[Referring to] the kinds of white bean with which they used to put a question to the vote and elect [sc. officials].[1] Cratinus [says that] just as the goat Amaltheia was Zeus' nurse, so too a heavenly goat was [the nurse of] those accepting bribes.[2] But others are accustomed to call and understand thus that which provides abundantly the resources for extorting money from others.
And so "heavenly goat" is [a proverbial phrase used] in reference to those getting as much as they want. For they say that the nanny-goat which nursed Zeus was placed in the heavens. And they say that the one seeing her rise first obtains whatever he prays for.