§142ΕΥ. ἄρτι, ὦ Τερψίων, ἢ πάλαι ἐξ ἀγροῦ;
EUCLIDES: Terpsion, have you just arrived from the country, or some time ago?
ΤΕΡ. ἐπιεικῶς πάλαι.
TERPSION: Quite some time ago.
καὶ σέ γε ἐζήτουν κατʼ ἀγορὰν καὶ ἐθαύμαζον ὅτι οὐχ οἷός τʼ ἦ εὑρεῖν.
And I was looking for you in the marketplace, and wondering why I could not find you.
ΕΥ. οὐ γὰρ ἦ κατὰ πόλιν.
EUCLIDES: For I was not in town.
ΤΕΡ. ποῦ μήν;
TERPSION: Where then?
ΕΥ. εἰς λιμένα καταβαίνων Θεαιτήτῳ ἐνέτυχον φερομένῳ ἐκ Κορίνθου ἀπὸ τοῦ στρατοπέδου Ἀθήναζε.
EUCLIDES: Going down to the harbor, I met Theaetetus being carried to Athens from the army camp at Corinth.
ΤΕΡ. ζῶντι ἢ τετελευτηκότι;
TERPSION: Alive or dead?
ΕΥ. ζῶντι καὶ μάλα μόλις·
EUCLIDES: Alive, but only just.
χαλεπῶς μὲν γὰρ ἔχει καὶ ὑπὸ τραυμάτων τινῶν, μᾶλλον μὴν αὐτὸν αἱρεῖ τὸ γεγονὸς νόσημα ἐν τῷ στρατεύματι.
For he is in a bad way from some wounds, but still more he is gripped by the disease that broke out in the army.
ΤΕΡ. μῶν ἡ δυσεντερία;
TERPSION: Was it dysentery?
ΕΥ. ναί.
EUCLIDES: Yes.
ΤΕΡ. οἷον ἄνδρα λέγεις ἐν κινδύνῳ εἶναι.
TERPSION: What a man you say is in danger!
ΕΥ. καλόν τε καὶ ἀγαθόν, ὦ Τερψίων, ἐπεί τοι καὶ νῦν ἤκουόν τινων μάλα ἐγκωμιαζόντων αὐτὸν περὶ τὴν μάχην.
EUCLIDES: A noble and good man indeed, Terpsion; why, just now I heard some people highly praising his conduct in the battle.
ΤΕΡ. καὶ οὐδέν γʼ ἄτοπον, ἀλλὰ πολὺ θαυμαστότερον εἰ μὴ τοιοῦτος ἦν.
TERPSION: And no wonder; indeed, it would have been far more surprising if he had not been such.
ἀτὰρ πῶς οὐκ αὐτοῦ Μεγαροῖ κατέλυεν;
But how is it he did not stop here in Megara?
ΕΥ. ἠπείγετο οἴκαδε·
EUCLIDES: He was in a hurry to get home.
ἐπεὶ ἔγωγʼ ἐδεόμην καὶ συνεβούλευον, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἤθελεν.
Though I begged and advised him to stay, he would not.
καὶ δῆτα προπέμψας αὐτόν, ἀπιὼν πάλιν ἀνεμνήσθην καὶ ἐθαύμασα Σωκράτους ὡς μαντικῶς ἄλλα τε δὴ εἶπε καὶ περὶ τούτου.
And so, after seeing him on his way, as I was returning, I remembered and was amazed at how prophetically Socrates spoke on other matters and especially about him.
δοκεῖ γάρ μοι ὀλίγον πρὸ τοῦ θανάτου ἐντυχεῖν αὐτῷ μειρακίῳ ὄντι, καὶ συγγενόμενός τε καὶ διαλεχθεὶς πάνυ ἀγασθῆναι αὐτοῦ τὴν φύσιν.
For it seems to me that Socrates met him shortly before his own death, when Theaetetus was a mere youth, and having associated and conversed with him, he was filled with admiration for his nature.
καί μοι ἐλθόντι Ἀθήναζε τούς τε λόγους οὓς διελέχθη αὐτῷ διηγήσατο καὶ μάλα ἀξίους ἀκοῆς, εἶπέ τε ὅτι πᾶσα ἀνάγκη εἴη τοῦτον ἐλλόγιμον γενέσθαι, εἴπερ εἰς ἡλικίαν ἔλθοι.
And when I went to Athens, he related to me the conversations he had had with him, which were indeed well worth hearing, and he said that this youth would inevitably become famous if he should live to maturity.
ΤΕΡ. καὶ ἀληθῆ γε, ὡς ἔοικεν, εἶπεν.
TERPSION: And he spoke truly, as it seems.
ἀτὰρ τίνες ἦσαν οἱ λόγοι;
But what were those conversations?
ἔχοις ἂν διηγήσασθαι;
Could you relate them?
§143ΕΥ. οὐ μὰ τὸν Δία, οὔκουν οὕτω γε ἀπὸ στόματος· ἀλλʼ ἐγραψάμην μὲν τότʼ εὐθὺς οἴκαδʼ ἐλθὼν ὑπομνήματα, ὕστερον δὲ κατὰ σχολὴν ἀναμιμνῃσκόμενος ἔγραφον, καὶ ὁσάκις Ἀθήναζε ἀφικοίμην, ἐπανηρώτων τὸν Σωκράτη ὃ μὴ ἐμεμνήμην, καὶ δεῦρο ἐλθὼν ἐπηνορθούμην·
EUCLIDES: No, by Zeus, certainly not just from memory; but as soon as I got home at that time, I wrote down some notes, and later, at my leisure, I wrote them out as I recalled them, and as often as I went to Athens, I would ask Socrates about whatever I did not remember, and then, returning here, I corrected it; so that practically the whole conversation has been written down by me.
