Clouds

Perseus Greek · Perseus Greek · 715 sections

204b
You tell me a clever notion; for the contrivance is democratic and useful.
206
See, here’s a map of the whole earth. Do you see? This is Athens.
207b
What say you? I don’t believe you; for I do not see the Dicasts sitting.
209
Be assured that this is truly the Attic territory.
210
Why, where are my fellow-tribesmen of Cicynna?
211
Here they are. And Euboea here, as you see, is stretched out a long way by the side of it to a great distance.
213
I know that; for it was stretched by us and Pericles. But where is Lacedaemon?
214b
Where is it? Here it is.
215
How near it is to us! Pay great attention to this, to remove it very far from us.
217
By Jupiter, it is not possible.
217b
Then you will weep for it. Looking up and discovering Socrates. Come, who is this man who is in the basket?
219
Himself.
219b
Who’s Himself?
219c
Socrates.
219d
O Socrates! Come, you sir, call upon him loudly for me.
220a
Nay, rather, call him yourself; for I have no leisure.
221
Socrates! My little Socrates!
223
Why callest thou me, thou creature of a day?
224
First tell me, I beseech you, what are you doing.
225
I am walking in the air, and speculating about the sun.
226
And so you look down upon the gods from your basket, and not from the earth?
227b
For I should not have rightly discovered things celestial if I had not suspended the intellect, and
230
mixed the thought in a subtle form with its kindred air. But if, being on the ground, I speculated from below on things above, I should never have discovered them. For the earth forcibly attracts to itself the meditative moisture. Water-cresses also suffer the very same thing.
235
What do you say? Does meditation attract the moisture to the water-cresses? Come then, my little Socrates, descend to me, that you may teach me those things, for the sake of which I have come.
239
And for what did you come?
239b
Wishing to learn to speak; for by reason of usury, and most ill-natured creditors, I am pillaged and plundered, and have my goods seized for debt.
242
How did you get in debt without observing it?
243
A horse-disease consumed me--terrible at eating. But teach me the other one of your two causes, that which pays nothing; and I will swear by the gods, I will pay down to you whatever reward you exact of me.
247
By what gods will you swear? For, in the first place, gods are not a current coin with us.
248b
By what do you swear? By iron money, as in Byzantium?
250
Do you wish to know clearly celestial matters, what they rightly are?
251b
Yes, by Jupiter, if it be possible!
252
And to hold converse with the Clouds, our divinities?
253b
By all means.
254
Seat yourself, then, upon the sacred couch.
255
Well, I am seated!
255b
Take, then, this chaplet.
256b
For what purpose a chaplet? Ah me! Socrates, see that you do not sacrifice me like Athamas!
258
No; we do all these to those who get initiated.
259b
Then what shall I gain, pray?
260
You shall become in oratory a tricky knave, a thorough rattle, a subtle speaker. But keep quiet.
261b
By Jupiter! You will not deceive me; for if I am besprinkled, I shall become fine flour.
263
It becomes the old man to speak words of good omen, and to hearken to my prayer. O sovereign King, immeasurable Air, who keepest the earth suspended, and through bright Aether, and ye august goddesses, the Clouds, sending thunder and lightning, arise, appear in the air, O mistresses, to your deep thinker!
267
Not yet, not yet, till I wrap this around me lest I be wet through. To think of my having come from home without even a cap, unlucky man!
269
Come then, ye highly honoured Clouds, for a display to this man.
270
Whether ye are sitting upon the sacred snow-covered summits of Olympus, or in the gardens of Father Ocean form a sacred dance with the Nymphs, or draw in golden pitchers the streams of the waters of the Nile, or inhabit the Maeotic lake, or the snowy rock of Mimas, hearken to our prayer, and receive the sacrifice, and be propitious to the sacred rites.
1.275
Eternal Clouds! Let us arise to view with our dewy, clear-bright nature, from loud-sounding Father Ocean to the wood-crowned summits of the lofty mountains,
1.280
in order that we may behold clearly the far-seen watch-towers, and the fruits, and the fostering, sacred earth, and the rushing sounds of the divine rivers, and the roaring, loud-sounding sea;
1.285
for the unwearied eye of Aether sparkles with glittering rays. Come, let us shake off the watery cloud from our immortal forms and survey
1.290
the earth with far-seeing eye.
291
O ye greatly venerable Clouds, ye have clearly heard me when I called. Turning to Strepsiades. Did you hear the voice, and the thunder which bellowed at the same time, feared as a god?
293
I too worship you, O ye highly honoured, and am inclined to reply to the thundering, so much do I tremble at them and am alarmed. And whether it be lawful, or be not lawful, I have a desire just now to ease myself.
296
Don’t scoff, nor do what these poor-devil-poets do, but use words of good omen, for a great swarm of goddesses is in motion with their songs.
1.298
Ye rain-bringing virgins,
1.300
let us come to the fruitful land of Pallas, to view the much-loved country of Cecrops, abounding in brave men; where is reverence for sacred rites not to be divulged; where the house that receives the initiated is thrown open in holy mystic rites;
1.305
