§311ἐκάλεσε;
Chorus: Who called?
τίνα τόπον ἄρα ποτὲ νέμεται;
What place does he inhabit?
§312οὑτοσὶ πάλαι πάρειμι κοὐκ ἀποστατῶ φίλων.
Hoopoe: Here I am, long since present, and I do not stand apart from my friends.
§313τί τί τί τί τί τί τί τί·
Chorus: What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what?
τίνα λόγον ἄρα ποτὲ §315πρὸς ἐμὲ φίλον ἔχων;
What kind of talk, then, do you have for me, your friend?
§316κοινὸν ἀσφαλῆ δίκαιον ἡδὺν ὠφελήσιμον.
Hoopoe: Something common, safe, just, pleasant, and profitable.
§317ἄνδρε γὰρ λεπτὼ λογιστὰ δεῦρʼ ἀφῖχθον ὡς ἐμέ.
For two men, subtle reasoners, have arrived here to me.
§318ποῦ;
Chorus: Where?
πᾷ;
Which way?
πῶς φῄς;
How do you say?
Hoopoe: I say that two old men have arrived here from among humans; and they have come holding the root of a monstrous matter.
Chorus: O you who have committed the greatest error since I was reared, how do you say?
§323bμήπω φοβηθῇς τὸν λόγον.
Hoopoe: Do not fear my words yet.
§323cτί μʼ ἠργάσω;
Chorus: What have you done to me?
§324ἄνδρʼ ἐδεξάμην ἐραστὰ τῆσδε τῆς ξυνουσίας.
Hoopoe: I welcomed two men who are lovers of this association of ours.
§325καὶ δέδρακας τοῦτο τοὔργον;
Chorus: And have you done this deed?
§325bκαὶ δεδρακώς γʼ ἥδομαι.
Hoopoe: Yes, and having done it, I am glad.
§326κἀστὸν ἤδη που παρʼ ἡμῖν;
Chorus: And are they already somewhere among us?
§326bεἰ παρʼ ὑμῖν εἴμʼ ἐγώ.
Pisthetaerus: If indeed I am among you.
§327ἔα ἔα,
Chorus: Ah, ah!
§328προδεδόμεθʼ ἀνόσιά τʼ ἐπάθομεν·
We have been betrayed, and we have suffered unholy things!
§329ὃς γὰρ φίλος ἦν ὁμότροφά θʼ ἡμῖν §330ἐνέμετο πεδία παρʼ ἡμῖν, §331παρέβη μὲν θεσμοὺς ἀρχαίους, §332παρέβη δʼ ὅρκους ὀρνίθων· §333ἐς δὲ δόλον ἐκάλεσε, παρέβαλέ τʼ ἐμὲ παρὰ §334γένος ἀνόσιον, ὅπερ ἐξότʼ ἐγένετʼ ἐπʼ ἐμοὶ §335πολέμιον ἐτράφη.
For he who was our friend and who fed on the same fields, sharing the plains among us, has transgressed the ancient laws, and has transgressed the oaths of the birds; and he has called me into a snare, and cast me beside an unholy race, which, ever since it came into being, was reared as hostile to me.
§336ἀλλὰ πρὸς τοῦτον μὲν ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὕστερος λόγος· §337τὼ δὲ πρεσβύτα δοκεῖ μοι τώδε δοῦναι τὴν δίκην §338διαφορηθῆναί θʼ ὑφʼ ἡμῶν.
But with him indeed we shall have a reckoning later; but these two old men, it seems to me, must pay the penalty and be torn to pieces by us.
§338bὡς ἀπωλόμεσθʼ ἄρα.
Euelpides: Then we are utterly lost!
§339αἴτιος μέντοι σὺ νῷν εἶ τῶν κακῶν τούτων μόνος.
You alone are indeed the cause of these evils for us two.
§340ἐπὶ τί γάρ μʼ ἐκεῖθεν ἦγες;
For why did you lead me from there?
§340bἵνʼ ἀκολουθοίης ἐμοί.
Pisthetaerus: So that you might follow me.
§341ἵνα μὲν οὖν κλάοιμι μεγάλα.
Euelpides: Rather, so that I might weep bitterly!
Pisthetaerus: You are talking complete nonsense there; for how will you weep, if once your two eyes are pecked out?
§343ἰὼ ἰώ,
Chorus: Woe, woe!
§344ἔπαγʼ ἔπιθʼ ἐπίφερε πολέμιον §345ὁρμὰν φονίαν, πτέρυγά τε παντᾷ §346ἐπίβαλε περί τε κύκλωσαι· §347ὡς δεῖ τώδʼ οἰμώζειν ἄμφω §348καὶ δοῦναι ῥύγχει φορβάν.
Lead on, attack, bring on the hostile, murderous onslaught, and throw your wing on every side, and encircle them; for these two must both wail and yield food to our beaks.
§349οὔτε γὰρ ὄρος σκιερὸν οὔτε νέφος αἰθέριον §350οὔτε πολιὸν πέλαγος ἔστιν ὅ τι δέξεται §351τώδʼ ἀποφυγόντε με.
For neither shady mountain nor ethereal cloud nor gray sea is there that shall receive these two, escaping me.
