§468πάντων ὁπόσʼ ἔστιν, ἐμοῦ πρῶτον, τουδί, καὶ τοῦ Διὸς αὐτοῦ, §469ἀρχαιότεροι πρότεροί τε Κρόνου καὶ Τιτάνων ἐγένεσθε, §470καὶ γῆς.
Pisthetaerus: Older than all things that exist, first before me, before this man here, and before Zeus himself, you came into being before Cronus, the Titans, and before the Earth.
§470bκαὶ γῆς;
Chorus: And the Earth?
§470cνὴ τὸν Ἀπόλλω.
Pisthetaerus: By Apollo, yes.
§470dτουτὶ μὰ Δίʼ οὐκ ἐπεπύσμην.
Euelpides: By Zeus, I hadn't heard that.
§471ἀμαθὴς γὰρ ἔφυς κοὐ πολυπράγμων, οὐδʼ Αἴσωπον πεπάτηκας, §472ὃς ἔφασκε λέγων κορυδὸν πάντων πρώτην ὄρνιθα γενέσθαι, §473προτέραν τῆς γῆς, κἄπειτα νόσῳ τὸν πατέρʼ αὐτῆς ἀποθνῄσκειν· §474γῆν δʼ οὐκ εἶναι, τὸν δὲ προκεῖσθαι πεμπταῖον· τὴν δʼ ἀποροῦσαν §475ὑπʼ ἀμηχανίας τὸν πατέρʼ αὑτῆς ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ κατορύξαι.
Pisthetaerus: For you are ignorant and not inquisitive, nor have you thumbed through Aesop, who used to say that the lark was born the very first bird of all, before the Earth, and then her father died of sickness; but there was no earth, and he lay exposed for five days; and she, at her wit's end from helplessness, buried her father in her own head.
§476ὁ πατὴρ ἄρα τῆς κορυδοῦ νυνὶ κεῖται τεθνεὼς Κεφαλῆσιν.
Euelpides: So then the father of the lark now lies dead at Cephalae!
§477οὔκουν δῆτʼ εἰ πρότεροι μὲν γῆς πρότεροι δὲ θεῶν ἐγένοντο, §478ὡς πρεσβυτάτων αὐτῶν ὄντῶν ὀρθῶς ἐσθʼ ἡ βασιλεία;
Pisthetaerus: Therefore, if they were born before the Earth and before the gods, is not the kingship rightfully theirs, as they are the oldest?
§479νὴ τὸν Ἀπόλλω·
Euelpides: By Apollo, indeed!
πάνυ τοίνυν χρὴ ῥύγχος βόσκειν σε τὸ λοιπόν· §480οὐκ ἀποδώσει ταχέως ὁ Ζεὺς τὸ σκῆπτρον τῷ δρυκολάπτῃ.
Therefore you must feed your scepter-beak well from now on; Zeus will not quickly hand over his scepter to the woodpecker.
§481ὡς δʼ οὐχὶ θεοὶ τοίνυν ἦρχον τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ παλαιόν, §482ἀλλʼ ὄρνιθες, κἀβασίλευον, πόλλʼ ἐστὶ τεκμήρια τούτων.
Pisthetaerus: And that it was not gods but birds who ruled over men in ancient times, and were kings, there are many proofs of this.
§483αὐτίκα δʼ ὑμῖν πρῶτʼ ἐπιδείξω τὸν ἀλεκτρυόνʼ, ὡς ἐτυράννει §484ἦρχέ τε Περσῶν πρῶτον πάντων Δαρείου καὶ Μεγαβάζου, §485ὥστε καλεῖται Περσικὸς ὄρνις ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἔτʼ ἐκείνης.
First of all, I will show you the cock, how he was sovereign and ruled the Persians first of all, before Darius and Megabazus, so that he is still called the Persian bird from that ancient rule.
§486διὰ ταῦτʼ ἄρʼ ἔχων καὶ νῦν ὥσπερ βασιλεὺς ὁ μέγας διαβάσκει §487ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς τὴν κυρβασίαν τῶν ὀρνίθων μόνος ὀρθήν.
Because of this, even now, he struts like the Great King, alone among the birds holding the tiara erect upon his head.
§488οὕτω δʼ ἴσχυσέ τε καὶ μέγας ἦν τότε καὶ πολύς, ὥστʼ ἔτι καὶ νῦν §489ὑπὸ τῆς ῥώμης τῆς τότʼ ἐκείνης, ὁπόταν μόνον ὄρθριον ᾄσῃ, §490ἀναπηδῶσιν πάντες ἐπʼ ἔργον χαλκῆς κεραμῆς σκυλοδέψαι §491σκυτῆς βαλανῆς ἀλφιταμοιβοὶ τορνευτολυρασπιδοπηγοί· §492οἱ δὲ βαδίζουσʼ ὑποδησάμενοι νύκτωρ.
And he was so powerful and great and mighty then, that even now, because of that ancient strength, whenever he only crows at dawn, all leap up to work: bronzesmiths, potters, tanners, shoemakers, bath-keepers, flour-dealers, turners, lyre-makers, shield-builders; and some walk out having put on their shoes while it is still night.
§492bἐμὲ τοῦτό γʼ ἐρώτα.
Euelpides: Ask me about that indeed!
§493χλαῖναν γὰρ ἀπώλεσʼ ὁ μοχθηρὸς Φρυγίων ἐρίων διὰ τοῦτον.
For because of this scoundrel, I lost a cloak of Phrygian wool.
