Delphi Complete Works of Dio Chrysostom

by Dio Chrysostom

  [72] Then the two men laughed, not only the girl’s father but his also. As for him, he felt ashamed and became silent.

  Then the girl’s father said, “Well, my boy, it is not I who am delaying you, but your father is waiting until he can go and buy a victim, for we must sacrifice to the gods.” At this point the girl’s younger brother interrupted, saying, “Why, this fellow got a victim long ago. It is being fattened in there behind the hut, and a fine animal it is.”

  [73] ἠρώτων οὖν αὐτόν, Ἀληθῶς; ὁ δὲ ἔφη. καὶ πόθεν σοι; ἔφασαν. ὅτε τὴν ὗν ἐλάβομεν τὴν τὰ τέκνα ἔχουσαν, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα διέδρα: καὶ ἦν, ἔφη, ταχύτερα τοῦ λαγώ: ἑνὸς δὲ ἐγὼ λίθῳ ἔτυχον καὶ ἁλόντι τὸ δέρμα ἐπέβαλον: τοῦτο ἠλλαξάμην ἐν τῇ κώμῃ, καὶ ἔλαβον ἀντ᾽ αὐτοῦ χοῖρον, καὶ ἔθρεψα ποιήσας ὄπισθεν συφεόν.

  [73] “Is it really so?” they asked him, and he said “Yes.” “And where did you get it?” they enquired. “When we caught the wild sow that had the young ones, they all escaped but one. They ran more swiftly than the hare,” he added. “One, however, I hit with a stone, caught, and covered with my leather jerkin. I exchanged it in the village and got a young pig for it. Then I made a sty out behind and raised it.”

  [74] ταῦτα, εἶπεν, ἄρα ἡ μήτηρ σοῦ ἐγέλα, ὁπότε θαυμάζοιμι ἀκούων γρυλιζούσης τῆς συός, καὶ τὰς κριθὰς οὕτως ἀνήλισκες. αἱ γὰρ εὐβοΐδες, εἶπεν, οὐχ ἱκαναὶ ἦσαν πιᾶναι, ἣ μηδὲ βαλάνους ἤθελεν ἐσθίειν. ἀλλὰ εἰ βούλεσθε ἰδεῖν αὐτήν, ἄξω πορευθείς. οἱ δὲ ἐκέλευον. ἀπῄεσαν οὖν ἐκεῖνός τε καὶ οἱ παῖδες αὐτόθεν δρόμῳ χαίροντες.

  [74] “So that is the reason why your mother would laugh,” exclaimed the father, “when I used to wonder on hearing the pig grunt, and you were using the barley so freely.” “Well,” he replied, “the chestnuts were not enough to fatten her, supposing she had been willing to eat nuts without anything else. But if you wish to see her, I will go and fetch her in.” And they bade him do so. So he and the boys were off at once on the run full of glee.

  [75] ἐν δὲ τούτῳ ἡ παρθένος ἀναστᾶσα ἐξ ἑτέρας σκηνῆς ἐκόμισεν οὖα τετμημένα καὶ μέσπιλα καὶ μῆλα χειμερινὰ καὶ τῆς γενναίας σταφυλῆς βότρυς σφριγῶντας, καὶ ἔθηκεν ἐπὶ τὴν τράπεζαν, καταψήσασα φύλλοις ἀπὸ τῶν κρεῶν, ὑποβαλοῦσα καθαρὰν πτερίδα. ἧκον δὲ καὶ οἱ

  [75] Meanwhile the girl had risen and brought from another hut some sliced sorb-apples, medlars, winter apples, and swelling clusters of fine grapes, and placed them on the table after wiping off the stains from the meat with leaves and putting some clean fern beneath. Then the boys came in laughing and full of fun, leading the pig,

