Lucian Gallus 4

COCK

That is what they say, Micyllus, I grant you; but my own experience has been quite different, and it is only just lately that I changed into a cock.

MICYLLUS

How? That is what I want to know above all else.

COCK

Have you ever heard of a man named Pythagoras, the son of Mnesarchus, of Samos?

MICYLLUS

You mean the sophist, the quack, who made laws against tasting meat and eating beans, banishing from the table the food that I for my part like best of all, and then trying to persuade people that before he became Pythagoras he was Euphorbus (Well- fed)? They say he was a conjurer and a miraclemonger, cock.

COCK

I am that very Pythagoras, Micyllus, so stop abusing me, my good friend, especially as you do not know what sort of man I really was.

MICYLLUS

Now this is far more miraculous than the other thing! A philosopher cock! Tell me, though, son of Mnesarchus, how you became a cock instead of a man and a Tanagriote instead of a Samian. ¹ This story is not plausible nor quite easy to believe, for I think Ihave observed two things in you that are quite foreign to Pythagoras.

COCK

What are they?

MICYLLUS

One thing is that you are very noisy and loudvoiced, whereas he recommended silence for five whole years, I believe. The other is actually quite illegal; I came home yesterday, as you know, with nothing but beans to throw you, and you picked them up without even hesitating. So it must be either that you have told a lie and are someone else, or, if you are Pythagoras, you have broken the law and committed as great an impiety in eating beans as if you had eaten your father’s head. ²

Cock

Yes, there is that story too: but that is nothing to do with mine; I only became a cock quite lately.

Micyllus

But what I want to know is, how did it happen?

Cock

Did you ever hear of Pythagoras of Samos, son of Mnesarchus?

Micyllus

What, that sophist quack, who forbade the eating of meat, and would have banished beans from our tables (no beans, indeed! my favourite food!), and who wanted people to go for five years without speaking?

Cock

And who, I may add, was Euphorbus before he was Pythagoras.

Micyllus

He was a knave and a humbug, that Pythagoras, by all accounts.

Cock

That Pythagoras, my worthy friend, is now before you in person: spare his feelings, especially as you know nothing about his real character.

Micyllus

Portent upon portent! a cock philosopher! But proceed, son of Mnesarchus: how came you to change from man to bird, from Samos to Tanagra ¹ ? 'Tis an unconvincing story; I find a difficulty in swallowing it. I have noticed two things about you already, which do not look much like Pythagoras.

Cock

Yes?

Micyllus

For one thing, you are garrulous; I might say noisy. Now, if I am not mistaken, Pythagoras advocated a course of five years’ silence at a stretch. As for the other, it is rank heresy. You will remember that yesterday, not having anything else to give you, I brought you some beans: and you,— you gobbled them up without thinking twice about it! Either you lied when you told me you were Pythagoras, or else you have sinned against your own laws: in eating those beans, you have as good as bolted your own father’s head.

Cock

They tell that story, too; but my case was somewhat different, and it is quite lately that I turned into a cock, at your service.

Mikyllos

In what way? I have the greatest desire to know.

Cock

Do you know by hearsay one Pythagoras, a Samian, the son of Mnesarchos?

Mikyllos

Do you mean the sophist, the impostor, who made laws against tasting meat or eating beans-declaring my favorite dish banished from the table-and who moreover persuaded people to keep silence for five years?

Cock

Of course you know this, too, that before he was Pythagoras he was Euphorbos?

Mikyllos

They say that fellow was a juggler and a conjurer.

Cock

I myself am none other than that Pythagoras; so stop your railing at me, my friend, particularly since you do not know what manner of man I was.

Mikyllos

This is an even greater prodigy than the other, to find a cock a philosopher! However, tell me, son of Mnesarchos, how is it that you have appeared to me as a bird instead of a man, and a Tanagrian instead of a Samian. The thing is incredible. I can't readily believe it, for I think I have observed two traits in you already very unlike Pythagoras.

Cock

What are they?

Mikyllos

For one thing, you are talkative and noisy, while he, I believe, used to enjoin five whole years of silence. And the other thing is also entirely contrary to his law, for yesterday, when I had no food to scatter for you, I came and brought some beans, as you know, and you did not hesitate to pick them up. So that either you have lied and are somebody else, or else, if you are Pythagoras, you have broken the law, and by eating beans have committed as great an impiety as if you had devoured your father's head.