§12ἐγὼ τοίνυν, ὦ βουλή, ἐν μὲν τῷ τέως χρόνῳ, ὅσοι με φάσκοιεν δεινὸν εἶναι καὶ ἀκριβῆ καὶ οὐδὲν ἂν εἰκῇ καὶ ἀλογίστως ποιῆσαι, ἠγανάκτουν ἄν, ἡγούμενος μᾶλλον λέγεσθαι ἢ ὥς μοι προσῆκε·
Therefore, members of the Council, in the past, whenever people said that I was clever and precise and would do nothing at random and without reflection, I used to be annoyed, thinking that more was being said than was appropriate for me.
νῦν δὲ πάντας ἂν ὑμᾶς βουλοίμην περὶ ἐμοῦ ταύτην τὴν γνώμην ἔχειν, ἵνα ἡγῆσθέ με σκοπεῖν ἄν, εἴπερ τοιούτοις ἔργοις ἐπεχείρουν, καὶ ὅ τι κέρδος ἐγίγνετο τῷ ἀφανίσαντι καὶ ἥτις ζημία περιποιήσαντι, καὶ τί ἂν λαθὼν διεπραξάμην καὶ τί ἂν φανερὸς γενόμενος ὑφʼ ὑμῶν ἔπασχον.
But now, I should wish all of you to hold this opinion about me, so that you may believe that, if indeed I was attempting such deeds, I would have considered both what profit accrued to the one who removed it and what damage to the one who preserved it, and what I should have accomplished if I escaped detection, and what I should have suffered at your hands if I were caught.
§13πάντες γὰρ ἄνθρωποι τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐχ ὕβρεως ἀλλὰ κέρδους ἕνεκα ποιοῦσι, καὶ ὑμᾶς εἰκὸς οὕτω σκοπεῖν, καὶ τοὺς ἀντιδίκους ἐκ τούτων τὰς κατηγορίας ποιεῖσθαι, ἀποφαίνοντας ἥτις ὠφέλεια τοῖς ἀδικήσασιν ἐγίγνετο.
For all men do such things not out of sheer insolence but for the sake of profit, and it is natural for you to look at it in this way, and for my adversaries to base their accusations on this, by showing what benefit accrued to the wrongdoers.
§14οὗτος μέντοι οὐκ ἂν ἔχοι ἀποδεῖξαι οὔθʼ ὡς ὑπὸ πενίας ἠναγκάσθην τοιούτοις ἔργοις ἐπιχειρεῖν, οὔθʼ ὡς τὸ χωρίον μοι διεφθείρετο τοῦ σηκοῦ ὄντος, οὔθʼ ὡς ἀμπέλοις ἐμποδὼν ἦν, οὔθʼ ὡς οἰκίας ἐγγύς, οὔθʼ ὡς ἐγὼ ἄπειρος τῶν παρʼ ὑμῖν κινδύνων.
This man, however, would not be able to show either that I was compelled by poverty to attempt such deeds, or that my land was being ruined by the stump being there, or that it was in the way of the vines, or that it was near a house, or that I was inexperienced in the dangers in your courts.
§15ἐγὼ δʼ εἴ τι τοιοῦτον ἔπραττον, πολλὰς ἂν καὶ μεγάλας ἐμαυτῷ ζημίας γενομένας ἀποφήναιμι· ὃς πρῶτον μὲν μεθʼ ἡμέραν ἐξέκοπτον τὸν σηκόν, ὥσπερ οὐ πάντας λαθεῖν δέον, ἀλλὰ πάντας Ἀθηναίους εἰδέναι.
But if I had done any such thing, I could show that many great damages would have resulted to myself; for in the first place, I should have been cutting down the stump by day, as if it were not necessary to escape the notice of all, but rather that all Athenians should know.
καὶ εἰ μὲν αἰσχρὸν ἦν μόνον τὸ πρᾶγμα, ἴσως ἄν τις τῶν παριόντων ἠμέλησε· νῦν δʼ οὐ περὶ αἰσχύνης ἀλλὰ τῆς μεγίστης ζημίας ἐκινδύνευον.
And if the matter were only shameful, perhaps some of the passers-by would have paid no attention; but as it was, I was risking not shame, but the greatest penalty.
§16πῶς δʼ οὐκ ἂν ἦ ἀθλιώτατος ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων, εἰ τοὺς ἐμαυτοῦ θεράποντας μηκέτι δούλους ἔμελλον ἕξειν ἀλλὰ δεσπότας τὸν λοιπὸν βίον, τοιοῦτον ἔργον συνειδότας;
And how should I not have been the most wretched of all men, if I were to have my own servants no longer as slaves but as masters for the rest of my life, they being conscious of such a deed?
ὥστε εἰ καὶ τὰ μέγιστα εἰς ἐμὲ ἐξημάρτανον, οὐκ ἂν οἷόν τε ἦν δίκην με παρʼ αὐτῶν λαμβάνειν· εὖ γὰρ ἂν ᾔδη ὅτι ἐπʼ ἐκείνοις ἦν καὶ ἐμὲ τιμωρήσασθαι καὶ αὐτοῖς μηνύσασιν ἐλευθέροις γενέσθαι.
