Deipnosophistae
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
10.1
But a wise poet should behave
10.1
Like one who gives a splendid feast;
10.1
And so if he is wise should he
10.1
Seek the spectators to delight,
10.1
So that each one, when he departs,
10.1
May think that he has drunk and eaten
10.1
Exactly what he'd most have wish'd;
10.1
Not that there should have been but one
10.1
Dish for all sorts of appetites,
10.1
Or but one kind of writing for all tastes.
10.1
For if you were to see him eat, you would
10.1
Be frighten'd e'en to death; his jaws do creak,
10.1
His throat with long deep-sounding thunder rolls,
10.1
His large teeth rattle, and his dog-teeth crash,
10.1
His nostrils hiss, his ears with hunger tremble.
10.1
And then, excited by th' applause, he rose
10.1
And swallow'd all the logs and burning coals.
10.3
What histories of toil I could declare,
10.3
But still long-wearied nature wants repair.The passage from Pindar is hopelessly corrupt.
10.3
Spent with fatigue and shrunk with pining fast,
10.3
My craving bowels still require repast;
10.3
Howe'er the noble suffering mind may grieve
10.3
Its load of anguish, and disdain to live,
10.3
Necessity demands our daily bread;
10.3
Hunger is insolent and will be fed.
10.3
For all my mind is overwhelm'd with care,
10.3
But hunger is the worst of griefs to bear;
10.3
Still does my stomach bid me eat and drink,
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Lest on my sorrows I too deeply think.
10.3
Food makes me all my sufferings forget,
10.3
And fear not those which may surround me yet.
10.3
Voraciously he endless dishes ate,
10.3
And quaff'd unceasing cups of wine. . .
10.4
And as I'd undertaken, I did eat
10.4
A Thracian bull. My own poor native land
10.4
Of Thasos could not have purvey'd a meal
10.4
Sufficient for the hunger of Theagenes.
10.4
I ate all I could get, then ask'd for more.
10.4
And, therefore, here you see, I stand in brass,
10.4
Holding my right hand forth; put something in it.
10.4
Milo could lift enormous weights from earth,
10.4
A heifer four years old, at Jove's high feast,
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And on his shoulders the huge beast he bore,
10.4
As it had been a young and little lamb,
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All round the wondering crowd of standers by.
10.4
But he did still a greater feat than this,
10.4
Before the altar of Olympian Jove;
10.4
For there he bore aloft an untamed bull
10.4
In the procession, then he cut it up,
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And by himself ate every bit of it.
10.5
For when there are ten thousand ills in Greece,
10.5
There's none that's worse than the whole race of athletes.
10.5
For, first of all, they learn not to live well,
10.5
Nor could they do so; for could any man
10.5
Being a slave to his own jaws and appetite
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Acquire wealth beyond his father's riches
10.5
How could a man like that increase his substance?
10.5
Nor yet can they put up with poverty,
10.5
Or e'er accommodate themselves to fortune;
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And so being unaccustom'd to good habits,
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They quickly fall into severe distress.—
10.5
In youth they walk about in fine attire,
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And think themselves a credit to the city;
10.5
But when old age in all its bitterness
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O'ertakes their steps, they roam about the streets,
10.5
Like ragged cloaks whose nap is all worn off.
10.5
And much I blame the present fashions, too,
10.5
Which now in Greece prevail; where many a feast
10.5
Is made to pay great honour to such men,
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And to show false respect to vain amusements.
10.5
For though a man may wrestle well, or run,
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Or throw a quoit, or strike a heavy blow,
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Still where's the good his country can expect
10.5
From all his victories and crowns and prizes?
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Will they fight with their country's enemies
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With quoit in hand? Or will their speed assist
10.5
To make the hostile bands retreat before them?
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When men stand face to face with th' hostile sword
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They think no more of all these fooleries.
10.5
'Twere better to adorn good men and wise
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With these victorious wreaths; they are the due
10.5
Of those who govern states with wisdom sound,
10.5
And practise justice, faith, and temperance;
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Who by their prudent language ward off evils,
10.5
Banishing wars and factions. These are the men,
10.5
Who're not alone a grace and ornament
10.5
To their own land, but to the whole of Greece.
10.6
But if a man, in speed of foot victorious,
10.6
Or in the contests of the pentathlum,
10.6
Where is the sacred grove of Jupiter,
10.6
Near to the sacred streamlets of Olympia;
10.6
Or as a wrestler, or exchanging blows
10.6
And painful struggles as a hardy boxer,
10.6
Or in the terrible pancratium,
10.6
He surely is a noble citizen,
10.6
And well he does deserve the honours due
10.6
Of a front seat at games and festivals,
10.6
And at the public cost to be maintain'd;
10.6
And to receive a public gift of honour,
10.6
Which shall become an heirloom to his children.
10.6
And such shall be his honours, even if
10.6
He wins by horses, not by his own strength.
10.6
And still I think he does not equal me;
10.6
For wisdom far exceeds in real value
10.6
The bodily strength of man, or horses' speed;
10.6
But the mob judges of such things at random;
10.6
Though 'tis not right to prefer strength to sense:
10.6
For though a man may a good boxer be,
10.6
Or pentathlete, or never-conquer'd wrestler,
10.6
Or if he vanquish all in speed of foot—
10.6
Which is the most important of all contests—
10.6
Still for all this his city will enjoy
10.6
No better laws through his great strength or speed;
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And 'tis small cause for any lasting joy,
10.6
That one of all her citizens should gain
10.6
A prize on Pisa's banks: for such achievements
10.6
Fill not the country's granaries with corn.
10.6
For naked they did wave their glistening arms,
10.6
And move along exulting in their youth,
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Their valiant shoulders swelling in their prime
10.6
Of health and strength; while they anoint with oil
10.6
Their chests and feet and limbs abundantly,
10.6
As being used to luxury at home.
10.7
This lowly ditch now holds Phuromachus,
10.7
Who used to swallow everything he saw,
10.7
Like a fierce carrion crow who roams all night.
10.7
Now here he lies wrapp'd in a ragged cloak.
10.7
But, O Athenian, whoe'er you are,
10.7
Anoint this tomb and crown it with a wreath,
10.7
If ever in old times he feasted with you.
10.7
At last he came sans teeth, with eyes worn out,
10.7
And livid swollen eyelids; clothed in skins,
10.7
With but one single cruse, and that scarce full;
10.7
For from the gay Lenæan games he came,
10.7
Descending humbly to Calliope.
10.8
He'll eat three asses' panniers, freight and all,
10.8
Three times in one brief day; and what he calls
10.8
A measure of wine is a ten-amphoræ cask;
10.8
And this he drinks all at a single draught.
10.8
A. I scarcely in one day, unless I'm forced,
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Can eat two bushels and a half of food.
10.8
B. A most unhappy man! how have you lost
10.8
Your appetite, so as now to be content
10.8
With the scant rations of one ship of war?
10.8
And next to them I place Chærippus third;
10.8
He, as you know, will without ceasing eat
10.8
As long as any one will give him food,
10.8
Or till he bursts,—such stowage vast has he,
10.8
Like any house.
10.9
Much did I eat, much did I drink, and much
10.9
Did I abuse all men; now here I lie;—
10.9
My name Timocreon, my country Rhodes.
10.10
And presently I will bestow
10.10
On you a large round dish well fill'd;
10.10
And even now 'tis on the fire,
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Full of pulse-broth, which e'en the glutton
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Alcman would like to feast on warm,
10.10
After the wintry solstice sets in;
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For he for dainties does not care,
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But loves the common people's dishes,
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As long as they are full enough.
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God has bestow'd on man three various seasons,
10.10
The summer, and the winter, and the autumn;
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And a fourth too, the spring, when men can dance,
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But scarce are able to get much to eat.
