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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3013-h.zip b/3013-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f7c50c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/3013-h.zip diff --git a/3013-h/3013-h.htm b/3013-h/3013-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3654603 --- /dev/null +++ b/3013-h/3013-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4568 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Birds, by Aristophanes + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Birds, by Aristophanes + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Birds + +Author: Aristophanes + +Release Date: January 17, 2009 [EBook #3013] +Last Updated: January 22, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRDS *** + + + + +Produced by Derek Davis, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE BIRDS + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Aristophanes + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + (Translator uncredited. Footnotes have been retained because they provide + the meanings of Greek names, terms and ceremonies and explain puns and + references otherwise lost in translation. Occasional Greek words in the + footnotes have not been included. Footnote numbers, in brackets, start + anew at (1) for each piece of dialogue, and each footnote follows + immediately the dialogue to which it refers, labeled thus: f(1). + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> THE BIRDS </a> <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + INTRODUCTION + </h2> + <p> + 'The Birds' differs markedly from all the other Comedies of Aristophanes + which have come down to us in subject and general conception. It is just + an extravaganza pure and simple—a graceful, whimsical theme chosen + expressly for the sake of the opportunities it afforded of bright, amusing + dialogue, pleasing lyrical interludes, and charming displays of brilliant + stage effects and pretty dresses. Unlike other plays of the same Author, + there is here apparently no serious political MOTIF underlying the surface + burlesque and buffoonery. + </p> + <p> + Some critics, it is true, profess to find in it a reference to the + unfortunate Sicilian Expedition, then in progress, and a prophecy of its + failure and the political downfall of Alcibiades. But as a matter of fact, + the whole thing seems rather an attempt on the dramatist's part to relieve + the overwrought minds of his fellow-citizens, anxious and discouraged at + the unsatisfactory reports from before Syracuse, by a work conceived in a + lighter vein than usual and mainly unconnected with contemporary + realities. The play was produced in the year 414 B.C., just when success + or failure in Sicily hung in the balance, though already the outlook was + gloomy, and many circumstances pointed to impending disaster. Moreover, + the public conscience was still shocked and perturbed over the mysterious + affair of the mutilation of the Hermae, which had occurred immediately + before the sailing of the fleet, and strongly suspicious of Alcibiades' + participation in the outrage. In spite of the inherent charm of the + subject, the splendid outbursts of lyrical poetry in some of the choruses + and the beauty of the scenery and costumes, 'The Birds' failed to win the + first prize. This was acclaimed to a play of Aristophanes' rival, + Amipsias, the title of which, 'The Comastoe,' or 'Revellers,' "seems to + imply that the chief interest was derived from direct allusions to the + outrage above mentioned and to the individuals suspected to have been + engaged in it." + </p> + <p> + For this reason, which militated against its immediate success, viz. the + absence of direct allusion to contemporary politics—there are, of + course, incidental references here and there to topics and personages of + the day—the play appeals perhaps more than any other of our Author's + productions to the modern reader. Sparkling wit, whimsical fancy, poetic + charm, are of all ages, and can be appreciated as readily by ourselves as + by an Athenian audience of two thousand years ago, though, of course, much + is inevitably lost "without the important adjuncts of music, scenery, + dresses and what we may call 'spectacle' generally, which we know in this + instance to have been on the most magnificent scale." + </p> + <p> + The plot is this. Euelpides and Pisthetaerus, two old Athenians, disgusted + with the litigiousness, wrangling and sycophancy of their countrymen, + resolve upon quitting Attica. Having heard of the fame of Epops (the + hoopoe), sometime called Tereus, and now King of the Birds, they + determine, under the direction of a raven and a jackdaw, to seek from him + and his subject birds a city free from all care and strife. Arrived at the + Palace of Epops, they knock, and Trochilus (the wren), in a state of great + flutter, as he mistakes them for fowlers, opens the door and informs them + that his Majesty is asleep. When he awakes, the strangers appear before + him, and after listening to a long and eloquent harangue on the superior + attractions of a residence among the birds, they propose a notable scheme + of their own to further enhance its advantages and definitely secure the + sovereignty of the universe now exercised by the gods of Olympus. + </p> + <p> + The birds are summoned to meet in general council. They come flying up + from all quarters of the heavens, and after a brief mis-understanding, + during which they come near tearing the two human envoys to pieces, they + listen to the exposition of the latters' plan. This is nothing less than + the building of a new city, to be called Nephelococcygia, or + 'Cloud-cuckoo-town,' between earth and heaven, to be garrisoned and + guarded by the birds in such a way as to intercept all communication of + the gods with their worshippers on earth. All steam of sacrifice will be + prevented from rising to Olympus, and the Immortals will very soon be + starved into an acceptance of any terms proposed. The new Utopia is duly + constructed, and the daring plan to secure the sovereignty is in a fair + way to succeed. Meantime various quacks and charlatans, each with a + special scheme for improving things, arrive from earth, and are one after + the other exposed and dismissed. Presently arrives Prometheus, who informs + Epops of the desperate straits to which the gods are by this time reduced, + and advises him to push his claims and demand the hand of Basileia + (Dominion), the handmaid of Zeus. Next an embassy from the Olympians + appears on the scene, consisting of Heracles, Posidon and a god from the + savage regions of the Triballians. After some disputation, it is agreed + that all reasonable demands of the birds are to be granted, while + Pisthetaerus is to have Basileia as his bride. The comedy winds up with + the epithalamium in honour of the nuptials. + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + THE BIRDS + </h2> + <p> + <br /> DRAMATIS PERSONAE + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + EUELPIDES + PISTHETAERUS + EPOPS (the Hoopoe) + TROCHILUS, Servant to Epops + PHOENICOPTERUS + HERALDS + A PRIEST + A POET + A PROPHET + METON, a Geometrician + A COMMISSIONER + A DEALER IN DECREES + IRIS + A PARRICIDE + CINESIAS, a Dithyrambic Bard + AN INFORMER + PROMETHEUS + POSIDON + TRIBALLUS + HERACLES + SLAVES OF PISTHETAERUS + MESSENGERS + CHORUS OF BIRDS +</pre> + <div class="play"> + <p> + SCENE: A wild, desolate tract of open country; broken rocks and + brushwood occupy the centre of the stage. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES (TO HIS JAY)(1) Do you think I should walk straight for yon + tree? + </p> + <p> + f(1) Euelpides is holding a jay and Pisthetaerus a crow; they are the + guides who are to lead them to the kingdom of the birds. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS (TO HIS CROW) Cursed beast, what are you croaking to me?... + to retrace my steps? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Why, you wretch, we are wandering at random, we are exerting + ourselves only to return to the same spot; 'tis labour lost. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS To think that I should trust to this crow, which has made + me cover more than a thousand furlongs! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And that I to this jay, which has torn every nail from my + fingers! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS If only I knew where we were.... + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Could you find your country again from here? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, I feel quite sure I could not, any more than could + Execestides(1) find his. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A stranger who wanted to pass as an Athenian, although coming + originally for a far-away barbarian country. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh dear! oh dear! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Aye, aye, my friend, 'tis indeed the road of "oh dears" we + are following. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES That Philocrates, the bird-seller, played us a scurvy trick, + when he pretended these two guides could help us to find Tereus,(1) the + Epops, who is a bird, without being born of one. He has indeed sold us + this jay, a true son of Tharelides,(2) for an obolus, and this crow for + three, but what can they do? Why, nothing whatever but bite and scratch!—What's + the matter with you then, that you keep opening your beak? Do you want + us to fling ourselves headlong down these rocks? There is no road that + way. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A king of Thrace, a son of Ares, who married Procne, the daughter + of Pandion, King of Athens, whom he had assisted against the Megarians. + He violated his sister-in-law, Philomela, and then cut out her tongue; + she nevertheless managed to convey to her sister how she had been + treated. They both agreed to kill Itys, whom Procne had borne to Tereus, + and dished up the limbs of his own son to the father; at the end of the + meal Philomela appeared and threw the child's head upon the table. + Tereus rushed with drawn sword upon the princesses, but all the actors + in this terrible scene were metamorph(o)sed. Tereus became an Epops + (hoopoe), Procne a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, and Itys a + goldfinch. According to Anacreon and Apollodorus it was Procne who + became the nightingale and Philomela the swallow, and this is the + version of the tradition followed by Aristophanes. + </p> + <p> + f(2) An Athenian who had some resemblance to a jay—so says the + scholiast, at any rate. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Not even the vestige of a track in any direction. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And what does the crow say about the road to follow? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By Zeus, it no longer croaks the same thing it did. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And which way does it tell us to go now? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS It says that, by dint of gnawing, it will devour my + fingers. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES What misfortune is ours! we strain every nerve to get to the + birds,(1) do everything we can to that end, and we cannot find our way! + Yes, spectators, our madness is quite different from that of Sacas. He + is not a citizen, and would fain be one at any cost; we, on the + contrary, born of an honourable tribe and family and living in the midst + of our fellow-citizens, we have fled from our country as hard as ever we + could go. 'Tis not that we hate it; we recognize it to be great and + rich, likewise that everyone has the right to ruin himself; but the + crickets only chirrup among the fig-trees for a month or two, whereas + the Athenians spend their whole lives in chanting forth judgments from + their law-courts.(2) That is why we started off with a basket, a + stew-pot and some myrtle boughs(3) and have come to seek a quiet country + in which to settle. We are going to Tereus, the Epops, to learn from + him, whether, in his aerial flights, he has noticed some town of this + kind. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Literally, 'to go to the crows,' a proverbial expression equivalent + to our 'going to the devil.' + </p> + <p> + f(2) They leave Athens because of their hatred of lawsuits and + informers; this is the especial failing of the Athenians satirized in + 'The Wasps.' + </p> + <p> + f(3) Myrtle boughs were used in sacrifices, and the founding of every + colony was started by a sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here! look! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES What's the matter? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why, the crow has been pointing me to something up there + for some time now. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And the jay is also opening its beak and craning its neck to + show me I know not what. Clearly, there are some birds about here. We + shall soon know, if we kick up a noise to start them. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Do you know what to do? Knock your leg against this rock. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And you your head to double the noise. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Well then use a stone instead; take one and hammer with it. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Good idea! Ho there, within! Slave! slave! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What's that, friend! You say, "slave," to summon Epops! It + would be much better to shout, "Epops, Epops!" + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Well then, Epops! Must I knock again? Epops! + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS Who's there? Who calls my master? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Apollo the Deliverer! what an enormous beak!(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The actors wore masks made to resemble the birds they were supposed + to represent. + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS Good god! they are bird-catchers. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES The mere sight of him petrifies me with terror. What a + horrible monster. + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS Woe to you! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES But we are not men. + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS What are you, then? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I am the Fearling, an African bird. + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS You talk nonsense. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Well, then, just ask it of my feet.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Fear had had disastrous effects upon Euelpides' internal economy, + and this his feet evidenced. + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS And this other one, what bird is it? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I? I am a Cackling,(1) from the land of the pheasants. + </p> + <p> + f(1) The same mishap had occurred to Pisthetaerus. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES But you yourself, in the name of the gods! what animal are + you? + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS Why, I am a slave-bird. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Why, have you been conquered by a cock? + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS No, but when my master was turned into a peewit, he begged me + to become a bird too, to follow and to serve him. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Does a bird need a servant, then? + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS 'Tis no doubt because he was a man. At times he wants to eat a + dish of loach from Phalerum; I seize my dish and fly to fetch him some. + Again he wants some pea-soup; I seize a ladle and a pot and run to get + it. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES This is, then, truly a running-bird.(1) Come, Trochilus, do us + the kindness to call your master. + </p> + <p> + f(1) The Greek word for a wren is derived from the same root as 'to + run.' + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS Why, he has just fallen asleep after a feed of myrtle-berries + and a few grubs. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Never mind; wake him up. + </p> + <p> + TROCHILUS I an certain he will be angry. However, I will wake him to + please you. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You cursed brute! why, I am almost dead with terror! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! my god! 'twas sheer fear that made me lose my jay. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! you great coward! were you so frightened that you let + go your jay? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And did you not lose your crow, when you fell sprawling on the + ground? Pray tell me that. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, no. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Where is it, then? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS It has flown away. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Then you did not let it go? Oh! you brave fellow! + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Open the forest,(1) that I may go out! + </p> + <p> + f(1) No doubt there was some scenery to represent a forest. Besides, + there is a pun intended. The words answering for 'forests' and 'door' in + Greek only differ slightly in sound. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES By Heracles! what a creature! what plumage! What means this + triple crest? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Who wants me? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES The twelve great gods have used you ill, meseems. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Are you chaffing me about my feathers? I have been a man, + strangers. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES 'Tis not you we are jeering at. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS At what, then? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Why, 'tis your beak that looks so odd to us. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS This is how Sophocles outrages me in his tragedies. Know, I once + was Tereus.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Sophocles had written a tragedy about Tereus, in which, no doubt, + the king finally appears as a hoopoe. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES You were Tereus, and what are you now? a bird or a peacock?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) (O)ne would expect the question to be "bird or man."—Are you + a peacock? The hoopoe resembles the peacock inasmuch as both have + crests. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS I am a bird. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Then where are your feathers? For I don't see them. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS They have fallen off. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Through illness? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS No. All birds moult their feathers, you know, every winter, and + others grow in their place. But tell me, who are you? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES We? We are mortals. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS From what country? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES From the land of the beautiful galleys.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Athens. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Are you dicasts?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The Athenians were madly addicted to lawsuits. (See 'The Wasps.') + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES No, if anything, we are anti-dicasts. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Is that kind of seed sown among you?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) As much as to say, 'Then you have such things as anti-dicasts?' And + Euelpides practically replaces, 'Very few.' + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES You have to look hard to find even a little in our fields. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS What brings you here? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES We wish to pay you a visit. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS What for? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Because you formerly were a man, like we are, formerly you had + debts, as we have, formerly you did not want to pay them, like + ourselves; furthermore, being turned into a bird, you have when flying + seen all lands and seas. Thus you have all human knowledge as well as + that of birds. And hence we have come to you to beg you to direct us to + some cosy town, in which one can repose as if on thick coverlets. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS And are you looking for a greater city than Athens? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES No, not a greater, but one more pleasant to dwell in. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Then you are looking for an aristocratic country. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I? Not at all! I hold the son of Scellias in horror.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) His name was Aristocrates; he was a general and commanded a fleet + sent in aid of Corcyra. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS But, after all, what sort of city would please you best? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES A place where the following would be the most important + business transacted.—Some friend would come knocking at the door + quite early in the morning saying, "By Olympian Zeus, be at my house + early, as soon as you have bathed, and bring your children too. I am + giving a nuptial feast, so don't fail, or else don't cross my threshold + when I am in distress." + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Ah! that's what may be called being fond of hardships! And what + say you? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS My tastes are similar. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS And they are? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I want a town where the father of a handsome lad will stop + in the street and say to me reproachfully as if I had failed him, "Ah! + Is this well done, Stilbonides! You met my son coming from the bath + after the gymnasium and you neither spoke to him, nor embraced him, nor + took him with you, nor ever once twitched his parts. Would anyone call + you an old friend of mine?" + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Ah! wag, I see you are fond of suffering. But there is a city of + delights, such as you want. 'Tis on the Red Sea. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh, no. Not a sea-port, where some fine morning the + Salaminian(1) galley can appear, bringing a writ-server along. Have you + no Greek town you can propose to us? + </p> + <p> + f(1) The State galley, which carried the officials of the Athenian + republic to their several departments and brought back those whose time + had expired; it was this galley that was sent to Sicily to fetch back + Alcibiades, who was accused of sacrilege. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Why not choose Lepreum in Elis for your settlement? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES By Zeus! I could not look at Lepreum without disgust, because + of Melanthius.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A tragic poet, who was a leper; there is a play, of course, on the + word Lepreum. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Then, again, there is the Opuntian, where you could live. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I would not be Opuntian(1) for a talent. But come, what is it + like to live with the birds? You should know pretty well. + </p> + <p> + f(1) An allusion to Opuntius, who was one-eyed. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Why, 'tis not a disagreeable life. In the first place, one has no + purse. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES That does away with much roguery. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS For food the gardens yield us white sesame, myrtle-berries, + poppies and mint. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Why, 'tis the life of the newly-wed indeed.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The newly-married ate a sesame-cake, decorated with garlands of + myrtle, poppies and mint. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ha! I am beginning to see a great plan, which will transfer + the supreme power to the birds, if you will but take my advice. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Take your advice? In what way? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS In what way? Well, firstly, do not fly in all directions + with open beak; it is not dignified. Among us, when we see a thoughtless + man, we ask, "What sort of bird is this?" and Teleas answers, "'Tis a + man who has no brain, a bird that has lost his head, a creature you + cannot catch, for it never remains in any one place." + </p> + <p> + EPOPS By Zeus himself! your jest hits the mark. What then is to be done? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Found a city. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS We birds? But what sort of city should we build? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh, really, really! 'tis spoken like a fool! Look down. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS I am looking. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Now look upwards. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS I am looking. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Turn your head round. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Ah! 'twill be pleasant for me, if I end in twisting my neck! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What have you seen? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS The clouds and the sky. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Very well! is not this the pole of the birds then? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS How their pole? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Or, if you like it, the land. And since it turns and passes + through the whole universe, it is called, 'pole.'(1) If you build and + fortify it, you will turn your pole into a fortified city.(2) In this + way you will reign over mankind as you do over the grasshoppers and + cause the gods to die of rabid hunger. + </p> + <p> + f(1) From (the word meaning) 'to turn.' + </p> + <p> + f(2) The Greek words for 'pole' and 'city' only differ by a single + letter. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS How so? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The air is 'twixt earth and heaven. When we want to go to + Delphi, we ask the Boeotians(1) for leave of passage; in the same way, + when men sacrifice to the gods, unless the latter pay you tribute, you + exercise the right of every nation towards strangers and don't allow the + smoke of the sacrifices to pass through your city and territory. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Boeotia separated Attica from Phocis. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS By earth! by snares! by network!(1) I never heard of anything more + cleverly conceived; and, if the other birds approve, I am going to build + the city along with you. + </p> + <p> + f(1) He swears by the powers that are to him dreadful. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Who will explain the matter to them? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS You must yourself. Before I came they were quite ignorant, but + since I have lived with them I have taught them to speak. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS But how can they be gathered together? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Easily. I will hasten down to the coppice to waken my dear + Procne!(1) as soon as they hear our voices, they will come to us hot + wing. + </p> + <p> + f(1) As already stated, according to the legend accepted by + Aristophanes, it was Procne who was turned into the nightengale. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS My dear bird, lose no time, I beg. Fly at once into the + coppice and awaken Procne. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Chase off drowsy sleep, dear companion. Let the sacred hymn gush + from thy divine throat in melodious strains; roll forth in soft cadence + your refreshing melodies to bewail the fate of Itys,(1) which has been + the cause of so many tears to us both. Your pure notes rise through the + thick leaves of the yew-tree right up to the throne of Zeus, where + Phoebus listens to you, Phoebus with his golden hair. And his ivory lyre + responds to your plaintive accents; he gathers the choir of the gods and + from their immortal lips rushes a sacred chant of blessed voices. (THE + FLUTE IS PLAYED BEHIND THE SCENE.) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The son of Tereus and Procne. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! by Zeus! what a throat that little bird possesses. He + has filled the whole coppice with honey-sweet melody! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Hush! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What's the matter? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Will you keep silence? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What for? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Epops is going to sing again. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS (IN THE COPPICE) Epopoi poi popoi, epopoi, popoi, here, here, + quick, quick, quick, my comrades in the air; all you who pillage the + fertile lands of the husbandmen, the numberless tribes who gather and + devour the barley seeds, the swift flying race who sing so sweetly. And + you whose gentle twitter resounds through the fields with the little cry + of tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio; and you who hop about the + branches of the ivy in the gardens; the mountain birds, who feed on the + wild olive berries or the arbutus, hurry to come at my call, trioto, + trioto, totobrix; you also, who snap up the sharp-stinging gnats in the + marshy vales, and you who dwell in the fine plain of Marathon, all damp + with dew, and you, the francolin with speckled wings; you too, the + halcyons, who flit over the swelling waves of the sea, come hither to + hear the tidings; let all the tribes of long-necked birds assemble here; + know that a clever old man has come to us, bringing an entirely new idea + and proposing great reforms. Let all come to the debate here, here, + here, here. Torotorotorotorotix, kikkobau, kikkobau, + torotorotorotorolililix. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Can you see any bird? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES By Phoebus, no! and yet I am straining my eyesight to scan the + sky. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Twas really not worth Epops' while to go and bury himself + in the thicket like a plover when a-hatching. + </p> + <p> + PHOENICOPTERUS Torotina, torotina. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Hold, friend, here is another bird. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I' faith, yes, 'tis a bird, but of what kind? Isn't it a + peacock? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Epops will tell us. What is this bird? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS 'Tis not one of those you are used to seeing; 'tis a bird from the + marshes. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! oh! but he is very handsome with his wings as crimson + as flame. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Undoubtedly; indeed he is called flamingo.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) An African bird, that comes to the southern countries of Europe, to + Greece, Italy, and Spain; it is even seen in Provence. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Hi! I say! You! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What are you shouting for? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Why, here's another bird. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Aye, indeed; 'tis a foreign bird too. What is this bird + from beyond the mountains with a look as solemn as it is stupid? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS He is called the Mede.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Aristophanes amusingly mixes up real birds with people and + individuals, whom he represents in the form of birds; he is personifying + the Medians here. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The Mede! But, by Heracles, how, if a Mede, has he flown + here without a camel? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Here's another bird with a crest. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! that's curious. I say, Epops, you are not the only one + of your kind then? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS This bird is the son of Philocles, who is the son of Epops;(1) so + that, you see, I am his grandfather; just as one might say, + Hipponicus,(2) the son of Callias, who is the son of Hipponicus. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Philocles, a tragic poet, had written a tragedy on Tereus, which + was simply a plagiarism of the play of the same name by Sophocles. + Philocles is the son of Epops, because he got his inspiration from + Sophocles' Tereus, and at the same time is father to Epops, since he + himself produced another Tereus. + </p> + <p> + f(2) This Hipponicus is probably the orator whose ears Alcibiades boxed + to gain a bet; he was a descendant of Callias, who was famous for his + hatred of Pisistratus. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Then this bird is Callias! Why, what a lot of his feathers + he has lost!(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) This Callias, who must not be confounded with the foe of + Pisistratus, had ruined himself. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS That's because he is honest; so the informers set upon him and the + women too pluck out his feathers. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By Posidon, do you see that many-coloured bird? What is his + name? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS This one? 'Tis the glutton. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Is there another glutton besides Cleonymus? But why, if he + is Cleonymus, has he not thrown away his crest?(1) But what is the + meaning of all these crests? Have these birds come to contend for the + double stadium prize?(2) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Cleonymus had cast away his shield; he was as great a glutton as he + was a coward. + </p> + <p> + f(2) A race in which the track had to be circled twice. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS They are like the Carians, who cling to the crests of their + mountains for greater safety.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A people of Asia Minor; when pursued by the Ionians they took + refuge in the mountains. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh, Posidon! do you see what swarms of birds are gathering + here? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES By Phoebus! what a cloud! The entrance to the stage is no + longer visible, so closely do they fly together. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here is the partridge. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Faith! there is the francolin. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS There is the poachard. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Here is the kingfisher. And over yonder? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS 'Tis the barber. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES What? a bird a barber? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why, Sporgilus is one.(1) Here comes the owl. + </p> + <p> + f(1) An Athenian barber. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And who is it brings an owl to Athens?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The owl was dedicated to Athene, and being respected at Athens, it + had greatly multiplied. Hence the proverb, 'taking owls to Athens,' + similar to our English 'taking coals to Newcastle.' + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here is the magpie, the turtle-dove, the swallow, the + horned owl, the buzzard, the pigeon, the falcon, the ring-dove, the + cuckoo, the red-foot, the red-cap, the purple-cap, the kestrel, the + diver, the ousel, the osprey, the woodpecker. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! oh! what a lot of birds! what a quantity of blackbirds! + how they scold, how they come rushing up! What a noise! what a noise! + Can they be bearing us ill-will? Oh! there! there! they are opening + their beaks and staring at us. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why, so they are. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Popopopopopopopoi. Where is he who called me? Where am I to find + him? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS I have been waiting for you this long while! I never fail in my + word to my friends. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Titititititititi. What good thing have you to tell me? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Something that concerns our common safety, and that is just as + pleasant as it is to the purpose. Two men, who are subtle reasoners, + have come here to seek me. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Where? What? What are you saying? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS I say, two old men have come from the abode of men to propose a + vast and splendid scheme to us. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Oh! 'tis a horrible, unheard-of crime! What are you saying? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Nay! never let my words scare you. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS What have you done then? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS I have welcomed two men, who wish to live with us. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS And you have dared to do that! + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Aye, and am delighted at having done so. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Where are they? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS In your midst, as I am. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Ah! ah! we are betrayed; 'tis sacrilege! Our friend, he who + picked up corn-seeds in the same plains as ourselves, has violated our + ancient laws; he has broken the oaths that bind all birds; he has laid a + snare for me, he has handed us over to the attacks of that impious race + which, throughout all time, has never ceased to war against us. As for + this traitorous bird, we will decide his case later, but the two old men + shall be punished forthwith; we are going to tear them to pieces. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis all over with us. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES You are the sole cause of all our trouble. Why did you bring + me from down yonder? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS To have you with me. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Say rather to have me melt into tears. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Go to! you are talking nonsense. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES How so? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS How will you be able to cry when once your eyes are pecked + out? + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Io! io! forward to the attack, throw yourselves upon the foe, + spill his blood; take to your wings and surround them on all sides. Woe + to them! let us get to work with our beaks, let us devour them. Nothing + can save them from our wrath, neither the mountain forests, nor the + clouds that float in the sky, nor the foaming deep. Come, peck, tear to + ribbons. Where is the chief of the cohort? Let him engage the right + wing. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES This is the fatal moment. Where shall I fly to, unfortunate + wretch that I am? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Stay! stop here! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES That they may tear me to pieces? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And how do you think to escape them? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I don't know at all. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Come, I will tell you. We must stop and fight them. Let us + arm ourselves with these stew-pots. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Why with the stew-pots? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The owl will not attack us.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) An allusion to the Feast of Pots; it was kept at Athens on the + third day of the Anthesteria, when all sorts of vegetables were stewed + together and offered for the dead to Bacchus and Athene. This Feast was + peculiar to Athens.—Hence Pisthetaerus thinks that the owl will + recognize they are Athenians by seeing the stew-pots, and as he is an + Athenian bird, he will not attack them. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES But do you see all those hooked claws? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Seize the spit and pierce the foe on your side. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And how about my eyes? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Protect them with this dish or this vinegar-pot. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! what cleverness! what inventive genius! You are a great + general, even greater than Nicias,(1) where stratagem is concerned. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Nicias, the famous Athenian general.—The siege of Melos in + 417 B.C., or two years previous to the production of 'The Birds,' had + especially done him great credit. He was joint commander of the Sicilian + expedition. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Forward, forward, charge with your beaks! Come, no delay. Tear, + pluck, strike, flay them, and first of all smash the stew-pot. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Oh, most cruel of all animals, why tear these two men to pieces, + why kill them? What have they done to you? They belong to the same + tribe, to the same family as my wife.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Procne, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Are wolves to be spared? Are they not our most mortal foes? So + let us punish them. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS If they are your foes by nature, they are your friends in heart, + and they come here to give you useful advice. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Advice or a useful word from their lips, from them, the enemies + of my forebears! + </p> + <p> + EPOPS The wise can often profit by the lessons of a foe, for caution is + the mother of safety. 'Tis just such a thing as one will not learn from + a friend and which an enemy compels you to know. To begin with, 'tis the + foe and not the friend that taught cities to build high walls, to equip + long vessels of war; and 'tis this knowledge that protects our children, + our slaves and our wealth. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Well then, I agree, let us first hear them, for 'tis best; one + can even learn something in an enemy's school. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Their wrath seems to cool. Draw back a little. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS 'Tis only justice, and you will thank me later. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Never have we opposed your advice up to now. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS They are in a more peaceful mood; put down your stew-pot + and your two dishes; spit in hand, doing duty for a spear, let us mount + guard inside the camp close to the pot and watch in our arsenal closely; + for we must not fly. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES You are right. But where shall we be buried, if we die? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS In the Ceramicus;(1) for, to get a public funeral, we shall + tell the Strategi that we fell at Orneae,(2) fighting the country's + foes. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A space beyond the walls of Athens which contained the gardens of + the Academy and the graves of citizens who had died for their country. + </p> + <p> + f(2) A town in Western Argolis, where the Athenians had been recently + defeated. The somewhat similar work in Greek signifies 'birds.' + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Return to your ranks and lay down your courage beside your wrath + as the Hoplites do. Then let us ask these men who they are, whence they + come, and with what intent. Here, Epops, answer me. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Are you calling me? What do you want of me? + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Who are they? From what country? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Strangers, who have come from Greece, the land of the wise. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS And what fate has led them hither to the land of the birds? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Their love for you and their wish to share your kind of life; to + dwell and remain with you always. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Indeed, and what are their plans? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS They are wonderful, incredible, unheard of. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Why, do they think to see some advantage that determines them to + settle here? Are they hoping with our help to triumph over their foes or + to be useful to their friends? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS They speak of benefits so great it is impossible either to + describe or conceive them; all shall be yours, all that we see here, + there, above and below us; this they vouch for. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Are they mad? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS They are the sanest people in the world. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Clever men? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS The slyest of foxes, cleverness its very self, men of the world, + cunning, the cream of knowing folk. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Tell them to speak and speak quickly; why, as I listen to you, I + am beside myself with delight. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Here, you there, take all these weapons and hang them up inside + close to the fire, near the figure of the god who presides there and + under his protection;(1) as for you, address the birds, tell them why I + have gathered them together. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Epops is addressing the two slaves, no doubt Xanthias and Manes, + who are mentioned later on. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Not I, by Apollo, unless they agree with me as the little + ape of an armourer agreed with his wife, not to bite me, nor pull me by + the parts, nor shove things up my... + </p> + <p> + CHORUS You mean the...(PUTS FINGER TO BOTTOM) Oh! be quite at ease. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, I mean my eyes. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Agreed. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Swear it. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS I swear it and, if I keep my promise, let judges and spectators + give me the victory unanimously. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS It is a bargain. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS And if I break my word, may I succeed by one vote only. + </p> + <p> + HERALD Hearken, ye people! Hoplites, pick up your weapons and return to + your firesides; do not fail to read the decrees of dismissal we have + posted. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Man is a truly cunning creature, but nevertheless explain. + Perhaps you are going to show me some good way to extend my power, some + way that I have not had the wit to find out and which you have + discovered. Speak! 'tis to your own interest as well as to mine, for if + you secure me some advantage, I will surely share it with you. But what + object can have induced you to come among us? Speak boldly, for I shall + not break the truce,—until you have told us all. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I am bursting with desire to speak; I have already mixed + the dough of my address and nothing prevents me from kneading it.... + Slave! bring the chaplet and water, which you must pour over my hands. + Be quick!(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) It was customary, when speaking in public and also at feasts, to + wear a chaplet; hence the question Euelpides puts.—The guests wore + chaplets of flowers, herbs, and leaves, which had the property of being + refreshing. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Is it a question of feasting? What does it all mean? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By Zeus, no! but I am hunting for fine, tasty words to + break down the hardness of their hearts.—I grieve so much for you, + who at one time were kings... + </p> + <p> + CHORUS We kings! Over whom? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS ...of all that exists, firstly of me and of this man, even + of Zeus himself. Your race is older than Saturn, the Titans and the + Earth. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS What, older than the Earth! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By Phoebus, yes. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS By Zeus, but I never knew that before! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis because you are ignorant and heedless, and have never + read your Aesop. 'Tis he who tells us that the lark was born before all + other creatures, indeed before the Earth; his father died of sickness, + but the Earth did not exist then; he remained unburied for five days, + when the bird in its dilemma decided, for want of a better place, to + entomb its father in its own head. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES So that the lark's father is buried at Cephalae.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A deme of Attica. In Greek the word also means 'heads,' and hence + the pun. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Hence, if we existed before the Earth, before the gods, the + kingship belongs to us by right of priority. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Undoubtedly, but sharpen your beak well; Zeus won't be in a + hurry to hand over his sceptre to the woodpecker. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS It was not the gods, but the birds, who were formerly the + masters and kings over men; of this I have a thousand proofs. First of + all, I will point you to the cock, who governed the Persians before all + other monarchs, before Darius and Megabyzus.(1) 'Tis in memory of his + reign that he is called the Persian bird. + </p> + <p> + f(1) One of Darius' best generals. After his expedition against the + Scythians, this prince gave him the command of the army which he left in + Europe. Megabyzus took Perinthos (afterwards called Heraclea) and + conquered Thrace. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES For this reason also, even to-day, he alone of all the birds + wears his tiara straight on his head, like the Great King.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) All Persians wore the tiara, but always on one side; the Great King + alone wore it straight on his head. