Lucian of Samosata, Vitarum auctio, Austin Morris Harmon (Translator), 13

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ZEUS

Remove him; bring on another—stay! those two, the one from Abdera who laughs and the one from Ephesus who cries, for I want to sell them together.¹

HERMES

Come down among us, you two. I sell the two best philosophies; we offer the two that are sagest of all.

BUYER

Zeus! What a contrast! One of thei never stops laughing, and the other is apparently mourning a death, as he weeps incessantly. What is the matter, man? Why are you laughing?

DEMOCRITEAN

Dost thou need to ask? Because to me it seemeth that all your affairs are laughable, and yourselves as well.

BUYER

What, are you laughing at us all, and do you think nothing of our affairs?

DEMOCRITEAN

Even so; for there is nothing serious in them, but everything is a hollow mockery, drift of atoms, infinitude.

BUYER

No indeed, but you yourself are a hollow mockery in very truth and an infinite ass.

Vitarum auctio. Lucian of Samosata. Austin Morris Harmon (Translator). United States. Perseus 5.0.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities.

Current edition Perseus

Philosophies for Sale (English) (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.)

Editions (1)

Βίων Πρᾶσις Perseus (Lucian, Vol. 2. Harmon, Austin Morris, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1915.) — 13 focus

Ζεύς

Μετάστησον· ἄλλον παράγε· μᾶλλον δὲ τὼ δύο τούτω, τὸν γελῶντα τὸν Ἀβδηρόθεν καὶ τὸν κλάοντα τὸν ἐξ Ἐφέσου· ἅμα γὰρ αὐτὼ πεπρᾶσθαι βούλομαι.

Ἑρμῆς

κατάβητον ἐς τὸ μέσον. τὼ ἀρίστω βίω πωλῶ, τὼ σοφωτάτω πάντων ἀποκηρύττομεν.

Ἀγοράστης

ὦ Ζεῦ τῆς ἐναντιότητος. ὁ μὲν οὐ διαλείπει γελῶν, ὁ δέ τινα ἔοικε πενθεῖν· δακρύει γοῦν τὸ παράπαν. τί ταῦτα, ὦ οὗτος; τί γελᾷς;

Δημόκριτος

ἐρωτᾷς; ὅτι μοι γελοῖα πάντα δοκέει τὰ πρήγματα ὑμέων καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμέες.

Ἀγοράστης

πῶς λέγεις; καταγελᾷς ἡμῶν ἁπάντων καὶ παρʼ οὐδὲν τίθεσαι τὰ ἡμέτερα πράγματα;

Δημόκριτος

ὧδε ἔχει· σπουδαῖον γὰρ ἐν αὐτέοισιν οὐδέν, κενεὰ δὲ πάντα καὶ ἀτόμων φορὴ καὶ ἀπειρίη.

Ἀγοράστης

οὐ μὲν οὖν, ἀλλὰ σὺ κενὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ ἄπειρος.

Translations (2)

Sale of Creeds Perseus (The Works of Lucian of Samosata, Vol. 1. Fowler, Henry Watson and Fowler, Francis George, translators. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905.) — 13 focus

Zeus

Put it aside, and up with another. Stay, take the pair from Abdera and Ephesus; the creeds of Smiles and Tears. They shall make one lot.

Heraclitus

Come forward, you two. Lot No. 4. A superlative pair. The smartest brace of creeds on our catalogue.

Fourth Dealer

Zeus! What a difference is here! One of them does nothing but laugh, and the other might be at a funeral; he is all tears—You there! what is the joke?

Democritus

You ask? You and your affairs are all one vast joke.

Fourth Dealer

So! You laugh at us? Our business is a toy?

Democritus

It is. There is no taking it seriously. All is vanity. Mere interchange of atoms in an infinite void.

Fourth Dealer

Your vanity is infinite, if you like. Stop that laughing, you rascal.—

The Sale of Lives Perseus (Lucian. Selections from Lucian. Smith, Emily James, translator. New York: Harper Brothers, 1892.) — 13 focus

Zeus

Set him aside and put up another. These two, for choice, the laugher from Abdera and the weeper from Ephesus, for I should like to sell the two together.

Hermes

Let them come down into full view. I offer the noblest lives; we announce the sagest of all!

