§1Οὗτος τί πάσχεις ὦ κακόδαιμον Ξανθία; §2φυλακὴν καταλύειν νυκτερινὴν διδάσκομαι. §3κακὸν ἆρα ταῖς πλευραῖς τι προὐφείλεις μέγα. §4ἆρʼ οἶσθά γʼ οἷον κνώδαλον φυλάττομεν; §5οἶδʼ, ἀλλʼ ἐπιθυμῶ σμικρὸν ἀπομερμηρίσαι. §6σὺ δʼ οὖν παρακινδύνευʼ, ἐπεὶ καὐτοῦ γʼ ἐμοῦ §7κατὰ τοῖν κόραιν ὕπνου τι καταχεῖται γλυκύ. §8ἀλλʼ ἦ παραφρονεῖς ἐτεὸν ἢ κορυβαντιᾷς; §9οὔκ, ἀλλʼ ὕπνος μʼ ἔχει τις ἐκ Σαβαζίου. §10τὸν αὐτὸν ἄρʼ ἐμοὶ βουκολεῖς Σαβάζιον. §11κἀμοὶ γὰρ ἀρτίως ἐπεστρατεύσατο §12Μῆδός τις ἐπὶ τὰ βλέφαρα νυστακτὴς ὕπνος· §13καὶ δῆτʼ ὄναρ θαυμαστὸν εἶδον ἀρτίως. §14κἄγωγʼ ἀληθῶς οἷον οὐδεπώποτε. §15ἀτὰρ σὺ λέξον πρότερος. §15bἐδόκουν αἰετὸν §16καταπτόμενον ἐς τὴν ἀγορὰν μέγαν πάνυ §17ἀναρπάσαντα τοῖς ὄνυξιν ἀσπίδα §18φέρειν ἐπίχαλκον ἀνεκὰς ἐς τὸν οὐρανόν, §19κἄπειτα ταύτην ἀποβαλεῖν Κλεώνυμον. §20οὐδὲν ἄρα γρίφου διαφέρει Κλεώνυμος. §21πῶς δή; §21bπροσερεῖ τις τοῖσι συμπόταις, λέγων §22τί ταὐτὸν ἐν γῇ τʼ ἀπέβαλεν κἀν οὐρανῷ §23κἀν τῇ θαλάττῃ θηρίον τὴν ἀσπίδα; §24οἴμοι τί δῆτά μοι κακὸν γενήσεται §25ἰδόντι τοιοῦτον ἐνύπνιον; §25bμὴ φροντίσῃς. §26οὐδὲν γὰρ ἔσται δεινὸν οὐ μὰ τοὺς θεούς. §27δεινόν γέ ποὔστʼ ἄνθρωπος ἀποβαλὼν ὅπλα. §28ἀτὰρ σὺ τὸ σὸν αὖ λέξον. §28bἀλλʼ ἐστὶν μέγα. §29περὶ τῆς πόλεως γάρ ἐστι τοῦ σκάφους ὅλου. §30λέγε νυν ἀνύσας τι τὴν τρόπιν τοῦ πράγματος. §31ἔδοξέ μοι περὶ πρῶτον ὕπνον ἐν τῇ πυκνὶ §32ἐκκλησιάζειν πρόβατα συγκαθήμενα, §33βακτηρίας ἔχοντα καὶ τριβώνια· §34κἄπειτα τούτοις τοῖς προβάτοισι μοὐδόκει §35δημηγορεῖν φάλαινα πανδοκεύτρια, §36ἔχουσα φωνὴν ἐμπεπρησμένης ὑός. §37αἰβοῖ. §37bτί ἔστι; §37cπαῦε παῦε, μὴ λέγε· §38ὄζει κάκιστον τοὐνύπνιον βύρσης σαπρᾶς. §39εἶθʼ ἡ μιαρὰ φάλαινʼ ἔχουσα τρυτάνην §40ἵστη βόειον δημόν. §40bοἴμοι δείλαιος· §41τὸν δῆμον ἡμῶν βούλεται διιστάναι. §42ἐδόκει δέ μοι Θέωρος αὐτῆς πλησίον §43χαμαὶ καθῆσθαι τὴν κεφαλὴν κόρακος ἔχων. §44εἶτʼ Ἀλκιβιάδης εἶπε πρός με τραυλίσας, §45ὁλᾷς;
Hey, what is the matter with you, wretched Xanthias?\n I am being taught to break the night watch (i.e., I am falling asleep).\n Then you owe a great trouble to your ribs.\n Do you know what kind of monster we are guarding?\n I know, but I desire to snooze a little to drive away my cares.\n Then you run the risk, since over my own two eyes also\n some sweet sleep is being poured.\n Are you really out of your mind, or are you dancing in Corybantic frenzy?\n No, but a kind of sleep from Sabazius holds me.\n Then you are tending the very same Sabazius as I.\n For just now,\n a kind of Persian, a drowsy sleep, made a campaign upon my eyelids.\n And indeed I saw a wondrous dream just now.