§79οἴμοι τάλας·
Servant: Ah, poor me!
ἴτε δεῦρο δεῦρ ὦ γείτονες·
Come here, come here, O neighbors!
For my master is being raised up into the air, riding horse-fashion into the sky upon the beetle.
§82ἥσυχος ἥσυχος, ἠρέμα, κάνθων· §83μή μοι σοβαρῶς χώρει λίαν §84εὐθὺς ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς ῥώμῃ πίσυνος, §85πρὶν ἂν ἰδίῃς καὶ διαλύσῃς §86ἄρθρων ἶνας πτερύγων ῥύμῃ.
Trygaeus: Quiet, quiet, gently, my little donkey; do not go too violently for me, trusting in your strength right from the start, until you have sweated and loosened the fibers of your joints by the rush of your wings.
§87καὶ μὴ πνεῖ μοι κακόν, ἀντιβολῶ σʼ· §88εἰ δὲ ποιήσεις τοῦτο, κατʼ οἴκους §89αὐτοῦ μεῖνον τοὺς ἡμετέρους.
And do not breathe foully on me, I entreat you; but if you are going to do this, remain right there at our house.
§90ὦ δέσποτʼ ἄναξ ὡς παραπαίεις.
Servant: O master, king, how mad you are!
§91σίγα σίγα.
Trygaeus: Be silent, be silent!
§92ποῖ δῆτʼ ἄλλως μετεωροκοπεῖς;
Servant: Where on earth are you beating the air in vain?
Trygaeus: I am flying on behalf of all the Greeks, having devised a new and daring deed.
§95τί πέτει;
Servant: Why are you flying?
τί μάτην οὐχ ὑγιαίνεις;
Why are you foolishly out of your mind?
Trygaeus: You must speak auspiciously, and mutter nothing worthless, but raise a cry of joy.
§98τοῖς τʼ ἀνθρώποισι φράσον σιγᾶν, §99τοὺς τε κοπρῶνας καὶ τὰς λαύρας §100καιναῖς πλίνθοισιν ἀνοικοδομεῖν §101καὶ τοὺς πρωκτοὺς ἐπικλῄειν.
And tell the people to be silent, and to build up the dung heaps and the alleys with new bricks, and to lock up their backdoors.
Servant: There is no way I will keep silent unless you tell me where you intend to fly.
Trygaeus: Where else indeed, but to Zeus in heaven?
§104bτίνα νοῦν ἔχων;
Servant: With what purpose in mind?
Trygaeus: To ask him about all the Greeks, what on earth he is planning to do.
§107ἐὰν δὲ μή σοι καταγορεύῃ;
Servant: And what if he doesn't tell you?
Trygaeus: I will indict him for betraying Greece to the Medes.
Servant: By Dionysus, never, not while I am alive! Trygaeus: There is no other way than this.
§110bἰοὺ ἰοὺ ἰού·
Servant: Help, help, help!
O children, your father is departing, leaving you desolate, secretly into heaven.
§113ἀλλʼ ἀντιβολεῖτε τὸν πατέρ ὦ κακοδαίμονα.
But entreat your father, O miserable children.
§114ὦ πάτερ ὦ πάτερ ἆρʼ ἔτυμός γε §115δώμασιν ἡμετέροις φάτις ἥκει, §116ὡς σὺ μετʼ ὀρνίθων προλιρὼν ἐμὲ §117ἐς κόρακας βαδιεῖ μεταμώνιος;
Daughter: O father, O father, has a true rumor indeed come to our house, that you are going to leave me and go off with the birds to the crows, flying high in the air?
§118ἔστι τι τῶνδʼ ἐτύμως;
Is any of this true?
εἴπʼ ὦ πάτερ, εἴ τι φιλεῖς με.
Tell me, father, if you love me at all.
§119δοξάσαι ἔστι κόραι, τὸ δʼ ἐτήτυμον ἄχθομαι ὑμῖν, §120ἡνίκʼ ἂν αἰτίζητʼ ἄρτον πάππαν με καλοῦσαι, §121ἔνδον δʼ ἀργυρίου μηδὲ ψακὰς ᾖ πάνυ πάμπαν.
Trygaeus: You may think so, girls, but the truth is I am grieved for you, whenever you ask me for bread, calling me "Papa," and there is not even a tiny drop of money at all in the house.