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS He was so strong, so great, so feared, that even now, on + account of his ancient power, everyone jumps out of bed as soon as ever + he crows at daybreak. Blacksmiths, potters, tanners, shoemakers, + bathmen, corn-dealers, lyre-makers and armourers, all put on their shoes + and go to work before it is daylight. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I can tell you something about that. 'Twas the cock's fault + that I lost a splendid tunic of Phrygian wool. I was at a feast in town, + given to celebrate the birth of a child; I had drunk pretty freely and + had just fallen asleep, when a cock, I suppose in a greater hurry than + the rest, began to crow. I thought it was dawn and set out for + Alimos.(1) I had hardly got beyond the walls, when a footpad struck me + in the back with his bludgeon; down I went and wanted to shout, but he + had already made off with my mantle. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Noted as the birthplace of Thucydides, a deme of Attica of the + tribe of Leontis. Demosthenes tells us it was thirty-five stadia from + Athens. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Formerly also the kite was ruler and king over the Greeks. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS The Greeks? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And when he was king, 'twas he who first taught them to + fall on their knees before the kites.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The appearance of the kite in Greece betokened the return of + springtime; it was therefore worshipped as a symbol of that season. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES By Zeus! 'tis what I did myself one day on seeing a kite; but + at the moment I was on my knees, and leaning backwards(1) with mouth + agape, I bolted an obolus and was forced to carry my bag home empty.(2) + </p> + <p> + f(1) To look at the kite, who no doubt was flying high in the sky. + </p> + <p> + f(2) As already shown, the Athenians were addicted to carrying small + coins in their mouths.—This obolus was for the purpose of buying + flour to fill the bag he was carrying + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The cuckoo was king of Egypt and of the whole of Phoenicia. + When he called out "cuckoo," all the Phoenicians hurried to the fields + to reap their wheat and their barley.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) In Phoenicia and Egypt the cuckoo makes its appearance about + harvest-time. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Hence no doubt the proverb, "Cuckoo! cuckoo! go to the fields, + ye circumcised."(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) This was an Egyptian proverb, meaning, 'When the cuckoo sings we go + harvesting.' Both the Phoenicians and the Egyptians practised + circumcision. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS So powerful were the birds that the kings of Grecian + cities, Agamemnon, Menelaus, for instance, carried a bird on the tip of + their sceptres, who had his share of all presents.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The staff, called a sceptre, generally terminated in a piece of + carved work, representing a flower, a fruit, and most often a bird. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES That I didn't know and was much astonished when I saw Priam + come upon the stage in the tragedies with a bird, which kept watching + Lysicrates(1) to see if he got any present. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A general accused of treachery. The bird watches Lysicrates, + because, according to Pisthetaerus, he had a right to a share of the + presents. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS But the strongest proof of all is, that Zeus, who now + reigns, is represented as standing with an eagle on his head as a symbol + of his royalty;(1) his daughter has an owl, and Phoebus, as his servant, + has a hawk. + </p> + <p> + f(1) It is thus that Phidias represents his Olympian Zeus. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES By Demeter, 'tis well spoken. But what are all these birds + doing in heaven? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS When anyone sacrifices and, according to the rite, offers + the entrails to the gods, these birds take their share before Zeus. + Formerly men always swore by the birds and never by the gods; even now + Lampon(1) swears by the goose, when he wants to lie....Thus 'tis clear + that you were great and sacred, but now you are looked upon as slaves, + as fools, as Helots; stones are thrown at you as at raving madmen, even + in holy places. A crowd of bird-catchers sets snares, traps, limed-twigs + and nets of all sorts for you; you are caught, you are sold in heaps and + the buyers finger you over to be certain you are fat. Again, if they + would but serve you up simply roasted; but they rasp cheese into a + mixture of oil, vinegar and laserwort, to which another sweet and greasy + sauce is added, and the whole is poured scalding hot over your back, for + all the world as if you were diseased meat. + </p> + <p> + f(1) One of the diviners sent to Sybaris (in Magna Graecia, S. Italy) + with the Athenian colonists, who rebuilt the town under the new name of + Thurium. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Man, your words have made my heart bleed; I have groaned over the + treachery of our fathers, who knew not how to transmit to us the high + rank they held from their forefathers. But 'tis a benevolent Genius, a + happy Fate, that sends you to us; you shall be our deliverer and I place + the destiny of my little ones and my own in your hands with every + confidence. But hasten to tell me what must be done; we should not be + worthy to live, if we did not seek to regain our royalty by every + possible means. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS First I advise that the birds gather together in one city + and that they build a wall of great bricks, like that at Babylon, round + the plains of the air and the whole region of space that divides earth + from heaven. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Oh, Cebriones! oh, Porphyrion!(1) what a terribly strong place! + </p> + <p> + f(1) As if he were saying, "Oh, gods!" Like Lampon, he swears by the + birds, instead of swearing by the gods.—The names of these birds + are those of two of the Titans. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Th(en), this being well done and completed, you demand back + the empire from Zeus; if he will not agree, if he refuses and does not + at once confess himself beaten, you declare a sacred war against him and + forbid the gods henceforward to pass through your country with lust, as + hitherto, for the purpose of fondling their Alcmenas, their Alopes, or + their Semeles!(1) if they try to pass through, you infibulate them with + rings so that they can work no longer. You send another messenger to + mankind, who will proclaim to them that the birds are kings, that for + the future they must first of all sacrifice to them, and only afterwards + to the gods; that it is fitting to appoint to each deity the bird that + has most in common with it. For instance, are they sacrificing to + Aphrodite, let them at the same time offer barley to the coot; are they + immolating a sheep to Posidon, let them consecrate wheat in honour of + the duck;(2) is a steer being offered to Heracles, let honey-cakes be + dedicated to the gull;(3) is a goat being slain for King Zeus, there is + a King-Bird, the wren,(4) to whom the sacrifice of a male gnat is due + before Zeus himself even. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, King of Thebes and mother of Heracles.—Semele, + the daughter of Cadmus and Hermione and mother of Bacchus; both seduced + by Zeus.—Alope, daughter of Cercyon, a robber, who reigned at + Eleusis and was conquered by Perseus. Alope was honoured with Posidon's + caresses; by him she had a son named Hippothous, at first brought up by + shepherds but who afterwards was restored to the throne of his + grandfather by Theseus. + </p> + <p> + f(2) Because water is the duck's domain, as it is that of Posidon. + </p> + <p> + f(3) Because the gull, like Heracles, is voracious. + </p> + <p> + f(4) The Germans still call it 'Zaunkonig' and the French 'roitelet,' + both names thus containing the idea of 'king.' + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES This notion of an immolated gnat delights me! And now let the + great Zeus thunder! + </p> + <p> + EPOPS But how will mankind recognize us as gods and not as jays? Us, who + have wings and fly? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You talk rubbish! Hermes is a god and has wings and flies, + and so do many other gods. First of all, Victory flies with golden + wings, Eros is undoubtedly winged too, and Iris is compared by Homer to + a timorous dove.(1) If men in their blindness do not recognize you as + gods and continue to worship the dwellers in Olympus, then a cloud of + sparrows greedy for corn must descend upon their fields and eat up all + their seeds; we shall see then if Demeter will mete them out any wheat. + </p> + <p> + f(1) The scholiast draws our attention to the fact that Homer says this + of Here and not of Iris (Iliad, V, 778); it is only another proof that + the text of Homer has reached us in a corrupted form, or it may be that + Aristophanes was liable, like other people, to occasional mistakes of + quotation. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES By Zeus, she'll take good care she does not, and you will see + her inventing a thousand excuses. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The crows too will prove your divinity to them by pecking + out the eyes of their flocks and of their draught-oxen; and then let + Apollo cure them, since he is a physician and is paid for the + purpose.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) In sacrifices. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! don't do that! Wait first until I have sold my two young + bullocks. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS If on the other hand they recognize that you are God, the + principle of life, that you are Earth, Saturn, Posidon, they shall be + loaded with benefits. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Name me one of these then. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Firstly, the locusts shall not eat up their vine-blossoms; + a legion of owls and kestrels will devour them. Moreover, the gnats and + the gall-bugs shall no longer ravage the figs; a flock of thrushes shall + swallow the whole host down to the very last. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS And how shall we give wealth to mankind? This is their strongest + passion. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS When they consult the omens, you will point them to the + richest mines, you will reveal the paying ventures to the diviner, and + not another shipwreck will happen or sailor perish. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS No more shall perish? How is that? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS When the auguries are examined before starting on a voyage, + some bird will not fail to say, "Don't start! there will be a storm," or + else, "Go! you will make a most profitable venture." + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I shall buy a trading-vessel and go to sea, I will not stay + with you. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You will discover treasures to them, which were buried in + former times, for you know them. Do not all men say, "None knows where + my treasure lies, unless perchance it be some bird."(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) An Athenian proverb. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I shall sell my boat and buy a spade to unearth the vessels. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS And how are we to give them health, which belongs to the gods? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS If they are happy, is not that the chief thing towards + health? The miserable man is never well. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Old Age also dwells in Olympus. How will they get at it? Must they + die in early youth? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why, the birds, by Zeus, will add three hundred years to + their life. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS From whom will they take them? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS From whom? Why, from themselves. Don't you know the cawing + crow lives five times as long as a man? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Ah! ah! these are far better kings for us than Zeus! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Far better, are they not? And firstly, we shall not have to + build them temples of hewn stone, closed with gates of gold; they will + dwell amongst the bushes and in the thickets of green oak; the most + venerated of birds will have no other temple than the foliage of the + olive tree; we shall not go to Delphi or to Ammon to sacrifice;(1) but + standing erect in the midst of arbutus and wild olives and holding forth + our hands filled with wheat and barley, we shall pray them to admit us + to a share of the blessings they enjoy and shall at once obtain them for + a few grains of wheat. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A celebrated temple to Zeus in an oasis of Libya. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Old man, whom I detested, you are now to me the dearest of all; + never shall I, if I can help it, fail to follow your advice. Inspirited + by your words, I threaten my rivals the gods, and I swear that if you + march in alliance with me against the gods and are faithful to our just, + loyal and sacred bond, we shall soon have shattered their sceptre. 'Tis + our part to undertake the toil, 'tis yours to advise. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS By Zeus! 'tis no longer the time to delay and loiter like + Nicias;(1) let us act as promptly as possible.... In the first place, + come, enter my nest built of brushwood and blades of straw, and tell me + your names. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Nicias was commander, along with Demosthenes, and later on + Alcibiades, of the Athenian forces before Syracuse, in the ill-fated + Sicilian Expedition, 415-413 B.C. He was much blamed for dilatoriness + and indecision. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS That is soon done; my name is Pisthetaerus. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS And his? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Euelpides, of the deme of Thria. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Good! and good luck to you. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS We accept the omen. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Come in here. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Very well, 'tis you who lead us and must introduce us. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Come then. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! my god! do come back here. Hi! tell us how we are to + follow you. You can fly, but we cannot. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Well, well. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Remember Aesop's fables. It is told there, that the fox + fared very ill, because he had made an alliance with the eagle. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Be at ease. You shall eat a certain root and wings will grow on + your shoulders. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Then let us enter. Xanthias and Manes,(1) pick up our + baggage. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Servants of Pisthetaerus and Euelpides. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Hi! Epops! do you hear me? + </p> + <p> + EPOPS What's the matter? + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Take them off to dine well and call your mate, the melodious + Procne, whose songs are worthy of the Muses; she will delight our + leisure moments. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! I conjure you, accede to their wish; for this + delightful bird will leave her rushes at the sound of your voice; for + the sake of the gods, let her come here, so that we may contemplate the + nightingale.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) It has already been mentioned that, according to the legend + followed by Aristophanes, Procne had been changed into a nightingale and + Philomela into a swallow. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Let it be as you desire. Come forth, Procne, show yourself to + these strangers. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! great Zeus! what a beautiful little bird! what a dainty + form! what brilliant plumage!(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The actor, representing Procne, was dressed out as a courtesan, but + wore a mask of a bird. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Do you know how dearly I should like to splint her legs for + her? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS She is dazzling all over with gold, like a young girl.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Young unmarried girls wore golden ornaments; the apparel of married + women was much simpler. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! how I should like to kiss her! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why, wretched man, she has two little sharp points on her + beak! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I would treat her like an egg, the shell of which we remove + before eating it; I would take off her mask and then kiss her pretty + face. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Let us go in. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Lead the way, and may success attend us. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Lovable golden bird, whom I cherish above all others, you, whom I + associate with all my songs, nightingale, you have come, you have come, + to show yourself to me and to charm me with your notes. Come, you, who + play spring melodies upon the harmonious flute,(1) lead off our + anapaests.(2) + </p> + <p> + Weak mortals, chained to the earth, creatures of clay as frail as the + foliage of the woods, you unfortunate race, whose life is but darkness, + as unreal as a shadow, the illusion of a dream, hearken to us, who are + immortal beings, ethereal, ever young and occupied with eternal + thoughts, for we shall teach you about all celestial matters; you shall + know thoroughly what is the nature of the birds, what the origin of the + gods, of the rivers, of Erebus, and Chaos; thanks to us, even + Prodicus(3) will envy you your knowledge. + </p> + <p> + At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night, dark Erebus, and deep + Tartarus. Earth, the air and heaven had no existence. Firstly, + black-winged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite + deeps of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, + sprang the graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings, swift as the + whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark Chaos, + winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the + first to see the light. That of the Immortals did not exist until Eros + had brought together all the ingredients of the world, and from their + marriage Heaven, Ocean, Earth and the imperishable race of blessed gods + sprang into being. Thus our origin is very much older than that of the + dwellers in Olympus. We are the offspring of Eros; there are a thousand + proofs to show it. We have wings and we lend assistance to lovers. How + many handsome youths, who had sworn to remain insensible, have not been + vanquished by our power and have yielded themselves to their lovers when + almost at the end of their youth, being led away by the gift of a quail, + a waterfowl, a goose, or a cock.(4) + </p> + <p> + And what important services do not the birds render to mortals! First of + all, they mark the seasons for them, springtime, winter, and autumn. + Does the screaming crane migrate to Libya,—it warns the husbandman + to sow, the pilot to take his ease beside his tiller hung up in his + dwelling,(5) and Orestes(6) to weave a tunic, so that the rigorous cold + may not drive him any more to strip other folk. When the kite reappears, + he tells of the return of spring and of the period when the fleece of + the sheep must be clipped. Is the swallow in sight? All hasten to sell + their warm tunic and to buy some light clothing. We are your Ammon, + Delphi, Dodona, your Phoebus Apollo.(7) Before undertaking anything, + whether a business transaction, a marriage, or the purchase of food, you + consult the birds by reading the omens, and you give this name of + omen(8) to all signs that tell of the future. With you a word is an + omen, you call a sneeze an omen, a meeting an omen, an unknown sound an + omen, a slave or an ass an omen.(9) Is it not clear that we are a + prophetic Apollo to you? If you recognize us as gods, we shall be your + divining Muses, through us you will know the winds and the seasons, + summer, winter, and the temperate months. We shall not withdraw + ourselves to the highest clouds like Zeus, but shall be among you and + shall give to you and to your children and the children of your + children, health and wealth, long life, peace, youth, laughter, songs + and feasts; in short, you will all be so well off, that you will be + weary and satiated with enjoyment. + </p> + <p> + Oh, rustic Muse of such varied note, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, I sing with + you in the groves and on the mountain tops, tio, tio, tio, tio, + tiotinx.(10) I poured forth sacred strains from my golden throat in + honour of the god Pan,(11) tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, from the top of the + thickly leaved ash, and my voice mingles with the mighty choirs who + extol Cybele on the mountain tops,(12) tototototototototinx. 'Tis to our + concerts that Phrynichus comes to pillage like a bee the ambrosia of his + songs, the sweetness of which so charms the ear, tio, tio, tio, tio, + tinx. + </p> + <p> + If there be one of you spectators who wishes to spend the rest of his + life quietly among the birds, let him come to us. All that is + disgraceful and forbidden by law on earth is on the contrary honourable + among us, the birds. For instance, among you 'tis a crime to beat your + father, but with us 'tis an estimable deed; it's considered fine to run + straight at your father and hit him, saying, "Come, lift your spur if + you want to fight."(13) The runaway slave, whom you brand, is only a + spotted francolin with us.(14) Are you Phrygian like Spintharus?(15) + Among us you would be the Phrygian bird, the goldfinch, of the race of + Philemon.(16) Are you a slave and a Carian like Execestides? Among us + you can create yourself fore-fathers;(17) you can always find relations. + Does the son of Pisias want to betray the gates of the city to the foe? + Let him become a partridge, the fitting offspring of his father; among + us there is no shame in escaping as cleverly as a partridge. + </p> + <p> + So the swans on the banks of the Hebrus, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, + mingle their voices to serenade Apollo, tio, tio, tio, tio. tiotinx, + flapping their wings the while, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx; their notes + reach beyond the clouds of heaven; all the dwellers in the forest stand + still with astonishment and delight; a calm rests upon the waters, and + the Graces and the choirs in Olympus catch up the strain, tio, tio, tio, + tio, tiotinx. + </p> + <p> + There is nothing more useful nor more pleasant than to have wings. To + begin with, just let us suppose a spectator to be dying with hunger and + to be weary of the choruses of the tragic poets; if he were winged, he + would fly off, go home to dine and come back with his stomach filled. + Some Patroclides in urgent need would not have to soil his cloak, but + could fly off, satisfy his requirements, and, having recovered his + breath, return. If one of you, it matters not who, had adulterous + relations and saw the husband of his mistress in the seats of the + senators, he might stretch his wings, fly thither, and, having appeased + his craving, resume his place. Is it not the most priceless gift of all, + to be winged? Look at Diitrephes!(18) His wings were only wicker-work + ones, and yet he got himself chosen Phylarch and then Hipparch; from + being nobody, he has risen to be famous; 'tis now the finest gilded cock + of his tribe.(19) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The actor, representing Procne, was a flute-player. + </p> + <p> + f(2) The parabasis. + </p> + <p> + f(3) A sophist of the island of Ceos, a disciple of Protagoras, as + celebrated for his knowledge as for his eloquence. The Athenians + condemned him to death as a corrupter of youth in 396 B.C. + </p> + <p> + f(4) Lovers were wont to make each other presents of birds. The cock and + the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest. + </p> + <p> + f(5) i.e. that it gave notice of the approach of winter, during which + season the Ancients did not venture to sea. + </p> + <p> + f(6) A notorious robber. + </p> + <p> + f(7) Meaning, "We are your oracles." —Dodona was an oracle in + Epirus.—The temple of Zeus there was surrounded by a dense forest, + all the trees of which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; both the + sacred oaks and the pigeons that lived in them answered the questions of + those who came to consult the oracle in pure Greek. + </p> + <p> + f(8) The Greek word for 'omen' is the same as that for 'bird.' + </p> + <p> + f(9) A satire on the passion of the Greeks for seeing an omen in + everything. + </p> + <p> + f(10) An imitation of the nightingale's song. + </p> + <p> + f(11) God of the groves and wilds. + </p> + <p> + f(12) The 'Mother of the Gods'; roaming the mountains, she held dances, + always attended by Pan and his accompanying rout of Fauns and Satyrs. + </p> + <p> + f(13) An allusion to cock-fighting; the birds are armed with brazen + spurs. + </p> + <p> + f(14) An allusion to the spots on this bird, which resemble the scars + left by a branding iron. + </p> + <p> + f(15) He was of Asiatic origin, but wished to pass for an Athenian. + </p> + <p> + f(16) Or Philamnon, King of Thrace; the scholiast remarks that the + Phrygians and the Thracians had a common origin. + </p> + <p> + f(17) The Greek word here is also the name of a little bird. + </p> + <p> + f(18) A basket-maker who had become rich.