Humanitext Reader

Aristophanes · Clouds §1-82

Strepsiades' Sleepless Night and Woes Over His Son's Debts

Passage 1 of 19 · Greek

Summary

Suffering from massive debts due to his horse-loving son Pheidippides, the rustic father Strepsiades spends a sleepless night reminiscing about his mismatched marriage to an aristocratic city woman and the naming of their son, before conceiving a clever scheme to escape the debts and attempting to wake the boy.

§1ἰοὺ ἰού·
Strepsiades: Oh dear, oh dear!
§2ὦ Ζεῦ βασιλεῦ τὸ χρῆμα τῶν νυκτῶν ὅσον·
Great Zeus, what a never-ending business the nights are!
§3ἀπέραντον. οὐδέποθʼ ἡμέρα γενήσεται;
Will it never be day?
§4καὶ μὴν πάλαι γʼ ἀλεκτρυόνος ἤκουσʼ ἐγώ·
And yet I heard the cock crowing long ago.
§5οἱ δʼ οἰκέται ῥέγκουσιν· ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἂν πρὸ τοῦ.
But the servants are snoring; they wouldn't have done that in the old days.
§6ἀπόλοιο δῆτʼ ὦ πόλεμε πολλῶν οὕνεκα, §7ὅτʼ οὐδὲ κολάσʼ ἔξεστί μοι τοὺς οἰκέτας.
May you perish, war, for many reasons, when I can't even punish my own servants!
§8ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὁ χρηστὸς οὑτοσὶ νεανίας §9ἐγείρεται τῆς νυκτός, ἀλλὰ πέρδεται §10ἐν πέντε σισύραις ἐγκεκορδυλημένος.
Nor does this fine young man here wake up during the night, but he farts wrapped up in five heavy blankets.
§11ἀλλʼ εἰ δοκεῖ ῥέγκωμεν ἐγκεκαλυμμένοι.
Well, if it seems best, let's cover ourselves and snore.
§12ἀλλʼ οὐ δύναμαι δείλαιος εὕδειν δακνόμενος §13ὑπὸ τῆς δαπάνης καὶ τῆς φάτνης καὶ τῶν χρεῶν §14διὰ τουτονὶ τὸν υἱόν.
But I cannot sleep, miserable as I am, being bitten by my expenses, the stable, and my debts because of this son of mine.
ὁ δὲ κόμην ἔχων §15ἱππάζεταί τε καὶ ξυνωρικεύεται §16ὀνειροπολεῖ θʼ ἵππους· ἐγὼ δʼ ἀπόλλυμαι §17ὁρῶν ἄγουσαν τὴν σελήνην εἰκάδας·
And he, keeping his hair long, rides horses, drives chariots, and dreams of horses, while I am ruined, seeing the moon bringing on the twenties (the end of the month).
§18οἱ γὰρ τόκοι χωροῦσιν.
For the interest is running on.
ἅπτε παῖ λύχνον, §19κἄκφερε τὸ γραμματεῖον, ἵνʼ ἀναγνῶ λαβὼν §20ὁπόσοις ὀφείλω καὶ λογίσωμαι τοὺς τόκους.
Slave, light the lamp, and bring out the account book, so that I may take it and read how many people I owe money to and calculate the interest.
§21φέρʼ ἴδω τί ὀφείλω;
Let's see: what do I owe?
δώδεκα μνᾶς Πασίᾳ.
Twelve minas to Pasias.
§22τοῦ δώδεκα μνᾶς Πασίᾳ;
Why twelve minas to Pasias?
τί ἐχρησάμην;
What did I borrow it for?
§23ὅτʼ ἐπριάμην τὸν κοππατίαν.
Ah, when I bought the branded horse (the Koppatias).
οἴμοι τάλας, §24εἴθʼ ἐξεκόπην πρότερον τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν λίθῳ.
Oh, wretched me, I wish my eye had been knocked out with a stone beforehand!
§25Φίλων ἀδικεῖς·
Pheidippides (in his dream): Philon, you're cheating!
ἔλαυνε τὸν σαυτοῦ δρόμον.
Drive in your own lane.
§26τοῦτʼ ἔστι τουτὶ τὸ κακὸν ὅ μʼ ἀπολώλεκεν· §27ὀνειροπολεῖ γὰρ καὶ καθεύδων ἱππικήν.
Strepsiades: That is it, that is the very evil that has ruined me; for even while sleeping, he dreams of horsemanship.
§28πόσους δρόμους ἐλᾷ τὰ πολεμιστήρια;
Pheidippides (in his dream): How many courses will the war-chariots run?
§29ἐμὲ μὲν σὺ πολλοὺς τὸν πατέρʼ ἐλαύνεις δρόμους.
Strepsiades: You are driving me, your father, through many courses!
§30ἀτὰρ τί χρέος ἔβα με μετὰ τὸν Πασίαν;
But what debt came upon me after Pasias?
§31τρεῖς μναῖ διφρίσκου καὶ τροχοῖν Ἀμυνίᾳ.
Three minas to Amynias for a little chariot and a pair of wheels.
§32ἄπαγε τὸν ἵππον ἐξαλίσας οἴκαδε.
Pheidippides (in his dream): Lead the horse home after rolling him in the dust.
§33ἀλλʼ ὦ μέλʼ ἐξήλικας ἐμέ γʼ ἐκ τῶν ἐμῶν, §34ὅτε καὶ δίκας ὤφληκα χἄτεροι τόκου §35ἐνεχυράσεσθαί φασιν.
Strepsiades: But, you wretched boy, you have rolled me out of my own possessions, since some have won lawsuits against me, and others say they will seize my goods for interest.
§35bἐτεὸν ὦ πάτερ §36τί δυσκολαίνεις καὶ στρέφει τὴν νύχθʼ ὅλην;
Pheidippides: Seriously, father, why are you so cross and turning around all night long?
§37δάκνει μὲ δήμαρχός τις ἐκ τῶν στρωμάτων.
Strepsiades: A bailiff from the bedding is biting me.
§38ἔασον ὦ δαιμόνιε καταδαρθεῖν τί με.
