"Are you telling me to go straight, where the tree appears?" "May you burst!
ἥδε δʼ αὖ κρώζει πάλιν. §3τί ὦ πόνηρʼ ἄνω κάτω πλανύττομεν; §4ἀπολούμεθʼ ἄλλως τὴν ὁδὸν προφορουμένω. §5τὸ δʼ ἐμὲ κορώνῃ πειθόμενον τὸν ἄθλιον §6ὁδοῦ περιελθεῖν στάδια πλεῖν ἢ χίλια. §7τὸ δʼ ἐμὲ κολοιῷ πειθόμενον τὸν δύσμορον §8ἀποσποδῆσαι τοὺς ὄνυχας τῶν δακτύλων. §9ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὅπου γῆς ἐσμὲν οἶδʼ ἔγωγʼ ἔτι. §10ἐντευθενὶ τὴν πατρίδʼ ἂν ἐξεύροις σύ που; §11οὐδʼ ἂν μὰ Δία γʼ ἐντεῦθεν Ἐξηκεστίδης. §12οἴμοι. §12bσὺ μὲν ὦ τᾶν τὴν ὁδὸν ταύτην ἴθι. §13ἦ δεινὰ νὼ δέδρακεν οὑκ τῶν ὀρνέων, §14ὁ πινακοπώλης φιλοκράτης μελαγχολῶν, §15ὃς τώδʼ ἔφασκε νῷν φράσειν τὸν Τηρέα §16τὸν ἔποφʼ ὃς ὄρνις ἐγένετʼ ἐκ τῶν ὀρνέων·
This one is cawing back again." "Why, you wretch, are we wandering up and down?" "We'll perish in vain, wearing out the road by pacing back and forth." "To think that I, miserable wretch, obeying a crow, should have walked more than a thousand stadia out of the way!" "To think that I, ill-fated wretch, obeying a jackdaw, should have worn away my toenails to the bone!" "But I don't even know where on earth we are anymore." "From here, could you perhaps find our homeland?" "No, by Zeus, not even Execestides could do that from here." "Alas!" "Well, my friend, you go down this road." "Indeed, that bird-seller has done us a terrible turn, that crazy tablet-seller Philocrates, who asserted that these two would show us Tereus, the hoopoe, who became a bird from among the birds.
§17κἀπέδοτο τὸν μὲν Θαρρελείδου τουτονὶ §18κολοιὸν ὀβολοῦ, τηνδεδὶ τριωβόλου. §19τὼ δʼ οὐκ ἄρʼ ᾔστην οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν δάκνειν. §20καὶ νῦν τί κέχηνας;
And he sold this jackdaw of Tharreleides' son here for an obol, and this crow here for three obols." "But these two, it turns out, know nothing else except how to bite." "And now, why are you gaping?
ἔσθʼ ὅποι κατὰ τῶν πετρῶν §21ἡμᾶς ἔτʼ ἔξεις.
Is there any place along the rocks you would still lead us?
οὐ γάρ ἐστʼ ἐνταῦθά τις §22ὁδός. §22bοὐδὲ μὰ Δίʼ ἐνταῦθά γʼ ἀτραπὸς οὐδαμοῦ. §23οὐδʼ ἡ κορώνη τῆς ὁδοῦ τι λέγει πέρι; §24οὐ ταὐτὰ κρώζει μὰ Δία νῦν τε καὶ τότε. §25τί δὴ λέγει περὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ; §25bτί δʼ ἄλλο γʼ ἢ §26βρύκουσʼ ἀπέδεσθαί φησί μου τοὺς δακτύλους; §27οὐ δεινὸν οὖν δῆτʼ ἐστὶν ἡμᾶς δεομένους §28ἐς κόρακας ἐλθεῖν καὶ παρεσκευασμένους §29ἔπειτα μὴ ʼξευρεῖν δύνασθαι τὴν ὁδόν; §30ἡμεῖς γάρ, ὦνδρες οἱ παρόντες ἐν λόγῳ, §31νόσον νοσοῦμεν τὴν ἐναντίαν Σάκᾳ· §32ὁ μὲν γὰρ ὢν οὐκ ἀστὸς ἐσβιάζεται, §33ἡμεῖς δὲ φυλῇ καὶ γένει τιμώμενοι, §34ἀστοὶ μετʼ ἀστῶν, οὐ σοβοῦντος οὐδενὸς §35ἀνεπτόμεσθʼ ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος ἀμφοῖν ποδοῖν, §36αὐτὴν μὲν οὐ μισοῦντʼ ἐκείνην τὴν πόλιν §37τὸ μὴ οὐ μεγάλην εἶναι φύσει κεὐδαίμονα §38καὶ πᾶσι κοινὴν ἐναποτεῖσαι χρήματα.
For there is no path here." "No, by Zeus, nor is there a path anywhere here either." "And doesn't the crow say anything about the road?" "No, by Zeus, she's not cawing the same way now as then." "What indeed does she say about the road?" "What else indeed, except that she's going to gnaw off my fingers, she says?" "Isn't it really terrible then, that we, wanting to go to the crows and being fully prepared, should then be unable to find the road?" "For we, gentlemen who are present at this story, suffer from a disease opposite to Sakas'; for he, not being a citizen, forces his way in, while we, honored in tribe and birth, citizens among citizens, with no one driving us out, have flown away from our homeland on both feet, not because we hate that city itself for not being great and prosperous by nature, and open to all to pay away their money in fines.
