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benefactors. These things will differ in no way from the ebb tide, Or from Charybdis that sucks down fleets. Wealth too will gush forth for a little while, Like some cargo of satiety flowing upwards. I will wait a little, and justice approaches, Better if now; but if not, then later. It is better to be poor in a good way than to be rich in an evil way, To be humble rather than puffed up, Thinking sickness to be good health. Or did everything have to become gold for you, as they say it once did for Midas, so that you might also suffer Midas's fate, Having a just famine from an evil prayer. There is a certain Dipsas of the viper kind, Of those which the desert of Egypt bears. What its bite is like, its name declares. For the beast is named after the suffering. He who has drawn in the venom perishes by drinking; Finding some stream, he falls in with mouth wide open, Until he bursts his inner load with drink. And at once both his life and his thirst were checked. Do you not know this, dearest friend, nor have you heard, How heaven once rained bread for a people, Crossing the naturally foodless desert, A lavish gift, as from God, and ungrudging? But yet there was also a penalty for the immoderate. The excess immediately stank; for the need was The measure of the gift. It is just, therefore, for each Of the unjust to always suffer this, To make a noise while desiring, or to stink along with what they wickedly Possess. Only thus would they have been tolerable. And why do you not give your body to those who want it? And why do you not embrace the life of a robber chief, You who break through walls and force open tombs. If for you being rich is the only thing eagerly sought, Is there no consideration at all of how, or from where? For there is a measure of beauty, and of sight, Of running, and of strength and limbs, and of leaps, And of words, and of labors; a work not of plunder. But for acquisition there is no measure; but for a stranger to have The things of one who has toiled and acquired them well, Or who has received well a paternal inheritance; And this for the short breath of life for some, Who perhaps has no knowledge even of what he possesses. Will the inhabited world be given to you alone? And even if we grant this, will not something be left over? What then will you do? Will you be eager to have these things too? You will always toil, for you are poor in what is lacking. But you will be restrained? Let this seem good even now. You have benefit from your own things; but if you are immoderate, Know this: you are adding poison to what you now have, And a flame to thorns, which approaches wickedly, And what it approaches, this it also destroys. As a drink from brine does not quench thirst, Nor does a gaze abiding on the desired object quench The love-charm, but it is inflamed twice as much; So the remedy taken by the insatiable, Always becomes