§3.9.1ὅτι μὲν οὖν εὔρυθμον δεῖ εἶναι τὴν λέξιν καὶ μὴ ἄρρυθμον, καὶ τίνες εὔρυθμον ποιοῦσι ῥυθμοὶ καὶ πῶς ἔχοντες, εἴρηται·
That prose style must be rhythmical and not non-rhythmical, and what rhythms make it well-rhythmed and under what conditions, has been discussed.
τὴν δὲ λέξιν ἀνάγκη εἶναι ἢ εἰρομένην καὶ τῷ συνδέσμῳ μίαν, ὥσπερ αἱ ἐν τοῖς διθυράμβοις ἀναβολαί, ἢ κατεστραμμένην καὶ ὁμοίαν ταῖς τῶν ἀρχαίων ποιητῶν ἀντιστρόφοις.
But style must of necessity be either running and made one by a connective, like the preludes in dithyrambs, or compact and similar to the antistrophes of the ancient poets.
§3.9.2ἡ μὲν οὖν εἰρομένη λέξις ἡ ἀρχαία ἐστίν
(ταύτῃ γὰρ πρότερον μὲν ἅπαντες, νῦν δὲ οὐ πολλοὶ χρῶνται)· λέγω δὲ εἰρομένην ἣ οὐδὲν ἔχει τέλος καθʼ αὑτήν, ἂν μὴ τὸ πρᾶγμα τὸ λεγόμενον τελειωθῇ.
Now, the running style is the ancient one (for formerly everyone used it, but now not many do); and I call "running" that which has no end in itself, unless the matter being discussed is completed.
ἔστι δὲ ἀηδὴς διὰ τὸ ἄπειρον· τὸ γὰρ τέλος πάντες βούλονται καθορᾶν·
It is unpleasant because of being unlimited; for everyone wishes to see the end.
διόπερ ἐπὶ τοῖς καμπτῆρσιν ἐκπνέουσι καὶ ἐκλύονται· προορῶντες γὰρ τὸ πέρας οὐ κάμνουσι πρότερον.
Therefore, runners pant and collapse at the turning-posts; for looking forward to the goal, they do not tire beforehand.
§3.9.3ἡ μὲν οὖν εἰρομένη ἐστιν ἥδε, κατεστραμμένη δὲ ἡ ἐν περιόδοις· λέγω δὲ περίοδον λέξιν ἔχουσαν ἀρχὴν καὶ τελευτὴν αὐτὴν καθʼ αὑτὴν καὶ μέγεθος εὐσύνοπτον.
So the running style is this, and the compact style is that which consists of periods; and I call a "period" a sentence having a beginning and an end in itself, and a magnitude easily comprehended at a glance.
ἡδεῖα δʼ ἡ τοιαύτη καὶ εὐμαθής, ἡδεῖα μὲν διὰ τὸ ἐναντίως ἔχειν τῷ ἀπεράντῳ, καὶ ὅτι ἀεί τὶ οἴεται ἔχειν ὁ ἀκροατὴς καὶ πεπερθ́νθαι τι αὑτῷ, τὸ δὲ μηδὲν προνοεῖν μηδὲ ἀνύειν ἀηδές· εὐμαθὴς δὲ ὅτι εὐμνημόνευτος, τοῦτο δὲ ὅτι ἀριθμὸν ἔχει ἡ ἐν περιόδοις λέξις, ὃ πάντων εὐμνημονευτότατον.
Such style is pleasant and easy to learn; pleasant because it is the opposite of the unlimited, and because the hearer always thinks he has grasp of something and that something has been completed for him, whereas to foresee nothing and make no progress is unpleasant; and easy to learn because it is easy to remember, and this because the style in periods has number, which is the easiest of all things to remember.
διὸ καὶ τὰ μέτρα πάντες μνημονεύουσιν μᾶλλον τῶν χύδην· ἀριθμὸν γὰρ ἔχει ᾧ μετρεῖται.
This is why everyone remembers poetry in meters better than loose prose; for it has a number by which it is measured.
