§18Ἀλεκτρυών
τὸ μὲν ὅλον, ὦ Μίκυλλε, σοφιστὴς ἄνθρωπος ἦν· χρὴ γάρ, οἶμαι, τἀληθῆ λέγειν· ἄλλως δὲ οὐκ ἀπαίδευτος οὐδὲ ἀμελέτητος τῶν καλλίστων μαθημάτων·
Cock In general, Micyllus, he was a sophist—for one must, I think, speak the truth—but on the other hand, he was not uneducated nor unpracticed in the finest studies.
ἀπεδήμησα δὲ καὶ εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ὡς συγγενοίμην τοῖς προφήταις ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ, καὶ ἐς τὰ ἄδυτα κατελθὼν ἐξέμαθον τὰς βίβλους τὰς Ὥρου καὶ Ἴσιδος, καὶ αὖθις εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐκπλεύσας οὕτω διέθηκα τοὺς κατʼ ἐκεῖνα Ἕλληνας, ὥστε θεὸν ἦγόν με.
I also traveled to Egypt, so that I might associate with the prophets for wisdom, and having descended into the shrines, I learned thoroughly the books of Horus and Isis, and sailing back to Italy, I so disposed the Greeks in those parts that they regarded me as a god.
Μίκυλλος
ἤκουσα ταῦτα καὶ ὡς δόξειας ἀναβεβιωκέναι ἀποθανὼν καὶ ὡς χρυσοῦν τὸν μηρὸν ἐπιδείξαιό ποτε αὐτοῖς.
Micyllus I have heard these things, and how you seemed to have come back to life after dying, and how you once showed them your golden thigh.
ἐκεῖνο δέ μοι εἰπέ, τί σοι ἐπῆλθε νόμον ποιήσασθαι μήτε κρεῶν μήτε κυάμων ἐσθίειν;
But tell me this: what came into your mind to make a law to eat neither meat nor beans?
Ἀλεκτρυών
μὴ ἀνάκρινε ταῦτα, ὦ Μίκυλλε.
Cock Do not question these things, Micyllus.
Μίκυλλος
διὰ τί, ὦ ἀλεκτρυών;
Micyllus Why, O cock?
Ἀλεκτρυών
ὅτι αἰσχύνομαι λέγειν πρὸς σὲ τὴν ἀλήθειαν περὶ αὐτῶν.
Cock Because I am ashamed to tell you the truth about them.
Μίκυλλος
καὶ μὴν οὐδὲν ὀκνεῖν χρὴ λέγειν πρὸς ἄνδρα σύνοικον καὶ φίλον· δεσπότην γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ἔτι εἴποιμι.
Micyllus And yet you ought not to hesitate to speak to a housemate and friend; for I would no longer call you a master.
Ἀλεκτρυών
οὐδὲν ὑγιὲς οὐδὲ σοφὸν ἦν, ἀλλʼ ἑώρων ὅτι εἰ μὲν τὰ συνήθη καὶ ταὐτὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς νομίζοιμι, ἥκιστα ἐπισπάσομαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐς τὸ θαῦμα, ὅσῳ δʼ ἂν ξενίζοιμι, τοσούτῳ σεμνότερος ᾤμην αὐτοῖς ἔσεσθαι.
Cock There was nothing sound or wise about it, but I saw that if I should hold the customary things and the same as the crowd, I would least of all draw people into wonder, but the more I should strange them, the more solemn I thought I would be to them.
διὰ τοῦτο καινοποιεῖν εἱλόμην ἀπόρρητον ποιησάμενος τὴν αἰτίαν, ὡς εἰκάζοντες ἄλλος ἄλλως ἅπαντες ἐκπλήττωνται καθάπερ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀσαφέσι τῶν χρησμῶν.
For this reason I chose to make innovations, having made the cause a secret, so that all, guessing differently, might be astounded just as at the obscure parts of oracles.
ὁρᾷς;
Do you see?
καταγελᾷς μου καὶ σὺ ἐν τῷ μέρει.
You too, in your turn, are laughing at me.
