You are
laughing
at me.
Aristophanes
CARIO. He paid not the slightest heed.
WIFE. He must then be a pretty coarse kind of god?
CARIO. I don't say that, but he's used to tasting shit. [783]
WIFE. Impudent knave, go on with you!
CARIO. Then I hid myself in my bed all a-tremble. Aesculapius did the
round of the patients and examined them all with great attention; then a
slave placed beside him a stone mortar, a pestle and a little box. [784]
WIFE. Of stone?
CARIO. No, not of stone.
WIFE. But how could you see all this, you arch-rascal, when you say you
were hiding all the time?
CARIO. Why, great gods, through my cloak, for 'tis not without holes! He
first prepared an ointment for Neoclides; he threw three heads of
Tenian[785] garlic into the mortar, pounded them with an admixture of
fig-tree sap and lentisk, moistened the whole with Sphettian[786]
vinegar, and, turning back the patient's eyelids, applied his salve to
the interior of the eyes, so that the pain might be more excruciating.
Neoclides shrieked, howled, sprang towards the foot of his bed and wanted
to bolt, but the god laughed and said to him, "Keep where you are with
your salve; by doing this you will not go and perjure yourself before the
Assembly. "
WIFE What a wise god and what a friend to our city!
CARIO. Thereupon he came and seated himself at the head of Plutus' bed,
took a perfectly clean rag and wiped his eye-lids; Panacea covered his
head and face with a purple cloth, while the god whistled, and two
enormous snakes came rushing from the sanctuary.
WIFE. Great gods!
CARIO. They slipped gently beneath the purple cloth and, as far as I
could judge, licked the patient's eyelids; for, in less time than even
you need, mistress, to drain down ten beakers of wine, Plutus rose up; he
could see. I clapped my hands with joy and awoke my master, and the god
immediately disappeared with the serpents into the sanctuary. As for
those who were lying near Plutus, you can imagine that they embraced him
tenderly. Dawn broke and not one of them had closed an eye. As for
myself, I did not cease thanking the god who had so quickly restored to
Plutus his sight and had made Neoclides blinder than ever.
WIFE. Oh! thou great Aesculapius! How mighty is thy power! (_To Cario. _)
But tell me, where is Plutus now?
CARIO. He is approaching, escorted by an immense crowd. The rich, whose
wealth is ill-gotten, are knitting their brows and shooting at him looks
of fierce hate, while the just folk, who led a wretched existence,
embrace him and grasp his hand in the transport of their joy; they follow
in his wake, their heads wreathed with garlands, laughing and blessing
their deliverer; the old men make the earth resound as they walk together
keeping time. Come, all of you, all, down to the very least, dance, leap
and form yourselves into a chorus; no longer do you risk being told, when
you go home, "There is no meal in the bag. "
WIFE. And I, by Hecate! I will string you a garland of cakes for the good
tidings you have brought me.
CARIO. Hurry, make haste then; our friends are close at hand.
WIFE. I will go indoors to fetch some gifts of welcome, to celebrate
these eyes that have just been opened.
CARIO. Meantime I am going forth to meet them.
CHORUS. [_Missing. _]
PLUTUS. I adore thee, oh! thou divine sun, and thee I greet thou city,
the beloved of Pallas; be welcome, thou land of Cecrops, which hast
received me. Alas! what manner of men I associated with! I blush to think
of it. While, on the other hand, I shunned those who deserved my
friendship; I knew neither the vices of the ones nor the virtues of the
others. A twofold mistake, and in both cases equally fatal! Ah! what a
misfortune was mine! But I want to change everything; and in future I
mean to prove to mankind that, if I gave to the wicked, 'twas against my
will.
CHREMYLUS (_to the crowd who impede him_). Get you gone! Oh! what a lot
of friends spring into being when you are fortunate! They dig me with
their elbows and bruise my shins to prove their affection. Each one wants
to greet me. What a crowd of old fellows thronged round me on the
market-place!
WIFE. Oh! thou, who art dearest of all to me, and thou too, be welcome!
Allow me, Plutus, to shower these gifts of welcome over you in due accord
with custom.
PLUTUS. No. This is the first house I enter after having regained my
sight; I shall take nothing from it, for 'tis my place rather to give.
WIFE. Do you refuse these gifts?
PLUTUS. I will accept them at your fireside, as custom requires. Besides,
we shall thus avoid a ridiculous scene; it is not meet that the poet
should throw dried figs and dainties to the spectators; 'tis a vulgar
trick to make 'em laugh.
