§726ἀλλὰ τάσδε μὲν λαβεῖν χρῆν σʼ ἐκφέρειν τε τῶν ξύλων, §727καὶ καταίθειν τὸν πανοῦργον πυρπολεῖν θʼ ὅσον τάχος.
Mikka: But indeed you ought to take some of these logs and bring them out, and burn the scoundrel and set him on fire as quickly as possible.
§728ἴωμεν ἐπὶ τὰς κληματίδας ὦ Μανία.
Let us go for the brushwood, Mania.
§729κἀγώ σʼ ἀποδείξω θυμάλωπα τήμερον.
Relative: And I will turn you into a burning ember today.
§730ὕφαπτε καὶ κάταιθε· σὺ δὲ τὸ Κρητικὸν §731ἀπόδυθι ταχέως· τοῦ θανάτου δʼ ὦ παιδίον §732μόνην γυναικῶν αἰτιῶ τὴν μητέρα.
Kindle and burn; and you, strip off that Cretan robe quickly; and for your death, O child, blame your mother alone of all women.
§733τουτὶ τί ἔστιν;
What on earth is this?
ἀσκὸς ἐγένεθʼ ἡ κόρη §734οἴνου πλέως καὶ ταῦτα Περσικὰς ἔχων.
The girl has become a skin-bag full of wine, and what is more, wearing Persian slippers!
§735ὦ θερμόταται γυναῖκες, ὦ ποτίσταται §736κἀκ παντὸς ὑμεῖς μηχανώμεναι πιεῖν, §737ὦ μέγα καπήλοις ἀγαθὸν ἡμῖν δʼ αὖ κακόν, §738κακὸν δὲ καὶ τοῖς σκευαρίοις καὶ τῇ κρόκῃ.
O most passionate women, O you tippling drunkards, who devise every means to get a drink, O great blessing to the tavern-keepers, but to us again a bane, a bane also to our household utensils and to the weaving woof!
§739παράβαλλε πολλὰς κληματίδας ὦ Μανία.
Mikka: Throw on plenty of brushwood, Mania.
§740παράβαλλε δῆτα· σὺ δʼ ἀπόκριναί μοι τοδί,
Relative: Throw it on, by all means!
§741τουτὶ τεκεῖν φῄς;
But as for you, answer me this: Do you say you gave birth to this?
§742bἤνεγκας σύ;
Relative: You carried it?
§742cνὴ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν.
Mikka: Yes, by Artemis!
§743πρικότυλον ἢ πῶς;
Relative: Three kotylai wide, or how?
εἰπέ μοι.
Tell me.
§743bτί μʼ ἠργάσω;
Mikka: What have you done to me!
You stripped my baby, you shameless wretch, being so very tiny!
§745bτυννοῦτο;
Relative: So very tiny?
§745cμικρὸν νὴ Δία.
Mikka: Small indeed, by Zeus!
§746πόσʼ ἔτη δὲ γέγονε;
Relative: And how old is it?
τρεῖς Χοᾶς ἢ τέτταρας;
Three Choes or four?
§747σχεδὸν τοσοῦτον χὤσον ἐκ Διονυσίων.
Mikka: Just about that, and as much as since the Dionysia.
§748ἀλλʼ ἀπόδος αὐτό.
But give it back!
§748bμὰ τὸν Ἀπόλλω τουτονί.
Relative: No, by this Apollo here!
§749ἐμπρήσομεν τοίνυν σε.
Mikka: Then we will burn you.
§749bπάνυ γʼ ἐμπίμπρατε·
Relative: Go ahead, burn me by all means!
§750αὕτη δʼ ἀποσφαγήσεται μάλʼ αὐτίκα.
But this girl here shall have her throat cut right now.
§751μὴ δῆθʼ, ἱκετεύω σʼ·
Mikka: No, please, I beg you!
ἀλλʼ ἔμʼ ὅ τι χρῄζεις ποίει §752ὑπέρ γε τούτου.
Treat me however you wish on behalf of this child at least.
§752bφιλότεκνός τις εἶ φύσει.
Relative: You are indeed child-loving by nature.
§753ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἥδʼ ἀποσφαγήσεται
But nonetheless, she shall have her throat cut.
§754οἴμοι τέκνον.
Mikka: Alas, my child!
δός μοι σφαγεῖον Μανία, §755ἵνʼ οὖν τό γʼ αἷμα τοῦ τέκνου τοὐμοῦ λάβω.
Give me a sacrificial bowl, Mania, so that I may at least catch my child's blood.
§756ὕπεχʼ αὐτό, χαριοῦμαι γὰρ ἕν γε τοῦτό σοι.
