§41Τίμων
ἄγε, ὦ δίκελλα, νῦν μοι ἐπίρρωσον σεαυτὴν καὶ μὴ κάμῃς ἐκ τοῦ βάθους τὸν Θησαυρὸν ἐς τοὐμφανὲς προκαλουμένη.
Timon Come, my mattock, now strengthen yourself for me and do not grow weary in summoning the Treasure from the depths into the light.
ὦ Ζεῦ τεράστιε καὶ φίλοι Κορύβαντες καὶ Ἑρμῆ κερδῷε, πόθεν τοσοῦτον χρυσίον;
O Zeus of wonders, and friendly Corybantes, and Hermes the gain-giver, from where is so much gold?
ἦ που ὄναρ ταῦτά ἐστι;
Is this perhaps a dream?
δέδια γοῦν μὴ ἄνθρακας εὕρω ἀνεγρόμενος·
I fear at least lest I find ashes upon waking.
ἀλλὰ μὴν χρυσίον ἐστὶν ἐπίσημον, ὑπέρυθρον, βαρὺ καὶ τὴν πρόσοψιν ὑπερήδιστον.
But indeed it is coined gold, reddish, heavy, and most sweet to the sight.
"ὦ χρυσέ, δεξίωμα κάλλιστον βροτοῖς· "
αἰθόμενον γὰρ πῦρ ἅτε διαπρέπεις καὶ νύκτωρ καὶ μεθʼ ἡμέραν.
"O gold, fairest welcome for mortals!" For like burning fire you shine out both by night and by day.
ἐλθέ, ὦ φίλτατε καὶ ἐρασμιώτατε.
Come, dearest and most lovely.
νῦν πείθομαί γε καὶ Δία ποτὲ γενέσθαι χρυσόν· τίς γὰρ οὐκ ἂν παρθένος ἀναπεπταμένοις τοῖς κόλποις ὑπεδέξατο οὕτω καλὸν ἐραστὴν διὰ τοῦ τέγους καταρρέοντα;
Now indeed I believe that Zeus once became gold; for what maiden would not have received with open lap so beautiful a lover flowing down through the roof?
§42Τίμων
ὦ Μίδα καὶ Κροῖσε καὶ τὰ ἐν Δελφοῖς ἀναθήματα, ὡς οὐδὲν ἄρα ἦτε ὡς πρὸς Τίμωνα καὶ τὸν Τίμωνος πλοῦτον, ᾧ γε οὐδὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς ὁ Περσῶν ἴσος.
Timon O Midas and Croesus, and the votive offerings in Delphi, how you were after all nothing compared to Timon and Timon's wealth, to whom not even the king of the Persians is equal!
Ὦ δίκελλα καὶ φιλτάτη διφθέρα, ὑμᾶς μὲν τῷ Πανὶ τούτῳ ἀναθεῖναι καλόν· αὐτὸς δὲ ἤδη πᾶσαν πριάμενος τὴν ἐσχατιάν, πυργίον οἰκοδομησάμενος ὑπὲρ τοῦ θησαυροῦ μόνῳ ἐμοὶ ἱκανὸν ἐνδιαιτᾶσθαι, τὸν αὐτὸν καὶ τάφον ἀποθανὼν ἕξειν μοιδοκῶ.
O mattock and dearest leather jerkin, it is fitting to dedicate you to this Pan here; and I, having now bought all this borderland, and having built a small tower over the treasure sufficient for me alone to live in, think that I shall have this same also as my tomb when I die.
δεδόχθω δὲ ταῦτα καὶ νενομοθετήσθω πρὸς τὸν ἐπίλοιπον βίον, ἀμιξία πρὸς ἅπαντας καὶ ἀγνωσία καὶ ὑπεροψία· φίλος δὲ ἢ ξένος ἢ ἑταῖρος ἢ Ἐλέου βωμὸς ὕθλος πολύς· καὶ τὸ οἰκτεῖραι δακρύοντα ἢ ἐπικουρῆσαι δεομένῳ παρανομία καὶ κατάλυσις τῶν ἐθῶν· μονήρης δὲ ἡ δίαιτα καθάπερ τοῖς λύκοις, καὶ φίλος εἷς Τίμων.
Let these things be resolved and enacted as law for the remainder of my life: no association with anyone, ignorance, and contempt; and friend, stranger, companion, or the Altar of Mercy, let these be great nonsense; and to pity one who weeps or to help one in need, let this be a transgression of the law and a dissolution of customs; let my way of life be solitary like that of wolves, and let there be only one friend, Timon.
§43Τίμων
οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι πάντες ἐχθροὶ καὶ ἐπίβουλοι· καὶ τὸ προσομιλῆσαί τινι αὐτῶν μίασμα· καὶ ἤν τινα ἴδω μόνον, ἀποφρὰς ἡ ἡμέρα· καὶ ὅλως ἀνδριάντων λιθίνων ἢ χαλκῶν μηδὲν ἡμῖν διαφερέτωσαν· καὶ μήτε κήρυκα δεχώμεθα παρʼ αὐτῶν μήτε σπονδὰς σπενδώμεθα· ἡ ἐρημία δὲ ὅρος ἔστω πρὸς αὐτούς.
Timon And all the others are enemies and schemers; and to converse with any of them is a pollution; and if I but see anyone, the day is ill-omened; and in short, let them differ in nothing for us from stone or bronze statues; and let us neither receive a herald from them nor make treaties with them; and let the desert be our boundary against them.
