---
title: "The Ship, or The Wishes · Πλοῖον ἢΕυχαί"
author: "Lucian"
translator: "Kenneth Kilburn"
languages: [grc, en]
shelf: "Classical Greek"
url: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/
cite: "Lucian, tr. Kenneth Kilburn, The Ship, or The Wishes · Πλοῖον ἢΕυχαί. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/"
---

# The Ship, or The Wishes · Πλοῖον ἢΕυχαί

*Lucian, tr. Kenneth Kilburn*

Friends at the Piraeus see a great grain ship and each wishes for what he would want most.

> Greek: ed. Kenneth Kilburn, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0062.tlg065, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Kenneth Kilburn, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0062.tlg065.perseus-eng3). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## Contents

1. [Sections 1–26](https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/1.md)
2. [Sections 27–46](https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/2.md)

## 1. Sections 1–26

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/1/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/1/#p-N

[¶0] 1. LYCINUS: Didn’t I say that it was easier for vultures to miss a stinking corpse in the open than for Timolaus to miss an odd sight, even if he had to run off to Corinth for it without a pause for breath? You are so fond of shows, and so determined in such matters.

> Greek: 1. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Οὐκ ἐγὼ ἔλεγον ὅτι θᾶττον τοὺς γῦπας ἕωλος νεκρὸς ἐν φανερῷ κείμενος ἢ θέαμά τι τῶν παραδόξων Τιμόλαον διαλάθοι, κἂν εἰς Κόρινθον δέοι ἀπνευστὶ θέοντα ἀπιέναι διὰ τοῦτο; οὕτω φιλοθεάμων σύ γε καὶ ἄοκνος τὰ τοιαῦτα.

[¶1] TIMOLAUS: What should I have done, then, Lycinus, having nothing to do, and hearing that such a huge boat, exceptionally large, had put into Piraeus, one of the Egyptian grain ships on its way to Italy? I fancy that you two, you and Samippus here, have come from Athens for exactly the same reason, to see the ship.

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Τί γὰρ ἔδει ποιεῖν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, σχολὴν ἄγοντα πυθόμενον οὕτως ὑπερμεγέθη ναῦν καὶ πέρα τοῦ μέτρου ἐς τὸν Πειραιᾶ καταπεπλευκέναι μίαν τῶν ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἐς Ἰταλίαν σιταγωγῶν; οἶμαι δὲ καὶ σφώ, σέ τε καὶ Σάμιππον τουτονί, μὴ κατ' ἄλλο τι ἐξ ἄστεος ἥκειν ἢ ὀψομένους τὸ πλοῖον.

[¶2] LYCINUS: That is so, and Adimantus of Myrrinous came along with us, but I don’t know where he is now; he has wandered off in the crowd of spectators. Until we reached the ship and went aboard, you, I think, Samippus, were in front, and then came Adimantus, and next I myself, holding on to him with both hands; he led me by the hand all the way up the gangway—I had shoes on, he was barefoot—but then I didn’t see him again either on board or when we came back to the shore.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Νὴ Δία, καὶ Ἀδείμαντος ὁ Μυρρινούσιος εἵπετο μεθ' ἡμῶν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπου νῦν ἐκεῖνός ἐστιν ἀποπλανηθεὶς ἐν τῷ πλήθει τῶν θεατῶν. ἄχρι μὲν γὰρ τῆς νεὼς ἅμα ἤλθομεν καὶ ἀνιόντες ἐς αὐτὴν, σὺ μέν, οἶμαι, Σάμιππε, προῄεις, μετὰ σὲ δὲ ὁ Ἀδείμαντος ἦν, εἶτ' ἐγὼ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἐχόμενος αὐτοῦ ἀμφοτέραις, καί με διὰ τῆς ἀποβάθρας ὅλης παρέπεμψε χειραγωγῶν ὑποδεδεμένον ἀνυπόδητος αὐτὸς ὤν, τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου δὲ οὐκέτι αὐτὸν εἶδον οὔτε ἔνδον οὔτε ἐπεὶ κατεληλύθαμεν.

[¶3] 2. SAMIPPUS: Do you know at what point he left us, Lycinus? I think it was when that pretty lad came out of the hold, the one in pure white linen, with his hair tied back over both sides of his forehead. If I know Adimantus, I think that when he saw that dainty sight he bade a long farewell to the Egyptian shipwright who was showing us round the ship, and just stood there, weeping as usual. He’s quick at tears when Cupid’s about.

> Greek: 2. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Οἶσθα οὖν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, ὅπου ἡμᾶς ἀπέλιπεν; ὁπότε, οἶμαι, τὸ ὡραῖον ἐκεῖνο μειράκιον ἐκ τῆς θαλάμης προῆλθε τὸ τὴν καθαρὰν ὀθόνην ἐνδεδυκός, ἀναδεδεμένον ἐς τοὐπίσω τὴν κόμην ἐπ' ἀμφότερα τοῦ μετώπου ἀπηγμένην. εἰ τοίνυν ἐγὼ Ἀδείμαντον οἶδα, οἶμαι, γλαφυρὸν οὕτω θέαμα ἐκεῖνος ἰδὼν μακρὰ χαίρειν φράσας τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ ναυπηγῷ περιηγουμένῳ τὸ πλοῖον παρέστηκε δακρύων, ὥσπερ εἴωθε. ταχύδακρυς γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἐς τὰ ἐρωτικά.

[¶4] LYCINUS: Well, Samippus, the young lad didn’t seem to me very pretty, not enough to excite Adimantus at any rate. He has a crowd of beauties following him in Athens, all of them free-born, full of chatter, and breathing wrestling-schools; it wouldn’t be ignoble even to weep in their presence. This fellow is not only dark-skinned, but thick-lipped and too thin in the leg. He spoke in a slovenly manner, one long, continuous prattle; he spoke Greek, but his accent and intonation pointed to his native-land. His hair coiled in a plait behind shows he is not freeborn.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Καὶ μὴν οὐ πάνυ καλός, ὦ Σάμιππε, ὁ μειρακίσκος ἔδοξέ μοι, ὡς ἂν καὶ Ἀδείμαντον ἐκπλῆξαι, ᾧ τοσοῦτοι Ἀθήνησι καλοὶ ἕπονται, πάντες ἐλεύθεροι, στωμύλοι τὸ φθέγμα, παλαίστρας ἀποπνέοντες, οἶς καὶ παραδακρῦσαι οὐκ ἀγεννές. οὗτος δὲ πρὸς τῷ μελάγχρους εἶναι καὶ πρόχειλός ἐστι καὶ λεπτὸς ἄγαν τοῖν σκελοῖν, καὶ ἐφθέγγετο ἐπισεσυρμένον τι καὶ συνεχὲς καὶ ἐπίτροχον, Ἑλληνιστὶ μέν, ἐς τὸ πάτριον δὲ τῷ ψόφῳ καὶ τῷ τῆς φωνῆς τόνῳ, ἡ κόμη δὲ καὶ ἐς τοὐπίσω ὁ πλόκαμος συνεσπειραμένος οὐκ ἐλεύθερόν φησιν αὐτὸν εἶναι.

[¶5] 3. TIMOLAUS: This is a sign of high birth in Egypt, Lycinus. All the free-born boys plait it until they come of age; it’s just the opposite to our ancestors, who thought it comely for old men to fasten up their hair in a knot, with a golden cicada-brooch to hold it.

> Greek: 3. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Τοῦτο μὲν εὐγενείας, ὦ Λυκῖνε, σημεῖόν ἐστιν Αἰγυπτίοις ἡ κόμη. ἅπαντες γὰρ αὐτὴν οἱ ἐλεύθεροι παῖδες ἀναπλέκονται ἔστε πρὸς τὸ ἐφηβικόν, ἔμπαλιν ἢ οἱ πρόγονοι ἡμῶν, οἷς ἐδόκει καλὸν εἶναι κομᾶν τοὺς γέροντας ἀναδουμένους κρωβύλον ὑπὸ τέττιγι χρυσῷ ἀνειλημμένον.

[¶6] SAMIPPUS: Good, Timolaus; you remind me of Thucydides, where he writes in the introduction to his work about our ancient luxury among the Ionians, when the people of that time went away to found colonies together.

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Εὖ γε, ὦ Τιμόλαε, ὅτι ἡμᾶς ἀναμιμνήσκεις τῶν Θουκυδίδου συγγραμμάτων, ἃ ἐν τῷ προοιμίῳ περὶ τῆς ἀρχαίας ἡμῶν τρυφῆς εἶπεν ἐν τοῖς Ἴωσιν, ὁπότε οἱ τότε συναπῳκίσαν.

[¶7] 4. LYCINUS: Oh, now I remember where Adimantus left us, Samippus: when we stood a long time by the mast, looking up and counting the layers of hide, and marvelling at the sailor going up among the shrouds and then running quite safely along the yardarm up there holding on to the ropes.

> Greek: 4. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἀτάρ, ὦ Σάμιππε, νῦν ἀνεμνήσθην, ὁπόθεν ἡμῶν ἀπελείφθη Ἀδείμαντος, ὅτε παρὰ τὸν ἱστὸν ἐπὶ πολὺ ἔστημεν ἀναβλέποντες, ἀριθμοῦντες τῶν βυρσῶν τὰς ἐπιβολὰς καὶ θαυμάζοντες ἀνιόντα τὸν ναύτην διὰ τῶν κάλων, εἶτα ἐπὶ τῆς κεραίας ἄνω ἀσφαλῶς διαθέοντα τῶν κεροιάκων ἐπειλημμένον.

[¶8] SAMIPPUS: Good! Then what must we do now? Wait for him here? Or would you like me to go back again to the ship?

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Εὖ λέγεις. τί δ’ οὖν χρὴ ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς; ἐνταῦθα καραδοκεῖν αὐτόν, ἢ ἐθέλεις ἐγὼ αὖθις ἐπάνειμι ἐς τὸ πλοῖον;

[¶9] TIMOLAUS: Oh, no, let us go on. He has probably already passed us, rushing off to the city, when he couldn’t find us again. In any case Adimantus knows the road, and there is no danger of his going astray if we desert him.

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Μηδαμῶς, ἀλλὰ προΐωμεν. εἰκὸς γὰρ ἤδη παρεληλυθέναι ἐκεῖνον ἀποσοβοῦντα ἐς τὸ ἄστυ, ἐπεὶ μηκέθ' ἡμᾶς εὑρεῖν ἐδύνατο. εἰ δὲ μή, ἀλλ’ οἶδε τὴν ὁδὸν Ἀδείμαντος, καὶ δέος οὐδὲν μὴ ἀπολειφθεὶς ἡμῶν ἀποβουκοληθῇ.

[¶10] LYCINUS: Isn’t it rather churlish to go off and leave a friend? But let us walk on all the same, if Samippus agrees.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ὁρᾶτε, μὴ σκαιὸν ᾖ φίλον ἀπολιπόντας αὐτοὺς ἀπιέναι. βαδίζωμεν δ’ ὅμως, εἰ καὶ Σαμίππῳ τοῦτο δοκεῖ.

[¶11] SAMIPPUS: Certainly; we may find the gymnasium still open. Incidentally, what a huge ship!

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Καὶ μάλα δοκεῖ, ἤν πως ἀνεῳγυῖαν ἔτι τὴν παλαίστραν καταλάβωμεν.

[¶12] 5. SAMIPPUS: A hundred and twenty cubits long, the ship-wright said, and well over a quarter as wide, and from deck to bottom, where it is deepest, in the bilge, twenty-nine. Then, what a tall mast, what a yard to carry! What a fore-stay to hold it up! How gently the poop curves up, with a little golden goose below! And correspondingly at the opposite end, the prow juts right out in front, with figures of the goddess, Isis, after whom the ship is named, on either side. And the other decorations, the paintings and the topsail blazing like fire, anchors in front of them, and capstans, and windlasses, and the cabins on the poop—all very wonderful to me.

> Greek: 5. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: ἀλλὰ μεταξὺ λόγων, ἡλίκη ναῦς, εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατὸν πήχεων ἔλεγε ὁ ναυπηγός τὸ μῆκος, εὖρος δὲ ὑπὲρ τὸ τέταρτον μάλιστα τούτου, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ καταστρώματος ἐς τὸν πυθμένα, ᾗ βαθύτατον κατὰ τὸν ἄντλον, ἐννέα πρὸς τοῖς εἴκοσι. τὰ δ’ ἄλλα ἡλίκος μὲν ὁ ἱστός, ὅσην δὲ ἀνέχει τὴν κεραίαν, οἵῳ δὲ προτόνῳ συνέχεται, ὡς δὲ ἡ πρύμνα μὲν ἐπανέστηκεν ἠρέμα καμπύλη χρυσοῦν χηνίσκον ἐπικειμένη, καταντικρὺ δὲ ἀνάλογον ἡ πρῷρα ὑπερβέβηκεν ἐς τὸ πρόσω ἀπομηκυνομένη, τὴν ἐπώνυμον τῆς νεὼς θεὸν ἔχουσα τὴν Ἶσιν ἑκατέρωθεν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλος κόσμος, αἱ γραφαὶ καὶ τοῦ ἱστίου τὸ παράσειον πυραυγές, καὶ πρὸ τούτων αἱ ἄγκυραι καὶ στροφεῖα καὶ περιαγωγεῖς καὶ αἱ κατὰ τὴν πρύμναν οἰκήσεις θαυμάσια πάντα μοι ἔδοξεν.

[¶13] 6. SAMIPPUS: You could put the number of sailors at an army of soldiers. She was said to carry corn enough to feed all Attica for a year. And all this a little old man, a wee fellow, has kept from harm by turning the huge rudders with a tiny tiller. He was pointed out to me—a man with receding curly hair. Heron was his name, I believe.