10.10
You now have nearly all things, save the art
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Of Ctesias himself; for wise men say,
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That he does recognise nought but the beginning
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Of a rich banquet, and denies the end.
10.10
A. Others may also burst when fed too well
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Not Ctesias alone.-
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B. What should hinder it?
10.10
A. For he, as wise men say, loves the beginning
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Of any feast, but ne'er can make an end of it.
10.10
Men do not come and ask at random now,
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Does Cranaus eat less than Ctesias?
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Or do they both keep constantly devouring?
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If it were needful, I could run more stadia
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Than e'er were run by Sotades; I surpass
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E'en Taureas himself in these my labours;
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And out-run Ctesias himself in eating.
10.10
A. For now I see Damippus here approaching
10.10
From the palaestra.
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B. What! that man of stone?
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Him whom your friends e'en now, from his great strength,
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Surname the Thunderbolt?
10.10
A. Most probably;
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For I think he will overturn all tables
10.10
Which he once strikes with his consuming jaw.
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There was a Mantinean centurion,
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Atrestides his name; who of all men
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That ever lived could eat the greatest quantity.
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A. Of boil'd meat about three mine weight.
10.10
B. Now mention something else.
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A. A fine pig's face;
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A ham; four pettitoes;—
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B. Oh, Hercules!
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A. Three calves' feet, and one hen.
10.10
B. Oh, Phœbus, oh!
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What else?
10.10
A. Two minæ weight of figs: that's all.
10.10
B. And how much did you drink?
10.10
A. Twelve measures only
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Of unmix'd wine.
10.10
B. Oh, Bacchus! oh, Sabazius!
10.11
We are courageous men to toil and eat,
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And to endure sharp pain; the Attic race
10.11
Is quick and eloquent, and they eat little;
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But the Bœotians eat enormously.
10.11
Go now and build up the Bœotian city,'
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Where the men eat all day and never tire.
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He is so thorough a Bœotian
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In all his manners, that, like them, 'tis said
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He's never tired nor content with eating.
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And after that I came to Thebes, where men
10.11
Spend the whole night in feasts and revelry;
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And each man has a privy at his doors,
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Which is a great boon to an o'er-fed man;
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For men who have got a long way to go,
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And who eat much and bite their weary lips,
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Are some of the most ludicrous of sights.
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You leaving, as you say, the Theban plain,
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Where valiant men sit eating all the day,
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Being all throat, and close beside the privy.
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That man can eat, beginning before dawn,
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Or come again and eat till the following day.
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. . . . . . . For I am a Bœotian,
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Who do not eat much else, except these things.
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And now that you may not be found out thus,
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And spoken of as men of Bœotia,
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By those whose wont it is to run you down,
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As men unequali'd in creating noise,
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And knowing nothing else save how to eat
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And drink unceasingly the whole night long;
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Strip yourselves quick, and all prepare for action.
10.11
A. Are you now speaking to the spectators here,
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Or to the body of competitors?
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B. To those who eat much, as men training do.
10.11
A. Whence do the strangers come from?
10.11
B. They're Bœotians.
10.12
A. Has any man of the Pharsalians come,
10.12
That he may eat up e'en our very tables?
10.12
B. There's no one come at all.
10.12
A. So much the better;
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Perhaps they have all gone somewhere else to eat
10.12
Some city of Achaīa ready roasted.
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Great words three cubits long,
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Cut into huge Thessalian slices thus:—
10.12
And a huge piece of pork, enough to break
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One's arm, cut in the coarse Thessalian fashion.
10.12
But Jupiter, considering nought of this,
10.12
Wink'd, and made up a huge Thessalian mouthful.
10.12
What is all this
10.12
To the great Lydian and Thessalian banquets?
10.12
More splendid (καπανικώτερα) far than the Thessalian;
10.12
A. They kept to seven Capanæ for the games
10.12
At Pisa.
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B. What do you mean?
10.12
A. In Thessaly
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They call their carts Capanæ.
10.12
B. I understand.
10.13
When the illustrious Pythagoras
10.13
Discover'd that renowned problem which
10.13
He celebrated with a hecatomb.
10.14
But I am content with what is necessary,
10.14
And hate superfluous things; for in excess
10.14
There is not pleasure, but extravagance.
10.14
I hate excess; for those who practise it
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Have only more expense, but not more pleasure.
10.14
How sweet all kinds of moderation are!
10.14
I now am going away, not empty, but
10.14
In a most comfortable state,—for wise
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Mnesitheus tells us that 'tis always right'
10.14
T' avoid extravagance in everything.
10.15
O cursed sons of a most excellent father,
10.15
I, as you see, have quite a fancy for you:
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For, by the gods I swear, that not in Caria,
10.15
Nor in fair Rhodes, nor royal Lydia,
10.15
Have I e'er eaten so superb a supper;
10.15
Phœbus Apollo! what a feast it was.
10.15
And the boy brought us round a scanty cup
10.15
Of wine that might be worth five pence a bottle-
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Awfully flat; and then that cursed thing,
10.15
That hang-dog lupin, danced upon the board,
10.15
A fitting meal for parasites and beggars.
10.15
And for dessert,
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We had some learned conversation.
10.17
And now then let us hasten to the feast,
10.17
That we may plan the movements of the war;—
10.17
Is redolent of frankincense,
10.17
And pæans too, and groans at the same time.
10.17
For a frugal supper breeds no drunkenness,
10.17
For many a banquet which endures too long,
10.17
And many and daily feasts, are wont t' engender
10.17
Insult and mockery; and those kind of jests
10.17
Give far more pain than they do raise amusement.
10.17
For such are the first ground of evil-speaking;
10.17
And if you once begin t' attack your neighbour,
10.17
You quickly do receive back all you bring,
10.17
And then abuse and quarrels surely follow;
10.17
Then blows and drunken riot. For this is
10.17
The natural course of things, and needs no prophet.
10.18
Know you now with what men you must fight?
10.18
With us, who sup upon well-sharpen'd swords,
10.18
And swallow lighted firebrands for dainties:
10.18
And then, for our dessert, our slaves bring in,
10.18
After the first course, Cretan bows and arrows;
10.18
And, 'stead of vetches, broken heads of spears,
10.18
And fragments of well-batter'd shields and breastplates;
10.18
And at our feet lie slings, and stones, and bows,
10.18
And on our heads are wreaths of catapults.
10.18
A cask of wine shall be our sword-a cup
10.18
Shall be our spear-our hair shall arrows be;
10.18
Goblets shall be our enemies-wine our horses-
10.18
Ointments and perfumes our war-cry fierce.
10.18
And all the younger men do call him parasite,
10.18
Using a gentler name; but he cares not.
10.18
And Telephus in speechless silence sits,
10.18
Making but signs to those who ask him questions;
10.18
So that the inviter often offers prayers
10.18
To the great Samothracian gods o' the sea,
10.18
To cease their blowing, and to grant a calm;
10.18
For that young man's a storm to all his friends.
10.18
Do you not now behold me drunk and merry,
10.18
Well fill'd with wine, and all inflamed with anger?
10.18
Have not I just devour'd a dozen cakes,
10.18
Every one larger than a good-sized shield?
10.18
I pleased my palate with a frugal meal;
10.18
And many a most deceitful meal they snatch'd
10.18
Away from hungry jaws, in haste t' enjoy
10.18
The first delight of the too eager palate.
10.18
A life at sea is a much troubled life,
10.18
Not reinforced with pleasures of the table,
10.18
But like a stable on the shore. The sea itself
10.18
Is a moist mother, not a nurse on land;
10.18
'Tis her we plough; from this our food, procured
10.18
With nets and traps, comes daily home to us.
10.19
And hence you well may see how great an evil
10.19
The belly is to man; what lessons strange
10.19
It teaches, and what deeds it forces on us.