φυλέται δὲ καὶ φράτορες καὶ δημόται καὶ ἡ πατρὶς αὐτὴ ψυχρὰ καὶ ἀνωφελῆ ὀνόματα καὶ ἀνοήτων ἀνδρῶν φιλοτιμήματα.
Tribesmen, and clansmen, and demesmen, and the fatherland itself, are cold and useless names, and the ambitions of foolish men.
πλουτείτω δὲ Τίμων μόνος καὶ ὑπεροράτω ἁπάντων καὶ τρυφάτω μόνος καθʼ ἑαυτὸν κολακείας καὶ ἐπαίνων φορτικῶν ἀπηλλαγμένος· καὶ θεοῖς θυέτω καὶ εὐωχείσθω μόνος, ἑαυτῷ γείτων καὶ ὅμορος, ἐκσείων τῶν ἄλλων.
Let Timon alone be rich, and let him look down on all, and let him live in luxury alone by himself, freed from flattery and vulgar praises; and let him sacrifice to the gods and feast alone, neighbor and borderer to himself, shaking off the others.
καὶ ἅπαξ ἑαυτὸν δεξιώσασθαι δεδόχθω, ἢν δέῃ ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ αὑτῷ στέφανον ἐπενεγκεῖν.
And let it be resolved that he greet only himself once and for all, if he must die, and place the crown upon himself.
§44Τίμων
καὶ ὄνομα μὲν ἔστω ὁ Μισάνθρωπος ἥδιστον, τοῦ τρόπου δὲ γνωρίσματα δυσκολία καὶ τραχύτης καὶ σκαιότης καὶ ὀργὴ καὶ ἀπανθρωπία·
Timon And let the name "Misanthrope" be sweetest, and let the marks of my character be testiness, harshness, clumsiness, anger, and inhumanity.
εἰ δέ τινα ἴδοιμι ἐν πυρὶ διαφθειρόμενον καὶ κατασβεννύναι ἱκετεύοντα, πίττῃ καὶ ἐλαίῳ κατασβεννύναι·
And if I should see someone being destroyed in fire and begging to extinguish it, I would extinguish it with pitch and oil.
καὶ ἤν τινα τοῦ χειμῶνος ὁ ποταμὸς παραφέρῃ, ὁ δὲ τὰς χεῖρας ὀρέγων ἀντιλαβέσθαι δέηται, ὠθεῖν καὶ τοῦτον ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν βαπτίζοντα, ὡς μηδὲ ἀνακῦψαι δυνηθείη· οὕτω γὰρ ἂν τὴν ἴσην ἀπολάβοιεν.
And if in winter the river should sweep someone away, and he stretching out his hands should beg to be rescued, I would push him also, plunging him headlong, so that he could not even surface again; for thus they would receive their equal deserts.
εἰσηγήσατο τὸν νόμον Τίμων Ἐχεκρατίδου Κολλυτεύς, ἐπεψήφισε τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ Τίμων ὁ αὐτός. ”
εἶεν, ταῦτα ἡμῖν δεδόχθω καὶ ἀνδρικῶς ἐμμένωμεν αὐτοῖς.
"Timon, son of Echecrates, of the deme Collytus, proposed this law; the same Timon put it to the vote in the assembly." Well then, let these things be resolved by us, and let us manfully abide by them.
§45Τίμων
πλὴν ἀλλὰ περὶ πολλοῦ ἂν ἐποιησάμην ἅπασι γνώριμά πως ταῦτα γενέσθαι, διότι ὑπερπλουτῶ· ἀγχόνη γὰρ ἂν τὸ πρᾶγμα γένοιτο αὐτοῖς.
Timon However, I would have valued it highly if these things somehow became known to all, namely that I am super-rich; for the matter would be a hanging-noose to them.
καίτοι τί τοῦτο;
And yet, what is this?
φεῦ τοῦ τάχους.
Ah, what speed!
πανταχόθεν συνθέουσιν κεκονιμένοι καὶ πνευστιῶντες, οὐκ οἶδα ὅθεν ὀσφραινόμενοι τοῦ χρυσίου.
They are running together from all sides, covered in dust and panting, having smelled the gold, I know not from where.
πότερον οὖν ἐπὶ τὸν πάγον τοῦτον ἀναβὰς ἀπελαύνω αὐτοὺς τοῖς λίθοις ἐξ ὑπερδεξίων ἀκροβολιζόμενος, ἢ τό γε τοσοῦτον παρανομήσομεν εἰσάπαξ αὐτοῖς ὁμιλήσαντες, ὡς πλέον ἀνιῷντο ὑπερορώμενοι;
Whether then, having gone up on this hill, shall I drive them away, skirmishing with stones from a superior position? Or shall we commit a lawlessness to this extent, conversing with them just once, so that they may be more grieved by being looked down upon?
τοῦτο οἶμαι καὶ ἄμεινον.
This, I think, is better.
ὥστε δεχώμεθα ἤδη αὐτοὺς ὑποστάντες.
So let us receive them now, standing our ground.
φέρε ἴδω, τίς ὁ πρῶτος αὐτῶν οὗτός ἐστι;
Come, let me see, who is this first of them?
Γναθωνίδης ὁ κόλαξ, ὁ πρῴην ἔρανον αἰτήσαντί μοι ὀρέξας τὸν βρόχον, πίθους ὅλους παρʼ ἐμοὶ πολλάκις ἐμημεκώς.
Gnathonides the flatterer, who the other day, when I asked for a contribution, stretched out a noose to me, though he had often vomited whole jars at my house.
ἀλλʼ εὖ γε ἐποίησεν ἀφικόμενος· οἰμώξεται γὰρ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων.
But he did well to arrive; for he shall weep before the others.