by Demosthenes
[19] Well then, after suffering these annoyances at their hands and many other grievous ones as well, I must be content, not indeed to win my suit, but to escape paying a further penalty! If, men of the jury, there had been a watercourse below me to receive the water, I should perhaps have been wrong in not letting it in on my land, just as on certain other farms there are recognized watercourses in which the first landowners let the water flow （as they do the gutter-drains from the houses）, and others again receive it from them in like manner. But on the land in question no one gives the water over to me or receives it from me. How, then, can it be a watercourse?
[20] πῶς ἂν οὖν εἴη τοῦτο χαράδρα; τὸ δ᾽ εἰσπεσὸν ὕδωρ ἔβλαψεν οἶμαι πολλάκις ἤδη πολλοὺς μὴ φυλαξαμένους, ἔβλαψε δὲ καὶ νῦν τουτονί. ὃ καὶ πάντων ἐστὶν δεινότατον, εἰ Καλλικλῆς μὲν εἰς τὸ χωρίον εἰσπεσόντος τοῦ ὕδατος ἁμαξιαίους λίθους προσκομίσας ἀποικοδομεῖ, τοῦ δὲ πατρός, ὅτι τοῦτο παθόντος τοῦ χωρίου περιῳκοδόμησεν, ὡς ἀδικοῦντος ἐμοὶ βλάβης εἴληχε δίκην. καίτοι εἰ ὅσοι κακῶς πεπόνθασιν ὑπὸ τῶν ὑδάτων τῶν ταύτῃ ῥεόντων ἐμοὶ λήξονται δίκας, οὐδὲ πολλαπλάσια γενόμενα τὰ ὄντ᾽ ἐξαρκέσειεν ἄν μοι.
[20] An overflow of water has ere now, I imagine, often done damage to many who have not guarded against it, just as it has in this case to the plaintiff. But this is the thing that is most outrageous of all, that Callicles, when the water overflows on his land, brings up huge stones and walls it off, but has brought suit for damages against me on the ground that my father was guilty of wrongdoing, because when the same thing happened to his land, he built an enclosing wall. And yet, if all those who have suffered loss because water has flooded their lands in this region are to bring suit against me, my fortune, even if multiplied many times, would not meet the costs.
[21] τοσοῦτον τοίνυν διαφέρουσιν οὗτοι τῶν ἄλλων, ὥστε πεπονθότες μὲν οὐδέν, ὡς αὐτίχ᾽ ὑμῖν ἐγὼ σαφῶς ἐπιδείξω, πολλῶν δὲ πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα βεβλαμμένων, μόνοι δικάζεσθαι τετολμήκασιν οὗτοί μοι. καίτοι πᾶσι μᾶλλον ἐνεχώρει τοῦτο πράττειν. οὗτοι μὲν γάρ, εἰ καί τι πεπόνθασιν, αὐτοὶ δι᾽ αὑτοὺς βεβλαμμένοι συκοφαντοῦσιν: ἐκεῖνοι δέ, εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἄλλο, τοιαύτην γ᾽ οὐδεμίαν αἰτίαν ἔχουσιν. ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μὴ πάνθ᾽ ἅμα συνταράξας λέγω, λαβέ μοι τὰς τῶν γειτόνων μαρτυρίας.”Μαρτυρίαι”
[21] But these men are so different from the others, that, although they have suffered no damage, as I shall presently make clear to you, while many others have suffered damage in many grievous ways, they alone have had the effrontery to sue me. Yet anyone else would have had better reason to do this than they have; for even if they have suffered damage, it has been through their own fault, though they bring a malicious suit against me; whereas the others, not to speak of anything else, are open to no such imputation.
But that I may not speak confusedly of all matters at once, take, please, the depositions of the neighbors.” Depositions”
[22] οὔκουν δεινόν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τούτους μὲν μηδὲν ἐγκαλεῖν μοι τοσαῦτα βεβλαμμένους, μηδ᾽ ἄλλον μηδένα τῶν ἠτυχηκότων, ἀλλὰ τὴν τύχην στέργειν, τουτονὶ δὲ συκοφαντεῖν; ὃν ὅτι μὲν αὐτὸς ἐξημάρτηκεν πρῶτον μὲν τὴν ὁδὸν στενοτέραν ποιήσας, ἐξαγαγὼν ἔξω τὴν αἱμασιάν, ἵνα τὰ δένδρα τῆς ὁδοῦ ποιήσειεν εἴσω, ἔπειτα δὲ τὸν χλῆδον ἐκβαλὼν εἰς τὴν ὁδόν, ἐξ ὧν ὑψηλοτέραν τὴν αὐτὴν καὶ στενοτέραν πεποιῆσθαι συμβέβηκεν, ἐκ τῶν μαρτυριῶν αὐτίκ᾽ εἴσεσθε σαφέστερον,
[22] Is it not, then, an outrageous thing, men of the jury, that, while these people have made no complaint against me, although they suffered such heavy damages, nor has anyone else of those who suffered misfortune, but they have accepted their lot, this man should bring a malicious suit? But that he is himself at fault, first in that he made the road narrower by extending his wall beyond the property line, in order to enclose the trees of the road, and, secondly, in that he threw the rubbish into it, from which actions it resulted that he made the road higher as well as narrower — of this you will presently gain clearer knowledge from the depositions.
