1. MENIPPUS: My dear Cerberus—I’m a relation, being a Dog myself—I beg you, in the name of the Styx, to tell me what Socrates was like when he came down to you. Seeing that you’re a god, you can be expected not merely to bark, but also to talk like a human when you wish. CERBERUS: When he was at a distance, Menippus, his face seemed completely impassive as he approached, and he appeared to have not the slightest fear of death, and he wanted to impress this on those who stood outside the entrance, but when he had peeped into the chasm, and seen the darkness, and I had bitten him and dragged him by the foot, because he was still slowed down by the hemlock, he shrieked like an infant, and cried for his children and went frantic.
1. ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ: Ὦ Κέρβερε—συγγενὴς γάρ εἰμί σοι κύων καὶ αὐτὸς ὤν—εἰπέ μοι πρὸς τῆς Στυγός, οἷος ἦν ὁ Σωκράτης, ὁπότε κατῄει παρ' ὑμᾶς· εἰκὸς δέ σε θεὸν ὄντα μὴ ὑλακτεῖν μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνθρωπίνως φθέγγεσθαι, ὁπότ' ἐθέλοις. ΚΕΡΒΕΡΟΣ: Πόρρωθεν μέν, ὦ Μένιππε, παντάπασιν ἐδόκει ἀτρέπτῳ τῷ προσώπῳ προσιέναι καὶ οὐ πάνυ δεδιέναι τὸν θάνατον δοκῶν καὶ τοῦτο ἐμφῆναι τοῖς ἔξω τοῦ στομίου ἑστῶσιν ἐθέλων, ἐπεὶ δὲ κατέκυψεν εἴσω τοῦ χάσματος καὶ εἶδε τὸν ζόφον, κἀγὼ ἔτι διαμέλλοντα αὐτὸν δακὼν τῷ κωνείῳ κατέσπασα τοῦ ποδός, ὥσπερ τὰ βρέφη ἐκώκυεν καὶ τὰ ἑαυτοῦ παιδία ὠδύρετο καὶ παντοῖος ἐγίνετο.
2. MENIPPUS: Then the fellow was just a sham, and didn’t really despise his plight? CERBERUS: No, but since he could see it was inescapable, he put on a bold front, pretending he would be glad to accept what was quite inevitable, all to win the admiration of the onlookers. I could Generalise about all such men: as far as the entrance, they are bold and brave, but what comes inside is the real test.
2. ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ: Οὐκοῦν σοφιστὴς ὁ ἄνθρωπος ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἀληθῶς κατεφρόνει τοῦ πράγματος; ΚΕΡΒΕΡΟΣ: Οὔκ, ἀλλ’ ἐπείπερ ἀναγκαῖον αὐτὸ ἑώρα, κατεθρασύνετο ὡς δῆθεν οὐκ ἄκων πεισόμενος ὃ πάντως ἔδει παθεῖν, ὡς θαυμάσονται οἱ θεαταί. καὶ ὅλως περὶ πάντων γε τῶν τοιούτων εἰπεῖν ἂν ἔχοιμι, ἕως τοῦ στομίου τολμηροὶ καὶ ἀνδρεῖοι, τὰ δὲ ἔνδοθεν ἔλεγχος ἀκριβής.
MENIPPUS: What did you think of me, when I came down? CERBERUS: You alone were a credit to your breed—you and Diogenes before you, because you came in without having to be forced or pushed, but of your own accord, laughing and cursing at everyone.
ΜΕΝΙΠΠΟΣ: Ἐγὼ δὲ πῶς σοι κατεληλυθέναι ἔδοξα; ΚΕΡΒΕΡΟΣ: Μόνος, ὦ Μένιππε, ἀξίως τοῦ γένους, καὶ Διογένης πρὸ σοῦ, ὅτι μὴ ἀναγκαζόμενοι ἐσῄειτε μηδ’ ὠθούμενοι, ἀλλ’ ἐθελούσιοι, γελῶντες, οἰμώζειν παραγγείλαντες ἅπασιν.