  [76] παῖδες τὴν ὗν ἄγοντες μετὰ γέλωτος καὶ παιδιᾶς. συνηκολούθει δὲ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ νεανίσκου καὶ ἀδελφοὶ δύο παιδάρια: ἔφερον δὲ ἄρτους τε καθαροὺς καὶ ᾠὰ ἑφθὰ ἐν ξυλίνοις πίναξι καὶ ἐρεβίνθους φρυκτούς. ἀσπασαμένη δὲ τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἡ γυνὴ καὶ τὴν θυγατέρα καὶ τὴν ἀδελφιδῆν ἐκαθέζετο παρὰ τὸν αὑτῆς ἄνδρα, [p. 204] καὶ εἶπεν, ἰδοῦ τὸ ἱερεῖον, ὃ οὗτος πάλαι ἔτρεφεν εἰς τοὺς γάμους, καὶ τἄλλα τὰ παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἕτοιμά ἐστι, καὶ ἄλφιτα καὶ ἄλευρα πεποίηται: μόνον ἴσως οἰναρίου προσδεησόμεθα: καὶ τοῦτο οὐ χαλεπὸν ἐκ τῆς κώμης λαβεῖν.

  [76] and with them followed the young man’s mother and two small brothers. They brought white loaves of wheaten bread, boiled eggs in wooden platters, parched chickpeas.

  After the woman had greeted her brother and her niece, his daughter, she sat down beside her husband and said, “See, there is the victim which that boy has long been feeding for his wedding day, and everything else is ready on our side. The barley and wheaten flour have been ground; only perhaps we shall need a little more wine. This too we can easily get from the village.”

  [77] παρειστήκει δὲ αὐτῇ πλησίον ὁ υἱὸς πρὸς τὸν κηδεστὴν ἀποβλέπων. καὶ ὃς μειδιάσας εἶπεν, Οὗτος,ἔφη, ἐστὶν ὁ ἐπέχων: ἴσως γὰρ ἔτι βούλεται πιᾶναι τὴν ὗν. καὶ τὸ μειράκιον, Αὕτη μέν, εἶπεν, ὑπὸ τοῦ λίπους διαρραγήσεται.

  [77] And close beside her stood her son, glancing at his future father-in-law. He smiled at the lad and said, “There is the one who is holding things up. I believe he wants to fatten the pig a bit more.” The young man replied, “Why, she is ready to burst with fat.”

  [78] κἀγὼ βουλόμενος αὐτῷ βοηθῆσαι, ὅρα, ἔφην, μὴ ἕως πιαίνεται ἡ ὗς οὗτος ὑμῖν λεπτὸς γένηται. ἡ δὲ μήτηρ, Ἀληθῶς, εἶπεν, ὁ ξενος λέγει, ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν λεπτότερος αὑτοῦ γέγονε: καὶ πρῴην ᾐσθόμηντῆς νυκτὸς αὐτὸν ἐγρηγορότα καὶ προελθόντα ἔξω τῆς σκηνῆς.

  [78] And wishing to help him, I said, “take care that your young man doesn’t get thin while the pig gets fat.” “Our guest speaks well,” said the mother, “for he has already grown thinner than I have ever seen him before; and I noticed a short time ago that he was wakeful in the night and went out of the hut.” “The dogs were barking,” the young man interrupted, “and I went out to see.”

  [79] οἱ κύνες, ἔφη, ὑλάκτουν, καὶ ἐξῆλθον ὀψόμενος. οὐ σύ γε, εἶπεν, ἀλλὰ περιεπάτεις ἀλύων. μὴ οὖν πλείω χρόνον ἐῶμεν ἀνιᾶσθαι αὐτόν. καὶ περιβαλοῦσα ἐφίλησε τὴν μητέρα τῆς κόρης. ἡ δὲ πρὸς τὸν ἄνδρα τὸν ἑαυτῆς, Ποιῶμεν, εἶπεν, ὡς θέλουσι. καὶἔδοξε ταῦτα, καὶ εἶπον, Εἰς τρίτην ποιῶμεν τοὺς γάμους. παρεκάλουν δὲ κἀμὲ προσμεῖναι τὴν ἡμέραν.

