Deipnosophistae
Choose a text
id="mobileReaderAuthor" class="mobile-reader-author" href="/authors/athenaeus-of-naucratis" aria-label="More works by Athenaeus of Naucratis">
—
⋯
Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
8.10
How could the mighty trees and sea-born camasenes . . .
8.10
And after them she brought forth Helen third,
8.10
A marvel to all mortal men to see;
8.10
Her then the fair-hair'd Nemesis did bear,
8.10
Compell'd by Jove, the sovereign of the gods.
8.10
She indeed fled, nor sought to share the love
8.10
Of that great father, son of Saturn, Jove;
8.10
For too great awe did overpower her mind:
8.10
So Nemesis did flee o'er distant lands,
8.10
And o'er the black and barren waves o' the sea;
8.10
But Jove pursued her (and with eagerness
8.10
His soul desired her). In vain she took
8.10
The form of some large fish who bounds along,
8.10
Borne on the vast high-crested roaring wave;
8.10
Sometimes she fled along the ocean, where
8.10
The earth's most distant boundaries extend;
8.10
Sometimes she fled along the fertile land;
8.10
And took all shapes of every animal
8.10
Which the land bears, to flee from amorous Jove.
8.12
Mind that you never, O Deucalion,
8.12
(Even if I bid you,) set a fish before me.
8.12
Then sleeping (ἀποβρίξαντες) there we waited for the dawn)—
8.13
I am Philænis, famous among men;
8.13
And here I lie, o'erwhelm'd by long old age.
8.13
Do not, O foolish sailor, pass this cape
8.13
Laughing and scorning and reproaching me.
8.13
For. now I swear by Jove, and by the gods
8.13
Who reign below, I never lustful was,
8.13
I never made myself a sport to man.
8.13
But one Polycrates, of Attic race,
8.13
A trashy chatterer, and a false accuser,
8.13
Wrote what he wrote; I know not what it was.
8.14
Knowing that you are mortal, feed your soul
8.14
On banquets and delights; for in the grave
8.14
There's no enjoyment left. I now am dust
8.14
Who once was king of mighty Nineveh;
8.14
The things which I did eat, the joys of love,
8.14
The insolent thoughts with which my wealth did fill me,
8.14
Are all I now have left; for all my power
8.14
And all my happiness is gone for ever.
8.14
This is the only prudent rule of life,
8.14
I never shall forget it, let who will
8.14
Hoard boundless treasures of uncounted gold.
8.14
To dress, to dance, to sing, our sole delight,
8.14
The feast or bath by day, and love by night.
8.14
I to all mortals now give this advice:
8.14
Live for the day with pleasure; he who dies
8.14
Is nought; an empty shade beneath the earth:
8.14
Man lives but a short space, and therefore should,
8.14
While life remains, enjoy himself.
8.14
The man who knows that he is but a mortal,
8.14
And yet seeks not enjoyment while alive,
8.14
Leaving all other cares, is but a fool
8.14
In mine and all wise men's opinion,
8.14
And most unhappy in his destiny.
8.14
Drink and play, our mortal life
8.14
On earth can but a brief space last;
8.14
Death alone will last for ever,
8.14
When once our too brief term is past.
8.14
Eat, drink, indulge thy soul with all delights,
8.14
This stone is all that now remains for Bacchides.
8.15
Why do you talk such stuff, why run about
8.15
To the Lyceum and the Academy,
8.15
To the Odeum's gates, hunting in vain
8.15
For all the sophists' nonsense? there's no good in it;
8.15
Let us drink, drink, I say. O Sicon, Sicon!
8.15
Let us amuse ourselves; while time allows us
8.15
To gratify our souls.—Enjoy yourself,
8.15
My good friend Manes! nothing is worth more
8.15
To you than your own stomach. That's your father;
8.15
That only is your mother;-as for virtues,
8.15
And embassies, and military commands,
8.15
They are but noisy boasts, vain empty dreams.
8.15
Fate at its destined hour will come to chill you;
8.15
Take all that you can get to eat and drink;
8.15
Pericles, Codrus, Cimon, are but dust.
8.16
Knowing that thou art mortal, feed thy soul
8.16
On wise discourse. There is no good in eating.
8.16
For I am now no good, who once did eat
8.16
All that I could, and sought all kinds of pleasure.
8.16
Now what I thought and learnt and heard of wisdom
8.16
Is all I now have left; my luxuries
8.16
And all my joys have long deserted me.