\n And I too, truly, such a one as never before.\n But you speak first.\n I seemed to see a very large eagle\n flying down into the agora,\n snatching up a bronze shield in its talons,\n carrying it upward into the sky,\n and then Cleonymus throwing this shield away.\n Then Cleonymus is no different from a riddle.\n How so?\n Someone will address the banqueters, saying:\n 'What same beast threw away its shield on earth, and in heaven,\n and in the sea?'\n Alas, what evil indeed will happen to me\n for having seen such a dream?\n Do not worry.\n For there will be nothing terrible, by the gods.\n Yet it is a terrible thing, a man who has thrown away his weapons.\n But you in turn tell yours.\n But it is a big one.\n For it is about the whole vessel of the state.\n Tell me then quickly the keel (essence) of the matter.\n It seemed to me, about the first sleep, in the Pnyx,\n that sheep were sitting together holding an assembly,\n having staffs and coarse cloaks.\n And then to these sheep, it seemed to me,\n a greedy whale (phalaina) in the guise of a tavern-keeper was haranguing,\n having the voice of a singed sow.\n Ugh!\n What is it?\n Stop, stop, don't speak!\n Your dream smells terribly of rotten hide.\n Then the abominable whale, having a balance,\n was weighing beef fat.\n Alas, wretched me!\n It wishes to divide our people.\n And it seemed to me that Theorus was sitting near it\n on the ground, having the head of a crow.\n Then Alcibiades said to me, lisping:\n 'Do you see?
Θέωλος τὴν κεφαλὴν κόλακος ἔχει. §46ὀρθῶς γε τοῦτʼ Ἀλκιβιάδης ἐτραύλισεν. §47οὔκουν ἐκεῖνʼ ἀλλόκοτον, ὁ Θέωρος κόραξ §48γιγνόμενος; §48bἥκιστʼ, ἀλλʼ ἄριστον. §48cπῶς; §48dὅπως; §49ἄνθρωπος ὢν εἶτʼ ἐγένετʼ ἐξαίφνης κόραξ· §50οὔκουν ἐναργὲς τοῦτο συμβαλεῖν, ὅτι §51ἀρθεὶς ἀφʼ ἡμῶν ἐς κόρακας οἰχήσεται; §52εἶτʼ οὐκ ἐγὼ δοὺς δύʼ ὀβολὼ μισθώσομαι §53οὕτως ὑποκρινόμενον σοφῶς ὀνείρατα; §54φέρε νυν κατείπω τοῖς θεαταῖς τὸν λόγον, §55ὀλίγʼ ἄτθʼ ὑπειπὼν πρῶτον αὐτοῖσιν ταδί, §56μηδὲν παρʼ ἡμῶν προσδοκᾶν λίαν μέγα, §57μηδʼ αὖ γέλωτα Μεγαρόθεν κεκλεμμένον. §58ἡμῖν γὰρ οὐκ ἔστʼ οὔτε κάρυʼ ἐκ φορμίδος §59δούλω διαρριπτοῦντε τοῖς θεωμένοις, §60οὔθʼ Ἡρακλῆς τὸ δεῖπνον ἐξαπατώμενος, §61οὐδʼ αὖθις ἀνασελγαινόμενος Εὐριπίδης· §62οὐδʼ εἰ Κλέων γʼ ἔλαμψε τῆς τύχης χάριν, §63αὖθις τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνδρα μυττωτεύσομεν. §64ἀλλʼ ἔστιν ἡμῖν λογίδιον γνώμην ἔχον, §65ὑμῶν μὲν αὐτῶν οὐχὶ δεξιώτερον, §66κωμῳδίας δὲ φορτικῆς σοφώτερον. §67ἔστιν γὰρ ἡμῖν δεσπότης ἐκεινοσὶ §68ἅνω καθεύδων, ὁ μέγας, οὑπὶ τοῦ τέγους. §69οὗτος φυλάττειν τὸν πατέρʼ ἐπέταξε