§161πωλεῖν τε τοὺς ἀλλᾶντας, ἀλλὰ καταγελᾷς;
To sell sausages, indeed! But are you mocking me?
§162ὦ μῶρε ποίας κοιλίας;
O fool, what do you mean by tripes?
δευρὶ βλέπε.
Look here.
§163τὰς στίχας ὁρᾷς τὰς τῶνδε τῶν λαῶν;
Do you see the ranks of these peoples?
§163bὁρῶ.
I see them.
§164τούτων ἁπάντων αὐτὸς ἀρχέλας ἔσει, §165καὶ τῆς ἀγορᾶς καὶ τῶν λιμένων καὶ τῆς πυκνός· §166βουλὴν πατήσεις καὶ στρατηγοὺς κλαστάσεις, §167δήσεις φυλάξεις, ἐν πρυτανείῳ λαικάσει.
You yourself shall be the ruler over all of these, both of the marketplace, and of the harbors, and of the Pnyx; you shall trample on the Council, and cut the generals down, you shall bind and guard them, and commit lewdness in the Prytaneum.
§168ἐγώ;
I?
§168bσὺ μέντοι· κοὐδέπω γε πάνθʼ ὁρᾷς.
You, indeed; and you do not yet see everything.
But go up even onto this chopping block here and look down upon all the islands in a circle.
§171καθορῶ.
I see them.
§171bτί δαί;
And what then?
τἀμπόρια καὶ τὰς ὁλκάδας;
The emporiums and the merchant ships?
§172ἔγωγε.
Yes, indeed.
§172bπῶς οὖν οὐ μεγάλως εὐδαιμονεῖς;
How then are you not greatly blessed?
Furthermore, cast your right eye now toward Caria, and the other one toward Carthage.
§175εὐδαιμονήσω δʼ εἰ διαστραφήσομαι;
But shall I be happy if I squint?
§176οὐκ ἀλλὰ διὰ σοῦ ταῦτα πάντα πέρναται.
No, indeed, but all these things are sold through you.
For you are becoming, as this oracle says, a most great man.
Tell me, how shall I, being a sausage-seller, become a great man?
For this very reason indeed you are becoming great, because you are a rogue, from the marketplace, and bold.
§182οὐκ ἀξιῶ ʼγὼ ʼμαυτὸν ἰσχύειν μέγα.
I do not deem myself worthy of holding great power.
§183οἴμοι τί ποτʼ ἔσθʼ ὅτι σαυτὸν οὐ φῂς ἄξιον;
Ah me, why on earth do you say you are not worthy?
§184ξυνειδέναι τί μοι δοκεῖς σαυτῷ καλόν.
You seem to me to be conscious of something good in yourself.
§185μῶν ἐκ καλῶν εἶ κἀγαθῶν;
Surely you are not from noble and good families?
O blessed in respect of your fortune, what a great advantage you have received for public affairs!
But, my good sir, I do not even know music, except for reading and writing, and that indeed very poorly.
§190τουτὶ μόνον σʼ ἔβλαψεν, ὅτι καὶ κακὰ κακῶς.
Only this has harmed you, that you know it even poorly.
§191ἡ δημαγωγία γὰρ οὐ πρὸς μουσικοῦ §192ἔτʼ ἐστὶν ἀνδρὸς οὐδὲ χρηστοῦ τοὺς τρόπους, §193ἀλλʼ εἰς ἀμαθῆ καὶ βδελυρόν.
For demagogy is no longer the business of a cultured man nor of one honest in character, but of an ignorant and abominable one.
ἀλλὰ μὴ παρῇς §194ἅ σοι διδόασʼ ἐν τοῖς λογίοισιν οἱ θεοί.
But do not let pass what the gods are giving you in the oracles.
§195πῶς δῆτά φησʼ ὁ χρησμός;
How indeed does the oracle put it?
§195bεὖ νὴ τοὺς θεοὺς §196καὶ ποικίλως πως καὶ σοφῶς ᾐνιγμένος· §197ἀλλʼ ὁπόταν μάρψῃ βυρσαίετος ἀγκυλοχήλης §198γαμφηλῇσι δράκοντα κοάλεμον αἱματοπώτην, §199δὴ τότε Παφλαγόνων μὲν ἀπόλλυται ἡ σκοροδάλμη, §200κοιλιοπώλῃσιν δὲ θεὸς μέγα κῦδος ὀπάζει, §201αἴ κεν μὴ πωλεῖν ἀλλᾶντας μᾶλλον ἕλωνται.