  [79] “No, you did not,” said she, “but you were walking around distraught. So don’t let us permit him to be tortured any longer.” And throwing her arms about the girl’s mother she kissed her; and the latter, turning to her husband, said, “Let us do as they wish.” This they decided to do and said, “Let us have the wedding the day after to-morrow.” They also invited me to stay over,

  [80] κἀγὼ προσέμεινα οὐκ ἀηδῶς, ἐνθυμούμενος ἅμα τῶν πλουσίων ὁποῖά ἐστι τά τε ἄλλα καὶ τὰ περὶ τοὺς γάμους, προμνηστριῶν τε πέρι καὶ ἐξετάσεων οὐσιῶν τε καὶ γένους, προικῶν τε καὶ ἕδνων καὶ ὑποσχέσεων καὶἀπατῶν, ὁμολογιῶν τε καὶ συγγραφῶν, καὶ τελευταῖον πολλάκις ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς γάμοις λοιδοριῶν καὶ ἀπεχθειῶν.

  [80] and I did so gladly, at the same time reflecting on the character of weddings and other things among the rich, on the matchmakers, the scrutinies of property and birth, the dowries, the gifts from the bridegroom, the promises and deceptions, the contracts and agreements, and, finally, the wranglings and enmities that often occur at the wedding itself.

 
; [81] ἅπαντα δὴ τοῦτον τὸν λόγον διῆλθον οὐκ ἄλλως οὐδ᾽ ὡς τάχ᾽ ἂν δόξαιμί τισιν, ἀδολεσχεῖν βουλόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ οὗπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὑπεθέμην βίου καὶ τῆς τῶν πενήτων διαγωγῆς παράδειγμα ἐκτιθείς,ὃ αὐτὸς ἠπιστάμην, τῷ βουλομένῳ θεάσασθαι λόγων τε καὶ ἔργων καὶ κοινωνιῶν τῶν πρὸς ἀλλήλους, εἴ τι τῶν πλουσίων ἐλαττοῦνται διὰ τὴν πενίαν πρὸς τὸ ζῆν εὐσχημόνως καὶ κατὰ φύσιν ἢ τῷ

  [81] Now I have not told this long story idly or, as some might perhaps infer, with the desire to spin a yarn, but to present an illustration of the manner of life that I adopted at the beginning and of the life of the poor — an illustration drawn from my own experience for anyone who wishes to consider whether in words and deeds and in social intercourse the poor are at a disadvantage in comparison with the rich on account of their poverty, or in every way have the advantage.

  [82] παντὶ πλέον ἔχουσιν. καὶ δῆτα καὶ τὸ τοῦ Εὐριπίδου σκοπῶν, εἰ κατ᾽ ἀλήθειαν ἀπόρως αὐτοῖς ἔχει τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ξένους, ὡσμήτε ὑποδέξασθαί ποτε δύνασθαι μήτε ἐπαρκέσαι δεομένῳ τινί, οὐδαμῇ πω τοιοῦτον εὑρίσκω τὸ τῆς ξενίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ πῦρ ἐναύοντας προθυμότερον τῶν πλουσίων καὶ ὁδῶν ἀπροφασίστους ἡγεμόνας: [p. 205] ἐπεί τοι τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ αἰσχύνοιντο ἄν: πολλάκις δὲ καὶ μεταδιδόντας ὧν ἔχουσιν ἑτοιμότερον: οὐ γὰρ δὴ ναυαγῷ τις δώσει ἐκείνων οὔτε τὸ τῆς γυναικὸς ἁλουργὲς ἢ τὸ τῆς θυγατρὸς οὔτε πολὺ ἧττον τούτου φόρημα, τῶν χλαινῶν τινα ἢ χιτώνων, μυρία ἔχοντες, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τῶν οἰκετῶν οὐδενὸς ἱμάτιον.