8.16
Of all bad things the chief is appetite.
8.17
Eat now a turtle, or else leave it alone;
8.17
Eat now a turtle's flesh, or leave it alone.
8.18
Dorion the musician once did come
8.18
To Mylon, all in vain; for he could find
8.18
No resting-place which he could hire at all;
8.18
So on some sacred ground he sat him down,
8.18
Which was by chance before the city gates,
8.18
And there he saw the keeper of the temple
8.18
Prepare a sacrifice.—"I pray thee, tell me,
8.18
In chaste Minerva's name, and all the gods',
8.18
What deity is it that owns this temple?"
8.18
The keeper thus replied: "This is, O stranger,
8.18
Of Jupiter-Neptune the sacred shrine."
8.18
How then, said Dorion, "could any man
8.18
Expect to find a lodging in a place
8.18
Which in one temple crowds a pair of gods?"
8.18
'Tis not that God denies a flutist sense,
8.18
But when he comes to blow it flies away.
8.19
No, but all night Dorion the dish-piper
8.19
Does stay in-doors with us.
8.20
A. Jupiter 'tis who did invite me, giving
8.20
A feast (γ’ ἔρανον) to Pelops.
8.20
B. 'Tis a sorry food,
8.20
That crane (γέρανος), to my mind.
8.20
A. But I did not say
8.20
A crane (γέρανον), but a feast (ἔρανόν γε), as you might well have heard.
8.21
First of all, whether the wind blew north or south,
8.21
As long as it blew hard, it was not possible
8.21
For anybody to get fish to eat.
8.21
But now, besides that pair of stormy winds,
8.21
We've a third tempest risen in Phayllus;
8.21
For when this last storm bursts upon the market,
8.21
He buys up all the fish at all the stalls,
8.21
And bears it off; so that we are reduced
8.21
To squabble for the vegetables remaining.
8.21
Give me some cuttle-fish first. O Hercules!
8.21
They've dirtied every place with ink; here, take them
8.21
And throw them back again into the sea,
8.21
To wash them clean: or else they'll say, O Dorion,
8.21
That you have caught some rotten cuttle-fish:
8.21
And put this crawfish back beside the sprats.
8.21
He's a fine fish, by Jove. O mighty Jove,
8.21
O you Callimedon, who now will eat you?
8.21
No one who's not prepared to pay his share.
8.21
I've giv'n you your place here on the right,
8.21
You mullets, food of great Callisthenes;
8.21
Who eats his patrimony in one dish;
8.21
Next comes the mighty conger from Sinope,
8.21
With his stout spines; the first who comes shall have him;
8.21
For Misgolas has no great love for such.
8.21
But here's a citharus, and if he sees him
8.21
He never will keep off his hands from him;
8.21
For he, indeed, does secretly adhere
8.21
As close as wax to all the harp-players (κιθαρῳδοῖς).
8.21
I ought to send this best of fish, this tench,
8.21
Still all alive, and leaping in his dish,
8.21
To the fair Pythionica, he's so fine:
8.21
But still she will not taste him, as her heart
8.21
Is wholly set on cured fish.—Here I place
8.21
These thin anchovies and this dainty turtle
8.21
Apart for Theano, to counterbalance her.
8.22
Misgolas is not seen to enter in,
8.22
Excited as he is by blooming youth.
8.22
O mother, do not threaten me, I pray,
8.22
With Misgolas, for I am not a harp-player.
8.23
When that stout Anytus to Pythionica
8.23
Does come, to eat with her; for she invites him,
8.23
As people say, whenever she does get
8.23
Two noble tunnies from Chærephilus;
8.23
So fond is she of all things that are large.
8.23
And Pythionica will receive you gladly,
8.23
And very likely will devour the gifts
8.23
Which you have lately here received from us,
8.23
For she's insatiable. Still do you
8.23
Bid her give you a basket of cured fish;
8.23
For she has plenty; and she has indeed
8.23
A couple of saperdæ; ugly fish,
8.23
Ill salted, and broad nosed.
8.24
Then up came Carabus Callimedon,
8.24
And looking on me, as it seem'd to me,
8.24
He kept on speaking to some other man.
8.24
And I, as it was likely, understanding
8.24
No word of what they said, did only nod.
8.24
But all the girls do keep on looking at him,
8.24
While they pretend to turn their eyes away.
8.24
A. I am now, these last four days, taking care of
8.24
These κόραι for Callimedon.