Well, by the gods, and in a somewhat complex and clever way, riddling: 'But when the crooked-taloned leather-eagle shall snatch with his beak the silly, blood-drinking serpent, then indeed the garlic-sauce of the Paphlagonians is destroyed, and to the tripe-sellers the god grants great glory, if they do not choose rather to stop selling sausages.' How then does this apply to me?
§202πῶς οὖν πρὸς ἐμὲ ταῦτʼ ἐστίν; ἀναδίδασκέ με.
Instruct me.
§203βυρσαίετος μὲν ὁ Παφλαγών ἐσθʼ οὑτοσί.
This leather-eagle is the Paphlagonian here.
§204τί δʼ ἀγκυλοχήλης ἐστίν;
And what is 'crooked-taloned'?
It explains itself indeed, that he snatches and carries off with his crooked hands.
§206ὁ δράκων δὲ πρὸς τί;
And what is the serpent?
§206bτοῦτο περιφανέστατον.
This is most obvious.
§207ὁ δράκων γάρ ἐστι μακρὸν ὅ τʼ ἀλλᾶς αὖ μακρόν.
For the serpent is long, and the sausage, in turn, is long.
§208εἶθʼ αἱματοπώτης ἔσθʼ ὅ τʼ ἀλλᾶς χὠ δράκων· §209τὸν οὖν δράκοντά φησι τὸν βυρσαίετον §210ἤδη κρατήσειν, αἴ κε μὴ θαλφθῇ λόγοις.
Then both the sausage and the serpent are blood-sellers; so it says that the leather-eagle will soon be conquered by the serpent, unless he is softened by words.
The oracles indeed flatter me; but I wonder how I shall be capable of governing the people.
§213φαυλότατον ἔργον· ταῦθʼ ἅπερ ποιεῖς ποίει· §214τάραττε καὶ χόρδευʼ ὁμοῦ τὰ πράγματα §215ἅπαντα, καὶ τὸν δῆμον ἀεὶ προσποιοῦ §216ὑπογλυκαίνων ῥηματίοις μαγειρικοῖς.
An easy task indeed; do just what you are doing; stir and mince all public affairs together, and always win over the people by sweetening them with little culinary phrases.
§217τὰ δʼ ἄλλα σοι πρόσεστι δημαγωγικά, §218φωνὴ μιαρά, γέγονας κακῶς, ἀγοραῖος εἶ· §219ἔχεις ἅπαντα πρὸς πολιτείαν ἃ δεῖ· §220χρησμοί τε συμβαίνουσι καὶ τὸ Πυθικόν.
You have all other demagogic qualities, a foul voice, low birth, and you are from the marketplace; you have everything that is needed for politics; both the oracles and the Pythian response agree.
So crown yourself and pour a libation to Coalemus; and see to it that you defend yourself against the man.
καὶ γὰρ οἵ τε πλούσιοι §224δεδίασιν αὐτὸν ὅ τε πένης βδύλλει λεώς.
For both the rich fear him, and the poor people shrink in terror.
§225ἀλλʼ εἰσὶν ἱππῆς ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ χίλιοι §226μισοῦντες αὐτόν, οἳ βοηθήσουσί σοι, §227καὶ τῶν πολιτῶν οἱ καλοί τε κἀγαθοί, §228καὶ τῶν θεατῶν ὅστις ἐστὶ δεξιός, §229κἀγὼ μετʼ αὐτῶν χὠ θεὸς ξυλλήψεται.
But there are a thousand noble knights who hate him, who will help you, and the noble and good among the citizens, and whoever among the spectators is clever, and I with them, and the god will assist.
§230καὶ μὴ δέδιθʼ· οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἐξῃκασμένος, §231ὑπὸ τοῦ δέους γὰρ αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς ἤθελεν §232τῶν σκευοποιῶν εἰκάσαι.
And do not fear; for he is not represented with a likeness, for out of fear none of the mask-makers wanted to make a likeness of him.
πάντως γε μὴν §233γνωσθήσεται· τὸ γὰρ θέατρον δεξιόν.
Yet surely he will be recognized; for the theater is clever.
§234οἴμοι κακοδαίμων ὁ Παφλαγὼν ἐξέρχεται.
Ah me, the cursed Paphlagonian is coming out.