Reformers

C.P. Cavafy (1863-1963), "In a Large Greek Colony, 200 B.C.," lines 6-13 (tr. Evangelos Sachperoglou):

But the obstacle and the difficulty is,
that these Reformers make
a great issue out of everything.
(A blessing it would be if nobody
ever needed them.) They examine
and inquire about the slightest little thing,
and they set their mind immediately on radical reforms,
demanding that these be executed without delay.

Ὅμως τὸ πρόσκομμα κ' ἡ δυσκολία
εἶναι ποῦ κάμνουνε μιὰ ἱστορία
μεγάλη κάθε πρᾶγμα οἱ Ἀναμορφωταὶ
αὐτοί. (Εὐτύχημα θα ἦταν ἄν ποτὲ
δὲν τοὺς χρειάζονταν κανείς.) Γιὰ κάθε τί,
γιὰ τὸ παραμικρὸ ρωτοῦνε κ' ἐξετάζουν,
κ' εὐθὺς στὸν νοῦ τους ριζικὲς μεταρρυθμίσεις βάζουν,
μὲ τὴν ἀπαίτησι νὰ ἐκτελεσθοῦν ἄνευ ἀναβολής.