8.24
B. Had he then
8.24
Any κόραι (damsels) for daughters?
8.24
A. I mean κόραι,
8.24
The pupils of the eyes; which e'en Melampus,
8.24
Who could alone appease the raging Prœtides,
8.24
Would e'er be able to keep looking straight.
8.24
A. You shall be ædile if the gods approve,
8.24
That you may stop Callimedon descending
8.24
Like any storm all day upon the fish.
8.24
B. You speak of work for tyrants, not for ædiles;
8.24
For the man's brave, and useful to the city.
8.24
If I love any strangers more than you,
8.24
I'll willingly be turn'd into an eel,
8.24
That Carabus Callimedon may buy me.
8.24
And Carabus Callimedon with Orpheus.
8.24
'Twould harder be to make me change my mind
8.24
Than to induce Callimedon to pass
8.24
The head of a sea-grayling.
8.24
Others prostrating them before the gods,
8.24
Are found with Carabus, who alone of men
8.24
Can eat whole salt-fish out of boiling dishes
8.24
So wholly as to leave no single mouthful.
8.24
Agyrrius, when a crawfish was before him,
8.24
On seeing him exclaim'd, Hail, dear papa!
8.24
Still what did he do? He ate his dear papa!
8.26
They say Philoxenus, the ancient poet
8.26
Of dithyrambics, was so wonderfully
8.26
Attach'd to fish, that once at Syracuse
8.26
He bought a polypus two cubits long,
8.26
Then dress'd it, and then ate it up himself,
8.26
All but the head-and afterwards fell sick,
8.26
Seized with a sharp attack of indigestion.
8.26
Then when some doctor came to him to see him,
8.26
Who saw that he was greatly out of order;
8.26
If, said the doctor, "you have any business
8.26
Not well arranged, do not delay to settle it,
8.26
For you will die before six hours are over."
8.26
Philoxenus replied, "All my affairs,
8.26
O doctor, are well ended and arranged,
8.26
Long, long ago By favour of the gods,
8.26
I leave my dithyrambics all full-grown,
8.26
And crown'd with many a prize of victory;
8.26
And I commit them to the guardianship
8.26
Of my dear foster-sisters, the Nine Muses,
8.26
And join to them both Bacchus and fair Venus.
8.26
This is my will. But now, since Charon gives
8.26
No time, but, as in the Niobe of Timotheus,
8.26
Keeps crying out, 'Now cross;' and deadly fate
8.26
Calls me away, who can't be disobey'd,
8.26
That I may go below with all my goods,
8.26
Bring me the relics of that polypus."
8.26
Philoxenus of Cythera, as men say,
8.26
Wished that he had a throat three cubits long;
8.26
That I might drink, said he, "as long as possible,
8.26
And that my food may all at once delight me."
8.26
For, between two rich courses of fine fish,
8.26
He pleased himself by looking down the centre
8.26
Of Aetna's crater.
8.27
A. Demosthenes has half-a-hundred talents.
8.27
B. A lucky man, if no one shares with him.
8.27
A. And Moerocles has got a mighty sum.
8.27
B. He was a fool who gave them; lucky he
8.27
Who got them.
8.27
A. Demon and Callisthenes
8.27
Have also got large sums.
8.27
B. Well, they were poor,
8.27
So that we well may pardon them for taking them.
8.27
A. And that great orator Hyperides.
8.27
B. Why, he will all our fishmongers enrich;
8.27
An epicure! Gulls are mere Syrians,
8.27
Compared to him.
8.27
Then cross Hyperides, that fishy river,
8.27
Which with a gentle sound, bubbling with boasts
8.27
Of prudent speeches, with mild repetitions
8.27
* * * * *
8.27
And hired, bedews the plain of him who gave it.
8.28
He tells no lie . . . .
8.28
A man dug out his eye, as Matron does
8.28
The eyes of fish when he comes near to them.
8.28
Matron has carried off and eaten up
8.28
A cestris' head; and I am quite undone.
8.29
Euthymus too was there, with sandals on,
8.29
A ring upon his finger, well perfumed,
8.29
Silently pondering on I know not what.
8.29
Phœnicides too, and my friend Taureas,
8.29
Such great inveterate epicures that they
8.29
Would swallow all the remnants in the market;
8.29
They at this sight seem'd almost like to die,
8.29
And bore the scarcity with small good humour;
8.29
But gather'd crowds and made this speech to them:—
8.29
"What an intolerable thing it is
8.29
That any of you men should claim the sea,
8.29
And spend much money in marine pursuits,
8.29
While not one fin of fish comes to this market!
