§14ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα φήσει οἰόμενος τὸν υἱὸν δεῖσθαι μὲν ἔτι τούτων καὶ ἐπιθυμεῖν καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτήν, οὐ δύνασθαι δὲ μετέχειν αὐτῶν.
And he will say these and such things, thinking that his son still needs these things and desires them even after death, but is unable to partake of them.
καίτοι τί ταῦτα φημί;
And yet, why do I say these things?
πόσοι γὰρ καὶ ἵππους καὶ παλλακίδας, οἱ δὲ καὶ οἰνοχόους ἐπικατέσφαξαν καὶ ἐσθῆτα καὶ τὸν ἄλλον κόσμον συγκατέφλεξαν ἢ συγκατώρυξαν ὡς χρησομένοις ἐκεῖ καὶ ἀπολαύσουσιν αὐτῶν κάτω;
For how many have slaughtered even horses and concubines, and others even cupbearers, and burned or buried together clothing and other adornments, as if they would use them there and enjoy them below?
§15ὁ δʼ οὖν πρεσβύτης ὁ πενθῶν οὑτωσὶ ταῦτα πάντα ὁπόσα εἴρηκα καὶ ἔτι τούτων πλείονα οὔτε τοῦ παιδὸς ἕνεκα τραγῳδεῖν ἔοικεν — οἶδε γὰρ οὐκ ἀκουσόμενον οὐδʼ ἂν μεῖζον ἐμβοήσῃ τοῦ Στέντορος — οὔτε μὴν αὑτοῦ· φρονεῖν γὰρ οὕτω καὶ γιγνώσκειν ἱκανὸν ἦν καὶ ἄνευ τῆς βοῆς· οὐδεὶς γὰρ δὴ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν δεῖται βοᾶν.
The mourning old man, then, does not seem to play the tragedy in all these things I have mentioned, and even more than these, for the sake of his child—for he knows that he will not hear him, even if he shouts louder than Stentor—nor indeed for his own sake; for it was possible to think and know thus even without the shouting, since no one indeed needs to shout to himself.
λοιπὸν οὖν ἐστιν αὐτὸν τῶν παρόντων ἕνεκα ταῦτα ληρεῖν οὔθʼ ὅ τι πέπονθεν αὐτῷ ὁ παῖς εἰδότα οὔθʼ ὅποι κεχώρηκε, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ τὸν βίον αὐτὸν ἐξετάσαντα ὁποῖός ἐστιν· οὐ γὰρ ἂν τὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ μετάστασιν ὥς τι τῶν δεινῶν ἐδυσχέραινεν.
What remains, therefore, is that he talks this nonsense for the sake of those present, knowing neither what has happened to his son nor where he has gone, or rather not having even examined life itself to see what kind of thing it is; for otherwise he would not have been distressed at the departure from it as if it were something dreadful.
§16εἴποι δʼ ἂν οὖν πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ παῖς παραιτησάμενος τὸν Αἰακὸν καὶ τὸν Ἀϊδωνέα πρὸς ὀλίγον τοῦ στομίου ὑπερκῦψαι καὶ τὸν πατέρα παῦσαι ματαιάζοντα,
ὦ κακόδαιμον ἄνθρωπε, τί κέκραγας;
The child, then, having begged Aeacus and Aidoneus to peek up from the opening for a little while and to stop his father from playing the fool, might say to him: "O miserable man, why do you cry out?
τί δέ μοι παρέχεις πράγματα;
Why do you trouble me?
παῦσαι τιλλόμενος τὴν κόμην καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ἐξ ἐπιπολῆς ἀμύσσων.
Stop tearing your hair and scratching your face on the surface.
τί μοι λοιδορῇ καὶ ἄθλιον ἀποκαλεῖς καὶ δύσμορον πολύ σου βελτίω καὶ μακαριώτερον γεγενημένον;
Why do you abuse me and call me wretched and ill-fated, when I have become much better and happier than you?
ἢ τί σοι δεινὸν πάσχειν δοκῶ;
Or what dreadful thing do you think I am suffering?
