If I have decked myself out according to your pattern, 'tis
that you may tell me, in case I should need them, all about the hosts who
received you, when you journeyed to Cerberus; tell me of them as well as
of the harbours, the bakeries, the brothels, the drinking-shops, the
fountains, the roads, the eating-houses and of the hostels where there
are the fewest bugs.
that you may tell me, in case I should need them, all about the hosts who
received you, when you journeyed to Cerberus; tell me of them as well as
of the harbours, the bakeries, the brothels, the drinking-shops, the
fountains, the roads, the eating-houses and of the hostels where there
are the fewest bugs.
Aristophanes
What need then had I to take this luggage, if I must not copy
the porters that Phrynichus, Lycis and Amipsias[382] never fail to put on
the stage?
DIONYSUS. Do nothing of the kind. Whenever I chance to see one of these
stage tricks, I always leave the theatre feeling a good year older.
XANTHIAS. Oh! my poor back! you are broken and I am not allowed to make a
single joke.
DIONYSUS. Just mark the insolence of this Sybarite! I, Dionysus, the son
of a . . . wine-jar,[383] I walk, I tire myself, and I set yonder rascal
upon an ass, that he may not have the burden of carrying his load.
XANTHIAS. But am I not carrying it?
DIONYSUS. No, since you are on your beast.
XANTHIAS. Nevertheless I am carrying this. . . .
DIONYSUS. What?
XANTHIAS. . . . and it is very heavy.
DIONYSUS. But this burden you carry is borne by the ass.
XANTHIAS. What I have here, 'tis certainly I who bear it, and not the
ass, no, by all the gods, most certainly not!
DIONYSUS. How can you claim to be carrying it, when you are carried?
XANTHIAS. That I can't say; but this shoulder is broken, anyhow.
DIONYSUS. Well then, since you say that the ass is no good to you, pick
her up in your turn and carry her.
XANTHIAS. What a pity I did not fight at sea;[384] I would baste your
ribs for that joke.
DIONYSUS. Dismount, you clown! Here is a door,[385] at which I want to
make my first stop. Hi! slave! hi! hi! slave!
HERACLES (_from inside the Temple_). Do you want to beat in the door? He
knocks like a Centaur. [386] Why, what's the matter?
DIONYSUS. Xanthias!
XANTHIAS. Well?
DIONYSUS. Did you notice?
XANTHIAS. What?
DIONYSUS. How I frightened him?
XANTHIAS. Bah! you're mad!
HERACLES. Ho, by Demeter! I cannot help laughing; it's no use biting my
lips, I must laugh.
DIONYSUS. Come out, friend; I have need of you.
HERACLES. Oh! 'tis enough to make a fellow hold his sides to see this
lion's-skin over a saffron robe! [387] What does this mean? Buskins[388]
and a bludgeon! What connection have they? Where are you off to in this
rig?
DIONYSUS. When I went aboard Clisthenes[389]. . . .
HERACLES. Did you fight?
DIONYSUS. We sank twelve or thirteen ships of the enemy.
HERACLES. You?
DIONYSUS. Aye, by Apollo!
HERACLES. You have dreamt it. [390]
DIONYSUS. As I was reading the 'Andromeda'[391] on the ship, I suddenly
felt my heart afire with a wish so violent. . . .
HERACLES. A wish! of what nature?
DIONYSUS. Oh, quite small, like Molon. [392]
HERACLES. You wished for a woman?
DIONYSUS. No.
HERACLES. A young boy, then?
DIONYSUS. Nothing of the kind.
HERACLES. A man?
DIONYSUS. Faugh!
HERACLES. Might you then have had dealings with Clisthenes?
DIONYSUS. Have mercy, brother; no mockery! I am quite ill, so greatly
does my desire torment me!
HERACLES. And what desire is it, little brother?
DIONYSUS. I cannot disclose it, but I will convey it to you by hints.
Have you ever been suddenly seized with a desire for pea-soup?
