§30ἃ μὲν γὰρ ὑπὸ τῆς πενίας ἐλαυνόμενος ποιεῖς, Ἀδράστεια φίλη, οὐκ ἄν τινι ὀνειδίσαιμι.
For what you do, driven by poverty—dear Adrasteia!—I would not reproach anyone with.
συγγνωστὰ γοῦν εἴ τις λιμῷ πιεζόμενος παρακαταθήκας παρʼ ἀνδρὸς πολίτου λαβὼν εἶτα ἐπιώρκησεν ἦ μὴν μὴ παρειληφέναι, ἢ εἴ τις ἀναισχύντως αἰτεῖ, μᾶλλον δὲ προσαιτεῖ καὶ λωποδυτεῖ καὶ τελωνεῖ.
At any rate, it is pardonable if someone, hard pressed by hunger, having received a deposit from a fellow citizen, then swears falsely that he indeed did not receive it, or if someone shamelessly begs, or rather begs as a beggar, and robs clothes, and collects taxes.
οὐ δὴ λέγω ταῦτα· φθόνος γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἐξ ἅπαντος ἀμύνεσθαι τὴν ἀπορίαν.
I am not indeed speaking of these things; for there is no grudge against warding off want by every possible means.
ἐκεῖνο δὲ οὐκέτι φορητόν, πένητά σε ὄντα ἐς μόνας τὰς τοιαύτας ἡδονὰς ἐκχεῖν τὰ ἐκ τῆς ἀναισχυντίας περιγιγνόμενα.
But that is no longer tolerable, that you, being poor, pour out what is acquired from your shamelessness on such pleasures alone.
πλὴν ἕν γέ τι καὶ ἐπαινέσαι μοι δώσεις, πάνυ ἀστείως ὑπὸ σοῦ πεπραγμένον, ὁπότε τοῦ Τισίου τὴν τέχνην οἶσθα ὡς τὸ δυσκόρακος ἔργον αὐτὸς ἐποίησας, ἐξαρπάσας τοῦ ἀνοήτου ἐκείνου πρεσβύτου χρυσοῦς τριάκοντα, ὁ δὲ διὰ τὸν Τισίαν ἀντὶ τοῦ βιβλίου πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑπτακοσίας ἐξέτισε κατασοφισθείς.
Except, you will grant me to praise at least one thing, done by you very wittily, when—knowing Tisias's 'Art'—you yourself performed the 'bad crow's deed', snatching thirty gold pieces from that foolish old man, while he, outwitted on account of Tisias, paid seven hundred and fifty instead of the book.
§31πολλὰ ἔτι ἔχων εἰπεῖν, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ἑκὼν ἀφίημί σοι, ἐκεῖνο δὲ μόνον προσλέγω, πρᾶττε μὲν ταῦτα ὅπως σοι φίλον καὶ μὴ παύσαιο τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐς ἑαυτὸν παροινῶν, ἐκεῖνο δὲ μηκέτι, ἄπαγε·
Though I still have many things to say, I willingly let go of the other matters for you, and add only this: do these things as you please, and may you never cease playing the drunkard against yourself in such ways, but that other thing no longer—away with it!
οὐ γὰρ ὅσιον ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἑστίαν τοὺς ταῦτα διατιθέντας καλεῖν καὶ φιλοτησίας προπίνειν καὶ ὄψων τῶν αὐτῶν ἅπτεσθαι.
For it is not holy to invite those who practice such things to the same hearth, to pledge cups of friendship, and to touch the same food.
ἀλλὰ μηδὲ ἐκεῖνο ἔστω τὸ ἐπὶ τοῖς λόγοις, φιλήματα, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τοὺς οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ ἀποφράδα σοι ἐργασαμένους τὸ στόμα.
But let not even that which follows speeches, namely kisses, take place, and that too toward those who not long ago made your mouth 'apophras'.
κἀπειδήπερ ἅπαξ φιλικῆς παραινέσεως ἠρξάμην, κἀκεῖνα, εἰ δοκεῖ, ἄφελε, τὸ μύρῳ χρίεσθαι τὰς πολιὰς καὶ τὸ πιττοῦσθαι μόνα ἐκεῖνα.
