§9Χάρων
σὺ δέ μοι ἐκεῖνο εἰπέ,
"τίς τʼ ἄρʼ ὅδʼ ἄλλος ὁ σεμνὸς ἀνήρ; "
οὐχ Ἕλλην, ὡς ἔοικεν, ἀπὸ γοῦν τῆς στολῆς.
Charon But tell me that: "Who indeed is this other noble man?" He is not a Greek, as it seems, at least from his dress.
Ἑρμῆς
Κῦρος, ὦ Χάρων, ὁ Καμβύσου, ὃς τὴν ἀρχὴν πάλαι Μήδων ἐχόντων νῦν Περσῶν ἤδη ἐποίησεν εἶναι·
Hermes This is Cyrus, Charon, the son of Cambyses, who made the empire, which of old the Medes held, now to belong to the Persians.
καὶ Ἀσσυρίων δʼ ἔναγχος οὗτος ἐκράτησε καὶ Βαβυλῶνα παρεστήσατο καὶ νῦν ἐλασείοντι ἐπὶ Λυδίαν ἔοικεν, ὡς καθελὼν τὸν Κροῖσον ἄρχοι ἁπάντων.
And he recently conquered the Assyrians and subdued Babylon, and now he seems to wish to march against Lydia, so that having overthrown Croesus he may rule over all.
Χάρων
ὁ Κροῖσος δὲ ποῦ ποτε κἀκεῖνός ἐστιν;
Charon And where on earth is that Croesus too?
Ἑρμῆς
ἐκεῖσε ἀπόβλεψον ἐς τὴν μεγάλην ἀκρόπολιν, τὴν τὸ τριπλοῦν τεῖχος· Σάρδεις ἐκεῖναι, καὶ τὸν Κροῖσον αὐτὸν ὁρᾷς ἤδη ἐπὶ κλίνης χρυσῆς καθήμενον, Σόλωνι τῷ Ἀθηναίῳ διαλεγόμενον.
Hermes Look over there towards the great acropolis, the one with the triple wall; those are Sardis, and you see Croesus himself now sitting on a golden couch, conversing with Solon the Athenian.
βούλει ἀκούσωμεν αὐτῶν ὅ τι καὶ λέγουσι;
Do you wish that we hear what they are saying?
Χάρων
πάνυ μὲν οὖν.
Charon By all means indeed.
§10Κροῖσος
ὦ ξένε Ἀθηναῖε, εἶδες γάρ μου τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ τοὺς θησαυροὺς καὶ ὅσος ἄσημος χρυσός ἐστιν ἡμῖν καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πολυτέλειαν, εἰπέ μοι, τίνα ἡγῇ τῶν ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων εὐδαιμονέστατον εἶναι.
Croesus O Athenian guest, since you have seen my wealth and treasures, and how much uncoined gold we have, and the other luxury, tell me, whom of all men do you think to be the happiest?
Χάρων
τί ἄρα ὁ Σόλων ἐρεῖ;
Charon What then will Solon say?
Ἑρμῆς
θάρρει· οὐδὲν ἀγεννές, ὦ Χάρων.
Hermes Take heart; nothing ignoble, Charon.
Σόλων
ὦ Κροῖσε, ὀλίγοι μὲν οἱ εὐδαίμονες· ἐγὼ δὲ ὧν οἶδα Κλέοβιν καὶ Βίτωνα ἡγοῦμαι εὐδαιμονεστάτους γενέσθαι, τοὺς τῆς ἱερείας παῖδας τῆς Ἀργόθεν, τοὺς ἅμα πρῴην ἀποθανόντας, ἐπεὶ τὴν μητέρα ὑποδύντες εἵλκυσαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀπήνης ἄχρι πρὸς τὸ ἱερόν.
Solon O Croesus, few are the happy; but of those I know, I think Cleobis and Biton became the happiest, the sons of the priestess from Argos, who died together the other day, after they had gone under the yoke and drawn their mother on the carriage as far as the temple.
Κροῖσος
ἔστω· ἐχέτωσαν ἐκεῖνοι τὰ πρῶτα τῆς εὐδαιμονίας.
Croesus Be it so; let those have the first place of happiness.
ὁ δεύτερος δὲ τίς ἂν εἴη;
But who might the second be?
Σόλων
Τέλλος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, ὃς εὖ τʼ ἐβίω καὶ ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῆς πατρίδος.
Solon Tellus the Athenian, who both lived well and died for his country.
Κροῖσος
ἐγὼ δέ, ὦ κάθαρμα, οὔ σοι δοκῶ εὐδαίμων εἶναι;
Croesus And do I not, you scoundrel, seem to you to be happy?
Σόλων
οὐδέπω οἶδα, ὦ Κροῖσε, ἢν μὴ πρὸς τὸ τέλος ἀφίκῃ τοῦ βίου· ὁ γὰρ θάνατος ἀκριβὴς ἔλεγχος τῶν τοιούτων καὶ τὸ ἄχρι πρὸς τὸ τέρμα εὐδαιμόνως διαβιῶναι.
