Letter 38: I asked what our fine Iphicrates has been up to, and I heard that he causes no trouble to any human being, but is...

To Iphicrates. I inquired what the noble Iphicrates is doing for us, and I heard that he grieves no human being at all, but the wild beasts very much indeed, and that by the very same actions he both grieves those creatures and gives pleasure to Artemis; for we are not ignorant of the things in which the poets say the goddess delights. Again I inquired whether he makes mention of me to his friends as of a friend, and I learned that, though he is forever saying something of the sort in his gatherings, he does not say this. Seeking, then, from what source you have come to us into this silence, out of all those many words of praise which you scattered throughout the inhabited world, I found that at that earlier time you were deceived by your youth and thought the jackdaw a swan, but old age has taught you to consider the jackdaw to be just what it is, a jackdaw; we, however, both then and now [reckon] you a swan.

**To Iphicrates.** I asked what our fine Iphicrates was up to, and I heard that he causes no man any grief, but causes the wild beasts a great deal — and that by the very same means he grieves those creatures he delights Artemis, for we are not unaware of those things by which the poets say the goddess takes pleasure. I asked again whether he made mention of me among his friends, as one does of a friend, and I learned that in his gatherings, though he is always saying something, this is one thing he does not say. Seeking, then, the reason you have fallen into this silence toward us — after all those abundant praises you once scattered across the world — I discovered that back then you were deceived by youth and took a jackdaw for a swan, but that old age has taught you to regard the jackdaw as what it is: a jackdaw. Well, *we* at any rate regarded you as a swan then, and still do now.

Ἰφικράτει. ἠρόμην, ὅ τι ἡμῖν ὁ καλὸς Ἰφικράτης ποιεῖ, τὸν δὲ ἠκου- σα λυπεῖν ἄνθρωπον μὲν οὐδένα, τὰ θηρία δὲ καὶ πάνυ, καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς γε λυπεῖν τε ἐκεῖνα καὶ τὴν Ἄρτεμιν εὐφραίνειν οὐ γὰρ ἀγνοοῦμεν. οἷς τέρπεσθαι λέγουσιν οἱ ποιηταὶ τὴν θεόν πάλιν ἠρόμην, εἴ μου ποιοῖτο μνήμην πρὸς τοὺς φίλους ὥσπερ φίλου, τὸν δὲ ἐμάνθανον ἐν τοῖς συλλόγοις ἀεί τινα λέγοντα τοῦτο οὐ λέγειν. ζητῶν οὖν, ὁπόθεν ἡμῖν εἰς ταύτην ἥκεις τὴν σιγήν, ἐκ τῶν πολλῶν εὐφημιῶν ἐκεί- νων, ἃς διὰ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἔσπειρας, εὗρον, ὅτι τότε μὲν ὑπὸ τῆς νεότητος ἐξηπατῶ καὶ κύκνον ἡγοῦ τὸν κολοιόν, τὸ γῆρας δέ σε ἐπαίδευσε τὸν κολοιὸν ὅπερ ἐστὶν ἡγεῖσθαι κο- λοιόν, ἀλλ᾿ ἡμεῖς γε σὲ καὶ τότε καὶ νῦν κύκνον