§6Τίμων
ὥστε ὑπὸ τῶν κακῶν ἐπὶ ταύτην τὴν ἐσχατιὰν τραπόμενος ἐναψάμενος διφθέραν ἐργάζομαι τὴν γῆν ὑπόμισθος ὀβολῶν τεττάρων, τῇ ἐρημίᾳ καὶ τῇ δικέλλῃ προσφιλοσοφῶν.
Timon So, turned by my misfortunes to this remote corner, and having put on a leather jerkin, I work the earth for a wage of four obols, philosophizing with the wilderness and my mattock.
ἐνταῦθα τοῦτο γοῦν μοι δοκῶ κερδανεῖν, μηκέτι ὄψεσθαι πολλοὺς παρὰ τὴν ἀξίαν εὖ πράττοντας· ἀνιαρότερον γὰρ τοῦτό γε.
Here, at least, I think I shall gain this much: to no longer see many people faring well beyond their desert; for that indeed is more painful.
ἤδη ποτὲ οὖν, ὦ Κρόνου καὶ Ῥέας υἱέ, τὸν βαθὺν τοῦτον ὕπνον ἀποσεισάμενος καὶ νήδυμον — ὑπὲρ τὸν Ἐπιμενίδην γὰρ κεκοίμησαι — καὶ ἀναρριπίσας τὸν κεραυνὸν ἢ ἐκ τῆς Αἴτνης ἐναυσάμενος μεγάλην ποιήσας τὴν φλόγα ἐπιδείξαιό τινα χολὴν ἀνδρώδους καὶ νεανικοῦ Διός, εἰ μὴ ἀληθῆ ἐστι τὰ ὑπὸ Κρητῶν περὶ σοῦ καὶ τῆς ἐκεῖ ταφῆς μυθολογούμενα.
Now at last, therefore, O son of Cronus and Rhea, shake off this deep and sweet sleep—for you have slept longer than Epimenides—and fanning your thunderbolt or kindling it from Etna to make a great flame, show some of the wrath of a manly and youthful Zeus, unless what is mythologized about you and your tomb there by the Cretans is true.
§7Ζεύς
τίς οὗτός ἐστιν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, ὁ κεκραγὼς ἐκ τῆς Ἀττικῆς παρὰ τὸν Ὑμηττὸν ἐν τῇ ὑπωρείᾳ πιναρὸς ὅλος καὶ αὐχμῶν καὶ ὑποδίφθερος;
Zeus Hermes, who is this shouting from Attica, at the foot of Mount Hymettus, all filthy, squalid, and dressed in a leather jerkin?
σκάπτει δὲ οἶμαι ἐπικεκυφώς· λάλος ἄνθρωπος καὶ θρασύς.
He is digging, I think, bending over; a talkative and bold fellow.
ἦ που φιλόσοφός ἐστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν οὕτως ἀσεβεῖς τοὺς λόγους διεξῄει καθʼ ἡμῶν.
Surely he is a philosopher; for otherwise he would not have delivered such impious speeches against us.
Ἑρμῆς
τί φής, ὦ πάτερ;
Hermes What are you saying, Father?
ἀγνοεῖς Τίμωνα τὸν Ἐχεκρατίδου τὸν Κολλυτέα;
Do you not know Timon, the son of Echecratides, of the Collytus deme?
οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ πολλάκις ἡμᾶς καθʼ ἱερῶν τελείων ἑστιάσας, ὁ νεόπλουτος, ὁ τὰς ὅλας ἑκατόμβας, παρʼ ᾧ λαμπρῶς ἑορτάζειν εἰώθαμεν τὰ Διάσια.
This is the man who often feasted us with perfect victims, the newly rich man of the whole hecatombs, at whose house we used to celebrate the festival of Diasia so splendidly.
Ζεύς
φεῦ τῆς ἀλλαγῆς·
Zeus Alas, what a change!
ὁ καλὸς ἐκεῖνος, ὁ πλούσιος, περὶ ὃν οἱ τοσοῦτοι φίλοι;
That handsome, rich man, around whom were so many friends?
τί παθὼν οὖν τοιοῦτός ἐστιν, αὐχμηρός, ἄθλιος, καὶ σκαπανεὺς καὶ μισθωτός, ὡς ἔοικεν, οὕτω βαρεῖαν καταφέρων τὴν δίκελλαν;
What has happened to him then, that he is like this—squalid, miserable, a digger and a hireling, as it seems, bringing down so heavy a mattock?
§8Ἑρμῆς
οὑτωσὶ μὲν εἰπεῖν, χρηστότης ἐπέτριψεν αὐτὸν καὶ φιλανθρωπία καὶ ὁ πρὸς τοὺς δεομένους ἅπαντας οἶκτος, ὡς δὲ ἀληθεῖ λόγῳ, ἄνοια καὶ εὐήθεια καὶ ἀκρισία περὶ τῶν φίλων, ὃς οὐ συνίει κόραξι καὶ λύκοις χαριζόμενος, ἀλλʼ ὑπὸ γυπῶν τοσούτων ὁ κακοδαίμων κειρόμενος τὸ ἧπαρ φίλους εἶναι αὐτοὺς καὶ ἑταίρους ᾤετο, ὑπʼ εὐνοίας τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν χαίροντας τῇ βορᾷ·
Hermes To put it thus, his goodness ruined him, along with his love for mankind and his pity for all in need; but to tell the true story, it was folly, simplicity, and lack of judgment regarding friends. The poor wretch did not realize that he was bestowing favors on crows and wolves, but while having his liver torn by so many vultures, he thought they were friends and companions, who rejoiced in the meal out of goodwill toward him.