> Greek: 6. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: καὶ τὸ τῶν ναυτῶν πλῆθος στρατοπέδῳ ἄν τις εἰκάσειεν. ἐλέγετο δὲ καὶ τοσοῦτον ἄγειν σῖτον, ὡς ἱκανὸν εἶναι πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ Ἀττικῇ ἐνιαύσιον πρὸς τροφήν. κἀκεῖνα πάντα μικρός τις ἀνθρωπίσκος γέρων ἤδη ἔσωζεν ὑπὸ λεπτῇ κάμακι τὰ τηλικαῦτα πηδάλια περιστρέφων· ἐδείχθη γάρ μοι ἀναφαλαντίας τις, οὖλος, Ἥρων, οἶμαι, τοὔνομα.

[¶14] TIMOLAUS: He was wonderful at his job, those aboard said: wiser than Proteus at things to do with the sea.

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Θαυμάσιος τὴν τέχνην, ὡς ἔφασκον οἱ ἐμπλέοντες, καὶ τὰ θαλάττια σοφὸς ὑπὲρ τὸν Πρωτέα.

[¶15] 7. TIMOLAUS: Did you hear how he brought the ship here, what happened to those on board, and how they were saved by a star?

> Greek: 7. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: ἠκούσατε δὲ ὅπως δεῦρο κατήγαγε τὸ πλοῖον, οἷα ἔπαθον πλέοντες ἢ ὡς ὁ ἀστὴρ αὐτοὺς ἔσωσεν;

[¶16] LYCINUS: No, Timolaus, but I’d very much like to.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Οὔκ, ὦ Τιμόλαε, ἀλλὰ νῦν ἡδέως ἂν ἀκούσαιμεν.

[¶17] TIMOLAUS: The captain himself told me—a good man, and good company. When they left Pharos, he said, the wind was not very strong, and they sighted Acamas in seven days. Then it blew against them from the west, and they were driven abeam to Sidon. After Sidon a severe storm broke and carried them through Aulon to reach the Chelidonenses on the tenth day. There they were all nearly drowned.

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Ὁ ναύκληρος αὐτὸς διηγεῖτό μοι, χρηστὸς ἀνὴρ καὶ προσομιλῆσαι δεξιός. ἔφη δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Φάρου ἀπάραντας οὐ πάνυ βιαίῳ πνεύματι ἑβδομαίους ἰδεῖν τὸν Ἀκάμαντα, εἶτα ζεφύρου ἀντιπνεύσαντος ἀπενεχθῆναι πλαγίους ἄχρι Σιδῶνος, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ χειμῶνι μεγάλῳ περιπεσόντας δεκάτῃ ἐπὶ Χελιδονέας διὰ τοῦ Αὐλῶνος ἐλθεῖν, ἔνθα δὴ παρὰ μικρὸν ὑποβρυχίους δῦναι ἅπαντας.

[¶18] 8. TIMOLAUS: I myself have sailed by the Chelidonenses, and I know the size of the waves there, especially in a sou’westerly gale with a touch of south; this, you see, happens to be where the Pamphylian and Lycian seas divide. The swell is driven by numerous currents and is split on the headland—the rocks are knife-edged, razor-sharp at the sea’s edge. So the breakers are terrifying and make a great din, and the wave is often as high as the cliff itself.

> Greek: 8. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: οἶδα δέ ποτε παραπλεύσας καὶ αὐτὸς Χελιδονέας ἡλίκον ἐν τῷ τόπῳ ἀνίσταται τὸ κῦμα, καὶ μάλιστα περὶ τὸν λίβα, ὁπόταν ἐπιλάβῃ καὶ τοῦ νότου· κατ' ἐκεῖνο γὰρ δὴ συμβαίνει μερίζεσθαι τὸ Παμφύλιον ἀπὸ τῆς Λυκιακῆς θαλάττης, καὶ ὁ κλύδων ἅτε ἀπὸ πολλῶν ῥευμάτων περὶ τῷ ἀκρωτηρίῳ σχιζόμενος—ἀπόξυροι δέ εἰσι πέτραι καὶ ὀξεῖαι παραθηγόμεναι τῷ κλύσματι—καὶ φοβερωτάτην ποιεῖ τὴν κυματωγὴν καὶ τὸν ἦχον μέγαν, καὶ τὸ κῦμα πολλάκις αὐτῷ ἰσομέγεθες τῷ σκοπέλῳ.

[¶19] 9. TIMOLAUS: This is what the captain said they found when it was still night and pitch dark. But the gods were moved by their lamentations, and showed fire from Lycia, so that they knew the place. One of the Dioscuri put a bright star on the masthead, and guided the ship in a turn to port into the open sea, just as it was driving on to the cliff. Then, having now lost their course, they sailed across the Aegean beating up with the trade winds against them, and yesterday, seventy days after leaving Egypt, they anchored in Piraeus, after being driven so far downwind. They should have kept Crete to starboard, and sailed beyond Malea so as to be in Italy by now.

> Greek: 9. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: τοιαῦτα καὶ σφᾶς καταλαβεῖν ἔφασκεν ὁ ναύκληρος ἔτι καὶ νυκτὸς οὔσης καὶ ζόφου ἀκριβοῦς. ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὴν οἰμωγὴν αὐτῶν ἐπικλασθέντας τοὺς θεοὺς πῦρ τε ἀναδεῖξαι ἀπὸ τῆς Λυκίας, ὡς γνωρίσαι τὸν τόπον ἐκεῖνον, καί τινα λαμπρὸν ἀστέρα Διοσκούρων τὸν ἕτερον ἐπικαθίσαι τῷ καρχησίῳ καὶ κατευθῦναι τὴν ναῦν ἐπὶ τὰ λαιὰ ἐς τὸ πέλαγος ἤδη τῷ κρημνῷ προσφερομένην. τοὐντεῦθεν δὲ ἅπαξ τῆς ὀρθῆς ἐκπεσόντας διὰ τοῦ Αἰγαίου πλεύσαντας ἑβδομηκοστῇ ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἡμέρᾳ πρὸς ἀντίους τοὺς ἐτησίας πλαγιάζοντας ἐς Πειραιᾶ χθὲς καθορμίσασθαι τοσοῦτον ἀποσυρέντας ἐς τὸ κάτω, οὓς ἔδει τὴν Κρήτην δεξιὰν λαβόντας ὑπὲρ τὴν Μαλέαν πλεύσαντας ἤδη εἶναι ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ.

[¶20] LYCINUS: Upon my word, that’s an amazing pilot you speak of, this Heron, as old as Nereus, who went so far astray.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Νὴ Δία, θαυμάσιόν τινα φὴς κυβερνήτην τὸν Ἥρωνα ἢ τοῦ Νηρέως ἡλικιώτην, ὃς τοσοῦτον ἀπεσφάλη τῆς ὁδοῦ.

[¶21] 10. LYCINUS: But what’s this? Is that not Adimantus?

> Greek: 10. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: ἀλλὰ τί τοῦτο; οὐκ Ἀδείμαντος ἐκεῖνός ἐστι;

[¶22] TIMOLAUS: So it is; Adimantus himself. Let’s give him a shout, Adimantus! You! Of Myrrinous! Strombichus’s son!

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Πάνυ μὲν οὖν, Ἀδείμαντος αὐτός. ἐμβοήσωμεν οὖν. Ἀδείμαντες, σέ φημι τὸν Μυρρινούσιον τὸν Στρομβίχου.

[¶23] LYCINUS: Well, either he’s annoyed with us or he’s gone deaf. It’s certainly Adimantus and no other. I see him now quite plainly—his cloak, his walk, his close-crop. Let’s put on speed, anyhow, and catch him up.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Δυεῖν θάτερον, ἢ δυσχεραίνει καθ' ἡμῶν ἢ ἐκκεκώφωται. Ἀδείμαντος γάρ, οὐκ ἄλλος τίς ἐστι. Πάνυ ἤδη σαφῶς ὁρῶ, καὶ θοἰμάτιον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ βάδισμα ἐκείνου, καὶ ἐν χρῷ ἡ κουρά. ἐπιτείνωμεν δὲ ὅμως τὸν περίπατον, ὡς καταλάβωμεν αὐτόν.

[¶24] 11. LYCINUS: We shall have to pull you back by your cloak, Adimantus; you take no notice when we shout. You seem thoughtful, as though you’re turning over something serious and important in your mind.

> Greek: 11. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: ἢν μὴ τοῦ ἱματίου λαβόμενοι σε ἐπιστρέψωμεν, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, οὐχ ὑπακούσει ἡμῖν βοῶσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ φροντίζοντι ἔοικας ἐπὶ συννοίας τινὸς οὐ μικρὸν οὐδὲ εὐκαταφρόνητον πρᾶγμα, ὡς δοκεῖς, ἀνακυκλῶν.

[¶25] ADIMANTUS: Nothing bothersome, Lycinus; an empty notion came into my head as I was walking along and made me deaf to your shouting, I was so wrapped up in my thoughts.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Οὐδέν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, χαλεπόν, ἀλλά με κενή τις ἔννοια μεταξὺ βαδίζοντα ὑπελθοῦσα παρακοῦσαι ὑμῶν ἐποίησεν ἀτενὲς πρὸς αὐτὴν ἅπαντι τῷ λογισμῷ ἀποβλέποντα.

[¶26] LYCINUS: What was it? Don’t be shy, unless it’s completely forbidden to tell it. We’ve been initiated, as you know, and learnt to hold our tongues.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Τίς αὕτη; μὴ γὰρ ὀκνήσῃς εἰπεῖν, εἰ μή τίς ἐστι τῶν πάνυ ἀπορρήτων. καίτοι ἐτελέσθημεν, ὡς οἶσθα, καὶ σιγᾶν μεμαθήκαμεν.

[¶27] ADIMANTUS: I’m ashamed to tell you. You will think it such a childish idea.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἀλλ' αἰσχύνομαι ἔγωγε εἰπεῖν πρὸς ὑμᾶς. οὕτω γὰρ μειρακιῶδες ὑμῖν δόξει τὸ φρόντισμα.

[¶28] LYCINUS: Nothing to do with love, is it? You certainly won’t be telling it to the unenlightened! We too have been initiated, under a torch which was blazing!

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Μῶν ἐρωτικόν τί ἐστιν; οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀμυήτοις ἡμῖν ἐξαγορεύσεις, ἀλλὰ ὑπὸ λαμπρᾷ τῇ δᾳδὶ καὶ αὐτοῖς τετελεσμένοις.

[¶29] ADIMANTUS: Nothing of that kind, my dear fellow. It was just a dream of wealth—what everybody calls “empty bliss and you caught me at the height of my fortune and luxury.
LYCINUS: Well, that’s very simple. Share your luck, as they say; bring your wealth and pool it.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Οὐδέν, ὦ θαυμάσιε, τοιοῦτον, ἀλλά τινα πλοῦτον ἐμαυτῷ ἀνεπλαττόμην, ἣν κενὴν μακαρίαν οἱ πολλοὶ καλοῦσιν, καί μοι ἐν ἀκμῇ τῆς περιουσίας καὶ τρυφῆς ἐπέστητε.

[¶30] 12. LYCINUS: His friends should enjoy their part of Adimantus’s luxury.

> Greek: 12. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Οὐκοῦν τὸ προχειρότατον τοῦτο, κοινὸς Ἑρμᾶς φασι, καὶ ἐς μέσον κατατίθει φέρων τὸν πλοῦτον.
ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: ἄξιον γὰρ ἀπολαῦσαι τὸ μέρος φίλους ὄντας τῆς Αδειμάντου τρυφῆς.

[¶31] ADIMANTUS: I was separated from you as soon as we were on board, Lycinus, after bringing you there safely. I was measuring the width of the anchors when you went off somewhere.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἀπελείφθην μὲν ὑμῶν εὐθὺς ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ἐς τὴν ναῦν ἐπιβάσει, ἐπεὶ σέ, ὦ Λυκῖνε, κατέστησα ἐς τὸ ἀσφαλές. περιμετροῦντος γάρ μου τῆς ἀγκύρας τὸ πάχος οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπου ὑμεῖς ἀπέστητε.

[¶32] 13. ADIMANTUS: All the same I looked at everything and then asked one of the sailors what income the ship brought in to its owner in an average year. “A minimum of twelve Attic talents,” he replied. Then I went back on shore and mused on what a happy life I should have had if of a sudden some god had made the ship mine: I would have helped my friends, and sailed in her myself some-times, and sometimes sent my servants. Then with some of the twelve talents I had already built myself a house in a good spot just above the Painted Arcade, giving up the family house by the Ilissus; and I was buying servants and clothes and carriages and horses. Just now I was at sea, the envy of the passengers and the terror of the crew; they thought me almost a king. I was still settling her affairs and gazing at the harbour in the distance when you turned up, Lycinus. You sank my wealth and capsized my bark just when she was sailing well before the fair wind of my wish.

> Greek: 13. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἰδὼν δὲ ὅμως τὰ πάντα ἠρόμην τινὰ τῶν ναυτῶν, ὁπόσην ἀποφέρει ἡ ναῦς τῷ δεσπότῃ ὡς ἐπὶ τὸ πολὺ κατ' ἔτος ἕκαστον τὴν μισθοφορίαν. ὁ δέ μοι, Δώδεκα, ἔφη, Ἀττικὰ τάλαντα, εἰ πρὸς τοὐλάχιστόν τις λογίζοιτο. τοὐντεῦθεν οὖν ἐπανιὼν ἐλογιζόμην, εἴ τις θεῶν τὴν ναῦν ἄφνω ἐμὴν ποιήσειεν εἶναι, οἷον ἄν, ὡς εὐδαίμονα βίον ἐπεβίωσα εὖ ποιῶν τοὺς φίλους καὶ ἐπιπλέων ἐνίοτε μὲν αὐτός, ἐνίοτε δὲ οἰκέτας ἐκπέμπων. εἶτα ἐκ τῶν δώδεκα ἐκείνων ταλάντων οἰκίαν τε ἤδη ᾠκοδομησάμην ἐν ἐπικαίρῳ μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τὴν Ποικίλην, τὴν παρὰ τὸν Ἰλισσὸν ἐκείνην τὴν πατρῴαν ἀφείς, καὶ οἰκέτας ὠνούμην καὶ ἐσθῆτας καὶ ζεύγη καὶ ἵππους. νυνὶ δὲ ἢδη καὶ ἔπλεον ὑφ' ἁπάντων εὐδαιμονιζόμενος τῶν ἐπιβατῶν φοβερὸς τοῖς ναύταις καὶ μονονουχὶ βασιλεὺς νομιζόμενος. ἔτι δέ μοι τὰ κατὰ τὴν ναῦν εὐθετίζοντι καὶ ἐς λιμένα πόρρωθεν ἀποβλέποντι ἐπιστάς, ὦ Λυκῖνε, κατέδυσας τὸν πλοῦτον καὶ ἀνέτρεψας εὖ φερόμενον τὸ σκάφος οὐρίῳ τῆς εὐχῆς πνεύματι.

