Texte grec :
| [12,13] ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐκείνη αὐτὴ μὲν οὐδὲν χρῆται τοῖς προσπετομένοις,
ἀνδρὶ δὲ ὀρνιθοθήρᾳ πάντων λυσιτελέστατόν ἐστι κτημάτων·
οὐδὲν γὰρ δεῖ οὔτε τροφὴν προβάλλειν
οὔτε φωνὴν μιμεῖσθαι, μόνον δ´ ἐπιδεικνύντα τὴν γλαῦκα πολὺ
πλῆθος ἔχειν ὀρνέων· οὕτω κἀμοὶ τῆς σπουδῆς τῶν πολλῶν οὐδὲν
ὄφελος. οὐ γὰρ λαμβάνω μαθητάς, εἰδὼς ὅτι οὐδὲν ἂν ἔχοιμι
διδάσκειν, ἅτε οὐδ´ αὐτὸς ἐπιστάμενος· ὡς δὲ ψεύδεσθαι καὶ ἐξαπατᾶν
ὑπισχνούμενος, οὐκ ἔχω ταύτην τὴν ἀνδρείαν· σοφιστῇ δὲ
ἀνδρὶ ξυνὼν μεγάλα ἂν ὠφέλουν ὄχλον πολὺν ἀθροίζων πρὸς
αὑτόν, ἔπειτα ἐκείνῳ παρέχων ὅπως βούλεται διαθέσθαι τὴν
ἄγραν. ἀλλ´ οὐκ οἶδα ὅπως οὐδείς με ἀναλαμβάνει τῶν σοφιστῶν
οὐδὲ ἥδονται ὁρῶντες.
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Traduction française :
| [12,13] For just as that bird makes no
use herself of the others that fly to her side, but
to the fowler is the most useful of all possessions
— since he has no need to throw out feed or mimic a
call, but merely to show the owl and then have a
great multitude of birds—so I too have nothing
to gain by the interest of the many. For I do not
take disciples, since I know there is nothing I should
be able to teach them, seeing that I know nothing
myself ; but to lie and deceive by my promises,
I have not the courage for that. But if I associated
myself with a professional sophist, I should help
him greatly by gathering a great crowd to him and
then allowing him to dispose of the catch as he wished.
However, for some reason or other, not one of the sophists
is willing to take me on, nor can they bear the sight of me.
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