HERACLES. For pea-soup! oh! oh! yes, a thousand times in my life. [393]
DIONYSUS. Do you take me or shall I explain myself in some other way?
HERACLES. Oh! as far as the pea-soup is concerned, I understand
marvellously well.
DIONYSUS. So great is the desire, which devours me, for Euripides.
HERACLES. But he is dead. [394]
DIONYSUS. There is no human power can prevent my going to him.
HERACLES. To the bottom of Hades?
DIONYSUS. Aye, and further than the bottom, an it need.
HERACLES. And what do you want with him?
DIONYSUS. I want a master poet; "some are dead and gone, and others are
good for nothing. "[395]
HERACLES. Is Iophon[396] dead then?
DIONYSUS. He is the only good one left me, and even of him I don't know
quite what to think.
HERACLES. Then there's Sophocles, who is greater than Euripides; if you
must absolutely bring someone back from Hades, why not make him live
again?
DIONYSUS. No, not until I have taken Iophon by himself and tested him for
what he is worth. Besides, Euripides is very artful and won't leave a
stone unturned to get away with me, whereas Sophocles is as easy-going
with Pluto as he was when on earth.
HERACLES. And Agathon? Where is he? [397]
DIONYSUS. He has left me; 'twas a good poet and his friends regret him.
HERACLES. And whither has the poor fellow gone?
DIONYSUS. To the banquet of the blest.
HERACLES. And Xenocles? [398]
DIONYSUS. May the plague seize him!
HERACLES. And Pythangelus? [399]
XANTHIAS. They don't say ever a word of poor me, whose shoulder is quite
shattered.
HERACLES. Is there not a crowd of other little lads, who produce
tragedies by the thousand and are a thousand times more loquacious than
Euripides?
DIONYSUS. They are little sapless twigs, chatterboxes, who twitter like
the swallows, destroyers of the art, whose aptitude is withered with a
single piece and who sputter forth all their talent to the tragic Muse at
their first attempt. But look where you will, you will not find a
creative poet who gives vent to a noble thought.
HERACLES. How creative?
DIONYSUS. Aye, creative, who dares to risk "the ethereal dwellings of
Zeus," or "the wing of Time," or "a heart that is above swearing by the
sacred emblems," and "a tongue that takes an oath, while yet the soul is
unpledged. "[400]
HERACLES. Is that the kind of thing that pleases you?
DIONYSUS. I'm more than madly fond of it.
HERACLES. But such things are simply idiotic, you feel it yourself.
DIONYSUS. "Don't come trespassing on my mind; you have a brain of your
own to keep thoughts in. "[401]
HERACLES. But nothing could be more detestable.
DIONYSUS. Where cookery is concerned, you can be my master. [402]
XANTHIAS. They don't say a thing about me!
DIONYSUS.
If I have decked myself out according to your pattern, 'tis
that you may tell me, in case I should need them, all about the hosts who
received you, when you journeyed to Cerberus; tell me of them as well as
of the harbours, the bakeries, the brothels, the drinking-shops, the
fountains, the roads, the eating-houses and of the hostels where there
are the fewest bugs.
XANTHIAS. They never speak of me. [403]
HERACLES. Go down to hell? Will you be ready to dare that, you madman?
DIONYSUS. Enough of that; but tell me the shortest road, that is neither
too hot nor too cold, to get down to Pluto.
HERACLES. Let me see, what is the best road to show you? Aye, which? Ah!
there's the road of the gibbet and the rope. Go and hang yourself.
DIONYSUS. Be silent! your road is choking me.
HERACLES. There is another path, both very short and well-trodden; the
one that goes through the mortar. [404]
DIONYSUS. 'Tis hemlock you mean to say.
HERACLES. Precisely so.
DIONYSUS. That road is both cold and icy. Your legs get frozen at
once. [405]
HERACLES. Do you want me to tell you a very steep road, one that descends
very quickly?
DIONYSUS. Ah! with all my heart; I don't like long walks.
HERACLES. Go to the Ceramicus. [406]
DIONYSUS. And then?
HERACLES. Mount to the top of the highest tower . . .