§494ἐς δεκάτην γάρ ποτε παιδαρίου κληθεὶς ὑπέπινον ἐν ἄστει, §495κἄρτι καθηῦδον, καὶ πρὶν δειπνεῖν τοὺς ἄλλους οὗτος ἄρʼ ᾖσεν· §496κἀγὼ νομίσας ὄρθρον ἐχώρουν Ἀλιμουντάδε, κἄρτι προκύπτω §497ἔξω τείχους καὶ λωποδύτης παίει ῥοπάλῳ με τὸ νῶτον· §498κἀγὼ πίπτω μέλλω τε βοᾶν, ὁ δʼ ἀπέβλισε θοἰμάτιόν μου.
For once, invited to a child's tenth-day feast, I was drinking in the city, and had just fallen asleep, and before the others dined, this fellow crowed; and I, thinking it was dawn, set off for Halimus, and just as I peeped outside the wall, a highwayman struck me on the back with a club; and I fell and was about to cry out, but he snatched my cloak away.
§499ἰκτῖνος δʼ οὖν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἦρχεν τότε κἀβασίλευεν.
Pisthetaerus: At any rate, then, the kite ruled over the Greeks and was king.
§500τῶν Ἑλλήνων;
Chorus: Over the Greeks?
Pisthetaerus: And he was the first who, while reigning, showed them to prostrate themselves before kites.
§501bνὴ τὸν Διόνυσον, ἐγὼ γοῦν
Euelpides: By Dionysus, yes!
§502ἐκυλινδούμην ἰκτῖνον ἰδών· κᾆθʼ ὕπτιος ὢν ἀναχάσκων §503ὀβολὸν κατεβρόχθισα· κᾆτα κενὸν τὸν θύλακον οἴκαδʼ ἀφεῖλκον.
I indeed prostrated myself on seeing a kite, and then, while lying on my back with my mouth wide open, I swallowed an obol; and then dragged my empty purse home.
§504Αἰγύπτου δʼ αὖ καὶ Φοινίκης πάσης κόκκυξ βασιλεὺς ἦν· §505χὠπόθʼ ὁ κόκκυξ εἴποι
κόκκυ,
τότʼ ἂν οἱ Φοίνικες ἅπαντες §506τοὺς πυροὺς ἂν καὶ τὰς κριθὰς ἐν τοῖς πεδίοις ἐθέριζον.
Pisthetaerus: And again, the cuckoo was king of Egypt and of all Phoenicia; and whenever the cuckoo said "cuckoo," then all the Phoenicians would harvest their wheat and barley in the fields.
§507τοῦτʼ ἄρʼ ἐκεῖνʼ ἦν τοὔπος ἀληθῶς· κόκκυψωλοὶ πεδίονδε. §508ἦρχον δʼ οὕτω σφόδρα τὴν ἀρχήν, ὥστʼ εἴ τις καὶ βασιλεύοι §509ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν τῶν Ἑλλήνων Ἀγαμέμνων ἢ Μενέλαος, §510ἐπὶ τῶν σκήπτρων ἐκάθητʼ ὄρνις μετέχων ὅ τι δωροδοκοίη.
Euelpides: So that was truly the meaning of the saying: "Cuckoo-circumcised to the plain!" Pisthetaerus: And they held their rule so strongly that if anyone was king in the cities of the Greeks, like Agamemnon or Menelaus, a bird sat upon their scepters, sharing in whatever bribe he might receive.
§511τουτὶ τοίνυν οὐκ ᾔδη ʼγώ· καὶ δῆτά μʼ ἐλάμβανε θαῦμα, §512ὁπότʼ ἐξέλθοι Πρίαμός τις ἔχων ὄρνιν ἐν τοῖσι τραγῳδοῖς, §513ὁ δʼ ἄρʼ εἱστήκει τὸν Λυσικράτη τηρῶν ὅ τι δωροδοκοίη.
Euelpides: Now that I did not know; and indeed wonder used to seize me whenever some Priam came out in the tragedies holding a bird, but he was standing there, it seems, watching Lysicrates to see what bribe he might receive.
§514ὃ δὲ δεινότατόν γʼ ἐστὶν ἁπάντων, ὁ Ζεὺς γὰρ ὁ νῦν βασιλεύων §515αἰετὸν ὄρνιν ἕστηκεν ἔχων ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς βασιλεὺς ὤν, §516ἡ δʼ αὖ θυγάτηρ γλαῦχʼ, ὁ δʼ Ἀπόλλων ὥσπερ θεράπων ἱέρακα.
Pisthetaerus: But what is the most terrible of all, Zeus who now rules as king stands holding an eagle, a bird, upon his head, because he is king, and his daughter in turn a owl, and Apollo like a servant a hawk.
§517νὴ τὴν Δήμητρʼ εὖ ταῦτα λέγεις.
Euelpides: By Demeter, you speak well.
τίνος οὕνεκα ταῦτʼ ἄρʼ ἔχουσιν;
For what reason then do they have these?
§518ἵνʼ ὅταν θύων τις ἔπειτʼ αὐτοῖς ἐς τὴν χεῖρʼ, ὡς νόμος ἐστίν, §519τὰ σπλάγχνα διδῷ, τοῦ Διὸς αὐτοὶ πρότεροι τὰ σπλάγχνα λάβωσιν.
Pisthetaerus: In order that, when someone sacrificing then hands the entrails into their hands, as is custom, they themselves may receive the entrails before Zeus.
§520ὤμνυ τʼ οὐδεὶς τότʼ ἂν ἀνθρώπων θεόν, ἀλλʼ ὄρνιθας ἅπαντες·
And at that time no one of men swore by a god, but all swore by birds;