§3.9.4δεῖ δὲ τὴν περίοδον †καὶ τῇ διανοία† τετελειῶσθαι, καὶ μὴ διακόπτεσθαι ὥσπερ τὰ Σοφοκλέους ἰαμβεῖα,
"
Καλυδὼνμὲν ἥδε γαῖα· Πελοπίας χθονός· "
τοὐναντίον γὰρ ἔστιν ὑπολαβεῖν τῷ διαιρεῖσθαι, ὥσπερ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ εἰρημένου τὴν Καλυδῶνα εἶναι τῆς Πελοποννήσου.
The period must also be completed in thought, and not be broken off like the iambics of Sophocles: "This is the land of Calydon; [next comes] of the Pelopian land;" for it is possible to assume the opposite due to the division, just as in the verse quoted, that Calydon belongs to the Peloponnesus.
§3.9.5περίοδος δὲ ἡ μὲν ἐν κώλοις ἡ δʼ ἀφελής.
A period is either in cola (clauses) or simple.
ἔστιν δʼ ἐν κώλοις μὲν λέξις ἡ τετελειωμένη τε καὶ διῃρημένη καὶ εὐανάπνευστος, μὴ ἐν τῇ διαιρέσει †ὥσπερ καὶ ἡ περίοδος,† ἀλλʼ ὅλη (κῶλον δʼ ἐστὶν τὸ ἕτερον μόριον ταύτης)· ἀφελῆ δὲ λέγω τὴν μονόκωλον.
That which is in cola is a style completed, divided, and giving easy pause for breath, not at the division [like the period], but as a whole (and a colon is one of the two parts of it); and by simple I mean that of a single colon.
§3.9.6δεῖ δὲ καὶ τὰ κῶλα καὶ τὰς περιόδους μήτε μυούρους εἶναι μήτε μακράς.
Both the cola and the periods must be neither truncated nor long.
τὸ μὲν γὰρ μικρὸν προσπταίειν πολλάκις ποιεῖ τὸν ἀκροατήν (ἀνάγκη γὰρ ὅταν, ἔτι ὁρμῶν ἐπὶ τὸ πόρρω καὶ τὸ μέτρον οὗ ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῷ ὅρον, ἀντισπασθῇ παυσαμένου, οἷον πρόσπταισιν γίγνεσθαι διὰ τὴν ἀντίκρουσιν)·
For that which is too short often makes the hearer stumble; for when he is still rushing forward toward what is ahead and toward the measure of which he has a limit in himself, if he is suddenly checked by the speaker's stopping, a stumble must occur, as it were, due to the sudden clash.
τὰ δὲ μακρὰ ἀπολείπεσθαι ποιεῖ, ὥσπερ οἱ ἐξωτέρω ἀποκάμπτοντες τοῦ τέρματος·
And those that are too long make the hearer feel left behind, like those who turn too far beyond the goal; for these also leave behind those walking with them.
ἀπολείπουσι γὰρ καὶ οὗτοι τοὺς συμπεριπατοῦντας, ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ αἱ περίοδοι αἱ μακραὶ οὖσαι λόγος γίνεται καὶ ἀναβολῇ ὅμοιον, ὥστε γίνεται ὃ ἔσκωψεν Δημόκριτος ὁ Χῖος εἰς Μελανιππίδην ποιήσαντα ἀντὶ τῶν ἀντιστρόφων ἀναβολάς
"
οἷ τʼ αὐτῷ κακὰ τεύχει ἀνὴρ ἄλλῳ κακὰ τεύχων,
ἡ δὲ μακρὰ ἀναβολὴ τῷ ποιήσαντι κακίστη· "
ἁρμόττει γὰρ τὸ τοιοῦτον καὶ εἰς τὰς μακροκώλους λέγειν.
In the same way, periods that are too long become a speech in themselves and similar to a dithyrambic prelude, so that there occurs what Democritus of Chios scoffed at Melanippides for making preludes instead of antistrophes: "A man works evil for himself when working evil for another, and the long prelude is worst for the one who made it;" for it is fitting to apply such a saying also to styles that have too long cola.
αἵ τε λίαν βραχύκωλοι οὐ περίοδος γίνεται· προπετῆ οὖν ἄγει τὸν ἀκροατήν.
And those with too short cola do not form a period; hence they lead the hearer headlong.