[¶33] 14. LYCINUS: Well, my noble sir, arrest me and take me off to the general as a pirate or a rogue who tipped you overboard and made such a wreck of her—and that on shore on the road from Piraeus to town. But look, I’ll make amends for my mistake: take here and now, if you will, five ships better and bigger than the Egyptian and, best of all, unsinkable. Let them bring perhaps five times the cargo of corn from Egypt every year, even if, most glorious of shipowners, you then become unbearable to us, as you clearly will. When you still owned this one ship you couldn’t hear our shouts, and if you get five more, all three-masters and indestructible too, you’ll obviously not even see your friends. A good voyage to you, good friend! We shall sit in Piraeus and ask new arrivals from Egypt or Italy if anyone has seen Adimantus’s big ship the “Isis” anywhere.

> Greek: 14. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Οὐκοῦν, ὦ γενναῖε, λαβόμενός μου ἄπαγε πρὸς τὸν στρατηγὸν ὥς τινα πειρατὴν ἢ καταποντιστήν, ὃς τηλικοῦτον ναυάγιον εἴργασμαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν γῇ κατὰ τὴν ἐκ Πειραιῶς ἐς τὸ ἄστυ. ἀλλὰ ὅρα ὅπως παραμυθήσομαί σου τὸ πταῖσμα· πέντε γάρ, εἰ βούλει, καλλίω καὶ μείζω τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου πλοίου ἤδη ἔχε, καὶ τὸ μέγιστον οὐδὲ καταδῦναι δυνάμενα, καὶ τάχα σοι πεντάκις ἐξ Αἰγύπτου κατ' ἔτος ἕκαστον σιταγωγείτωσαν σιταγωγίαν, εἰ καί, ὦ ναυκλήρων ἄριστε, δῆλος εἶ ἀφόρητος ἡμῖν τότε γενησόμενος. ὃς γὰρ ἔτι ἑνὸς πλοίου τουτουὶ δεσπότης ὢν παρήκουες βοώντων, εἰ πέντε κτήσαιο πρὸς τούτῳ τριάρμενα πάντα καὶ ἀνώλεθρα, οὐδὲ ὄψει δηλαδὴ τοὺς φίλους. σὺ μὲν οὖν εὐπλόει, ὦ βέλτιστε, ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐν Πειραιεῖ καθεδούμεθα τοὺς ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἢ Ἰταλίας καταπλέοντας ἀνακρίνοντες, εἴ που τὸ μέγα Ἀδειμάντου πλοῖον τὴν Ἶσίν τις εἶδεν.

[¶34] 15. ADIMANTUS: You see? That’s why I hesitated to tell you what I was thinking. I knew that you would laugh and make fun of my wish. So I’ll stay with you a little until you go on, and then sail away again on my ship. It’s much better to talk to sailors than be laughed at by you.

> Greek: 15. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ὁρᾷς; διὰ τοῦτο ὤκνουν εἰπεῖν ἃ ἐνενόουν, εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐν γέλωτι καὶ σκώμματι ποιήσεσθέ μου τὴν εὐχήν. ὥστε ἐπιστὰς μικρόν, ἔστ' ἂν ὑμεῖς προχωρήσητε, ἀποπλευσοῦμαι πάλιν ἐπὶ τῆς νεώς. πολὺ γὰρ ἄμεινον τοῖς ναύταις προσλαλεῖν ἢ ὑφ' ὑμῶν καταγελᾶσθαι.

[¶35] LYCINUS: Don’t do that. We’ll stay too and go on board with you.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Μηδαμῶς, ἐπεὶ συνεμβησόμεθά σοι καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐπιστάντες.

[¶36] ADIMANTUS: Then I shall go on board first and pull up the gangway.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἀλλὰ ὑφαιρήσω τὴν ἀποβάθραν προεισελθών.

[¶37] LYCINUS: Well, we shall swim to you. Surely you don’t imagine that it’s easy for you to get ships of that size without buying or building them, while we will not ask the gods to grant us the power to swim many miles without getting tired? Besides, two days ago we sailed over to Aegina to the rites of Our Lady of the Crossroads, you know, in a little boat, all friends together at four obols each. You didn’t object at all to our sailing with you. But now do you resent our going on board with you, and are you embarking first and taking the gangplank away? You’re too full of beans, Adimantus, and you don’t spit in your bosom, and you don’t remember who you are, you shipowner. You’re so elated with your house, well situated as regards the city, and your crowd of retainers. But, my good friend, in the name of Isis remember to bring us those delicate pickled Nile fish from Egypt, perfume from Canopus, or an ibis from Memphis, and one of the Pyramids—if the ship can carry it.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Οὐκοῦν ἡμεῖς γε προσνηξόμεθα ὑμῖν. μὴ γὰρ οἴου σοὶ μὲν εἶναι ῥᾴδιον τηλικαῦτα πλοῖα κτᾶσθαι μήτε πριαμένῳ μήτε ναυπηγησαμένῳ, ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐκ αἰτήσομεν παρὰ τῶν θεῶν ἐπὶ πολλοὺς σταδίους ἀκμῆτες δύνασθαι νεῖν; καίτοι πρῴην καὶ ἐς Αἴγιναν ἐπὶ τὴν τῆς Ἐνοδίας τελετὴν, οἶσθα, ἐν ἡλίκῳ σκαφιδίῳ πάντες ἅμα οἱ φίλοι τεττάρων ἕκαστος ὀβολῶν διεπλεύσαμεν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐδυσχέραινες ἡμᾶς συμπλέοντας, νῦν δὲ ἀγανακτεῖς, εἰ συνεμβησόμεθά σοι, καὶ τὴν ἀποβάθραν προεισελθὼν ἀφαιρεῖς; ὑπερμαζᾷς γάρ, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, καὶ ἐς τὸν κόλπον οὐ πτύεις, οὐδὲ οἶσθα ὅστις ὢν ναυκληρεῖς. οὕτως ἐπῆρέ σε ἡ οἰκία ἐν καλῷ τῆς πόλεως οἰκοδομηθεῖσα καὶ τῶν ἀκολούθων τὸ πλῆθος. ἀλλ’ ὦγαθέ, πρὸς τῆς Ἴσιδος κἂν τὰ Νειλῷα ταῦτα ταρίχη τὰ λεπτὰ μέμνησο ἡμῖν ἄγειν ἀπ' Αἰγύπτου ἢ μύρον ἀπὸ τοῦ Κανώπου ἢ ἶβιν ἐκ Μέμφιδος, εἰ δὲ ἡ ναῦς ἐδύνατο, καὶ τῶν πυραμίδων μίαν.

[¶38] 16. TIMOLAUS: That’s enough joking, Lycinus. Look how you’ve made Adimantus blush and overwhelmed his ship in a flood of laughter so that she’s waterlogged and can’t keep the sea out any more. Now we’ve still some way to go to the city, so let us divide the journey into four, and each of us in his allotted furlongs ask the gods for whatever he wants. In this way we shan’t notice the journey and at the same time we shall enjoy ourselves with a pleasant dream of our own choosing to bless us as long as we desire. Each one may decide the measure of his wish, and the gods may be supposed to grant it all, even if it is in essence improbable. Best of all it will show who would use his wealth and wish best, for it will show what sort of a man he would have been if he had been rich.

> Greek: 16. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Ἅλις παιδιᾶς, ὦ Λυκῖνε. ὁρᾷς, ὡς ἐρυθριᾶν Ἀδείμαντον ἐποίησας πολλῷ τῷ γέλωτι ἐπικλύσας τὸ πλοῖον, ὡς ὑπέραντλον εἶναι καὶ μηκέτι ἀντέχειν πρὸς τὸ ἐπιρρέον; Καὶ ἐπείπερ ἔτι πολὺ ἡμῖν τὸ λοιπόν ἐστιν πρὸς τὸ ἄστυ, διελόμενοι τετραχῆ τὴν ὁδὸν κατὰ τοὺς ἐπιβάλλοντας ἑκάστῳ σταδίους αἰτῶμεν ἅπερ ἂν δοκῇ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν. οὕτω γὰρ ἂν ἡμᾶς ὅ τε κάματος λάθοι καὶ ἅμα εὐφρανούμεθα ὥσπερ ἡδίστῳ ὀνείρατι ἑκουσίῳ περιπεσόντες, ἐφ' ὅσον βουλόμεθα, εὖ ποιήσοντι ἡμᾶς· παρ' αὐτῷ γὰρ ἑκάστῳ ἔστω τὸ μέτρον τῆς εὐχῆς, καὶ οἱ θεοὶ πάντα ὑποκείσθωσαν παρέξοντες, εἰ καὶ τῇ φύσει ἀπίθανα ἔσται. τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, ἐπίδειξις ἔσται τὸ πρᾶγμα ὅστις ἂν ἄριστα χρήσαιτο τῷ πλούτῳ καὶ τῇ εὐχῇ, δηλώσει γὰρ οἷος ἂν καὶ πλουτήσας ἐγένετο.

[¶39] 17. SAMIPPUS: Good, Timolaus. I agree. When the time comes I shall wish for what I want. I don’t think we need even ask Adimantus if he is willing—he has one foot in the ship as it is. But Lycinus must agree.
LYCINUS: Well, if it’s better so let us be rich. I’m not going to be envious amid your universal good-fortune.

> Greek: 17. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Καλῶς, ὦ Τιμόλαε, καὶ πείθομαί σοι καὶ ὅταν ὁ καιρὸς καλῇ, εὔξομαι ἅπερ ἂν δοκῇ. εἰ μὲν γὰρ Ἀδείμαντος βούλεται, οὐδὲ ἐρωτᾶν οἶμαι, ὅς γε δὴ ἐν τῇ νηΐ τὸν ἕτερον πόδα ἔχει. χρὴ δὲ καὶ Λυκίνῳ δοκεῖν. ΛΡΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἀλλὰ πλουτῶμεν, εἰ τοῦτο ἄμεινον, μὴ καὶ βασκαίνειν ἐν ταῖς κοιναῖς εὐτυχίαις δοκῶ.

[¶40] ADIMANTUS: Well, who’ll be first?

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Τίς γοῦν πρῶτος ἄρξεται;

[¶41] LYCINUS: You, Adimantus; then, after you, Samippus here; then Timolaus. I’ll take about the last half-furlong before the Dipylon for my wish, even though I run through it as quickly as I can.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Σύ, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, εἶτα μετὰ σὲ οὑτοσὶ Σάμιππος, εἶτα Τιμόλαος, ἐγὼ δὲ ὀλίγον ὅσον ἡμιστάδιον τὸ πρὸ τοῦ Διπύλου ἐπιλήψομαι τῇ εὐχῇ, καὶ τοῦτο ὡς οἷόν τε παραδραμών.

[¶42] 18. ADIMANTUS: Well, I shan’t desert my ship even now. Indeed I’ll add to my prayer since I’m allowed. May Hermes Lord of Profit give his consent to all! May the ship and all in her be mine—cargo, merchants, women, sailors, and every sweetest treasure in the world!

> Greek: 18. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Οὐκοῦν ἐγὼ μὲν οὐδὲ νῦν ἀποστήσομαι τῆς νεώς, ἀλλ’, ἐπείπερ ἔξεστιν, ἐπιμετρήσω τῇ εὐχῇ. ὁ δὲ Ἑρμῆς ὁ κερδῷος ἐπινευσάτω ἅπασιν. ἔστω γὰρ τὸ πλοῖον καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ πάντα ἐμὰ καὶ ὁ φόρτος οἱ ἔμποροι αἱ γυναῖκες οἱ ναῦται καὶ ἄλλο εἴ τι ἥδιστον κτημάτων ἁπάντων.

[¶43] SAMIPPUS: You’ve forgotten something that you have on board.

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Λέληθας σεαυτὸν ἔχων ἐν τῇ νηΐ.

[¶44] ADIMANTUS: You mean the boy, Samippus, the one with long hair. May he be mine too! And let her cargo of wheat be changed entirely to minted gold, all darics.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Τὸν παῖδα φής, ὦ Σάμιππε, τὸν κομήτην. κἀκεῖνος οὖν ἔστω ἐμός. ὁπόσος δὲ ὁ πυρὸς ἔνδον ἐστίν, οὗτος ὁ ἀριθμὸς ἅπας χρυσίον ἐπίσημον γενέσθω, τοσοῦτοι δαρεικοί.

[¶45] 19. LYCINUS: What’s this, Adimantus? Your ship will sink. The weight of wheat and an equivalent volume of gold is not the same.

> Greek: 19. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Τί τοῦτο, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε; καταδύσεταί σοι τὸ πλοῖον, οὐ γὰρ ἴσον βάρος πυροῦ καὶ τοῦ ἰσαρίθμου χρυσίου.

