§659ἀρίστισον εὖ· τὴν δʼ ἡδυμελῆ ξύμφωνον ἀηδόνα Μούσαις §660κατάλειφʼ ἡμῖν δεῦρʼ ἐκβιβάσας, ἵνα παίσωμεν μετʼ ἐκείνης.
Pisthetaerus: Have a good breakfast; but bring out here and leave with us the sweet-singing nightingale, who chimes with the Muses, so that we may play with her.
Euelpides: Oh, yes, by Zeus, do listen to them in this; bring the little bird out from the rushes.
Pisthetaerus: By the gods, bring her out here, so that we two as well may behold the nightingale.
§665ἀλλʼ εἰ δοκεῖ σφῷν, ταῦτα χρὴ δρᾶν.
Leader: Well, if it seems good to you two, so must we do.
ἡ Πρόκνη §666ἔκβαινε καὶ σαυτὴν ἐπιδείκνυ τοῖς ξένοις.
Procne, come out and show yourself to the strangers.
Pisthetaerus: O highly honored Zeus, how beautiful the little bird is, how tender, and how white!
Euelpides: Do you know that I would gladly spread her thighs?
§670ὅσον δʼ ἔχει τὸν χρυσόν, ὥσπερ παρθένος.
Pisthetaerus: And how much gold she wears, just like a maiden!
§671ἐγὼ μὲν αὐτὴν κἂν φιλῆσαί μοι δοκῶ.
Euelpides: As for me, I think I would even kiss her.
§672ἀλλʼ ὦ κακόδαιμον ῥύγχος ὀβελίσκοιν ἔχει.
Pisthetaerus: But, you poor wretch, she has a beak like a pair of spits!
Euelpides: But, by Zeus, one must peel the shell from her head just like an egg, and then kiss her so.
§675ἴωμεν.
Pisthetaerus: Let us go.
§675bἡγοῦ δὴ σὺ νῷν τύχἀγαθῇ.
Leader: Lead the two of us then, with good fortune.
Chorus: O dear, O tawny one, O dearest of all birds, companion of my songs, nurtured together, O nightingale!
You have come, you have come, you have appeared, bringing a sweet voice to me.
Come, striking the lovely-sounding flute with spring melodies, lead off the anapests.
§685ἄγε δὴ φύσιν ἄνδρες ἀμαυρόβιοι, φύλλων γενεᾷ προσόμοιοι, §686ὀλιγοδρανέες, πλάσματα πηλοῦ, σκιοειδέα φῦλʼ ἀμενηνά, §687ἀπτῆνες ἐφημέριοι ταλαοὶ βροτοὶ ἀνέρες εἰκελόνειροι, §688προσέχετε τὸν νοῦν τοῖς ἀθανάτοις ἡμῖν τοῖς αἰὲν ἐοῦσιν, §689τοῖς αἰθερίοις τοῖσιν ἀγήρῳς τοῖς ἄφθιτα μηδομένοισιν, §690ἵνʼ ἀκούσαντες πάντα παρʼ ἡμῶν ὀρθῶς περὶ τῶν μετεώρων. §691φύσιν οἰωνῶν γένεσίν τε θεῶν ποταμῶν τʼ Ἐρέβους τε Χάους τε §692εἰδότες ὀρθῶς, Προδίκῳ παρʼ ἐμοῦ κλάειν εἴπητε τὸ λοιπόν.
Come now, you men who live in darkness, so like the generation of leaves, feeble, creatures of clay, shadow-like powerless tribes, wingless, ephemeral, wretched mortals, dream-like men, attend your mind to us, the immortals who exist forever, the ethereal, the ageless, who think imperishable thoughts, so that having heard everything correctly from us about the lofty matters, and having known correctly the nature of birds, the origin of the gods, of rivers, of Erebus, and of Chaos, you may henceforth tell Prodicus to go weep on my authority.
§693Χάος ἦν καὶ Νὺξ Ἔρεβός τε μέλαν πρῶτον καὶ Τάρταρος εὐρύς, §694γῆ δʼ οὐδʼ ἀὴρ οὐδʼ οὐρανὸς ἦν· Ἐρέβους δʼ ἐν ἀπείροσι κόλποις §695τίκτει πρώτιστον ὑπηνέμιον Νὺξ ἡ μελανόπτερος ᾠόν, §696ἐξ οὖ περιτελλομέναις ὥραις ἔβλαστεν Ἔρως ὁ ποθεινός, §697στίλβων νῶτον πτερύγοιν χρυσαῖν, εἰκὼς ἀνεμώκεσι δίναις.
In the beginning there was Chaos and Night and dark Erebus and wide Tartarus, but there was no earth, nor air, nor heaven; and in the boundless bosoms of Erebus, black-winged Night first of all laid a wind-egg, from which, as the seasons rolled around, sprang lovely Eros, gleaming on his back with two golden wings, like the wind-swift whirlwinds.