ὥστε μοι σχεδόν τι πᾶς ὁ λόγος γέγραπται. ΤΕΡ. ἀληθῆ·
TERPSION: True.
ἤκουσά σου καὶ πρότερον, καὶ μέντοι ἀεὶ μέλλων κελεύσειν ἐπιδεῖξαι διατέτριφα δεῦρο.
I heard you say so before, and indeed, though I have always been intending to ask you to show it to me, I have delayed until now.
ἀλλὰ τί κωλύει νῦν ἡμᾶς διελθεῖν;
But what prevents us from going through it now?
πάντως ἔγωγε καὶ ἀναπαύσασθαι δέομαι ὡς ἐξ ἀγροῦ ἥκων.
In any case, I need to rest, since I have just come from the country.
ΕΥ. ἀλλὰ μὲν δὴ καὶ αὐτὸς μέχρι Ἐρινοῦ Θεαίτητον προύπεμψα, ὥστε οὐκ ἂν ἀηδῶς ἀναπαυοίμην.
EUCLIDES: Indeed, I too accompanied Theaetetus as far as Erineum, so I should not be at all sorry to rest.
ἀλλʼ ἴωμεν, καὶ ἡμῖν ἅμα ἀναπαυομένοις ὁ παῖς ἀναγνώσεται.
Let us go, then, and while we are resting, the slave boy shall read to us.
ΤΕΡ. ὀρθῶς λέγεις.
TERPSION: You are right.
ΕΥ. τὸ μὲν δὴ βιβλίον, ὦ Τερψίων, τουτί·
EUCLIDES: Well, Terpsion, here is the book.
ἐγραψάμην δὲ δὴ οὑτωσὶ τὸν λόγον, οὐκ ἐμοὶ Σωκράτη διηγούμενον ὡς διηγεῖτο, ἀλλὰ διαλεγόμενον οἷς ἔφη διαλεχθῆναι.
And I wrote down the conversation in this way: not as Socrates relating it to me, as he in fact did, but as conversing with those whom he said he conversed with.
ἔφη δὲ τῷ τε γεωμέτρῃ Θεοδώρῳ καὶ τῷ Θεαιτήτῳ.
And he said he conversed with Theodorus the geometer and with Theaetetus.
ἵνα οὖν ἐν τῇ γραφῇ μὴ παρέχοιεν πράγματα αἱ μεταξὺ τῶν λόγων διηγήσεις περὶ αὑτοῦ τε ὁπότε λέγοι ὁ Σωκράτης, οἷον
καὶ ἐγὼ ἔφην
ἢ
καὶ ἐγὼ εἶπον,
ἢ αὖ περὶ τοῦ ἀποκρινομένου ὅτι
συνέφη
ἢ
οὐχ ὡμολόγει,
τούτων ἕνεκα ὡς αὐτὸν αὐτοῖς διαλεγόμενον ἔγραψα, ἐξελὼν τὰ τοιαῦτα.
Now, in order that the narrative explanations between the speeches might not cause trouble in the written text, whenever Socrates spoke of himself, such as "And I said," or "And I remarked," or again, concerning the person answering, such as "He agreed," or "He did not admit it," for these reasons I wrote it as though Socrates were conversing directly with them, leaving out all such phrases.
ΤΕΡ. καὶ οὐδέν γε ἀπὸ τρόπου, ὦ Εὐκλείδη.
TERPSION: And that is not at all out of place, Euclides.
ΕΥ. ἀλλά, παῖ, λαβὲ τὸ βιβλίον καὶ λέγε.
EUCLIDES: Come then, boy, take the book and read.
ΣΩ. εἰ μὲν τῶν ἐν Κυρήνῃ μᾶλλον ἐκηδόμην, ὦ Θεόδωρε, τὰ ἐκεῖ ἄν σε καὶ περὶ ἐκείνων ἀνηρώτων, εἴ τινες αὐτόθι περὶ γεωμετρίαν ἤ τινα ἄλλην φιλοσοφίαν εἰσὶ τῶν νέων ἐπιμέλειαν ποιούμενοι·
SOCRATES: If I cared more for the people of Cyrene, Theodorus, I should ask you about affairs there and about their young men, whether there are any there who are paying attention to geometry or any other branch of philosophy.
νῦν δὲ ἧττον γὰρ ἐκείνους ἢ τούσδε φιλῶ, καὶ μᾶλλον ἐπιθυμῶ εἰδέναι τίνες ἡμῖν τῶν νέων ἐπίδοξοι γενέσθαι ἐπιεικεῖς.
But as it is, I love these youths here more than those, and I am more eager to know which of our own young men are likely to turn out well.
ταῦτα δὴ αὐτός τε σκοπῶ καθʼ ὅσον δύναμαι, καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ἐρωτῶ οἷς ἂν ὁρῶ τοὺς νέους ἐθέλοντας συγγίγνεσθαι.
I myself look out for this as much as I can, and I ask others whom I see the young men like to associate with.
σοὶ δὴ οὐκ ὀλίγιστοι πλησιάζουσι, καὶ δικαίως· ἄξιος γὰρ τά τε ἄλλα καὶ γεωμετρίας ἕνεκα.
Now, not a few come to you, and rightly so; for you deserve it, both for your other qualities and especially for your geometry.
εἰ δὴ οὖν τινι ἐνέτυχες ἀξίῳ λόγου, ἡδέως ἂν πυθοίμην.
If, then, you have met with any young man worth mentioning, I should be glad to hear of him.