Μίκυλλος
οὐ τοσοῦτον ὅσον Κροτωνιατῶν καὶ Μεταποντίνων καὶ Ταραντίνων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀφώνων σοι ἑπομένων καὶ προσκυνούντων τὰ ἴχνη ἃ σὺ πατῶν ἀπολιμπάνοις.
Micyllus Not so much as at the Crotoniates and Metapontines and Tarentines and the other silent ones who followed you and worshipped the footprints you left behind as you walked.
§19Μίκυλλος
ἀποδυσάμενος δὲ τὸν Πυθαγόραν τίνα μετημφιέσω μετʼ αὐτόν;
Micyllus And after putting off Pythagoras, whom did you put on in exchange after him?
Ἀλεκτρυών
Ἀσπασίαν τὴν ἐκ Μιλήτου ἑταίραν·
Cock Aspasia, the courtesan from Miletus.
Μίκυλλος
φεῦ τοῦ λόγου, καὶ γυνὴ γὰρ σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁ Πυθαγόρας ἐγένετο, καὶ ἦν ποτε χρόνος ὅτε καὶ σὺ ᾠοτόκεις, ὦ ἀλεκτρυόνων γενναιότατε, καὶ συνῆσθα Περικλεῖ Ἀσπασία οὖσα καὶ ἐκύεις ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔρια ἔξαινες καὶ κρόκην κατῆγες καὶ ἐγυναικίζου ἐς τὸ ἑταιρικόν;
Micyllus Alas for the story! So Pythagoras actually became a woman along with the others, and there was once a time when you too laid eggs, O most noble of cocks, and you lived with Pericles, being Aspasia, and were pregnant by him, and carded wool, and spun the weft, and played the woman in the manner of a courtesan?
Ἀλεκτρυών
πάντα ταῦτα ἐποίουν οὐ μόνος, ἀλλὰ καὶ Τειρεσίας πρὸ ἐμοῦ καὶ ὁ Ἐλάτου παῖς ὁ Καινεύς, ὥστε ὁπόσα ἂν ἀποσκώψῃς εἰς ἐμὲ, καὶ εἰς ἐκείνους ἀποσκώψας ἔσῃ.
Cock I did all these things, not alone, but Tiresias before me and the child of Elatus, Caeneus; so whatever you mock me for, you will also be mocking them for.
Μίκυλλος
τί οὖν;
Micyllus Well then?
πότερος ἡδίων ὁ βίος σοι ἦν, ὅτε ἀνὴρ ἦσθα ἢ ὅτε σε ὁ Περικλῆς ὤπυιεν;
Which life was more pleasant for you, when you were a man or when Pericles married you?
Ἀλεκτρυών
ὁρᾷς οἷον τοῦτο ἠρώτησας, οὐδὲ τῷ Τειρεσίᾳ συνενεγκοῦσαν τὴν ἀπόκρισιν;
Cock Do you see what kind of thing you have asked? An answer that did not even benefit Tiresias.
Μίκυλλος
ἀλλὰ κἂν σὺ μὴ εἴπῃς, ἱκανῶς ὁ Εὐριπίδης διέκρινε τὸ τοιοῦτον, εἰπὼν ὡς τρὶς ἂν ἐθέλοι παρʼ ἀσπίδα στῆναι ἢ ἅπαξ τεκεῖν.
Micyllus But even if you do not say, Euripides has sufficiently decided such a matter, saying that he would thrice prefer to stand by a shield than to give birth once.
Ἀλεκτρυών
καὶ μὴν ἀναμνήσω σε, ὦ Μίκυλλε, οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ὠδίνουσαν· ἔσῃ γὰρ γυνὴ καὶ σὺ ἐν πολλῇ τῇ περιόδῳ πολλάκις.
Cock And yet I will remind you, Micyllus, before long when you are in labor; for you too will be a woman many times in the long course of your revolution.
Μίκυλλος
οὐκ ἀπάγξῃ, ὦ ἀλεκτρυών, ἅπαντας οἰόμενος Μιλησίους ἢ Σαμίους εἶναι;
Micyllus Go hang yourself, O cock, thinking that everyone is a Milesian or a Samian!