DIONYSUS. To do what?
HERACLES. . . . and there keep your eye on the torch, which is to be the
signal. When the spectators demand it to be flung, fling yourself . . .
DIONYSUS. Where?
HERACLES. . . . down.
DIONYSUS. But I should break the two hemispheres of my brain. Thanks for
your road, but I don't want it.
HERACLES. But which one then?
DIONYSUS. The one you once travelled yourself.
HERACLES. Ah! that's a long journey. First you will reach the edge of the
vast, deep mere of Acheron.
DIONYSUS. And how is that to be crossed?
HERACLES. There is an ancient ferryman, Charon by name, who will pass you
over in his little boat for a diobolus.
DIONYSUS. Oh! what might the diobolus has everywhere! But however has it
got as far as that?
HERACLES. 'Twas Theseus who introduced its vogue. [407] After that you
will see snakes and all sorts of fearful monsters . . .
DIONYSUS. Oh! don't try to frighten me and make me afraid, for I am quite
decided.
HERACLES. . . . then a great slough with an eternal stench, a veritable
cesspool, into which those are plunged who have wronged a guest, cheated
a young boy out of the fee for his complaisance, beaten their mother,
boxed their father's ears, taken a false oath or transcribed some tirade
of Morsimus. [408]
DIONYSUS. For mercy's sake, add likewise--or learnt the Pyrrhic dance of
Cinesias. [409]
HERACLES. Further on 'twill be a gentle concert of flutes on every side,
a brilliant light, just as there is here, myrtle groves, bands of happy
men and women and noisy plaudits.
DIONYSUS. Who are these happy folk?
HERACLES. The initiate. [410]
XANTHIAS. And I am the ass that carries the Mysteries;[411] but I've had
enough of it.
HERACLES. They will give you all the information you will need, for they
live close to Pluto's palace, indeed on the road that leads to it.
Farewell, brother, and an agreeable journey to you. (_He returns into his
Temple. _)
DIONYSUS. And you, good health. Slave! take up your load again.
XANTHIAS. Before having laid it down?
DIONYSUS. And be quick about it too.
XANTHIAS. Oh, no, I adjure you! Rather hire one of the dead, who is going
to Hades.
DIONYSUS. And should I not find one. . . .
XANTHIAS. Then you can take me.
DIONYSUS. You talk sense. Ah! here they are just bringing a dead man
along. Hi! man, 'tis you I'm addressing, you, dead fellow there! Will you
carry a package to Pluto for me?
DEAD MAN. Is't very heavy?
DIONYSUS. This. (_He shows him the baggage, which Xanthias has laid on
the ground. _)
DEAD MAN. You will pay me two drachmae.
DIONYSUS. Oh! that's too dear.
DEAD MAN. Well then, bearers, move on.
DIONYSUS. Stay, friend, so that I may bargain with you.
DEAD MAN. Give me two drachmae, or it's no deal.
DIONYSUS. Hold! here are nine obols.
DEAD MAN. I would sooner go back to earth again.
XANTHIAS. Is that cursed rascal putting on airs? Come, then, I'll go.
DIONYSUS. You're a good and noble fellow. Let us make the best of our way
to the boat.
CHARON. Ahoy, ahoy! put ashore.
XANTHIAS. What's that?
DIONYSUS. Why, by Zeus, 'tis the mere of which Heracles spoke, and I see
the boat.
XANTHIAS. Ah! there's Charon.
DIONYSUS. Hail! Charon.
DEAD MAN. Hail! Charon.
CHARON. Who comes hither from the home of cares and misfortunes to rest
on the banks of Lethe? Who comes to the ass's fleece, who is for the land
of the Cerberians, or the crows, or Taenarus?
DIONYSUS. I am.
CHARON. Get aboard quick then.
DIONYSUS. Where will you ferry me to? Where are you going to land me?
CHARON. In hell, if you wish. But step in, do.
DIONYSUS. Come here, slave.
CHARON. I carry no slave, unless he has fought at sea to save his skin.
