...nor pay attention; but if he is rich, they turn their backside straight to him.
And they say that boys do this very same thing, not for the sake of their lovers, but for money.
Not the decent ones, but the male prostitutes; for the decent ones do not ask for money.
§156bτί δαί;
What then?
§157ὁ μὲν ἵππον ἀγαθόν, ὁ δὲ κύνας θηρευτικάς.
One asks for a good horse, another for hunting dogs.
For being ashamed to ask for money, perhaps they gloss over their baseness with a name.
All arts and clever devices, because of you, have been invented among men.
§162ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἡμῶν σκυτοτομεῖ καθήμενος· §163ἕτερος δὲ χαλκεύει τις, ὁ δὲ τεκταίνεται· §164ὁ δὲ χρυσοχοεῖ γε χρυσίον παρὰ σοῦ λαβών· §165ὁ δὲ λωποδυτεῖ γε νὴ Δίʼ, ὁ δὲ τοιχωρυχεῖ· §166ὁ δὲ γναφεύει γʼ· §166bὁ δέ γε πλύνει κῴδια· §167ὁ δὲ βυρσοδεψεῖ γʼ· §167bὁ δέ γε πωλεῖ κρόμμυα· §168ὁ δʼ ἁλούς γε μοιχὸς διὰ σέ που παρατίλλεται.
For one of us sits and cobbles shoes, another works in bronze, another does carpentry, another works gold, receiving gold from you, another, by Zeus, robs clothes, another digs through walls, another fulls cloth, another washes sheepskins, another tans hides, another sells onions, and another, caught as an adulterer, because of you has his hair plucked.
§169οἴμοι τάλας ταυτί μʼ ἐλάνθανεν πάλαι.
Alas, wretched me! I was long ignorant of these things.
§170μέγας δὲ βασιλεὺς οὐχὶ διὰ τοῦτον κομᾷ;
And does not the Great King put on airs because of this man?
§171ἐκκλησία δʼ οὐχὶ διὰ τοῦτον γίγνεται;
And does not the Assembly meet because of this man?
§172τί δέ;
And what?
τὰς τριήρεις οὐ σὺ πληροῖς;
Do you not man the triremes?
εἰπέ μοι.
Tell me.
§173τὸ δʼ ἐν Κορίνθῳ ξενικὸν οὐχ οὗτος τρέφει;
And does he not feed the mercenary force in Corinth?
§174ὁ Πάμφιλος δʼ οὐχι διὰ τοῦτον κλαύσεται;
And will not Pamphilus weep because of this man?
§175ὁ βελονοπώλης δʼ οὐχὶ μετὰ τοῦ Παμφίλου;
And the needle-seller along with Pamphilus?
§176Ἀγύρριος δʼ οὐχὶ διὰ τοῦτον πέρδεται;
And does not Agyrrius fart because of this man?
§177Φιλέψιος δʼ οὐχ ἕνεκα σοῦ μύθους λέγει;
And does not Philepsius tell stories for your sake?
§178ἡ ξυμμαχία δʼ οὐ διὰ σὲ τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις;
And is not the alliance with the Egyptians because of you?
§179ἐρᾷ δὲ Λαῒς οὐ διὰ σὲ Φιλωνίδου;
And does not Lais love Philonides because of you?
§181τὰ δὲ πράγματʼ οὐχὶ διὰ σὲ πάντα πράττεται;
And are not all affairs conducted because of you?
For you alone are the sole cause of all, both of evils and of goods, know this well.
At any rate, in wars too they always conquer, on whichever side this man merely sits.
§186ἐγὼ τοσαῦτα δυνατός εἰμʼ εἷς ὢν ποιεῖν;
Am I, being one, capable of doing so many things?
Yes, by Zeus, and far more than these; so that no one has ever had enough of you.
