Cleon: And indeed, by Zeus, because of my cleverness I can make the Demus broad and narrow.
§721χὠ πρωκτὸς οὑμὸς τουτογὶ σοφίζεται.
Sausage-Seller: And my anus too knows this trick.
§722οὐκ ὦγάθʼ ἐν βουλῇ με δόξεις καθυβρίσαι.
Cleon: My good man, do not think you have insulted me with impunity in the Council.
§723ἴωμεν ἐς τὸν δῆμον.
Let us go to the Demus.
§723bοὐδὲν κωλύει·
Sausage-Seller: Nothing prevents it.
§724ἰδοὺ βάδιζε, μηδὲν ἡμᾶς ἰσχέτω.
Look, walk on, let nothing hold us back.
§725ὦ Δῆμε δεῦρʼ ἔξελθε.
Cleon: O Demus, come out here!
Sausage-Seller: O dearest little Demus, come out, so that you may know how I am being insulted.
§728τίνες οἱ βοῶντες;
Demus: Who are those shouting?
οὐκ ἄπιτʼ ἀπὸ τῆς θύρας;
Won't you go away from the door?
§729τὴν εἰρεσιώνην μου κατεσπαράξατε.
You have torn my eiresione to pieces!
§730τίς ὦ Παφλαγὼν ἀδικεῖ σε;
Who is wronging you, O Paphlagonian?
Cleon: Because of you I am being beaten by this fellow and by the young men.
§731bτιή;
Demus: Why?
§732ὁτιὴ φιλῶ σʼ ὦ Δῆμʼ ἐραστής τʼ εἰμὶ σός.
Cleon: Because I love you, O Demus, and am your lover.
§733σὺ δʼ εἶ τίς ἐτεόν;
Demus: And who are you, really?
§733bἀντεραστὴς τουτουί, §734ἐρῶν πάλαι σου βουλόμενός τέ σʼ εὖ ποιεῖν, §735ἄλλοι τε πολλοὶ καὶ καλοί τε κἀγαθοί.
Sausage-Seller: A rival lover of this man, who has loved you for a long time and wished to do you good, along with many other noble and good men.
§736ἀλλʼ οὐχ οἷοί τʼ ἐσμὲν διὰ τουτονί. σὺ γὰρ
But we are not able to do so because of this man.
§737ὅμοιος εἶ τοῖς παισὶ τοῖς ἐρωμένοις· §738τοὺς μὲν καλούς τε κἀγαθοὺς οὐ προσδέχει, §739σαυτὸν δὲ λυχνοπώλαισι καὶ νευρορράφοις §740καὶ σκυτοτόμοις καὶ βυρσοπώλαισιν δίδως.
For you are like beloved boys; you do not accept the noble and good men, but surrender yourself to lamp-sellers, cobblers, shoe-cutters, and tanners.
§741εὖ γὰρ ποιῶ τὸν δῆμον.
Cleon: For I do good to the Demus!
§741bεἰπέ νυν τί δρῶν;
Sausage-Seller: Tell me then, by doing what?
§742ὅ τι;
Cleon: What?
†τῶν στρατηγῶν ὑποδραμὼν τῶν ἐκ Πύλου, † §743πλεύσας ἐκεῖσε, τοὺς Λάκωνας ἤγαγον.
Having supplanted the generals at Pylos, and sailed there, I brought back the Laconians.
Sausage-Seller: And I, walking about from my workshop, stole the pot while another was boiling it.
§746καὶ μὴν ποιήσας αὐτίκα μάλʼ ἐκκλησίαν §747ὦ Δῆμʼ ἵνʼ εἰδῇς ὁπότερος νῷν ἐστί σοι §748εὐνούστερος, διάκρινον, ἵνα τοῦτον φιλῇς.
Cleon: And indeed, having called an assembly right now, O Demus, so that you may know which of us two is more well-disposed to you, decide, so that you may love that one.
§749ναὶ ναὶ διάκρινον δῆτα, πλὴν μὴ ʼν τῇ πυκνί.
Sausage-Seller: Yes, yes, do decide indeed, only not on the Pnyx!
§750οὐκ ἂν καθιζοίμην ἐν ἄλλῳ χωρίῳ.
Cleon: I would not sit in any other place!
§751ἀλλʼ ἐς τὸ πρόσθε.
Demus: Then move forward.
χρὴ παρεῖνʼ ἐς τὴν πύκνα.
We must be present at the Pnyx.
§752οἴμοι κακοδαίμων ὡς ἀπόλωλʼ.
Sausage-Seller: Ah, wretched me, I am ruined!
ὁ γὰρ γέρων §753οἴκοι μὲν ἀνδρῶν ἐστι δεξιώτατος, §754ὅταν δʼ ἐπὶ ταυτησὶ καθῆται τῆς πέτρας, §755κέχηνεν ὥσπερ ἐμποδίζων ἰσχάδας.
For the old man, at home, is the shrewdest of men, but whenever he sits upon this stone, he gapes as if threading dried figs.
§756νῦν δή σε πάντα δεῖ κάλων ἐξιέναι σεαυτοῦ, §757καὶ λῆμα θούριον φορεῖν καὶ λόγους ἀφύκτους §758ὅτοισι τόνδʼ ὑπερβαλεῖ.