Buyer

Heavens, what a contrast! The one never stops laughing, and the other seems to be in grief for somebody. He is consumed with weeping. What is the matter, fellow? Why are you laughing?

Demokritos

What a question! Because all your doings and you yourselves strike me as so funny!

Buyer

What? You are laughing at us all, and don't take our doings seriously?

Demokritos

Even so, for there is nothing serious in them. They are all empty, a whirl of atoms, the infinite.

Buyer

By no means; it is you that are really empty and infinitesimal. What impudence! Will you not stop laughing?

Notes on the current edition

Philosophies for Sale

1. The Schools of Democritus of Abdera, the propounder of the atomic theory, and of Heraclitus of Ephesus, who originated the doctrine of the flux; he held that fire is the first principle, and its manifestations continually change, so that nothing isstable. Both representatives talk Ionic Greck.

Lucian of Samosata Vitarum auctio 13

Austin Morris Harmon (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ZEUS

Remove him; bring on another—stay! those two, the one from Abdera who laughs and the one from Ephesus who cries, for I want to sell them together.¹

HERMES

Come down among us, you two. I sell the two best philosophies; we offer the two that are sagest of all.

BUYER

Zeus! What a contrast! One of thei never stops laughing, and the other is apparently mourning a death, as he weeps incessantly. What is the matter, man? Why are you laughing?

DEMOCRITEAN

Dost thou need to ask? Because to me it seemeth that all your affairs are laughable, and yourselves as well.

BUYER

What, are you laughing at us all, and do you think nothing of our affairs?

DEMOCRITEAN

Even so; for there is nothing serious in them, but everything is a hollow mockery, drift of atoms, infinitude.

BUYER

No indeed, but you yourself are a hollow mockery in very truth and an infinite ass.

Current edition Perseus

Ζεύς

Μετάστησον· ἄλλον παράγε· μᾶλλον δὲ τὼ δύο τούτω, τὸν γελῶντα τὸν Ἀβδηρόθεν καὶ τὸν κλάοντα τὸν ἐξ Ἐφέσου· ἅμα γὰρ αὐτὼ πεπρᾶσθαι βούλομαι.

Ἑρμῆς

κατάβητον ἐς τὸ μέσον. τὼ ἀρίστω βίω πωλῶ, τὼ σοφωτάτω πάντων ἀποκηρύττομεν.

Ἀγοράστης

ὦ Ζεῦ τῆς ἐναντιότητος. ὁ μὲν οὐ διαλείπει γελῶν, ὁ δέ τινα ἔοικε πενθεῖν· δακρύει γοῦν τὸ παράπαν. τί ταῦτα, ὦ οὗτος; τί γελᾷς;

Δημόκριτος

ἐρωτᾷς; ὅτι μοι γελοῖα πάντα δοκέει τὰ πρήγματα ὑμέων καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμέες.

Ἀγοράστης

πῶς λέγεις; καταγελᾷς ἡμῶν ἁπάντων καὶ παρʼ οὐδὲν τίθεσαι τὰ ἡμέτερα πράγματα;

Δημόκριτος

ὧδε ἔχει· σπουδαῖον γὰρ ἐν αὐτέοισιν οὐδέν, κενεὰ δὲ πάντα καὶ ἀτόμων φορὴ καὶ ἀπειρίη.

Ἀγοράστης

οὐ μὲν οὖν, ἀλλὰ σὺ κενὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ ἄπειρος.

Zeus

Put it aside, and up with another. Stay, take the pair from Abdera and Ephesus; the creeds of Smiles and Tears. They shall make one lot.

Heraclitus

Come forward, you two. Lot No. 4. A superlative pair. The smartest brace of creeds on our catalogue.

Fourth Dealer

Zeus! What a difference is here! One of them does nothing but laugh, and the other might be at a funeral; he is all tears—You there! what is the joke?

Democritus

You ask? You and your affairs are all one vast joke.

Fourth Dealer

So! You laugh at us? Our business is a toy?

Democritus

It is. There is no taking it seriously. All is vanity. Mere interchange of atoms in an infinite void.

Fourth Dealer

Your vanity is infinite, if you like. Stop that laughing, you rascal.—

Zeus

Set him aside and put up another. These two, for choice, the laugher from Abdera and the weeper from Ephesus, for I should like to sell the two together.

