1. HEPHAESTUS: Have you seen how bonny Maia’s newborn baby is, Apollo, and what a nice smile it has for everyone? You can see already it’ll be a real treasure.
1. ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Ἑώρακας, ὦ Ἄπολλον, τὸ τῆς Μαίας βρέφος τὸ ἄρτι τεχθέν, ὡς καλόν τέ ἐστι καὶ προσγελᾷ πᾶσι καὶ δηλοῖ ἤδη μέγα τι ἀγαθὸν ἀποβησόμενον;
APOLLO: That baby a real treasure, Hephaestus? Why, it’s already older than Iapetus when it comes to mischief.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Ἐκεῖνο τὸ βρέφος, ὦ Ἥφαιστε, ἦ μέγα ἀγαθόν, ὃ τοῦ Ἰαπετοῦ πρεσβύτερόν ἐστιν ὅσον ἐπὶ τῇ πανουργίᾳ;
HEPHAESTUS: What harm could it do? It was born only the other day.
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Καὶ τί ἂν ἀδικῆσαι δύναιτο ἀρτίτοκον ὄν;
APOLLO: Ask Poseidon—it stole his trident—or Ares—it filched his sword out of his scabbard—not to mention myself—it disarmed me of my bow and arrows.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Ἐρώτα τὸν Ποσειδῶνα, οὗ τὴν τρίαιναν ἔκλεψεν, ἢ τὸν Ἄρη· καὶ τούτου γὰρ ἐξείλκυσε λαθὸν ἐκ τοῦ κολεοῦ τὸ ξίφος, ἵνα μὴ ἐμαυτὸν λέγω, ὃν ἀφώπλισε τοῦ τόξου καὶ τῶν βελῶν.
2. HEPHAESTUS: What? That newborn infant, which can hardly stand up, and is still in its baby-clothes?
2. ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Τὸ νεογνὸν ταῦτα, ὃ μόλις ἕστηκε, τὸ ἐν τοῖς σπαργάνοις;
APOLLO: You’ll see for yourself, my dear fellow, if he gets near you.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Εἴσῃ, ὦ Ἥφαιστε, ἤν σοι προσέλθῃ μόνον.
HEPHAESTUS: But he’s already been near me.
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Καὶ μὴν προσῆλθεν ἤδη.
APOLLO: And what happened? Still got all your tools? None gone?
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Τί οὖν; πάντα ἔχεις τὰ ἐργαλεῖα καὶ οὐδὲν ἀπόλωλεν αὐτῶν;
HEPHAESTUS: All present and correct, Apollo.
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Πάντα, ὦ Ἄπολλον.
APOLLO: All the same, have a really good look.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Ὅμως ἐπίσκεψαι ἀκριβῶς.
HEPHAESTUS: Good heavens, I can’t see my tongs.
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Μὰ Δία, τὴν πυράγραν οὐχ ὁρῶ.
APOLLO: No, you’ll see them in his baby-clothes.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Ἀλλ' ὄψει που ἐν τοῖς σπαργάνοις αὐτὴν τοῦ βρέφους.
HEPHAESTUS: Can he have been practising stealing in his mother’s womb, that he’s so light-fingered?
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Οὕτως ὀξύχειρ ἐστὶ καθάπερ ἐν τῇ γαστρὶ ἐκμελετήσας τὴν κλεπτικήν;
3. APOLLO: Well, haven’t you heard him speaking? He already has a glib and fluent tongue. And he wants to be our message boy. And yesterday he challenged Eros to wrestle with him, and in no time at all took his feet from under him somehow and had him on the ground. When they were still congratulating him and Aphrodite gave him a hug for winning, he stole her girdle, and, before Zeus had stopped laughing, his sceptre into the bargain; and if his thunderbolt hadn’t been too heavy and scorching hot, he’d have had that too and nobody any the wiser.
3. ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Οὐ γὰρ ἤκουσας αὐτοῦ καὶ λαλοῦντος ἤδη στωμύλα καὶ ἐπίτροχα· ὁ δὲ καὶ διακονεῖσθαι ἡμῖν ἐθέλει. χθὲς δὲ προκαλεσάμενος τὸν Ἔρωτα κατεπάλαισεν εὐθὺς οὐκ οἶδ᾽. ὅπως ὑφελὼν τὼ πόδε· εἶτα μεταξὺ ἐπαινούμενος τῆς Ἀφροδίτης μὲν τὸν κεστὸν ἔκλεψε προσπτυξαμένης αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τῇ νίκῃ, τοῦ Διὸς δὲ γελῶντος ἔτι τὸ σκῆπτρον· εἰ δὲ μὴ βαρύτερος ὁ κεραυνὸς ἦν καὶ πολὺ τὸ πῦρ εἶχε, κἀκεῖνον ἂν ὑφείλετο.
HEPHAESTUS: The child’s too sharp for words, by your account.
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Ὑπέρδριμύν τινα τὸν παῖδα φῄς.
APOLLO: Yes, and he’s already shown he’s musical.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Οὐ μόνον, ἀλλ’ ἤδη καὶ μουσικόν.
HEPHAESTUS: How can you tell that?
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Τῷ τοῦτο τεκμαίρεσθαι ἔχεις;
4. APOLLO: He picked up a dead tortoise somewhere, and made himself a musical instrument out of it; he’s fitted arms to it, with a yoke across, then driven in pegs, fitted a bridge, and stretched seven strings across; he plays a dainty melody with it, Hephaestus, well in tune, so that even I am green with envy for all my years of practice on the harp. Even at night, Maia was telling me, he wouldn’t stay in heaven, but would go all the way down to Hades out of curiosity—to steal something from there, I’ve no doubt. He has wings on his feet, and has had someone make him a rod with marvellous powers, and with it leads down the souls of the dead.
4. ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Χελώνην που νεκρὰν εὑρὼν ὄργανον ἀπ' αὐτῆς συνεπήξατο· πήχεις γὰρ ἐναρμόσας καὶ ζυγώσας, ἔπειτα κολλάβους ἐμπήξας καὶ μαγάδιον ὑποθεὶς καὶ ἐντεινάμενος ἑπτὰ χορδὰς μελῳδεῖ πάνυ γλαφυρόν, ὦ Ἥφαιστε, καὶ ἐναρμόνιον, ὡς κἀμὲ αὐτῷ φθονεῖν πάλαι κιθαρίζειν ἀσκοῦντα. ἔλεγε δὲ ἡ Μαῖα, ὡς μηδὲ μένοι τὰς νύκτας ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ περιεργίας ἄχρι τοῦ ᾄδου κατίοι, κλέψων τι κἀκεῖθεν δηλαδή. ὑπόπτερος δ’ ἐστὶ καὶ ῥάβδον τινὰ πεποίηται θαυμασίαν τὴν δύναμιν, ᾗ ψυχαγωγεῖ καὶ κατάγει τοὺς νεκρούς.
HEPHAESTUS: I gave him that for a toy.
ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Ἐγὼ ἐκείνην ἔδωκα αὐτῷ παίγνιον εἶναι.
APOLLO: Well, he’s paid you back for that good and proper—the tongs, you know.HEPHAESTUS: Thanks for reminding me. I’ll go and get them back, if they’re to be found, as you say, in his baby-clothes.
ΑΠΟΛΛΩΝ: Τοιγαροῦν ἀπέδωκέ σοι τὸν μισθόν, τὴν πυάγραν— ΗΦΑΙΣΤΟΣ: Εὖ γε ὑπέμνησας· ὥστε βαδιοῦμαι ἀποληψόμενος αὐτήν, εἴ που ὡς φῂς εὑρεθείη ἐν τοῖς σπαργάνοις.