§13Μένιππος
εὖ γε ὑπέμνησας· ὃ γὰρ μάλιστα ἐχρῆν εἰπεῖν, τοῦτο οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως παρέλιπον.
Menippus: You reminded me well; for what I most ought to have said, this I know not how I left out.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ αὐτὴν μὲν ἐγνώρισα τὴν γῆν ἰδών, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα οὐχ οἷός τε ἦν καθορᾶν ὑπὸ τοῦ βάθους ἅτε τῆς ὄψεως μηκέτι ἐφικνουμένης, πάνυ μʼ ἠνία τὸ χρῆμα καὶ πολλὴν παρεῖχε τὴν ἀπορίαν.
For when I recognized the earth itself on seeing it, but was not able to discern the other things on account of the depth, inasmuch as my sight no longer reached them, the matter vexed me greatly and caused much perplexity.
κατηφεῖ δὲ ὄντι μοι καὶ ὀλίγου δεῖν δεδακρυμένῳ ἐφίσταται κατόπιν ὁ σοφὸς Ἐμπεδοκλῆς, ἀνθρακίας τις ἰδεῖν καὶ σποδοῦ ἀνάπλεως καὶ κατωπτημένος·
And as I was downcast and almost in tears, the wise Empedocles stood behind me, looking like a cinder, covered with ashes and scorched.
κἀγὼ μὲν ὡς εἶδον, — εἰρήσεται γάρ — ὑπεταράχθην καί τινα σεληναῖον δαίμονα ᾠήθην ὁρᾶν· ὁ δέ,
θάρρει,
φησίν,
ὦ Μένιππε,
"οὔτις τοι θεός εἰμι, τί μʼ ἀθανάτοισιν ἐΐσκεις; "
ὁ φυσικὸς οὗτός εἰμι Ἐμπεδοκλῆς·
And I, when I saw him—for the truth shall be told—was thoroughly disturbed and thought I saw some lunar daemon; but he said: 'Take heart,' he said, 'Menippus, "No god am I, why do you liken me to the immortals?" I am that natural philosopher Empedocles.
ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἐς τοὺς κρατῆρας ἐμαυτὸν φέρων ἐνέβαλον, ὁ καπνός με ἀπὸ τῆς Αἴτνης ἁρπάσας δεῦρο ἀνήγαγε, καὶ νῦν ἐν τῇ σελήνῃ κατοικῶ ἀεροβατῶν τὰ πολλὰ καὶ σιτοῦμαι δρόσον.
For when I threw myself into the craters, the smoke from Etna snatched me up and brought me up here, and now I dwell on the moon, walking the air for the most part, and feed on dew.
ἥκω τοίνυν σε ἀπολύσων τῆς παρούσης ἀπορίας· ἀνιᾷ γάρ σε, οἶμαι, καὶ στρέφει τὸ μὴ σαφῶς τὰ ἐπὶ γῆς ὁρᾶν· . εὖ γε ἐποίησας,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
βέλτιστε Ἐμπεδόκλεις, κἀπειδὰν τάχιστα κατάπτωμαι πάλιν ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, μεμνήσομαι σπένδειν τέ σοι ἐπὶ τῆς καπνοδόκης κἀν ταῖς νουμηνίαις πρὸς τὴν σελήνην τρὶς ἐγχανὼν προσεύχεσθαι. ἀλλὰ μὰ τὸν Ἐνδυμίωνα,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
οὐχὶ τοῦ μισθοῦ χάριν ἀφῖγμαι, πέπονθα δέ τι τὴν ψυχὴν ἰδών σε λελυπημένον.
I have come, therefore, to free you from your present perplexity; for, I think, your not seeing clearly the things on earth vexes you and twists you.' 'You have done well,' I said, 'excellent Empedocles, and as soon as I fly down again to Greece, I shall remember both to make libations to you upon the chimney and at the new moons to pray toward the moon, gaping three times.' 'But by Endymion,' he said, 'I have not come for the sake of a reward, but I suffered something in my soul seeing you grieved.
ἀτὰρ οἶσθα ὅ τι δράσας ὀξυδερκὴς γενήσῃ; §14Μένιππος
μὰ Δίʼ,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
ἢν μὴ σύ μοιτὴν ἀχλύν πως ἀφέλῃς ἀπὸ τῶν ὀμμάτων· νῦν γὰρ δὴ λημᾶν οὐ μετρίως δοκῶ. καὶ μὴν οὐδέν σε,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ἐμοῦ δεήσει· τὸ γὰρ ὀξυδερκὲς αὐτὸς ἤδη γῆθεν ἥκεις ἔχων.