Hermes

Let them come down into full view. I offer the noblest lives; we announce the sagest of all!

Buyer

Heavens, what a contrast! The one never stops laughing, and the other seems to be in grief for somebody. He is consumed with weeping. What is the matter, fellow? Why are you laughing?

Demokritos

What a question! Because all your doings and you yourselves strike me as so funny!

Buyer

What? You are laughing at us all, and don't take our doings seriously?

Demokritos

Even so, for there is nothing serious in them. They are all empty, a whirl of atoms, the infinite.

Buyer

By no means; it is you that are really empty and infinitesimal. What impudence! Will you not stop laughing?

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

ZEUS Remove him; bring on another—stay! those two, the one from Abdera who laughs and the one from Ephesus who cries, for I want to sell them together. 1

HERMES Come down among us, you two. I sell the two best philosophies; we offer the two that are sagest of all.

BUYER Zeus! What a contrast! One of thei never stops laughing, and the other is apparently mourning a death, as he weeps incessantly. What is the matter, man? Why are you laughing?

DEMOCRITEAN Dost thou need to ask? Because to me it seemeth that all your affairs are laughable, and yourselves as well.

BUYER What, are you laughing at us all, and do you think nothing of our affairs?

DEMOCRITEAN Even so; for there is nothing serious in them, but everything is a hollow mockery, drift of atoms, infinitude.

BUYER No indeed, but you yourself are a hollow mockery in very truth and an infinite ass.

Current edition Perseus

Ζεύς Μετάστησον· ἄλλον παράγε· μᾶλλον δὲ τὼ δύο τούτω, τὸν γελῶντα τὸν Ἀβδηρόθεν καὶ τὸν κλάοντα τὸν ἐξ Ἐφέσου· ἅμα γὰρ αὐτὼ πεπρᾶσθαι βούλομαι.

Ἑρμῆς κατάβητον ἐς τὸ μέσον. τὼ ἀρίστω βίω πωλῶ, τὼ σοφωτάτω πάντων ἀποκηρύττομεν.

Ἀγοράστης ὦ Ζεῦ τῆς ἐναντιότητος. ὁ μὲν οὐ διαλείπει γελῶν, ὁ δέ τινα ἔοικε πενθεῖν· δακρύει γοῦν τὸ παράπαν. τί ταῦτα, ὦ οὗτος; τί γελᾷς;

Δημόκριτος ἐρωτᾷς; ὅτι μοι γελοῖα πάντα δοκέει τὰ πρήγματα ὑμέων καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμέες.

Ἀγοράστης πῶς λέγεις; καταγελᾷς ἡμῶν ἁπάντων καὶ παρʼ οὐδὲν τίθεσαι τὰ ἡμέτερα πράγματα;

Δημόκριτος ὧδε ἔχει· σπουδαῖον γὰρ ἐν αὐτέοισιν οὐδέν, κενεὰ δὲ πάντα καὶ ἀτόμων φορὴ καὶ ἀπειρίη.

Ἀγοράστης οὐ μὲν οὖν, ἀλλὰ σὺ κενὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ ἄπειρος.

Zeus Put it aside, and up with another. Stay, take the pair from Abdera and Ephesus; the creeds of Smiles and Tears. They shall make one lot.

Heraclitus Come forward, you two. Lot No. 4. A superlative pair. The smartest brace of creeds on our catalogue.

Fourth Dealer Zeus! What a difference is here! One of them does nothing but laugh, and the other might be at a funeral; he is all tears—You there! what is the joke?

Democritus You ask? You and your affairs are all one vast joke.

Fourth Dealer So! You laugh at us? Our business is a toy?

Democritus It is. There is no taking it seriously. All is vanity. Mere interchange of atoms in an infinite void.

Fourth Dealer Your vanity is infinite, if you like. Stop that laughing, you rascal.—

Zeus Set him aside and put up another. These two, for choice, the laugher from Abdera and the weeper from Ephesus, for I should like to sell the two together.

Hermes Let them come down into full view. I offer the noblest lives; we announce the sagest of all!

Buyer Heavens, what a contrast! The one never stops laughing, and the other seems to be in grief for somebody. He is consumed with weeping. What is the matter, fellow? Why are you laughing?

Demokritos What a question! Because all your doings and you yourselves strike me as so funny!

