[13]
“And, if they do not
enter Pontus, but remain in the Hellespont ten days after the rising of the
dogstar,1 and disembark their goods at a port
where the Athenians have no right of reprisals,2 and
from thence complete their voyage to Athens, let them pay the interest
written into the contract the year before.3 And if the vessel in which the goods shall be
conveyed suffers aught beyond repair, but the security is saved, let
whatever is saved be the joint property of the lenders. And in regard to
these matters nothing shall have greater effect than the agreement.4Witnesses: Phormio of
Peiraeus, Cephisodotus of Boeotia, Heliodorus of Pitthus.5”
1 The ten days following the rising of Sirius—July 25 to August 5—were, it was thought, apt to be stormy.
2 In such ports Athenian ships would be safe.
3 If the return voyage is delayed until the legal year has expired （at the summer solstice） the rate of interest is to remain unchanged.
4 That is, the terms of the contract shall be absolute. Compare Dem. 35.39.
5 Pittus （Pithus） was a deme of the tribe Cecropis.
Demosthenes. Demosthenes with an English translation by A. T. Murray, Ph.D., LL.D. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1939.
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