Aristophanes, Wealth

μέγαν λαβόντες ἡμμένον σφηκίσκον ἐκτυφλῶσαι.

to take a great burning stake and blind you.

Καρίων

Cario

ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν Κίρκην γε τὴν τὰ φάρμακʼ ἀνακυκῶσαν,

And I'll play Circe, the one who stirs up the drugs,

ἣ τοὺς ἑταίρους τοῦ Φιλωνίδου ποτʼ ἐν Κορίνθῳ

who once in Corinth persuaded the companions of Philonides,

ἔπεισεν ὡς ὄντας κάπρους

as though they were boars,

μεμαγμένον σκῶρ ἐσθίειν, αὐτὴ δʼ ἔματτεν αὐτοῖς,

to eat kneaded dung, and she kneaded it for them herself;

μιμήσομαι πάντας τρόπους·

I'll imitate her in every way;

ὑμεῖς δὲ γρυλίζοντες ὑπὸ φιληδίας

and you, grunting with delight,

ὀλίγον ἄπωθεν τῆς κεφαλῆς του γρᾳδίου,

a little way off from the head of some old woman,

ἐφʼ ἣν ἐπεθύμουν δαιμονίως ἐφερπύσαι.

which I had a fiendish longing to creep up to.

ἔπειτʼ ἀναβλέψας ὁρῶ τὸν ἱερέα

Then, looking up, I see the priest

τοὺς φθοῖς ἀφαρπάζοντα καὶ τὰς ἰσχάδας

snatching the cakes and the dried figs

ἀπὸ τῆς τραπέζης τῆς ἱερᾶς· μετὰ τοῦτο δὲ

off the holy table; and after this

περιῆλθε τοὺς βωμοὺς ἅπαντας ἐν κύκλῳ,

he went round all the altars in a circle,

εἴ που πόπανον εἴη τι καταλελειμμένον·

in case a flat-cake had been left anywhere;

ἔπειτα ταῦθʼ ἥγιζεν ἐς σάκταν τινά.

then he consecrated these into a sort of sack.

κἀγὼ νομίσας πολλὴν ὁσίαν τοῦ πράγματος

And I, thinking there was great piety in the practice,

ἐπὶ τὴν χύτραν τῆς ἀθάρης ἀνίσταμαι.

get up and go for the pot of porridge.

διὰ τοῦ τριβωνίου·

Through my little cloak;

ὀπὰς γὰρ εἶχεν οὐκ ὀλίγας μὰ τὸν Δία.

for it had holes, and not a few, by Zeus.

πρῶτον δὲ πάντων τῷ Νεοκλείδῃ φάρμακον

And first of all, for Neocleides, a plaster

καταπλαστὸν ἐνεχείρησε τρίβειν, ἐμβαλὼν

medicine he set about grinding, throwing in

σκορόδων κεφαλὰς τρεῖς Τηνίων. ἔπειτʼ ἔφλα

three heads of Tenian garlic. Then he pounded [them]

ἐν τῇ θυείᾳ συμπαραμιγνύων ὀπὸν

in the mortar, mixing in with them sap

καὶ σχῖνον· εἶτʼ ὄξει διέμενος Σφηττίῳ

and mastic; then, soaking it in Sphettian vinegar,

κατέπλασεν αὐτοῦ τὰ βλέφαρʼ ἐκστρέψας, ἵνα

he plastered his eyelids, turning them inside out, so that

ὀδυνῷτο μᾶλλον. ὁ δὲ κεκραγὼς καὶ βοῶν

he would feel more pain. And he, screaming and bawling,