10.19
If there were any power which could take
10.19
This part alone from out our bodies, then
10.19
No one would any more do injury
10.19
Or insult to his neighbour. But from this
10.19
Flow all the ills that harass human life.
10.19
Well did that wise Euripides oft speak,
10.19
And this does seem his wisest word of all—
10.19
But want compels me and my wretched belly;
10.19
For there is nought more wretched than the belly:
10.19
And into that you pour whate'er you have,
10.19
Which you do not in any other vessel.
10.19
Loaves you perhaps may in a wallet carry,—
10.19
Not soup, or else you'll spoil it. So again,
10.19
You put cakes in a basket, but not pulse;
10.19
And wine into a bladder, but not crabs:
10.19
But into this accursed belly, men
10.19
Put every sort of inconsistent thing.
10.19
I add no more; since it is plain enough
10.19
That all men's errors are produced by it.'
10.20
Since we have long since supp'd (δεδείπναμεν);
10.20
But we have not yet supp'd (δεδείπναμεν);
10.20
A man who ought long since to have had supper (δεδειπναναι).
10.20
He will be here before we've finish'd supper (δεδειπνάναι).
10.20
It's time for me to go now to my master,
10.20
For by this time I think they all have supp'd (δεδειπνάναι).
10.20
You now are insulting me in a drunken manner
10.20
Before you've supp'd (δεδειπνάναι).
10.20
For these men seem to me to have had their supper (δεδειπνάναι)
10.20
In capital season.
10.20
We've drank our fill, my men, and well have dined (ἠπίσταμεν).
10.20
To dine (ἀριστάναι), and come to this man's house.
10.20
We've dined (ἠρίσταμεν);—for I must this discourse cut short.
10.20
When any one has all consumed in dinners (κατηρίστηκεν)
10.20
His own estate, and that of all his family.
10.20
The boys who long ago have lost their dinner (παραδεδειπνημένοι).
10.21
He took and brought me an enormous cup,
10.21
And I pour'd into it unmixed wine,
10.21
Not to the honour of a boy, but all
10.21
My cups, and they were numberless, I quaff'd
10.21
To all the gods and goddesses of heaven.
10.21
Then, after them, I drank twice as much more
10.21
To the great goddess and the noble king.
10.22
I think this man does drink the cup of health,
10.22
Making his cupbearer shun too much water (ζωροτέρῳ χρώμενον οἰνοχόῳ).
10.22
My friend Iapyx, mix it somewhat stronger (εὐζωρέστερον).
10.22
He gave him in each hand a brimming flagon,
10.22
Mixing in strong wine (ζωρότερον), in Homer's fashion.
10.22
Take care and give less water (ζωρότερον κέραιρε),
10.22
Pour me now out a cup of wine to drink;
10.22
Give it, by Jove! εὐζωρότερον than that;
10.22
For wat'ry things are ruinous to the stomach.
10.22
And soon the things which formerly they learnt
10.22
Immortal were, did mortal now become,
10.22
And things unmix'd before became now mix'd (ζωρὰ,)
10.22
Changing their previous ways and habits all.
10.23
Taking up thus the ladle (κύαθος) in their mouths.
10.23
He stole the ladles (κύαθοι) every time he could.
10.23
I bought a ladle (κύαθος) there from Dæsias.
10.23
All having fought till they had got black eyes,
10.23
Lying all on the ground around the κύαθοι;
10.23
And ἀρύσαναι, hard to fill with wine;
10.23
And no one gave me even one ἀρυστὴρ
10.23
Of the mere dregs and lees.
10.23
For I had these ἀρύστιχοι near me.
10.23
(A cup) κύλικ’ ἀρύστιχον·
10.24
ἀφθονέστερον λίβα.
10.24
ῥαδιεστέραν τὴν πόλιν.
10.24
They mix the cups (κεραννύουσιν) and drink them.
10.24
And the king's noble son pour'd out the wine.
10.25
And men whom heretofore you'd not have thought
10.25
Fit e'en to make œnoptæ of, we now
10.25
See made commanders. But oh, city, city!
10.25
How much your fortune does outrun your sense.
10.25
And with ambrosia was a goblet mix'd,
10.25
And Mercury pour'd it out to all the gods.
10.26
Meanwhile the heralds through the crowded town
10.26
Bring the rich wine and destined victims down.
10.26
Idæus's arms the golden goblets prest,
10.26
Who thus the venerable king addrest.
10.26
On either side a sacred herald stands;
10.26
The wine they mix, and on each monarch's hands
10.26
Pour the full urn.
10.27
I drink this cup, a pledge of friendship dear,
10.27
To all my kinsmen, naming them.
10.27
When I have drunk, I'll say
10.27
The rest; for I am choked: but now drink this.
10.27
Let the boy wait on all with frequent goblets.
10.27
You fill for me, and I will give you drink;
10.27
So shall the almond with the almond play:
10.27
Wretch, who has mix'd for you this half-and-half?
10.27
Giving him half-and-half; but I'm undone;
10.28
Here is a measure of well-temper'd wine;
10.28
Take it, and drink it up;—
10.28
To pour three parts of water in the cup,
10.28
And let the fourth part be the vinous juice.
10.28
And this is much more pleasant; for I'd never
10.28
Have drunk one part of wine to three of water.
10.28
See, here is wine. Shall I, then, give to Criton
10.28
Equal proportions? This is better far,
10.28
One part of wine to four of limpid water:
10.28
Perhaps you'll call that weak; but still, when you
10.28
Have drunk your fill of this, you'll find your head
10.28
Clear for discussion,—and the drink lasts longer.
10.28
A. In what proportions should the wine be mix'd?
10.28
B. Four parts of water to two parts of wine.
10.28
Drink waters three or five; but never four.
10.28
Here, you Œnornaus,—here. you two and five,—
10.28
Let you and I now have a drink together.
10.28
But I (it is Bacchus who is represented as speaking) am five and two to all of you.
10.28
Hail, my friend Bacchus, are you two to five?
10.28
A. Then, when we drink, or when we thirsty are,
10.28
We pray our wine may be in due proportion.
10.28
B. I do not bring it from a roguish wine-vault,
10.28
Meaning to mock you: this which I do bring
10.28
Is, as before, the proper two and five.
10.29
Come, my boy, and bring to me
10.29
Such a cup as I may drink
10.29
At one easy draught: pour in
10.29
Ten cyathi of water pure,
10.29
And five of richest Chian wine;
10.29
That I may drink, from fear removed,
10.29
And free from drunken insolence.
10.29
Come hither, now, and let us not
10.29
Give way to vulgar shouts and noise,
10.29
Indulging in the Scythian draughts
10.29
While o'er our wine; but let us drink,
10.29
Singing well-omen'd, pious hymns.
10.29
Was the whole Achelous in this wine?
10.29
But even then this race would not cease drinking,
10.29
For this is all a Scythian's happiness.
10.30
Throwing, with his well-bent arm
10.30
The Sicilian cottabus.
10.30
And rightly I adore the Graces,
10.30
Nymphs of Venus and of Love,
10.30
While drinking with a loving heart
10.30
This sounding cottabus I pour
10.30
To Agathon, my heart's delight.
10.30
Nothing escaped her from her hand which fell,
10.30
But in a moment she did couple it
10.30
With the loved name of the Corinthian stranger.
10.31
For brass may be a mirror for the face,—
10.31
Wine for the mind.
10.31
To be compell'd to drink is quite as hard
10.31
As to be forced to bear with thirst.
10.31
Wine makes an old man dance against his will.
10.31
Wine can bring e'en the wise to acts of folly.
10.31
It should be a rule for all wine-bibbing people
10.31
Not to let the jug limp round the board like a cripple,
10.31
But gaily to chat while enjoying their tipple:
10.32
What joys and also what exceeding pains
10.32
Has Bacchus given to mortal men who drink,
10.32
Indulging in excess: for to such men
10.32
Wine is an insolent master, binding fast'
10.32
Their feet and hands, their tongues and intellects,
10.32
With chains unspeakable, unnoticeable;
10.32
And tender sleep loves on their eyes to fall.