  [82] And really, when I consider Euripides’ words and ask myself whether as a matter of fact the entertainment of strangers is so difficult for them that they can never welcome or succour anyone in need, I find this by no means to be true of their hospitality. They light a fire more promptly than the rich and guide one on the way without reluctance — indeed, in such matters a sense of self-respect would compel them — and often they share what they have more readily. When will you find a rich man who will give the victim of a shipwreck his wife’s or his daughter’s purple gown or any article of clothing far cheaper than that: a mantle, for example, or a tunic, though he has thousands of them, or even a cloak from one of his slaves?

  [83] δηλοῖ δὲ καὶ τοῦτο Ὅμηρος: τὸν μὲν γὰρ Εὔμαιον πεποίηκε δοῦλον καὶ πένητα ὅμως τὸν Ὀδυσσέα καλῶς ὑποδεχόμενον καὶ τροφῇ καὶ κοίτῃ: τοὺς δὲ μνηστῆρας ὑπὸ πλούτου καὶ ὕβρεως οὐ πάνυ ῥᾳδίως αὐτῷ μεταδιδόντας οὐδὲ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, ὥς που καὶ αὐτὸς πεποίηται λέγων πρὸς τὸν Ἀντίνουν, ὀνειδίζων τὴν ἀνελευθερίαν,

  οὐ σύγ᾽ ἂν ἐξ οἴκου σῷ ἐπιστάτῃ οὐδ᾽ ἅλα δοίης,

  ὃς νῦν ἀλλοτρίοισι παρήμενος οὔτι μοι ἔτλης

  σίτου ἀπάρξασθαι, πολλῶν κατὰ οἶκον ἐόντων.

  [83] Homer too illustrates this, for in Eumaeus he has given us a slave and a poor man who can still welcome Odysseus generously with food and a bed, while the suitors in their wealth and insolence share with him but grudgingly even what belongs to others, and this, I think, is just what Odysseus himself is represented as saying to Antinous when he upbraids him for his churlishness.

  “Thou wouldst not give a suppliant even salt

  In thine own house, — thou who, while sitting here,

  Fed at another’s table, canst not bear

  To give me bread from thy well-loaded board.”

  [84] καὶ τούτους μὲν ἔστω διὰ τὴν ἄλλην πονηρίαν εἶναι τοιούτους: ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τὴν Πηνελόπην, καίτοι χρηστὴν οὖσαν καὶ σφόδρα ἡδέως διαλεγομένην πρὸς αὐτὸν καὶ περὶ τοῦ ἀνδρὸς πεπυσμένην, οὐδὲ ταύτην φησὶν ἱμάτιον αὐτῷ δοῦναι γυμνῷ παρακαθημένῳ, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ μόνον ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι, ἂν ἄρα φανῇ ἀληθεύων περὶ τοῦ Ὀδυσσέως,

  [84] But granted that such meanness on the suitors’ part was in accord with their general depravity, yet how was it with Penelope? Though she was an excellent woman, overjoyed to talk with Odysseus and learn about her husband, Homer does not say that even she gave him a cloak as he sat beside her in a bare tunic, but that she merely promised him one if it turned out that he was telling the truth about Odysseus in saying that he would arrive within the month.

  [85] ὅτι ἐκείνου τοῦ μηνὸς ἥξοι, καὶ ὕστερον, ἐπειδὴ τὸ τόξον ᾔτει, τῶν μνηστήρων, οὐ δυναμένων ἐντεῖναι, χαλεπαινόντων ἐκείνῳ, ὅτι ἠξίου πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἁμιλλᾶσθαι περὶ ἀρετῆς, ἀξιοῖ δοθῆναι αὐτῷ: οὐ γὰρ δὴ περὶ τοῦ γάμου γε εἶναι κἀκείνῳ τὸν λόγον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐὰν τύχῃ ἐπιτείνας καὶ διαβαλὼν διὰ τῶν πελέκεων, ἐπαγγέλλεται αὐτῷ δώσειν χιτῶνα καὶ ἱμάτιον καὶ ὑποδήματα:

  [85] And afterwards, when he asked for the bow, and the suitors, who could not draw it, were angry at him because he had the hardihood to vie with them in prowess, she urged that it be given to him, adding that of course her promise of marriage could not apply to him; but she promised to give him a tunic, cloak, and shoes, if he succeeded in stretching the bow and shooting through the axes;