So that even if they committed the greatest offenses against me, it would not have been possible for me to exact punishment from them; for I should have known well that it was in their power both to punish me and to become free themselves by denouncing me.
§17ἔτι τοίνυν, εἰ τῶν οἰκετῶν παρέστη μοι μηδὲν φροντίζειν, πῶς ἂν ἐτόλμησα τοσούτων μεμισθωμένων καὶ ἁπάντων συνειδότων ἀφανίσαι τὸν σηκὸν βραχέος μὲν κέρδους ἕνεκα, προθεσμίας δὲ οὐδεμιᾶς οὔσης τῷ κινδύνῳ τοῖς εἰργασμένοις ἅπασι τὸ χωρίον ὁμοίως προσῆκον εἶναι σῶν τὸν σηκόν ἵνʼ, εἴ τις αὐτοὺς ᾐτιᾶτο, εἶχον ἀνενεγκεῖν ὅτῳ παρέδοσαν;
Furthermore, even if it occurred to me to care nothing for the servants, how would I have dared, when so many tenants had rented the land and all of them were conscious of it, to remove the stump for the sake of a small profit, when there is no statute of limitations on the danger, and it was equally in the interest of all those who had worked the land to keep the stump safe, so that, if anyone accused them, they could refer to whom they had handed it over?
νῦν δὲ καὶ ἐμὲ ἀπολύσαντες φαίνονται, καὶ σφᾶς αὐτούς, εἴπερ ψεύδονται, μετόχους τῆς αἰτίας καθιστάντες.
But as it is, they are seen both to acquit me and to make themselves sharers in the charge, if indeed they are lying.
§18εἰ τοίνυν καὶ ταῦτα παρεσκευασάμην, πῶς ἂν οἷός τʼ ἦ πάντας πεῖσαι τοὺς παριόντας, ἢ τοὺς γείτονας, οἳ οὐ μόνον ἀλλήλων ταῦτʼ ἴσασιν ἃ πᾶσιν ὁρᾶν ἔξεστιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὧν ἀποκρυπτόμεθα μηδένα εἰδέναι, καὶ περὶ ἐκείνων πυνθάνονται;
If, then, I had prepared even these measures, how should I have been able to persuade all the passers-by, or the neighbors, who not only know about each other those things which are open for all to see, but also inquire about those things which we hide so that no one may know?
ἐμοὶ τοίνυν τούτων οἱ μὲν φίλοι οἱ δὲ διάφοροι περὶ τῶν ἐμῶν τυγχάνουσιν ὄντες·
Now, among these people, some happen to be my friends and others my enemies regarding my affairs.
§19οὓς ἐχρῆν τοῦτον παρασχέσθαι μάρτυρας, καὶ μὴ μόνον οὕτως τολμηρὰς κατηγορίας ποιεῖσθαι· ὅς φησιν ὡς ἐγὼ μὲν παρειστήκη, οἱ δʼ οἰκέται ἐξέτεμνον τὰ πρέμνα, ἀναθέμενος δὲ ὁ βοηλάτης ὤχετο ἀπάγων τὰ ξύλα.
Whom this man ought to have produced as witnesses, and not merely to make such daring accusations; he who says that I stood by while the servants cut out the stumps, and that the ox-driver loaded the wood and went away with it.
§20καίτοι, ὦ Νικόμαχε, χρῆν σε τότε καὶ παρακαλεῖν τοὺς παρόντας μάρτυρας, καὶ φανερὸν ποιεῖν τὸ πρᾶγμα· καὶ ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐδεμίαν ἂν ἀπολογίαν ὑπέλιπες, αὐτὸς δέ, εἰ μέν σοι ἐχθρὸς ἦ, ἐν τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἦσθα ἄν με τετιμωρημένος, εἰ δὲ τῆς πόλεως ἕνεκα ἔραττες, οὕτως ἐξελέγξας οὐκ ἂν ἐδόκεις εἶναι συκοφάντης, εἰ δὲ κερδαίνειν ἐβούλου, §21τότʼ ἂν πλεῖστον ἔλαβες· φανεροῦ γὰρ ὄντος τοῦ πράγματος οὐδεμίαν ἄλλην ἡγούμην ἂν εἶναί μοι σωτηρίαν ἢ σὲ πεῖσαι.
And yet, Nikomachos, you ought at that time to have called upon those who were present as witnesses, and to have made the matter manifest; and you would have left me no defense, while you yourself, if you were my enemy, would have punished me in this way, and if you were acting for the sake of the city, by proving it in this way you would not have seemed to be a sycophant, and if you wished to make a profit, you would have received the largest sum then; for if the deed were manifest, I should have thought there was no other salvation for me than to persuade you.
τούτων τοίνυν οὐδὲν ποιήσας διὰ τοὺς σοὺς λόγους ἀξιοῖς με ἀπολέσθαι, καὶ κατηγορεῖς ὡς ὑπὸ τῆς ἐμῆς δυνάμεως καὶ τῶν ἐμῶν χρημάτων οὐδεὶς ἐθέλει σοι μαρτυρεῖν.
But having done none of these things, you demand that I should be destroyed because of your words, and you accuse me, saying that because of my influence and my money no one is willing to testify for you.