XANTHIAS. But I could not, for my eyes were bad.
CHARON. Well then! be off and walk round the mere.
XANTHIAS. Where shall I come to a halt?
CHARON. At the stone of Auaenus, near the drinking-shop.
DIONYSUS. Do you understand?
XANTHIAS. Perfectly. Oh!
the porters that Phrynichus, Lycis and Amipsias[382] never fail to put on
the stage?
DIONYSUS. Do nothing of the kind. Whenever I chance to see one of these
stage tricks, I always leave the theatre feeling a good year older.
XANTHIAS. Oh! my poor back! you are broken and I am not allowed to make a
single joke.
DIONYSUS. Just mark the insolence of this Sybarite! I, Dionysus, the son
of a . . . wine-jar,[383] I walk, I tire myself, and I set yonder rascal
upon an ass, that he may not have the burden of carrying his load.
XANTHIAS. But am I not carrying it?
DIONYSUS. No, since you are on your beast.
XANTHIAS. Nevertheless I am carrying this. . . .
DIONYSUS. What?
XANTHIAS. . . . and it is very heavy.
DIONYSUS. But this burden you carry is borne by the ass.
XANTHIAS. What I have here, 'tis certainly I who bear it, and not the
ass, no, by all the gods, most certainly not!
DIONYSUS. How can you claim to be carrying it, when you are carried?
XANTHIAS. That I can't say; but this shoulder is broken, anyhow.
DIONYSUS. Well then, since you say that the ass is no good to you, pick
her up in your turn and carry her.
XANTHIAS. What a pity I did not fight at sea;[384] I would baste your
ribs for that joke.
DIONYSUS. Dismount, you clown! Here is a door,[385] at which I want to
make my first stop. Hi! slave! hi! hi! slave!
HERACLES (_from inside the Temple_). Do you want to beat in the door? He
knocks like a Centaur. [386] Why, what's the matter?
DIONYSUS. Xanthias!
XANTHIAS. Well?
DIONYSUS. Did you notice?
XANTHIAS. What?
DIONYSUS. How I frightened him?
XANTHIAS. Bah! you're mad!
HERACLES. Ho, by Demeter! I cannot help laughing; it's no use biting my
lips, I must laugh.
DIONYSUS. Come out, friend; I have need of you.
HERACLES. Oh! 'tis enough to make a fellow hold his sides to see this
lion's-skin over a saffron robe! [387] What does this mean? Buskins[388]
and a bludgeon! What connection have they? Where are you off to in this
rig?
DIONYSUS. When I went aboard Clisthenes[389]. . . .
HERACLES. Did you fight?
DIONYSUS. We sank twelve or thirteen ships of the enemy.
HERACLES. You?
DIONYSUS. Aye, by Apollo!
HERACLES. You have dreamt it. [390]
DIONYSUS. As I was reading the 'Andromeda'[391] on the ship, I suddenly
felt my heart afire with a wish so violent. . . .
HERACLES. A wish! of what nature?
DIONYSUS. Oh, quite small, like Molon. [392]
HERACLES. You wished for a woman?
DIONYSUS. No.
HERACLES. A young boy, then?
DIONYSUS. Nothing of the kind.
HERACLES. A man?
DIONYSUS. Faugh!
HERACLES. Might you then have had dealings with Clisthenes?
DIONYSUS. Have mercy, brother; no mockery! I am quite ill, so greatly
does my desire torment me!
HERACLES. And what desire is it, little brother?
DIONYSUS. I cannot disclose it, but I will convey it to you by hints.
Have you ever been suddenly seized with a desire for pea-soup?
HERACLES. For pea-soup! oh! oh! yes, a thousand times in my life. [393]
DIONYSUS. Do you take me or shall I explain myself in some other way?
HERACLES. Oh! as far as the pea-soup is concerned, I understand
marvellously well.
DIONYSUS. So great is the desire, which devours me, for Euripides.
HERACLES. But he is dead. [394]
DIONYSUS. There is no human power can prevent my going to him.