§352ἀλλὰ μὴ μέλλωμεν ἤδη τώδε τίλλειν καὶ δάκνειν.
But let us no longer delay to pluck and bite these two.
§353ποῦ ʼσθʼ ὁ ταξίαρχος;
Where is the taxiarch?
ἐπαγέτω τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας.
Let him lead up the right wing.
§354τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖνο·
Euelpides: This is it!
ποῖφύγω δύστηνος;
Where can I flee, miserable wretch?
§354bοὗτος οὐ μενεῖς;
Pisthetaerus: Hey you, won't you stay?
§355ἵνʼ ὑπὸ τούτων διαφορηθῶ;
Euelpides: So that I may be torn to pieces by these birds?
Pisthetaerus: How indeed do you think you could escape them?
§356bοὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἄν.
Euelpides: I don't know how.
Pisthetaerus: But I tell you indeed, that staying, we must fight and lay hold of the pots.
§358τί δὲ χύτρα νώ γʼ ὠφελήσει;
Euelpides: And how will a pot help us two?
§358bγλαῦξ μὲν οὐ πρόσεισι νῷν.
Pisthetaerus: An owl at least will not approach us.
§359τοῖς δὲ γαμψώνυξι τοισδί;
Euelpides: But what about these crook-taloned ones?
Pisthetaerus: Snatch up the spit, and then fix it firmly in front of yourself.
§360bτοῖσι δʼ ὀφθαλμοῖσι τί;
Euelpides: But what about our eyes?
§361ὀξύβαφον ἐντευθενὶ προσδοῦ λαβὼν ἢ τρύβλιον.
Pisthetaerus: Take a vinegar-cruet or a bowl from here and bind it on.
§362ὦ σοφώτατʼ, εὖ γʼ ἀνηῦρες αὐτὸ καὶ στρατηγικῶς·
Euelpides: O wisest man, you have found this out well and like a general!
§363ὑπερακοντίζεις σύ γʼ ἤδη Νικίαν ταῖς μηχαναῖς.
You already outdo Nicias with your stratagems.
§364ἐλελελεῦ χώρει κάθες τὸ ῥύγχος·
Chorus: Eleleleu! Charge! Lower your beak!
οὐ μέλλειν ἐχρῆν.
We must not delay!
§365ἕλκε τίλλε παῖε δεῖρε, κόπτε πρώτην τὴν χύτραν.
Drag, pluck, strike, flay, smash the pot first!
§366εἰπέ μοι τί μέλλετʼ ὦ πάντων κάκιστα θηρίων §367ἀπολέσαι παθόντες οὐδὲν ἄνδρε καὶ διασπάσαι §368τῆς ἐμῆς γυναικὸς ὄντε ξυγγενεῖ καὶ φυλέτα;
Hoopoe: Tell me, why are you about, O worst of all beasts, to destroy and tear to pieces, having suffered nothing, two men who are kinsmen and tribesmen of my wife?
§369φεισόμεσθα γάρ τι τῶνδε μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς ἢ λύκων;
Chorus: For shall we spare these any more than wolves?
§370ἢ τίνας τεισαίμεθʼ ἄλλους τῶνδʼ ἂν ἐχθίους ἔτι;
Or whom else could we punish who are more hostile than these?
§371εἰ δὲ τὴν φύσιν μὲν ἐχθροὶ τὸν δὲ νοῦν εἰσιν φίλοι, §372καὶ διδάξοντές τι δεῦρʼ ἥκουσιν ὑμᾶς χρήσιμον;
Hoopoe: But what if, though enemies by nature, they are friends in intention, and have come here to teach you something useful?
§373πῶς δʼ ἂν οἵδʼ ἡμᾶς τι χρήσιμον διδάξειάν ποτε §374ἢ φράσειαν, ὄντες ἐχθροὶ τοῖσι πάπποις τοῖς ἐμοῖς;
Chorus: And how could these ever teach us anything useful or tell us, being enemies to my grandfathers?
§375ἀλλʼ ἀπʼ ἐχθρῶν δῆτα πολλὰ μανθάνουσιν οἱ σοφοί.
Hoopoe: Yet the wise indeed learn many things from enemies.
§376ἡ γὰρ εὐλάβεια σῴζει πάντα. παρὰ μὲν οὖν φίλου
For caution preserves all things.
§377οὐ μάθοις ἂν τοῦθʼ, ὁ δʼ ἐχθρὸς εὐθὺς ἐξηνάγκασεν.
Now, from a friend you would not learn this, but an enemy forces you to immediately.
§378αὐτίχʼ αἱ πόλεις παρʼ ἀνδρῶν γʼ ἔμαθον ἐχθρῶν κοὐ φίλων §379ἐκπονεῖν θʼ ὑψηλὰ τείχη ναῦς τε κεκτῆσθαι μακράς· §380τὸ δὲ μάθημα τοῦτο σῴζει παῖδας οἶκον χρήματα.
For example, cities learned from hostile men, and not from friends, to build high walls and to acquire long ships; and this lesson preserves children, home, and property.
§381ἔστι μὲν λόγων ἀκοῦσαι πρῶτον, ὡς ἡμῖν δοκεῖ,
Chorus: It is indeed well first to hear their words, as it seems to us,