§20Τυχιάδης
ὅρα,
ἔφη,
ὦ Τυχιάδη, μή σοι μεταμελήσῃ τοῦ σκώμματος ὕστερον.
"Take care," he said, "Tychiades, lest you regret your mockery later.
οἶδα ἐγὼ οἷα ἔπαθεν ὁ τοὺς ὀβολοὺς ὑφελόμενος οὓς κατὰ τὴν νουμηνίαν ἑκάστην τίθεμεν αὐτῷ. πάνδεινα ἐχρῆν,
ἔφη ὁ Ἴων,
ἱερόσυλόν γε ὄντα.
I know what happened to the one who stole the obols which we place for him on each new moon." "Terrible things indeed he had to suffer," said Ion, "since he was a temple-robber.
πῶς δʼ οὖν αὐτὸν ἠμύνατο, ὦ Εὔκρατες;
But how indeed did he punish him, Eucrates?
ἐθέλω γὰρ ἀκοῦσαι, εἰ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα οὑτοσὶ Τυχιάδης ἀπιστήσει. πολλοί,
ἦ δʼ ὅς,
ἔκειντο ὀβολοὶ πρὸ τοῖν ποδοῖν αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄλλα νομίσματα ἔνια ἀργυρᾶ πρὸς τὸν μηρὸν κηρῷ κεκολλημένα καὶ πέταλα ἐξ ἀργύρου, εὐχαί τινος ἢ μισθὸς ἐπὶ τῇ ἰάσει ὁπόσοι διʼ αὐτὸν ἐπαύσαντο πυρετῷ ἐχόμενοι.
For I wish to hear, even if this Tychiades here will disbelieve it as much as possible." "Many obols," he said, "were lying before his feet, and some other silver coins glued with wax to his thigh, and silver leaves, vows of someone or payment for the cure of all those who, through him, ceased being held by fever.
ἦν δὲ ἡμῖν Λίβυς τις οἰκέτης κατάρατος, ἱπποκόμος· οὗτος ἐπεχείρησε νυκτὸς ὑφελέσθαι πάντα ἐκεῖνα καὶ ὑφείλετο καταβεβηκότα ἤδη τηρήσας τὸν ἀνδριάντα.
And we had a certain cursed Libyan slave, a groom; he attempted by night to steal all those things, and he did steal them, having watched for when the statue had already stepped down.
ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐπανελθὼν τάχιστα ἔγνω περισεσυλημένος ὁ Πέλλιχος, ὅρα ὅπως ἠμύνατο καὶ κατεφώρασε τὸν Λίβυν· διʼ ὅλης γὰρ τῆς νυκτὸς περιῄει ἐν κύκλῳ τὴν αὐλὴν ὁ ἄθλιος ἐξελθεῖν οὐ δυνάμενος ὥσπερ εἰς λαβύρινθον ἐμπεσών, ἄχρι δὴ κατελήφθη ἔχων τὰ φώρια γενομένης ἡμέρας.
But when Pellichus, having returned, immediately realized he had been despoiled, see how he took vengeance and caught the Libyan: for during the whole night, the wretched man was going around in circles in the courtyard, unable to get out, as if he had fallen into a labyrinth, until indeed, when day came, he was caught holding the stolen goods.
καὶ τότε μὲν πληγὰς οὐκ ὀλίγας ἔλαβεν ἁλούς, οὐ πολὺν δὲ ἐπιβιοὺς χρόνον κακὸς κακῶς ἀπέθανεν μαστιγούμενος, ὡς ἔλεγεν, κατὰ τὴν νύκτα ἑκάστην, ὥστε καὶ μώλωπας εἰς τὴν ἐπιοῦσαν φαίνεσθαι αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος.
And then indeed, having been caught, he received not a few blows, and surviving not for a long time, he died miserably, being whipped, as he said, during each night, so that even welts appeared on his body on the following day.
πρὸς ταῦτα, ὦ Τυχιάδη, καὶ τὸν Πέλλιχον σκῶπτε κἀμὲ ὥσπερ τοῦ Μίνωος ἡλικιώτην παραπαίειν ἤδη δόκει. ἀλλʼ, ὦ Εὔκρατες,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
ἔστʼ ἂν χαλκὸς μὲν ὁ χαλκός, τὸ δὲ ἔργον Δημήτριος ὁ Ἀλωπεκῆθεν εἰργασμένος ᾖ, οὐ θεοποιός τις ἀλλʼ ἀνθρωποποιὸς ὤν, οὔποτε φοβήσομαι τὸν ἀνδριάντα Πελλίχου, ὃν οὐδὲ ζῶντα πάνυ ἐδεδίειν ἂν ἀπειλοῦντά μοι. §21Τυχιάδης
ἐπὶ τούτοις Ἀντίγονος ὁ ἰατρὸς εἶπε,
κἀμοί, ὦ Εὔκρατες, Ἱπποκράτης ἐστὶ χαλκοῦς ὅσον πηχυαῖος τὸ μέγεθος· οὗτος ἐπειδὰν μόνον ἡ θρυαλλὶς ἀποσβῇ, περίεισιν τὴν οἰκίαν ὅλην ἐν κύκλῳ ψοφῶν καὶ τὰς πυξίδας ἀνατρέπων καὶ τὰ φάρμακα συγχέων καὶ τὴν θυίαν περιτρέπων, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπειδὰν τὴν θυσίαν ὑπερβαλώμεθα, ἣν κατὰ τὸ ἔτος ἕκαστον αὐτῷ θύομεν.