10.32
I come like wine, the sweetest drink of men,—
10.32
I am not sober, nor yet very drunk;
10.32
But he who goes to great excess in drink
10.32
Is no more master of his mind or senses;
10.32
Then he talks unintelligible nonsense,
10.32
Which seems to sober men a shameful thing;
10.32
But he, when drunk, is not ashamed of anything,
10.32
E'en though at other times a modest man
10.32
And gentle-minded. Mind you this, my friend,
10.32
And don't indulge in drinking to excess,
10.32
But rise from table ere the wine begins
10.32
To take effect; nor let your appetite
10.32
Reduce you to become its daily slave.
10.34
All men have detested water
10.34
Who did not before have wine;
10.34
And though some have enjoy'd their cups,
10.34
Others have turn'd to ravings wild.
10.34
But to drink unceasingly—
10.34
Can have
10.34
No pleasure in it, surely; how should it,
10.34
When it deprives a living man of power
10.34
To think as he should think? and yet is thought
10.34
The greatest blessing that is given to man.
10.34
If now men only did their headaches get
10.34
Before they get so drunk, I'm sure that no one
10.34
Would ever drink more than a moderate quantity:
10.34
But now we hope t' escape the penalty
10.34
Of our intemperance, and so discard
10.34
Restraint, and drink unmixed cups of wine.
10.35
That may be your opinion; this is mine.
10.35
Pour out, in just proportion, one and two.
10.35
Now the storm begins to lower,
10.35
And Jove descends in heavy snow,
10.35
And streams of water stand congeal'd
10.35
In cruel ice: let's drive away
10.35
The wintry cold, and heap up fire,
10.35
And mingle with unsparing hand
10.35
The honied cup, and wreathe our brows
10.35
With fragrant garlands of the season.
10.35
Now it behoves a man to soak his lungs
10.35
In most cool wine; for the fierce dogstar rages,
10.35
And all things thirst with the excessive heat.
10.35
Now does the flowery spring return,
10.35
And shed its gifts all o'er the land;
10.35
Come then, my boy, and quickly pour
10.35
A cup of luscious Lesbian wine.
10.35
One must not give one's thoughts up wholly
10.35
To evil fortune; for by grieving
10.35
We shall not do ourselves much good.
10.35
Come to me, Bacchus; you are ever
10.35
The best of remedies, who bring
10.35
Us wine and joyous drunkenness.
10.35
Now is the time to get well drunk,
10.35
Now e'en in spite of self to drink,
10.35
Since Myrsilus is dead at last.
10.35
Never plant any tree before the vine.
10.35
Let us now drink,—why put we out the light?
10.35
Our day is but a finger: bring large cups,
10.35
Fili'd with the purple juice of various grapes;
10.35
For the great son of Semele and Jove
10.35
Gave wine to men to drive away their cares.
10.35
Pour on, in just proportion, one and two,
10.35
And let one goblet chase another quickly
10.35
Out of my head.
10.36
Let the cup well be clean'd, then let it hold
10.36
Five measures water, three of rosy wine.
10.36
I seem to have drunk two measures now of water,
10.36
And only three of wine.
10.36
A. Throw that away, my dear; the fellow has
10.36
Given you such a watery mixture.
10.36
B. Nay rather, 'tis mere water and nought else.
10.36
A. What have you done?—in what proportions,
10.36
You cursed man, have you this goblet mix'd?
10.36
B. I've put two waters only in, my mother.
10.36
A. And how much wine?
10.36
B. Four parts of wine, I swear.
10.36
A. You're fit to serve as cupbearer to the frogs.
10.36
A. You will find it a much more prudent mixture,
10.36
To take three parts of one, and four of th' other.
10.36
B. That's but a watery mixture, three to four.
10.36
A. Would you, then, quite unmix'd your wine prefer?
10.36
B. How say you?
10.37
And I'll attack you straight with half and half,
10.37
And make you tell me all the truth at once.
10.37
I drink now cups brimming with love to you,
10.37
Mixed in fair proportions, half and half.
10.37
By Bacchus, how you drink down half and half!
10.37
And wine was given in unceasing flow,
10.37
Mix'd half and half; and yet, unsatisfied,
10.37
They ask'd for larger and for stronger cups.
10.37
A. Don't give him wine quite drown'd in water, now;—
10.37
Dost understand me? Half and half, or nearly:
10.37
That's well.
10.37
B. A noble drink: where was the land
10.37
That raised this noble Bacchus by its flavour,
10.37
I think he came from Thasos.
10.37
A. Sure 'tis just
10.37
That foreigners should foreign wines enjoy,
10.37
And that the natives should drink native produce.
10.37
He drank and never drew his breath, as one
10.37
Would quaff rich wine, mix'd half and half with care.
10.37
Some one cried out to mingle eight and twelve,
10.37
Till he with rivalry subdued the other (κατέσεισε).
10.37
He was no master of the feast at all,
10.37
But a mere hangman, Chæreas his name;
10.37
And when he'd drunk full twenty cups of wine,
10.37
Mix'd half and half, he ask'd for more, and stronger.
10.38
When any one, O Crito, drinks ten cups,
10.38
Consider, I do beg you, whether he
10.38
Who never once allows the wine to pass
10.38
Is in a fit state for discussion.
10.38
A. That is a good idea of yours, O Solon,
10.38
And cleverly imagined, which you have
10.38
Adopted in your city.
10.38
S. What is that?
10.38
A. You don't let men drink neat wine at their feasts.
10.38
S. Why, if I did, 'twould not be very easy
10.38
For men to get it, when the innkeepers
10.38
Water it ere it comes out of the waggon.
10.38
No doubt they do not do so to make money,
10.38
But only out of prudent care for those
10.38
Who buy the liquor; so that they may have
10.38
Their heads from every pang of headache free.
10.38
This now is, as you see, a Grecian drink;
10.38
So that men, drinking cups of moderate strength,
10.38
May chat and gossip cheerfully with each other:
10.38
For too much water is more like a bath
10.38
Than like a wine-cup; and the wine-cooler
10.38
Mix'd with the cask, my friend, is death itself.
10.40
Once I beheld the noble king Seleucus,
10.40
One summer's day, drinking with mighty pleasure
10.40
Some wine with meal steep'd in it. (So I took
10.40
A note of it, and show'd it to a crowd,
10.40
Although it was an unimportant thing,
10.40
Yet still my genius could make it serious.)
10.40
He took some fine old Thasian wine, and eke
10.40
Some of the liquor which the Attic bee
10.40
Distils who culls the sweets from every flower;
10.40
And that he mingled in a marble cup,
10.40
And mix'd the liquor with fair Ceres' corn,
10.40
And took the draught, a respite from the heat.
10.41
And this is an old fashion, well establish'd,
10.41
And sanction'd by the laws of noble Sparta,
10.41
That all should drink from one well-fill'd cup;
10.41
And that no healths should then be drunk to anyone,
10.41
Naming the tender object: also that
10.41
The cup should not go round towards the right.
10.41
The Lydian goblets . . . .
10.41
* * * *
10.41
And to drink healths with skill and well-turn'd phrase,
10.41
Naming the person whom one means to pledge.
10.41
For, after draughts like this, the tongue gets loose,
10.41
And turns to most unseemly conversation;
10.41
They make the body weak; they throw a mist
10.41
Over the eyes; and make forgetfulness
10.41
Eat recollection out of the full heart.
10.41
The mind no longer stands on solid ground;
10.41
The slaves are all corrupted by licentiousness,
10.41
And sad extravagance eats up the house.
