and will you heap plenty of earth upon it, and plant wild thyme on top, and pour perfume on it?
ὡς ἤν τι πεσὼν §170ἐνθένδε πάθω, τοὐμοῦ θανάτου §171πέντε τάλανθʼ ἡ πόλις ἡ Χίων §172διὰ τὸν σὸν πρωκτὸν ὀφλήσει.
For if I fall from here and meet my end, for my death the city of Chios will have to pay five talents, all on account of your arsehole.
§173οἴμʼ ὡς δέδοικα, κοὐκέτι σκώπτων λέγω.
Ah, how I fear! I am no longer speaking in jest.
§174ὦ μηχανοποιὲ πρόσεχε τὸν νοῦν ὡς ἐμέ·
O stage-machinist, pay attention to me!
Already a certain wind is turning about my navel, and unless you take care, I shall feed the beetle.
But indeed, I seem to myself to be near the gods, and lo, I see the house of Zeus.
§179τίς ἐν Διὸς θύραισιν;
Who is at Zeus's door?
οὐκ ἀνοίξετε;
Will you not open?
§180πόθεν βροτοῦ με προσέβαλʼ;
Hermes: Whence did the smell of a mortal strike me?
ὦναξ Ἡράκλεις §181τουτὶ τί ἐστι τὸ κακόν;
O Lord Heracles, what on earth is this monster?
§181bἱπποκάνθαρος.
Trygaeus: A horse-beetle.
§182ὦ βδελυρὲ καὶ τολμηρὲ κἀναίσχυντε σὺ §183καὶ μιαρὲ καὶ παμμίαρε καὶ μιαρώτατε, §184πῶς δεῦρʼ ἀνῆλθες ὦ μιαρῶν μιαρώτατε;
Hermes: O abominable, daring, and shameless scoundrel, and filthy, utterly filthy, and filthiest of the filthy, how did you ascend here, O filthiest of the filthy?
§185τί σοί ποτʼ ἔστʼ ὄνομʼ;
What on earth is your name?
οὐκ ἐρεῖς;
Won't you say?
§185bμιαρώτατος.
Trygaeus: Filthiest.
§186ποδαπὸς τὸ γένος δʼ εἶ;
Hermes: What country are you from by birth?
φράζε μοι.
Tell me.
§186bμιαρώτατος.
Trygaeus: Filthiest.
§187πατὴρ δέ σοι τίς ἐστʼ;
Hermes: And who is your father?
§187bἐμοί;
Trygaeus: Mine?
μιαρώτατος.
Filthiest.
Hermes: By the Earth, there is no way you shall not die, unless you tell me what your name is.
Trygaeus: Trygaeus of Athmonum, a skilled vine-dresser, no informer, nor a lover of lawsuits.
§192ἥκεις δὲ κατὰ τί;
Hermes: And what have you come for?
§192bτὰ κρέα ταυτί σοι φέρων.
Trygaeus: Bringing this meat to you.
§193ὦ δειλακρίων πῶς ἦλθες;
Hermes: O dear little man, how did you come?
Trygaeus: O greedy one, do you see how I no longer seem to you to be the filthiest?
§195ἴθι νυν κάλεσόν μοι τὸν Δίʼ.
Go now, call Zeus for me.
§195bἰὴ ἰὴ ἰή,
Hermes: Oh, oh, oh!
For you are not even about to be near the gods; for they moved out and left yesterday.
§198ποῖ γῆς;
Trygaeus: Where on earth?
§198bἰδοὺ γῆς.
Hermes: 'Where on earth', indeed!
§198cἀλλὰ ποῖ;
Trygaeus: But where?
Hermes: Very far away, right under the very vault of heaven.
§200πῶς οὖν σὺ δῆτʼ ἐνταῦθα κατελείφθης μόνος;
Trygaeus: How then indeed were you left behind here alone?
Hermes: I am guarding the remaining little utensils of the gods, the little pots, and little tablets, and little amphorae.
§203ἐξῳκίσαντο δʼ οἱ θεοὶ τίνος οὕνεκα;
Trygaeus: And for what reason did the gods move out?
§204Ἕλλησιν ὀργισθέντες.
Hermes: Because they were angry with the Greeks.
εἶτʼ ἐνταῦθα μὲν §205ἵνʼ ἦσαν αὐτοὶ τὸν Πόλεμον κατῴκισαν, §206ὑμᾶς παραδόντες δρᾶν ἀτεχνῶς ὅ τι βούλεται· §207αὐτοὶ δʼ ἀνῳκίσανθʼ ὅπως ἀνωτάτω, §208ἵνα μὴ βλέποιεν μαχομένους ὑμᾶς ἔτι §209μηδʼ ἀντιβολούντων μηδὲν αἰσθανοίατο.