§189τῶν μὲν γὰρ ἄλλων ἐστὶ πάντων πλησμονή, §190ἔρωτος §190bἄρτων §190cμουσικῆς §190dτραγημάτων §191τιμῆς §191bπλακούντων §191cἀνδραγαθίας §191dἰσχάδων §192φιλοτιμίας §192bμάζης §192cστρατηγίας §192dφακῆς·
For of all other things there is satiety: of love, of bread, of music, of sweetmeats, of honor, of cakes, of manly virtue, of dried figs, of ambition, of barley-meal, of generalship, of lentil soup.
§193σοῦ δʼ ἐγένετʼ οὐδεὶς μεστὸς οὐδεπώποτε.
But of you, no one has ever had enough.
§194ἀλλʼ ἢν τάλαντά τις λάβῃ τριακαίδεκα, §195πολὺ μᾶλλον ἐπιθυμεῖ λαβεῖν ἑκκαίδεκα· §196κἂν ταῦτʼ ἀνύσηται, τετταράκοντα βούλεται, §197ἤ φησιν εἶν ἀβίωτον αὑτῷ τὸν βίον.
But if someone receives thirteen talents, he desires much more to receive sixteen; and if he achieves this, he wants forty, or says that life is not worth living for him.
You two indeed seem to me to speak very well; but one thing only I fear.
§199bφράζε τοῦ πέρι;
Tell us, about what?
How I shall become master of this power which you say I possess.
By Zeus, but everyone says indeed that Plutus is most cowardly.
§203bἥκιστʼ, ἀλλά με
Not at all!
§204τοιχωρύχος τις διέβαλʼ.
But a housebreaker slandered me.
ἐσδὺς γάρ ποτε §205οὐκ εἶχεν ἐς τὴν οἰκίαν οὐδὲν λαβεῖν, §206εὑρὼν ἁπαξάπαντα κατακεκλῃμένα· §207εἶτʼ ὠνόμασέ μου τὴν πρόνοιαν δειλίαν.
For once having broken in, he had nothing to take in the house, finding absolutely everything locked up; then he called my foresight cowardice.
§208μή νυν μελέτω σοι μηδέν· ὡς ἐὰν γένῃ §209ἀνὴρ πρόθυμος αὐτὸς ἐς τὰ πράγματα, §210βλέποντʼ ἀποδείξω σʼ ὀξύτερον τοῦ Λυγκέως.
Now let this not worry you at all; for if you become a zealous man yourself for the business, I will make you see more sharply than Lynceus.
§211πῶς οὖν δυνήσει τοῦτο δρᾶσαι θνητὸς ὤν;
How then will you, being a mortal, be able to do this?
I have a good hope from what Phoebus himself told me, shaking the Pythian laurel.
§214κἀκεῖνος οὖν σύνοιδε ταῦτα;
Does he then also know these things?
§214bφήμʼ ἐγώ.
I say so.
§215ὁρᾶτε.
Take care.
§215bμὴ φρόντιζε μηδὲν ὦγαθέ.
Do not worry at all, my good man.
For, know this well, even if I must die, I myself will accomplish this.
§217bκἂν βούλῃ γʼ, ἐγώ.
And I too, if you wish.
And there will be many other allies for us, as many as were just but had no barley-meal.
§220παπαῖ πονηρούς γʼ εἶπας ἡμῖν συμμάχους.
Good grief, you have named poor allies for us.
§221οὐκ ἤν γε πλουτήσωσιν ἐξ ἀρχῆς πάλιν.
Not if they become rich again from the start.
λέγε.
Tell me.
§223τοὺς ξυγγεώργους κάλεσον, εὑρήσεις δʼ ἴσως §224ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς αὐτοὺς ταλαιπωρουμένους, §225ὅπως ἂν ἴσον ἕκαστος ἐνταυθοῖ παρὼν §226ἡμῖν μετάσχῃ τοῦδε τοῦ Πλούτου μέρος.
Call our fellow farmers, and you will find them perhaps toiling in the fields, so that each one, being present here, may share an equal part of this Plutus with us.
§227καὶ δὴ βαδίζω· τουτοδὶ τὸ κρεᾴδιον
And indeed I am going; but this little piece of meat...