Pheidippides: Let me get some sleep, my good man.
§39σὺ δʼ οὖν κάθευδε· τὰ δὲ χρέα ταῦτʼ ἴσθʼ ὅτι §40ἐς τὴν κεφαλὴν ἅπαντα τὴν σὴν τρέψεται.
Strepsiades: Well, go ahead and sleep; but know that all these debts will turn upon your own head!
§41φεῦ.
Alas!
§41aεἴθʼ ὤφελʼ ἡ προμνήστριʼ ἀπολέσθαι κακῶς, §42ἥτις με γῆμʼ ἐπῆρε τὴν σὴν μητέρα·
I wish that matchmaker had perished miserably, who urged me to marry your mother!
§43ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἦν ἄγροικος ἥδιστος βίος §44εὐρωτιῶν, ἀκόρητος, εἰκῇ κείμενος, §45βρύων μελίτταις καὶ προβάτοις καὶ στεμφύλοις.
For I had a most pleasant, rustic life, moldy, untidy, easygoing, abounding in bees, sheep, and pressed olives.
§46ἔπειτʼ ἔγημα Μεγακλέους τοῦ Μεγακλέους §47ἀδελφιδῆν ἄγροικος ὢν ἐξ ἄστεως, §48σεμνὴν τρυφῶσαν ἐγκεκοισυρωμένην.
Then I, a countryman, married the niece of Megacles, son of Megacles, from the city, a haughty, luxurious, and Megacles-like lady.
§49ταύτην ὅτʼ ἐγάμουν, συγκατεκλινόμην ἐγὼ §50ὄζων τρυγὸς τρασιᾶς ἐρίων περιουσίας, §51ἡ δʼ αὖ μύρου κρόκου καταγλωττισμάτων, §52δαπάνης λαφυγμοῦ Κωλιάδος Γενετυλλίδος.
When I married her, I lay down beside her smelling of new wine, dry figs, and abundance of wool, while she smelled of perfume, saffron, French kisses, expense, wastefulness, Colias, and Genetyllis.
§53οὐ μὴν ἐρῶ γʼ ὡς ἀργὸς ἦν, ἀλλʼ ἐσπάθα.
I will not say she was idle; she was weaving (spending).
§54ἐγὼ δʼ ἂν αὐτῇ θοἰμάτιον δεικνὺς τοδὶ §55πρόφασιν ἔφασκον, ὦ γύναι λίαν σπαθᾷς. §56ἔλαιον ἡμῖν οὐκ ἔνεστʼ ἐν τῷ λύχνῳ.
And I, showing her this cloak of mine, would say as an excuse: "Wife, you are weaving too much." Slave: We have no oil in the lamp.
§57οἴμοι·
Strepsiades: Oh no!
τί γάρ μοι τὸν πότην ἧπτες λύχνον;
Why did you light me that thirsty lamp?
§58δεῦρʼ ἔλθʼ ἵνα κλάῃς.
Come over here so you can weep!
§58bδιὰ τί δῆτα κλαύσομαι;
Slave: Why indeed shall I weep?
§59ὅτι τῶν παχειῶν ἐνετίθεις θρυαλλίδων.
Strepsiades: Because you put in one of the thick wicks.
§60μετὰ ταῦθʼ, ὅπως νῷν ἐγένεθʼ υἱὸς οὑτοσί, §61ἐμοί τε δὴ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ τἀγαθῇ, §62περὶ τοὐνόματος δὴ ʼντεῦθεν ἐλοιδορούμεθα·
After this, when this son was born to us— to me and my noble wife— we began to quarrel about his name.
§63ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἵππον προσετίθει πρὸς τοὔνομα, §64Ξάνθιππον ἤ Χαριππον ἢ Καλλιππίδην, §65ἐγὼ δὲ τοῦ πάππου ʼτιθέμην Φειδωνίδην.
For she wanted to add 'horse' (hippos) to the name, Xanthippus, Charippus, or Callippides, while I wanted to name him Pheidonides after his grandfather.
§66τέως μὲν οὖν ἐκρινόμεθʼ· εἶτα τῷ χρόνῳ §67κοινῇ ξυνέβημεν κἀθέμεθα Φειδιππίδην.
For a long time we disputed, but at last we agreed in common and named him Pheidippides.
§68τοῦτον τὸν υἱὸν λαμβάνουσʼ ἐκορίζετο, §69ὅταν σὺ μέγας ὢν ἅρμʼ ἐλαύνῃς πρὸς πόλιν, §70ὥσπερ Μεγακλέης, ξυστίδʼ ἔχων. ἐγὼ δʼ ἔφην, §71ὅταν μὲν οὖν τὰς αἶγας ἐκ τοῦ φελλέως, §72ὥσπερ ὁ πατήρ σου, διφθέραν ἐνημμένος. §73ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐπίθετο τοῖς ἐμοῖς οὐδὲν λόγοις, §74ἀλλʼ ἵππερόν μου κατέχεεν τῶν χρημάτων.
She would take this son and fondle him, saying: "When you grow up and drive a chariot to the city, like Megacles, wearing a purple robe." But I would say: "No, rather when you drive the goats from the crags, like your father, dressed in a leather jacket." But he paid no heed to my words at all, but poured a horse-fever over my money.
§75νῦν οὖν ὅλην τὴν νύκτα φροντίζων ὁδοῦ §76μίαν ηὗρον ἀτραπὸν δαιμονίως ὑπερφυᾶ, §77ἣν ἢν ἀναπείσω τουτονί, σωθήσομαι.
Now, having pondered all night long, I have found one path, wonderfully, divinely excellent, which, if I can persuade him to follow, I shall be saved.
§78ἀλλʼ ἐξεγεῖραι πρῶτον αὐτὸν βούλομαι.
But first I want to wake him up.
§79πῶς δῆτʼ ἂν ἥδιστʼ αὐτὸν ἐπεγείραιμι;
How then could I wake him up most pleasantly?
πῶς;
How?
§80Φειδιππίδη Φειδιππίδιον.
Pheidippides, my little Pheidippides!
§80bτί ὦ πάτερ;
Pheidippides: What is it, father?
§81κύσον με καὶ τὴν χεῖρα δὸς τὴν δεξιάν.
Strepsiades: Kiss me and give me your right hand.
§82ἰδού.
Pheidippides: There you are.
τί ἔστιν;
What is the matter?

