Texte grec :
| [72,15] τὰ δὲ μήτε τῆς ξυμβουλῆς ἀπεδέχετο τὴν γλαῦκα,
τοὐναντίον δὲ ἔχαιρε τῇ δρυῒ φυομένῃ, ἐπειδή τε
ἱκανὴ ἦν, καθίσαντα ἐπ´ αὐτὴν ᾖδεν. γενομένου δὲ τοῦ ἰξοῦ ῥᾳδίως
ἤδη ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἁλισκόμενα μετανόουν καὶ τὴν γλαῦκα
ἐθαύμαζον ἐπὶ τῇ ξυμβουλῇ. καὶ νῦν ἔτι οὕτως ἔχουσιν, ὡς δεινῆς
καὶ σοφῆς οὔσης αὐτῆς, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐθέλουσι πλησιάζειν, ἡγούμενα
ἀγαθόν τι ἀπολαύειν τῆς ξυνουσίας· ἔπειτα οἶμαι προσίασι μάτην
ἐπὶ κακῷ. ἡ μὲν γὰρ ἀρχαία γλαὺξ τῷ ὄντι φρονίμη τε ἦν καὶ
ξυμβουλεύειν ἐδύνατο. αἱ δὲ νῦν μόνον τὰ πτερὰ ἔχουσιν ἐκείνης
καὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ τὸ ῥάμφος, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἀφρονέστεραί
εἰσι τῶν ἄλλων ὀρνέων. οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ ἑαυτὰς δύνανται οὐδὲν ὠφελεῖν·
(16) οὐ γὰρ ἂν παρὰ τοῖς ὀρνιθοθήραις ἐτρέφοντο δεδεμέναι καὶ
δουλεύουσαι. καὶ ἡμῶν ἕκαστος τὴν μὲν στολὴν ἔχει τὴν Σωκράτους
καὶ Διογένους, τὸ δὲ φρονεῖν πολλοῦ δέομεν ὅμοιοι εἶναι
τοῖς ἀνδράσιν ἐκείνοις ἢ ζῆν ὁμοίως αὐτοῖς ἢ λόγους τοιούτους διαλέγεσθαι.
τοιγάρτοι οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ βλεπόμενοι ὥσπερ αἱ γλαῦκες
ὄχλον πολὺν ξυνάγομεν τῷ ὄντι ὀρνέων, αὐτοί τε ὄντες ἠλίθιοι
καὶ ὑφ´ ἑτέρων τοιούτων ἐνοχλούμενοι.
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Traduction française :
| [72,15] But the birds
not only did not applaud the owl for her advice, but,
quite the reverse, they took delight in the oak as it
grew, and when it was of proper size they alighted on
it and sang. But because the mistletoe had grown on
it, they now were easily captured by the men and
repented of their conduct and admired the owl for
her advice. And even to this day they feel this way
about her, believing her to be shrewd and wise, and
on this account they wish to get near her, believing
that they are deriving some benefit from association
with her ; but if they do, they will approach her,
I fancy, all in vain and to their cost. For though that
owl of olden days was really wise and able to give
advice, those of to-day merely have her feathers,
eyes, and beak, but in all else they are more foolish
than the other birds. (16) Therefore they cannot benefit
even themselves ; for otherwise they would not be
kept at the bird-catcher's, caged and in servitude.
Just so, though each of us has the garb of Socrates
and Diogenes, in intellect we are far from being like
those famous men, or from living as they did, or
from uttering such noble thoughts. Therefore, for no
other reason than because of our personal appearance,
we, like the owls, collect a great company of those
who in truth are birds, being fools ourselves besides
being annoyed by others of like folly.
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