An Athenian and a Theban were on the road together, and passed the time in conversation, as is the way of travelers. After discussing a variety of subjects they began to talk about heroes, a topic that tends to be more fertile than edifying¹. Each of them was lavish² in his praises of the heroes of his own city, until eventually the Theban asserted that Hercules was the greatest hero who had ever lived on earth, and now occupied a foremost place among the gods; while the Athenian insisted that Theseus was far superior, for his fortune had been in every way supremely³ blessed, whereas Hercules had at one time been forced to act as a servant. And he gained his point, for he was a very glib⁴ fellow, like all Athenians; so that the Theban, who was no match for him in talking; cried at last in some disgust, "All right, have your way; I only hope that, when our heroes are angry with us, Athens may suffer from the anger of Hercules, and Thebes only from that of Theseus."

 

一个雅典人和一个底比斯人一同走在路上，就像其他旅行者一样，他们用聊天来打发时间。聊了一些其他话题之后，他们开始谈起英雄，虽然没有什么教育意义，但这可是一个颇有谈资的内容，一提到赞美各自城市的英雄，两个人侃侃而谈。后来，底比斯断言，赫拉克勒斯是地球上曾经存在过的最伟大的英雄，现在占据了众神之中的首要位置。而雅典人则坚持认为，提修斯远远超过了赫拉克勒斯，因为他的命运在各方面都得到了充分的眷顾，而赫拉克勒斯曾一度被迫充当奴隶。他达到了自己的目的，因为他像所有雅典人一样，是一个非常圆滑的家伙。而底比斯人在谈话中根本不是他的对手，最后有些反感地大吼道：“好吧，随便你，我只希望，当我们的英雄对我们生气时，雅典人会从赫拉克勒斯的愤怒中遭殃，而底比斯人则从提修斯的愤怒中受苦。”

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