§698οὗτος δὲ Χάει πτερόεντι μιγεὶς νυχίῳ κατὰ Τάρταρον εὐρὺν §699ἐνεόττευσεν γένος ἡμέτερον, καὶ πρῶτον ἀνήγαγεν ἐς φῶς.
And he, mingling with winged, dark Chaos in wide Tartarus, hatched our race, and first brought us up into the light.
§700πρότερον δʼ οὐκ ἦν γένος ἀθανάτων, πρὶν Ἔρως ξυνέμειξεν ἅπαντα· §701ξυμμιγνυμένων δʼ ἑτέρων ἑτέροις γένετʼ οὐρανὸς ὠκεανός τε §702καὶ γῆ πάντων τε θεῶν μακάρων γένος ἄφθιτον.
Before that, the race of the immortals did not exist, until Eros mingled everything together; but as they mingled with one another, heaven and ocean and earth arose, and the imperishable race of all the blessed gods.
ὦδε μέν ἐσμεν §703πολὺ πρεσβύτατοι πάντων μακάρων.
Thus we are by far the oldest of all the blessed ones.
ἡμεῖς δʼ ὡς ἐσμὲν Ἔρωτος §704πολλοῖς δῆλον· πετόμεσθά τε γὰρ καὶ τοῖσιν ἐρῶσι σύνεσμεν·
And that we are of Eros is clear to many in many ways; for we fly, and we associate with those who love.
§705πολλοὺς δὲ καλοὺς ἀπομωμοκότας παῖδας πρὸς τέρμασιν ὥρας §706διὰ τὴν ἰσχὺν τὴν ἡμετέραν διεμήρισαν ἄνδρες ἐρασταί, §707ὁ μὲν ὄρτυγα δοὺς ὁ δὲ πορφυρίωνʼ ὁ δὲ χῆνʼ ὁ δὲ Περσικὸν ὄρνιν.
And many beautiful boys who had sworn off lovers, at the end of their youth, lover-men have enjoyed through our power, one by giving a quail, another a purple gallinule, another a goose, and another a Persian bird.
§708πάντα δὲ θνητοῖς ἐστὶν ἀφʼ ἡμῶν τῶν ὀρνίθων τὰ μέγιστα.
And all the greatest benefits for mortals come from us birds.
§709πρῶτα μὲν ὥρας φαίνομεν ἡμεῖς ἦρος χειμῶνος ὀπώρας·
First, we point out the seasons of spring, winter, and autumn.
§710σπείρειν μέν, ὅταν γέρανος κρώζουσʼ ἐς τὴν Λιβύην μεταχωρῇ. §711καὶ πηδάλιον τότε ναυκλήρῳ φράζει κρεμάσαντι καθεύδειν, §712εἶτα δʼ Ὀρέστῃ χλαῖναν ὑφαίνειν, ἵνα μὴ ῥιγῶν ἀποδύῃ.
To sow, indeed, when the crane migrates screeching to Libya; and then she tells the shipowner to hang up his rudder and sleep, and next, tells Orestes to weave a cloak, so that he won't strip others while shivering from cold.
§713ἰκτῖνος δʼ αὖ μετὰ ταῦτα φανεὶς ἑτέραν ὥραν ἀποφαίνει, §714ἡνίκα πεκτεῖν ὥρα προβάτων πόκον ἠρινόν· εἶτα χελιδών, §715ὅτε χρὴ χλαῖναν πωλεῖν ἤδη καὶ ληδάριόν τι πρίασθαι.
Then the kite, appearing after that, reveals another season, when it is time to shear the spring fleece of sheep; and next the swallow, when one must now sell the cloak and buy some light summer garment.
§716ἐσμὲν δʼ ὑμῖν Ἄμμων Δελφοὶ Δωδώνη Φοῖβος Ἀπόλλων.
And we are to you Ammon, Delphi, Dodona, Phoebus Apollo.
§717ἐλθόντες γὰρ πρῶτον ἐπʼ ὄρνις οὕτω πρὸς ἅπαντα τρέπεσθε, §718πρός τʼ ἐμπορίαν, καὶ πρὸς βιότου κτῆσιν, καὶ πρὸς γάμον ἀνδρός.
For having first gone to birds, you thus turn to everything: to trade, and to the acquisition of livelihood, and to the marriage of a man.
§719ὄρνιν τε νομίζετε πάνθʼ ὅσαπερ περὶ μαντείας διακρίνει· §720φήμη γʼ ὑμῖν ὄρνις ἐστί, πταρμόν τʼ ὄρνιθα καλεῖτε, §721ξύμβολον ὄρνιν, φωνὴν ὄρνιν, θεράποντʼ ὄρνιν, ὄνον ὄρνιν.
And you consider as a 'bird' everything that decides regarding prophecy: for you a rumor is a 'bird', and you call a sneeze a 'bird', an omen a 'bird', a voice a 'bird', a servant a 'bird', a donkey a 'bird'.
§722ἆρʼ οὐ φανερῶς ἡμεῖς ὑμῖν ἐσμὲν μαντεῖος Ἀπόλλων;
Is it not clear then that we are your prophetic Apollo?