οἱ δὲ τὰ ὀστᾶ γυμνώσαντες ἀκριβῶς καὶ περιτραγόντες, εἰ δέ τις καὶ μυελὸς ἐνῆν, ἐκμυζήσαντες καὶ τοῦτον εὖ μάλα ἐπιμελῶς, ᾤχοντο αὖον αὐτὸν καὶ τὰς ῥίζας ὑποτετμημένον ἀπολιπόντες, οὐδὲ γνωρίζοντες ἔτι ἢ προσβλέποντες — πόθεν γάρ; — ἢ ἐπικουροῦντες ἢ ἐπιδιδόντες ἐν τῷ μέρει.
But they, after thoroughly stripping his bones and gnawing them bare, and if any marrow was inside, sucking this out too with great care, departed, leaving him withered and cut off at the roots, no longer recognizing him or looking at him—for why should they?—or helping him or giving in return.
διὰ ταῦτα δικελλίτης καὶ διφθερίας, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἀπολιπὼν ὑπʼ αἰσχύνης τὸ ἄστυ μισθοῦ γεωργεῖ μελαγχολῶν τοῖς κακοῖς, ὅτι οἱ πλουτοῦντες παρʼ αὐτοῦ μάλα ὑπεροπτικῶς παρέρχονται οὐδὲ τοὔνομα, εἰ Τίμων καλοῖτο, εἰδότες.
On this account, a mattock-user and clad in leather, as you see, having left the city out of shame, he works the land for a wage, brooding over his misfortunes, because those who grew rich through him pass by very contemptuously, not even knowing his name, if he should be called Timon.
§9Ζεύς
καὶ μὴν οὐ παροπτέος ἁνὴρ οὐδὲ ἀμελητέος· εἰκότως γὰρ ἠγανάκτει δυστυχῶν·
Zeus Indeed, the man must not be overlooked or neglected; for he was rightly angry in his misfortune.
ἐπεὶ καὶ ὅμοια ποιήσομεν τοῖς καταράτοις κόλαξιν ἐκείνοις ἐπιλελησμένοι ἀνδρὸς τοσαῦτα μηρία ταύρων τε καὶ αἰγῶν πιότατα καύσαντος ἡμῖν ἐπὶ τῶν βωμῶν· ἔτι γοῦν ἐν ταῖς ῥισὶ τὴν κνῖσαν αὐτῶν ἔχω.
For we shall be acting just like those accursed flatterers, if we forget a man who burned so many of the fattest thighs of bulls and goats for us upon the altars; at any rate, I still have the smell of their fat in my nostrils.
πλὴν ὑπʼ ἀσχολίας τε καὶ θορύβου πολλοῦ τῶν ἐπιορκούντων καὶ βιαζομένων καὶ ἁρπαζόντων, ἔτι δὲ καὶ φόβου τοῦ παρὰ τῶν ἱεροσυλούντων — πολλοὶ γὰρ οὗτοι καὶ δυσφύλακτοι καὶ οὐδὲ ἐπʼ ὀλίγον καταμύσαι ἡμῖν ἐφιᾶσι — πολὺν ἤδη χρόνον οὐδὲ ἀπέβλεψα ἐς τὴν Ἀττικήν, καὶ μάλιστα ἐξ οὗ φιλοσοφία καὶ λόγων ἔριδες ἐπεπόλασαν αὐτοῖς·
However, because of my occupation and the great tumult caused by those who commit perjury, violence, and robbery, and furthermore, because of the fear inspired by temple-robbers—for these are many and hard to guard against, and do not allow us to close our eyes even for a moment—I have not looked toward Attica for a long time now.
μαχομένων γὰρ πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ κεκραγότων οὐδὲ ἐπακούειν ἔστι τῶν εὐχῶν·
And especially since philosophy and verbal disputes have prevailed among them; for when they fight with one another and shout, it is not even possible to hear the prayers.
ὥστε ἢ ἐπιβυσάμενον χρὴ τὰ ὦτα καθῆσθαι ἢ ἐπιτριβῆναι πρὸς αὐτῶν, ἀρετήν τινα καὶ ἀσώματα καὶ λήρους μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ συνειρόντων.
So that one must either sit with stopped ears or be ruined by them, as they string together "virtue" and "incorporeal things" and nonsenses in a loud voice.
διὰ ταῦτά τοι καὶ τοῦτον ἀμεληθῆναι συνέβη πρὸς ἡμῶν οὐ φαῦλον ὄντα.
Because of these things, indeed, it happened that even this man, who is no worthless fellow, was neglected by us.