[¶46] ADIMANTUS: Don’t grudge it, Lycinus. When you come to your wish, make Parnes there, if you want, all of gold and have it so. I shan’t say a word.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Μὴ φθόνει, ὦ Λυκῖνε, ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὰν εἰς σὲ παρέλθῃ ἡ εὐχή, τὴν Πάρνηθα ἐκείνην, εἰ θέλεις, ὅλην χρυσῆν ποιήσας ἔχε, κἀγὼ σιωπήσομαί σοι.

[¶47] LYCINUS: I was thinking of your own safety, to avoid the loss of all hands with the gold. Indeed your prayer is moderate, but your pretty boy, poor wretch, will drown, not knowing how to swim.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἀλλ' ὑπὲρ ἀσφαλείας τοῦτο ἔγωγε τῆς σῆς ἐποιησάμην, ὡς μὴ ἀπολέσθαι ἅπαντας μετὰ τοῦ χρυσίου. καὶ τὰ μὲν ὑμέτερα μέτρια, τὸ μειράκιον δὲ τὸ ὡραῖον ἀποπνιγήσεται ἄθλιον νεῖν οὐκ ἐπιστάμενον.

[¶48] TIMOLAUS: Cheer up, Lycinus. The dolphins will swim up under him and carry him to shore. A lyre-player was saved by them and received the reward of his song, and the body of another boy was taken in the same way to the Isthmus on a dolphin’s back, so do you think Adimantus’s newly-bought servant will be in want of a loving dolphin?

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Θάρρει, ὦ Λυκῖνε. οἱ δελφῖνες γὰρ αὐτὸ ὑποδύντες ἐξοίσουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. ἢ νομίζεις κιθαρῳδὸν μέν τινα σωθῆναι παρ' αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπολαβεῖν τὸν μισθὸν ἀντὶ τῆς ᾠδῆς καὶ νεκρόν τι ἄλλο παιδίον ἐς τὸν Ἰσθμὸν ἐπὶ δελφῖνος ὁμοίως προσκομισθῆναι, τὸν δὲ Ἀδειμάντου οἰκέτην τὸν νεώνητον ἀπορήσειν δελφῖνος ἐρωτικοῦ;

[¶49] ADIMANTUS: You’re copying Lycinus, Timolaus. You’re piling up the quips. It was your idea, you know.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Καὶ σὺ γάρ, Τιμόλαε, μιμῇ Λυκῖνον καὶ ἐπιμετρεῖς τῶν σκωμμάτων, καὶ ταῦτα εἰσηγητὴς αὐτὸς γενόμενος;

[¶50] 20. TIMOLAUS: Better make it more credible and find some treasure under your bed. Then you won’t have trouble in transferring the gold from the ship to Athens.

> Greek: 20. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Ἄμεινον γὰρ ἦν πιθανώτερον αὐτὸ ποιεῖν και τινα θησαυρὸν ὑπὸ τῇ κλίνῃ ἀνευρεῖν, ὡς μὴ πράγματα ἔχοις ἐκ τοῦ πλοίου μετατιθεὶς χρυσίον ἐς τὸ ἄστυ.

[¶51] ADIMANTUS: You’re quite right. Let treasure be dug up under the stone Hermes that’s in my court, a thousand bushels of minted gold. Then immediately a house, as Hesiod says, first, that I may be housed most splendidly. I have already bought up all the land round the Acropolis, except for the thyme and stones, and the sea-front at Eleusis, and a few acres round the Isthmus for the games, in case I want to see them there, and the plain of Sicyon. In short every thickly-shaded, well-watered, or fruitful spot in Greece will soon belong to Adimantus. Let us have gold plate to eat from, and goblets—not light-weight pieces like those of Echecrates, but two talents each in weight.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Εὖ λέγεις, καὶ ἀνορωρύχθω θησαυρὸς ὑπὸ τὸν Ἑρμῆν τὸν λίθινον, ὅς ἐστιν ἡμῖν ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ, μέδιμνοι χίλιοι ἐπισήμου χρυσίου. εὐθὺς οὖν κατὰ τὸν Ἡσίοδον οἶκος τὸ πρῶτον, ὡς ἂν ἐπισημότατα οἰκοίην, καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸ ἄστυ πάντα ὠνησάμην ἤδη πλὴν ὅσα θύμον καὶ λίθοι, καὶ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι ὅσα ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ καὶ περὶ τὸν Ἰσθμὸν ὀλίγα τῶν ἀγώνων ἕνεκα, εἴ ποτε δὴ τὰ Ἴσθμια ἐπιδημήσαιμι, καὶ τὸ Σικυώνιον πεδίον, καὶ ὅλως εἴ πού τι ἢ συνηρεφὲς ἢ ἔνυδρον ἢ εὔκαρπον ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι, πάντα ἐν ὀλίγῳ Ἀδειμάντου ἔσται. ὁ χρυσὸς δὲ κοῖλος ἡμῖν ἐμφαγεῖν, τὰ δὲ ἐκπώματα οὐ κοῦφα ὡς τὰ Ἐχεκράτους, ἀλλὰ διτάλαντον ἕκαστον τὴν ὁλκήν.

[¶52] 21. LYCINUS: Then how will the cup-bearer serve a full goblet as heavy as that? And how will you take it from him without an effort? It won’t be a cup he offers, but a weight as heavy as Sisyphus’s rock!

> Greek: 21. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Εἶτα πῶς ὁ οἰνοχόος ὀρέξει πλῆρες οὕτω βαρὺ ἔκπωμα; ἢ σὺ δέξῃ παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀμογητὶ οὐ σκύφον, ἀλλὰ Σισύφειόν τι βάρος ἀναδιδόντος;

[¶53] ADIMANTUS: Man, don’t pick my wish to pieces. I’ll make my tables of solid gold too and my couches of gold and, if you don’t keep quiet, my servants as well.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἄνθρωπε, μή μοι ἀνάλυε τὴν εὐχήν. ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τὰς τραπέζας ὅλας χρυσᾶς ποιήσομαι καὶ τὰς κλίνας χρυσᾶς, εἰ δὲ μὴ σιωπήσῃ, καὶ τοὺς διακόνους αὐτούς.

[¶54] LYCINUS: Take care you don’t become a Midas and have your bread and drink turned to gold, and wretched in your riches perish, destroyed by a famine of superabundance.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ὅρα μόνον μὴ ὥσπερ τῷ Μίδᾳ καὶ ὁ ἄρτος σοι καὶ τὸ ποτὸν χρυσὸς γένηται καὶ πλουτῶν ἄθλιος ἀπόλῃ λιμῷ διαφθαρεὶς πολυτελεῖ.

[¶55] 22. ADIMANTUS: You’ll arrange your affairs more convincingly, Lycinus, when you make your requests in a moment. To go on, my dress will be of purple and my life the height of luxury, my sleep the sweetest possible. Friends will come and ask for favours and they’ll all bow down and grovel. Some of them will be walking up and down by my doors from dawn, among them Cleaenetus and Democritus, those great men, and, when they come and demand to be let in first, seven porters will stand there, tall barbarians, who will slam the door right in their faces, as they now do themselves. When I think fit I shall look out, like the rising sun. Some of them I shall not even look at, but if there is a poor man there, as I was before my treasure, I shall show him favour and bid him bathe and come back to dinner at the right time. But the others, the rich, will choke with envy when they see my carriages and horses and pretty slave-boys, two thousand of them, the flower of every age.

> Greek: 22. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Τὰ σὰ ῥυθμιεῖς πιθανώτερον, ὦ Λυκῖνε, μετ' ὀλίγον, ἐπειδὰν αὐτὸς αἰτῇς. ἐσθὴς ἐπὶ τούτοις ἁλουργὶς καὶ ὁ βίος οἷος ἁβρότατος, ὕπνος ἐφ' ὅσον ἥδιστος, φίλων πρόσοδοι καὶ δεήσεις καὶ τὸ ἅπαντας ὑποπτήσσειν καὶ προσκυνεῖν, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἕωθεν πρὸς ταῖς θύραις ἄνω καὶ κάτω περιπατήσουσιν, ἐν αὐτοῖς δὲ καὶ Κλεαίνετος καὶ Δημόκριτος οἱ πάνυ, καὶ προσελθοῦσιν γε αὐτοῖς καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἄλλων εἰσδεχθῆναι ἀξιοῦσι θυρωροὶ ἑπτὰ ἐφεστῶτες, εὐμεγέθεις βάρβαροι, προσαραξάτωσαν ἐς τὸ μέτωπον εὐθὺ τὴν θύραν, οἷα νῦν αὐτοὶ ποιοῦσιν. ἐγὼ δέ, ὁπόταν δόξῃ, προκύψας ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος ἐκείνων μὲν οὐδ’ ἐπιβλέψομαι ἐνίους, εἰ δέ τις πένης, οἷος ἦν ἐγὼ πρὸ τοῦ θησαυροῦ, φιλοφρονήσομαι τοῦτον καὶ λουσάμενον ἥκειν κελεύσω τὴν ὥραν ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον. οἱ δὲ ἀποπνιγήσονται οἱ πλούσιοι ὁρῶντες ὀχήματα, ἵππους καὶ παῖδας ὡραίους ὅσον δισχιλίους, ἐξ ἁπάσης ἡλικίας ὅ τι περ τὸ ἀνθηρότατον.

[¶56] 23. ADIMANTUS: Then dinners on gold—silver is cheap and unworthy of me—a pickled fish from Spain, wine from Italy, oil from Spain, as well, our own fresh Attic honey, meat from all parts—boar, and hare, and a variety of game-birds: a pheasant from Phasis, a peacock from India, and a guinea cock: and my several cooks will be experts in sweetmeats and sauces. If I demand a cup or a bowl and pledge a guest, let him drink and take the cup away with him.

> Greek: 23. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: εἶτα δεῖπνα ἐπὶ χρυσοῦ—εὐτελὴς γὰρ ὁ ἄργυρος καὶ οὐ κατ' ἐμέ—, τάριχος μὲν ἐξ Ἰβηρίας, οἶνος δὲ ἐξ Ἰταλίας, ἔλαιον δὲ ἐξ Ἰβηρίας καὶ τοῦτο, μέλι δὲ ἡμέτερον τὸ ἄπυρον, καὶ ὄψα πανταχόθεν καὶ σύες καὶ λαγώς, καὶ ὅσα πτηνά, ὄρνις ἐκ Φάσιδος καὶ ταὼς ἐξ Ἰνδίας καὶ ἀλεκτρυὼν ὁ Νομαδικός· οἱ δὲ σκευάζοντες ἕκαστα σοφισταί τινες περὶ πέμματα καὶ χυμοὺς ἔχοντες. εἰ δέ τινι προπίοιμι σκύφον ἢ φιάλην αἰτήσας, ὁ ἐκπιὼν ἀποφερέτω καὶ τὸ ἔκπωμα.

[¶57] 24. ADIMANTUS: The rich men of today are clearly all Iruses compared to me. Dionicus will never again show his little silver platter or cup in the procession, especially when he sees that my servants use so much silver. For the city this would be my allocation: by way of doles, a hundred drachmas to every citizen per month, half of this to a resident alien; and for the general public theatres and baths to beautify the city; the sea brought up to the Dipylon and a harbour in that region with water brought up by a deep canal, so that my ship may anchor near by in full view of the Ceramicus.

> Greek: 24. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: οἱ δὲ νῦν πλούσιοι πρὸς ἐμὲ Ἶροι δηλαδὴ ἅπαντες, καὶ οὐκέτι τὸ ἀργυροῦν πινάκιον ἢ τὸν σκύφον ἐπιδείξεται Διόνικος ἐν τῇ πομπῇ, καὶ μάλιστα ἐπειδὰν ὁρᾷ τοὺς οἰκέτας τοὺς ἐμοὺς ἀργύρῳ τοσούτῳ χρωμένους. τῇ πόλει δὲ ταῦτα ἐξαίρετα παρ' ἐμοῦ ὑπῆρξεν ἄν, αἱ μὲν διανομαὶ κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον δραχμαὶ τῷ μὲν ἀστῷ ἑκατόν, τῷ δὲ μετοίκῳ ἥμισυ τούτων, δημοσίᾳ δὲ ὅσα ἐς κάλλος θέατρα καὶ βαλανεῖα, καὶ τὴν θάλατταν ἄχρι πρὸς τὸ Δίπυλον ἥκειν κἀνταῦθά που λιμένα εἶναι ἐπαχθέντος ὀρύγματι μεγάλῳ τοῦ ὕδατος, ὡς τὸ πλοῖόν μου πλησίον ὁρμεῖν καταφανὲς ὂν ἐκ τοῦ Κεραμεικοῦ.

[¶58] 25. ADIMANTUS: For you, my friends, I’d have told the steward to make an allotment of minted gold: twenty bushels for Samippus, five quarts for Timolaus, and one quart for Lycinus levelled off with a strickle at that, because he’s a babbler and makes fun of my prayer. This is the life I wish to live, extravagant in wealth and luxury, enjoying every pleasure in fullest measure. I have spoken, and may Hermes bring it to fulfilment!

> Greek: 25. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: τοῖς φίλοις δὲ ὑμῖν, Σαμίππῳ μὲν εἴκοσι μεδίμνους ἐπισήμου χρυσίου παραμετρῆσαι τὸν οἰκονόμον ἐκέλευσα ἄν, Τιμολάῳ δὲ πέντε χοίνικας, Λυκίνῳ δὲ χοίνικα, ἀπομεμαγμένην καὶ ταύτην, ὅτι λάλος ἐστὶ καὶ ἐπισκώπτει μου τὴν εὐχήν. τοῦτον ἐβουλόμην βιῶναι τὸν βίον πλουτῶν ἐς ὑπερβολὴν καὶ τρυφῶν καὶ πάσαις ἡδοναῖς ἀφθόνως χρώμενος. εἴρηκα, καί μοι ὁ Ἑρμῆς τελεσιουργήσειεν αὐτά.