[23] ὅτι δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἀπολωλεκὼς οὐδὲ καταβεβλαμμένος ἄξιον λόγου τηλικαύτην μοι δίκην εἴληχεν, τοῦθ᾽ ὑμᾶς ἤδη πειράσομαι διδάσκειν. τῆς γὰρ μητρὸς τῆς ἐμῆς χρωμένης τῇ τούτων μητρὶ πρὶν τούτους ἐπιχειρῆσαι με συκοφαντεῖν, καὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλας ἀφικνουμένων, οἷον εἰκὸς ἅμα μὲν ἀμφοτέρων οἰκουσῶν ἐν ἀγρῷ καὶ γειτνιωσῶν,
[23] But I shall now endeavor to show you that he has brought a suit for such heavy damages against me without having suffered any loss or damage worthy of mention. Before they undertook this malicious action against me, my mother and theirs were intimate friends and used to visit one another, as was natural, since both lived in the country and were neighbors, and since, furthermore, their husbands had been friends while they lived.
[24] ἅμα δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν χρωμένων ἀλλήλοις ἕως ἔζων, ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς ἐμῆς μητρὸς ὡς τὴν τούτων καὶ ἀποδυραμένης ἐκείνης τὰ συμβάντα καὶ δεικνυούσης, οὕτως ἐπυθόμεθα πάνθ᾽ ἡμεῖς, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί: καὶ λέγω μὲν ἅπερ ἤκουσα τῆς μητρός, οὕτω μοι πόλλ᾽ ἀγαθὰ γένοιτο, εἰ δὲ ψεύδομαι, τἀναντία τούτων: ἦ μὴν ὁρᾶν καὶ τῆς τούτων μητρὸς ἀκούειν ἔφη, κριθῶν μὲν βρεχθῆναι, καὶ ξηραινομένους ἰδεῖν αὑτήν, μηδὲ τρεῖς μεδίμνους, ἀλεύρων δ᾽ ὡς ἡμιμέδιμνον: ἐλαίου δ᾽ ἀποκλιθῆναι μὲν κεράμιον φάσκειν, οὐ μέντοι παθεῖν γ᾽ οὐδέν.
[24] Well, my mother went to see theirs, and the latter told her with weeping what had happened, and showed her the effects; this, men of the jury, is the way in which I learned all the facts. And I am telling you just what I heard from my mother; — as I speak the truth, so may many blessings be mine; if I am lying, may the opposite befall me. She averred that she saw, and heard from their mother, that some of the barley got wet （she saw them drying it）, but not so much as three medimni, and about half a medimnus of wheat flour; also, she said, a jar of olive oil had tilted over, but had not been damaged.
[25] τοσαῦτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὰ συμβάντ᾽ ἦν τούτοις, ἀνθ᾽ ὧν ἐγὼ χιλίων δραχμῶν δίκην ἀτίμητον φεύγω. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τειχίον γ᾽ εἰ παλαιὸν ἐπῳκοδόμησεν, ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῦτο λογιστέον ἐστίν, ὃ μήτ᾽ ἔπεσεν μήτ᾽ ἄλλο δεινὸν μηδὲν ἔπαθεν. ὥστ᾽ εἰ συνεχώρουν αὐτοῖς ἁπάντων αἴτιος εἶναι τῶν συμβεβηκότων, τά γε βρεχθέντα ταῦτ᾽ ἦν.
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[25] So trivial, men of the jury, was the loss that befell them, yet for this I am made defendant in a suit with damages fixed at a thousand drachmae! If he repaired an old wall, this surely ought not to be charged against me — a wall moreover which neither fell down nor suffered any damage. So, if I were to concede that I was to blame for everything that occurred, the things that got wet were these.
[26] ὁπότε δὲ μήτ᾽ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ πατὴρ ἠδίκει τὸ χωρίον περιοικοδομῶν, μήθ᾽ οὗτοι πώποτ᾽ ἐνεκάλεσαν τοσούτου χρόνου διελθόντος, οἵ τ᾽ ἄλλοι πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ πεπονθότες μηδὲν μᾶλλον ἐγκαλοῦσιν ἐμοί, πάντες θ᾽ ὑμεῖς τὸ ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν καὶ τὸ ἐκ τῶν χωρίων ὕδωρ εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἐξάγειν εἰώθατε, ἀλλ᾽ οὐ μὰ Δί᾽ εἴσω τὸ ἐκ τῆς ὁδοῦ δέχεσθαι, τί δεῖ πλείω λέγειν; οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ τούτων ἄδηλον ὅτι φανερῶς συκοφαντοῦμαι, οὔτ᾽ ἀδικῶν οὐδὲν οὔτε βεβλαμμένων ἅ φασιν.