Relative: Hold it under! For I will grant you this one favor at least.
§757κακῶς ἀπόλοιʼ, ὡς φθονερὸς εἶ καὶ δυσμενής.
Mikka: May you perish miserably, you are so grudging and hostile!
§758τουτὶ τὸ δέρμα τῆς ἱερείας γίγνεται.
Relative: This skin becomes the priestess's share.
§759τί τῆς ἱερείας γίγνεται;
Mikka: What becomes the priestess's share?
§759bτουτί.
Relative: This!
λαβέ.
Take it!
§760ταλαντάτη Μίκκα τίς ἐξεκόρησέ σε;
Third Woman: Oh, most wretched Mikka, who has stripped you so clean?
§762ὁ πανοῦργος οὗτος.
Mikka: This scoundrel here.
ἀλλʼ ἐπειδήπερ πάρει, §763φύλαξον αὐτόν, ἵνα λαβοῦσα Κλεισθένη §764τοῖσιν πρυτάνεσιν ἃ πεποίηχʼ οὗτος φράσω.
But since indeed you are here, guard him, so that I may fetch Cleisthenes and report to the prytaneis what this fellow has done.
§765ἄγε δὴ τίς ἔσται μηχανὴ σωτηρίας;
Relative: Come now, what device of safety shall there be?
§766τίς πεῖρα, τίς ἐπίνοιʼ;
What attempt, what plan?
For the one who is responsible, who rolled me into such troubles as these, does not appear yet.
φέρε τίνʼ οὖν ἂν ἄγγελον §769πέμψαιμʼ ἐπʼ αὐτόν;
Come, what messenger then could I send to him?
Indeed, I know a way from the Palamedes: like him, upon the oar-blades I will write and throw them.
ἀλλʼ οὐ πάρεισιν αἱ πλάται.
But the oar-blades are not here.
§772πόθεν οὖν γένοιντʼ ἄν μοι πλάται πόθεν;
From where then could oar-blades come to me, from where?
πόθεν;
From where?
What if I should carve upon these votive statues here, writing on them instead of oars, and scatter them?
βέλτιον πολύ.
Far better!
§775ξύλον γέ τοι καὶ ταῦτα κἀκεῖνʼ ἦν ξύλον.
These too, at any rate, are wood, and that other was wood.
O hands of mine, you must set to work on a resource-finding task.
Come now, tablets of polished wood-plaques, receive the carvings of the chisel, messengers of my sufferings!
οἴμοι §781τουτὶ τὸ ῥῶ μοχθηρόν·
Oh dear, this 'rho' is wretchedly carved!
§782χώρει χώρει.
Go on, go on!
ποίαν αὔλακα;
What kind of furrow?
Go, hasten along all paths, this way and that way; there is need of speed.
§785ἡμεῖς τοίνυν ἡμᾶς αὐτὰς εὖ λέξωμεν παραβᾶσαι, §786καίτοι πᾶς τις τὸ γυναικεῖον φῦλον κακὰ πόλλʼ ἀγορεύει, §787ὡς πᾶν ἐσμὲν κακὸν ἀνθρώποις κἀξ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ἅπαντα, §788ἔριδες νείκη στάσις ἀργαλέα λύπη πόλεμος.
Chorus: Now let us speak well of ourselves, stepping forward, though everyone speaks many evils of the female race, saying that we are a total evil to men and that from us comes everything: strife, quarrels, faction, grievous pain, war.
φέρε δή νυν, §789εἰ κακόν ἐσμεν, τί γαμεῖθʼ ἡμᾶς, εἴπερ ἀληθῶς κακόν ἐσμεν, §790κἀπαγορεύετε μήτʼ ἐξελθεῖν μήτʼ ἐκκύψασαν ἁλῶναι, §791ἀλλʼ οὑτωσὶ πολλῇ σπουδῇ τὸ κακὸν βούλεσθε φυλάττειν;
Come now indeed, if we are an evil, why do you marry us, if indeed we are truly an evil, and forbid us either to go out or to be caught peeping out, but wish with such great care to guard the "evil"?
§792κἂν ἐξέλθῃ τὸ γύναιόν ποι, κᾆθʼ εὕρητʼ αὐτὸ θύρασιν, §793μανίας μαίνεσθʼ, οὓς χρῆν σπένδειν καὶ χαίρειν, εἴπερ ἀληθῶς §794ἔνδοθεν ηὕρετε φροῦδον τὸ κακὸν καὶ μὴ κατελαμβάνετʼ ἔνδον.
And if the little wife goes out somewhere, and then you find her outside, you rave with madness—you who ought to pour libations and rejoice, if indeed you found the "evil" gone from within and did not catch it inside.