[¶59] 26. LYCINUS: Do you know, Adimantus, by what exceedingly thin thread all this wealth is hanging? If it snaps, then all is gone and your treasure will be ashes.
ADIMANTUS: What do you mean, Lycinus?

> Greek: 26. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Οἶσθα οὖν, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, ὡς πάνυ σοι ἀπὸ λεπτῆς κρόκης ὁ πᾶς οὑτοσὶ πλοῦτος ἀπήρτηται, καὶ ἢν ἐκείνη ἀπορραγῇ, πάντα οἴχεται καὶ ἄνθρακές σοι ὁ θησαυρὸς ἔσται; ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟ: Πῶς λέγεις, ὦ Λυκῖνε;

[¶60] LYCINUS: That, my fine friend, you don’t know how long you will live with your wealth. Who knows that when your golden table is beside you, before you can put out your hand and sample the peacock or your guinea cock, you will not breathe out your little bit of soul and be gone, leaving all that for vultures and ravens? Would you like me to run through for you those who died at once before they had a chance to enjoy their wealth, or some who even though they lived on were robbed of what they had by some spirit malignant in such matters? You have heard, I suppose, of Croesus and Polycrates who became much richer than you and lost all their good things in a moment.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ὅτι, ὦ ἄριστε, ἄδηλον ὁπόσον χρόνον βιώσει πλουτῶν. τίς γὰρ οἶδεν εἰ ἔτι παρακειμένης σοι τῆς χρυσῆς τραπέζης, πρὶν ἐπιβαλεῖν τὴν χεῖρα καὶ ἀπογεύσασθαι τοῦ ταὼ ἢ τοῦ Νομάδος ἀλεκτρυόνος, ἀποφυσήσας τὸ ψυχίδιον ἄπει γυψὶ καὶ κόραξι πάντα ἐκεῖνα καταλιπών; ἢ ἐθέλεις καταριθμήσομαί σοι τοὺς μὲν αὐτίκα πρὶν ἀπολαῦσαι τοῦ πλούτου ἀποθανόντας, ἐνίους δὲ καὶ ζῶντας ἀποστερηθέντας ὧν εἶχον ὑπό τινος βασκάνου πρὸς τὰ τοιαῦτα δαίμονος; ἀκούεις γάρ που τὸν Κροῖσον καὶ τὸν Πολυκράτην πολύ σου πλουσιωτέρους γενομένους ἐκπεσόντας ἐν βραχεῖ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἁπάντων.

## 2. Sections 27–46

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/2/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/lucian-the-ship/2/#p-N

[¶0] 27. LYCINUS: But, to let them go, do you think that you will have sure and certain good health? Don’t you see that many rich men live unhappy lives through some affliction—some unable even to walk, some blind, some with internal trouble? You would not accept twice the wealth if the effeminacy of the wealthy Phanomachus went with it, I’m sure, even if you deny it. I say nothing of the plots and robberies and envy and hatred by the mob that go with riches. Do you see how much trouble your treasure causes?

> Greek: 27. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: ἵνα δέ σοι καὶ τούτους ἀφῶ, τό γε ὑγιαίνειν ἐχέγγυον οἴει σοι γενήσεσθαι καὶ βέβαιον; ἢ οὐχ ὁρᾷς πολλοὺς τῶν πλουσίων κακοδαιμόνως διάγοντας ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλγηδόνων, τοὺς μὲν οὐδὲ βαδίζειν δυναμένους, ἐνίους δὲ τυφλοὺς ἢ τῶν ἐντοσθιδίων τι ἀλγοῦντας; ὅτι μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἂν ἕλοιο πλουτῶν δὶς τοσοῦτον πλοῦτον ὅμοια πάσχειν Φανομάχῳ τῷ πλουσίῳ καὶ θηλύνεσθαι ὡς ἐκεῖνος εὖ οἶδα, κἂν μὴ εἴπῃς. ἐῶ λέγειν ὅσας ἐπιβουλὰς μετὰ τοῦ πλούτου καὶ λῃστὰς καὶ φθόνον καὶ μῖσος παρὰ τῶν πολλῶν. ὁρᾷς οἵων σοι πραγμάτων αἴτιος ὁ θησαυρὸς γίγνεται;

[¶1] ADIMANTUS: You’re always against me, Lycinus. Very well, you won’t get even a quart, as you’ve abused my wish to the end.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἀεὶ σύ μοι, ὦ Λυκῖνε, ὑπεναντίος· ὥστε οὐδὲ τὴν χοίνικα ἔτι λήψῃ ἐς τέλος μου τῆς εὐχῆς ἐπηρεάζων.

[¶2] LYCINUS: There you are. Just like most rich men, backing out and calling off your promises. Now give us your wish, Samippus.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Τοῦτο μὲν ἤδη κατὰ τοὺς πολλοὺς τῶν πλουσίων ἀναδύῃ καὶ ἀνακαλεῖς τὴν ὑπόσχεσιν. ἀλλὰ σὺ ἤδη ὁ Σάμιππος εὔχου.

[¶3] 28. SAMIPPUS: I’m from the mainland, an Arcadian from Mantinea as you know, so I shan’t ask for a ship. I could not show it off to my fellow-citizens, and I shan’t be niggardly with the gods and ask for treasure and measured gold. The gods can do anything, even what seems to be quite stupendous, and the rule of wish which Timolaus laid down was not to hesitate to ask for anything, on the assumption that they will not say no. Well, I ask to be made a king, but not a king like Alexander, Philip’s son, or Ptolemy or Mithridates or any of those who inherited their kingdom from a father. No, let me begin as a brigand with about thirty sworn companions, men absolutely trustworthy and full of spirit. Then let them grow by degrees to three hundred, a thousand, and soon ten thousand, until the total is some fifty thousand heavy infantry and about five thousand horse.

> Greek: 28. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Ἐγὼ δὲ—ἠπειρώτης γάρ εἰμι, Αρκὰς ἐκ Μαντινείας, ὡς ἴστε—ναῦν μὲν οὐκ αἰτήσω μοι γενέσθαι, ἥν γε τοῖς πολίταις ἐπιδείξασθαι ἀδύνατον, οὐδὲ μικρολογήσομαι πρὸς τοὺς θεοὺς θησαυρὸν αἰτῶν καὶ μεμετρημένον χρυσίον. ἀλλὰ δύνανται γὰρ πάντα οἱ θεοί, καὶ τὰ μέγιστα εἶναι δοκοῦντα, καὶ ὁ νόμος τῆς εὐχῆς ὃν Τιμόλαος ἔθηκε φήσας μηδὲν ὀκνεῖν αἰτεῖν, ὡς ἐκείνων πρὸς οὐδὲν ἀνανευόντων. αἰτῶ δὴ βασιλεὺς γενέσθαι οὐχ οἷος Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Φιλίππου ἢ Πτολεμαῖος ἢ Μιθριδάτης ἢ εἴ τις ἄλλος ἐκδεξάμενος τὴν βασιλείαν παρὰ πατρὸς ἦρξεν, ἀλλά μοι τὸ πρῶτον ἀπὸ λῃστείας ἀρξαμένῳ ἑταῖροι καὶ συνωμόται ὅσον τριάκοντα, πιστοὶ μάλα καὶ πρόθυμοι, γενέσθωσαν, εἶτα κατ' ὀλίγον τριακόσιοι προσιόντες ἡμῖν ἄλλος ἐπ' ἄλλῳ, εἶτα χίλιοι καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ μύριοι, καὶ τὸ πᾶν εἰς πέντε μυριάδας ὁπλιτικόν, ἱππεῖς δὲ ἀμφὶ τοὺς πεντακισχιλίους.

[¶4] 29. SAMIPPUS: I shall be elected chief by all, because they think me the most able leader and administrator. This very fact is sweet—to be greater than other kings, because I’ve been elected commander by the army on merit, and not inherited the kingdom after someone else has done the work—that would be like Adimantus’s treasure and not so gratifying as when you see that you have won power by your own effort.

> Greek: 29. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: ἐγὼ δὲ χειροτονητὸς ὑφ' ἁπάντων προκριθεὶς ἄρχων, ἄριστος εἶναι δόξας ἀνθρώπων ἡγεῖσθαι καὶ πράγμασι χρῆσθαι. ὡς τοῦτό γε αὐτὸ ἡδύ, μείζω εἶναι τῶν ἄλλων βασιλέων ἅτε ἀρετῇ προχειρισθέντα ὑπὸ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἄρχειν, οὐ κληρονόμον γενόμενον ἄλλου πονήσαντος ἐς τὴν βασιλείαν· ἐπεὶ τῷ Ἀδειμάντου θησαυρῷ παραπλήσιον τὸ τοιοῦτο, καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα οὐχ ὅμοιον ἡδύ, ὥσπερ ὅταν ἴδῃ τις αὐτὸς δι’ αὑτοῦ κτησάμενος τὴν δυναστείαν.

[¶5] LYCINUS: Goodness, Samippus! This is no small demand. You’ve asked for the essence of every good there is, to have fifty thousand men choose you as most able to command a force like that. What a wonderful king and general Mantinea had bred and didn’t know it! Never mind! Be king and lead your soldiers and muster your cavalry and your heroic shield-bearers. I want to know where you are going with an army of that size from Arcadia and who will be your first unhappy victims.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Παπαῖ, ὦ Σάμιππε, οὐδὲν μικρόν, ἀλλὰ τὸ κεφάλαιον αὐτὸ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἁπάντων σύ γε ᾔτησας, ἄρχειν ἀσπίδος τοσαύτης ἄριστος δὴ προκριθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν πεντακισμυρίων. τοιοῦτον ἡμῖν ἡ Μαντίνεια θαυμαστὸν βασιλέα καὶ στρατηγὸν ἐλελήθει ἀνατρέφουσα. πλὴν ἀλλὰ βασίλευε καὶ ἡγοῦ τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ διακόσμει τό τε ἱππικὸν καὶ τοὺς ἀνέρας τοὺς ἀσπιδιώτας· ἐθέλω γὰρ εἰδέναι οἷ βαδιεῖσθε τοσοῦτοι ὄντες ἐξ Ἀρκαδίας ἢ ἐπὶ τίνας ἀθλίους πρώτους ἀφίξεσθε.

[¶6] 30. SAMIPPUS: Listen, Lycinus, or better still come with us if you like. I’ll make you a cavalry officer in the fifty thousand.

> Greek: 30. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Ἄκουε, ὦ Λυκῖνε, μᾶλλον δέ, εἴ σοι φίλον, ἀκολούθει μεθ' ἡμῶν. ἵππαρχον γάρ σε τῶν πεντακισχιλίων ἀποφανῶ.

[¶7] LYCINUS: Well, I’m grateful for the honour, your majesty. I bow my head in Persian style and do obeisance sweeping my hands behind me, honouring your upright turban and your diadem. But make one of these mighty men your cavalry officer. I’m dreadfully bad at horses and never sat on a horse in my life before. I’m afraid that when the trumpet blows for action I’ll fall off and be trampled on by all those hooves in the throng; or the horse may be spirited and take the bit between its teeth and carry me right among the enemy; or I shall have to be tied to the saddle if I’m going to stay up and hold the reins.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἀλλὰ τῆς μὲν τιμῆς, ὦ βασιλεῦ, χάριν οἶδά σοι καὶ ὑποκύψας ἐς τὸ Περσικὸν προσκυνῶ σε περιαγαγὼν εἰς τοὐπίσω τὼ χεῖρε τιμῶν τὴν τιάραν ὀρθὴν οὖσαν καὶ τὸ διάδημα. σὺ δὲ τῶν ἐρρωμένων τούτων τινὰ ποίησον ἵππαρχον. ἐγὼ γάρ σοι δεινῶς ἄφιππός εἰμι καὶ οὐδὲ ὅλως ἐπέβην ἵππου ἐν τῷ πρὸ τοῦ χρόνῳ. δέδια τοίνυν μὴ τοῦ σαλπιγκτοῦ ἐποτρύνοντος καταπεσὼν ἔγωγε συμπατηθῶ ἐν τῇ τύρβῃ ὑπὸ τοσαύταις ὁπλαῖς, ἢ καὶ θυμοειδὴς ὢν ὁ ἵππος ἐξενέγκῃ με τὸν χαλινὸν ἐνδακὼν ἐς μέσους τοὺς πολεμίους, ἢ δεήσει καταδεθῆναί με πρὸς τὸ ἐφίππιον, εἰ μέλλω μενεῖν τε ἄνω καὶ ἕξεσθαι τοῦ χαλινοῦ.

[¶8] 31. ADIMANTUS: I’ll lead your cavalry, Samippus. Let Lycinus have the right wing. I deserve the best from you in return for all those bushels of minted gold I gave you.

> Greek: 31. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἐγώ σοι, ὦ Σάμιππε, ἡγήσομαι τῶν ἱππέων, Λυκῖνος δὲ τὸ δεξιὸν κέρας ἐχέτω. δίκαιος δ’ ἂν εἴην τυχεῖν παρὰ σοῦ τῶν μεγίστων τοσούτοις σε μεδίμνοις δωρησάμενος ἐπισήμου χρυσίου.

[¶9] SAMIPPUS: Let us ask the cavalry personally, Adimantus, if they will have you as commander. Gentlemen of the cavalry, those in favour of Adimantus as cavalry officer, raise your hands.

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Καὶ αὐτοὺς ἐρώμεθα, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, τοὺς ἱππέας, εἰ δέξονταί ἄρχοντα σε σφῶν γενέσθαι. ὅτῳ δοκεῖ, ὦ ἱππεῖς, Ἀδείμαντον ἱππαρχεῖν, ἀνατεινάτω τὴν χεῖρα.

[¶10] ADIMANTUS: They’ve voted unanimously, you see, Samippus.

> Greek: ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Πάντες, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ὦ Σάμιππε, ἐχειροτόνησαν.