an appetite for more. I would have given the opinion to the more quiet, Or to the poor, to contribute something to the wicked, As food to wild beasts, or libations to demons, Which the superstitious offer, If, when they had this, we were going to be at peace. In this way it might have been possible for the poor to have something, Always trembling even at the shadows of the wicked. But now I know a remedy for all things, except for the wicked: For famine, diet; for satiety, want; For dropsy, emptying; for the eye, darkness; For grief, reason or a friend; for sorrow, time; For those sailing with difficulty, a beacon or a harbor appearing; For toils, anointing; but for the wicked, not one thing, Except God and justice and wounds; But the impious do not perceive even this. For satiety despises justice too. His accomplice covers their minds with darkness, He bronzes their back, so that it clearly becomes like beaten bronze, An anvil for iron, through wickedness. He immediately runs back to the examples. What is this, O Christ? How have you given to the wicked The stumblings of the best of men, So that they might find some escape for their way of life? For no one considers what is good, and more so, But what is evil, even a little thing, becomes a tablet For the more foolish and the more wicked. They are iron for good things, wax for worse things, Being easily stamped with what is worse. "I am not temperate; but what of it? Is not another such as this found?" Alas! And he will name one of the wise. "I kill; but what of it? Will not one of the ancients or moderns be found here too? I am rich wickedly; But another has acquired nations and cities. And does not someone know how much worse a denial of an oath is?" Then a denial was fabricated for someone, For the covering up of lesser wounds. In addition to this I also want to tell you a story, If one must jest in the midst of misfortunes, A story fitting for these sophistries. The

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εὐεργέτας. Οὐδὲν διοίσει ταῦτα τῇ ἀμπώτιδι, 867 Ἢ καὶ Χαρύβδει τῇ ῥοφούσῃ τοὺς στόλους. Μικρόν τι καὶ ὁ πλοῦτος ἐκβλυσθήσεται, Ὥσπερ κόρου τις φόρτος εἰς ἄνω ῥυείς. Μικρὸν μενῶ τι, καὶ προσέρχεθ' ἡ δίκη, Κρεῖσσον μὲν, εἰ νῦν· εἰ δὲ μή γ', εἰς ὕστερον. Καλῶς πένεσθαι κρεῖσσον, ἢ πλουτεῖν κακῶς, Ταπεινὸν εἶναι μᾶλλον. ἢ φυσώμενον, Εὐεξίαν δοκοῦντα τὴν ἀῤῥωστίαν. Ἦ πάντ' ἔδει σοι χρυσὸν, ὡς Μίδᾳ ποτὲ Φασὶ, γενέσθαι, ὡς τὰ Μίδου καὶ πάθοις, Ἔχων δίκαιον λιμὸν ἐξ εὐχῆς κακῆς. ∆ιψάς τίς ἐστι τῶν ἐχιδναίων γενῶν, Τούτων, ὅσ' ἡ ἔρημος Αἰγύπτου. φέρει. Ταύτης τὸ τύμμα οἷον, ἡ κλῆσις λέγει. 