HERACLES. To the bottom of Hades?
DIONYSUS. Aye, and further than the bottom, an it need.
HERACLES. And what do you want with him?
DIONYSUS. I want a master poet; "some are dead and gone, and others are
good for nothing. "[395]
HERACLES. Is Iophon[396] dead then?
DIONYSUS. He is the only good one left me, and even of him I don't know
quite what to think.
HERACLES. Then there's Sophocles, who is greater than Euripides; if you
must absolutely bring someone back from Hades, why not make him live
again?
DIONYSUS. No, not until I have taken Iophon by himself and tested him for
what he is worth. Besides, Euripides is very artful and won't leave a
stone unturned to get away with me, whereas Sophocles is as easy-going
with Pluto as he was when on earth.
HERACLES. And Agathon? Where is he? [397]
DIONYSUS. He has left me; 'twas a good poet and his friends regret him.
HERACLES. And whither has the poor fellow gone?
DIONYSUS. To the banquet of the blest.
HERACLES. And Xenocles? [398]
DIONYSUS. May the plague seize him!
HERACLES. And Pythangelus? [399]
XANTHIAS. They don't say ever a word of poor me, whose shoulder is quite
shattered.
HERACLES. Is there not a crowd of other little lads, who produce
tragedies by the thousand and are a thousand times more loquacious than
Euripides?
DIONYSUS. They are little sapless twigs, chatterboxes, who twitter like
the swallows, destroyers of the art, whose aptitude is withered with a
single piece and who sputter forth all their talent to the tragic Muse at
their first attempt. But look where you will, you will not find a
creative poet who gives vent to a noble thought.
HERACLES. How creative?
DIONYSUS. Aye, creative, who dares to risk "the ethereal dwellings of
Zeus," or "the wing of Time," or "a heart that is above swearing by the
sacred emblems," and "a tongue that takes an oath, while yet the soul is
unpledged. "[400]
HERACLES. Is that the kind of thing that pleases you?
DIONYSUS. I'm more than madly fond of it.
HERACLES. But such things are simply idiotic, you feel it yourself.
DIONYSUS. "Don't come trespassing on my mind; you have a brain of your
own to keep thoughts in. "[401]
HERACLES. But nothing could be more detestable.
DIONYSUS. Where cookery is concerned, you can be my master. [402]
XANTHIAS. They don't say a thing about me!
DIONYSUS.
If I have decked myself out according to your pattern, 'tis
that you may tell me, in case I should need them, all about the hosts who
received you, when you journeyed to Cerberus; tell me of them as well as
of the harbours, the bakeries, the brothels, the drinking-shops, the
fountains, the roads, the eating-houses and of the hostels where there
are the fewest bugs.
XANTHIAS. They never speak of me. [403]
HERACLES. Go down to hell? Will you be ready to dare that, you madman?
DIONYSUS. Enough of that; but tell me the shortest road, that is neither
too hot nor too cold, to get down to Pluto.
HERACLES. Let me see, what is the best road to show you? Aye, which? Ah!
there's the road of the gibbet and the rope. Go and hang yourself.
DIONYSUS. Be silent! your road is choking me.
HERACLES. There is another path, both very short and well-trodden; the
one that goes through the mortar. [404]
DIONYSUS. 'Tis hemlock you mean to say.
HERACLES. Precisely so.
DIONYSUS. That road is both cold and icy. Your legs get frozen at
once. [405]
HERACLES. Do you want me to tell you a very steep road, one that descends
very quickly?
DIONYSUS. Ah! with all my heart; I don't like long walks.
HERACLES. Go to the Ceramicus. [406]
DIONYSUS. And then?
HERACLES. Mount to the top of the highest tower . . .
DIONYSUS. To do what?
HERACLES. . . . and there keep your eye on the torch, which is to be the
signal. When the spectators demand it to be flung, fling yourself . . .
DIONYSUS. Where?
HERACLES. . . . down.
DIONYSUS. But I should break the two hemispheres of my brain. Thanks for
your road, but I don't want it.