[¶11] SAMIPPUS: Well, you command the cavalry and let Lycinus have the right. Timolaus here shall take the left. I shall be in the centre as the law lays down for Persian kings when they are with their troops.

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Ἀλλὰ σὺ μὲν ἄρχε τῆς ἵππου, Λυκῖνος δὲ ἐχέτω τὸ δεξιόν. οὑτοσὶ δὲ Τιμόλαος ἐπὶ τοῦ εὐωνύμου τετάξεται. ἐγὼ δὲ κατὰ μέσον, ὡς νόμος βασιλεῦσι τῶν Περσῶν, ἐπειδὰν αὐτοὶ συμπαρῶσι.

[¶12] 32. SAMIPPUS: Let us now advance to Corinth over the hills after a prayer to Royal Zeus; and when we have conquered all of Greece—we shall have no opposition to our enormous numbers and have an easy victory—we shall embark on triremes, putting the cavalry on horse-transports—enough corn and sufficient boats and everything else is ready at Cenchreae—let us cross the Aegean to Ionia. There let us sacrifice to Artemis and capture the cities easily—they are unwalled—leave governors behind, and press on to Syria through Caria first, then Lycia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Cilicia (both coast and hill areas), until we reach the Euphrates.

> Greek: 32. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: προΐωμεν δὲ ἤδη τὴν ἐπὶ Κορίνθου διὰ τῆς ὀρεινῆς ἐπευξάμενοι τῷ βασιλείῳ Διί· κἀπειδὰν τἀν τῇ Ἑλλάδι πάντα ἤδη χειρωσώμεθα—οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὁ ἐναντιωθησόμενος ἡμῖν τὰ ὅπλα τοσούτοις οὖσιν, ἀλλ’ ἀκονιτὶ κρατοῦμεν—ἐπιβάντες ἐπὶ τὰς τριήρεις καὶ τοὺς ἵππους εἰς τὰς ἱππαγωγοὺς ἐμβιβάσαντες—παρεσκεύασται δ’ ἐν Κεγχρεαῖς καὶ σῖτος ἱκανὸς καὶ τὰ πλοῖα διαρκῆ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα—διαβάλωμεν τὸν Αἰγαῖον ἐς τὴν Ἰωνίαν, εἶτα ἐκεῖ τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι θύσαντες καὶ τὰς πόλεις ἀτειχίστους λαβόντες ῥᾳδίως ἄρχοντας ἀπολιπόντες προχωρῶμεν ἐπὶ Συρίας διὰ Καρίας, εἶτα Λυκίας καὶ Παμφυλίας καὶ Πισιδῶν καὶ τῆς παραλίου καὶ ὀρεινῆς Κιλικίας, ἄχρι ἂν ἐπὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην ἀφικώμεθα.

[¶13] 33. LYCINUS: Please, your Majesty, leave me behind as satrap of Greece. I’m a coward and I couldn’t bear to go far away from things at home. You seem to be pushing on to the Armenians and Parthians, warlike nations, good shots with the bow. So give the right wing to someone else and leave me in Greece like an Antipater. I don’t want anyone to stick me with an arrow hitting some exposed part of my poor body when I’m leading your phalanx near Susa or Bactra.

> Greek: 33. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἐμέ, ὦ βασιλεῦ, εἰ δοκεῖ, σατράπην τῆς Ἑλλάδος κατάλιπε. δειλὸς γάρ εἰμι καὶ τῶν οἴκοι πολὺ ἀπελθεῖν οὐκ ἂν ἡδέως ὑπομείναιμι. σὺ δὲ ἔοικας ἐπὶ Ἀρμενίους καὶ Παρθυαίους ἐλάσειν μάχιμα φῦλα καὶ τὴν τοξικὴν εὔστοχα. ὥστε ἄλλῳ παραδοὺς τὸ δεξιὸν ἐμὲ Ἀντίπατρόν τινα ἔασον ἐπὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος, μή με καὶ διαπείρῃ τις οἰστῷ ἄθλιον βαλὼν ἐς τὰ γυμνὰ περὶ Σοῦσα ἢ Βάκτρα ἡγούμενόν σοι τῆς φάλαγγος.

[¶14] SAMIPPUS: You’re deserting the levy, Lycinus, you coward. It’s the law to cut the head off anyone seen leaving the ranks. But now that we are at the Euphrates, the river has been bridged and all is safe in the rear and I’ve put prefects over each tribe to keep control of everything. Others meanwhile will go off for us to win over Phoenicia and Palestine and afterwards Egypt too.

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Ἀποδιδράσκεις, ὦ Λυκῖνε, τὸν κατάλογον δειλὸς ὤν. ὁ δὲ νόμος ἀποτετμῆσθαι τὴν κεφαλήν, εἴ τις λιπὼν φαίνοιτο τὴν τάξιν. ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ κατὰ τὸν Εὐφράτην ἤδη ἐσμὲν καὶ ὁ ποταμὸς ἔζευκται καὶ κατόπιν ὁπόσα διεληλύθαμεν ἀσφαλῶς ἔχει καὶ πάντα ὕπαρχοι κατέχουσιν ὑπ' ἐμοῦ ἑκάστῳ ἔθνει ἐπεισαχθέντες, οἱ δὲ καὶ ἀπίασι τὴν Φοινίκην ἡμῖν ἐν τούτῳ καὶ τὴν Παλαιστίνην εἶτα καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον προσαξόμενοι, ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: σὺ πρῶτος, ὦ Λυκῖνε, διάβαινε τὸ δεξιὸν ἄγων, εἶτα ἐγὼ καὶ μετ' ἐμὲ ὁ Τιμόλαος·

[¶15] 34. SAMIPPUS: You cross first, Lycinus, with the right wing, then I, and Timolaus after me; last of all, Adimantus, bring the cavalry. Throughout Mesopotamia not an enemy has met us. They surrendered themselves and their strongholds quite voluntarily. We came against Babylon unexpectedly and entered the walls and held the city. The King was busy at Ctesiphon when he heard of our approach. Then he came to Seleucia, and is summoning and making ready all the cavalry he can and bowmen and slingers. The scouts report about a million already mustered under arms, including two hundred thousand mounted archers. Yet the Armenians are not yet here nor those from the Caspian Sea nor the men from Bactra, only those from near at hand and the suburbs of the empire. See how easily he mustered all those thousands. Now it’s time for us to consider what to do next.

> Greek: 34. ἐπὶ πᾶσι δὲ τὸ ἱππικὸν ἄγε σύ, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε. καὶ διὰ μὲν τῆς Μεσοποταμίας οὐδεὶς ἀπήντηκεν ἡμῖν πολέμιος, ἀλλὰ ἑκόντες αὑτούς τε καὶ τὰς ἀκροπόλεις ἅνθρωποι ἐνεχείρισαν, καὶ ἐπὶ Βαβυλῶνα ἐλθόντες ἀπροσδόκητοι παρήλθομεν εἰς τὸ εἴσω τῶν τειχῶν καὶ ἔχομεν τὴν πόλιν. ὁ βασιλεὺς δὲ περὶ Κτησιφῶντα διατρίβων ἤκουσε τὴν ἔφοδον, εἶτα εἰς Σελεύκειαν παρελθὼν παρασκευάζεται ἱππέας τε ὅτι πλείστους μεταπεμπόμενος καὶ τοξότας καὶ σφενδονήτας. ἀπαγγέλλουσι δ’ οὖν οἱ σκοποὶ ἀμφὶ τὰς ἑκατὸν ἤδη μυριάδας τοῦ μαχίμου συνειλέχθαι καὶ τούτων εἴκοσιν ἱπποτοξότας, καίτοι οὔπω ὁ Ἀρμένιος πάρεστιν οὔτε οἱ κατὰ τὴν Κασπίαν θάλατταν οἰκοῦντες οὔτε οἱ ἀπὸ Βάκτρων, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν πλησίον καὶ προαστείων τῆς ἀρχῆς· οὕτω ῥᾳδίως τοσαύτας μυριάδας κατέλεξε. καιρὸς οὖν ἤδη σκοπεῖν ἡμᾶς ὅ τι χρὴ ποιεῖν.

[¶16] 35. ADIMANTUS: I say you infantry must be off on the road to Ctesiphon while we cavalry stay here to guard Babylon.

> Greek: 35. ΑΔΕΙΜΑΝΤΟΣ: Ἀλλ' ἐγὼ μέν φημι δεῖν ὑμᾶς τὸ πεζὸν ἀπιέναι τὴν ἐπὶ Κτησιφῶντος, ἡμᾶς δὲ τὸ ἱππικὸν αὐτοῦ μένειν τὴν Βαβυλῶνα διαφυλάξοντας.

[¶17] SAMIPPUS: Are you playing the coward too, Adimantus, now you’re close to danger? What do you think, Timolaus?

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Ἀποδειλιᾷς καὶ σύ, ὦ Ἀδείμαντε, πλησίον τοῦ κινδύνου γενόμενος; σοὶ δὲ τί δοκεῖ, ὦ Τιμόλαε;

[¶18] TIMOLAUS: March against the enemy with your entire army and don’t wait until the arrival of allies from all around makes them better prepared. No, let us attack the enemy while they are still on the march.

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Ἁπάσῃ τῇ στρατιᾷ βαδίζειν ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους, μηδὲ περιμένειν ἔστ' ἂν ἄμεινον παρασκευάσωνται πανταχόθεν τῶν συμμάχων προσγενομένων, ἀλλ’ ἕως ἔτι καθ' ὁδόν εἰσιν οἱ πολέμιοι, ἐπιχειρῶμεν αὐτοῖς.

[¶19] SAMIPPUS: Good! What’s your opinion, Lycinus?

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Εὖ λέγεις. σὺ δὲ τί, ὦ Λυκῖνε, δοκιμάζεις;

[¶20] LYCINUS: I will tell you. We are tired with our hard travelling to Piraeus this morning, and now we have already done thirty stades I suppose, and the sun is hot—it’s about midday. Let’s go over to the olives and sit on that overturned stone there and have a breather. Then when we’re recovered we complete the rest of the way to the city.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἐγώ σοι φράσω. ἐπειδὴ κεκμήκαμεν συντόνως ὁδεύοντες, ὁπότε κατῄειμεν ἕωθεν ἐς τὸν Πειραιᾶ, καὶ νῦν ἤδη τριάκοντά που σταδίους προκεχωρήκαμεν καὶ ὁ ἥλιος πολύς, κατὰ μεσημβρίαν γὰρ ἤδη μάλιστα, ἐνταῦθά που ἐπὶ τὰς ἐλαίας ἐπὶ τῆς ἀνατετραμμένης στήλης καθίσαντας ἀναπαύσασθαι, εἶτα οὕτως ἀναστάντας ἀνύειν τὸ λοιπὸν ἐς τὸ ἄστυ.

[¶21] SAMIPPUS: Bless you! Do you think you are still at Athens? You’re stationed on the plain near Babylon outside the walls, one of a mighty army, in a council of war.

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Ἔτι γὰρ Ἀθήνησιν, ὦ μακάριε, εἶναι δοκεῖς, ὃς ἀμφὶ Βαβυλῶνα ἐν τῷ πεδίῳ πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἐν τοσούτοις στρατιώταις κάθησαι περὶ τοῦ πολέμου διασκοπούμενος;

[¶22] LYCINUS: Thanks for the reminder. I thought I was sober and that the idea I was expressing was wideawake.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Εὖ γε ὑπέμνησας. ἐγὼ δὲ νήφειν ᾤμην καὶ ὕπαρ ἀποφανεῖσθαι τὴν γνώμην.

[¶23] 36. SAMIPPUS: We’ll go on then, if you don’t mind. Be good soldiers in danger and don’t betray our native spirit! The enemy are coming on now, I fancy. So let Enyalius be our watchword! When the trumpeter gives the signal, raise the battle-cry, crash your spears against your shields, charge and get to grips with ’em! Get under their arrows! Don’t let them shoot us down at long range! Now we’re at close quarters and Timolaus and the left have routed those against them—Medes they are. There’s no decision yet in my sector—they’re Persians here and the king’s with them. All the barbarian horse are charging our right. So show your quality, Lycinus, and encourage your men to receive the charge!

> Greek: 36. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Πρόσιμεν δή, εἴ σοι δοκεῖ. καὶ ὅπως ἄνδρες ἀγαθοὶ ἐν τοῖς κινδύνοις ἔσεσθε μηδὲ προδώσετε τὸ πάτριον φρόνημα. ἤδη γάρ που καὶ οἱ πολέμιοι ἐπιλαμβάνουσιν. ὥστε τὸ μὲν σύνθημα ἔστω Ἐνυάλιος. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἐπειδὰν σημάνῃ ὁ σαλπιγκτής, ἀλαλάξαντες καὶ τὰ δόρατα κρούσαντες πρὸς τὰς ἀσπίδας ἐπείγεσθε συμμῖξαι τοῖς ἐναντίοις καὶ ἐντὸς γενέσθαι τῶν τοξευμάτων, ὡς μηδὲ πληγὰς λαμβάνωμεν ἀκροβολίζεσθαι αὐτοῖς διδόντες. καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐς χεῖρας ἤδη συνεληλύθαμεν, τὸ μὲν εὐώνυμον καὶ ὁ Τιμόλαος ἐτρέψαντο τοὺς καθ' αὑτοὺς Μήδους ὄντας, τὸ δὲ κατ' ἐμὲ ἰσόπαλον ἔτι, Πέρσαι γάρ εἰσι καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς. ἡ δὲ ἵππος ἅπασα τῶν βαρβάρων ἐπὶ τὸ δεξιὸν ἡμῶν ἐλαύνουσιν, ὥστε, ὦ Λυκῖνε, αὐτός τε ἀνὴρ ἀγαθὸς γίγνου καὶ τοῖς μετὰ σαυτοῦ παρακελεύου δέχεσθαι τὴν ἐπέλασιν.