Buyer What? You are laughing at us all, and don't take our doings seriously?

Demokritos Even so, for there is nothing serious in them. They are all empty, a whirl of atoms, the infinite.

Buyer By no means; it is you that are really empty and infinitesimal. What impudence! Will you not stop laughing?

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers

ZEUS

Remove him; bring on another—stay! those two, the one from Abdera who laughs and the one from Ephesus who cries, for I want to sell them together.¹

HERMES

Come down among us, you two. I sell the two best philosophies; we offer the two that are sagest of all.

BUYER

Zeus! What a contrast! One of thei never stops laughing, and the other is apparently mourning a death, as he weeps incessantly. What is the matter, man? Why are you laughing?

DEMOCRITEAN

Dost thou need to ask? Because to me it seemeth that all your affairs are laughable, and yourselves as well.

BUYER

What, are you laughing at us all, and do you think nothing of our affairs?

DEMOCRITEAN

Even so; for there is nothing serious in them, but everything is a hollow mockery, drift of atoms, infinitude.

BUYER

No indeed, but you yourself are a hollow mockery in very truth and an infinite ass.

Ζεύς

Μετάστησον· ἄλλον παράγε· μᾶλλον δὲ τὼ δύο τούτω, τὸν γελῶντα τὸν Ἀβδηρόθεν καὶ τὸν κλάοντα τὸν ἐξ Ἐφέσου· ἅμα γὰρ αὐτὼ πεπρᾶσθαι βούλομαι.

Ἑρμῆς

κατάβητον ἐς τὸ μέσον. τὼ ἀρίστω βίω πωλῶ, τὼ σοφωτάτω πάντων ἀποκηρύττομεν.

Ἀγοράστης

ὦ Ζεῦ τῆς ἐναντιότητος. ὁ μὲν οὐ διαλείπει γελῶν, ὁ δέ τινα ἔοικε πενθεῖν· δακρύει γοῦν τὸ παράπαν. τί ταῦτα, ὦ οὗτος; τί γελᾷς;

Δημόκριτος

ἐρωτᾷς; ὅτι μοι γελοῖα πάντα δοκέει τὰ πρήγματα ὑμέων καὶ αὐτοὶ ὑμέες.

Ἀγοράστης

πῶς λέγεις; καταγελᾷς ἡμῶν ἁπάντων καὶ παρʼ οὐδὲν τίθεσαι τὰ ἡμέτερα πράγματα;

Δημόκριτος

ὧδε ἔχει· σπουδαῖον γὰρ ἐν αὐτέοισιν οὐδέν, κενεὰ δὲ πάντα καὶ ἀτόμων φορὴ καὶ ἀπειρίη.

Ἀγοράστης

οὐ μὲν οὖν, ἀλλὰ σὺ κενὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ ἄπειρος.

Zeus

Put it aside, and up with another. Stay, take the pair from Abdera and Ephesus; the creeds of Smiles and Tears. They shall make one lot.

Heraclitus

Come forward, you two. Lot No. 4. A superlative pair. The smartest brace of creeds on our catalogue.

Fourth Dealer

Zeus! What a difference is here! One of them does nothing but laugh, and the other might be at a funeral; he is all tears—You there! what is the joke?

Democritus

You ask? You and your affairs are all one vast joke.

Fourth Dealer

So! You laugh at us? Our business is a toy?

Democritus

It is. There is no taking it seriously. All is vanity. Mere interchange of atoms in an infinite void.

Fourth Dealer

Your vanity is infinite, if you like. Stop that laughing, you rascal.—

Zeus

Set him aside and put up another. These two, for choice, the laugher from Abdera and the weeper from Ephesus, for I should like to sell the two together.

Hermes

Let them come down into full view. I offer the noblest lives; we announce the sagest of all!

Buyer

Heavens, what a contrast! The one never stops laughing, and the other seems to be in grief for somebody. He is consumed with weeping. What is the matter, fellow? Why are you laughing?

Demokritos

What a question! Because all your doings and you yourselves strike me as so funny!

Buyer

What? You are laughing at us all, and don't take our doings seriously?

Demokritos

Even so, for there is nothing serious in them. They are all empty, a whirl of atoms, the infinite.

Buyer

By no means; it is you that are really empty and infinitesimal. What impudence! Will you not stop laughing?