In response to this, Tychiades, go on and mock Pellichus, and think of me too as raving now, like a contemporary of Minos." "But, Eucrates," I said, "as long as bronze is bronze, and the work is what Demetrius of Alopeke fashioned, he being not a maker of gods but a maker of men, I shall never fear the statue of Pellichus, whom not even when alive would I have feared much when he threatened me." Upon this, Antigonus the physician said, "I too, Eucrates, have a bronze Hippocrates, about a cubit in size; this one, as soon as the wick is extinguished, wanders around the whole house in circles, making noise and overturning the pillboxes, mixing up the medicines, and turning the mortar upside down, especially whenever we neglect the sacrifice which we offer to him every year." "Does Hippocrates the physician, too, now demand that sacrifices be offered to him," I said, "and is he angry if he is not feasted in due season with perfect victims?
ἀξιοῖ γάρ,
ἦν δʼ ἐγώ,
καὶ ὁ Ἱπποκράτης ἤδη ὁ ἰατρὸς θύεσθαι αὑτῷ, καὶ ἀγανακτεῖ ἢν μὴ κατὰ καιρὸν ἐφʼ ἱερῶν τελείων ἑστιαθῇ; ὃν ἔδει ἀγαπᾶν, εἴ τις ἐναγίσειεν αὐτῷ ἢ μελίκρατον ἐπισπείσειεν ἢ στεφανώσειε τὴν στήλην. §22Τυχιάδης
ἄκουε τοίνυν,
ἔφη ὁ Εὐκράτης,
— τοῦτο μὲν καὶ ἐπὶ μαρτύρων — ὃ πρὸ ἐτῶν πέντε εἶδον· ἐτύγχανε μὲν ἀμφὶ τρυγητὸν τοῦ ἔτους ὄν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἀνὰ τὸν ἀγρὸν μεσούσης ἡμέρας τρυγῶντας ἀφεὶς τοὺς ἐργάτας κατʼ ἐμαυτὸν εἰς τὴν ὕλην ἀπῄειν μεταξὺ φροντίζων τι καὶ ἀνασκοπούμενος.
He who ought to be content if someone should make offerings to the dead for him, or pour a libation of honey-mixture, or crown his stele." "Listen then," said Eucrates, "— and this indeed in the presence of witnesses — to what I saw five years ago; it happened to be around harvest-time of the year, and I, having left the laborers harvesting in the field at midday, went away by myself into the woods, while thinking about something and reflecting.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐν τῷ συνηρεφεῖ ἦν, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ὑλαγμὸς ἐγένετο κυνῶν, κἀγὼ εἴκαζον Μνάσωνα τὸν υἱόν, ὥσπερ εἰώθει, παίζειν καὶ κυνηγετεῖν εἰς τὸ λάσιον μετὰ τῶν ἡλικιωτῶν παρελθόντα.
And when I was in the thicket, at first there arose a barking of dogs, and I conjectured that my son Mnason, as he was accustomed, was playing and hunting, having gone into the thick brush with his companions.
τὸ δʼ οὐκ εἶχεν οὕτως, ἀλλὰ μετʼ ὀλίγον σεισμοῦ τινος ἅμα γενομένου καὶ βοῆς οἷον ἐκ βροντῆς γυναῖκα ὁρῶ προσιοῦσαν φοβεράν, ἡμισταδιαίαν σχεδὸν τὸ ὕψος.
But it was not so; instead, shortly after, a certain earthquake occurring at the same time as a roar like thunder, I see a terrifying woman approaching, almost half a stade in height.
εἶχεν δὲ καὶ δᾷδα ἐν τῇ ἀριστερᾷ καὶ ξίφος ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ ὅσον εἰκοσάπηχυ, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἔνερθεν ὀφιόπους ἦν, τὰ δὲ ἄνω Γοργόνι ἐμφερής, τὸ βλέμμα φημὶ καὶ τὸ φρικῶδες τῆς προσόψεως, καὶ ἀντὶ τῆς κόμης τοὺς δράκοντας βοστρυχηδὸν καθεῖτο εἰλουμένους περὶ τὸν αὐχένα καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων ἐνίους ἐσπειραμένους.
And she had a torch in her left hand and a sword in her right hand about twenty cubits long, and below she was snake-footed, while above she was like a Gorgon—I mean in her gaze and the terrifying look of her face—and instead of hair she let down serpents curling like ringlets about her neck, and some coiled upon her shoulders.
ὁρᾶτε,
ἔφη,
ὅπως ἔφριξα, ὦ φίλοι, μεταξὺ διηγούμενος. καὶ ἅμα λέγων ἐδείκνυεν ὁ Εὐκράτης τὰς ἐπὶ τοῦ πήχεως τρίχας δῆθεν ὀρθὰς ὑπὸ τοῦ φόβου.
See," he said, "how I shudder, friends, even as I narrate it." And as he said this, Eucrates showed the hairs on his forearm, supposedly standing on end from fear.