Καὶ σφάκελοι ποιοῦσιν ἀτέλειαν

Pisistratus the tyrant, they say, demanded that the Athenians pay him a tithe of what their farms were growing. But on one of his journeys he saw an old man working rocks and stones and asked him what crops he could produce from [such] places. "Aches and pains" was his reply. Pisistratus, amazed at his frankness, granted him exemption from the tithe; and from this the Athenians began to use the proverb.