§18Χάρων
ὁρῶ ταῦτα πάντα καὶ πρὸς ἐμαυτόν γε ἐννοῶ ὅ τι τὸ ἡδὺ αὐτοῖς παρὰ τὸν βίον ἢ τί ἐκεῖνό ἐστιν, οὗ στερούμενοι ἀγανακτοῦσιν.
Charon I see all these things and keep thinking to myself what sweet thing there is for them in their life, or what that is, being deprived of which they are indignant.
ἢν γοῦν τοὺς βασιλέας αὐτῶν ἴδῃ τις, οἵπερ εὐδαιμονέστατοι εἶναι δοκοῦσιν, ἔξω τοῦ ἀβεβαίου ὡς φὴς καὶ ἀμφιβόλου τῆς τύχης, πλείω τῶν ἡδέων τὰ ἀνιαρὰ εὑρήσει προσόντα αὐτοῖς, φόβους καὶ ταραχὰς καὶ μίση καὶ ἐπιβουλὰς καὶ ὀργὰς καὶ κολακείας·
At least, if anyone should look at their kings, who seem to be the most fortunate, outside of the uncertainty, as you say, and inconsistency of fortune, he will find more painful things than sweet things attached to them: fears and confusions and hatreds and plots and angers and flatteries; for with these all of them associate.
τούτοις γὰρ ἅπαντες σύνεισιν. ἐῶ πένθη καὶ νόσους καὶ πάθη ἐξ ἰσοτιμίας δηλαδὴ ἄρχοντα αὐτῶν· ὅπου δὲ τὰ τούτων πονηρά, λογίζεσθαι καιρὸς οἷα τὰ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν ἂν εἴη.
I leave aside griefs and diseases and sufferings ruling over them with equal honor, of course; and where their affairs are so bad, it is time to calculate what those of ordinary citizens would be.
§19Χάρων
ἐθέλω δʼ οὖν σοι, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, εἰπεῖν, ᾧτινι ἐοικέναι μοι ἔδοξαν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ ὁ βίος ἅπας αὐτῶν.
Charon I wish, therefore, Hermes, to tell you what humans and their whole life seemed to me to resemble.
ἤδη ποτὲ πομφόλυγας ἐν ὕδατι ἐθεάσω ὑπὸ κρουνῷ τινι καταράττοντι ἀνισταμένας;
Have you ever yet beheld bubbles in water rising up under some splashing fountain?
τὰς φυσαλλίδας λέγω, ἀφʼ ὧν συναγείρεται ὁ ἀφρός· ἐκείνων τοίνυν τινὲς μὲν μικραί εἰσι καὶ αὐτίκα ἐκραγεῖσαι ἀπέσβησαν, αἱ δʼ ἐπὶ πλέον διαρκοῦσι· καὶ προσχωρουσῶν αὐταῖς τῶν ἄλλων αὗται ὑπερφυσώμεναι ἐς μέγιστον ὄγκον αἴρονται, ἔπειτα μέντοι κἀκεῖναι πάντως ἐξερράγησάν ποτε·
I mean the bubbles from which foam is gathered; of those, indeed, some are small and, bursting immediately, are extinguished, while others endure longer; and as the others join them, these, being over-inflated, rise to a very great volume, but then, however, those too certainly burst at some point; for it is not possible to happen otherwise.
οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε ἄλλως γενέσθαι. τοῦτό ἐστιν ὁ ἀνθρώπου βίος· ἅπαντες ὑπὸ πνεύματος ἐμπεφυσημένοι οἱ μὲν μείζους, οἱ δὲ ἐλάττους· καὶ οἱ μὲν ὀλιγοχρόνιον ἔχουσι καὶ ὠκύμορον τὸ φύσημα, οἱ δὲ ἅμα τῷ συστῆναι ἐπαύσαντο· πᾶσι δʼ οὖν ἀπορραγῆναι ἀναγκαῖον.
This is the life of man: all inflated by wind, some larger, some smaller; and some have a short-lived and swift-dying inflation, while others ceased to exist as soon as they were formed; at all events, it is necessary for all to burst.
Ἑρμῆς
οὐδὲν χεῖρον σὺ τοῦ Ὁμήρου εἴκασας, ὦ Χάρων, ὃς φύλλοις τὸ γένος αὐτῶν ὁμοιοῖ.
Hermes You have made a comparison no worse than Homer, Charon, who likens their race to leaves.
§20Χάρων
καὶ τοιοῦτοι ὄντες, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, ὁρᾷς οἷα ποιοῦσι καὶ ὡς φιλοτιμοῦνται πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀρχῶν πέρι καὶ τιμῶν καὶ κτήσεων ἁμιλλώμενοι, ἅπερ ἅπαντα καταλιπόντας αὐτοὺς δεήσει ἕνα ὀβολὸν ἔχοντας ἥκειν παρʼ ἡμᾶς.
Charon And being such, Hermes, do you see what they do and how they contend with one another, disputing for offices and honors and possessions? Although they will have to leave all these behind and come to us having only one obol.