§39οἱ μὲν γὰρ οὖν τέττιγες ἕνα μῆνʼ ἢ δύο §40ἐπὶ τῶν κραδῶν ᾄδουσʼ, Ἀθηναῖοι δʼ ἀεὶ §41ἐπὶ τῶν δικῶν ᾄδουσι πάντα τὸν βίον.
For while the cicadas sing for a month or two upon the branches, the Athenians always sing upon their lawsuits all their life long.
§42διὰ ταῦτα τόνδε τὸν βάδον βαδίζομεν, §43κανοῦν δʼ ἔχοντε καὶ χύτραν καὶ μυρρίνας §44πλανώμεθα ζητοῦντε τόπον ἀπράγμονα, §45ὅποι καθιδρυθέντε διαγενοίμεθʼ ἄν.
For this reason we walk this path, and carrying a basket, a pot, and myrtle branches, we wander seeking a trouble-free place, where we might settle down and live out our days.
§46ὁ δὲ στόλος νῷν ἐστι παρὰ τὸν Τηρέα §47τὸν ἔποπα, παρʼ ἐκείνου πυθέσθαι δεομἐνω, §48εἴ που τοιαύτην εἶδε πόλιν ᾗ ʼπέπτετο. §49οὗτος. §49bτί ἔστιν; §49cἡ κορώνη μοι πάλαι §50ἄνω τι φράζει. §50bχὠ κολοιὸς οὑτοσὶ §51ἄνω κέχηνεν ὡσπερεὶ δεικνύς τί μοι, §52κοὐκ ἔσθʼ ὅπως οὐκ ἔστιν ἐνταῦθʼ ὄρνεα. §53εἰσόμεθα δʼ αὐτίκʼ, ἢν ποιήσωμεν ψόφον.
And our journey is to Tereus the hoopoe, desiring to inquire of him, if he has ever seen such a city where he flew." "Hey!" "What is it?" "My crow has been for some time pointing upwards." "And this jackdaw here is gaping upwards as if showing me something, and there's no way there aren't birds around here." "We'll soon know, if we make some noise." "But do you know what to do?
§54ἀλλʼ οἶσθʼ ὃ δρᾶσον; τῷ σκέλει θένε τὴν πέτραν. §55σὺ δὲ τῇ κεφαλῇ γʼ, ἵνʼ ᾖ διπλάσιος ὁ ψόφος. §56σὺ δʼ οὖν λίθῳ κόψον λαβών. §56bπάνυ γʼ, εἰ δοκεῖ.
Strike the rock with your leg." "And you with your head, so the noise will be double." "Anyway, take a stone and knock." "Sure, if that seems best." "Boy!
τὸν ἔποπα παῖ καλεῖς; §58οὐκ ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδός σʼ ἐχρῆν ἐποποῖ καλεῖν;
Are you calling the hoopoe 'boy'?" "Shouldn't you have called 'epopoi' instead of 'boy'?" "Epopoi!
You're going to make me knock again and again." "Epopoi!" "Who are these?
τίς ὁ βοῶν τὸν δεσπότην; §61Ἄπολλον ἀποτρόπαιε τοῦ χασμήματος.
Who is shouting for my master?" "Apollo the Averter!
What a huge gape!" "Woe is me!
§64ἀπολεῖσθον. §64bἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐσμὲν ἀνθρώπω. §64cτί δαί; §65Ὑποδεδιὼς ἔγωγε Λιβυκὸν ὄρνεον. §66οὐδὲν λέγεις. §66bκαὶ μὴν ἐροῦ τὰ πρὸς ποδῶν.
These two are bird-catchers." "Don't say such a terrible thing, nor even fairer." "You two shall perish." "But we are not men." "What then?" "I am 'Scared-stiff', a Libyan bird." "You're talking nonsense." "Indeed, look at what is at my feet." "And what on earth is this bird here?
§67ὁδὶ δὲ δὴ τίς ἐστιν ὄρνις; οὐκ ἐρεῖς; §68Ἐπικεχοδὼς ἔγωγε Φασιανικός. §69ἀτὰρ σὺ τί θηρίον ποτʼ εἶ πρὸς τῶν θεῶν; §70ὄρνις ἔγωγε δοῦλος. §70bἡττήθης τινὸς §71ἀλεκτρυόνος; §71bοὐκ ἀλλʼ ὅτε περ ὁ δεσπότης §72ἔποψ ἐγένετο, τότε γενέσθαι μʼ ηὔξατο §73ὄρνιν, ἵνʼ ἀκόλουθον διάκονόν τʼ ἔχῃ.
Won't you say?" "I am 'Crapped-myself', a Phasian bird." "But you, by the gods, what kind of beast are you?" "I am a bird, a slave." "Were you defeated by some cock?" "No, but when my master became a hoopoe, he prayed that I too should become a bird, so that he might have an attendant and servant."