WIFE. You are right. Look! yonder's Dexinicus, who was already getting to
his feet to catch the figs as they flew past him. [787]
CHORUS. [_Missing_. ]
CARIO. How pleasant it is, friends, to live well, especially when it
costs nothing! What a deluge of blessings flood our household, and that
too without our having wronged ever a soul! Ah! what a delightful thing
is wealth! The bin is full of white flour and the wine-jars run over with
fragrant liquor; all the chests are crammed with gold and silver, 'tis a
sight to see; the tank is full of oil,[788] the phials with perfumes, and
the garret with dried figs. Vinegar flasks, plates, stew-pots and all the
platters are of brass; our rotten old wooden trenchers for the fish have
to-day become dishes of silver; the very night-commode is of ivory. We
others, the slaves, we play at odd and even with gold pieces, and carry
luxury so far that we no longer wipe ourselves with stones, but use
garlic stalks instead. My master, at this moment, is crowned with flowers
and sacrificing a pig, a goat and a ram;[789] 'tis the smoke that has
driven me out, for I could no longer endure it, it hurt my eyes so.
A JUST MAN. Come, my child, come with me. Let us go and find the god.
CHREMYLUS. Who comes here?
JUST MAN. A man who was once wretched, but now is happy.
CHREMYLUS. A just man then?
JUST MAN. You have it.
CHREMYLUS. Well! what do you want?
JUST MAN. I come to thank the god for all the blessings he has showered
on me. My father had left me a fairly decent fortune, and I helped those
of my friends who were in want; 'twas, to my thinking, the most useful
thing I could do with my fortune.
CHREMYLUS. And you were quickly ruined?
JUST MAN. Entirely.
CHREMYLUS. Since then you have been living in misery?
JUST MAN. In truth I have; I thought I could count, in case of need, upon
the friends whose property I had helped, but they turned their backs upon
me and pretended not to see me.
CHREMYLUS. They laughed at you, 'tis evident.
JUST MAN. Just so. With my empty coffers, I had no more friends.
CHREMYLUS. But your lot has changed.
JUST MAN. Yes, and so I come to the god to make him the acts of gratitude
that are his due.
CHREMYLUS. But with what object now do you bring this old cloak, which
your slave is carrying? Tell me.
JUST MAN. I wish to dedicate it to the god. [790]
CHREMYLUS. Were you initiated into the Great Mysteries in that
cloak? [791]
JUST MAN. No, but I shivered in it for thirteen years.
CHREMYLUS. And this footwear?
JUST MAN. These also are my winter companions.
CHREMYLUS. And you wish to dedicate them too?
JUST MAN. Unquestionably.
CHREMYLUS. Fine presents to offer to the god!
AN INFORMER. Alas! alas! I am a lost man. Ah! thrice, four, five, twelve
times, or rather ten thousand times unhappy fate! Why, why must fortune
deal me such rough blows?
CHREMYLUS. Oh, Apollo, my tutelary! oh! ye favourable gods! what has
overtaken this man?
INFORMER. Ah! am I not deserving of pity? I have lost everything; this
cursed god has stripped me bare. Ah! if there be justice in heaven, he
shall be struck blind again.
JUST MAN. Methinks I know what's the matter. If this man is unfortunate,
'tis because he's of little account and small honesty; and i' faith he
looks it too.
CHREMYLUS. Then, by Zeus! his plight is but just.
INFORMER. He promised that if he recovered his sight, he would enrich us
all unaided; whereas he has ruined more than one.
CHREMYLUS. But whom has he thus ill-used?
INFORMER. Me.
CHREMYLUS. You were doubtless a villainous thief then.
INFORMER (_to Chremylus and Cario_). 'Tis rather you yourselves who were
such wretches; I am certain you have got my money.
CHREMYLUS. Ha! by Demeter! 'tis an informer. What impudence!
CARIO. He's ravenously hungry, that's certain.
INFORMER. You shall follow me this very instant to the marketplace, where
the torture of the wheel shall force the confession of your misdeeds from
you.
CARIO. Ha! look out for yourself!
JUST MAN. By Zeus the Deliverer, what gratitude all Greeks owe to Plutus,
if he destroys these vile informers!
INFORMER.
You are laughing at me. Ho! ho! I denounce you as their
accomplice. Where did you steal that new cloak from? Yesterday I saw you
with one utterly worn out.
JUST MAN. I fear you not, thanks to this ring, for which I paid
Eudemus[792] a drachma.
CHREMYLUS. Ah! there's no ring to preserve you from the informer's bite.
INFORMER. The insolent wretches! But, my fine jokers, you have not told
me what you are up to here. Nothing good, I'll be bound.
CHREMYLUS. Nothing of any good for you, be sure of that.
INFORMER. By Zeus! you're going to dine at my expense!
CHREMYLUS. You vile impostor, may you burst with an empty belly, both you
and your witness.
INFORMER. You deny it? I reckon, you villians, that there is much salt
fish and roast meat in this house. Hu! hu! hu! hu! hu! hu! (_He sniffs. _)
CHREMYLUS. Can you smell anything, rascal?
INFORMER. Can such outrages be borne, oh, Zeus! Ye gods! how cruel it is
to see me treated thus, when I am such an honest fellow and such a good
citizen!
CHREMYLUS. You an honest man! you a good citizen!
INFORMER. A better one than any.
CHREMYLUS. Ah! well then, answer my questions.
INFORMER. Concerning what?
CHREMYLUS. Are you a husbandman?
INFORMER. D'ye take me for a fool?