But do you know what you must do to become sharp-sighted?' Menippus: 'By Zeus, no,' I said, 'unless you somehow remove the mist from my eyes; for now indeed I seem to have eye-gum in no moderate degree.' 'And yet,' he said, 'you will have no need of me; for you yourself have already come from the earth possessing sharp sight.' 'What then is this?
τί οὖν τοῦτό ἐστιν; οὐ γὰρ οἶδʼ,
ἔφην.
For I do not know,' I said.
οὐκ οἶσθα,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ἀετοῦτὴν πτέρυγα τὴν δεξιὰν περικείμενος; καὶ μάλα,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ· τί δʼ οὖν πτέρυγι καὶ ὀφθαλμῷ κοινόν ἐστιν; ὅτι,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
παρὰ πολὺ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἀετός ἐστιν ὀξυωπέστατος, ὥστε μόνος ἀντίον δέδορκε τῷ ἡλίῳ, καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ γνήσιος καὶ βασιλεὺς ἀετός, ἢν ἀσκαρδαμυκτὶ πρὸς τὰς ἀκτῖνας βλέπῃ. φασὶ ταῦτα,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
καί μοι ἤδη μεταμέλει ὅτι δεῦρο ἀνιὼν οὐχὶ τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ τοῦ ἀετοῦ ἐνεθέμην τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἐξελών· ὡς νῦν γε ἡμιτελὴς ἀφῖγμαι καὶ οὐ πάντα βασιλικῶς ἐνεσκευασμένος, ἀλλʼ ἔοικα τοῖς νόθοις ἐκείνοις καὶ ἀποκηρύκτοις. καὶ μὴν πάρα σοί,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
αὐτίκα μάλα τὸν ἕτερον ὀφθαλμὸν ἔχειν βασιλικόν· ἢν γὰρ ἐθελήσῃς μικρὸν ἀναστὰς ἐπισχὼν τοῦ γυπὸςτὴν πτέρυγα θατέρᾳ μόνῃ πτερύξασθαι, κατὰ λόγον τῆς πτέρυγος τὸν δεξιὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ὀξυδερκὴς ἔσῃ· τὸν δὲ ἕτερον οὐδεμία μηχανὴ μὴ οὐκ ἀμβλύτερον δεδορκέναι τῆς μερίδος ὄντα τῆς χείρονος. ἃλις,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
εἰ καὶ ὁ δεξιὸς μόνος ἀετῶδες βλέποι· οὐδὲν γὰρ ἂν ἔλαττον γένοιτο, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὺς τέκτονας πολλάκις ἑωρακέναι μοι δοκῶ θατέρῳ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ἄμεινον πρὸς τοὺς κανόνας ἀπευθύνοντας τὰ ξύλα. Ταῦτα εἰπὼν ἐποίουν ἅμα τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἐμπεδοκλέους παρηγγελμένα· ὁ δὲ κατʼ ὀλίγον ὑπαπιὼν ἐς καπνὸν ἠρέμα διελύετο.
'Do you not know,' he said, 'that you are wearing the right wing of an eagle?' 'Very much so,' I said; 'but what then is there in common between a wing and an eye?' 'Because,' he said, 'by far above all other animals the eagle is the sharpest-sighted, so that he alone looks straight against the sun, and this is the genuine and kingly eagle, if he looks at the rays without blinking.' 'They say so,' I said, 'and I already regret that in coming up here I did not pluck out my own eyes and put in those of the eagle; since as it is, at any rate, I have arrived half-complete and not fully equipped in a kingly manner, but I resemble those bastard and disowned ones.' 'And yet,' he said, 'it is possible for you right now to have one of your eyes kingly; for if you are willing, rising up a little, to hold back the wing of the vulture and flap with the other one alone, in proportion to the wing you will be sharp-sighted in your right eye; but as for the other eye, there is no way that it will not see more dimly, since it belongs to the inferior part.' 'It is enough,' I said, 'if even the right eye alone should see in the manner of an eagle; for there would be no disadvantage, since I think I have often seen builders straightening their timber better with one of their eyes in relation to their rules.' Having said these things, I at the same time did what was ordered by Empedocles; and he, gradually withdrawing, slowly dissolved into smoke.