σὲ γοῦν φασι καὶ Πυθαγόραν ὄντα τὴν ὥραν λαμπρὸν πολλάκις Ἀσπασίαν γενέσθαι τῷ τυράννῳ.
At any rate they say that you, even being Pythagoras, being brilliant in your youthful beauty, often became an Aspasia to the tyrant.
§20Μίκυλλος
—τίς δὲ δὴ μετὰ τὴν Ἀσπασίαν ἀνὴρ ἢ γυνὴ αὖθις ἀνεφάνης;
Micyllus —And who indeed after Aspasia did you appear as again, man or woman?
Ἀλεκτρυών
ὁ κυνικὸς Κράτης.
Cock Crates the Cynic.
Μίκυλλος
Ὢ Διοσκόρω τῆς ἀνομοιότητος, ἐξ ἑταίρας φιλόσοφος.
Micyllus By the Dioscuri, what a disparity! From a courtesan to a philosopher.
Ἀλεκτρυών
εἶτα βασιλεύς, εἶτα πένης, καὶ μετʼ ὀλίγον σατράπης, εἶτα ἵππος καὶ κολοιὸς καὶ βάτραχος καὶ ἄλλα μυρία· μακρὸν ἂν γένοιτο καταριθμήσασθαι ἕκαστα·
Cock Then a king, then a poor man, and after a little while a satrap, then a horse, and a jackdaw, and a frog, and ten thousand other things; it would be a long story to enumerate each.
τὰ τελευταῖα δὲ ἀλεκτρυὼν πολλάκις, ἥσθην γὰρ τῷ τοιούτῳ βίῳ.
And at last a cock many times, for I was pleased with such a life.
καὶ παρὰ πολλοῖς ἄλλοις δουλεύσας καὶ πένησι καὶ πλουσίοις, τὰ τελευταῖα καὶ σοὶ νῦν σύνειμι καταγελῶν ὁσημέραι ποτνιωμένου καὶ οἰμώζοντος ἐπὶ τῇ πενίᾳ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους θαυμάζοντος ὑπʼ ἀγνοίας τῶν ἐκείνοις προσόντων κακῶν.
And having served under many others, both poor and rich, at last I now live with you, laughing every day at you lamenting and wailing over your poverty and admiring the rich out of ignorance of the evils that belong to them.
εἰ γοῦν ᾔδεις τὰς φροντίδας ἃς ἔχουσιν, ἐγέλας ἂν ἐπὶ σαυτῷ πρῶτον οἰηθέντι ὑπερευδαίμονα εἶναι τὸν πλοῦτον.
At any rate, if you knew the cares they have, you would laugh first at yourself for having thought wealth to be super-happy.
Μίκυλλος
οὐκοῦν, ὦ Πυθαγόρα — καίτοι τί μάλιστα χαίρεις καλούμενος, ὡς μὴ ἐπιταράττοιμι τὸν λόγον ἄλλοτε ἄλλον καλῶν;
Micyllus Then, Pythagoras—and yet, what do you most enjoy being called, so that I may not disturb our conversation by calling you now one name, now another?
Ἀλεκτρυών
διοίσει μὲν οὐδὲν ἤν τε Εὔφορβον ἢ Πυθαγόραν, ἤν τε Ἀσπασίαν καλῇς ἢ Κράτητα· πάντα γὰρ ἐγὼ ταῦτά εἰμι.
Cock It will make no difference whether you call me Euphorbus or Pythagoras, or Aspasia or Crates; for I am all these.
πλὴν τὸ νῦν ὁρώμενον τοῦτο ἀλεκτρυόνα ὀνομάζων ἄμεινον ἂν ποιοῖς, ὡς μὴ ἀτιμάζοις εὐτελὲς εἶναι δοκοῦν τὸ ὄρνεον, καὶ ταῦτα τοσαύτας ἐν αὑτῷ ψυχὰς ἔχον.
But calling me "cock," which is now seen, you would do better, so that you do not dishonor the bird which seems to be cheap, especially since it has so many souls in itself.