§14Μίκυλλος
εἰπέ μοι, ὦ Κλωθοῖ, ἐμοῦ δὲ οὐδεὶς ὑμῖν λόγος;
Micyllus 'Tell me, Clotho, is there no thought of me among you?
ἢ διότι πένης εἰμί, διὰ τοῦτο καὶ τελευταῖον ἐμβῆναί με δεῖ; Κλωθώ
σὺ δὲ τίς εἶ; Μίκυλλος
ὁ σκυτοτόμος Μίκυλλος. Κλωθώ
εἶτα ἄχθῃ βραδύνων;
Or is it because I am poor that for this reason I must embark last?' Clotho 'And who are you?' Micyllus 'Micyllus the cobbler.' Clotho 'Are you then annoyed at being delayed?
οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὁπόσα ὁ τύραννος ὑπισχνεῖται δώσειν ἀφεθεὶς πρὸς ὀλίγον;
Do you not see how much the tyrant promises to give if he is let go for a little while?
θαῦμα γοῦν ἔχει με, εἰ μὴ ἀγαπητὴ καὶ σοὶ ἡ διατριβή. Μίκυλλος
ἄκουσον, ὦ βελτίστη Μοιρῶν·
Indeed, I wonder if delay is not pleasing to you too.' Micyllus 'Listen, best of Fates.
οὐ πάνυ με ἡ τοῦ Κύκλωπος ἐκείνη εὐφραίνει δωρεά, ὑπισχνεῖσθαι ὅτι
πύματον ἐγὼ τὸν Οὖτιν κατέδομαι· ἄν τε γοῦν πρῶτον, ἄν τε πύματον, οἱ αὐτοὶ ὀδόντες περιμένουσιν.
That gift of the Cyclops does not please me at all, to promise that "I will eat Outis last." Whether first or last, the same teeth are waiting.
ἄλλως τε οὐδʼ ὅμοια τἀμὰ τοῖς τῶν πλουσίων· ἐκ διαμέτρου γὰρ ἡμῶν οἱ βίοι, φασίν·
Besides, my affairs are not at all like those of the rich; for our lives are diametrically opposed, as they say.
ὁ μέν γε τύραννος εὐδαίμων εἶναι δοκῶν παρὰ τὸν βίον, φοβερὸς ἅπασι καὶ περίβλεπτος, ἀπολιπὼν χρυσὸν τοσοῦτον καὶ ἀργύριον καὶ ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἵππους καὶ δεῖπνα καὶ παῖδας ὡραίους καὶ γυναῖκας εὐμόρφους εἰκότως ἠνιᾶτο καὶ ἀποσπώμενος αὐτῶν ἤχθετο·
The tyrant, indeed, seeming to be happy throughout his life, feared by all and envied, having left behind so much gold and silver, clothing, horses, banquets, handsome boys, and beautiful wives, was naturally distressed and annoyed at being torn away from them.
οὐ γὰρ οἶδʼ ὅπως καθάπερ ἰξῷ τινι προσέχεται τοῖς τοιούτοις ἡ ψυχὴ καὶ οὐκ ἐθέλει ἀπαλλάττεσθαι ῥᾳδίως ἅτε αὐτοῖς πάλαι προστετηκυῖα· μᾶλλον δὲ ὥσπερ ἄρρηκτός τις οὗτος ὁ δεσμός ἐστιν, ᾧ δεδέσθαι συμβέβηκεν αὐτούς.
For somehow, as if by birdlime, the soul clings to such things and does not wish to depart easily, since it has long melted into them; or rather, this is like some unbreakable bond by which they happen to be bound.
ἀμέλει κἂν ἀπάγῃ τις αὐτοὺς μετὰ βίας, ἀνακωκύουσι καὶ ἱκετεύουσι, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὄντες θρασεῖς, δειλοὶ πρὸς ταύτην εὑρίσκονται τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν Ἅιδην φέρουσαν ὁδόν·
Certainly, even if someone drags them away by force, they wail and supplicate, and though they are bold in other things, they are found to be cowardly toward this road leading to Hades.
ἐπιστρέφονται γοῦν εἰς τοὐπίσω καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ δυσέρωτες κἂν πόρρωθεν ἀποβλέπειν τὰ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ βούλονται, οἷα ὁ μάταιος ἐκεῖνος ἐποίει καὶ παρὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ἀποδιδράσκων κἀνταῦθά σε καταλιπαρῶν. §15Μίκυλλος
ἐγὼ δὲ ἅτε μηδὲν ἔχων ἐνέχυρον ἐν τῷ βίῳ, οὐκ ἀγρόν, οὐ συνοικίαν, οὐ χρυσόν, οὐ σκεῦος, οὐ δόξαν, οὐκ εἰκόνας, εἰκότως εὔζωνος ἦν, κἀπειδὴ μόνον ἡ Ἄτροπος ἔνευσέ μοι, ἄσμενος ἀπορρίψας τὴν σμίλην καὶ τὸ κάττυμα — κρηπῖδα γάρ τινα ἐν ταῖν χεροῖν εἶχον — ἀναπηδήσας εὐθὺς ἀνυπόδητος οὐδὲ τὴν μελαντηρίαν ἀπονιψάμενος εἱπόμην, μᾶλλον δὲ ἡγούμην, ἐς τὸ πρόσω ὁρῶν·
At any rate, they turn backward and, like desperate lovers, want to gaze upon the things in the light even from afar, just as that foolish man was doing, running away on the road and begging you here.' Micyllus 'But I, having no security in life, no field, no tenement, no gold, no utensil, no glory, no images, was naturally light-burdened.