[¶24] 37. LYCINUS: Oh, what luck! All the cavalry are charging against me, and they’ve thought me alone worth attacking. Well, if they press me hard, I fancy I shall desert and run away to the gymnasium and leave you behind still fighting your war.

> Greek: 37. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ὢ τῆς τύχης. ἐπ' ἐμὲ γὰρ οἱ ἱππεῖς ἅπαντες καὶ μόνος ἐπιτήδειος αὐτοῖς ἔδοξα ἐπελαύνεσθαι. καί μοι δοκῶ, ἢν βιάζωνται, αὐτομολήσειν προσδραμὼν ἐς τὴν παλαίστραν ἔτι πολεμοῦντας ὑμᾶς καταλιπών.

[¶25] SAMIPPUS: Don’t do that! You are already mastering them on your side. Now, as you see, I am going to fight the king in single combat. He is challenging me, and to refuse would be absolutely disgraceful.

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Μηδαμῶς. κρατεῖς γὰρ αὐτῶν καὶ σὺ ἤδη τὸ μέρος. ἐγὼ δέ, ὡς ὁρᾷς, καὶ μονομαχήσω πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα· προκαλεῖται γάρ με καὶ ἀναδῦναι πάντως αἰσχρόν.

[¶26] LYCINUS: Yes, and you’ll be wounded by him in a moment. It’s a royal privilege to be wounded fighting for your empire.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Νὴ Δία καὶ τετρώσῃ αὐτίκα μάλα πρὸς αὐτοῦ. βασιλικὸν γὰρ καὶ τὸ τρωθῆναι περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς μαχόμενον.

[¶27] SAMIPPUS: You are right. Still, it’s only a slight wound and not in an exposed place, so the scar won’t disfigure me afterwards. But did you see how I charged him and ran him through and his horse too with one throw of my spear, and then cut off his head and stripped him of his diadem and now I am the Great King with everyone doing obeisance? Let the barbarians do obeisance!

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Εὖ λέγεις. ἐπιπόλαιον μέντοι τὸ τραῦμα καὶ οὐκ εἰς τὰ φανερὰ τοῦ σώματος, ὡς μηδὲ τὴν οὐλὴν ὕστερον ἄμορφον γενέσθαι. πλὴν ἀλλὰ ὁρᾷς ὅπως ἐπελάσας μιᾷ πληγῇ αὐτόν τε καὶ τὸν ἵππον διέπειρα τὴν λόγχην ἀφείς, εἶτα τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτεμὼν καὶ ἀφελὼν τὸ διάδημα βασιλεὺς ἤδη γέγονα προσκυνούμενος ὑφ' ἁπάντων; οἱ βάρβαροι προσκυνείτωσαν.

[¶28] 38. SAMIPPUS: You I’ll rule in Greek manner under the title of sole commander. Then think how many cities I shall found and name after myself, and how many I shall storm and destroy that have been insolent to my empire! Of all men I’ll punish that rich Cydias in particular: he used to be my neighbour; he encroached on my property little by little and drove me from my land.

> Greek: 38. ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: ὑμῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἑλλήνων νόμον ἄρξω εἷς στρατηγὸς ὀνομαζόμενος. ἐπὶ τούτοις ἄρα ἐννοεῖτε ὅσας μὲν πόλεις ἐπωνύμους ἐπ' ἐμαυτοῦ οἰκιῶ, ὅσας δὲ καὶ καθαιρήσω ἑλὼν κατὰ κράτος, αἳ ἂν ὑβρίσωσί τι ἐς τὴν ἀρχήν. ἁπάντων δὲ μάλιστα Κυδίαν τὸν πλούσιον μετελεύσομαι, ὃς ὅμορος ὤν μοι ἐξέωσε τοῦ ἀγροῦ ἐπιβαίνων κατ' ὀλίγον ἐς τὸ εἴσω τῶν ὅρων.

[¶29] 39. LYCINUS: That’s enough, Samippus. Now you’ve won your big fight it’s time for your victory-feast in Babylon—I think your empire is six stades long. It is the turn of Timolaus now to wish for whatever he wants.

> Greek: 39. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Πέπαυσο ἤδη, ὦ Σάμιππε. καιρὸς γὰρ σὲ ἤδη μὲν νενικηκότα τηλικαύτην μάχην ἐν Βαβυλῶνι εὐωχεῖσθαι τὰ ἐπινίκια—ἑκστάδιος γὰρ οἶμαί σοι ἡ ἀρχή—Τιμόλαον δὲ ἐν τῷ μέρει εὔχεσθαι ὅπερ ἂν ἐθέλῃ.

[¶30] SAMIPPUS: Well, but, Lycinus, what do you think of my wish?

> Greek: ΣΑΜΙΠΠΟΣ: Τί δ’ οὖν, ὦ Λυκῖνε; οἷά σοι ᾐτῆσθαι δοκῶ;

[¶31] LYCINUS: Much more laborious and violent, most glorious Majesty, than Adimantus’s. He lived in luxury and bestowed on his fellow-drinkers golden cups of two talents weight each. You were wounded in single combat and were afraid and anxious night and day—you had not only your enemies to fear, but thousands of plots and envy from those around you and hatred and flattery: not one true friend did you have, but all feigned goodwill for fear or hope. You had not even a phantom enjoyment of your pleasures, only the appearance, purple embroidered with gold, a white ribbon on your brow, and bodyguards to go before you, but otherwise intolerable hardship and much unpleasantness. Then you must do business with missions from your enemies or pass judgments or send instructions to your subjects; some tribe has revolted or some foreign state is invading. You must fear and suspect everything, and in fine everyone will count you happy except your own self.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Παρὰ πολύ, ὦ θαυμασιώτατε βασιλέων, ἐπιπονώτερα καὶ βιαιότερα τῶν Ἀδειμάντου, παρ' ὅσον ἐκεῖνος μὲν ἐτρύφα διτάλαντα χρύσεα ἐκπώματα προπίνων τοῖς συμπόταις, σὺ δὲ καὶ ἐτιτρώσκου μονομαχῶν καὶ ἐδεδίεις καὶ ἐφρόντιζες νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ' ἡμέραν· οὐ μόνον γάρ σοι τὰ παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων φοβερὰ ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπιβουλαὶ μυρίαι καὶ φθόνος παρὰ τῶν συνόντων καὶ μῖσος καὶ κολακεία, φίλος δὲ οὐδεὶς ἀληθής, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ δέος ἅπαντες ἢ πρὸς τὴν ἐλπίδα εὖνοι δοκοῦντες εἶναι. ἀπόλαυσις μέν γε οὐδὲ ὄναρ τῶν ἡδέων, ἀλλὰ δόξα μόνη καὶ πορφυρὶς χρυσῷ ποικίλη καὶ ταινία λευκὴ περὶ τῷ μετώπῳ καὶ δορυφόροι προϊόντες, τὰ δ’ ἄλλα κάματος ἀφόρητος καὶ ἀηδία πολλή, καὶ ἢ χρηματίζειν δεῖ τοῖς παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἥκουσιν ἢ δικάζειν ἢ καταπέμπειν τοῖς ὑπηκόοις ἐπιτάγματα, καὶ ἤτοι ἀφέστηκέ τι ἔθνος ἢ ἐπελαύνουσί τινες τῶν ἔξω τῆς ἀρχῆς. δεδιέναι οὖν δεῖ πάντα καὶ ὑφορᾶσθαι, καὶ ὅλως ὑπὸ πάντων μᾶλλον ἢ ὑπὸ σεαυτοῦ εὐδαιμονίζεσθαι.

[¶32] 40. LYCINUS: Besides, it is humiliating that sickness will come to you as to ordinary folk and fever will not set you apart as a king: Death has no fear of your bodyguard, but comes when he will and takes you moaning with no respect for your diadem. From what a height you will fall when, jerked from your royal throne, you depart by the same road as the common crowd, all equal as you are driven in the herd of the dead. Above ground you will leave behind a high mound and a lofty tombstone or a pyramid with inscribed corners, honours too late for you to see. Those statues and temples which cities erect to flatter you, and your great name, all will soon disappear unnoticed and be gone, neglected. But if all remains as long as may be, what enjoyment will now come to one who is beyond feeling? Do you see what further troubles you will have in life from fear, anxiety, and labour, and what will remain with you after you depart?

> Greek: 40. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: καὶ γὰρ οὖν καὶ τόδε πῶς οὐ ταπεινόν, ὅτι καὶ νοσεῖς τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς ἰδιώταις καὶ ὁ πυρετὸς οὐ διαγιγνώσκει σε βασιλέα ὄντα οὐδ’ ὁ θάνατος δέδιε τοὺς δορυφόρους, ἀλλ’ ἐπιστάς, ὁπόταν αὐτῷ δοκῇ, ἄγει οἰμώζοντα οὐκ αἰδούμενος τὸ διάδημα; σὺ δὲ ὁ οὕτως ὑψηλὸς καταπεσὼν ἀνάσπαστος ἐκ τοῦ βασιλείου θρόνου τὴν αὐτὴν ὁδὸν ἄπει τοῖς πολλοῖς, ἰσότιμος ἐλαυνόμενος ἐν τῇ ἀγέλῃ τῶν νεκρῶν, χῶμα ὑψηλὸν ὑπὲρ γῆς καὶ στήλην μακρὰν ἢ πυραμίδα εὔγραμμον τὰς γωνίας ἀπολιπών, ἐκπρόθεσμα καὶ ἀνεπαίσθητα φιλοτιμήματα. εἰκόνες δὲ ἐκεῖναι καὶ νεῴ, οὓς ἀνιστᾶσιν αἱ πόλεις θεραπεύουσαι, καὶ τὸ μέγα ὄνομα πάντα κατ' ὀλίγον ὑπορρεῖ καὶ ἄπεισιν ἀμελούμενα. ἢν δὲ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα ἐπὶ πλεῖστον παραμείνῃ, τίς ἔτι ἀπόλαυσις ἀναισθήτῳ αὐτῷ γενομένῳ; ὁρᾷς οἷα μὲν ἔτι ζῶν ἕξεις πράγματα δεδιὼς καὶ φροντίζων καὶ κάμνων, οἷα δὲ καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν ἔσται;

[¶33] 41. LYCINUS: But now it’s your turn to make your request, Timolaus. See that you outdo them—as we expect from an intelligent man of the world.

> Greek: 41. ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἀλλ' ἤδη σὸν αἰτεῖν, ὦ Τιμόλαε, καὶ ὅπως ὑπερβαλῇ τούτους, ὥσπερ εἰκὸς ἄνδρα συνετὸν καὶ πράγμασιν χρῆσθαι εἰδότα.

[¶34] TIMOLAUS: Well, Lycinus, see if my wish will be open to censure or possible correction. Gold, treasures and bushels of coin, kingdoms, wars and fears for empire you have rightly censured—I shall not ask for them. They are insecure, full of plots and give more grief than pleasure.

> Greek: ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Σκόπει γοῦν, ὦ Λυκῖνε, εἴ τι ἐπιλήψιμον εὔξομαι καὶ ὅ τι ἂν εὐθῦναί τις δυνηθείη. χρυσὸν μὲν οὖν καὶ θησαυροὺς καὶ μεδίμνους νομίσματος ἢ βασιλείας καὶ πολέμους καὶ δείματα ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀρχῆς, εἰκότως διέβαλες, οὐκ αἰτήσομαι. ἀβέβαια γὰρ ταῦτά γε καὶ πολλὰς τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς ἔχοντα καὶ πλέον τοῦ ἡδέος τὸ ἀνιαρὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἦν.

[¶35] 42. TIMOLAUS: I want Hermes to meet me and give me a set of rings with certain powers: one is to keep the body always strong and healthy, invulnerable and free from disease, another to make the wearer invisible like the ring of Gyges, a third to make me stronger than thousands of men and able easily to carry by myself a weight that thousands together could hardly move, and another to lift me flying far above the earth—let me have a ring for this as well. Then a ring to put anyone I want to sleep and open every door as I approach, releasing bolts and bars—let one ring do both.

> Greek: 42. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: ἐγὼ δὲ βούλομαι τὸν Ἑρμῆν ἐντυχόντα μοι δοῦναι δακτυλίους τινὰς τοιούτους τὴν δύναμιν, ἕνα μὲν ὥστε ἀεὶ ἐρρῶσθαι καὶ ὑγιαίνειν τὸ σῶμα καὶ ἄτρωτον εἶναι καὶ ἀπαθῆ, ἕτερον δὲ ὡς μὴ ὁρᾶσθαι τὸν περιθέμενον, οἷος ἦν ὁ τοῦ Γύγου, τὸν δέ τινα ὡς ἰσχύειν ὑπὲρ ἄνδρας μυρίους καὶ ὅ τι ἂν ἄχθος ἅμα μυρίοι κινῆσαι μόλις δύναιντο, τοῦτο ἐμὲ ῥᾳδίως μόνον ἀνατίθεσθαι, ἔτι δὲ καὶ πέτεσθαι πολὺ ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἀρθέντα, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο εἶναί μοι δακτύλιόν τινα. καὶ μὴν καὶ ἐς ὕπνον κατασπᾶν ὁπόσους ἂν ἐθέλω καὶ ἅπασαν θύραν προσιόντι μοι ἀνοίγεσθαι χαλωμένου τοῦ κλείθρου καὶ τοῦ μοχλοῦ ἀφαιρουμένου, ταῦτα ἀμφότερα εἷς δακτύλιος δυνάσθω.

[¶36] 43. TIMOLAUS: But in particular let me have one more, the most delightful of all, one that when I wear it will make the pretty boys and women and whole peoples fall in love with me—no one will fail to love me and think me desirable: I shall be on every tongue. Many women will hang themselves in despair, boys will be mad for me and think themselves blessed if I but glance at one of them, and pine away for grief if I ignore them. Just let me be better than Hyacinthus or Hylas or Phaon the Chian.