8.29
What is the use of all our governors
8.29
Who sway the islands? We must make a law
8.29
That there should be copious importation
8.29
Of every kind of fish. But Matron now
8.29
Has carried off the fishermen; and then
8.29
There's Diogeiton, who, by Jove, has brought
8.29
The hucksters over to keep back for him
8.29
All the best fish; and he's not popular
8.29
For doing this, for there is mighty waste
8.29
In marriage feasts and youthful luxury."
8.29
But when at some fine banquet of young men
8.29
Phœnicides perceived a smoking dish
8.29
Full of the sons of Nereus, he held bach
8.29
His hands, with rage excited. Thus he spoke:—
8.29
"Who boasts himself a clever parasite
8.29
At eating at the public cost? who thinks
8.29
To filch the dainty dishes from the middle?
8.29
Where's Corydus, or Phyromachus, or Nillus?
8.29
Let them come here, they shall get nought of this."
8.30
Menelaus warr'd for ten whole years against
8.30
The Trojan nation for one lovely woman.
8.30
Phoinicides, too, attacks Taureas
8.30
For one fine eel.
8.31
If you should wish to see the genius
8.31
Of that devoted artichoke-devourer
8.31
Leonteus the tragedian, don't regard
8.31
The sorrow-stricken heart of Hypsipyle.
8.31
I once was dear to Bacchus, and his taste
8.31
Is ne'er perverted by base bribes t' approve
8.31
Untuneful sounds. But now the pots and pans,
8.31
And well-fill'd dishes have destroyed my voice,
8.31
While I've been anxious to indulge my stomach.
8.32
But what resists is utterly destroy'd,
8.32
But Ino finish'd all the rest o' the business.
8.33
But if such a race of men
8.33
Were to wage a present war
8.33
With those who now exist on earth,
8.33
And if a roast ray led them on,
8.33
Or a fine side of well-fed pork,
8.33
The rest might safely stay at home,
8.33
And trust Nothippus by himself,
8.33
For he alone would swallow up
8.33
The whole Peloponnesus:—
8.33
A. Here is an Anagyrasian orphus for you,
8.33
Which e'en my friend Myniscus the Chalcidean
8.33
Could hardly finish.
8.33
B. Much obliged to you.
8.34
But Phædo, that great harpist, praises phyces,
8.34
And sausages, he's such an epicure.
8.34
The fish is boil'd, now firmly bar the doors,
8.34
Lest Agis, Proteus of the dishes, enter;
8.34
For he'll be fire, water,—what he likes;
8.34
But bar the door . . . . . .
8.34
For he, transform'd, like Jupiter, to gold
8.34
Will hasten to this rich Acrisian dish.
8.34
Clio's an epicure. Let's shut our eyes.
8.34
I beg you, Clio, by yourself to feed.
8.34
This conger costs a drachma; leave a pledge,
8.34
A band, an earring, or some ornament.
8.34
But we cannot endure the sight of you;
8.34
You're our Medusa; and we're turn'd to stone,
8.34
Not by the Gorgon, but by that whole conger.
8.36
Not to eat fish (ὀψοφάγειν) nor to giggle.
8.36
Not a fish-eater (ὀψοφάγος) nor a chatterer.
8.36
I am a fish-eater (ὀψοφάγος), and this is now
8.36
The whole foundation of the art we practise.
8.36
And he who wishes not to spoil the dishes
8.36
Served up to others, should be pleased himself.
8.36
For he who rightly cares for his own eating
8.36
Will not be a bad cook. And if you keep
8.36
Your organs, sense and taste, in proper order,
8.36
You will not err. But often taste your dishes
8.36
While you are boiling them. Do they want salt?
8.36
Add some;—is any other seasoning needed
8.36
Add it, and taste again-till you've arrived
8.36
At harmony of flavour; like a man
8.36
Who tunes a lyre till it rightly sounds.
8.36
And then, when everything is well in tune,
8.36
Bring in a troop of willing damsels fair,
8.36
Equal in number to the banqueters.
8.38
A. When the natives of the land
8.38
Catch a fish which is not common,
8.38
But fine, as large as the whole isle
8.38
Of Crete, he furnishes a dish
8.38
Able to hold a hundred such;
8.38
And orders all who live around,
8.38
Sindi, and Lycians, and Paphians,
8.38
Cranai, and Mygdoniotæ,
8.38
To cut down wood, because the king
8.38
Is boiling this enormous fish.
