The Dream, or the Cock (19-21)

MICYLLUS

But after you put off the part of Pythagoras what other did you assume?

COCK

Aspasia, the courtesan from Miletus.

MICYLLUS

Whew, what a yarn! So Pythagoras became a woman on top of everything else, and there was once atime when you laid eggs, most distinguished of cocks; when you lived with Pericles in the capacity of Aspasia and had children by him and carded wool and spun yarn and made the most of your sex in courtesan style?

COCK

Yes, I did all that, and I am not the only one: both Tiresias and Caeneus the son of Elatus preecded me, so that all your jokes at my expense will be at their expense too.[*]

MICYLLUS

How about it? Which life did you find the pleasanter, when you were a man or when Pericles dallied with you?

COCK

Just see what a question you have asked there! Even Tiresias paid dearly for answering it![*]

MICYLLUS

Whether you tell me or not, Euripides has settled the business well enough, for he says that he would sooner stand in line of battle thrice over than bear a single child.[*]

COCK

I'll remind you of that before long, Micyllus, when you are in child-bed; for you too will be a woman again and again in your long cycle of existences.

MICYLLUS

Hang you, cock, do you think everybody hails from Miletus or Samos? They say that while you were Pythagoras and young and handsome you often played Aspasia to the tyrant.

MICYLLUS

But what man or woman did you become after Aspasia?

COCK

The Cynic Crates.

MICYLLUS

Twin brethren! what ups and downs! First a courtesan, then a philosopher!

COCK

Then a king, then a poor man, and soon a satrap; then a horse, a jackdaw, a frog, and a thousand things besides; it would take too long to enumerate them all. But of late I have often been a cock, for I liked that sort of life; and after belonging to many men,

both rich and poor, at length I am now living with you, laughing at you every day for bewailing and lamenting over your poverty and for admiring the rich through ignorance of the troubles that are theirs. Indeed, if you knew the cares they have, you would laugh at yourself for thinking at_ first that wealth was a source of extraordinary happiness.

MICYLLUS

Well then, Pythagoras—but tell me what you like best to be called, so that I may not muddle up our conversation by calling you different names.

COCK

It will make no difference whether you call me Euphorbus or Pythagoras, Aspasia or Crates; I am all of them. But you had better call me what you now see me to be, a cock, so as not to slight a bird that, although held in low esteem, has in itself so many souls.

MICYLLUS

Well then, cock, as you have tried almost every existence and know everything, please tell me clearly about the life of the rich and the life of the poor, each by itself, so that I may learn if you are telling the truth when you declare that I am happier than the rich.

COCK

Well now, look at it this way, Micyllus. As for you, you are little concerned about war if you hear that the enemy is approaching, and you do not worry for fear they may lay your farm waste in a raid or

trample down your garden or cut down your grapevines; when you hear the trumpet, at most you simply consider yourself and where you are to turn in order to save yourself and escape the danger. The rich, however, not only fear for themselves but are distressed when they look from the walls and see all that they own in the country harried and plundered. Moreover if it is necessary to pay a special tax, they alone are summoned to do so, and if it is necessary to take the field, they risk their lives in the van as commanders of horse or foot, whereas you, with but a wicker shield, have little to carry and nothing to impede your flight, and are ready to celebrate the victory when the general offers sacrifice after winning the battle.