§46Γναθωνίδης
οὐκ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον ὡς οὐκ ἀμελήσουσι Τίμωνος ἀγαθοῦ ἀνδρὸς οἱ θεοί;
Gnathonides Did I not say that the gods would not neglect Timon, a good man?
χαῖρε Τίμων εὐμορφότατε καὶ ἥδιστε καὶ συμποτικώτατε.
Hail, Timon, most comely, most sweet, and most convivial of companions!
Τίμων
νὴ καὶ σύ γε, ὦ Γναθωνίδη, γυπῶν ἁπάντων βορώτατε καὶ ἀνθρώπων ἐπιτριπτότατε.
Timon Yes, and you too, Gnathonides, most voracious of all vultures, and most rascally of men!
Γναθωνίδης
ἀεὶ φιλοσκώμμων σύ γε.
Gnathonides Always fond of a joke, you are.
ἀλλὰ ποῦ τὸ συμπόσιον;
But where is the banquet?
ὡς καινόν τί σοι ᾆσμα τῶν νεοδιδάκτων διθυράμβων ἥκω κομίζων.
For I have come bringing you some new song from the recently produced dithyrambs.
Τίμων
καὶ μὴν ἐλεγεῖά γε ᾄσῃ μάλα περιπαθῶς ὑπὸ ταύτῃ τῇ δικέλλῃ.
Timon Indeed, you shall sing elegies right plaintively under this mattock.
Γναθωνίδης
τί τοῦτο;
Gnathonides What is this?
παίεις, ὦ Τίμων;
Are you striking me, Timon?
μαρτύρομαι·
I call you to witness!
ὦ Ἡράκλεις, ἰοὺ ἰού, προκαλοῦμαί σε τραύματος εἰς Ἄρειον πάγον.
O Heracles, alas, alas! I summon you to the Areopagus for wounding!
Τίμων
καὶ μὴν ἄν γε μικρὸν ἐπιβραδύνῃς, φόνου τάχα προκεκλήσομαι.
Timon And indeed, if you delay even a little, I shall soon be summoned for murder.
Γναθωνίδης
μηδαμῶς·
Gnathonides By no means!
ἀλλὰ σύ γε πάντως τὸ τραῦμα ἴασαι μικρὸν ἐπιπάσας τοῦ χρυσίου· δεινῶς γὰρ ἴσχαιμόν ἐστι τὸ φάρμακον.
But at least heal my wound by sprinkling a little gold on it; for that remedy is wonderfully staunching.
Τίμων
ἔτι γὰρ μένεις;
Timon Are you still staying?
Γναθωνίδης
ἄπειμι· σὺ δὲ οὐ χαιρήσεις οὕτω σκαιὸς ἐκ χρηστοῦ γενόμενος.
Gnathonides I am going; but you shall not get away with it, having become so brutal after being so kind.
§47Τίμων
τίς οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ προσιών, ὁ ἀναφαλαντίας;
Timon Who is this coming up, the bald-headed one?
Φιλιάδης, κολάκων ἁπάντων ὁ βδελυρώτατος.
Philiades, the most loathsome of all flatterers.
οὗτος δὲ ἀγρὸν ὅλον παρʼ ἐμοῦ λαβὼν καὶ τῇ θυγατρὶ προῖκα δύο τάλαντα, μισθὸν τοῦ ἐπαίνου, ὁπότε ᾄσαντά με πάντων σιωπώντων μόνος ὑπερεπῄνεσεν ἐπομοσάμενος ᾠδικώτερον εἶναι τῶν κύκνων, ἐπειδὴ νοσοῦντα πρῴην εἶδέ με καὶ προσῆλθον ἐπικουρίας δεόμενος, πληγὰς ὁ γενναῖος προσενέτεινεν.
This fellow, who received a whole estate from me, and two talents as a dowry for his daughter, as the reward for his praise—whenever I sang and all others were silent, he alone praised me to the skies, swearing that I was more musical than the swans—when he saw me sick the other day and I went to him in need of help, this noble gentleman laid blows upon me.
§48Φιλιάδης
ὢ τῆς ἀναισχυντίας.
Philiades Oh, what impudence!
νῦν Τίμωνα γνωρίζετε;
Now you recognize Timon?
νῦν Γναθωνίδης φίλος καὶ συμπότης;
Now Gnathonides is a friend and drinking companion?
τοιγαροῦν δίκαια πέπονθεν οὕτως ἀχάριστος ὤν.
Therefore he has suffered what he deserved, being so ungrateful.
ἡμεῖς δὲ οἱ πάλαι συνήθεις καὶ συνέφηβοι καὶ δημόται ὅμως μετριάζομεν, ὡς μὴ ἐπιπηδᾶν δοκῶμεν.
But we, his old intimates, classmates, and fellow-demesmen, nevertheless keep our distance, so that we may not seem to pounce upon him.
χαῖρε, ὦ δέσποτα, καὶ ὅπως τοὺς μιαροὺς τούτους κόλακας φυλάξῃ, τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης μόνον, τὰ ἄλλα δὲ κοράκων οὐδὲν διαφέροντας.
Hail, master, and see that you guard against these filthy flatterers, who are friends only at the table, but in other respects differ in no way from crows.
οὐκέτι πιστευτέα τῶν νῦν οὐδενί· πάντες ἀχάριστοι καὶ πονηροί.