10.41
But those wise youths whom Lacedæmon breeds
10.41
Drink only what may stimulate their souls
10.41
To deeds of daring in th' adventurous war,
10.41
And rouse the tongue to wit and moderate mirth.
10.41
Such draughts are wholesome both for mind and body,
10.41
And not injurious to the pocket either:
10.41
Good, too, for deeds of love; authors of sleep,
10.41
That wholesome harbour after toil and care:
10.41
Good, too, for health-that best of goddesses
10.41
Who mortal man befriend: and likewise good
10.41
For piety's best neigbour temperance.
10.41
For fierce, immoderate draughts of heady wine
10.41
Give momentary pleasure, but engender
10.41
A long-enduring pain which follows it.
10.41
But men at Sparta love a mode of life
10.41
Which is more equal; they but eat and drink
10.41
That which is wholesome, so that they may be
10.41
Fit to endure hard pains, and do great deeds.
10.41
Nor have they stated days in all the year
10.41
When it is lawful to indulge too much.
10.42
But not the genial feast or flowing bowl
10.42
Could charm the cares of Nestor's watchful soul.
10.42
The hero stood and brandish'd Mars's cup,
10.42
Like great Timotheus, and his polish'd spear.
10.43
Though you were to unfold unnumber'd treasures
10.43
Of wisdom to a thirsty man, you'd find
10.43
You pleased him less than if you gave him drink.
10.43
I wish to fight with you, as much as e'er
10.43
A thirsty man desired to quench his thirst.
10.43
I bid you check your hand which thirsts for blood.
10.43
For you are kind to every stranger,
10.43
So let me drink and quench my thirst.
10.44
A. My good friend, Struthias, I thrice have drunk
10.44
A golden cup in Cappadocia,
10.44
Containing ten full cotylæ of wine.
10.44
St. Why, then you drank more than king Alexander.
10.44
A. At all events not less, I swear by Pallas.
10.44
St. A wondrous feat.
10.48
This is the monument of that great drinker,
10.48
Arcadion; and his two loving sons,
10.48
Dorcon and Charmylus, have placed it here,
10.48
At this the entrance of his native city:
10.48
And know, traveller, the man did die
10.48
From drinking strong wine in too large a cup.
10.48
Twice was this cup, full of the strongest wine,
10.48
Drain'd by the thirsty Erasixenus,
10.48
And then in turn it carried him away.
10.49
You're acting like a sophist now, you wretch,
10.49
And long for the pay-giving feast of Choes.
10.50
I cannot now, so let another take her.
10.50
Now have we gain'd immortal praise and fame,
10.50
Since we have slain great Hector.
10.50
Wretched are they who dare encounter me.
10.56
Cleo bestow'd this splendid gift on Bacchus,
10.56
The tunic, fringed with gold and saffron hues,
10.56
Which long she wore herself; so great she was
10.56
At feasts and revelry: there was no man
10.56
Who could at all contend with her in drinking.
10.56
May it be granted me to pass from life
10.56
Drinking abundant draughts of wine, while you,
10.56
My darling daughter, live and prosper here.
10.57
There is a certain neighbouring victualler,
10.57
And he, whenever I arrive, being thirsty,
10.57
Is th' only man who knows the proper way
10.57
In which to mix my wine; and makes it not
10.57
Too full of water, nor too strong and heady:
10.57
I recollect that once when I was drinking . . . .
10.57
A. Would you now like, my dearest friend, to drink?
10.57
B. No doubt I should.
10.57
A. Well come, then, take a cup;
10.57
For they do say the first three cups one takes
10.57
All tend to th' honour of the heavenly gods.
10.57
A. But women are quite sure to be content
10.57
If they have only wine enough to drink.
10.57
B. But, by the heavenly twins, we now shall have
10.57
As much as we can wish; and it shall be
10.57
Sweet, and not griping,—rich, well-season'd wine,
10.57
Exceeding old.
10.57
A. I like this aged sphinx;
10.57
For hear how now she talks to me in riddles.
10.57
Zopyra, that wine-cask.
10.57
I write a woman's oath in mighty wine.
10.58
Come now, ye women, long ago have I
10.58
Pray'd that this wine may thus become your folly;
10.58
For you don't think, as the old proverb goes,
10.58
That there is any wisdom at a vintner's.
10.58
For if you now desire to see Phaon,
10.58
You first must all these solemn rites perform.
10.58
First, as the nurse of youths, I must receive
10.58
A vigorous cheesecake, and a pregnant mealcake,
10.58
And sixteen thrushes whole, well smear'd with honey,
10.58
Twelve hares, all taken when the moon was full;
10.58
But all the other things may be got cheaply.
10.58
Now listen. Three half-measures of fine onions;
10.58
These for Orthanna. For Conisalus
10.58
And his two mates, a plate of myrtleberries,
10.58
Pluck'd with the hand: for the great Gods above
10.58
Dislike the smell of lamps . . . . . . . .
10.58
. . . . . . . for the dogs and huntsmen.
10.58
A drachma for Lordon; for Cybdasus,
10.58
Three obols; for the mighty hero Celes,
10.58
Some hides and incense. Now if you bring
10.58
These things, you'll certainly obtain admittance;
10.58
But if you don't, you'll knock in vain, and long
10.58
In vain to enter, and get nothing by it.
10.58
Just trust a woman to drink only water.
10.59
Byzantium makes all the merchants drunk.
10.59
On your account we drank the whole night long,
10.59
And right strong wine too, as it seems to me,—
10.59
At least I got up with four heads, I think.
10.59
A. For how in the name of all the gods at once,
10.59
Do you not know me, the Tirynthian Argive?
10.59
That race fights all its battles when 'tis drunk.
10.59
B. And that is why they always run away.
10.59
Elis is always drunk, and always lying:
10.59
As is each single house, so is the city.
10.60
For he could hardly bear the Thracian way
10.60
Of drinking monstrous goblets at one draught;
10.60
And always did prefer a smaller cup."
10.61
And those who bring their wine in Bacchus' rowing,
10.61
Sailors through feasts, and rowers of large cups.
10.61
This then my son is such in disposition
10.61
As you have just beheld him. An Œnopion,
10.61
Or Maron, or Capelus, or Timoclees,
10.61
For he's a drunkard, nothing more nor less.
10.61
And for the other, what can I call him?
10.61
A lump of earth, a plough, an earth-born man.
10.61
Are you then full of such a quantity
10.61
Of unmix'd wine, and yet avoid to vomit?
10.61
Is not, then, drunkenness the greatest evil,
10.61
And most injurious to the human race?
10.61
For much wine is the cause of many crimes.
10.61
What pleasure, prithee tell me, can there be
10.61
In getting always drunk? in, while still living,
10.61
Yourself depriving thus of all your senses;
10.61
The greatest good which nature e'er has given?
10.62
For it, O father, never can become
10.62
A sober man to seek debauchery,
10.62
Nor yet to serious cares to give his mind,
10.62
When it is rather time to drink and feast.
10.62
But he that cherishes superhuman thoughts,
10.62
Trusting to small and miserable riches,
10.62
Shall at some future time himself discover
10.62
That he is only like his fellow-men,
10.62
If he looks, like a doctor, at the tokens,
10.62
And sees which way his veins go, up or down,
10.62
On which the life of mortal man depends.
10.62
Macareus, when smitten with unholy love
10.62
For one of his own sisters, for a while
10.62
Repress'd the evil thought, and check'd himself;
10.62
But after some short time he wine admitted
10.62
To be his general, under whose sole lead
10.62
Audacity takes the place of prudent counsel,
10.62
And so by night his purpose he accomplish'd.
10.62
And wine, the milk of Venus, sweet to drink;
10.63
O you old man, the crew of youthful gamblers
10.63
Beyond a doubt are pressing hard upon you.
10.64
You will undo me with your questions..