And so, here in the place where they themselves used to be, they settled War, handing you over to do exactly what he wishes; and they themselves moved as high up as possible, so that they might no longer see you fighting, nor hear anything of your supplications.
§210τοῦ δʼ οὕνεχʼ ἡμᾶς ταῦτʼ ἔδρασαν;
Trygaeus: And for what reason did they do this to us?
εἰπέ μοι.
Tell me.
§211ὁτιὴ πολεμεῖν ᾑρεῖσθʼ ἐκείνων πολλάκις §212σπονδὰς ποιούντων· κεἰ μὲν οἱ Λακωνικοὶ §213ὑπερβάλοιντο μικρόν, ἔλεγον ἂν ταδί· §214ναὶ τὼ σιὼ νῦν ὡττικίων δωσεῖ δίκαν. §215εἰ δʼ αὖ τι πράξαιτʼ ἀγαθὸν ἁττικωνικοί §216κἄλθοιεν οἱ Λάκωνες εἰρήνης πέρι, §217ἐλέγετʼ ἂν ὑμεῖς εὐθύς· ἐξαπατώμεθα §218νὴ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν, νὴ Δίʼ, οὐχὶ πειστέον· §219ἥξουσι καὖθις, ἢν ἔχωμεν τὴν Πύλον.
Hermes: Because you chose to wage war when they often offered peace; and if the Laconians got slightly the upper hand, they would say this: 'By the twin gods, now the Attic youngsters shall pay the penalty.' And if again the Athenians did some good thing, and the Laconians came concerning peace, you would say at once: 'We are being deceived, by Athena, by Zeus, we must not agree!
’ §220ὁ γοῦν χαρακτὴρ ἡμεδαπὸς τῶν ῥημάτων.
They will come again, as long as we hold Pylos.' Trygaeus: Indeed, the style of the words is exactly our own.
Hermes: For which reason I do not know if you will ever see Peace again in the future.
§222bἀλλὰ ποῖ γὰρ οἴχεται;
Trygaeus: But where indeed has she gone?
§223ὁ Πόλεμος αὐτὴν ἐνέβαλʼ εἰς ἄντρον βαθύ.
Hermes: War threw her into a deep cave.
§224ἐς ποῖον;
Trygaeus: Into what sort of cave?
§224bἐς τουτὶ τὸ κάτω, κἄπειθʼ ὁρᾷς
Hermes: Into this one down here.
And then, you see how many stones he piled on top of it, so that you may never get her back.
Trygaeus: Tell me, what indeed is he preparing to do to us?
Hermes: I know nothing except one thing: that last evening he brought in a mortar of monstrous size.
§230τί δῆτα ταύτῃ τῇ θυείᾳ χρήσεται;
Trygaeus: What then will he do with this mortar?
§231τρίβειν ἐν αὐτῇ τὰς πόλεις βουλεύεται.
Hermes: He plans to grind up the cities in it.
§232ἀλλʼ εἶμι·
But I am off.
καὶ γὰρ ἐξιέναι γνώμην ἐμὴν §233μέλλει· θορυβεῖ γοῦν ἔνδον.
For indeed, in my opinion, he is about to come out; at any rate, there is a noise inside.
§233bοἴμοι δείλαιος.
Trygaeus: Oh, poor me!
§234φέρʼ αὐτὸν ἀποδρῶ·
Come, let me run away from him!
καὶ γὰρ ὥσπερ ᾐσθόμην §235καὐτὸς θυείας φθέγμα πολεμιστηρίας.
For indeed, I too seemed to hear the sound of a warlike mortar.
War: O mortals, mortals, long-suffering mortals, how very soon you shall suffer pain in your jaws!
§238ὦναξ Ἄπολλον τῆς θυείας τοῦ πλάτους,
Trygaeus: O Lord Apollo, what a giant mortar!
§239ὅσον κακόν, καὶ τοῦ Πολέμου τοῦ βλέμματος.
What a great evil, and what a look from War!
Is this that very one from whom we flee, the terrible, the tough-skinned, the one who brings us to our knees?
War: O Prasiae, thrice wretched, and five times, and many tens of times wretched, how you shall be destroyed today!
Trygaeus: Citizens, this is still no concern of ours; for this evil belongs to Laconia.