or entertaining doubts, like Nikias. No—let’s get up and at it fast.
But first, you must come in this nest of mine, these sticks and twigs assembled here. So now, both of you, tell us your names.
That’s easy. My name’s Pisthetairos.
And this man here?
I’m Euelpides, from Crioa.
Welcome both of you!
PISTHETAIROS and EUELPIDES
Thanks very much.
Won’t you come in?
Let’s go. But you go first— show us the way.
Come on, then.
But . . . it’s strange . . . Come back a minute.
Look, tell us both how me and him can share the place with you when you can fly but we’re not able to.
I don’t see any problem there.
Maybe, but in Aesop’s fables there’s a story told about some fox who hung around an eagle, with unfortunate results.
Don’t be afraid.
We have a little root you nibble on— and then you’ll grow some wings.
All right then, let’s go in. [To the slaves] Manodorus, Xanthias, bring in our mattresses.
Hold on a second— I’m calling you.
Why are you calling me?
Take those two men in—give them a good meal. But bring your tuneful nightingale out here, who with the Muses sings such charming songs— leave her with us so we can play together.
Yes, by god—agree to their request.
Bring out your little birdie in the reeds.
For gods’ sake, bring her out, so we can see this lovely nightingale of yours.
If that’s what you both want, it must be done.
Come here, Procne. Our guests are calling you.
Holy Zeus, that’s one gorgeous little bird! What a tender chick!
How I’d love to help that birdie spread her legs, if you catch my drift.
Look at that— all the gold she’s wearing—just like a girl.
What I’d like to do right now is kiss her.
You idiot—look at that beak she’s got, a pair of skewers.
All right, by god, we’ll treat her like an egg—peel off the shell, take it clean off her head, and then we’ll kiss her.
Let’s get inside.
You lead us in—good luck to all!
Ah, my tawny-throated love, of all the birds that fly above you’re dearest to my heart your sweet melodious voice in my song plays its part—
my lovely Nightingale, you’ve come,
Frederick William Hall (1865–1948) was a classical scholar and Fellow of St John's College, Oxford. Together with William Martin Geldart, he produced the Oxford Classical Text of several authors. Hall was a careful editor known for his thorough collation of manuscripts and his conservative approach to textual criticism.
The Hall–Geldart editions in the Oxford Classical Texts series provide reliable critical texts with selective apparatus criticus. The OCT series, established in 1894 as the Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis, aims to present the best available Greek and Latin texts in a format suitable for both scholarly use and teaching. Each volume provides a clean text with the most significant manuscript variants recorded at the foot of each page.
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