[26] But since in the beginning my father was within his rights in enclosing the land and these people never made any complaint during the lapse of so long a time, and the others who were severely damaged make no complaint any more than they; and since it is the custom of all of you to drain the water from your houses and lands into the road, and not, heaven knows, to let it flow in from the road, what need is there to say more? These facts of themselves make it clear that the suit against me is a baseless and malicious one, since I am guilty of no wrong, and they have not suffered the damage they allege.
[27] ἵνα δ᾽ εἰδῆθ᾽ ὅτι καὶ τὸν χλῆδον εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἐκβεβλήκασιν, καὶ τὴν αἱμασιὰν προαγαγόντες στενοτέραν τὴν ὁδὸν πεποιήκασιν, ἔτι δ᾽ ὡς ὅρκον ἐδίδουν ἐγὼ τῇ τούτων μητρί, καὶ τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ τὸν αὐτὸν ὀμόσαι προὐκαλούμην, λαβέ μοι τάς τε μαρτυρίας καὶ τὴν πρόκλησιν.”Μαρτυρίαι”“Πρόκλησις”
[27] However, to prove to you that they have thrown the rubbish into the road, and by advancing the wall have made the road narrower; and furthermore that I tendered an oath to their mother, and challenged them to have my mother swear in the same terms. Take, please, the depositions and the challenge” Depositions ““ Challenge”
[28] εἶτα τούτων ἀναισχυντότεροι γένοιντ᾽ ἂν ἄνθρωποι ἢ περιφανέστερον συκοφαντοῦντες, οἵτινες αὐτοὶ τὴν αἱμασιὰν προαγαγόντες καὶ τὴν ὁδὸν ἀνακεχωκότες ἑτέροις βλάβης δικάζονται, καὶ ταῦτα χιλίων δραχμῶν ἀτίμητον, οἵ γ᾽ οὐδὲ πεντήκοντα δραχμῶν τὸ παράπαν ἅπαντ᾽ ἀπολωλέκασιν; καίτοι σκοπεῖτ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, πόσους ὑπὸ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς βεβλάφθαι συμβέβηκεν, τὰ μὲν Ἐλευσῖνι, τὰ δ᾽ ἐν τοῖς ἄλλοις τόποις. ἀλλ᾽ οὐ δήπου τούτων, ὦ γῆ καὶ θεοί, παρὰ τῶν γειτόνων ἕκαστος ἀξιώσει τὰς βλάβας κομίζεσθαι.
[28] Could there, then, be people more shameless than these, or more plainly malicious pettifoggers — men who, after advancing their own wall and raising the level of the road, are suing others for damages, and that too for a fixed sum of a thousand drachmae, when they have themselves lost fifty at most? And yet consider, men of the jury, how many people in the farm-lands have suffered from floods in Eleusis and in other places. But, good heavens, I take it each one of these is not going to claim the right to recover damages from his neighbors.
[29] καὶ ἐγὼ μέν, ὃν προσῆκεν ἀγανακτεῖν τῆς ὁδοῦ στενοτέρας καὶ μετεωροτέρας γεγενημένης, ἡσυχίαν ἔχω: τούτοις δὲ τοσοῦτον περίεστιν ὡς ἔοικεν, ὥστε τοὺς ἠδικημένους πρὸς συκοφαντοῦσιν. καίτοι, ὦ Καλλίκλεις, εἰ καὶ ὑμῖν περιοικοδομεῖν ἔξεστιν τὸ ὑμέτερον αὐτῶν χωρίον, καὶ ἡμῖν δήπου τὸ ἡμέτερον ἐξῆν. εἰ δ᾽ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ ἐμὸς ἠδίκει περιοικοδομῶν ὑμᾶς, καὶ νῦν ὑμεῖς ἔμ᾽ ἀδικεῖτε περιοικοδομοῦντες οὕτως:
[29] And I, who might well be angry at their having made the road narrower and raised its level, keep quiet, while these men have such superabundance of audacity, it seems, that they even bring malicious suits against those whom they have injured! But surely, Callicles, if you have the right to enclose your land, we too had the right to enclose ours. And if my father wronged you by enclosing his, you are now wronging me by thus enclosing yours.
