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ἀδολεσχίας Γ᾽

ἡ δὲ ἀδολεσχία ἐστὶ μὲν διήγησις λόγων μακρῶν [2] καὶ ἀπροβουλεύτων: ὁ δὲ ἀδολέσχης τοιοῦτός τις, οἷος, ὃν μὴ γιγνώσκει, τούτῳ παρακαθεζόμενος πλησίον πρῶτον μὲν τῆς αὑτοῦ γυναικὸς εἰπεῖν ἐγκώμιον: εἶτα, ὃ τῆς νυκτὸς εἶδεν ἐνύπνιον, τοῦτο διηγήσασθαι: εἶθ᾽ ὧν εἶχεν ἐπὶ τῷ [3] δείπνῳ τὰ καθ᾽ ἕκαστα διεξελθεῖν. εἶτα δὴ προχωροῦντος τοῦ πράγματος λέγειν, ὡς πολὺ πονηρότεροί εἰσιν οἱ νῦν ἄνθρωποι τῶν ἀρχαίων, καὶ ὡς ἄξιοι γεγόνασιν οἱ πυροὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ, καὶ ὡς πολλοὶ ἐπιδημοῦσι ξένοι, καὶ τὴν [4] θάλατταν ἐκ Διονυσίων πλόιμον εἶναι: καὶ εἰ ποιήσειεν ὁ Ζεὺς ὕδωρ πλεῖον, τὰ ἐν τῇ γῇ βελτίω ἔσεσθαι, καὶ ὃν ἀγρὸν εἰς νέωτα γεωργήσει, καὶ ὡς χαλεπόν ἐστι τὸ ζῆν, καὶ ὡς Δάμιππος μυστηρίοις μεγίστην δᾷδα ἔστησεν, καὶ πόσοι εἰσὶ κίονες τοῦ Ὠιδείου, καὶ 'χθὲς ἤμεσα᾽, καὶ 'τίς [5] ἐστιν ἡμέρα τήμερον;᾽ κἂν ὑπομένῃ τις αὐτόν, μὴ ἀφίστασθαι. καὶ ὡς Βοηδρομιῶνος μέν ἐστι τὰ μυστήρια, Πυανοψιῶνος δὲ Ἀπατούρια, Ποσιδεῶνος δὲ τὰ κατ᾽ ἀγροὺς Διονύσια.

[6] Παρασείσαντα δὴ δεῖ τοὺς τοιούτους τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ διαράμενον ἀπαλλάττεσθαι, ὅστις ἀπύρευτος βούλεται εἶναι: ἔργον γὰρ συναρκεῖσθαι τοῖς μήτε σχολὴν μήτε σπουδὴν διαγινώσκουσιν.

Characters. Theophrastus. Hermann Diels. Oxford. Oxford University Press. 1909.

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