§74δεῖται γὰρ ὄρνις καὶ διακόνου τινός; §75οὗτός γʼ, ἅτʼ οἶμαι πρότερον ἄνθρωπός ποτʼ ὤν, §76τοτὲ μὲν ἐρᾷ φαγεῖν ἀφύας Φαληρικάς· §77τρέχω ʼπʼ ἀφύας λαβὼν ἐγὼ τὸ τρύβλιον.
"Does a bird really need some kind of servant?" "This one does, because, I suppose, having once been a man, at times he desires to eat Phaleric anchovies; I take the bowl and run for anchovies.
§78ἔτνους δʼ ἐπιθυμεῖ, δεῖ τορύνης καὶ χύτρας· §79τρέχω ʼπὶ τορύνην. §79bτροχίλος ὄρνις οὑτοσί. §80οἶσθʼ οὖν ὃ δρᾶσον ὦ τροχίλε;
And he longs for pea-soup, so a ladle and a pot are needed; I run for a ladle." "This here is a trochilus." "Do you know what to do then, trochilus?
τὸν δεσπότην §81ἡμῖν κάλεσον. §81bἀλλʼ ἀρτίως νὴ τὸν Δία §82εὕδει καταφαγὼν μύρτα καὶ σέρφους τινάς. §83ὅμως ἐπέγειρον αὐτόν. §83bοἶδα μὲν σαφῶς §84ὅτι ἀχθέσεται, σφῷν δʼ αὐτὸν οὕνεκʼ ἐπεγερῶ. §85κακῶς σύ γʼ ἀπόλοιʼ, ὥς μʼ ἀπέκτεινας δέει.
Call your master for us." "But by Zeus, he has just now gone to sleep after eating myrtle berries and some gnats." "Wake him up anyway." "I know well that he will be annoyed, but for your sakes I will wake him." "May you perish miserably, how you killed me with fear!" "Alas, miserable wretch that I am!
§86οἴμοι κακοδαίμων χὠ κολοιός μοἴχεται §87ὑπὸ τοῦ δέους. §87bὦ δειλότατον σὺ θηρίον, §88δείσας ἀφῆκας τὸν κολοιόν; §88bεἰπέ μοι, §89σὺ δὲ τὴν κορώνην οὐκ ἀφῆκας καταπεσών; §90μὰ Δίʼ οὐκ ἔγωγε. §90bποῦ γάρ ἐστʼ; §90cἀπέπτετο. §91οὐκ ἆρʼ ἀφῆκας;
Even my jackdaw has gone out of fear." "O most cowardly beast, did you let the jackdaw go because you were afraid?" "Tell me, didn't you let the crow go when you fell down?" "By Zeus, not I." "Where is it then?" "It flew away." "So you didn't let it go?
ὦγάθʼ ὡς ἀνδρεῖος εἶ. §92ἄνοιγε τὴν ὕλην, ἵνʼ ἐξέλθω ποτέ.
O good sir, how brave you are!" "Open the wood, so that I may at last come out." "O Heracles!
§93ὦ Ἡράκλεις τουτὶ τί ποτʼ ἐστὶ τὸ θηρίον;
What on earth is this beast?
§94τίς ἡ πτέρωσις;
What is this plumage?
τίς ὁ τρόπος τῆς τριλοφίας; §95τίνες εἰσί μʼ οἱ ζητοῦντες; §95bοἱ δώδεκα θεοὶ §96εἴξασιν ἐπιτρῖψαί σε. §96bμῶν με σκώπτετον §97ὁρῶντε τὴν πτέρωσιν;
What is this fashion of the triple crest?" "Who are those seeking me?" "The twelve gods seem to have ruined you." "Are you two mocking me, seeing my plumage?
ἦν γὰρ ὦ ξένοι §98ἄνθρωπος. §98bοὐ σοῦ καταγελῶμεν. §98cἀλλὰ τοῦ; §99τὸ ῥάμφος ἡμῖν σου γέλοιον φαίνεται. §100τοιαῦτα μέντοι Σοφοκλέης λυμαίνεται §101ἐν ταῖς τραγῳδίαισιν ἐμὲ τὸν Τηρέα. §102Τηρεὺς γὰρ εἶ σύ;
For, strangers, I was once a man." "We are not laughing at you." "At what then?" "Your beak appears ridiculous to us." "Yet Sophocles outrages me, Tereus, in such a way in his tragedies." "Are you indeed Tereus?
πότερον ὄρνις ἢ ταὧς; §103ὄρνις ἔγωγε. §103bκᾆτά σοι ποῦ τὰ πτερά; §104ἐξερρύηκε. §104bπότερον ὑπὸ νόσου τινός; §105οὔκ, ἀλλὰ τὸν χειμῶνα πάντα τὤρνεα §106πτερορρυεῖ τε καὖθις ἕτερα φύομεν.
Are you a bird or a peacock?" "I am a bird." "And then where are your feathers?" "They have fallen out." "Because of some disease?" "No, but during the winter all birds shed their feathers, and we grow others again.