νῷν, §70ἔνδον καθείρξας, ἵνα θύραζε μὴ ʼξίῃ. §71νόσον γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ἀλλόκοτον αὐτοῦ νοσεῖ, §72ἣν οὐδʼ ἂν εἷς γνοίη ποτʼ οὐδʼ ἂν ξυμβάλοι §73εἰ μὴ πύθοιθʼ ἡμῶν· ἐπεὶ τοπάζετε. §74Ἀμυνίας μὲν ὁ Προνάπους φήσʼ οὑτοσὶ §75εἶναι φιλόκυβον αὐτόν· ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν λέγει. §76μὰ Δίʼ, ἀλλʼ ἀφʼ αὑτοῦ τὴν νόσον τεκμαίρεται. §77οὔκ, ἀλλὰ
φιλο
μέν ἐστιν ἀρχὴ τοῦ κακοῦ. §78ὁδὶ δέ φησι Σωσίας πρὸς Δερκύλον §79εἶναι φιλοπότην αὐτόν. §79bοὐδαμῶς γʼ, ἐπεὶ §80αὕτη γε χρηστῶν ἐστιν ἀνδρῶν ἡ νόσος. §81Νικόστρατος δʼ αὖ φησιν ὁ Σκαμβωνίδης §82εἶναι φιλοθύτην αὐτὸν ἢ φιλόξενον. §83μὰ τὸν κύνʼ ὦ Νικόστρατʼ οὐ φιλόξενος,
Theolus has the head of a flatterer.'\n Indeed, Alcibiades lisped this correctly.\n But isn't that strange, Theorus\n becoming a crow?\n Not at all, but rather the best thing.\n How?\n How?\n He was a man, and then suddenly became a crow.\n Isn't it clear to interpret this, that\n having been raised from among us, he will go to the crows?\n Then shall I not pay two obols and hire\n a man who interprets dreams so wisely?\n Come now, let me tell the plot to the spectators,\n having first whispered to them these few things:\n that they should not expect anything too grand from us,\n nor on the other hand a laugh stolen from Megara.\n For we have neither two slaves throwing nuts\n out of a basket to the spectators,\n nor Heracles being cheated of his dinner,\n nor Euripides being abused again.\n And even if Cleon shone thanks to fortune,\n we will not make mincemeat of the same man again.\n But we have a little story with a meaning,\n not cleverer than yourselves indeed,\n but wiser than vulgar comedy.\n For that one over there is our master,\n sleeping up above, the big one, on the roof.\n He ordered the two of us to guard his father,\n having locked him inside, so that he might not go out of doors.\n For his father is suffering from a strange disease,\n which not a single person would ever recognize or guess,\n unless he learned it from us; so guess!\n Indeed Amynias, the son of Pronapes over here,\n says that he is a dicing-lover; but he is talking nonsense.\n By Zeus, indeed he judges the disease from his own case.\n No, but 'philo-' indeed is the beginning of the trouble.\n And Sosias here says to Dercylus\n that he is a drink-lover.\n Not at all, since\n this indeed is the disease of good men.\n And Nicostratus in turn, the one from Scambonidae,\n says that he is a sacrifice-lover or a guest-lover.\n By the dog, Nicostratus, he is not a guest-lover!