1 Ευ.Ὀρθὴν κελεύεις, ᾗ τὸ δένδρον φαίνεται;

Euelpides (to his jay) Do you think I should walk straight for yon tree?

Πι.Διαρραγείης. Ἥδε δ' αὖ κρώζει πάλιν.

Pisthetaerus(to his crow) Cursed beast, what are you croaking to me?... to retrace my steps?

Ευ.Τί, ὦ πόνηρ', ἄνω κάτω πλανύττομεν;

Ἀπολούμεθ' ἄλλως τὴν ὁδὸν προφορουμένω.

EuelpidesWhy, you wretch, we are wandering at random, we are exerting ourselves only to return to the same spot; 'tis labour lost.

5 Πι.Τὸ δ' ἐμὲ κορώνῃ πειθόμενον τὸν ἄθλιον

ὁδοῦ περιελθεῖν στάδια πλεῖν ἢ χίλια.

PisthetaerusTo think that I should trust to this crow, which has made me cover more than a thousand furlongs!

Ευ.Τὸ δ' ἐμὲ κολοιῷ πειθόμενον τὸν δύσμορον

ἀποσποδῆσαι τοὺς ὄνυχας τῶν δακτύλων.

EuelpidesAnd I to this jay, who has torn every nail from my fingers!

Πι.Ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ποῦ γῆς ἐσμὲν οἶδ' ἔγωγ' ἔτι.

PisthetaerusIf only I knew where we were. . . .

10 Ευ.Ἐντευθενὶ τὴν πατρίδ' ἂν ἐξεύροις σύ που;

EuelpidesCould you find your country again from here?

Πι.Οὐδ' ἂν μὰ Δί' ἐγγετευθενὶ 'ξηκεστίδης.

PisthetaerusNo, I feel quite sure I could not, any more than could Execestides find his.

Ευ.Οἴμοι.

EuelpidesOh dear! oh dear!

PisthetaerusAye, aye, my friend, 'tis indeed the road of "oh dears" we are following.

Ευ.Ἦ δεινὰ νὼ δέδρακεν οὑκ τῶν ὀρνέων,

ὁ πινακοπώλης Φιλοκράτης μελαγχολῶν,

15 ὃς τώδ' ἔφασκε νῷν φράσειν τὸν Τηρέα,

τὸν ἔποφ', ὃς ὄρνις ἐγένετ', ἐκ τῶν ὀρνέων·

κἀπέδοτο τὸν μὲν Θαρραλείδου τουτονὶ

κολοιὸν ὀβολοῦ, τηνδεδὶ τριωβόλου.

Τὼ δ' οὐκ ἄρ' ᾔστην οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν δάκνειν.

20 Καὶ νῦν τί κέχηνας; Ἔσθ' ὅποι κατὰ τῶν πετρῶν

ἡμᾶς ἔτ' ἄξεις; οὐ γάρ ἐστ' ἐνταῦθά τις

ὁδός.

EuelpidesThat Philocrates, the bird-seller, played us a scurvy trick, when he pretended these two guides could help us to find Tereus, the Epops, who is a bird, without being born of one. He has indeed sold us this jay, a true son of Tharelides, for an obolus, and this crow for three, but what can they do? Why, nothing whatever but bite and scratch!--What's the matter with you then, that you keep opening your beak? Do you want us to fling ourselves headlong down these rocks? There is no road that way.

PisthetaerusNot even the vestige of a track in any direction.

Ευ.Τί δ' ἡ κορώνη; Τῆς ὁδοῦ τι λέγει πέρι;

EuelpidesAnd what does the crow say about the road to follow?

Πι.Οὐ ταὐτὰ κρώζει μὰ Δία νῦν τε καὶ τότε.

PisthetaerusBy Zeus, it no longer croaks the same thing it did.

25 Ευ.Τί δὴ λέγει περὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ;

EuelpidesAnd which way does it tell us to go now?

βρύκουσ' ἀπέδεσθαί φησί μου τοὺς δακτύλους;

PisthetaerusIt says that, by dint of gnawing, it will devour my fingers.