8.38
So then they bring a load of wood,
8.38
Enough to go all round the city,
8.38
And light the fire. Then they bring
8.38
A lake of water to make brine,
8.38
And for eight months a hundred carts
8.38
Are hard at work to carry salt.
8.38
And around the dish's edge
8.38
Five five-oar'd boats keep always rowing;
8.38
And bid the slaves take care the fire
8.38
Burns not the Lycian magistrates.
8.38
B. Cease to blow this cold air on us,
8.38
King of Macedon, extinguish
8.38
The Celts, and do not burn them more.
8.38
Talking all this nonsense, he
8.38
Raises the wonder of the youths
8.38
With whom he feasts, though knowing not
8.38
The simplest sums and plainest figures;
8.38
But drags his cloak along the ground
8.38
With a most lordly, pompous air.
8.38
If you find aught hard and inexplicable,
8.38
Repeat it over, understand it clearly,—
8.38
For I have much more leisure than I like;
8.39
As if a man at a luxurious feast,
8.39
When cheese-cakes are before him, chooses nought
8.39
But anise, parsley, and such silly fare,
8.39
And ill-dress'd cardamums . . . .
8.40
οὐδεὶς κακὸς μέγας ἰχθῖς·
8.40
μέγας οὐδεὶς σαπρὸς ἰχθῦς.
8.41
Ἀκούετε ναοί. This was a parody on the first words of the crier's usual proclama- ion,—Ἀκούετε λαοὶ,—Hear, O people. ναοὶ means temples.
8.41
Once Stratonicus travell'd down to Pella,
8.41
And having heard from many men before
8.41
That the baths of that city were accustom'd
8.41
To give the bathers spleen; and finding, too,
8.41
That many of the youths did exercise
8.41
Before the fire, who preserved their colour
8.41
And vigour of their body unimpair'd;
8.41
He said that those who told him so were wrong.
8.41
But finding afterwards, when he left the bath,
8.41
A man whose spleen was twice his belly's size,—
8.41
This man, said he, "appears to me here now
8.41
To sit and keep the garments of the men
8.41
Who go to bathe, and all their spleens beside,
8.41
That all the people may have room enough."
8.41
A miserable singer once did give
8.41
A feast to Stratonicus and his friends,
8.41
And, while the cup was freely going round,
8.41
Exhibited his art to all the company.
8.41
And as the feast was rich and liberal,'
8.41
Poor Stratonicus, wearied with the song,
8.41
And having no one near him he could speak to,
8.41
Knock'd down his cup, and asked for a larger.
8.41
And when he'd drunk full many a draught, he made
8.41
A last libation to the glorious sun,
8.41
And then composed himself to sleep, and left
8.41
The rest to fortune. Presently more guests
8.41
Came, as good luck would have it, to the singer,
8.41
To feast with him; still Stratonicus slept,
8.41
Heavy with wine; and when they ask'd him why
8.41
A man so much accustom'd to drink wine
8.41
Had been so soon o'ercome by drink this day,
8.41
This treacherous, cursed singing man, said he,
8.41
"Treated me like a bullock in a stall;
8.41
For first he fed me up, and then he kill'd me."
8.41
Once Stratonicus to Abdera went,
8.41
To see some games which there were celebrated;
8.41
And seeing every separate citizen
8.41
Having a private crier to himself,
8.41
And each of them proclaiming a new moon
8.41
Whene'er he pleased, so that the criers were
8.41
Quite out of all proportion to the citizens,
8.41
He walk'd about on tiptoes through the city,
8.41
Looking intently on the ground beneath.
8.41
And when some stranger ask'd him what had happen'd
8.41
To his feet, to make him look so gravely at them:—
8.41
He said, "I'm very well all over, friend,
8.41
And can run faster to an entertainment
8.41
Than any parasite; but I'm in fear
8.41
Lest I should tread by hazard on some κῆρυξ, κῆρυξ means, not only a crier, but also a prickly instrument of torture.
8.41
And pierce my foot with its spikes and lame myself."
8.41
Once, when a wretched flute-player was preparing
8.41
To play the flute at a sacred festival,
8.41
Let us have only sounds of omen good,
8.41
Said Stratonicus; "let us pour libations
8.41
And pray devoutly to the mighty gods."