Solon I do not yet know, Croesus, unless you arrive at the end of life; for death is the exact test of such things, and living happily until the limit.
Χάρων
κάλλιστα, ὦ Σόλων, ὅτι ἡμῶν οὐκ ἐπιλέλησαι, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὸ πορθμεῖον αὐτὸ ἀξιοῖς γίγνεσθαι τὴν περὶ τῶν τοιούτων κρίσιν.
Charon Excellently, Solon, because you have not forgotten us, but deem that the judgment about such things should take place right by the ferry.
§11Χάρων
ἀλλὰ τίνας ἐκείνους ὁ Κροῖσος ἐκπέμπει ἢ τί ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων φέρουσι;
Charon But who are those whom Croesus is sending out, or what do they carry on their shoulders?
Ἑρμῆς
πλίνθους τῷ Πυθίῳ χρυσᾶς ἀνατίθησι μισθὸν τῶν χρησμῶν ὑφʼ ὧν καὶ ἀπολεῖται μικρὸν ὕστερον· φιλόμαντις δὲ ἁνὴρ ἐκτόπως.
Hermes He dedicates golden ingots to the Pythian god as a reward for the oracles, by which indeed he will perish a little later; for the man is extraordinarily fond of divination.
Χάρων
ἐκεῖνο γάρ ἐστιν ὁ χρυσός, τὸ λαμπρὸν ὃ ἀποστίλβει, τὸ ὕπωχρον μετʼ ἐρυθήματος;
Charon Is that indeed gold, that bright thing which glitters, that yellowish thing with a red tinge?
νῦν γὰρ πρῶτον εἶδον, ἀκούων ἀεί.
For now I have seen it for the first time, though always hearing of it.
Ἑρμῆς
ἐκεῖνο, ὦ Χάρων, τὸ ἀοίδιμον ὄνομα καὶ περιμάχητον.
Hermes That is it, Charon, the famous and hard-fought name.
Χάρων
καὶ μὴν οὐχ ὁρῶ ὅ τι τὸ ἀγαθὸν αὐτῷ πρόσεστιν, εἰ μὴ ἄρα ἕν τι μόνον, ὅτι βαρύνονται οἱ φέροντες αὐτό.
Charon And yet I do not see what good belongs to it, unless indeed one thing only, that those who carry it are burdened by it.
Ἑρμῆς
οὐ γὰρ οἶσθα ὅσοι πόλεμοι διὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἐπιβουλαὶ καὶ λῃστήρια καὶ ἐπιορκίαι καὶ φόνοι καὶ δεσμὰ καὶ ἐμπορίαι καὶ δουλεῖαι;
Hermes Do you not know how many wars because of this, and plots, and robberies, and false oaths, and murders, and imprisonments, and trades, and slavery?
Χάρων
διὰ τοῦτο, ὦ Ἑρμῆ, τὸ μὴ πολὺ τοῦ χαλκοῦ διαφέρον;
Charon Because of this, Hermes, which does not differ much from bronze?
οἶδα γὰρ τὸν χαλκόν, ὀβολόν, ὡς οἶσθα, παρὰ τῶν καταπλεόντων ἑκάστου ἐκλέγων.
For I know bronze, collecting an obol, as you know, from each of those who sail down.
Ἑρμῆς
ναί· ἀλλὰ ὁ χαλκὸς μὲν πολύς, ὥστε οὐ πάνυ σπουδάζεται ὑπʼ αὐτῶν· τοῦτον δὲ ὀλίγον ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ βάθους οἱ μεταλλεύοντες ἀνορύττουσι· πλὴν ἀλλὰ ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ οὗτος ὥσπερ ὁ μόλυβδος καὶ τὰ ἄλλα.
Hermes Yes; but bronze is plentiful, so that it is not much cared for by them; but this they dig up, being little, from great depth; yet this too, like lead and the others, is from the earth.
Χάρων
δεινήν τινα λέγεις τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἀβελτερίαν, οἳ τοσοῦτον ἔρωτα ἐρῶσιν ὠχροῦ καὶ βαρέος κτήματος.
Charon Terrible indeed you say is the foolishness of men, who love so great a love for a pale and heavy possession.
Ἑρμῆς
ἀλλὰ οὐ Σόλων γε ἐκεῖνος, ὦ Χάρων, ἐρᾶν αὐτοῦ φαίνεται, ὅς, ὡς ὁρᾷς, καταγελᾷ τοῦ Κροίσου καὶ τῆς μεγαλαυχίας τοῦ βαρβάρου, καί μοι δοκεῖν ἐρέσθαι τι βούλεται αὐτόν· ἐπακούσωμεν οὖν.
Hermes But that Solon at least, Charon, does not seem to love it, who, as you see, laughs at Croesus and the boasting of the barbarian; and he seems to me to wish to ask him something; let us listen then.