§5.92F.1ἄρξαντος δὲ τούτου ἐπὶ τριήκοντα ἔτεα καὶ διαπλέξαντος τὸν βίον εὖ, διάδοχός οἱ τῆς τυραννίδος ὁ παῖς Περίανδρος γίνεται.
When this man had ruled for thirty years and had brought his life to a good end, his son Periander became his successor to the tyranny.
ὁ τοίνυν Περίανδρος κατʼ ἀρχὰς μὲν ἦν ἠπιώτερος τοῦ πατρός, ἐπείτε δὲ ὡμίλησε διʼ ἀγγέλων Θρασυβούλῳ τῷ Μιλήτου τυράννῳ, πολλῷ ἔτι ἐγένετο Κυψέλου μιαιφονώτερος.
Now Periander was at first milder than his father, but after he had communicated through messengers with Thrasybulus, the tyrant of Miletus, he became far more bloodthirsty than Cypselus.
§5.92F.2πέμψας γὰρ παρὰ Θρασύβουλον κήρυκα ἐπυνθάνετο ὅντινα ἂν τρόπον ἀσφαλέστατον καταστησάμενος τῶν πρηγμάτων κάλλιστα τὴν πόλιν ἐπιτροπεύοι.
For he sent a messenger to Thrasybulus and inquired in what safest way he might establish his affairs and best govern the city.
Θρασύβουλος δὲ τὸν ἐλθόντα παρὰ τοῦ Περιάνδρου ἐξῆγε ἔξω τοῦ ἄστεος, ἐσβὰς δὲ ἐς ἄρουραν ἐσπαρμένην ἅμα τε διεξήιε τὸ λήιον ἐπειρωτῶν τε καὶ ἀναποδίζων τὸν κήρυκα κατὰ τὴν ἀπὸ Κορίνθου ἄπιξιν, καὶ ἐκόλουε αἰεὶ ὅκως τινὰ ἴδοι τῶν ἀσταχύων ὑπερέχοντα, κολούων δὲ ἔρριπτε, ἐς ὃ τοῦ ληίου τὸ κάλλιστόν τε καὶ βαθύτατον διέφθειρε τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ·
Thrasybulus led the messenger who had come from Periander out of the town, and entering a sown field, he walked through the standing corn, questioning and cross-examining the messenger about his journey from Corinth, and all the while he would keep cutting off any of the ears of corn that he saw standing higher than the rest, and as he cut them, he threw them away, until in this manner he had destroyed the finest and tallest of the crop.
§5.92F.3διεξελθὼν δὲ τὸ χωρίον καὶ ὑποθέμενος ἔπος οὐδὲν ἀποπέμπει τὸν κήρυκα.
Having gone through the field and given no word of advice, he sent the messenger away.
νοστήσαντος δὲ τοῦ κήρυκος ἐς τὴν Κόρινθον ἦν πρόθυμος πυνθάνεσθαι τὴν ὑποθήκην ὁ Περίανδρος·
When the messenger returned to Corinth, Periander was eager to learn the advice.
ὁ δὲ οὐδέν οἱ ἔφη Θρασύβουλον ὑποθέσθαι, θωμάζειν τε αὐτοῦ παρʼ οἷόν μιν ἄνδρα ἀποπέμψειε, ὡς παραπλῆγά τε καὶ τῶν ἑωυτοῦ σινάμωρον, ἀπηγεόμενος τά περ πρὸς Θρασυβούλου ὀπώπεε.
But the messenger said that Thrasybulus had given him no advice, and that he wondered at what kind of man Periander had sent him to, as if he were a madman and a destroyer of his own possessions, and he related all that he had seen Thrasybulus do.