8.41
There was a harper, and his name was Cleon,
8.41
But he was nick-named Ox; he sang most vilely
8.41
Without th' accompaniment of the lyre.
8.41
When Stratonicus heard him, then he said,
8.41
"I've often heard of asses at the lyre,
8.41
But now I see an ox in the same case."
8.41
The harper Stratonicus once had sail'd
8.41
To Pontus, to see king Berisadæs.
8.41
And when he'd staid in Pontus long enough,
8.41
He thought he would return again to Greece.
8.41
But when the king refused to let him go,
8.41
They say that Stratonicus said to him—
8.41
Why, do you mean to stay here long yourself?
8.41
The harper Stratonicus once was staying
8.41
Some time at Corinth; when an aged woman
8.41
One day stood looking at him a long time,
8.41
And would not take her eyes off: then said he,
8.41
"Tell me, I pray you, in God's name, good mother,
8.41
What is 't you wish, and why you look thus on me?"
8.41
I marvell'd, said she, "how 'twas your mother
8.41
Held you nine months, without her belly bursting,
8.41
While this town can't endure you one whole day."
8.41
Fair Biothea, Nicotheon's wife,
8.41
Once at a party with a handmaid fair
8.41
Made some strange noise; and after that, by chance,
8.41
She trod upon a Sicyonian almond.
8.41
Then Stratonicus said, The noise is different.
8.41
But when night came, for this heedless word,
8.41
He wash'd out his free-speaking in the sea.
8.41
Once, when at Ephesus, as rumour goes,
8.41
A stupid harper was exhibiting
8.41
One of his pupils to a band of friends;
8.41
Stratonicus, who by chance was present, said,
8.41
"He cannot make himself a harp-player,
8.41
And yet he tries to teach the art to others."
8.42
The father granted half his prayer,
8.42
The other half denied.
8.44
Let each man sing the art in which he's skilled.
8.50
For Plato teaches us that what is good,
8.50
Is everywhere on all occasions good;
8.50
Can you deny this? and that what is sweet
8.50
Is always sweet, here, there, and ev'rywhere.
8.51
As when we're feasting anywhere,
8.51
Then we all talk and argue faster.
8.53
But if you are in love, O Cteson,
8.53
What is more useful than these fish I bring?
8.53
Ceryces, cockles, (onions too, are here,)
8.53
The mighty polypus, and good-sized turbot.
8.57
For I have never taken any great trouble
8.57
In buying fish; * *
8.57
* * * * *
8.57
* * So that others from rich banquets coming
8.57
Should blame the gluttonous surfeits of their friends.
8.57
A. And I to-day will give a feast to all of you;
8.57
And take you money now, and buy the supper.
8.57
B. Yes; for unless I've money I should hardly
8.57
Know how to buy discreetly. But i' the first place,
8.57
Tell me what food, what dishes you prefer.
8.57
A. All kinds of food.
8.57
B. But tell me separately.
8.57
First now, should you approve of any fish?
8.57
A. A fishmonger came once into the country
8.57
With a good basketfull of sprats and triglides,
8.57
And, by Jove, greatly he pleased all of us.
8.57
B. Well, tell me then, should you now like some fish?
8.57
A. Indeed I should, if they were very little.
8.57
For all large fish I always fancy cannibals.
8.57
B. What can you mean, my friend?
8.57
A. Why, cannibals;—
8.57
How can a man eat fish which eat up men!
8.57
B. 'Tis plain enough that it is Helen's food
8.57
This fellow means, just sprats and triglides.
8.57
A. My father, would you like to go to market
8.57
And buy some fish for me
8.57
B. What shall I buy?
8.57
A. Some grown up fish, my father, no small babies.
8.57
B. Do not you yet know all the worth of money?
8.58
A. But while you buy, don't disregard economy,
8.58
For anything will do.
8.58
B. Just tell me how.
8.58
A. Don't be expensive, though not mean or stingy;
8.58
Whatever you may buy will be enough;
8.58
Some squids and cuttle-fish; and should there be
8.58
Some lobsters in the market, let's have one—
8.58
Some eels will look nice too upon the table—
8.58
Especially if from the Theban lake:
8.58
Then let us have a cock, a tender pigeon,
8.58
A partridge, and a few such other things;
8.58
And if a hare should offer, then secure it.
8.58
B. Why how precise you are in your directions!
8.58
A. I'd need be, you are so extravagant;
8.58
And we are certain to have meat enough.