10.64
. . . . and your new fashion,
10.64
Always talking at an unseasonable time.
10.64
A Colchian man drunken and quarrelsome (πάροινος).
10.64
Or that great ox-goad, harder than Lycurgus's,
10.64
Who smote the ἀῤῥυθμόποται of Bacchus,
10.64
And threw their cups and brimming ladles down.
10.65
A. Shut now your eyes, and drink it all at once.
10.65
B. 'Tis a great undertaking.
10.65
A. Not for one
10.65
Who has experience in mighty draughts.
10.65
A. Let us not always drink
10.65
Full cups, but let some reason and discussion
10.65
Come in between, and some short pretty songs;
10.65
Let some sweet strophes sound. There is no work,
10.65
Or only one at least, I tell you true,
10.65
In which some variation is not pleasant.
10.65
B. Give me, then, now at once, I beg you, wine,
10.65
Strengthening the limbs (ἀρκεσίγυιον), as says Euripides—
10.65
A. Aye, did Euripides use such a word?
10.65
B. No doubt—who else?
10.65
A. It may have been Philoxenus,
10.65
'Tis all the same; my friend, you now convict me,
10.65
Or seek to do so, for one syllable.
10.65
Take now this cup, and when you've taken, drink it (πῖθι),
10.65
And then ask me my name.
10.65
A. Still drink (πῖθι), I bid you.
10.65
B. I'll obey you, then,
10.65
For certainly a goblet's figure is
10.65
A most seductive shape, and fairly worthy
10.65
The glory of a festival. We have—
10.65
Have not we? (for it is not long ago)—
10.65
Drunk out of cruets of vile earthenware.
10.65
May the Gods now, my child, give happiness
10.65
And all good fortune to the clever workman
10.65
For the fair shape that he bestow'd on thee.
10.65
Fill the cup full, and hide the mortal part,
10.65
The goblet made by man, with godlike wine:
10.65
Drink (πῖθι); these are gifts, my father, given us
10.65
By the good Jove, who thus protects companionship.
10.65
When you have stirr'd the sea-hare, take and drink (πῖθι).
10.65
Away with you; have you ne'er drunk, O Sosilas?
10.65
Drink (πῖθι) now, I beg, for you are wondrous mad.
10.66
(πιόμεν’ ἐκ βοτάνης) Drank after feeding.
10.66
He ne'er shall drink (πίεται) of the same cup with me:
10.66
Thou shalt this day drink (πίει) the most bitter wine;
10.66
Nor he who drinks up (ἐκπίεται) all her property:
10.66
A. Drink (πῖε).
10.66
B. I will compel this wretch,
10.66
This sacrilegious wretch, to drink (πιεῖν) it first:
10.66
Pledge you (πρόπιθι) this man, that he may pledge another.
10.66
And do not chatter like the wave
10.66
Of the loud brawling sea, with that
10.66
Ever-loquacious Gastrodora,
10.66
Drinking the cup ἐπίστιος.
10.67
Wine, the brave router of all melancholy,
10.67
And not to drink the earthy beer (βρύτον).
10.67
And she did vomit wine as any Thracian
10.67
Might vomit beer (βρύτον), and played the wanton stooping.
10.67
And after this he drank his beer (βρύτον), and much
10.67
And loudly bragg'd in that most valiant house.
10.68
But in our time dear to the thyrsus-bearers
10.68
Is rosy wine, and greatest of all gods
10.68
Is Bacchus.
10.68
For this is pretext fit for many a song;
10.68
The great assemblies of th' united Greeks,
10.68
The feasts of kings, do from this gift proceed,
10.68
Since first the vine, with hoary bunches laden,
10.68
Push'd from beneath the ground its fertile shoots,
10.68
Clasping the poplar in its firm embrace,
10.68
And from its buds burst forth a numerous race,
10.68
Crashing, as one upon the other press'd;
10.68
But when the noise has ceased they yield their juice,
10.68
Divinest nectar, which to mortal men
10.68
Is ever the sole remedy for care,
10.68
And common cause of joy and cheerfulness.
10.68
Parent of feasts, and laughter, and the dance,
10.68
Wine shows the disposition of the good,
10.68
And strengthens all their noble qualities.
10.68
Hail! then, O Bacchus, president of feasts,
10.68
Dear to all men who love the wreathed flowers;
10.68
Give us, kind God, an age of happiness,
10.68
To drink, and play, and cherish just designs.
10.68
For many causes do I think our life,
10.68
The life of those who drink, a happy one;
10.68
And happier far than yours, whose wisdom all
10.68
Lies in a stern and solemn-looking brow.
10.68
For that slow prudence which is always busy
10.68
In settling small affairs, which with minuteness,
10.68
And vain solicitude, keeps hunting trifles,
10.68
Fears boldly to advance in things of weight;
10.68
But our mind, not too fond of scrutinising
10.68
Th' exact result of every trifling measure,
10.68
Is ever for prompt deeds of spirit ready.
10.70
A. I thought before that those who while at meals
10.70
Bade me solve griphi, were the silliest triflers,
10.70
Talking mere nonsense. And when any one
10.70
Was bade to say what a man bore and bore not,
10.70
I laugh'd and thought it utter childishness;
10.70
And did not think that truth did lie beneath,
10.70
But reckon'd them as traps for the unwary.
10.70
But now, indeed, I see there is some truth in them;
10.70
For we, ten men, contribute now for supper,
10.70
But no one of them all bears what he brings,
10.70
So here's a case where he who bears bears not,
10.70
And this is just the meaning of a griphus.
10.70
So surely this may fairly be excused;
10.70
But others play tricks with the things themselves,
10.70
Paying no money, as, for instance, Philip.
10.70
B. A wise and fortunate man, by Jove, is he.
10.70
A. Suppose I want to say now dish to you,
10.70
Shall I say dish, or shall I rather say,
10.70
A hollow-bodied vessel, made of earth,
10.70
Form'd by the potter's wheel in rapid swing,
10.70
Baked in another mansion of its mother,
10.70
Which holds within its net the tender milk-fed
10.70
Offspring of new-born flocks untimely choked?
10.70
B. By Hercules, you'll kill me straight if you
10.70
Do not in plain words say a dish of meat.
10.70
A. 'Tis well. And shall I speak to you of drops
10.70
Flowing from bleating goats, and well compounded
10.70
With streams proceeding from the yellow bee,
10.70
Sitting on a broad receptacle provided
10.70
By the chaste virgin born of holy Ceres,
10.70
And now luxuriating beneath a host
10.70
Of countless finely-wrought integuments;
10.70
Or shall I say a cheesecake?
10.70
B. Prithee say
10.70
A cheesecake.
10.70
A. Shall I speak of rosy sweat
10.70
From Bacchic spring?
10.70
B. I'd rather you'd say wine.
10.70
A. Or shall I speak of dusky dewy drops?
10.70
B. No such long paraphrase,—say plainly, water.
10.70
A. Or shall I praise the cassia-breathing fragrance
10.70
That scents the air
10.70
B. No, call it myrrh,—forbear
10.70
Those sad long-winded sentences, those long
10.70
And roundabout periphrases; it seems
10.70
To me by far too great a labour thus
10.70
To dwell on matters which are small themselves,
10.70
And only great in such immense descriptions.
10.71
A. It is not mortal, nor immortal either
10.71
But as it were compounded of the two,
10.71
So that it neither lives the life of man,
10.71
Nor yet of God, but is incessantly
10.71
New born again, and then again deprived
10.71
Of this its present life; invisible,
10.71
Yet it is known and recognised by all.
