§1Μένιππος
οὐκοῦν τρισχίλιοι μὲν ἦσαν ἀπὸ γῆς στάδιοι μέχρι πρὸς τὴν σελήνην, ὁ πρῶτος ἡμῖν σταθμός· τοὐντεῦθεν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν ἥλιον ἄνω παρασάγγαι που πεντακόσιοι· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου ἐς αὐτὸν ἤδη τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν τὴν τοῦ Διὸς ἄνοδος καὶ ταῦτα γένοιτʼ ἂν εὐζώνῳ ἀετῷ μιᾶς ἡμέρας.
Menippus: So, then, there were three thousand stades from the earth to the moon, our first station; and from there up to the sun, some five hundred parasangs; and the ascent from there to heaven itself and the citadel of Zeus—even for a swift eagle, this would be a single day's journey.
Ἕταιρος
τί ταῦτα πρὸς Χαρίτων, ὦ Μένιππε, ἀστρονομεῖς καὶ ἡσυχῇ πως ἀναμετρεῖς;
Companion: In the name of the Graces, Menippus, why are you thus stargazing and quietly measuring?
πάλαι γὰρ ἐπακροῶμαί σου παρακολουθῶν ἡλίους καὶ σελήνας, ἔτι δὲ τὰ φορτικὰ ταῦτα σταθμούς τινας καὶ παρασάγγας ὑποξενίζοντος.
For I have been listening to you for a long time as I followed behind you, hearing you mutter about suns and moons, and furthermore, introducing these strange terms, stations and parasangs.
Μένιππος
μὴ θαυμάσῃς, ὦ ἑταῖρε, εἰ μετέωρα καὶ διαέρια δοκῶ σοι λαλεῖν· τὸ κεφάλαιον γὰρ δὴ πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν ἀναλογίζομαι τῆς ἔναγχος ἀποδημίας.
Menippus: Do not wonder, my friend, if I seem to speak to you of lofty and airy matters; for I am calculating for myself the sum total of my recent journey abroad.
Ἕταιρος
εἶτα, ὦγαθε, καθάπερ οἱ Φοίνικες ἄστροις ἐτεκμαίρου τὴν ὁδόν;
Companion: Then, my good man, did you steer your course by the stars, like the Phoenicians?
Μένιππος
οὐ μὰ Δία, ἀλλʼ ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς ἄστροις ἐποιούμην τὴν ἀποδημίαν.
Menippus: By Zeus, no! I was making my journey among the stars themselves.
Ἕταιρος
Ἡράκλεις, μακρόν τινα τὸν ὄνειρον λέγεις, εἴ γε σαυτὸν ἔλαθες κατακοιμηθεὶς παρασάγγας ὅλους.
Companion: Heracles! You are telling of a very long dream indeed, if you fell asleep without knowing it and traveled all those parasangs.
§2Μένιππος
ὄνειρον γάρ, ὦ τάν, δοκῶ σοι λέγειν ὃς ἀρτίως ἀφῖγμαι παρὰ τοῦ Διός;
Menippus: Do I seem to you to be telling a dream, my dear fellow, when I have just arrived from Zeus?
Ἕταιρος
πῶς ἔφησθα;
Companion: How did you say?
Μένιππος ἡμῖν διοπετὴς πάρεστιν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ;
Is our Menippus here, fallen from Zeus, out of heaven?
Μένιππος
καὶ μὴν ἐγώ σοι παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου τοῦ πάνυ Διὸς ἥκω τήμερον θαυμάσια καὶ ἀκούσας καὶ ἰδών·
Menippus: Indeed, I have come to you today from that very same great Zeus, having both heard and seen marvelous things.
εἰ δὲ ἀπιστεῖς, καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὑπερευφραίνομαι τὸ πέρα πίστεως εὐτυχεῖν.
But if you disbelieve, this very thing makes me exceedingly happy—to be fortunate beyond belief.
Ἕταιρος
καὶ πῶς ἂν ἔγωγε, ὦ θεσπέσιε καὶ Ὀλύμπιε Μένιππε, γεννητὸς αὐτὸς καὶ ἐπίγειος ὢν ἀπιστεῖν δυναίμην ὑπερνεφέλῳ ἀνδρὶ καὶ ἵνα καθʼ Ὅμηρον εἴπω τῶν Οὐρανιώνων ἑνί;
Companion: And how could I, divine and Olympian Menippus, being myself mortal-born and earthbound, disbelieve a man above the clouds, and—to speak in Homeric terms—one of the Heavenly Ones?
ἀλλʼ ἐκεῖνά μοι φράσον, εἰ δοκεῖ, τίνα τρόπον ἤρθης ἄνω καὶ ὁπόθεν ἐπορίσω κλίμακα τηλικαύτην τὸ μέγεθος;
But tell me this, if you please, in what manner you were raised up, and from where did you procure a ladder of such a great size?
τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἀμφὶ τὴν ὄψιν οὐ πάνυ ἔοικας ἐκείνῳ τῷ Φρυγί, ὥστε ἡμᾶς εἰκάζειν καὶ σὲ οἰνοχοήσοντά που ἀνάρπαστον γεγονέναι πρὸς τοῦ ἀετοῦ.
For as to your appearance, you do not look at all like that Phrygian youth, so that we might guess that you too had been snatched up by the eagle to be a cupbearer somewhere.
Μένιππος
σὺ μὲν πάλαι σκώπτων δῆλος εἶ, καὶ θαυμαστὸν οὐδὲν εἴ σοι τὸ παράδοξον τοῦ λόγου μύθῳ δοκεῖ προσφερές.
Menippus: It is clear that you have been joking for a long time, and it is no wonder if the extraordinary nature of my story seems to you like a myth.
ἀτὰρ οὐδὲν ἐδέησέ μοι πρὸς τὴν ἄνοδον οὔτε τῆς κλίμακος οὔτε παιδικὰ γενέσθαι τοῦ ἀετοῦ· οἰκεῖα γὰρ ἦν μοι τὰ πτερά.
Yet I had no need of a ladder for the ascent, nor of becoming the favorite of the eagle; for I had wings of my own.
Ἕταιρος
τοῦτο μὲν ἤδη καὶ ὑπὲρ τὸν Δαίδαλον ἔφησθα, εἴ γε πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐλελήθεις ἡμᾶς ἱέραξ τις ἢ κολοιὸς ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γενόμενος.
Companion: This is already beyond even Daedalus, if, in addition to everything else, you had turned from a man into some hawk or jackdaw without our knowing it.
Μένιππος
ὀρθῶς, ὦ ἑταῖρε, καὶ οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ εἴκασας· τὸ Δαιδάλειον γὰρ ἐκεῖνο σόφισμα τῶν πτερῶν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐμηχανησάμην.
Menippus: Rightly, my friend, and not far from the mark did you guess; for I myself devised that Daedalean trick of the wings.
§3Ἕταιρος
εἶτα, ὦ τολμηρότατε πάντων, οὐκ ἐδεδοίκεις μὴ καὶ σύ που τῆς θαλάττης καταπεσὼν Μενίππειόν τι πέλαγος ἡμῖν ὥσπερ τὸ Ἰκάριον ἀποδείξῃς ἐπὶ τῷ σεαυτοῦ ὀνόματι;
Companion: Then, most daring of all men, were you not afraid that you might fall somewhere into the sea and present us with a Menippean Sea, named after you, just like the Icarian?
Μένιππος
οὐδαμῶς·
Menippus: By no means.
ὁ μὲν γὰρ Ἴκαρος ἅτε κηρῷ τὴν πτέρωσιν ἡρμοσμένος, ἐπειδὴ τάχιστα πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον ἐκεῖνος ἐτάκη, πτερορρυήσας εἰκότως κατέπεσεν· ἡμῖν δὲ ἀκήρωτα ἦν τὰ ὠκύπτερα.
For Icarus, having fitted his plumage with wax, naturally fell when it quickly melted near the sun, losing his feathers; but our swift wings were waxless.
Ἕταιρος
πῶς λέγεις;
Companion: What do you mean?
ἤδη γὰρ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἠρέμα με προσάγεις πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν τῆς διηγήσεως.
For now, I know not how, you are gently drawing me toward the truth of your story.
Μένιππος
Ὧδέ πως· ἀετὸν εὐμεγέθη συλλαβών, ἔτι δὲ γῦπα τῶν καρτερῶν, ἀποτεμὼν αὐταῖς ὠλέναις τὰ πτερὰ — μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πᾶσαν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τὴν ἐπίνοιαν, εἴ σοι σχολή, δίειμι.
Menippus: In this way: having caught a huge eagle, and also a strong vulture, and having cut off their wings along with the shoulder-joints—or rather, if you have leisure, I will recount the whole plan from the very beginning.
Ἕταιρος
πάνυ μὲν οὖν·
Companion: Most certainly!
ὡς ἐγώ σοι μετέωρός εἰμι ὑπὸ τῶν λόγων καὶ πρὸς τὸ τέλος ἤδη κέχηνα τῆς ἀκροάσεως·
For I am suspended in mid-air by your words, and I am already gaping for the end of the narrative.
μηδὲ πρὸς Φιλίου με περιίδῃς ἄνω που τῆς διηγήσεως ἐκ τῶν ὤτων ἀπηρτημένον.
By Zeus the Friend, do not leave me hanging somewhere up in the story, suspended by my ears.