§15.1ΚΟΧΛΙΣ
Τί δακρύεις, ὦ Παρθενί, ἢ πόθεν κατεαγότας τοὺς αὐλοὺς φέρεις;
COCHLIS Why are you crying, Parthenis? And from where do you bring those broken flutes?
ΠΑΡΘΕΝΙΣ
Ὁ στρατιώτης ὁ Αἰτωλὸς ὁ μέγας ὁ Κροκάλης ἐρῶν ἐρράπισέ με αὐλοῦσαν εὑρὼν παρὰ τῇ Κροκάλῃ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀντεραστοῦ αὐτοῦ Γόργου μεμισθωμένην καὶ τούς τε αὐλούς μου συνέτριψε καὶ τὴν τράπεζαν μεταξὺ δειπνούντων ἀνέτρεψε καὶ τὸν κρατῆρα ἐξέχεεν ἐπεισπαίσας.
PARTHENIS The tall Aetolian soldier who is in love with Crocale struck me. He found me playing the flute at Crocale's place, having been hired by his rival Gorgus, and he smashed my flutes, overturned the table in the middle of their dinner, and burst in to pour out the mixing bowl.
τὸν μὲν γὰρ ἀγροῖκον ἐκεῖνον τὸν Γόργον ἀπὸ τοῦ συμποσίου κατασπάσας τῶν τριχῶν ἔπαιον περιστάντες αὐτός τε ὁ στρατιώτης—Δεινόμαχος, οἶμαι, καλεῖται—καὶ ὁ συστρατιώτης αὐτοῦ·
For dragging that rustic Gorgus from the banquet by his hair, the soldier himself—Dinomachus, I think he is called—and his fellow soldier stood around and beat him.
ὥστε οὐκ οἶδα εἰ βιώσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὦ Κοχλί· αἷμά τε γὰρ ἐρρύη πολὺ ἀπὸ τῶν ῥινῶν καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ὅλον ἐξῴδηκεν αὐτοῦ καὶ πελιδνόν ἐστιν.
So I do not know if the man will live, Cochlis; for much blood flowed from his nostrils, and his whole face is swollen and black and blue.
§15.2ΚΟΧΛΙΣ
Ἐμάνη ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἢ μέθη τις ἦν καὶ παροινία τὸ πρᾶγμα;
COCHLIS Did the man go mad, or was it a matter of drunkenness and drunken outrage?
ΠΑΡΘΕΝΙΣ
Ζηλοτυπία τις, ὦ Κοχλί, καὶ ἔρως ἔκτοπος·
PARTHENIS A kind of jealousy, Cochlis, and an extraordinary passion.
ἡ Κροκάλη δὲ, οἶμαι, δύο τάλαντα αἰτήσασα, εἰ βούλεται μόνος ἔχειν αὐτήν, ἐπεὶ μὴ ἐδίδου ὁ Δεινόμαχος, ἐκεῖνον μὲν ἀπέκλεισεν ἥκοντα προσαράξασά γε αὐτῷ τὰς θύρας, ὡς ἐλέγετο, τὸν Γόργον δὲ Οἰνοέα τινὰ γεωργὸν εὔπορον ἐκ πολλοῦ ἐρῶντα καὶ χρηστὸν ἄνθρωπον προσιεμένη ἔπινε μετ' αὐτοῦ κἀμὲ παρέλαβεν αὐλήσουσαν αὐτοῖς.
Crocale, I believe, asked for two talents if he wanted to have her to himself, and when Dinomachus would not give it, she shut him out when he came, slamming the doors in his face, as was said. Then she admitted Gorgus, a wealthy farmer from Oenoe, a very kind man who had been in love with her for a long time, and was drinking with him, and she took me along to play the flute for them.
ἤδη δὲ προχωροῦντος τοῦ πότου ἐγὼ μὲν ὑπέκρεκόν τι τῶν Λυδίων, ὁ γεωργὸς δὲ ἤδη ἀνίστατο ὡς ὀρχησόμενος, ἡ Κροκάλη δὲ ἐκρότει, καὶ πάντα ἦν ἡδέα·
And when the drinking was already well under way, I was softly playing a Lydian tune, and the farmer was already standing up to dance, and Crocale was clapping, and everything was pleasant.
ἐν τοσούτῳ δὲ κτύπος ἠκούετο καὶ βοὴ καὶ ἡ αὔλειος ἠράσσετο, καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν ἐπεισέπεσον ὅσον ὀκτὼ νεανίσκοι μάλα καρτεροὶ καὶ ὁ Μεγαρεὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς.
But in the midst of this, a noise and shouting was heard, and the courtyard door was being battered, and after a little while about eight very strong young men burst in, and the Megarian among them.
εὐθὺς οὖν ἀνετέτραπτο πάντα καὶ ὁ Γόργος, ὥσπερ ἔφην, ἐπαίετο καὶ ἐπατεῖτο χαμαὶ κείμενος·
Straightway, then, everything was overturned, and Gorgus, as I said, was beaten and trampled on as he lay on the ground.
ἡ Κροκάλη δὲ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως ἔφθη ὑπεκφυγοῦσα παρὰ τὴν γείτονα Θεσπιάδα· ἐμὲ δὲ ῥαπίσας ὁ Δεινόμαχος, Ἐκφθείρου, φησί, κατεαγότας μοι τοὺς αὐλοὺς προσρίψας.
Crocale, I don't know how, managed to escape first to her neighbor Thespias; and Dinomachus, after striking me, said, "Go to ruin!" and threw my broken flutes at me.
καὶ νῦν ἀποτρέχω φράσουσα ταῦτα τῷ δεσπότῃ·
And now I am running off to tell this to my master.
ἀπέρχεται δὲ καὶ ὁ γεωργὸς ὀψόμενός τινας φίλους τῶν ἀστικῶν, οἳ παραδώσουσι τοῖς πρυτανεῦσι τὸν Μεγαρέα.
The farmer, too, is going away to see some friends from the city who will hand over the Megarian to the prytaneis.
§15.3ΚΟΧΛΙΣ
Ταῦτ' ἐστὶν ἀπολαῦσαι τῶν στρατιωτικῶν τούτων ἐραστῶν, πληγὰς καὶ δίκας·
COCHLIS This is what one gets from enjoying these military lovers—blows and lawsuits!
τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἡγεμόνες εἶναι καὶ χιλίαρχοι λέγοντες, ἤν τι δοῦναι δέῃ, Περίμεινον, φασί, τὴν σύνταξιν, ὁπόταν ἀπολάβω τὴν μισθοφοράν, καὶ ποιήσω πάντα. ἐπιτριβεῖεν δ’ οὖν ἀλαζόνες ὄντες·
In other matters, though they say they are commanders and chiliarchs, if they have to pay anything, they say, "Wait for the allowance, when I receive my pay, and I will do everything." May they go to ruin, braggarts that they are!
ἔγωγ' οὖν εὖ ποιῶ μὴ προσιεμένη αὐτοὺς τὸ παράπαν.
I, at any rate, do well by not admitting them at all.
ἁλιεύς τις ἐμοὶ γένοιτο ἢ ναύτης ἢ γεωργὸς ἰσότιμος κολακεύειν εἰδὼς μικρὰ καὶ κομίζων πολλά, οἱ δὲ τοὺς λόφους ἐπισείοντες οὗτοι καὶ τὰς μάχας διηγούμενοι, ψόφοι, ὦ Παρθενί.
Let some fisherman be mine, or a sailor, or an equal farmer, who knows how to flatter a little and brings many gifts; but these men who shake their crests and narrate their battles are just noise, Parthenis.