And since I have once begun friendly advice, do away also with those things, if you please: the anointing of your gray hairs with perfume, and the pitch-plastering of those parts alone.
εἰ μὲν γὰρ νόσος τις ἐπείγει, ἅπαν τὸ σῶμα θεραπευτέον, εἰ δὲ μηδὲν νοσεῖς τοιοῦτο, τί σοι βούλεται καθαρὰ καὶ λεῖα καὶ ὀλισθηρὰ ἐργάζεσθαι ἃ μηδὲ ὁρᾶσθαι θέμις;
For if some disease presses, the whole body must be treated; but if you suffer from no such disease, what do you mean by making clean and smooth and slippery those parts which it is not even lawful to be seen?
ἐκεῖνό σοι μόνον σοφόν, αἱ πολιαὶ καὶ τὸ μηκέτι μελαίνεσθαι, ὡς προκάλυμμα εἶεν τῆς βδελυρίας.
That alone is wise for you: your gray hairs and the fact that they are no longer dyed black, so that they might be a cover for your abominableness.
φείδου δὴ αὐτῶν πρὸς Διὸς κἀν τούτῳ, καὶ μάλιστα τοῦ πώγωνος αὐτοῦ, μηδὲ μιάνῃς ἔτι μηδὲ ὑβρίσῃς· εἰ δὲ μή, ἐν νυκτί γε καὶ σὺν σκότῳ, τὸ δὲ μεθʼ ἡμέραν, ἄπαγε, κομιδῇ ἄγριον καὶ θηριῶδες.
Spare them, then, by Zeus, even in this, and especially the beard itself, and do not defile it further nor outrage it; otherwise, at least do it by night and with darkness, but in the daytime—away with it!—it is utterly wild and beastly.
§32ὁρᾷς, ὡς ἄμεινον ἦν σοι ἀκίνητον τὴν Καμάριναν ἐᾶν, μηδὲ καταγελᾶν τῆς ἀποφράδος, ἥ σοι ἀποφράδα τὸν βίον ὅλον ἐργάσεται;
Do you see how much better it was for you to leave Camarina undisturbed, and not to mock 'apophras', which will make your whole life 'apophras'?
ἢ ἔτι προσδεῖ τινος;
Or is there still need of something?
ὡς τό γε ἐμὸν οὔ ποτε ἐλλείψει.
For my part will never fail.
οὐδέπω γοῦν οἶσθα ὡς ὅλην τὴν ἅμαξαν ἐπεσπάσω, δέον, ὦ παιπάλημα καὶ κίναδος, ὑποπτήσσειν εἴ τις ἀνὴρ δασὺς καὶ τοῦτο δὴ τὸ ἀρχαῖον, μελάμπυγος δριμὺ μόνον εἰς σὲ ἀποβλέψειεν.
At any rate, you do not yet know that you have drawn the whole wagon upon yourself, when you ought, O rogue and fox, to cower if any hairy man—and indeed, to use that ancient expression, 'black-buttocked'—should only look sharply at you.
ἴσως ἤδη καὶ ταῦτα γελάσῃ, τὸ παιπάλημα καὶ τὸ κίναδος, ὥσπερ τινὰ αἰνίγματα καὶ γρίφους ἀκούσας· ἄγνωστα γάρ σοι τῶν σῶν ἔργων τὰ ὀνόματα.
Perhaps you will now also laugh at these, the 'rogue' and the 'fox', as if you heard some riddles and puzzles; for the names of your own deeds are unknown to you.
ὥστε ὥρα ἤδη καὶ ταῦτα συκοφαντεῖν, εἰ μὴ τριπλῇ καὶ τετραπλῇ σοι ἡ ἀποφρὰς ἐκτέτικεν.
So it is already time to slander these expressions too, unless 'apophras' has paid you back threefold and fourfold.
αἰτιῶ δʼ οὖν σεαυτὸν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν· ὡς γὰρ ὁ καλὸς Εὐριπίδης λέγειν εἴωθεν, ἀχαλίνων στομάτων καὶ ἀφροσύνης καὶ ἀνομίας τὸ τέλος δυστυχία γίγνεται.
At any rate, blame yourself for everything; for as the noble Euripides is accustomed to say, the end of unbridled mouths and of folly and of lawlessness becomes misfortune.