HERACLES. But which one then?
DIONYSUS. The one you once travelled yourself.
HERACLES. Ah! that's a long journey. First you will reach the edge of the
vast, deep mere of Acheron.
DIONYSUS. And how is that to be crossed?
HERACLES. There is an ancient ferryman, Charon by name, who will pass you
over in his little boat for a diobolus.
DIONYSUS. Oh! what might the diobolus has everywhere! But however has it
got as far as that?
HERACLES. 'Twas Theseus who introduced its vogue. [407] After that you
will see snakes and all sorts of fearful monsters . . .
DIONYSUS. Oh! don't try to frighten me and make me afraid, for I am quite
decided.
HERACLES. . . . then a great slough with an eternal stench, a veritable
cesspool, into which those are plunged who have wronged a guest, cheated
a young boy out of the fee for his complaisance, beaten their mother,
boxed their father's ears, taken a false oath or transcribed some tirade
of Morsimus. [408]
DIONYSUS. For mercy's sake, add likewise--or learnt the Pyrrhic dance of
Cinesias. [409]
HERACLES. Further on 'twill be a gentle concert of flutes on every side,
a brilliant light, just as there is here, myrtle groves, bands of happy
men and women and noisy plaudits.
DIONYSUS. Who are these happy folk?
HERACLES. The initiate. [410]
XANTHIAS. And I am the ass that carries the Mysteries;[411] but I've had
enough of it.
HERACLES. They will give you all the information you will need, for they
live close to Pluto's palace, indeed on the road that leads to it.
Farewell, brother, and an agreeable journey to you. (_He returns into his
Temple. _)
DIONYSUS. And you, good health. Slave! take up your load again.
XANTHIAS. Before having laid it down?
DIONYSUS. And be quick about it too.
XANTHIAS. Oh, no, I adjure you! Rather hire one of the dead, who is going
to Hades.
DIONYSUS. And should I not find one. . . .
XANTHIAS. Then you can take me.
DIONYSUS. You talk sense. Ah! here they are just bringing a dead man
along. Hi! man, 'tis you I'm addressing, you, dead fellow there! Will you
carry a package to Pluto for me?
DEAD MAN. Is't very heavy?
DIONYSUS. This. (_He shows him the baggage, which Xanthias has laid on
the ground. _)
DEAD MAN. You will pay me two drachmae.
DIONYSUS. Oh! that's too dear.
DEAD MAN. Well then, bearers, move on.
DIONYSUS. Stay, friend, so that I may bargain with you.
DEAD MAN. Give me two drachmae, or it's no deal.
DIONYSUS. Hold! here are nine obols.
DEAD MAN. I would sooner go back to earth again.
XANTHIAS. Is that cursed rascal putting on airs? Come, then, I'll go.
DIONYSUS. You're a good and noble fellow. Let us make the best of our way
to the boat.
CHARON. Ahoy, ahoy! put ashore.
XANTHIAS. What's that?
DIONYSUS. Why, by Zeus, 'tis the mere of which Heracles spoke, and I see
the boat.
XANTHIAS. Ah! there's Charon.
DIONYSUS. Hail! Charon.
DEAD MAN. Hail! Charon.
CHARON. Who comes hither from the home of cares and misfortunes to rest
on the banks of Lethe? Who comes to the ass's fleece, who is for the land
of the Cerberians, or the crows, or Taenarus?
DIONYSUS. I am.
CHARON. Get aboard quick then.
DIONYSUS. Where will you ferry me to? Where are you going to land me?
CHARON. In hell, if you wish. But step in, do.
DIONYSUS. Come here, slave.
CHARON. I carry no slave, unless he has fought at sea to save his skin.
XANTHIAS. But I could not, for my eyes were bad.
CHARON. Well then! be off and walk round the mere.
XANTHIAS. Where shall I come to a halt?
CHARON. At the stone of Auaenus, near the drinking-shop.
DIONYSUS. Do you understand?
XANTHIAS. Perfectly. Oh!
