§1ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ
Οὐκ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον ὅτι θᾶττον τοὺς γῦπας ἕωλος νεκρὸς ἐν φανερῷ κείμενος ἢ θέαμά τι τῶν παραδόξων Τιμόλαον διαλάθοι, κἂν εἰς Κόρινθον δέοι ἀπνευστὶ θέοντα ἀπιέναι διὰ τοῦτο;
LYCINUS Did I not say that a stale corpse lying in the open would sooner escape the notice of vultures than any unusual sight would escape Timolaus, even if it were necessary to go off to Corinth running without drawing breath for this?
οὕτω φιλοθεάμων σύ γε καὶ ἄοκνος τὰ τοιαῦτα.
So fond of sights you are and tireless in such matters.
ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ
Τί γὰρ ἔδει ποιεῖν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, σχολὴν ἄγοντα πυθόμενον οὕτως ὑπερμεγέθη ναῦν καὶ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου ἐς τὸν Πειραιᾶ καταπεπλευκέναι μίαν τῶν ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἐς Ἰταλίαν σιταγωγῶν;
TIMOLAUS For what was I to do, Lycinus, since I had leisure, upon hearing that such an extraordinarily huge ship, one of those grain-carriers from Egypt to Italy, had sailed into the Piraeus?
οἶμαι δὲ καὶ σφώ, σέ τε καὶ Σάμιππον τουτονί, μὴ κατ' ἄλλο τι ἐξ ἄστεος ἥκειν ἢ ὀψομένους τὸ πλοῖον.
And I think that you two also, both you and Samippus here, have come from the city for no other reason than to see the ship.
ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ
Νὴ Δία, καὶ Ἀδείμαντος ὁ Μυρρινούσιος εἵπετο μεθ' ἡμῶν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπου νῦν ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ἀποπλανηθεὶς ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν θεατῶν.
LYCINUS Indeed, and Adeimantus of Myrrhinus was following with us, but I do not know where he is now, having gone astray in the crowd of spectators.
ἄχρι μὲν γὰρ τῆς νεὼς ἅμα ἤλθομεν καὶ ἀνιόντες ἐς αὐτὴν, σὺ μέν, οἶμαι, Σάμιππε, προῄεις, μετὰ σὲ δὲ ὁ Ἀδείμαντος ἦν, εἶτ' ἐγὼ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἐχόμενος αὐτοῦ ἀμφοτέραις, καί με διὰ τῆς ἀποβάθρας ὅλης παρέπεμψε χειραγωγῶν ὑποδεδεμένον ἀνυπόδητος αὐτὸς ὤν, τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ οὐκέτι αὐτὸν εἶδον οὔτε ἔνδον οὔτε ἐπεὶ κατεληλύθαμεν.
For as far as the ship indeed we came together, and in going up onto it, Samippus, I think you went ahead, and after you was Adeimantus, then I after him, holding onto him with both hands; and he guided me all along the gangplank, leading me by the hand, since I was wearing shoes while he himself was barefoot; but from then on I no longer saw him, either inside or after we had come down.
§2ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ
Οἶσθα οὖν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, ὅπου ἡμᾶς ἀπέλιπεν;
SAMIPPUS Do you know then, Lycinus, where he left us?
ὁπότε, οἶμαι, τὸ ὡραῖον ἐκεῖνο μειράκιον ἐκ τῆς θαλάμης προῆλθε τὸ τὴν καθαρὰν ὀθόνην ἐνδεδυκός, ἀναδεδεμένον ἐς τοὐπίσω τὴν κόμην ἐπ' ἀμφότερα τοῦ μετώπου ἀπηγμένην.
It was, I think, when that beautiful youth came out of the cabin, wearing the clean linen, with his hair tied back, parted on both sides of his forehead.
εἰ τοίνυν ἐγὼ Ἀδείμαντον οἶδα, οἶμαι, γλαφυρὸν οὕτω θέαμα ἐκεῖνος ἰδὼν μακρὰ χαίρειν φράσας τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ ναυπηγῷ περιηγουμένῳ τὸ πλοῖον παρέστηκε δακρύων, ὥσπερ εἴωθε.
If then I know Adeimantus, I think that having seen such an elegant sight, saying a long farewell to the Egyptian shipbuilder who was showing us around the ship, he is standing by, weeping, as he is accustomed to do.
ταχύδακρυς γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐς τὰ ἐρωτικά.
For the man is quick to tears in matters of love.
ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ
Καὶ μὴν οὐ πάνυ καλός, ὦ Σάμιππε, ὁ μειρακίσκος ἔδοξέ μοι, ὡς ἂν καὶ Ἀδείμαντον ἐκπλῆξαι, ᾧ τοσοῦτοι Ἀθήνησι καλοὶ ἕπονται, πάντες ἐλεύθεροι, στωμύλοι τὸ φθέγμα, παλαίστρας ἀποπνέοντες, οἶς καὶ παραδακρῦσαι οὐκ ἀγεννές.
LYCINUS And yet, Samippus, that youth did not seem to me to be so very beautiful as to strike Adeimantus with awe, who is followed by so many beautiful youths in Athens, all free-born, elegant in speech, smelling of the palaestra, for whom to weep in sympathy is not ungenerous.