CHREMYLUS. A merchant?
INFORMER. I assume the title, when it serves me. [793]
CHREMYLUS. Do you ply any trade?
INFORMER. No, most assuredly not!
CHREMYLUS. Then how do you live, if you do nothing?
INFORMER. I superintend public and private business.
CHREMYLUS. You! And by what right, pray?
INFORMER. Because it pleases me to do so.
CHREMYLUS. Like a thief you sneak yourself in where you have no business.
You are hated by all and you claim to be an honest man?
INFORMER. What, you fool? I have not the right to dedicate myself
entirely to my country's service?
CHREMYLUS. Is the country served by vile intrigue?
INFORMER. It is served by watching that the established law is
observed--by allowing no one to violate it.
CHREMYLUS. That's the duty of the tribunals; they are established to that
end.
INFORMER. And who is the prosecutor before the dicasts?
CHREMYLUS. Whoever wishes to be. [794]
INFORMER. Well then, 'tis I who choose to be prosecutor; and thus all
public affairs fall within my province.
CHREMYLUS. I pity Athens for being in such vile clutches. But would you
not prefer to live quietly and free from all care and anxiety?
INFORMER. To do nothing is to live an animal's life.
CHREMYLUS. Thus you will not change your mode of life?
INFORMER. No, though they gave me Plutus himself and the _silphium_ of
Battus. [795]
CHREMYLUS (_to the Informer_). Come, quick, off with your cloak.
CARIO. Hi! friend! 'tis you they are speaking to.
CHREMYLUS. Off with your shoes.
CARIO. All this is addressed to you.
INFORMER. Very well! let one of you come near me, if he dares.
CARIO. I dare.
INFORMER. Alas! I am robbed of my clothes in full daylight.
CARIO. That's what comes of meddling with other folk's business and
living at their expense.
INFORMER (_to his witness_). You see what is happening; I call you to
witness.
CHREMYLUS. Look how the witness whom you brought is taking to his heels.
INFORMER. Great gods! I am all alone and they assault me.
CARIO. Shout away!
INFORMER. Oh! woe, woe is me!
CARIO. Give me that old ragged cloak, that I may dress out the informer.
JUST MAN. No, no; I have dedicated it to Plutus.
CARIO. And where would your offering be better bestowed than on the
shoulders of a rascal and a thief? To Plutus fine, rich cloaks should be
given.
JUST MAN. And what then shall be done with these shoes? Tell me.
CARIO. I will nail them to his brow as gifts are nailed to the trunks of
the wild olive.
INFORMER. I'm off, for you are the strongest, I own. But if I find
someone to join me, let him be as weak as he will, I will summon this
god, who thinks himself so strong, before the Court this very day, and
denounce him as manifestly guilty of overturning the democracy by his
will alone and without the consent of the Senate or the popular Assembly.
JUST MAN. Now that you are rigged out from head to foot with my old
clothes, hasten to the bath and stand there in the front row to warm
yourself better; 'tis the place I formerly had.
CHREMYLUS. Ah! the bath-man would grip you by the testicles and fling you
through the door; he would only need to see you to appraise you at your
true value. . . . But let us go in, friend, that you may address your
thanksgivings to the god.
CHORUS. [_Missing. _]
AN OLD WOMAN. Dear old men, am I near the house where the new god lives,
or have I missed the road?
CHORUS. You are at his door, my pretty little maid, who question us so
sweetly. [796]
OLD WOMAN. Then I will summon someone in the house.
CHREMYLUS. 'Tis needless! I am here myself. But what matter brings you
here?
OLD WOMAN. Ah! a cruel, unjust fate! My dear friend, this god has made
life unbearable to me through ceasing to be blind.
CHREMYLUS. What does this mean? Can you be a female informer?
OLD WOMAN. Most certainly not.
CHREMYLUS. Have you not drunk up your money then?
OLD WOMAN. You are mocking me! Nay! I am being devoured with a consuming
fire.
CHREMYLUS. Then tell me what is consuming you so fiercely.
OLD WOMAN. Listen! I loved a young man, who was poor, but so handsome, so
well-built, so honest! He readily gave way to all I desired and acquitted
himself so well! I, for my part, refused him nothing.
CHREMYLUS. And what did he generally ask of you.
OLD WOMAN. Very little; he bore himself towards me with astonishing
discretion! perchance twenty drachmae for a cloak or eight for footwear;
sometimes he begged me to buy tunics for his sisters or a little mantle
for his mother; at times he needed four bushels of corn.
CHREMYLUS. 'Twas very little, in truth; I admire his modesty.
OLD WOMAN. And 'twas not as a reward for his complacency that he ever
asked me for anything, but as a matter of pure friendship; a cloak I had
given would remind him from whom he had got it.
CHREMYLUS. 'Twas a fellow who loved you madly.
OLD WOMAN. But 'tis no longer so, for the faithless wretch has sadly
altered! I had sent him this cake with the sweetmeats you see here on
this dish and let him know that I would visit him in the evening. .