8.58
B. Has anybody sent you any present?
8.58
A. No, but my wife has sacrificed the calf
8.58
Which from Corone came, and we to-morrow
8.58
Shall surely sup on it.
8.58
A. I do entreat you, do not lecture me
8.58
So very fiercely; do not say so much
8.58
About the money; recollect I'm your uncle;
8.58
Be moderate, I beg.
8.58
B. How can I be
8.58
More moderate than I am?
8.58
A. At least be briefer,
8.58
And don't deceive me; use diminutives;
8.58
For fish say fishlings; if you want aught more,
8.58
Speak of your bits of dishes; and at least
8.58
I shall be ruin'd with a better grace.
8.59
The calf
8.59
Which from CoroneCorone is not a woman's name, as some have fancied; the allusion is to the custom of some beggars, who, pretending to be ashamed to beg for themselves, carried about a talking jackdaw (κορώνη), and professed to be begging only for the use of the bird. came, and we to-morrow
8.59
Shall surely sup on it.
8.59
My friends, I pray you give a handful now
8.59
Of barley to the jackdaw, Phœbus' daughter;
8.59
Or else a plate of wheat; or else a loaf,
8.59
A halfpenny, or whatsoe'er you please;
8.59
Give, my good friends, whatever you can spare
8.59
To the poor jackdaw; e'en a grain of salt;
8.59
For willingly she feeds on anything;
8.59
And he who salt bestows to-day, to-morrow
8.59
May give some honey. Open, boy, the door;
8.59
Plutus has heard, and straight a serving maid
8.59
Brings out some figs. Gods, let that maiden be
8.59
For ever free from harm, and may she find
8.59
A wealthy husband of distinguished name:
8.59
And may she show unto her aged father
8.59
A lusty boy, and on her mother's lap
8.59
Place a fair girl, her daughter, to bring up
8.59
A happy helpmate for some lucky cousin.
8.59
But I, where'er my feet conduct my eyes,
8.59
Sing with alternate melody at the gates
8.59
Of him who gives, and him who rude denies.
8.59
At present I'll leave off, and say no more.
8.59
But you, my friends, who have good store at home,
8.59
Give something. Give, O king; give you too, housewife.
8.59
It is the law that all should give their hand
8.59
When the crow begs. And you who know this law,
8.59
Give what you please, and it shall be sufficient.
8.60
The swallow, the swallow (χελιδών) is come,
8.60
Bringing good seasons and a joyful time.
8.60
Her belly is white, her back is black.
8.60
Bring, oh bring, a cake of figs
8.60
Out of your luxurious house,
8.60
Bring a cup of wine,
8.60
And a dish of cheese,
8.60
And a bag of wheat.
8.60
Those the good swallow will not despise,
8.60
Nor a cake of eggs.
8.60
Shall we now go, or shall we get something?
8.60
Give something, and we'll go; if you give nothing
8.60
We will not cease to pester you; we'll force the door
8.60
And carry it away, or th' upper lintel,
8.60
Or e'en your wife who sits within the house.
8.60
She is but little, we shall find her light.
8.60
If you give something, let it be worth having.
8.60
Open, then, open the door to the swallow,
8.60
For we are not old men, but only boys.
8.63
Is it a supper or a marriage feast
8.63
For certainly there is no picnic held now.
8.63
And spoilt the wine by pouring in this water.'
8.63
Here there are brazen caldrons, brazen goblets,
8.63
And spits. And then to see the men with spits
8.63
And flutes, too, dancing (βαλλίζοντες), what a sight it was!
8.63
Then he did take it, and proceeded onwards;
8.63
The rest did follow dancing (ἐβάλλιζον).
8.63
Dancing (βαλλίζοντες) they filled the entrance room with dung.
8.63
And now I see a multitude of men
8.63
Hastening to a feast, as if a goodly company
8.63
Were here invited. May it be my luck
8.63
To keep out of your way, my revellers,
8.63
After your dancing (βαλλισμὸς) and your feasting both
8.63
Have gone off well and are quite finish'd.
8.63
For I should never bear my robe off safely,
8.63
Unless my wings had grown.
8.64
But say, you joyful troop so gaily drest,
8.64
Is this a bridal or a friendly feast?—
8.64
I by myself am equal to the task
8.64
Which formerly it took two men to answer.
8.64
I see three thiasi of women coming.
8.64
Him the fierce dogs and hungry vultures tore (κατέδαψαν).
