§30Πλοῦτος
θάρρει τούτου γε ἕνεκα· ἐν τῇ γῇ αὐτὸν ἀεὶ καταλείπων ἀνέρχομαι πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἐπισκήψας ἔνδον μένειν ἐπικλεισάμενον τὴν θύραν, ἀνοίγειν δὲ μηδενί, ἢν μὴ ἐμοῦ ἀκούσῃ βοήσαντος.
Plutus: Have courage on this account; always leaving him in the earth, I come up to you, having commanded him to remain inside and bolt the door, and to open to no one unless he hears me shouting.
Ἑρμῆς
οὐκοῦν ἐπιβαίνωμεν ἤδη τῆς Ἀττικῆς· καί μοι ἕπου ἐχόμενος τῆς χλαμύδος, ἄχρι ἂν πρὸς τὴν ἐσχατιὰν ἀφίκωμαι.
Hermes: Then let us now set foot in Attica; and follow me, holding onto my cloak, until I arrive at the borderland.
Πλοῦτος
εὖ ποιεῖς, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, χειραγωγῶν· ἐπεὶ ἤν γε ἀπολίπῃς με, Ὑπερβόλῳ τάχα ἢ Κλέωνι ἐμπεσοῦμαι περινοστῶν.
Plutus: You do well, Hermes, to guide me by the hand; for if you leave me, I shall quickly fall upon Hyperbolus or Cleon as I wander about.
ἀλλὰ τίς ὁ ψόφος οὗτός ἐστιν καθάπερ σιδήρου πρὸς λίθον;
But what is this noise, like iron against stone?
§31Ἑρμῆς
ὁ Τίμων οὑτοσὶ σκάπτει πλησίον ὀρεινὸν καὶ ὑπόλιθον γήδιον.
Hermes: This is Timon digging a mountainous and rocky little plot of land nearby.
παπαί, καὶ ἡ Πενία πάρεστι καὶ ὁ Πόνος ἐκεῖνος, ἡ Καρτερία τε καὶ ἡ Σοφία καὶ ἡ Ἀνδρεία καὶ ὁ τοιοῦτος ὄχλος τῶν ὑπὸ τῷ Λιμῷ ταττομένων ἁπάντων, πολὺ ἀμείνους τῶν σῶν δορυφόρων.
Ha! Poverty is present, and that well-known Toil, and Endurance, and Wisdom, and Courage, and the whole such crowd of those marshaled under Famine, far better than your bodyguards.
Πλοῦτος
τί οὖν οὐκ ἀπαλλαττόμεθα, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, τὴν ταχίστην;
Plutus: Why then do we not depart, Hermes, as quickly as possible?
οὐ γὰρ ἄν τι ἡμεῖς δράσαιμεν ἀξιόλογον πρὸς ἄνδρα ὑπὸ τηλικούτου στρατοπέδου περιεσχημένον.
For we would do nothing worthy of note against a man surrounded by such an army.
Ἑρμῆς
ἄλλως ἔδοξε τῷ Διί· μὴ ἀποδειλιῶμεν οὖν.
Hermes: Zeus has decided otherwise; let us not be cowardly, then.
§32Πενία
ποῖ τοῦτον ἀπάγεις, ὦ Ἀργειφόντα, χειραγωγῶν;
Poverty: Where are you leading this man, Argeiphontes, guiding him by the hand?
Ἑρμῆς
ἐπὶ τουτονὶ τὸν Τίμωνα ἐπέμφθημεν ὑπὸ τοῦ Διός.
Hermes: We were sent by Zeus to this Timon here.
Πενία
νῦν ὁ Πλοῦτος ἐπὶ Τίμωνα, ὁπότε αὐτὸν ἐγὼ κακῶς ἔχοντα ὑπὸ τῆς Τρυφῆς παραλαβοῦσα, τουτοισὶ παραδοῦσα, τῇ Σοφίᾳ καὶ τῷ Πόνῳ, γενναῖον ἄνδρα καὶ πολλοῦ ἄξιον ἀπέδειξα;
Poverty: Now Plutus is sent to Timon, when I, having taken him in a wretched state from Luxury, and having handed him over to these here, Wisdom and Toil, have shown him to be a noble man and worthy of much?
οὕτως ἄρα εὐκαταφρόνητος ὑμῖν ἡ Πενία δοκῶ καὶ εὐαδίκητος, ὥσθʼ ὃ μόνον κτῆμα εἶχον ἀφαιρεῖσθαί με, ἀκριβῶς πρὸς ἀρετὴν ἐξειργασμένον, ἵνα αὖθις ὁ Πλοῦτος παραλαβὼν αὐτὸν Ὕβρει καὶ Τύφῳ ἐγχειρίσας ὅμοιον τῷ πάλαι μαλθακὸν καὶ ἀγεννῆ καὶ ἀνόητον ἀποφήνας ἀποδῷ πάλιν ἐμοὶ ῥάκος ἤδη γεγενημένον;
Does Poverty seem to you so contemptible and easy to wrong, that you take away from me the only possession I had, which was thoroughly fashioned toward virtue, so that Plutus, taking him again and handing him over to Insolence and Pride, and making him soft, base, and foolish as before, may give him back to me as a mere rag already?
Ἑρμῆς
ἔδοξε ταῦτα, ὦ Πενία, τῷ Διί·
Hermes: This has been decided, Poverty, by Zeus.
§33Πενία
ἀπέρχομαι· καὶ ὑμεῖς δέ, ὦ Πόνε καὶ Σοφία καὶ οἱ λοιποί, ἀκολουθεῖτέ μοι.