10.71
B. You always do delight, O lady, in riddles.
10.71
A. No, I am speaking plain and simple things.
10.71
B. What child then is there which has such a nature!
10.71
A. 'Tis sleep, my girl, victor of human toils.
10.71
A. There is a thing which speaks, yet has no tongue
10.71
A female of the same name as the male;
10.71
The steward of the winds, which it holds fast;
10.71
Rough, and yet sometimes smooth; full of dark voices
10.71
Scarce to be understood by learned men;
10.71
Producing harmony after harmony;
10.71
'Tis one thing, and yet many; e'en if wounded
10.71
'Tis still invulnerable and unhurt.
10.71
B. What can that be?
10.71
A. Why, don't you know, Callistratus?
10.71
It is a bellows.
10.71
B. You are joking now.
10.71
A. No; don't it speak, although it has no tongue?
10.71
Has it not but one name with many people?
10.71
Is't not unhurt, though with a wound i' the centre?
10.71
Is it not sometimes rough, and sometimes smooth?
10.71
Is it not, too, a guardian of much wind?
10.71
There is an animal with a locust's eye,
10.71
With a sharp mouth, and double deathful head;
10.71
A mighty warrior, who slays a race
10.71
Of unborn children.
10.71
I know a thing which, while it's young, is heavy,
10.71
But when it's old, though void of wings, can fly
10.71
With lightest motion, out of sight o' th' earth.
10.71
While it is young, stands solid in its seed,
10.71
But when it loses that, is light and flies,
10.71
Blown about every way by playful children.
10.71
There is an image all whose upper part
10.71
Is its foundation, while the lower part
10.71
Is open; bored all through from head to feet;
10.71
'Tis sharp, and brings forth men in threefold way,
10.71
Some of whom gain the lot of life, some lose it:
10.71
All have it; but I bid them all beware.
10.72
A. A man who threw his net o'er many fish,
10.72
Though full of hope, after much toil and cost,
10.72
Caught only one small perch. And 'twas a cestreus,
10.72
Deceived itself, who brought this perch within,
10.72
For the perch followeth the blacktail gladly.
10.72
B. A cestreus, blacktail, perch, and man, and net,—
10.72
I don't know what you mean; there's no sense in it.
10.72
A. Wait while I clearly now explain myself:
10.72
There is a man who giving all he has,
10.72
When giving it, knows not to whom he gives it,
10.72
Nor knows he has the things he does not need.
10.72
B. Giving, not giving, having, and not having,—
10.72
I do not understand one word of this.
10.72
A. These were the very words of this same griphus.
10.72
For what you know you do not just now know,
10.72
What you have given, or what you have instead.
10.72
This was the meaning.
10.72
B. Well, I should be glad
10.72
To give you too a griphus.
10.72
A. Well, let's have it.
10.72
B. A pinna and a mullet, two fish, both
10.72
Endued with voices, had a conversation,
10.72
And talk'd of many things; but did not say
10.72
What they were talking of, nor whom they thought
10.72
They were addressing; for they both did fail
10.72
In seeing who it was to whom they talk'd.
10.72
And so, while they kept talking to each other,
10.72
The goddess Ceres came and both destroy'd.
10.73
S. There is a female thing which holds her young
10.73
Safely beneath her bosom; they, though mute,
10.73
Cease not to utter a loud sounding voice
10.73
Across the swelling sea, and o'er the land,
10.73
Speaking to every mortal that they choose;
10.73
But those who present are can nothing hear,
10.73
Still they have some sensation of faint sound.
10.73
B.The female thing you speak of is a city;
10.73
The children whom it nourishes, orators;
10.73
They, crying out, bring from across the sea,
10.73
From Asia and from Thrace, all sorts of presents
10.73
The people still is near them while they feed on
10.73
And pour reproaches ceaselessly around,
10.73
While it nor hears nor sees aught that they do.
10.73
S. But how, my father, tell me, in God's name,
10.73
Can you e'er say an orator is mute,
10.73
Unless, indeed, he's been three times convicted?
10.73
B. And yet I thought that I did understand
10.73
The riddle rightly. Tell me then yourself.
10.73
S. The female thing you speak of is a letter,
10.73
The young she bears about her is the writing:
10.73
They're mute themselves, yet speak to those afar off
10.73
Whene'er they please. And yet a bystander,
10.73
However near he may be, hears no sound
10.73
From him who has received and reads the letter.
10.74
The sweat of oaks, and a long leafy branch
10.74
Cut from a bush supports me, and a thread
10.74
Drawn from Egyptian linen, clever snare
10.74
To catch the flying birds.
10.75
Of all the things the genial earth produces,
10.75
Or the deep sea, there is no single one,
10.75
Nor any man or other animal
10.75
Whose growth at all can correspond to this:
10.75
For when it first is born its size is greatest;
10.75
At middle age 'tis scarcely visible,
10.75
So small it's grown; but when 'tis old and hastens
10.75
Nigh to its end, it then becomes again
10.75
Greater than all the objects that surround it.
10.75
There are two sisters, one of whom brings forth
10.75
The other, and in turn becomes its daughter.
10.76
I saw a man who by the means of fire
10.76
Was glueing brass unto another man
10.76
So closely that they two became like brothers.
10.79
I shall not grieve myself nor you,
10.79
Being convicted of this action.
10.79
Alpha alone, O woman; then one should
10.79
Say ει alone in the second place: next,
10.79
Still by itself you will say, thirdly, Eta;
10.79
Fourth, still alone, Iota; fifthly, Ou.
10.79
In the sixth place, Upsilon by itself.
10.79
The last of all the seven vowels is
10.79
The slow-paced Omega. The seven vowels
10.79
In seven verses; and when you've recited
10.79
All these, then go and ponder by yourself.
10.80
For I'm in labour, ladies; but from shame,
10.80
I will, my dear, in separate lines and letters,
10.80
Tell you the name of the child. There is a line
10.80
Upright and long; and from the middle of it
10.80
There juts forth on each side a little one,
10.80
With upward look: and next a circle comes,
10.80
On two short feet supported.
10.80
For I indeed do nothing know of letters,
10.80
But I will tell you all their shapes, and give
10.80
Clear indications by which you may judge.
10.80
There is a circle, round as though 't had been
10.80
Work'd in a lathe, and in its centre space
10.80
It has a visible sign. Then the second
10.80
Has first of all two lines, and these are parted
10.80
By one which cuts them both across the middle.
10.80
The third's a curly figure, wreathed round.
10.80
The fourth contains one line which mounts right up,
10.80
And in a transverse course three others hang
10.80
From its right side. The letter which cones fifth
10.80
Admits of no such easy explanation;
10.80
For there are two diverging lines above,
10.80
Which meet in one united line below.
10.80
The letter which comes last is like the third.
10.80
The letter which comes first is like a circle,
10.80
Divided by a navel in the middle;
10.80
Then come two upright lines well-join'd together;
10.80
The third is something like a Scythian bow:
10.80
Next comes a trident placed upon its side;
10.80
And two lines branching from one lower stem:
10.80
The last again the same is as the third.
10.80
The letter which comes first a circle is,
10.80
With one soft eye; then come two upright lines
10.80
Of equal and exact proportions,
10.80
United by one middle transverse line;
10.80
The third is like a wreathed curl of hair;
10.80
The next a trident lying on its side;
10.80
The fifth two lines of equal length above,
10.80
Which below join together in one base;
10.80
The sixth, as I have said before, a curl.
10.81
My name is Theta, ro, alpha, and san,
10.81
Upsilon, mu, alpha, chi, ou, san again:
10.81
Chalcedon was my home, wisdom my trade.
10.81
σὲ τὸν βόλοις νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον
10.81
ναίονθ’ ἕδος, θηρονόμε πὰν, χθόν’ Ἀρκάδων,
10.81
κλήσω γραφῇ τῇδ’ ἐν σοφῇ, πάγκψειτ’ ἔπη
10.81
συνθεὶς, ἄναξ, δύσγνωστα μὴ σοφοῖς κλύειν,
10.81
μουσοπόλε θὴρ, κηρόχυτον ὅς μείλιγμ’ ἱεῖς.