8.64
Then too, when any one is out of humour,
8.64
When he comes in she flatters him discreetly,
8.64
And kisses him, not pressing his mouth hard
8.64
Like some fierce enemy; but just billing towards him
8.64
Like some fond sparrow; then she sings and comforts him,
8.64
And makes him cheerful (ἱλαρὸς) and dispels all clouds
8.64
From off his face, and renders him propitious (ἵλεως).
8.65
There, too, was Pallas to partake the feast:
8.65
The monarch of the main, a heavenly guest,
8.65
In Ethiopia graced the genial feast,
8.65
There on the world's extremest verge, revered
8.65
With hecatombs and prayer in pomp preferr'd,
8.65
Distant he lay:Hom. Odyss. i. 22.—
8.65
The sire of gods and all the ethereal train
8.65
On the warm limits of the furthest main
8.65
Now mix with mortals, nor disdain to grace
8.65
The feast of Ethiopia's blameless race.Hom. Iliad, i. 424.
8.65
But when their aged superiors are present,
8.65
Young men should silent be.
8.65
Feasting they sate;
8.65
But when they'd eaten thus, and drank their fill,
8.65
Each to his room retired, not dreaming ill.
8.66
But now with speed let's take a short repast,
8.66
And well refresh'd to bloody conflict haste.
8.66
When you have ask'd a friend to come to supper,
8.66
Do not be angry when you see him come;
8.66
That is the part of an unworthy man;
8.66
But give yourself to happy thoughts of joy,
8.66
And study to amuse your friend and guest.
8.66
When any of us does celebrate
8.66
A sacrifice, and bids his friends to th' feast,
8.66
Still, if he come, we're vex'd and look askance,
8.66
And wish him to depart without delay.
8.66
And he his want of welcome soon perceives
8.66
And reassumes his shoes; when some one rises
8.66
Of the surrounding revellers, and says,
8.66
"Here, my friend, do not go; why won't you drink.
8.66
Take off your shoes." And then the host again
8.66
Is angry with the guest who calls him back,
8.66
And quotes some scraps of poetry against him,—
8.66
"Remember, always speed the parting guest,
8.66
And when a man is sleeping let him rest."
8.66
Do not we in this manner oft behave
8.66
When feasting those we choose to call our friends?
8.66
Let not a numerous party vex your mind,
8.66
For more are pleased, and the cost's near the same.
8.67
We don't do other things as we perform
8.67
Our duties to the gods. We sacrifice
8.67
One sheep scarce worth ten or a dozen drachmæ;
8.67
But for our flute-women, our perfumes rich,
8.67
Our harpers, Thasian and Mendæan wine,
8.67
Eels, cheese, and honey to regale ourselves,
8.67
We do not a whole talent think too much.
8.67
'Tis very well to spend a dozen drachmæ
8.67
When we are sacrificing to the gods,
8.67
But if you much curtail that slight expense,
8.67
Are you not thus dishonouring the gods?
8.67
I, if I were a god, would ne'er allow
8.67
A scanty loin of beef to load my altars,
8.67
Unless an eel were also sacrificed,
8.67
So that Callimedon might die of rage.
8.68
A. And now the master here has sent a slave
8.68
To bring to me a jar of his own wine.
8.68
B. I understand; this is ἐπιδόσιμος,
8.68
A gift into the bargain, as a makeweight;
8.68
I praise the wise old woman.
8.68
A. Laches, I come to you; proceed.
8.68
B. Which way?
8.68
A. How can you ask? Why, to my mistress, who
8.68
Has a feast ἐπιδόσιμος prepared;
8.68
And in her honour only yesterday
8.68
You made the guests drink down twelve glasses each.
8.68
Having prepared a small dole-basket supper
8.68
He went away to Ophela.
8.68
Praising great Aeschylus in his σύνδειπνα,
8.68
Come, sit you down, and call those damsels in;
8.68
We've got a picnic here, but well I know
8.68
That your's is but a skin-flint disposition.
8.68
They also celebrate a picnic feast.
8.68
And for this reason now they drink (συνάγουσι) alone:
8.68
And so they ended the entertainment (συναγώγιον).
8.68
A. I'll come and bring my contributions now.
8.68
B. How, contributions?
8.68
A. The Chalcidians
8.68
Call fringes, alabaster, scent boxes,
8.68
And other things of that kind, contributions.
8.69
For I myself have been a boy, a girl,
8.69
A bush, a bird, and fish which roams the sea.