Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Tweeting
Nicostratus, fragment 28 Kassel and Austin (tr. Anna Lamari):
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If talking unceasingly, often, and swiftlyThe same (tr. Thomas Moore):
was the mark of intelligence, swallows
would be considered far more sound-minded than us.
εἰ τὸ συνεχῶς καὶ πολλὰ καὶ ταχέως λαλεῖν
ἦν τοῦ φρονεῖν παράσημον, αἱ χελιδόνες
ἐλέγοντ᾽ ἂν ἡμῶν σωφρονέστεραι πολύ.
If in prating from morning till nightThe same (tr. John Maxwell Edmonds):
A sign of our wisdom there be,
The swallows are wiser by right,
For they prattle much faster than we.
If copious quick incessant talk meant wit,
you'd say the swallows had the best of it.