But if I return after succeeding, you shall have in due season a large roll and a fist for your relish.
§124καὶ τίς πόρος σοι τῆς ὁδοῦ γενήσεται;
Daughter: And what means of travel will you have?
§125ναῦς μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἄξει σε ταύτην τὴν ὁδόν.
For a ship will certainly not take you on this journey.
§126πτηνὸς πορεύσει πῶλος· οὐ ναυσθλώσομαι.
Trygaeus: A winged colt will carry me; I will not travel by sea.
Daughter: And what is your idea, Papa, that you harness a beetle and ride to the gods?
Trygaeus: In Aesop's fables it was discovered that it alone of winged creatures reached the gods.
Daughter: You tell an unbelievable myth, O father, father, how a smelly creature came to the gods.
Trygaeus: It went long ago out of enmity for the eagle, rolling out its eggs and taking its revenge.
Daughter: Then you should have harnessed the wing of Pegasus, so that you might appear more tragic to the gods.
§137ἀλλʼ ὦ μέλʼ ἄν μοι σιτίων διπλῶν ἔδει· §138νῦν δʼ ἃττʼ ἂν αὐτὸς καταφάγω τὰ σιτία, §139τούτοισι τοῖς αὐτοῖσι τοῦτον χορτάσω.
Trygaeus: But, my dear, I would have needed double rations; but now, whatever food I myself consume, with these very same things I will feed this one.
§140τί δʼ ἢν ἐς ὑγρὸν πόντιον πέσῃ βάθος;
Daughter: And what if he falls into the wet depth of the sea?
§141πῶς ἐξολισθεῖν πτηνὸς ὢν δυνήσεται;
How will he be able to escape, being a winged creature?
Trygaeus: I have a rudder on purpose, which I will use; and my boat will be a Naxian beetle.
§144λιμὴν δὲ τίς σε δέξεται φορούμενον;
Daughter: And what harbor will receive you as you are carried along?
§145ἐν Πειραιεῖ δήπου ʼστὶ Κανθάρου λιμήν.
Trygaeus: In the Peiraeus, of course, there is the harbor of Cantharus.
§146ἐκεῖνο τήρει, μὴ σφαλεὶς καταρρυῇς §147ἐντεῦθεν, εἶτα χωλὸς ὢν Εὐριπίδῃ §148λόγον παράσχῃς καὶ τραγῳδία γένῃ.
Daughter: Take care of this, that you do not slip and fall from there, and then, being lame, provide Euripides with a plot and become a tragedy.
§149ἐμοὶ μελήσει ταῦτά γʼ.
Trygaeus: I will see to that.
ἀλλὰ χαίρετε.
But farewell!
§150ὑμεῖς δέ γʼ, ὑπὲρ ὧν τοὺς πόνους ἐγὼ πονῶ, §151μὴ βδεῖτε μηδὲ χέζεθʼ ἡμερῶν τριῶν· §152ὡς εἰ μετέωρος οὗτος ὢν ὀσφρήσεται, §153κατωκάρα ῥίψας με βουκολήσεται.
And you, on whose behalf I undergo these labors, do not fart or defecate for three days; for if this one, being high up, smells it, he will throw me headlong and go feeding.
Come now, Pegasus, go rejoicing, shaking the gold-bridled rattle of your bit with cheerful ears.
§157τί ποιεῖς;
What are you doing?
τί ποιεῖς;
What are you doing?
ποῖ παρακλίνεις §158τοὺς μυκτῆρας;
Where are you turning your nostrils?
πρὸς τὰς λαύρας.
Towards the alleys!
§159ἵει σαυτὸν θαρρῶν ἀπὸ γῆς, §160κᾆτα δρομαίαν πτέρυγʼ ἐκτείνων §161ὀρθὸς χώρει Διὸς εἰς αὐλάς, §162ἀπὸ μὲν κάκκης τὴν ῥῖνʼ ἀπέχων, §163ἀπὸ δʼ ἡμερίων σίτων πάντων.
Throw yourself boldly from the earth, and then, stretching out your running wing, go straight to the halls of Zeus, keeping your nose away from dung, and from all daily food of humans.
You there, what are you doing, you who are defecating in the Peiraeus near the brothels?
§166ἀπολεῖς μʼ ἀπολεῖς.
You will destroy me, you will destroy me!
οὐ κατορύξεις
Will you not bury it,