§24Μίκυλλος
εἰπέ μοι, ὦ ἀλεκτρυών, σὺ δὲ ὁπότε βασιλεὺς ἦσθα — φὴς γὰρ καὶ βασιλεῦσαί ποτε — ποίου τινὸς ἐπειράθης ἐκείνου τοῦ βίου;
Micyllus Tell me, O cock, when you were a king—for you say you also were a king once—what kind of life did you experience in that role?
ἦ που πανευδαίμων ἦσθα, τὸ κεφάλαιον ὅ τι πέρ ἐστι τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἁπάντων ἔχων;
Surely you were altogether happy, possessing what is the very sum of all good things?
Ἀλεκτρυών
μηδὲ ἀναμνήσῃς με, ὦ Μίκυλλε, οὕτω τρισάθλιος ἦν τότε, τοῖς μὲν ἔξω πᾶσιν ὅπερ ἔφησθα πανευδαίμων εἶναι δοκῶν, ἔνδοθεν δὲ μυρίαις ἀνίαις συνών.
Cock Do not even remind me of it, Micyllus; so thrice-wretched was I then, appearing to all on the outside, as you said, to be altogether happy, but on the inside living with ten thousand distresses.
Μίκυλλος
τίσι ταύταις;
Micyllus With what distresses are these?
παράδοξα γὰρ καὶ οὐ πάνυ τι πιστὰ φής.
For you say paradoxical and not at all believable things.
Ἀλεκτρυών
ἦρχον μὲν οὐκ ὀλίγης χώρας, ὦ Μίκυλλε, παμφόρου τινὸς καὶ πλήθει ἀνθρώπων καὶ κάλλει πόλεων ἐν ταῖς μάλιστα θαυμάζεσθαι ἀξίας ποταμοῖς τε ναυσιπόροις καταρρεομένης καὶ θαλάττῃ εὐόρμῳ χρωμένης, καὶ στρατιὰ ἦν πολλὴ καὶ ἵππος συγκεκροτημένη καὶ δορυφορικὸν οὐκ ὀλίγον καὶ τριήρεις καὶ χρημάτων πλῆθος ἀνάριθμον καὶ χρυσὸς πάμπολυς καὶ ἡ ἄλλη τῆς ἀρχῆς τραγῳδία πᾶσα ἐς ὑπερβολὴν ἐξωγκωμένη, ὥστε ὁπότε προΐοιμι, οἱ μὲν πολλοὶ προσεκύνουν καὶ θεόν τινα ὁρᾶν ᾤοντο καὶ ἄλλοι ἐπʼ ἄλλοις συνέθεον ὀψόμενοί με, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ τέγη ἀνιόντες ἐν μεγάλῳ ἐτίθεντο ἀκριβῶς ἑωρακέναι τὸ ζεῦγος, τὴν ἐφεστρίδα, τὸ διάδημα, τοὺς προπομπεύοντας, τοὺς ἑπομένους.
Cock I ruled over no small territory, Micyllus, a highly fertile one, and, in terms of the multitude of its people and the beauty of its cities, among those most worthy of being admired, watered by navigable rivers and enjoying a sea with good harbors; and there was a great army, well-trained cavalry, a considerable bodyguard, triremes, an untold abundance of wealth, vast amounts of gold, and all the rest of the tragic pomp of rule swollen to excess, so that whenever I went forth, the multitude made obeisance and thought they were seeing a god, and some after others ran together to see me, while others, even climbing up onto the roofs, deemed it a great thing to have accurately seen my chariot, my mantle, my diadem, those leading the procession, and those following.
ἐγὼ δὲ εἰδὼς ὁπόσα με ἠνία καὶ ἔστρεφεν, ἐκείνοις μὲν τῆς ἀνοίας συνεγίνωσκον, ἐμαυτὸν δὲ ἠλέουν ὅμοιον ὄντα τοῖς μεγάλοις ἐκείνοις κολοσσοῖς, οἵους ἢ Φειδίας ἢ Μύρων ἢ Πραξιτέλης ἐποίησεν· κἀκείνων γὰρ ἕκαστος ἔκτοσθεν μὲν Ποσειδῶν τις ἢ Ζεύς ἐστι πάγκαλος ἐκ χρυσίου καὶ ἐλέφαντος συνειργασμένος, κεραυνὸν ἢ ἀστραπὴν ἢ τρίαιναν ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ, ἢν δὲ ὑποκύψας ἴδῃς τά γʼ ἔνδον, ὄψει μοχλούς τινας καὶ γόμφους καὶ ἥλους διαμπὰξ πεπερονημένους καὶ κορμοὺς καὶ σφῆνας καὶ πίτταν καὶ πηλὸν καὶ τοιαύτην τινὰ πολλὴν ἀμορφίαν ὑποικουροῦσαν· ἐῶ λέγειν μυῶν πλῆθος ἢ μυγαλῶν ἐμπολιτευόμενον αὐτοῖς ἐνίοτε.
But I, knowing how many things distressed and tormented me, forgave them for their folly, but pitied myself, being like those great colossi which Phidias or Myron or Praxiteles made; for each of those on the outside is some Poseidon or an all-beautiful Zeus fashioned from gold and ivory, holding a thunderbolt or lightning or a trident in his right hand, but if you bend down and look at the inside, you will see some bars and bolts and nails driven right through, and beams and wedges and pitch and clay, and many such shapeless things lurking within; to say nothing of the multitude of mice or shrews sometimes making their commonwealth inside them.