10.81
O thou that dwellest on the lofty plain,
10.81
Stormy with deep loud-sounding falls of snow,
10.81
Th' Arcadian land,—lord of the forest kinds,
10.81
Thee, mighty Pan, will I invoke in this
10.81
Sagacious writing, carefully compounding
10.81
Words difficult for ignorant men to know,
10.81
Or rightly understand. Hail, friend o' the Muse,
10.81
Who pourest forth sweet sounds from waxen flute.]
10.81
σὲ, τὸν βόλοις νιφοκτύποις δυσχείμερον,
10.81
νιφοκτύποις σὲ τὸν βόλοις δυσχείμερον.
10.81
μέτρον φράσον μοι, τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβών·
10.81
λαβὼν μέτρον μοι τῶν ποδῶν, μέτρον φράσον.
10.81
οὐ βούλομαι γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν μέτρον λαβεῖν,
10.81
λαβεῖν μέτρον γὰρ τῶν ποδῶν οὐ βούλομαι.
10.82
Before long series of songs were heard,
10.82
And the ill-sounding san from out men's mouths.
10.82
I sing of Ceres and her daughter fair,
10.82
The bride of Clymenus.
10.83
In a conspicuous land I had my birth,
10.83
The briny ocean girds my country round,
10.83
My mother is the daughter fair of Number.
10.83
Mix the juice of peel'd barley, and then drink it.
10.83
An animal destitute of feet and spine
10.83
And bone, whose back is clad with horny shell,
10.83
With long, projecting, and retreating eyes.
10.83
Coagulated, tender-bodied milk.
10.83
lost understand me not? I mean new cheese.
10.83
He's lately cut it up; then he confined
10.83
The long, unbroken portions of the body
10.83
In earthen vases, wrought in crackling fire,—
10.83
A phrase, my men, invented by Timotheus,
10.83
Who meant to say in dishes.
10.83
A. And when the nurse of life was taken away,
10.83
Fierce hunger's foe, sweet friendship's guardian,
10.83
Physician of voracious hunger, which
10.83
Men call the table . . .
10.83
B. How you tire yourself,
10.83
When you might say the table in a word.
10.83
O Cinyras, king of hairy Cyprians,
10.83
Your son is far the fairest of all men,
10.83
And the most admirable: but two deities
10.83
Lay hands upon him; one is driven on
10.83
By secret courses, and the other drives.
10.83
There is upon the earth an animal
10.83
With two feet, and with four, and eke with three,
10.83
And with one voice; and it alone, of all
10.83
The things which move on earth, or in the heavens,
10.83
Or o'er the boundless sea, doth change its nature;
10.83
But when its feet are of the greatest number,
10.83
Then is its speed the slowest, and strength least.
10.84
The father of a kid which roves for food,
10.84
And a sad fish, had their heads near together;
10.84
And when they had received beneath their eyelids
10.84
The son of Night, they did not choose to cherish
10.84
The bull-slaying servant of the sovereign Bacchus.
10.84
I say that he who does not like to win
10.84
The grasshopper's prize, will give a mighty feast
10.84
To the Panopeiadean Epeus.
10.84
For the great daughter of Jove pitied him
10.84
Bearing incessant water for the kings.
10.85
For a sea-corpse has call'd me now back home,
10.85
Which, though dead, speaketh with a living mouth.
10.85
λαβὼν ἀριστόνικον ἐν μάχῃ κράτος·
10.85
He gain'd in battle a glorious victory;
10.85
Five men came to one place in vessels ten,
10.85
And fought with stones, but might not lift a stone,
10.85
And died of thirst while water reach'd their chins.
10.87
Ἀγχοῦ δ’ ἱσταμένη ἔπεα πτερόεντα προσηύδα.
10.87
Ἀλλ’ ἄγε νῦν μάστιγα καὶ ἡνία σιγαλόεντα.
10.87
ʽἁσπίδας εὐκύκλους λαισήαϊ τε πτερόεντα.
10.87
Ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ λέγοιτ’ ἄν, ὁ φέρων τ’ ἀγαθά.
10.87
Ἀγαθὸς ἂν εἴη καὶ ὁ φέρων καλῶς κακά.
10.87
Εὗρε λυκάονος υἷον ἀμύμονά τε κρατερόν τε.
10.87
Ἐν πόλει ὑμετέρῃ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἔμελλον ἔγωγε.
10.87
Εὐκαταφρόνητός ἐστι πενία, δέρκυλε·
10.87
Ἐπὶ τοῖς παροῦσι τὸν βίον διάπλεκε.
10.87
Ἡ μὲν ἄπ’ ὥς εἰποῦσ’ ἀπέβη γλαυκῶπις Ἀθήνη·
10.87
Ἡ δ’ ἐν γούνασι πίπτε διώνης δῖ Ἀφροδίτη.
10.87
Ἡ τῶν φίλων σοι πίστις ἔστω κεκριμένη.
10.87
Ἰλίου ἐξαπολοίατ’ ἀκήδεστοι καὶ ἄφαντοι·
10.87
Ἱππόλοχος δέ μ’ ἔτικτε καὶ ἐκ τοῦ φημὶ γενέσθαι.
10.87
Συμπάντων δαναῶν, οὐδ’ ἢν Ἀγαμέμνονα εἴπῃς.
10.87
Σοφος ἐστιν ὁ φέρων τἀπὸ τῆς τύχης καλῶς.
10.87
Ὡς δ’ ὅτ’ ἀπ’ οὐλύμπου νέφος ἔρχεται οὐρανὸν εἴσω.
10.87
Ὠρθωμένην πρὸς ἅπαντα τὴν ψύχην ἔχω.
10.87
Πάντ’ ἐθέλω δόμεναι, καὶ ἔτ’ οἴκοθεν ἄλλʼ ἐπιθεῖναι·
10.87
Ἄιας δ’ ἐκ σαλαμῖνος ἄγεν δύο καὶ δεκα νῆας·
10.87
Φυλείδης ὃν τίκτε διῒ φίλος ἵπποτα φυλευς.
10.87
Ἰητὴρ δ’ ἀγαθὸς ποδαλείριος ἠδὲ μάχαων.
10.87
Ὀλψυμένων δαναῶν ὀλοφύρεται ἐν φρεσὶ θυμος,
10.87
Μυθεῖται κατὰ μοῖραν ἅπερ κ’ οἴοιτο καὶ ἄλλος,
10.87
Λυγρός ἐὼν μή πού τι κακὸν καὶ μεῖζον ἐπαύρῃ,
10.87
Ἀργυρόπεζα θέτις θυγατὴρ ἁλίοιο γέροντος,
10.87
μητι σὺ ταῦτα ἕκαστα διείρεο, μὴ δὲ μετάλλα,
10.88
A. Alas me! what perplexing things you say,
10.88
O master, and what numerous things you ask me.
10.88
B. But now I will speak plainly: if you know
10.88
One circumstance about the rape of the child,
10.88
You must reveal it quick, before you're hang'd.
10.88
A. Are you then asking me a riddle, master,
10.88
Bidding me tell you all about the rape
10.88
Of the child? What's the meaning of your words?
10.88
B. Here, some one, bring me out a halter quickly.
10.88
A. What for?
10.88
B. Perhaps you'll say you do not know.
10.88
A. Will you then punish me with that? Oh don't!
10.88
You'd better make me drink a cup of brine.
10.88
B. Know you then how you ought to drink that up?
10.88
A. Indeed I do.
10.88
B. How?
10.88
A. So as to make you pledge me.
10.88
B. No, but first put your hands behind your back,
10.88
Then drink it at a draught, not drawing breath.
10.88
I'll change my speech, by way of episode,
10.88
So as to treat the theatre with many
10.88
New dishes rich with various seasonings;