§14ὁ μὲν τοίνυν εἷς νόμος κελεύει ἀψευδεῖν ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ, πάντων, οἶμαι, παράγγελμα κάλλιστον παραγγέλλων· σὺ δὲ ψευσάμενος ἐν μέσῃ τῇ ἀγορᾷ συνθήκας κατʼ ἐμοῦ ἔθου.
Now, one law commands not to tell lies in the marketplace, issuing, I believe, the finest of all injunctions; but you, having lied in the middle of the marketplace, made a contract against me.
ἐπεὶ ἐὰν δείξῃς προειπὼν ἐμοὶ τοὺς ἐράνους καὶ τὰ χρέα, ἢ γράψας ἐν ταῖς συνθήκαις ὅσους ἐπυθόμην, οὐδὲν ἀντιλέγω σοι ἀλλʼ ὁμολογῶ ὀφείλειν.
For if you can show that you told me beforehand about the loans and the debts, or that you wrote in the contract as many as I eventually discovered, I make no objection to you but agree that I owe them.
§15μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἕτερος νόμος ἐστὶ περὶ ὧν ὁμολογοῦντες ἀλλήλοις συμβάλλουσιν, ὅταν τις πωλῇ ἀνδράποδον προλέγειν ἐάν τι ἔχῃ ἀρρώστημα, εἰ δὲ μή, ἀναγωγὴ τούτου ἐστίν.
Following this, there is another law concerning agreements made by mutual consent: when someone sells a slave, they must declare beforehand if the slave has any defect, and if they do not, there is a right of return.
καίτοι ὅπου τὰ παρὰ τῆς τύχης νοσήματα ἂν μὴ δηλώσῃ τις πωλῶν οἰκέτην ἀνάγειν ἔξεστι, πῶς τά γε παρὰ σοῦ ἀδικήματα συσκευασθέντα οὐκ ἀναδεκτέον σοί ἐστιν;
And yet, when it is permitted to return a slave if the seller does not declare diseases caused by chance, how can it be that you do not have to take back the wrongs packaged and devised by yourself?
ἀλλὰ μὴν τὸ μὲν ἐπίληπτον ἀνδράποδον οὐ προσαπολλύει τοῦ πριαμένου τὴν οὐσίαν, ὁ δὲ Μίδας, ὃν σύ μοι ἀπέδου, καὶ τὴν τῶν φίλων τῶν ἐμῶν ἀπολώλεκε.
Furthermore, while a defective slave does not completely ruin the property of the purchaser, Midas, whom you sold to me, has ruined even the property of my friends.
§16σκέψαι δέ, ὦ Ἀθηνόγενες, μὴ μόνον περὶ τῶν οἰκετῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐλευθέρων σωμάτων ὃν τρόπον οἱ νόμοι ἔχουσιν.
Consider, Athenogenes, how the laws stand not only regarding slaves but also regarding free persons.
οἶσθα γὰρ δήπου καὶ σὺ καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι πάντες ὅτι οἱ ἐκ τῶν ἐγγυητῶν γυναικῶν παῖδες οὗτοι γνήσιοί εἰσιν.
For surely you and everyone else know that children born from women formally betrothed are legitimate.
ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐκ ἀπέχρησε τῷ νομοθέτῃ τὸ ἐγγυηθῆναι τὴν γυναῖκα ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ἢ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ, ἀλλʼ ἔγραψε διαρρήδην ἐν τῷ νόμῳ, ἣν ἂν ἐγγυήσῃ τις ἐπὶ δικαίοις δάμαρτα ἐκ ταύτης εἶναι παῖδας γνησίους, καὶ οὐκ ἐάν τις ψευςάμενος ὡς θυγατέρα ἐγγυήσῃ ἄλλην τινά.
Yet it did not satisfy the legislator that the woman should merely be betrothed by her father or brother; rather, he wrote explicitly in the law that children are legitimate from a wife whom someone betroths "on just terms," and not if someone lies and betroths another woman as his daughter.
ἀλλὰ τὰς μὲν δικαίας ἐγγύας κυρίας, τὰς δὲ μὴ δικαίας ἀκύρους καθίστησιν.
Thus, he makes just betrothals valid, but unjust ones invalid.
§17ἔτι δὲ καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν διαθηκῶν νόμος παραπλήσιος τούτοις ἐστίν· κελεύει γὰρ ἐξεῖναι τὰ ἑαυτοῦ διατίθεσθαι ὅπως ἄν τις βούληται πλὴν ἢ γήρως ἕνεκεν ἢ νόσου ἢ μανιῶν ἢ γυναικὶ πειθόμενον ἢ ὑπὸ δεσμοῦ ἢ ὑπὸ ἀνάγκης καταληφθέντα.
Moreover, the law concerning wills is also very similar to these; for it allows a person to dispose of his own property in whatever way he wishes, except when influenced by old age, disease, madness, or under the influence of a woman, or when constrained by imprisonment or necessity.
ὅπου δὲ οὐδὲ περὶ τῶν αὑτοῦ ἰδίων αἱ μὴ δίκαιαι διαθῆκαι κύριαί εἰσιν, πῶς Ἀθηνογένει γε κατὰ τῶν ἐμῶν συνθεμένῳ τοιαῦτα δεῖ κύρια εἶναι;
And where even concerning one's own private property unjust wills are not valid, how can such agreements made by Athenogenes against my property be valid?
§18καὶ ἐὰν μέν τις ὡς ἔοικεν τῇ ἑαυτοῦ γυναικὶ πειθόμενος διαθήκας γράψῃ ἄκυροι ἔσονται, εἰ δʼ ἐγὼ τῇ Ἀθηνογένους ἑταίρᾳ ἐπείσθην, προσαπολωλέναι με δεῖ, ὃς ἔχω μεγίςτην βοήθειαν τὴν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένην, ἀναγκασθεὶς ὑπὸ τούτων ταῦτα συνθέσθαι;
And if, as it seems, a man's will is to be invalid if he writes it under the influence of his own wife, must I, who have the greatest protection written in the law, be utterly ruined because I was persuaded by the mistress of Athenogenes and forced by these people to make this agreement?
εἶτα σὺ ταῖς συνθήκαις ἰςχυρίζῃ ἃς ἐνεδρεύσαντές με σὺ καὶ ἡ ἑταίρα σου ἐςημήνασθε, καὶ ὑπὲρ ὧν οἱ νόμοι βουλεύσεως ὑμᾶς κελεύουσιν αἰτίους εἶναι, ἐπὶ τούτοις προςλαμβάνειν τι ἀξιοῦτε.
Then do you rely on the contract which you and your mistress, having entrapped me, signed and sealed, and on top of these things do you claim to receive something more, when the laws command that you be held responsible for conspiracy?
καὶ οὐχ ἱκανόν σοι ἦν τὰς τετταράκοντα μνᾶς εἰληφέναι ὑπὲρ τοῦ μυροπωλίου, ἀλλὰ καὶ πέντε τάλαντα προσαφείλου με ὥσπερ ὑπο κατειλημμένον
And was it not enough for you to have received forty minae for the perfume shop, but you must also make me owe in addition five talents, as if I had been caught in a trap?