No one of the present day is to be trusted any longer; all are ungrateful and wicked.
ἐγὼ δὲ τάλαντόν σοι κομίζων, ὡς ἔχοις πρὸς τὰ κατεπείγοντα χρῆσθαι, καθʼ ὁδὸν ἤδη πλησίον ἤκουσα, ὡς πλουτοίης ὑπερμεγέθη τινὰ πλοῦτον.
I, bringing you a talent so that you might have it to use for your urgent needs, heard on the road, when already near, that you were rich with some immense wealth.
ἥκω τοιγαροῦν ταῦτά σε νουθετήσων· καίτοι σύ γε οὕτω σοφὸς ὢν οὐδὲν ἴσως δεήσῃ τῶν παρʼ ἐμοῦ λόγων, ὃς καὶ τῷ Νέστορι τὸ δέον παραινέσειας ἄν.
I have come, therefore, to advise you on these matters; and yet, being so wise, you will perhaps have no need of words from me, who could even advise Nestor on what is necessary.
Τίμων
ἔσται ταῦτα, ὦ Φιλιάδη.
Timon So it shall be, Philiades.
πλὴν ἀλλὰ πρόσιθι, ὡς καὶ σὲ φιλοφρονήσωμαι τῇ δικέλλῃ.
However, draw near, that I may welcome you too with the mattock.
Φιλιάδης
ἄνθρωποι, κατέαγα τοῦ κρανίου ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀχαρίστου, διότι τὰ συμφέροντα ἐνουθέτουν αὐτόν.
Philiades Good people, my skull has been broken by this ungrateful wretch, because I was advising him for his own good!
§49Τίμων
ἰδοὺ τρίτος οὗτος ὁ ῥήτωρ Δημέας προσέρχεται ψήφισμα ἔχων ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ καὶ συγγενὴς ἡμέτερος εἶναι λέγων.
Timon Look, here comes a third, the orator Demeas, holding a decree in his right hand and claiming to be our kinsman.
οὗτος ἑκκαίδεκα παρʼ ἐμοῦ τάλαντα μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἐκτίσας τῇ πόλει — καταδεδίκαστο γὰρ καὶ ἐδέδετο οὐκ ἀποδιδούς, κἀγὼ ἐλεήσας ἐλυσάμην αὐτόν — ἐπειδὴ πρῴην ἔλαχε τῇ Ἐρεχθηΐδι φυλῇ διανέμειν τὸ θεωρικὸν κἀγὼ προσῆλθον αἰτῶν τὸ γινόμενον, οὐκ ἔφη γνωρίζειν πολίτην ὄντα με.
This fellow, when he was fined sixteen talents to the city and was imprisoned because he did not pay—and I took pity on him and ransomed him by paying it in a single day—when recently he was allotted to distribute the theater-money to the Erechtheis tribe and I approached him asking for my share, he said he did not recognize me as a citizen.
§50Δημέας
χαῖρε, ὦ Τίμων, τὸ μέγα ὄφελος τοῦ γένους, τὸ ἔρεισμα τῶν Ἀθηνῶν, τὸ πρόβλημα τῆς Ἑλλάδος·
Demeas Hail, Timon, the great benefit of our race, the bulwark of Athens, the shield of Greece!
καὶ μὴν πάλαι σε ὁ δῆμος συνειλεγμένος καὶ αἱ βουλαὶ ἀμφότεραι περιμένουσι.
Indeed, the assembled assembly and both the councils have long been waiting for you.
πρότερον δὲ ἄκουσον τὸ ψήφισμα, ὃ ὑπὲρ σοῦ γέγραφα· ἐπειδὴ Τίμων Ἐχεκρατίδου Κολλυτεύς, ἀνὴρ οὐ μόνον καλὸς κἀγαθός, ἀλλὰ καὶ σοφὸς ὡς οὐκ ἄλλος ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι, παρὰ πάντα χρόνον διατελεῖ τὰ ἄριστα πράττων τῇ πόλει, νενίκηκε δὲ πὺξ καὶ πάλην καὶ δρόμον ἐν Ὀλυμπίᾳ μιᾶς ἡμέρας καὶ τελείῳ ἅρματι καὶ συνωρίδι πωλικῇ —
Τίμων
ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ ἐθεώρησα ἐγὼ πώποτε εἰς Ὀλυμπίαν.
But first hear the decree which I have written on your behalf: "Whereas Timon, son of Echecrates, of the deme Collytus, a man not only noble and good, but also wise as no other in Greece, continually persists in doing the best for the city, and has won the boxing, wrestling, and footrace at Olympia on a single day, and also with the four-horse chariot and the pair of colts—" Timon But I have never even been a spectator at Olympia!
Δημέας
τί οὖν;
Demeas What of it?
θεωρήσεις ὕστερον· τὰ τοιαῦτα δὲ πολλὰ προσκεῖσθαι ἄμεινον.
You will spectate later; it is better that many such things be added.
καὶ ἠρίστευσε δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως πέρυσι πρὸς Ἀχαρναῖς καὶ κατέκοψε Πελοποννησίων δύο μόρας —
"And furthermore, he distinguished himself last year on behalf of the city near Acharnae, and cut to pieces two divisions of the Peloponnesians—"