> Greek: 43. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: τὸ δὲ μέγιστον ἄλλος τις ἔστω ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ὁ ἥδιστος, ὡς ἐράσμιον εἶναί με περιθέμενον παισὶ τοῖς ὡραίοις καὶ γυναιξὶ καὶ δήμοις ὅλοις καὶ μηδένα εἶναι ἀνέραστον καὶ ὅτῳ μὴ ποθεινότατος ἐγὼ καὶ ἀνὰ στόμα, ὥστε πολλὰς γυναῖκας οὐ φερούσας τὸν ἔρωτα καὶ ἀναρτᾶν ἑαυτὰς καὶ τὰ μειράκια ἐπιμεμηνέναι μοι καὶ εὐδαίμονα εἶναι δοκεῖν, εἴ τινα καὶ μόνον προσβλέψαιμι αὐτῶν, εἰ δ’ ὑπερορῴην, κἀκεῖνα ὑπὸ λύπης ἀπολλύσθω, καὶ ὅλως ὑπὲρ τὸν Ὑάκινθον ἢ Ὕλαν ἢ Φάωνα τὸν Χῖον εἶναί με.

[¶37] 44. TIMOLAUS: All these let me have and not for a short time: for I shall not live the measure of human life but for a thousand years, renewing my youth and always casting off old age about every seventeen years, as a snake sloughs its skin. While I have all this I shall want for nothing: all that others own would be mine as long as I could open doors, put watchmen to sleep, and pass in myself unseen. Whatever remarkable sight there were in India or beyond the North Wind, whatever precious possession, whatever dainty morsel or pleasant drink, I should not send for them, but fly there myself and enjoy them all to satiety. That winged beast the griffin or the Phoenix bird in India may be unseen by others, but I should see it: I alone would know the source of the Nile and how much of the earth is uninhabited and if people live head-downwards in the southern half of the world. Again I should know the nature of the stars and the moon and the sun itself without trouble, being insensitive to fire; sweetest pleasure of all, on the self-same day I should give Babylon the name of the Olympic victor, and after breakfast perhaps in Syria dine in Italy. If I had an enemy I could pay him out by dropping a stone on his head unseen and cracking his skull: my friends I could help by pouring gold on them as they slept. Then if there was a haughty person or a rich and bullying tyrant, I could pick him up and throw him down the cliffs twenty furlongs off. I could meet my darlings without let or hindrance: I’d go in unseen and put everyone to sleep but them alone. What a wonderful thing, aloft and out of arrow-shot, to spy on embattled armies and, if I wished, to support the vanquished and send the victors to sleep and to give victory to fugitives turned back from their flight. In a word I should make human life my plaything, all things would be mine and I would be thought by all others a god. This is the supreme bliss which cannot be destroyed or schemed against, being particularly accompanied by health in a long life.

> Greek: 44. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: καὶ ταῦτα πάντα ἔχειν μὴ ὀλιγοχρόνιον ὄντα μηδὲ κατὰ μέτρον ζῶντα τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης βιοτῆς, ἀλλ’ ἔτη χίλια νέον ἐκ νέου γιγνόμενον διαβιῶναι ἀμφὶ τὰ ἑπτακαίδεκα ἔτη ἀεὶ ἀποδυόμενον τὸ γῆρας ὥσπερ οἱ ὄφεις. οὐδὲν γὰρ δεήσει με ταῦτα ἔχοντα· πάντα γὰρ ἐμὰ ἦν ἂν τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, ἐς ὅσον ἀνοίγειν τε τὰς θύρας ἐδυνάμην καὶ κοιμίζειν τοὺς φύλακας καὶ ἀθέατος εἶναι εἰσιών. εἰ δέ τι ἐν Ἰνδοῖς ἢ Ὑπερβορέοις θέαμα παράδοξον ἢ κτῆμα τίμιον ἢ ὅσα ἐμφαγεῖν ἢ πιεῖν ἡδέα, οὐ μεταστειλάμενος, ἀλλ’ αὐτὸς ἐπιπετόμενος ἀπέλαυον ἁπάντων ἐς κόρον. καὶ ἐπεὶ γρὺψ ὑπόπτερον θηρίον ἢ φοῖνιξ ὄρνεον ἐν Ἰνδοῖς ἀθέατον τοῖς ἄλλοις, ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἑώρων ἄν, καὶ τὰς πηγὰς δὲ τὰς Νείλου μόνος ἂν ἠπιστάμην καὶ ὅσον τῆς γῆς ἀοίκητον, καὶ εἴ τινες ἀντίποδες ἡμῖν οἰκοῦσι τὸ νότιον τῆς γῆς ἡμίτομον ἔχοντες. ἔτι δὲ καὶ ἀστέρων φύσιν καὶ σελήνης καὶ αὐτοῦ ἡλίου ῥᾳδίως ἔγνων ἂν ἀπαθὴς ὢν τῷ πυρί, καὶ τὸ πάντων ἥδιστον, αὐθημερὸν ἀγγεῖλαι ἐς Βαβυλῶνα, τίς ἐνίκησεν Ὀλύμπια, καὶ ἀριστήσαντα, εἰ τύχοι, ἐν Συρίᾳ δειπνῆσαι ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ. εἰ δέ τις ἐχθρὸς εἴη, ἀμύνασθαι καὶ τοῦτον ἐκ τοῦ ἀφανοῦς πέτρον ἐμβαλόντα τῇ κεφαλῇ, ὡς ἐπιτετρῖφθαι τὸ κρανίον, τούς τε αὖ φίλους εὖ ποιεῖν ἐπιχέαντα κοιμωμένοις αὐτοῖς τὸ χρυσίον. καὶ μὴν εἴ τις ὑπερόπτης εἴη ἢ τύραννος πλούσιος ὑβριστής, ἀράμενος αὐτὸν ὅσον ἐπὶ σταδίους εἴκοσιν ἀφῆκα φέρεσθαι κατὰ τῶν κρημνῶν. τοῖς παιδικοῖς δὲ ὁμιλεῖν ἀκωλύτως ἂν ἐξῆν εἰσιόντα ἀθέατον κοιμίσαντα ἅπαντας ἄνευ ἐκείνων μόνων. οἷον δὲ κἀκεῖνο ἦν, τοὺς πολεμοῦντας ἐπισκοπεῖν ἔξω βέλους ὑπεραιωρούμενον; καὶ εἰ δόξειέ μοι, προσθέμενος ἂν τοῖς ἡττημένοις κοιμίσας τοὺς κρατοῦντας νικᾶν παρεῖχον τοῖς φεύγουσιν ἀναστρέψασιν ἀπὸ τῆς τροπῆς. καὶ τὸ ὅλον, παιδιὰν ἐποιούμην ἂν τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων βίον καὶ πάντα ἐμὰ ἦν καὶ θεὸς ἐδόκουν τοῖς ἄλλοις. τοῦτο ἡ ἄκρα εὐδαιμονία ἐστὶ μήτε ἀπολέσθαι μήτε ἐπιβουλευθῆναι δυναμένη, καὶ μάλιστα μεθ' ὑγιείας ἐν μακρῷ τῷ βίῳ.

[¶38] 45. TIMOLAUS: What fault can you find in my wish, Lycinus?

> Greek: 45. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: τί ἂν αἰτιάσαιο, ὦ Λυκῖνε, τῆς εὐχῆς;

[¶39] LYCINUS: None, Timolaus. It isn’t safe to oppose a winged man stronger than ten thousand. But I will ask you this: did you see in all those tribes you flew over any other old man so out of his mind, carried by a little ring and able to move whole mountains with his finger-tip, loved by everyone, even though he was bald and snub-nosed? But tell me this: why cannot just one ring do all this for you? Why must you go about weighed down by such a load of rings on one finger of your left hand? There are too many, and your right hand must take its share. Yet there is one more ring you most certainly need to put on, one which will stop your fooling and wipe away all this drivel. Or perhaps a stronger dose of hellebore than usual will be adequate?

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Οὐδέν, ὦ Τιμόλαε. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀσφαλὲς ἐναντιοῦσθαι ἀνδρὶ πτηνῷ καὶ ὑπὲρ μυρίους τὴν ἰσχύν, πλὴν ἀλλὰ ἐκεῖνο ἐρήσομαί σε, εἴ τινα ἄλλον εἶδες ἐν τοσούτοις ἔθνεσιν, ὅσα ὑπερέπτης, γέροντα ἤδη ἄνδρα οὕτω παρακεκινηκότα τὴν γνώμην, ἐπὶ δακτυλίου μικροῦ ὀχούμενον, ὄρη ὅλα κινεῖν ἄκρῳ τῷ δακτύλῳ δυνάμενον, ἐπέραστον πᾶσι, καὶ ταῦτα φαλακρὸν ὄντα καὶ τὴν ῥῖνα σιμόν; ἀτὰρ εἰπέ μοι καὶ τόδε, τί δή ποτε οὐχ εἶς δακτύλιος ἅπαντα ταῦτα δύναταί σοι, ἀλλὰ τοσούτους περιημμένος βαδιῇ τὴν ἀριστερὰν πεφορτισμένος κατὰ δάκτυλον ἕνα; μᾶλλον δὲ ὑπερπαίει ὁ ἀριθμός, καὶ δεήσει καὶ τὴν δεξιὰν συνεπιλαβεῖν. καίτοι ἑνὸς τοῦ ἀναγκαιοτάτου προσδεῖ, ὃς περιθέμενόν σε παύσει μωραίνοντα τὴν πολλὴν ταύτην κόρυζαν ἀποξύσας. ἢ τοῦτο μὲν καὶ ὁ ἑλλέβορος ἱκανὸς ποιῆσαι ζωρότερος ποθείς;

[¶40] 46. TIMOLAUS: Well now it’s your turn to wish, Lycinus. Let us see what you who cavil against everybody else can find to ask that no one can censure or pull to pieces.

> Greek: 46. ΤΙΜΟΛΑΟΣ: Ἀλλὰ πάντως, ὦ Λυκῖνε, καὶ αὐτὸς εὔξῃ τι ἤδη ποτέ, ὡς ἂν μάθωμεν οἷα αἰτήσεις ἀνεπίληπτα καὶ ἀνέγκλητα ὁ συκοφαντῶν τοὺς ἄλλους.

[¶41] LYCINUS: I don’t need a wish. Look, we’ve reached the Dipylon, and our excellent Samippus is in single combat over Babylon, you, Timolaus, are breakfasting in Syria and dining in Italy, and you have used up my share of road, for which I’m grateful. Besides I should not like to be rich for a little while with dream-treasure, and then be cross when there was soon but plain barley-cake to eat. That’s what you’ll find soon when your happiness and your great wealth take wings and are gone and you have to come back from your treasures and your diadems just as you are, like sleepers awaking after a pleasant dream, and you find how different things are at home, like tragic actors who play the part of kings and for the most part starve when off the stage, although just now they were Agamemnons or Creons. So you’ll be sorry, in all probability, and displeased with things at home, especially you, Timolaus, when you suffer the fate of Icarus and your wings dissolve, and falling from heaven you must walk on earth, having lost all those rings which have slipped off your fingers. Instead of all your treasures and Babylon itself I have what is enough for me—a good laugh at the sort of thing that you have asked for, for all that you praise philosophy.

> Greek: ΛΥΚΙΝΟΣ: Ἀλλ' οὐ δέομαι εὐχῆς ἐγώ. ἥκομεν γὰρ δὴ πρὸς τὸ Δίπυλον, καὶ ὁ βέλτιστος οὑτοσὶ Σάμιππος ἀμφὶ Βαβυλῶνα μονομαχῶν, καὶ σύ, ὦ Τιμόλαε, ἀριστῶν μὲν ἐν Συρίᾳ, δειπνῶν δὲ ἐν Ἰταλίᾳ καὶ τοῖς ἐμοὶ ἐπιβάλλουσι σταδίοις κατεχρήσασθε καλῶς ποιοῦντες. ἄλλως τε οὐκ ἂν δεξαίμην πλουτήσας ἐπ' ὀλίγον ὑπηνέμιόν τινα πλοῦτον ἀνιᾶσθαι μετ' ὀλίγον ψιλὴν τὴν μᾶζαν ἐσθίων, οἷα ὑμεῖς πείσεσθε μετ' ὀλίγον, ἐπειδὰν ἡ εὐδαιμονία μὲν ὑμῖν καὶ ὁ πολὺς πλοῦτος οἴχηται ἀποπτάμενος, αὐτοὶ δὲ καταβάντες ἀπὸ τῶν θησαυρῶν τε καὶ διαδημάτων ὥσπερ ἐξ ἡδίστου ὀνείρατος ἀνεγρόμενοι ἀνόμοια τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας εὑρίσκητε ὥσπερ οἱ τοὺς βασιλεῖς ὑποκρινόμενοι τραγῳδοὶ ἐξελθόντες ἀπὸ τοῦ θεάτρου λιμώττοντες οἱ πολλοί, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸ ὀλίγου Ἀγαμέμνονες ὄντες ἢ Κρέοντες. λυπήσεσθε οὖν, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, καὶ δυσάρεστοι ἔσεσθε τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας, καὶ μάλιστα σύ, ὦ Τιμόλαε, ὁπόταν δέῃ σε τὸ αὐτὸ παθεῖν τῷ Ἰκάρῳ τῆς πτερώσεως διαλυθείσης καταπεσόντα ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ χαμαὶ βαδίζειν ἀπολέσαντα τοὺς δακτυλίους ἐκείνους ἅπαντας ἀπορρυέντας τῶν δακτύλων. ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ἱκανὸν ἀντὶ πάντων θησαυρῶν καὶ Βαβυλῶνος αὐτῆς τὸ γελάσαι μάλα ἡδέως ἐφ' οἷς ὑμεῖς ᾐτήσατε τοιούτοις οὖσι, καὶ ταῦτα φιλοσοφίαν ἐπαινοῦντες.