Ευ.Οὐ δεινὸν οὖν δῆτ' ἐστὶν ἡμᾶς δεομένους

ἐς κόρακας ἐλθεῖν καὶ παρεσκευασμένους

ἔπειτα μὴ 'ξευρεῖν δύνασθαι τὴν ὁδόν;

30 Ἡμεῖς γάρ, ὦνδρες οἱ παρόντες ἐν λόγῳ,

νόσον νοσοῦμεν τὴν ἐναντίαν Σάκᾳ·

ὁ μὲν γὰρ ὢν οὐκ ἀστὸς εἰσβιάζεται,

ἡμεῖς δὲ φυλῇ καὶ γένει τιμώμενοι,

ἀστοὶ μετ' ἀστῶν, οὐ σοβοῦντος οὐδενὸς

35 ἀνεπτόμεθ' ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος ἀμφοῖν τοῖν ποδοῖν,

αὐτὴν μὲν οὐ μισοῦντ' ἐκείνην τὴν πόλιν

τὸ μὴ οὐ μεγάλην εἶναι φύσει κεὐδαίμονα

καὶ πᾶσι κοινὴν ἐναποτεῖσαι χρήματα.

Οἱ μὲν γὰρ οὖν τέττιγες ἕνα μῆν' ἢ δύο

40 ἐπὶ τῶν κραδῶν ᾄδουσ', Ἀθηναῖοι δ' ἀεὶ

ἐπὶ τῶν δικῶν ᾄδουσι πάντα τὸν βίον.

Διὰ ταῦτα τόνδε τὸν βάδον βαδίζομεν,

κανοῦν δ' ἔχοντε καὶ χύτραν καὶ μυρρίνας

πλανώμεθα ζητοῦντε τόπον ἀπράγμονα,

45 ὅποι καθιδρυθέντε διαγενοίμεθ' ἄν.

Ὁ δὲ στόλος νῷν ἐστι παρὰ τὸν Τηρέα,

τὸν ἔποπα, παρ' ἐκείνου πυθέσθαι δεομένω,

εἴ που τοιαύτην εἶδε πόλιν ᾗ 'πέπτετο.

EuelpidesWhat misfortune is ours! we strain every nerve to get to the birds, do everything we can to that end, and we cannot find our way! Yes, spectators, our madness is quite different to that of Sacas. He is not a citizen, and would fain be one at any cost; we, on the contrary, born of an honourable tribe and family and living in the midst of our fellow-citizens, we have fled from our country as hard as ever we could go. 'Tis not that we hate it; we recognize it to be great and rich, likewise that everyone has the right to ruin himself; but the crickets only chirrup among the fig-trees for a month or two, whereas the Athenians spend their whole lives in chanting forth judgments from their law courts. That is why we started off with a basket, a stew-pot and some myrtle boughs and have come to seek a quiet country in which to settle. We are going to Tereus, the Epops, to learn from him, whether, in his aerial flights, he has noticed some town of this kind.

Πι.Οὗτος.

PisthetaerusHere! look!

EuelpidesWhat's the matter?

50 ἄνω τι φράζει.

PisthetaerusWhy, the crow has been pointing me to something up there for some time now.

ἄνω κέχηνεν ὡσπερεὶ δεικνύς τί μοι,

κοὐκ ἔσθ' ὅπως οὐκ ἔστιν ἐνταῦθ' ὄρνεα.

Εἰσόμεθα δ' αὐτίκ', ἢν ποήσωμεν ψόφον.

EuelpidesAnd the jay is also opening its beak and craning its neck to show me I know not what. Clearly, there are some birds about here. We shall soon know, if we kick up a noise to start them.

Πι.Ἀλλ' οἶσθ' ὃ δρᾶσον; Τῷ σκέλει θένε τὴν πέτραν.

PisthetaerusDo you know what to do? Knock your leg against this rock.

55 Ευ.Σὺ δὲ τῇ κεφαλῇ γ', ἵν' ᾖ διπλάσιος ὁ ψόφος.

EuelpidesAnd you your head to double the noise.

Πι.Σὺ δ' οὖν λίθῳ κόψον λαβών.

PisthetaerusWell then use a stone instead; take one and hammer with it.

Παῖ παῖ.

EuelpidesGood idea! Ho there, within! Slave! slave!

Οὐκ ἀντὶ τοῦ παιδός σ' ἐχρῆν ἐποποῖ καλεῖν;

PisthetaerusWhat's that, friend! You say, "slave," to summon Epops! 'Twould be much better to shout, "Epops, Epops!"

Ευ.Ἐποποῖ. Ποήσεις τοί με κόπτειν αὖθις αὖ.

60 Ἐποποῖ.

EuelpidesWell then, Epops! Must I knock again? Epops!

TrochilusWho's there? Who calls my master?

Aristophanes, Birds — Greek text with English translation