οὐδὲν γάρ με τῶν κατόπιν ἐπέστρεφε καὶ μετεκάλει.
And as soon as Atropos nodded to me, gladly throwing away my knife and leather scrap — for I had some sole-leather in my hands — jumping up immediately, barefoot and without even washing off the blacking, I followed, or rather led the way, looking forward; for nothing behind turned me back or recalled me.
καὶ νὴ Δίʼ ἤδη καλὰ τὰ παρʼ ὑμῖν πάντα ὁρῶ· τό τε γὰρ ἰσοτιμίαν ἅπασιν εἶναι καὶ μηδένα τοῦ πλησίον διαφέρειν, ὑπερήδιστον ἐμοὶ γοῦν δοκεῖ.
And by Zeus, I already see all your things to be beautiful; for that there is equal honor for all and no one differs from his neighbor seems to me at least most pleasant.
τεκμαίρομαι δὲ μηδʼ ἀπαιτεῖσθαι τὰ χρέα τοὺς ὀφείλοντας ἐνταῦθα μηδὲ φόρους ὑποτελεῖν, τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, μηδὲ ῥιγοῦν τοῦ χειμῶνος μηδὲ νοσεῖν μηδʼ ὑπὸ τῶν δυνατωτέρων ῥαπίζεσθαι.
And I guess that debtors are not asked for their debts here, nor do they pay taxes, and greatest of all, they do not freeze in winter, nor fall ill, nor get beaten by the more powerful.
εἰρήνη δὲ πᾶσι καὶ πράγματα ἐς τὸ ἔμπαλιν ἀνεστραμμένα· ἡμεῖς μὲν οἱ πένητες γελῶμεν, ἀνιῶνται δὲ καὶ οἰμώζουσιν οἱ πλούσιοι. §16Κλωθώ
πάλαι οὖν σε, ὦ Μίκυλλε, γελῶντα ἑώρων.
There is peace for all and things are turned completely upside down; we the poor laugh, while the rich are distressed and wail.' Clotho 'I have indeed long seen you laughing, Micyllus.
τί δʼ ἦν ὅ σε μάλιστα ἐκίνει γελᾶν; Μίκυλλος
ἄκουσον, ὦ τιμιωτάτη μοι θεῶν·
What was it that especially moved you to laugh?' Micyllus 'Listen, most honored of goddesses to me.
παροικῶν ἄνω τῷ τυράννῳ πάνυ ἀκριβῶς ἑώρων τὰ γιγνόμενα παρʼ αὐτῷ καί μοι ἐδόκει τότε ἰσόθεός τις εἶναι·
Living next door to the tyrant on earth, I saw very accurately what went on in his house, and he seemed to me then to be a kind of god-like being.
τῆς τε γὰρ πορφύρας τὸ ἄνθος ὁρῶν ἐμακάριζον, καὶ τῶν ἀκολουθούντων τὸ πλῆθος καὶ τὸν χρυσὸν καὶ τὰ λιθοκόλλητα ἐκπώματα καὶ τὰς κλίνας τὰς ἀργυρόποδας· ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἡ κνῖσα ἡ τῶν σκευαζομένων εἰς τὸ δεῖπνον ἀπέκναιέ με, ὥστε ὑπεράνθρωπός τις ἀνὴρ καὶ τρισόλβιός μοι κατεφαίνετο καὶ μονονουχὶ πάντων καλλίων καὶ ὑψηλότερος ὅλῳ πήχει βασιλικῷ, ἐπαιρόμενος τῇ τύχῃ καὶ σεμνῶς προβαίνων καὶ ἑαυτὸν ἐξυπτιάζων καὶ τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας ἐκπλήττων.
For seeing the bloom of his purple, I blessed him, and the multitude of his followers and the gold and the gem-encrusted cups and the silver-footed couches; and further, the smell of the meals being prepared for dinner choked me, so that he appeared to me a superhuman man and thrice-blessed, and all but more beautiful than everyone and taller by a whole royal cubit, being exalted by fortune, walking solemnly, throwing himself back, and striking onlookers with awe.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀπέθανεν, αὐτός τε παγγέλοιος ὤφθη μοι ἀποδυσάμενος τὴν τρυφήν, κἀμαυτοῦ ἔτι μᾶλλον κατεγέλων οἷον κάθαρμα ἐτεθήπειν, ἀπὸ τῆς κνίσης τεκμαιρόμενος αὐτοῦ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν καὶ μακαρίζων ἐπὶ τῷ αἵματι τῶν ἐν τῇ Λακωνικῇ θαλάττῃ κοχλίδων.
But when he died, he appeared to me utterly ridiculous, stripped of his luxury, and I laughed at myself even more for what a piece of rubbish I had gaped at, estimating his happiness by the smell and blessing him for the blood of the snails in the Laconian sea.'