βούλει οὖν, ἐπείπερ ἐφʼ ὑψηλοῦ ἐσμέν, ἀναβοήσας παμμέγεθες παραινέσω αὐτοῖς ἀπέχεσθαι μὲν τῶν ματαίων πόνων, ζῆν δὲ ἀεὶ τὸν θάνατον πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχοντας, λέγων,
ὦ μάταιοι, τί ἐσπουδάκατε περὶ ταῦτα;
Do you wish, then, since we are in a high place, that I should call out with a very great voice and counsel them to abstain from vain labors, and to live always holding death before their eyes, saying: "O foolish ones, why have you been eager about these things?
παύσασθε κάμνοντες· οὐ γὰρ εἰς ἀεὶ βιώσεσθε·
Cease toiling; for you will not live forever.
οὐδὲν τῶν ἐνταῦθα σεμνῶν ἀΐδιόν ἐστιν, οὐδʼ ἂν ἀπαγάγοι τις αὐτῶν τι σὺν αὑτῷ ἀποθανών, ἀλλʼ ἀνάγκη τὸν μὲν γυμνὸν οἴχεσθαι, τὴν οἰκίαν δὲ καὶ τὸν ἀγρὸν καὶ τὸ χρυσίον ἀεὶ ἄλλων εἶναι καὶ μεταβάλλειν τοὺς δεσπότας. εἰ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐξ ἐπηκόου ἐμβοήσαιμι αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἂν οἴει μεγάλα ὠφεληθῆναι τὸν βίον καὶ σωφρονεστέρους ἂν γενέσθαι παρὰ πολύ;
None of the grand things here is eternal, nor would anyone take away any of them with himself when dying, but it is necessary for oneself to depart naked, and for the house and the field and the gold always to belong to others and to change masters." If I should shout these and such things to them from a place within hearing, do you not think that their life would be greatly benefited and that they would become much more temperate?
§21Ἑρμῆς
ὦ μακάριε, οὐκ οἶσθα ὅπως αὐτοὺς ἡ ἄγνοια καὶ ἡ ἀπάτη διατεθείκασιν, ὡς μηδʼ ἂν τρυπάνῳ ἔτι διανοιχθῆναι αὐτοῖς τὰ ὦτα, τοσούτῳ κηρῷ ἔβυσαν αὐτά, οἷόν περ ὁ Ὀδυσσεὺς τοὺς ἑταίρους ἔδρασε δέει τῆς Σειρήνων ἀκροάσεως.
Hermes O blessed one, you do not know how ignorance and deceit have disposed them, so that their ears cannot even be opened with a drill, with so much wax have they stopped them, just as Odysseus did to his companions from fear of hearing the Sirens.
πόθεν οὖν ἂν ἐκεῖνοι δυνηθεῖεν ἀκοῦσαι, ἢν καὶ σὺ κεκραγὼς διαρραγῇς;
From where, then, would they be able to hear, even if you should burst yourself with shouting?
ὅπερ γὰρ παρʼ ὑμῖν ἡ Λήθη δύναται, τοῦτο ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἄγνοια ἐργάζεται.
For what Lethe can do among you, here ignorance accomplishes.
πλὴν ἀλλὰ εἰσὶν αὐτῶν ὀλίγοι οὐ παραδεδεγμένοι τὸν κηρὸν ἐς τὰ ὦτα, πρὸς τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀποκλίνοντες, ὀξὺ δεδορκότες ἐς τὰ πράγματα καὶ κατεγνωκότες οἷά ἐστιν.
Except, indeed, there are a few of them who have not admitted the wax into their ears, inclining towards the truth, looking sharply into affairs and recognizing what they are.
Χάρων
οὐκοῦν ἐκείνοις γοῦν ἐμβοήσωμεν.
Charon Should we not, then, at least shout out to them?
Ἑρμῆς
περιττὸν καὶ τοῦτο, λέγειν πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἃ ἴσασιν.
Hermes This too is superfluous, to say to them what they know.
ὁρᾷς ὅπως ἀποσπάσαντες τῶν πολλῶν καταγελῶσι τῶν γιγνομένων καὶ οὐδαμῆ οὐδαμῶς ἀρέσκονται αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ δῆλοί εἰσι δρασμὸν ἤδη βουλεύοντες παρʼ ὑμᾶς ἀπὸ τοῦ βίου.
Do you see how, having pulled away from the multitude, they laugh at what is happening and are in no way pleased with them, but are clearly already planning a flight to you from life?
καὶ γὰρ καὶ μισοῦνται ἐλέγχοντες αὐτῶν τὰς ἀμαθίας.
For indeed, they are also hated for exposing their ignorance.
Χάρων
εὖ γε, ὦ γεννάδαι·
Charon Well done, noble ones!
πλὴν πάνυ ὀλίγοι εἰσίν, ὦ Ἑρμῆ.
Except they are very few, Hermes.
Ἑρμῆς
ἱκανοὶ καὶ οὗτοι.
Hermes Even these are sufficient.
ἀλλὰ κατίωμεν ἤδη.
But let us go down now.