οὗτος δὲ πρὸς τῷ μελάγχρους εἶναι καὶ πρόχειλός ἐστι καὶ λεπτὸς ἄγαν τοῖν σκελοῖν, καὶ ἐφθέγγετο ἐπισεσυρμένον τι καὶ συνεχὲς καὶ ἐπίτροχον, Ἑλληνιστὶ μέν, ἐς τὸ πάτριον δὲ τῷ ψόφῳ καὶ τῷ τῆς φωνῆς τόνῳ, ἡ κόμη δὲ καὶ ἐς τοὐπίσω ὁ πλόκαμος συνεσπειραμένος οὐκ ἐλεύθερόν φησιν αὐτὸν εἶναι.
But this one, in addition to being dark-skinned, is also thick-lipped and too thin in his legs; and he spoke in a slurred, rapid, and fluent manner, in Greek indeed, but foreign in the sound and tone of his voice; and his hair, and the braid coiled up behind, says that he is not a free man.
§3ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ
Τοῦτο μὲν εὐγενείας, ὦ Λυκῖνε, σημεῖόν ἐστιν Αἰγυπτίοις ἡ κόμη.
TIMOLAUS This hair, Lycinus, is for the Egyptians a sign of noble birth.
ἅπαντες γὰρ αὐτὴν οἱ ἐλεύθεροι παῖδες ἀναπλέκονται ἔστε πρὸς τὸ ἐφηβικόν, ἔμπαλιν ἢ οἱ πρόγονοι ἡμῶν, οἷς ἐδόκει καλὸν εἶναι κομᾶν τοὺς γέροντας ἀναδουμένους κρωβύλον ὑπὸ τέττιγι χρυσῷ ἀνειλημμένον.
For all free-born boys braid it until they reach youth, contrariwise to our ancestors, to whom it seemed beautiful for old men to wear their hair long, tying it up in a topknot secured with a golden cicada.
ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ
Εὖ γε, ὦ Τιμόλαε, ὅτι ἡμᾶς ἀναμιμνήσκεις τῶν Θουκυδίδου συγγραμμάτων, ἃ ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ περὶ τῆς ἀρχαίας ἡμῶν τρυφῆς εἶπεν ἐν τοῖς Ἴωσιν, ὁπότε οἱ τότε συναπῳκίσαν.
SAMIPPUS Well said, Timolaus, that you remind us of Thucydides' writings, which he spoke of in his preface concerning our ancient luxury among the Ionians, when those of that time migrated with them.
§4ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ
Ἀτάρ, ὦ Σάμιππε, νῦν ἀνεμνήσθην, ὁπόθεν ἡμῶν ἀπελείφθη Ἀδείμαντος, ὅτε παρὰ τὸν ἱστὸν ἐπὶ πολὺ ἔστημεν ἀναβλέποντες, ἀριθμοῦντες τῶν βυρσῶν τὰς ἐπιβολὰς καὶ θαυμάζοντες ἀνιόντα τὸν ναύτην διὰ τῶν κάλων, εἶτα ἐπὶ τῆς κεραίας ἄνω ἀσφαλῶς διαθέοντα τῶν κεροιάκων ἐπειλημμένον.
LYCINUS But, Samippus, now I remember from where Adeimantus was left behind by us, namely, when we stood for a long time by the mast, looking up, counting the layers of hides, and admiring the sailor going up through the ropes, then running across the yard-arm above with safety, holding onto the halyards.
ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ
Εὖ λέγεις.
SAMIPPUS You speak well.
τί δ’ οὖν χρὴ ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς;
What then must we do?
ἐνταῦθα καραδοκεῖν αὐτόν, ἢ ἐθέλεις ἐγὼ αὖθις ἐπάνειμι ἐς τὸ πλοῖον;
Are we to wait for him here, or do you want me to go back to the ship again?
ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ
Μηδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ προΐωμεν.
TIMOLAUS By no means, but let us go forward.
εἰκὸς γὰρ ἤδη παρεληλυθέναι ἐκεῖνον ἀποσοβοῦντα ἐς τὸ ἄστυ, ἐπεὶ μηκέθ' ἡμᾶς εὑρεῖν ἐδύνατο.
For it is likely that he has already passed by, hurrying back to the city, since he could no longer find us.
εἰ δὲ μή, ἀλλ’ οἶδε τὴν ὁδὸν Ἀδείμαντος, καὶ δέος οὐδὲν μὴ ἀπολειφθεὶς ἡμῶν ἀποβουκοληθῇ.
Even if not, Adeimantus knows the way, and there is no fear that, having been left behind by us, he will go astray.
ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ
Ὁρᾶτε, μὴ σκαιὸν ᾖ φίλον ἀπολιπόντας αὐτοὺς ἀπιέναι.
LYCINUS See to it, lest it be churlish to go away, leaving a friend behind.
βαδίζωμεν δ’ ὅμως, εἰ καὶ Σαμίππῳ τοῦτο δοκεῖ.
But let us walk anyway, if this seems good also to Samippus.
ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ
Καὶ μάλα δοκεῖ, ἤν πως ἀνεῳγυῖαν ἔτι τὴν παλαίστραν καταλάβωμεν.
SAMIPPUS It indeed seems very good, if somehow we can find the palaestra still open.