and gifts to the celestial gods; and high-roofed temples, and statues; and most sacred processions in honour of the blessed gods; and well-crowned sacrifices to the gods,
1.310
and feasts, at all seasons; and with the approach of spring the Bacchic festivity, and the rousings of melodious choruses, and the loud-sounding music of flutes.
314
Tell me, O Socrates, I beseech you, by Jupiter, who are these that have uttered this grand song? Are they some heroines?
316
By no means; but heavenly Clouds, great divinities to idle men; who supply us with thought and argument, and intelligence and humbug, and circumlocution, and ability to hoax, and comprehension.
319
On this account therefore my soul, having heard their voice, flutters, and already seeks to discourse subtilely, and to quibble about smoke, and having pricked a maxim with a little notion, to refute the opposite argument. So that now I eagerly desire, if by any means it be possible, to see them palpably.
323
Look, then, hither, toward Mount Parnes; for now I behold them descending gently.
324b
Pray where? Show me.
324c
See! There they come in great numbers through the hollows and thickets; there, obliquely.
325b
What’s the matter? For I can’t see them.
326b
By the entrance.
326c
Now at length with difficulty I just see them.
327
Now at length you assuredly see them, unless you have your eyes running pumpkins.
328
Yes, by Jupiter! O highly honoured Clouds, for now they cover all things.
329
Did you not, however, know, nor yet consider, these to be goddesses?
330
No, by Jupiter! But I thought them to be mist, and dew, and smoke.
331
For you do not know, by Jupiter! that these feed very many sophists, Thurian soothsayers, practisers of medicine, lazy-long-haired-onyx-ring-wearers, song-twisters for the cyclic dances, and meteorological quacks. They feed idle people who do nothing, because such men celebrate them in verse.
335
For this reason, then, they introduced into their verses the dreadful impetuosity of the moist, whirling-bright clouds; and the curls of hundred-headed Typho; and the hard-blowing tempests; and then aerial, moist; crooked-clawed birds, floating in air and the showers of rain from dewy Clouds. And then, in return for these, they swallow slices of great, fine mullets, and bird’s-flesh of thrushes.
340
Is it not just, however, that they should have their reward, on account of these?
340b
Tell me, pray, if they are really clouds, what ails them, that they resemble mortal women? For they are not such.
342b
Pray, of what nature are they?
343
I do not clearly know: at any rate they resemble spread-out fleeces, and not women, by Jupiter! Not a bit; for these have noses.
345
Answer, then, whatever I ask you.
345b
Then say quickly what you wish.
346
Have you ever, when you; looked up, seen a cloud like to a centaur, or a panther, or a wolf, or a bull?
347b
By Jupiter, have I! But what of that?
348
They become all things, whatever they please. And then if they see a person with long hair, a wild one of these hairy fellows, like the son of Xenophantes, in derision of his folly, they liken themselves to centaurs.
351
Why, what, if they should see Simon, a plunderer of the public property, what do they do?
352
They suddenly become wolves, showing up his disposition.
353
For this reason, then, for this reason, when they yesterday saw Cleonymus the recreant, on this account they became stags, because they saw this most cowardly fellow.
355
And now too, because they saw Clisthenes, you observe, on this account they became women.
356
Hail therefore, O mistresses! And now, if ever ye did to any other, to me also utter a voice reaching to heaven, O all-powerful queens.
358
Hail, O ancient veteran, hunter after learned speeches! And thou, O priest of most subtle trifles! Tell us what you require?
360
For we would not hearken to any other of the recent meteorological sophists, except to Prodicus; to him, on account of his wisdom and intelligence; and to you, because you walk proudly in the streets, and cast your eyes askance, and endure many hardships with bare feet, and in reliance upon us lookest supercilious.
364
O Earth, what a voice! How holy and dignified and wondrous!
365
For, in fact, these alone are goddesses; and all the rest is nonsense.
366
But come, by the Earth, is not Jupiter, the Olympian, a god?
367
What Jupiter? Do not trifle. There is no Jupiter.
367b
What do you say? Who rains then? For first of all explain this to me.
369
These to be sure. I will teach you it by powerful evidence. Come, where have you ever seen him raining at any time without Clouds? And yet he ought to rain in fine weather, and these be absent.
372
By Apollo, of a truth you have rightly confirmed this by your present argument. And yet, before this, I really thought that Jupiter caused the rain. But tell me who is it that thunders. This makes me tremble.
375
These, as they roll, thunder.
375b
In what way? you all-daring man!
376
When they are full of much water, and are compelled to be borne along, being necessarily precipitated when full of rain, then they fall heavily upon each other and burst and clap.
379
Who is it that compels them to borne along? Is it not Jupiter?
380
By no means, but aethereal Vortex.

Perseus Greek. CTS URN tlg0019.tlg003.perseus-eng2. Via the Perseus Digital Library / Open Greek and Latin TEI corpora. Licence: Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Source.