Notes

  1. §2τὸ χρῆμα τῶν νυκτῶν ὅσον — An idiomatic exclamatory construction where the noun χρῆμα (thing, matter) with a genitive denotes an extraordinary amount, size, or quality of something. Combined with the exclamatory adjective ὅσον, it means "how immense a thing the nights are!" or "what an endless stretch of nights!"
  2. §5οὐκ ἂν πρὸ τοῦ — The particle ἄν combined with the temporal phrase πρὸ τοῦ (before this time, in the past). A past imperfect verb (such as ἔρρεγκον, "they would snore") is omitted. It functions either as a past potential or counterfactual, meaning "they wouldn't have done so in former times."
  3. §17ἄγουσαν τὴν σελήνην εἰκάδας — The noun εἰκάς (the twentieth day of the month, plural εἰκάδες referring to the days in the twenties leading to the month's end) is the direct object of the active participle ἄγουσαν. Since interest was due at the end of the month, Strepsiades personifies the moon as "bringing on the (dreaded) twenties," signaling the approach of the payment deadline.
  4. §22τοῦ δώδεκα μνᾶς Πασίᾳ; — The genitive τοῦ (a contracted form of the interrogative pronoun τίνος) is a genitive of cause or purpose, equivalent to "for what?" or "on what account?". A preposition like ἕνεκα (for the sake of) is elliptically omitted. Strepsiades is asking himself the reason behind borrowing the twelve minas.
  5. §29ἐμὲ μὲν σὺ πολλοὺς τὸν πατέρʼ ἐλαύνεις δρόμους — The verb ἐλαύνω (to drive, harass) here takes a double accusative: the personal direct object representing the victim, "me, your father" (ἐμέ / τὸν πατέρα), and the cognate accusative "many courses" (πολλοὺς δρόμους). This creates a wordplay between the son driving horses in his sleep and driving his father to ruin through debt.
  6. §54ἂν ... ἔφασκον — The combination of the particle ἄν with the imperfect indicative (ἔφασκον, "I used to say") denotes a habitual or repeated action in the past ("would often do"). It describes Strepsiades' past custom of repeatedly complaining to his wife about her extravagance while showing her his worn-out cloak.

Cite this passage

Aristophanes, Clouds §1-82. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0019.tlg003.humanitext-grc2:1-82

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