Today's story (it's a long one, so just one story today) comes from the Sertum Greek Reading Book for students at Eton, which is available at the Internet Archive.
You'll find the story below, first in Greek, then segmented, and then interwoven with English; the title is linked to the Internet Archive page. I've broken it up into three parts: the Aesopic opening, the animal story, and then the Aesopic close.
Αἴσωπος ἐν Σάμῳ δημηγορῶν, κρινομένου δημαγωγοῦ περὶ θανάτου, ἔφη· Ἀλώπεκα διαβαίνουσαν ποταμὸν ἀπωσθῆναι εἰς φάραγγα· οὐ δυναμένην δʼ ἐκβῆναι πολὺν χρόνον κακοπαθεῖν, καὶ κυνοραϊστὰς πολλοὺς ἔχεσθαι αὐτῆς· ἐχῖνον δὲ πλανώμενον, ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὴν, κατοικτείραντα εἰπεῖν, εἰ ἀφέλοι αὐτῆς τοὺς κυνοραῖστάς· τὴν δὲ οὐκ ἐᾶν. Ἐρομένου δὲ, διὰ τί, ὅτι οὗτοι μὲν, φάναι, ἤδη μου πλήρεις εἰσὶ καὶ ὀλίγον ἕλκουσιν αἷμα, ἐὰν δὲ τούτους ἀφέλῃ, ἕτεροι ἐλθόντες πεινῶντες ἐκπιοῦνταί μου τὸ λοιπὸν οἷμα. Ἀτὰρ καὶ ὑμᾶς, ἔφη, ὦ ἄνδρες Σάμιοι, οὗτος μὲν οὐδὲν ἔτι βλάψει· πλούσιος γάρ ἐστιν· ἐὰν δὲ ἀποκτείνητε, ἕτεροι ἥξουσι πένητες, οἳ ὑμῖν ἀναλώσουσι τὰ κοινὰ κλέπτοντες.
Αἴσωπος
ἐν Σάμῳ δημηγορῶν,
κρινομένου δημαγωγοῦ
περὶ θανάτου,
ἔφη·
Αἴσωπος ... Aesop
δημηγορῶν ... was addressing the people
ἐν Σάμῳ ... on the island of Samos,
κρινομένου δημαγωγοῦ ... defending a demagogue
περὶ θανάτου ... on a capital charge,
ἔφη ... and he said:
(the story is told with accusative plus infinitive in indirect speech)
Ἀλώπεκα
διαβαίνουσαν ποταμὸν
ἀπωσθῆναι εἰς φάραγγα·
οὐ δυναμένην δʼ ἐκβῆναι
πολὺν χρόνον κακοπαθεῖν,
καὶ κυνοραϊστὰς πολλοὺς
ἔχεσθαι αὐτῆς·
ἐχῖνον δὲ πλανώμενον,
ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὴν,
κατοικτείραντα εἰπεῖν,
εἰ ἀφέλοι αὐτῆς
τοὺς κυνοραῖστάς·
τὴν δὲ οὐκ ἐᾶν.
Ἐρομένου δὲ διὰ τί,
ὅτι οὗτοι μὲν
φάναι
ἤδη μου πλήρεις εἰσὶ
καὶ ὀλίγον ἕλκουσιν αἷμα,
ἐὰν δὲ τούτους ἀφέλῃ,
ἕτεροι ἐλθόντες
πεινῶντες ἐκπιοῦνταί
μου τὸ λοιπὸν οἷμα.
Ἀλώπεκα ... A fox,
διαβαίνουσαν ποταμὸν ... crossing a river,
ἀπωσθῆναι εἰς φάραγγα ... was thrust (by the current)
εἰς φάραγγα ... into a gully,
οὐ δυναμένην δʼ ἐκβῆναι ... and was not able to get out.
πολὺν χρόνον κακοπαθεῖν ... She was badly off for a long time
καὶ κυνοραϊστὰς πολλοὺς ... and many dog-ticks
ἔχεσθαι αὐτῆς ... seized her.
ἐχῖνον δὲ πλανώμενον ... A hedgehog wandered by;
ὡς εἶδεν αὐτὴν ... when he saw her
κατοικτείραντα εἰπεῖν ... he felt sorry for her and asked
εἰ ἀφέλοι ... if he could remove
αὐτῆς τοὺς κυνοραῖστάς ... the ticks from her,
τὴν δὲ οὐκ ἐᾶν ... but she refused.
Ἐρομένου δὲ διὰ τί ... When he asked why,
φάναι ὅτι ... she said that
οὗτοι μὲν ... "These ticks
ἤδη μου πλήρεις εἰσὶ ... have already had their fill of me
καὶ ὀλίγον ἕλκουσιν αἷμα ... and are drawing little blood,
ἐὰν δὲ τούτους ἀφέλῃ ... but if you remove these,
ἕτεροι ἐλθόντες ... other will come,
πεινῶντες ἐκπιοῦνταί ... hungry ones who will drink
μου τὸ λοιπὸν οἷμα ... what blood I have left."
Ἀτὰρ καὶ ὑμᾶς,
ἔφη,
ὦ ἄνδρες Σάμιοι,
οὗτος μὲν
οὐδὲν ἔτι βλάψει·
πλούσιος γάρ ἐστιν·
ἐὰν δὲ ἀποκτείνητε,
ἕτεροι ἥξουσι πένητες,
οἳ ὑμῖν ἀναλώσουσι
τὰ κοινὰ κλέπτοντες.
Ἀτὰρ καὶ ὑμᾶς ... And likewise you,
ἔφη ... said Aesop,
ὦ ἄνδρες Σάμιοι ... O men of Samos!
οὗτος μὲν ... For this man
οὐδὲν ἔτι βλάψει ... won't harm you anymore,
πλούσιος γάρ ἐστιν ... because he is rich,
ἐὰν δὲ ἀποκτείνητε ... but if you kill him,
ἕτεροι ἥξουσι ... others will come,
πένητες ... poor men,
οἳ ὑμῖν ἀναλώσουσι ... and they will use you up,
τὰ κοινὰ κλέπτοντες .... robbing your treasury.
And here's a random proverb and a random LOLCat too:
No comments:
Post a Comment