Truth

Babrius 126 (tr. Ben Edwin Perry): A man journeying into the desert found Truth in person standing all alone. He said to her: "Why, venerable dame, have you left the city and now are dwelling in the wilderness?" To which she, deeply wise, replied forthwith: "Among the men of old It was only with a few that falsehood found a place, but now it has spread beyond to all mankind." [If I may say so, and you care to hear it, the life of men in the present age is wicked.] Ὁδοιπορῶν ἄνθρωπος εἰς ἐρημαίην ἑστῶσαν εὗρε τὴν Ἀληθίην μούνην, καί φησιν αὐτῇ "διὰ τίν' αἰτίην, γραίη, τὴν πόλιν ἀφεῖσα τὴν ἐρημίην ναίεις;" ἡ δ' εὐθὺ πρὸς τάδ' εἶπεν ἡ βαθυγνώμων· 5 "ἐν τοῖς παλαιοῖς παρ' ὀλίγοισιν ἦν ψεῦδος, νῦν δ' εἰς ἅπαντας ἐξελήλυθ' ἀνθρώπους." [Εἰ δ' ἔστιν εἰπεῖν καὶ βεβούλησαι κλύειν, ὁ νῦν βίος πονηρός ἐστιν ἀνθρώπων.]