be penalized with the fine written in the contract; for this just condition was defined by no one else, but by yourself for yourself.
δεῖξον οὖν τοῖς δικασταῖς δυοῖν θάτερον, ἢ τὴν συγγραφήν, ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν κυρία, ἢ ὡς οὐ δίκαιος εἶ πάντα κατὰ ταύτην πράττειν.
Show the jury, therefore, one of two things: either that the contract is not binding upon us, or that you are not bound to do everything in accordance with it.