868 Τὸ θηρίον γὰρ τοῦ πάθους ἐπώνυμον. Πίνων διόλλυθ', ὃς τὸν ἰὸν ἔσπασεν· Εὑρών τι ῥεῖθρον, χανδὸν ἐμπεσὼν ὅλος, Ἕως τὸν εἴσω φόρτον ἐκρήξῃ πότῳ. Ὁμοῦ δὲ τὸ ζῇν καὶ τὸ δίψος ἐσχέθη. Οὐκ οἶσθα τοῦτο, φίλτατ', οὐδ' ἀκήκοας, Ὡς ἄρτον ὗσεν οὐρανὸς λαῷ ποτε, Περῶντι τὴν ἔρημον εἰκὸς ἄτροφον, ∆ῶρον δαψιλὲς, ὡς Θεοῦ, καὶ ἄφθονον; Ἀλλ' οὖν ἔκειτο τοῖς ἀμέτροις καὶ δίκη. Ἔπωζεν εὐθὺς τὸ πλέον· μέτρον γὰρ ἦν Ἡ χρεία τοῦ δωρήματος. Τοῦτ' οὖν ἀεὶ Πάσχειν ἕκαστον τῶν ἀδίκων ἔνδικον, Ψοφεῖν ποθοῦντας, ἢ συνόζειν οἷς κακῶς 869 Ἔχουσιν. Οὕτως ἂν μόνως ἦσαν σχετοί. Τί δ' οὐ τὸ σῶμα τοῖς θέλουσιν ἐνδίδως; Τί δ' οὐχὶ καὶ λῄσταρχον ἀσπάζῃ βίον, Τοιχωρυχεῖς τε καὶ διοχλίζεις τάφους. Εἴ σοι τὸ πλουτεῖν καὶ μόνον σπουδάζεται, Τοῦ πῶς δ', ὅθεν τε, μηδὲ εἷς ὅλως λόγος; Κάλλους μὲν εἶναι μέτρον, εἶναι δ' ὄψεως, ∆ρόμου, σθένους τε καὶ μελῶν, καὶ ἁλμάτων, Λόγων τε, μόχθων τ'· ἔργον οὐχ ἁρπάγματος Κτήσει δὲ μηδὲν μέτρον· ἀλλ' ἔχειν ξένον Τὰ τοῦ καμόντος καὶ καλῶς κεκτημένου, Ἢ καὶ πατρῷον κλῆρον εὖ δεδεγμένου· 870 Καὶ τοῦτ' ἐς μικρὰν ἔστιν οἷς βίου πνοὴν, Τὸν οὐδ' ἔχοντα γνῶσιν ὧν κέκτητ' ἴσως. Μὴ σοὶ μόνῳ δοθήσετ' ἡ οἰκουμένη; Κἂν ταῦτα δῶμεν, οὔτι καὶ λειφθήσεται; Τί οὖν δράσεις; σὺ σπουδάσεις καὶ ταῦτ' ἔχειν; Ἀεὶ μογήσεις, τῷ λείποντι γὰρ πένης. Ἀλλὰ σχεθήσῃ; τοῦτο καὶ νῦν δοξάτω. Τῶν σῶν ἔχεις ὄνησιν· εἰ δ' ἄμετρος εἶ, Ἰὸν τόδ' ἴσθι προστιθεὶς οἷς νῦν ἔχεις, Καὶ φλὸξ ἀκάνθαις, ὃ προσέρχεται κακῶς, Οἷς δ' ἂν προσέλθῃ, ταῦτα καὶ συνόλλυται. Ὡς οὐ μαραίνει δίψαν ἐξ ἅλμης ποτὸν, 871 Οὐδ' ὄψις ἐμμένουσα τῷ ποθουμένῳ Τὸ φίλτρον, ἀλλὰ διπλασίως ἐξάπτεται· Οὕτω τὸ ληφθὲν τοῖς ἀπλήστοις φάρμακον, Ἀεὶ καθίστατ' εἰς ὄρεξιν πλειόνων. Γνώμην ἔδωκ' ἂν τοῖς ἀπραγμονεστέροις, Ἢ τοῖς πένησι, συμφέρειν τι τοῖς κακοῖς, Ὡς θηρσὶ βρῶσιν, ἢ χοὰς τοῖς δαίμοσιν, Ἃς προσφέρουσιν οἵ γε δεισιδαίμονες, Εἰ, τοῦτ' ἐχόντων, ἠρεμεῖν ἐμέλλομεν. Ὧδ' ἄν τι καὶ πένητας οἷόν τ' ἦν ἔχειν, Ἀεὶ τρέμοντας τῶν κακῶν καὶ τὰς σκιάς. Νῦν δ' οἶδα πάντων φάρμακον, πλὴν τῶν κακῶν· Λιμοῦ δίαιτα, πλησμονῆς τὸ ἐνδεὲς, Ὕδρωπος ἡ κένωσις, ὀφθαλμοῦ σκότος, Πένθους λογισμὸς ἢ φίλος, λύπης χρόνος· 872 Τοῖς δυσπλοοῦσι, πυρσὸς ἢ λιμὴν φανεὶς, Κόποις, ἄλειμμα· τοῖς πονηροῖς δ' οὐδὲ ἓν, Πλὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ τε καὶ δίκης καὶ τραυμάτων· Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ταύτης αἰσθάνονθ' οἱ δυσσεβεῖς. Ἡ πλησμονὴ γὰρ καὶ δίκης καταφρονεῖ. Ζόφῳ καλύπτει τὰς φρένας ὁ συνεργάτης, Χαλκοῖ τὸ νῶτον, ὡς ἀνήλατος σαφῶς, Ἄκμων σιδήρῳ, τῇ κακώσει γίνεται. Πρὸς τὰ παραδείγματ' εὐθέως ἀνατρέχει. Τί τοῦτο, Χριστέ; πῶς δέδωκας τοῖς κακοῖς Τὰ τῶν ἀρίστων ἔστιν ὧν προσκρούσματα, Ὡς ἄν τιν' εὑρίσκουσι τοῦ τρόπου φυγήν; Καλὸν μὲν οὐδεὶς, καὶ πλέον, λογίζεται, Κακὸν δὲ, καὶ μικρόν τι, γίνεται πίναξ Τοῖς ἀφρονεστέροις τε καὶ κακωτέροις. 873 Καλοῖς σίδηρος, κηρὸς ἐν τοῖς χείροσιν Εἰσὶ, τὸ χεῖρον ῥᾳδίως τυπούμενοι. «Οὐ σωφρονῶ· τί δ'; ἄλλος οὐχ εὑρίσκεται Τοιοῦτος;» Οἴμοι! καὶ σοφῶν λέξει τινά. «Κτείνω· τί δ'; οὐχὶ κἀνθάδ' εὑρεθήσεται Τῶν τις παλαιῶν, ἢ νέων; Πλουτῶ κακῶς· Ἔθνη δέ τ' ἄλλος καὶ πόλεις ἐκτήσατο. Ὅρκου δέ τις οὐκ οἶδεν ἄρνησις πόσον Χείρων;» Ἔπειτ' ἄρνησις ἐπλάσθη τινὸς, Εἰς συγκάλυψιν τραυμάτων ἐλασσόνων. Πρὸς ταῦτα καί τι μυθολογῆσαί σοι θέλω, Εἰ δεῖ τι παίζειν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν συμφορῶν, Μῦθον πρέποντα τοῖσδε τοῖς σοφίσμασι. Τὴν