[30] δῆλον γὰρ ὅτι μεγάλοις λίθοις ἀποικοδομηθέντος πάλιν τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὸ ἐμὸν ἥξει χωρίον, εἶθ᾽ ὅταν τύχῃ καταβαλεῖ τὴν αἱμασιὰν ἀπροσδοκήτως. ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν μᾶλλον ἐγκαλῶ τούτοις ἐγὼ διὰ τοῦτο, ἀλλὰ στέργω τὴν τύχην καὶ τἀμαυτοῦ φυλάττειν πειράσομαι. καὶ γὰρ τοῦτον φράττοντα μὲν τὰ ἑαυτοῦ σωφρονεῖν ἡγοῦμαι, δικαζόμενον δέ μοι πονηρότατόν τ᾽ εἶναι καὶ διεφθαρμένον ὑπὸ νόσου νομίζω.
[30] For it is evident that, since you have built your obstructing wall with large stones, the water will flow back upon my land, and when it so chances, may with an unlooked-for rush throw down my wall. However, I do not on this account claim damages from these men, but I shall submit to the misfortune, and shall try to protect my own property. For I think the plaintiff is acting wisely in walling in his land, but when he brings suit against me, I hold that he is the basest of men and that some ailment has impaired his wits.
[31] μὴ θαυμάζετε δ᾽, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τὴν τούτου προθυμίαν, μηδ᾽ εἰ τὰ ψευδῆ κατηγορεῖν νῦν τετόλμηκεν. καὶ γὰρ τὸ πρότερον πείσας τὸν ἀνεψιὸν ἀμφισβητεῖν μοι τοῦ χωρίου, συνθήκας οὐ γενομένας ἀπήνεγκεν, καὶ νῦν αὐτὸς ἐρήμην μου καταδεδιῄτηται τοιαύτην ἑτέραν δίκην, Κάλλαρον ἐπιγραψάμενος τῶν ἐμῶν δούλων. πρὸς γὰρ τοῖς ἄλλοις κακοῖς καὶ τοῦθ᾽ ηὕρηνται σόφισμα: Καλλάρῳ τὴν αὐτὴν δίκην δικάζονται.
[31] Do not be surprised, men of the jury, at the eagerness of the plaintiff or even at his having dared to bring a false charge against me now. For in a previous instance also, when he induced his cousin to lay claim to my land, he produced an agreement which had never been made. And now he has obtained an award against me for default in a similar suit, entering in the indictment the name of Callarus, one of my slaves. For in addition to their other pieces of rascality they have devised this scheme as well — they bring this same suit against Callarus.
[32] καίτοι τίς ἂν οἰκέτης τὸ τοῦ δεσπότου χωρίον περιοικοδομήσειεν μὴ προστάξαντος τοῦ δεσπότου; Καλλάρῳ δ᾽ ἕτερον ἐγκαλεῖν οὐδὲν ἔχοντες, ὑπὲρ ὧν ὁ πατὴρ πλέον ἢ πεντεκαίδεκ᾽ ἔτη φράξας ἐπεβίω δικάζονται. κἂν μὲν ἐγὼ τῶν χωρίων ἀποστῶ τούτοις ἀποδόμενος ἢ πρὸς ἕτερα χωρία
ἀλλαξάμενος, οὐδὲν ἀδικεῖ Κάλλαρος: ἂν δ᾽ ἐγὼ μὴ βούλωμαι τἀμαυτοῦ τούτοις προέσθαι, πάντα τὰ δεινόταθ᾽ ὑπὸ Καλλάρου πάσχουσιν οὗτοι, καὶ ζητοῦσιν καὶ διαιτητὴν ὅστις αὐτοῖς τὰ χωρία προσκαταγνώσεται, καὶ διαλύσεις τοιαύτας ἐξ ὧν τὰ χωρί᾽ ἕξουσιν.
[32] And yet what slave would wall in his master’s land without orders from his master? But having no other charge to bring against Callarus, they lodge suit against him regarding the wall which my father built more than fifteen years before his death. And if I give up my property, either by selling it to these men or by exchanging it for other land, Callarus is guilty of no wrong, but if I do not choose to give it up to them, then they are being wronged by Callarus in all manner of grievous ways, and they look out for an arbitrator who will adjudge the property to them, or for some sort of compromise by which they will get possession of it!
[33] εἰ μὲν οὖν, ὦ ἄνδρες δικασταί, τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας καὶ συκοφαντοῦντας δεῖ πλέον ἔχειν, οὐδὲν ἂν ὄφελος εἴη τῶν εἰρημένων: εἰ δ᾽ ὑμεῖς τοὺς μὲν τοιούτους μισεῖτε, τὰ δὲ δίκαια ψηφίζεσθε, μήτ᾽ ἀπολωλεκότος Καλλικλέους μηδὲν μήτ᾽ ἠδικημένου μήθ᾽ ὑπὸ Καλλάρου μήθ᾽ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός, οὐκ οἶδ᾽ ὅ τι δεῖ πλείω λέγειν.