Chorus: Now indeed you must let out every rope of yours, and wear a raging spirit, and bring inescapable arguments with which you will surpass this man.
ποικίλος γὰρ ἁνὴρ §759κἀκ τῶν ἀμηχάνων πόρους εὐμήχανος πορίζειν.
For the fellow is crafty and clever at finding resources even out of resourceless situations.
§760πρὸς ταῦθʼ ὅπως ἔξει πολὺς καὶ λαμπρὸς ἐς τὸν ἄνδρα.
Therefore, see to it that you go against the man with full force and brilliance.
§761ἀλλὰ φυλάττου καὶ πρὶν ἐκεῖνον προσκεῖσθαί σοι πρότερος σὺ §762τοὺς δελφῖνας μετεωρίζου καὶ τὴν ἄκατον παραβάλλου.
But take care, and before he presses hard upon you, raise your dolphins first, and bring your light boat alongside.
§763τῇ μὲν δεσποίνῃ Ἀθηναίᾳ τῇ τῆς πόλεως μεδεούσῃ §764εὔχομαι, εἰ μὲν περὶ τὸν δῆμον τὸν Ἀθηναίων γεγένημαι §765βέλτιστος ἀνὴρ μετὰ Λυσικλέα καὶ Κύνναν καὶ Σαλαβακχώ, §766ὥσπερ νυνὶ μηδὲν δράσας δειπνεῖν ἐν πρυτανείῳ· §767εἰ δέ σε μισῶ καὶ μὴ περὶ σοῦ μάχομαι μόνος ἀντιβεβηκώς, §768ἀπολοίμην καὶ διαπρισθείην κατατμηθείην τε λέπαδνα.
Cleon: To our mistress Athena, the guardian of the city, I pray: if indeed I have been toward the Athenian Demus the best man after Lysicles and Cynna and Salabaccho, may I, just as now, dine in the Prytaneum without doing anything; but if I hate you and do not fight for you standing alone in opposition, may I perish and be sawed in two, and cut up into leather straps.
§769κἄγωγʼ ὦ Δῆμʼ, εἰ μή σε φιλῶ καὶ μὴ στέργω, κατατμηθεὶς §770ἑψοίμην ἐν περικομματίοις· κεἰ μὴ τούτοισι πέποιθας, §771ἐπὶ ταυτησὶ κατακνησθείην ἐν μυττωτῷ μετὰ τυροῦ, §772καὶ τῇ κρεάγρᾳ τῶν ὀρχιπέδων ἑλκοίμην ἐς Κεραμεικόν.
Sausage-Seller: And I too, O Demus, if I do not love you and cherish you, may I be cut up and boiled in mincemeat; and if you do not believe these things, may I be grated on this into a cheese-garlic sauce with cheese, and may I be dragged by my testicles with a meat-hook to the Ceramicus!
§773καὶ πῶς ἂν ἐμοῦ μᾶλλόν σε φιλῶν ὦ Δῆμε γένοιτο πολίτης;
Cleon: And how indeed could there be a citizen who loves you more than I do, O Demus?
§774ὃς πρῶτα μὲν ἡνίκʼ ἐβούλευον σοὶ χρήματα πλεῖστʼ ἀπέδειξα §775ἐν τῷ κοινῷ, τοὺς μὲν στρεβλῶν τοὺς δʼ ἄγχων τοὺς δὲ μεταιτῶν, §776οὐ φροντίζων τῶν ἰδιωτῶν οὐδενός, εἰ σοὶ χαριοίμην.
I, who first indeed when I was a councilor, showed the greatest amount of money in the public treasury for you, by torturing some, choking others, and begging from others, not caring for any of the private citizens, if only I might please you.
§777τοῦτο μὲν ὦ Δῆμʼ οὐδὲν σεμνόν· κἀγὼ γὰρ τοῦτό σε δράσω.
Sausage-Seller: This, O Demus, is nothing grand; for I too will do this to you.
§778ἁρπάζων γὰρ τοὺς ἄρτους σοι τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους παραθήσω.
For snatching other people's bread, I will serve it to you.
§779ὡς δʼ οὐχὶ φιλεῖ σʼ οὐδʼ ἔστʼ εὔνους, τοῦτʼ αὐτό σε πρῶτα διδάξω, §780ἀλλʼ ἢ διὰ τοῦτʼ αὔθʼ ὁτιή σου τῆς ἀνθρακιᾶς ἀπολαύει.
And that he does not love you nor is well-disposed, this very thing I will first teach you, except for this very reason that he enjoys your warm embers.
§781σὲ γάρ, ὃς Μήδοισι διεξιφίσω περὶ τῆς χώρας Μαραθῶνι, §782καὶ νικήσας ἡμῖν μεγάλως ἐγγλωττοτυπεῖν παρέδωκας, §783ἐπὶ ταῖσι πέτραις οὐ φροντίζει σκληρῶς σε καθήμενον οὕτως, §784οὐχ ὥσπερ ἐγὼ ῥαψάμενός σοι τουτὶ φέρω.
For you, who fought with swords against the Medes for our land at Marathon, and having won, gave us the power to speak grandly, he does not care that you sit so hard upon the stones, not like me, who having sewn this for you, bring it.
ἀλλʼ ἐπαναίρου,
Come, lift yourself up,