ἢ διότι μὴ τοιουτοσὶ γέρων ἐγενόμην οἷος εἶ σύ, φαλακρὸς μὲν τὴν κεφαλήν, τὴν δὲ ὄψιν ἐρρυτιδωμένος, κυφὸς καὶ τὰ γόνατα νωθής, καὶ ὅλως ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου σαθρὸς πολλὰς τριακάδας καὶ ὀλυμπιάδας ἀναπλήσας, καὶ τὰ τελευταῖα δὴ ταῦτα παραπαίων ἐπὶ τοσούτων μαρτύρων;
Is it because I did not become such an old man as you are, bald on the head, wrinkled on the face, bent and weak in the knees, and altogether rotten from time, having completed many months and Olympiads, and finally playing the fool in front of so many witnesses?
ὦ μάταιε, τί σοι χρηστὸν εἶναι δοκεῖ παρὰ τὸν βίον οὗ μηκέτι μεθέξομεν;
O foolish man, what do you think is good in life, of which we shall no longer partake?
ἢ τοὺς πότους ἐρεῖς δῆλον ὅτι καὶ τὰ δεῖπνα καὶ ἐσθῆτα καὶ ἀφροδίσια, καὶ δέδιας μὴ τούτων ἐνδεὴς γενόμενος ἀπόλωμαι.
Or you will clearly say the drinking parties and dinners and clothing and sexual pleasures, and you fear that I might perish being in want of these.
οὐκ ἐννοεῖς δὲ ὅτι τὸ μὴ διψῆν τοῦ πιεῖν πολὺ κάλλιον καὶ τὸ μὴ πεινῆν τοῦ φαγεῖν καὶ τὸ μὴ ῥιγοῦν τοῦ ἀμπεχόνης εὐπορεῖν;
But do you not realize that not thirsting is much better than drinking, and not hungering than eating, and not shivering than having an abundance of clothing?
φέρε τοίνυν, ἐπειδὴ ἔοικας ἀγνοεῖν, διδάξομαί σε θρηνεῖν ἀληθέστερον,
Come then, since you seem to be ignorant, I will teach you to lament more truly.
§17καὶ δὴ ἀναλαβὼν ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς βόα,
τέκνον ἄθλιον, οὐκέτι διψήσεις, οὐκέτι πεινήσεις οὐδὲ ῥιγώσεις.
Go on, start again from the beginning and cry out: 'My wretched child, you will no longer thirst, you will no longer hunger, nor will you shiver.
οἴχῃ μοι κακοδαίμων ἐκφυγὼν τὰς νόσους, οὐ πυρετὸν ἔτι δεδιώς, οὐ πολέμιον, οὐ τύραννον· οὐκ ἔρως σε ἀνιάσει οὐδὲ συνουσία διαστρέψει, οὐδὲ σπαθήσεις ἐπὶ τούτῳ δὶς ἢ τρὶς τῆς ἡμέρας, ὢ τῆς συμφορᾶς.
You are gone from me, unfortunate one, having escaped diseases, no longer fearing fever, nor enemy, nor tyrant; love will not pain you, nor sexual intercourse corrupt you, nor will you waste your substance on this two or three times a day—oh, what a calamity!
οὐ καταφρονηθήσῃ γέρων γενόμενος οὐδὲ ὀχληρὸς ἔσῃ τοῖς νέοις βλεπόμενος. §18ἂν ταῦτα λέγῃς, ὦ πάτερ, οὐκ οἴει πολὺ ἀληθέστερα καὶ γενναιότερα ἐκείνων ἐρεῖν;
You will not be despised when you become old, nor will you be annoying to the young when they look at you.' If you say these things, father, do you not think you will speak much more truly and nobly than those words?
ἀλλʼ ἆρα μὴ τόδε σε ἀνιᾷ, καὶ διανοῇ τὸν παρʼ ἡμῖν ζόφον καὶ τὸ πολὺ σκότος, κᾆτα δέδιας μή σοι ἀποπνιγῶ κατακλεισθεὶς ἐν τῷ μνήματι;
But is it perhaps this that grieves you, and you think of our gloom and the deep darkness, and then you fear lest I suffocate, being shut up in the tomb?
χρὴ δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα λογίζεσθαι ὅτι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν διασαπέντων ἢ καὶ νὴ Δία καέντων μετʼ ὀλίγον, εἴ γε καῦσαί με διεγνώκατε, οὔτε σκότος οὔτε φῶς ὁρᾶν δεησόμεθα.
But against this one must reason that once our eyes have rotted away or, by Zeus, have been burned after a short while—if indeed you have decided to burn me—we shall have no need to see either darkness or light."