βροτώ. §108ποδαπὼ τὸ γένος; §108bὅθεν αἱ τριήρεις αἱ καλαί. §109μῶν ἡλιαστά; §109bμἀλλὰ θατέρου τρόπου, §110ἀπηλιαστά. §110bσπείρεται γὰρ τοῦτʼ ἐκεῖ §111τὸ σπέρμʼ; §111bὀλίγον ζητῶν ἂν ἐξ ἀγροῦ λάβοις. §112πράγους δὲ δὴ τοῦ δεομένω δεῦρʼ ἤλθετον; §113σοὶ ξυγγενέσθαι βουλομένω. §114τίνος πέρι; §114bὅτι πρῶτα μὲν ἦσθʼ ἄνθρωπος ὥσπερ νὼ ποτέ, §115κἀργύριον ὠφείλησας ὥσπερ νὼ ποτέ, §116κοὐκ ἀποδιδοὺς ἔχαιρες ὥσπερ νὼ ποτέ· §117εἶτʼ αὖθις ὀρνίθων μεταλλάξας φύσιν §118καὶ γῆν ἐπέπτου καὶ θάλατταν ἐν κύκλῳ, §119καὶ πάνθʼ ὅσαπερ ἄνθρωπος ὅσα τʼ ὄρνις φρονεῖς·
Mortals." "Of what country by race?" "From where the fine triremes come." "Surely not jurymen?" "No, rather of the other sort, anti-jurymen." "Does that seed actually grow there?" "If you search, you might find a little of it in the countryside." "And indeed, in need of what business did you come here?" "Desiring to meet with you." "About what?" "Because, first of all, you were once a man as we are now, and you owed money as we do now, and you enjoyed not paying it back as we do now; then, afterwards, you changed into the nature of birds, and flew over the land and the sea in a circle, and you understand all that a man and all that a bird thinks.
§120ταῦτ οὖν ἱκέται νὼ πρὸς σὲ δεῦρʼ ἀφίγμεθα, §121εἴ τινα πόλιν φράσειας ἡμῖν εὔερον §122ὥσπερ σισύραν ἐγκατακλινῆναι μαλθακήν. §123ἔμειτα μείζω τῶν Κραναῶν ζητεῖς πόλιν; §124μείζω μὲν οὐδέν, προσφορωτέραν δὲ νῷν. §125ἀριστοκρατεῖσθαι δῆλος εἶ ζητῶν. §125bἐγώ; §126ἥκιστα· καὶ γὰρ τὸν Σκελίου βδελύττομαι. §127ποίαν τινʼ οὖν ἥδιστʼ ἂν οἰκοῖτʼ ἂν πόλιν; §128ὅπου τὰ μέγιστα πράγματʼ εἴη τοιάδε· §129ἐπὶ τὴν θύραν μου πρῴ τις ἐλθὼν τῶν φίλων §130λέγοι ταδί· πρὸς τοῦ Διὸς τοὐλυμπίου §131ὅπως παρέσει μοι καὶ σὺ καὶ τὰ παιδία §132λουσάμενα πρῴ· μέλλω γὰρ ἑστιᾶν γάμους· §133καὶ μηδαμῶς ἄλλως ποιήσῃς·
For these reasons we have come here to you as suppliants, to see if you could point out some city of easy wool where we might lie down as if in a soft blanket." "And then do you seek a city greater than Athens?" "Nothing greater, but one more suitable for us." "You clearly seek to live under an aristocracy." "I?" "Not at all; indeed, I utterly detest the son of Schelias." "What kind of city then would you most gladly live in?" "Where the greatest troubles would be like this: early in the morning, one of my friends coming to my door would say: 'By Olympian Zeus, see that you and your children are present at my house, having bathed early; for I am going to host a wedding feast.
εἰ δὲ μή, §134μή μοι τότε γʼ ἔλθῃς, ὅταν ἐγὼ πράττω κακῶς
. §135νὴ Δία ταλαιπώρων γε πραγμάτων ἐρᾷς.
And do not by any means do otherwise; else, do not come to me then, whenever I am in distress.'" "By Zeus, you truly desire troublesome things.
§136τί δαὶ σύ; §136bτοιούτων ἐρῶ κἀγώ. §136cτίνων; §137ὅπου ξυναντῶν μοι ταδί τις μέμψεται §138ὥσπερ ἀδικηθεὶς παιδὸς ὡραίου πατήρ· §139καλῶς γέ μου τὸν υἱὸν ὦ Στιλβωνίδη §140εὑρὼν ἀπιόντʼ ἀπὸ γυμνασίου λελουμένον §141οὐκ ἔκυσας, οὐ προσεῖπας, οὐ προσηγάγου, §142οὐκ ὠρχιπέδισας, ὢν ἐμοὶ πατρικὸς φίλος. §143ὦ δειλακρίων σὺ τῶν κακῶν οἵων ἐρᾷς.
And what about you?" "I also desire such things." "What sort?" "Where someone meeting me would complain like this, as if he were a father of a handsome boy who had been wronged: 'It was a fine thing you did, Stilbonides, when you found my son coming from the gymnasium after bathing, and you didn't kiss him, didn't speak to him, didn't embrace him, and didn't fondle him, though you are my father's friend.'" "O poor wretch, what strange troubles you desire.
§144ἀτὰρ ἔστι γʼ ὁποίαν λέγετον εὐδαίμων πόλις §145παρὰ τὴν ἐρυθρὰν θάλατταν. §145bοἴμοι μηδαμῶς §146ἡμῖν παρὰ τὴν θάλατταν, ἵνʼ ἀνακύψεται §147κλητῆρʼ ἄγουσʼ ἕωθεν ἡ Σαλαμινία. §148Ἑλληνικὴν δὲ πόλιν ἔχεις ἡμῖν φράσαι;
But there is indeed such a prosperous city as you speak of by the Red Sea." "Alas, by no means by the sea for us, where the Salaminia will pop up in the morning bringing a summoner." "But can you tell us of a Greek city?"