Poverty: I am leaving; and you, Toil and Wisdom and the rest, follow me.
οὗτος δὲ τάχα εἴσεται, οἵαν με οὖσαν ἀπολείψει, ἀγαθὴν συνεργὸν καὶ διδάσκαλον τῶν ἀρίστων, ᾗ συνὼν ὑγιεινὸς μὲν τὸ σῶμα, ἐρρωμένος δὲ τὴν γνώμην διετέλεσεν, ἀνδρὸς βίον ζῶν καὶ πρὸς αὑτὸν ἀποβλέπων, τὰ δὲ περιττὰ καὶ πολλὰ ταῦτα, ὥσπερ ἐστίν, ἀλλότρια ὑπολαμβάνων.
But he will soon know what kind of person I was whom he is leaving, a good helper and teacher of the best things, in whose company he continued healthy in body and strong in mind, living the life of a man and looking only to himself, while considering these superfluous and abundant things, as they are, to belong to others.
Ἑρμῆς
ἀπέρχονται· ἡμεῖς δὲ προσίωμεν αὐτῷ.
Hermes: They are departing; let us approach him.
§34Τίμων
τίνες ἐστέ, ὦ κατάρατοι;
Timon: Who are you, accursed ones?
ἢ τί βουλόμενοι δεῦρο ἥκετε ἄνδρα ἐργάτην καὶ μισθοφόρον ἐνοχλήσοντες;
Or what do you want coming here to trouble a working man who earns a wage?
ἀλλʼ οὐ χαίροντες ἄπιτε μιαροὶ πάντες ὄντες· ἐγὼ γὰρ ὑμᾶς αὐτίκα μάλα βάλλων τοῖς βώλοις καὶ τοῖς λίθοις συντρίψω.
But you shall not go away rejoicing, scoundrels all; for I shall crush you immediately by throwing sods and stones.
Ἑρμῆς
μηδαμῶς, ὦ Τίμων, μὴ βάλῃς· οὐ γὰρ ἀνθρώπους ὄντας βαλεῖς, ἀλλʼ ἐγὼ μὲν Ἑρμῆς εἰμι, οὑτοσὶ δὲ ὁ Πλοῦτος·
Hermes: By no means, Timon, do not throw; for you will not be throwing at humans, but I am Hermes, and this is Plutus.
ἔπεμψε δὲ ὁ Ζεὺς ἐπακούσας τῶν εὐχῶν, ὥστε ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ δέχου τὸν ὄλβον ἀποστὰς τῶν πόνων.
Zeus, having heard your prayers, sent us, so with good fortune receive wealth, ceasing from your labors.
Τίμων
καὶ ὑμεῖς οἰμώξεσθε ἤδη καίτοι θεοὶ ὄντες, ὥς φατε· πάντας γὰρ ἅμα καὶ ἀνθρώπους καὶ θεοὺς μισῶ, τουτονὶ δὲ τὸν τυφλόν, ὅστις ἂν ᾖ, καὶ ἐπιτρίψειν μοι δοκῶ τῇ δικέλλῃ.
Timon: You too shall howl now, even though you are gods, as you say; for I hate all humans and gods alike, and as for this blind one, whoever he is, I think I shall smash him with my mattock.
Πλοῦτος
ἀπίωμεν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, πρὸς τοῦ Διός, μελαγχολᾶν γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐ μετρίως μοι δοκεῖ, μή τι κακὸν ἀπέλθω προσλαβών.
Plutus: Let us depart, Hermes, by Zeus, for the man seems to me to be mad in no moderate degree, lest I go away having received some harm.
§35Ἑρμῆς
μηδὲν σκαιόν, ὦ Τίμων, ἀλλὰ τὸ πάνυ τοῦτο ἄγριον καὶ τραχὺ καταβαλὼν προτείνας τὼ χεῖρε λάμβανε τὴν ἀγαθὴν τύχην καὶ πλούτει πάλιν καὶ ἴσθι Ἀθηναίων τὰ πρῶτα καὶ ὑπερόρα τῶν ἀχαρίστων ἐκείνων μόνος αὐτὸς εὐδαιμονῶν.
Hermes: Do nothing foolish, Timon, but casting aside this very wild and rough manner, stretch out both hands and receive good fortune, and be rich again, and be the first of the Athenians, and look down on those ungrateful ones, being happy all by yourself.
Τίμων
οὐδὲν ὑμῶν δέομαι· μὴ ἐνοχλεῖτέ μοι·
Timon: I have no need of you; do not trouble me.
ἱκανὸς ἐμοὶ πλοῦτος ἡ δίκελλα, τὰ δʼ ἄλλα εὐδαιμονέστατός εἰμι μηδενός μοι πλησιάζοντος.
The mattock is sufficient wealth for me, and as for the rest, I am most happy with no one approaching me.
Ἑρμῆς
οὕτως, ὦ τάν, ἀπανθρώπως; "τόνδε φέρω Διὶ μῦθον ἀπηνέα τε κρατερόν τε;
Hermes: Thus, my friend, so inhumanly?
"
καὶ μὴν εἰκὸς ἦν μισάνθρωπον μὲν εἶναί σε τοσαῦτα ὑπʼ αὐτῶν δεινὰ πεπονθότα, μισόθεον δὲ μηδαμῶς, οὕτως ἐπιμελουμένων σου τῶν θεῶν.
"Shall I carry this harsh and mighty speech to Zeus?" And yet, it was reasonable for you to be a misanthrope, having suffered so many terrible things from them, but by no means a misotheist, with the gods taking such care of you.