τοιοῦτόν τι καὶ βασιλεία ἐστίν.
Such a thing is kingship as well.
§25Μίκυλλος
οὐδέπω ἔφησθα τὸν πηλὸν καὶ τοὺς γόμφους καὶ μοχλοὺς οἵτινες εἶεν τῆς ἀρχῆς, οὐδὲ τὴν ἀμορφίαν ἐκείνην τὴν πολλὴν ἥτις ἐστίν· ὡς τό γε ἐξελαύνειν ἀποβλεπόμενον καὶ τοσούτων ἄρχοντα καὶ προσκυνούμενον δαιμονίως ἔοικέ σου τῷ κολοσσιαίῳ παραδείγματι· θεσπέσιον γάρ τι καὶ τοῦτο.
Micyllus You have not yet told me what the clay and the bolts and bars of rule are, nor what that great shapelessness is; since, at least, your riding out gazed upon by all, ruling so many and being bowed down to, wonderfully resembles your colossal example; for this too is something wondrous.
σὺ δὲ τὰ ἔνδον ἤδη τοῦ κολοσσοῦ λέγε.
But you, speak now of the inside of the colossus.
Ἀλεκτρυών
τί πρῶτον εἴπω σοι, ὦ Μίκυλλε;
Cock What should I tell you first, Micyllus?
τοὺς φόβους καὶ τὰ δείματα καὶ ὑποψίας καὶ μῖσος τὸ παρὰ τῶν συνόντων καὶ ἐπιβουλάς, καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ὕπνον τε ὀλίγον, ἐπιπόλαιον κἀκεῖνον, καὶ ταραχῆς μεστὰ ὀνείρατα καὶ ἐννοίας πολυπλόκους καὶ ἐλπίδας ἀεὶ πονηράς, ἢ τὴν ἀσχολίαν καὶ χρηματισμοὺς καὶ δίκας καὶ ἐκστρατείας καὶ προστάγματα καὶ συνθήματα καὶ λογισμούς;
The fears and the terrors and suspicions and hatred on the part of those around us, and conspiracies, and because of these, little sleep, and that too but superficial, and dreams full of disturbance, and intricate thoughts, and ever-gloomy expectations? Or the lack of leisure, the tax-levying, lawsuits, military expeditions, decrees, treaties, and calculations?
ὑφʼ ὧν οὐδὲ ὄναρ ἀπολαῦσαί τινος ἡδέος ἐγγίνεται, ἀλλʼ ἀνάγκη ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων μόνον διασκοπεῖσθαι καὶ μυρία ἔχειν πράγματα·
By which not even in a dream is it possible to enjoy anything sweet, but it is necessary to examine everything alone and to have ten thousand troubles.
"
οὐδὲ γὰρ Ἀτρείδην Ἀγαμέμνονα
ὕπνος ἔχε γλυκερὸς πολλὰ φρεσὶν ὁρμαίνοντα,
"
καὶ ταῦτα ῥεγκόντων Ἀχαιῶν ἁπάντων.
"For not even Agamemnon, son of Atreus, did sweet sleep hold, as he revolved many things in his mind," and that too while all the Achaeans were snoring.
λυπεῖ δὲ τὸν μὲν Λυδὸν υἱὸς κωφὸς ὤν, τὸν Πέρσην δὲ Κλέαρχος Κύρῳ ξενολογῶν, ἄλλον δὲ Δίων πρὸς οὖς τισι τῶν Συρακουσίων κοινολογούμενος, καὶ ἄλλον Παρμενίων ἐπαινούμενος καὶ Περδίκκαν Πτολεμαῖος καὶ Πτολεμαῖον Σέλευκος·
And the Lydian is vexed by his son being deaf; the Persian by Clearchus raising mercenaries for Cyrus; another by Dion talking privately to some of the Syracusans; and another by Parmenion being praised, and Perdiccas by Ptolemy, and Ptolemy by Seleucus.
ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνα λυπεῖ, ὁ ἐρώμενος πρὸς ἀνάγκην συνὼν καὶ παλλακὶς ἄλλῳ χαίρουσα καὶ ἀποστήσεσθαί τινες λεγόμενοι καὶ δύʼ ἢ τέτταρες τῶν δορυφόρων πρὸς ἀλλήλους διαψιθυρίζοντες.
And those things also vex: the beloved associating by constraint, the concubine rejoicing in another, certain people said to be about to revolt, and two or three of the bodyguards whispering to one another.
τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, ὑφορᾶσθαι δεῖ μάλιστα τοὺς φιλτάτους κἀξ ἐκείνων ἀεί τι δεινὸν ἐλπίζειν ἥξειν.
But the greatest thing is that one must suspect most of all those who are dearest, and always expect some terrible thing to come from them.
ἐγὼ γοῦν ὑπὸ τοῦ παιδὸς ἀπέθανον ἐκ φαρμάκων, ὁ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐρωμένου, τὸν δὲ ἄλλος ἴσως ὁμοιότροπος θάνατος κατέλαβεν.
I, at any rate, died by poison from my son, and he himself by his beloved, and another was overtaken by an equally fitting death.