  [86] ὡς δέον αὐτὸν τὸ Εὐρύτου τόξον ἐντεῖναι καὶ τοσούτοις νεανίσκοις ἐχθρὸν γενέσθαι, τυχὸν δὲ καὶ ἀπολέσθαι παραχρῆμα ὑπ᾽ αὐτῶν, εἰ μέλλει τυγχάνειν ἐξωμίδος καὶ ὑποδημάτων, ἢ τὸν Ὀδυσσέα, εἴκοσιν ἐτῶν οὐδαμοῦ πεφηνότα, ἥκοντα ἀποδεῖξαι, καὶ ταῦτα ἐν ἡμέραις ῥηταῖς: εἰ δὲ μή, ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀπιέναι ῥάκεσι παρὰ τῆς σώφρονος καὶ ἀγαθῆς Ἰκαρίου θυγατρὸς βασιλίδος.

  [86] as though he had to bend the bow of Eurytus and become the enemy of all those young men, and perhaps lose his life at their hands then and there, if he was to receive tunic and shoes, or else must produce Odysseus in person, who had not been seen anywhere for twenty years, and within a stated time at that, with the alternative, in case he could do neither, of departing in the same rags out of the presence of the good and prudent daughter royal of Icarius!

  [87] σχεδὸν δὲ καὶ ὁ Τηλέμαχος τοιαῦτα ἕτερα πρὸς τὸν συβώτην λέγει περὶ αὐτοῦ, κελεύων αὐτὸν εἰς [p. 206] τὴν πόλιν πέμπειν τὴν ταχίστην πτωχεύσοντα ἐκεῖ, καὶ μὴ πλείους ἡμέρας τρέφειν ἐν τῷ σταθμῷ: καὶ γὰρ εἰ ξυνέκειτο αὐτοῖς ταῦτα, ἀλλ᾽ ὅ γε συβώτης οὐ θαυμάζει τὸ πρᾶγμα καὶ τὴν ἀπανθρωπίαν,

  [87] Other words of about the same purport Telemachus too addresses to the swineherd regarding Odysseus when he bid
s the latter to send him to the city as soon as possible that he may beg for alms there, and not to feed him at the steading any longer. And even if this had been agreed upon between them, yet the swineherd feels no surprise at the treatment and its inhumanity,

  [88] ὡς ἔθους δὴ ὄντος οὕτως ἀκριβῶς καὶ ἀνελευθέρως πράττειν τὰ περὶ τοὺς ξένους τοὺς πένητας, μόνους δὲ τοὺς πλουσίους ὑποδέχεσθαιφιλοφρόνως ξενίοις καὶ δώροις, παρ᾽ ὧν δῆλον ὅτι καὶ αὐτοὶ προσεδόκων τῶν ἴσων ἂν τυχεῖν, ὁποῖα σχεδὸν καὶ τὰ τῶν νῦν ἐστι φιλανθρωπίας τε πέρι καὶ προαιρέσεως.

  [88] as though it were the regular procedure to deal with needy strangers thus strictly and meanly and to welcome open-heartedly with gifts and presents only the rich, from whom, of course, the host expected a like return, very much as the present custom is in selecting the recipients of our kindly treatment and preferment;

  [89] αἱ γὰρ δὴ δοκοῦσαι φιλοφρονήσεις καὶ χάριτες, ἐὰν σκοπῇ τις ὀρθῶς, οὐδὲν διαφέρουσιν ἐράνων καὶ δανείων, ἐπὶ τόκῳ συχνῷ καὶ ταῦτα ὡστὸ πολὺ γιγνόμενα, εἰ μὴ νὴ Δί᾽ ὑπερβάλλει τὰ νῦν τὰ πρότερον,

  [89] for what seem to be acts of kindliness and favours turn out, when examined rightly, to be loans, and that too at a high rate of interest as a usual thing, if, by heavens, conditions to-day are not worse than they used to be, just as is the case with every other evil.