—The Phylarchs were the + headmen of the tribes. They presided at the private assemblies and were + charged with the management of the treasury.—The Hipparchs, as the + name implies, were the leaders of the cavalry; there were only two of + these in the Athenian army. + </p> + <p> + f(19) He had become a senator. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Halloa! What's this? By Zeus! I never saw anything so funny + in all my life.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Pisthetaerus and Euelpides now both return with wings. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES What makes you laugh? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis your bits of wings. D'you know what you look like? + Like a goose painted by some dauber-fellow. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES And you look like a close-shaven blackbird. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis ourselves asked for this transformation, and, as + Aeschylus has it, "These are no borrowed feathers, but truly our + own."(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Meaning, 'tis we who wanted to have these wings.—The verse + from Aeschylus, quoted here, is taken from 'The Myrmidons,' a tragedy of + which only a few fragments remain. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Come now, what must be done? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS First give our city a great and famous name, then sacrifice + to the gods. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES I think so too. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Let's see. What shall our city be called? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Will you have a high-sounding Laconian name? Shall we call + it Sparta? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES What! call my town Sparta? Why, I would not use esparto for my + bed,(1) even though I had nothing but bands of rushes. + </p> + <p> + f(1) The Greek word signified the city of Sparta, and also a kind of + broom used for weaving rough matting, which served for the beds of the + very poor. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Well then, what name can you suggest? + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Some name borrowed from the clouds, from these lofty regions + in which we dwell—in short, some well-known name. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Do you like Nephelococcygia?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A fanciful name constructed from (the word for) a cloud, and (the + word for) a cuckoo; thus a city of clouds and cuckoos.—'Wolkenkukelheim' + is a clever approximation in German. Cloud-cuckoo-town, perhaps, is the + best English equivalent. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Oh! capital! truly 'tis a brilliant thought! + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Is it in Nephelococcygia that all the wealth of Theovenes(1) + and most of Aeschines'(2) is? + </p> + <p> + f(1) He was a boaster nicknamed 'smoke,' because he promised a great + deal and never kept his word. + </p> + <p> + f(2) Also mentioned in 'The Wasps.' + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, 'tis rather the plain of Phlegra,(1) where the gods + withered the pride of the sons of the Earth with their shafts. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Because the war of the Titans against the gods was only a fiction + of the poets. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! what a splendid city! But what god shall be its patron? + for whom shall we weave the peplus?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A sacred cloth, with which the statue of Athene in the Acropolis + was draped. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why not choose Athene Polias?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Meaning, to be patron-goddess of the city. Athene had a temple of + this name. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! what a well-ordered town 'twould be to have a female deity + armed from head to foot, while Clisthenes(1) was spinning! + </p> + <p> + f(1) An Athenian effeminate, frequently ridiculed by Aristophanes. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Who then shall guard the Pelargicon?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) This was the name of the wall surrounding the Acropolis. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS One of us, a bird of Persian strain, who is everywhere proclaimed + to be the bravest of all, a true chick of Ares.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) i.e. the fighting cock. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES Oh! noble chick! What a well-chosen god for a rocky home! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Come! into the air with you to help the workers who are + building the wall; carry up rubble, strip yourself to mix the mortar, + take up the hod, tumble down the ladder, an you like, post sentinels, + keep the fire smouldering beneath the ashes, go round the walls, bell in + hand,(1) and go to sleep up there yourself; then d(i)spatch two heralds, + one to the gods above, the other to mankind on earth and come back here. + </p> + <p> + f(1) To waken the sentinels, who might else have fallen asleep.—There + are several merry contradictions in the various parts of this list of + injunctions. + </p> + <p> + EUELPIDES As for yourself, remain here, and may the plague take you for + a troublesome fellow! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Go, friend, go where I send you, for without you my orders + cannot be obeyed. For myself, I want to sacrifice to the new god, and I + am going to summon the priest who must preside at the ceremony. Slaves! + slaves! bring forward the basket and the lustral water. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS I do as you do, and I wish as you wish, and I implore you to + address powerful and solemn prayers to the gods, and in addition to + immolate a sheep as a token of our gratitude. Let us sing the Pythian + chant in honour of the god, and let Chaeris accompany our voices. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS (TO THE FLUTE-PLAYER) Enough! but, by Heracles! what is + this? Great gods! I have seen many prodigious things, but I never saw a + muzzled raven.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) In allusion to the leather strap which flute-players wore to + constrict the cheeks and add to the power of the breath. The performer + here no doubt wore a raven's mask. + </p> + <p> + EPOPS Priest! 'tis high time! Sacrifice to the new gods. + </p> + <p> + PRIEST I begin, but where is he with the basket? Pray to the Vesta of + the birds, to the kite, who presides over the hearth, and to all the god + and goddess-birds who dwell in Olympus. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Oh! Hawk, the sacred guardian of Sunium, oh, god of the storks! + </p> + <p> + PRIEST Pray to the swan of Delos, to Latona the mother of the quails, + and to Artemis, the goldfinch. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis no longer Artemis Colaenis, but Artemis the + goldfinch.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Hellanicus, the Mitylenian historian, tells that this surname of + Artemis is derived from Colaenus, King of Athens before Cecrops and a + descendant of Hermes. In obedience to an oracle he erected a temple to + the goddess, invoking her as Artemis Colaenis (the Artemis of Colaenus). + </p> + <p> + PRIEST And to Bacchus, the finch and Cybele, the ostrich and mother of + the gods and mankind. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Oh! sovereign ostrich, Cybele, The mother of Cleocritus,(1) grant + health and safety to the Nephelococcygians as well as to the dwellers in + Chios... + </p> + <p> + f(1) This Cleocritus, says the scholiast, was long-necked and strutted + like an ostrich. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The dwellers in Chios! Ah! I am delighted they should be + thus mentioned on all occasions.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The Chians were the most faithful allies of Athens, and hence their + name was always mentioned in prayers, decrees, etc. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS ...to the heroes, the birds, to the sons of heroes, to the + porphyrion, the pelican, the spoon-bill, the redbreast, the grouse, the + peacock, the horned-owl, the teal, the bittern, the heron, the stormy + petrel, the fig-pecker, the titmouse... + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Stop! stop! you drive me crazy with your endless list. Why, + wretch, to what sacred feast are you inviting the vultures and the + sea-eagles? Don't you see that a single kite could easily carry off the + lot at once? Begone, you and your fillets and all; I shall know how to + complete the sacrifice by myself. + </p> + <p> + PRIEST It is imperative that I sing another sacred chant for the rite of + the lustral water, and that I invoke the immortals, or at least one of + them, provided always that you have some suitable food to offer him; + from what I see here, in the shape of gifts, there is naught whatever + but horn and hair. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged + gods. + </p> + <p> + A POET Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who + are you? + </p> + <p> + POET I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of + the Muses, as Homer has it. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long? + </p> + <p> + POET No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the + Muses, according to Homer. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! + But, poet, what ill wind drove you here? + </p> + <p> + POET I have composed verses in honour of your Nephelococcygia, a host of + splendid dithyrambs and parthenians(1) worthy of Simonides himself. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Verses sung by maidens. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And when did you compose them? How long since? + </p> + <p> + POET Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honour of this + city. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS But I am only celebrating its foundation with this + sacrifice;(1) I have only just named it, as is done with little babies. + </p> + <p> + f(1) This ceremony took place on the tenth day after birth, and may be + styled the pagan baptism. + </p> + <p> + POET "Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the + voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town + of Aetna,(1) thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices,(2) make us + such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest." + </p> + <p> + f(1) Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse.—This passage is borrowed from + Pindar. + </p> + <p> + f(2) (Hiero) in Greek means 'sacrifice.' + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some + present. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off + and give it to this clever poet. Come, take this fur; you look to me to + be shivering with cold. + </p> + <p> + POET My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of + Pindar's on your mind. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! what a pest! 'Tis impossible then to be rid of him! + </p> + <p> + POET "Straton wanders among the Scythian nomads, but has no linen + garment. He is sad at only wearing an animal's pelt and no tunic." Do + you conceive my bent? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I understand that you want me to offer you a tunic. Hi! you + (TO EUELPIDES), take off yours; we must help the poet.... Come, you, + take it and begone. + </p> + <p> + POET I am going, and these are the verses that I address to this city: + "Phoebus of the golden throne, celebrate this shivery, freezing city; I + have travelled through fruitful and snow-covered plains. Tralala! + Tralala!"(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A parody of poetic pathos, not to say bathos. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What are you chanting us about frosts? Thanks to the tunic, + you no longer fear them. Ah! by Zeus! I could not have believed this + cursed fellow could so soon have learnt the way to our city. Come, + priest, take the lustral water and circle the altar. + </p> + <p> + PRIEST Let all keep silence! + </p> + <p> + A PROPHET Let not the goat be sacrificed.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Which the priest was preparing to sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Who are you? + </p> + <p> + PROPHET Who am I? A prophet. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Get you gone. + </p> + <p> + PROPHET Wretched man, insult not sacred things. For there is an oracle + of Bacis, which exactly applies to Nephelococcygia. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why did you not reveal it to me before I founded my city? + </p> + <p> + PROPHET The divine spirit was against it. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Well, 'tis best to know the terms of the oracle. + </p> + <p> + PROPHET "But when the wolves and the white crows shall dwell together + between Corinth and Sicyon..." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS But how do the Corinthians concern me? + </p> + <p> + PROPHET 'Tis the regions of the air that Bacis indicated in this manner. + "They must first sacrifice a white-fleeced goat to Pandora, and give the + prophet, who first reveals my words, a good cloak and new sandals." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Are the sandals there? + </p> + <p> + PROPHET Read. "And besides this a goblet of wine and a good share of the + entrails of the victim." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Of the entrails—is it so written? + </p> + <p> + PROPHET Read. "If you do as I command, divine youth, you shall be an + eagle among the clouds; if not, you shall be neither turtle-dove, nor + eagle, nor woodpecker." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Is all that there? + </p> + <p> + PROPHET Read. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS This oracle in no sort of way resembles the one Apollo + dictated to me: "If an impostor comes without invitation to annoy you + during the sacrifice and to demand a share of the victim, apply a stout + stick to his ribs." + </p> + <p> + PROPHET You are drivelling. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS "And don't spare him, were he an eagle from out of the + clouds, were it Lampon(1) himself or the great Diopithes."(2) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Noted Athenian diviner, who, when the power was still shared + between Thucydides and Pericles, predicted that it would soon be centred + in the hands of the latter; his ground for this prophecy was the sight + of a ram with a single horn. + </p> + <p> + f(2) No doubt another Athenian diviner, and possibly the same person + whom Aristophanes names in 'The Knights' and 'The Wasps' as being a + thief. + </p> + <p> + PROPHET Is all that there? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here, read it yourself, and go and hang yourself. + </p> + <p> + PROPHET Oh! unfortunate wretch that I am. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Away with you, and take your prophecies elsewhere. + </p> + <p> + METON(1) I have come to you. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A celebrated geometrician and astronomer. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Yet another pest! What have you come to do? What's your + plan? What's the purpose of your journey? Why these splendid buskins? + </p> + <p> + METON I want to survey the plains of the air for you and to parcel them + into lots. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS In the name of the gods, who are you? + </p> + <p> + METON Who am I? Meton, known throughout Greece and at Colonus.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A deme contiguous to Athens. It is as though he said, "Well known + throughout all England and at Croydon. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What are these things? + </p> + <p> + METON Tools for measuring the air. In truth, the spaces in the air have + precisely the form of a furnace. With this bent ruler I draw a line from + top to bottom; from one of its points I describe a circle with the + compass. Do you understand? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Not the very least. + </p> + <p> + METON With the straight ruler I set to work to inscribe a square within + this circle; in its centre will be the market-place, into which all the + straight streets will lead, converging to this centre like a star, + which, although only orbicular, sends forth its rays in a straight line + from all sides. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Meton, you new Thales...(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Thales was no less famous as a geometrician than he was as a sage. + </p> + <p> + METON What d'you want with me? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I want to give you a proof of my friendship. Use your legs. + </p> + <p> + METON Why, what have I to fear? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis the same here as in Sparta. Strangers are driven away, + and blows rain down as thick as hail. + </p> + <p> + METON Is there sedition in your city? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, certainly not. + </p> + <p> + METON What's wrong then? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS We are agreed to sweep all quacks and impostors far from + our borders. + </p> + <p> + METON Then I'm off. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I fear 'tis too late. The thunder growls already. (BEATS + HIM.) + </p> + <p> + METON Oh, woe! oh, woe! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I warned you. Now, be off, and do your surveying somewhere + else. (METON TAKES TO HIS HEELS.) + </p> + <p> + AN INSPECTOR Where are the Proxeni?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Officers of Athens, whose duty was to protect strangers who came on + political or other business, and see to their interests generally. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Who is this Sardanapalus?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) He addresses the inspector thus because of the royal and + magnificent manners he assumes. + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR I have been appointed by lot to come to Nephelococcygia as + inspector.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Magistrates appointed to inspect the tributary towns. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS An inspector! and who sends you here, you rascal? + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR A decree of T(e)leas.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A much-despised citizen, already mentioned. He ironically supposes + him invested with the powers of an Archon, which ordinarily were + entrusted only to men of good repute. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Will you just pocket your salary, do nothing, and be off? + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR I' faith! that I will; I am urgently needed to be at Athens to + attend the assembly; for I am charged with the interests of + Pharnaces.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A Persian satrap.—An allusion to certain orators, who, bribed + with Asiatic gold, had often defended the interests of the foe in the + Public Assembly. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Take it then, and be off. See, here is your salary. (BEATS + HIM.) + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR What does this mean? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis the assembly where you have to defend Pharnaces. + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR You shall testify that they dare to strike me, the inspector. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Are you not going to clear out with your urns? 'Tis not to + be believed; they send us inspectors before we have so much as paid + sacrifice to the gods. + </p> + <p> + A DEALER IN DECREES "If the Nephelococcygian does wrong to the + Athenian..." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Now whatever are these cursed parchments? + </p> + <p> + DEALER IN DECREES I am a dealer in decrees, and I have come here to sell + you the new laws. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Which? + </p> + <p> + DEALER IN DECREES "The Nephelococcygians shall adopt the same weights, + measures and decrees as the Olophyxians."(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A Macedonian people in the peninsula of Chalcidice. This name is + chosen because of its similarity to the Greek word (for) 'to groan.' It + is from another verb, meaning the same thing, that Pisthetaerus coins + the name of Ototyxians, i.e. groaners, because he is about to beat the + dealer.—The mother-country had the right to impose any law it + chose upon its colonies. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And you shall soon be imitating the Ototyxians. (BEATS + HIM.) + </p> + <p> + DEALER IN DECREES Hullo! what are you doing? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Now will you be off with your decrees? For I am going to + let YOU see some severe ones. + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR (RETURNING) I summon Pisthetaerus for outrage for the month of + Munychion.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Corresponding to our month of April. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ha! my friend! are you still there? + </p> + <p> + DEALER IN DECREES "Should anyone drive away the magistrates and not + receive them, according to the decree duly posted..." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What! rascal! you are there too? + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR Woe to you! I'll have you condemned to a fine of ten thousand + drachmae. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And I'll smash your urns.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Which the inspector had brought with him for the purpose of + inaugurating the assemblies of the people or some tribunal. + </p> + <p> + INSPECTOR Do you recall that evening when you stooled against the column + where the decrees are posted? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here! here! let him be seized. (THE INSPECTOR RUNS OFF.) + Well! don't you want to stop any longer? + </p> + <p> + PRIEST Let us get indoors as quick as possible; we will sacrifice the + goat inside.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) So that the sacrifices might no longer be interrupted. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Henceforth it is to me that mortals must address their sacrifices + and their prayers. Nothing escapes my sight nor my might. My glance + embraces the universe, I preserve the fruit in the flower by destroying + the thousand kinds of voracious insects the soil produces, which attack + the trees and feed on the germ when it has scarcely formed in the calyx; + I destroy those who ravage the balmy terrace gardens like a deadly + plague; all these gnawing crawling creatures perish beneath the lash of + my wing. I hear it proclaimed everywhere: "A talent for him who shall + kill Diagoras of Melos,(1) and a talent for him who destroys one of the + dead tyrants."(2) We likewise wish to make our proclamation: "A talent + to him among you who shall kill Philocrates, the Struthian;(3) four, if + he brings him to us alive. For this Philocrates skewers the finches + together and sells them at the rate of an obolus for seven. He tortures + the thrushes by blowing them out, so that they may look bigger, sticks + their own feathers into the nostrils of blackbirds, and collects + pigeons, which he shuts up and forces them, fastened in a net, to decoy + others." That is what we wish to proclaim. And if anyone is keeping + birds shut up in his yard, let him hasten to let them loose; those who + disobey shall be seized by the birds and we shall put them in chains, so + that in their turn they may decoy other men. + </p> + <p> + Happy indeed is the race of winged birds who need no cloak in winter! + Neither do I fear the relentless rays of the fiery dog-days; when the + divine grasshopper, intoxicated with the sunlight, when noon is burning + the ground, is breaking out into shrill melody; my home is beneath the + foliage in the flowery meadows. I winter in deep caverns, where I frolic + with the mountain nymphs, while in spring I despoil the gardens of the + Graces and gather the white, virgin berry on the myrtle bushes. + </p> + <p> + I want now to speak to the judges about the prize they are going to + award; if they are favourable to us, we will load them with benefits far + greater than those Paris(4) received. Firstly, the owls of Laurium,(5) + which every judge desires above all things, shall never be wanting to + you; you shall see them homing with you, building their nests in your + money-bags and laying coins. Besides, you shall be housed like the gods, + for we shall erect gables(6) over your dwellings; if you hold some + public post and want to do a little pilfering, we will give you the + sharp claws of a hawk. Are you dining in town, we will provide you with + crops.(7) But, if your award is against us, don't fail to have metal + covers fashioned for yourselves, like those they place over statues;(8) + else, look out! for the day you wear a white tunic all the birds will + soil it with their droppings. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A disciple of Democrites; he passed over from superstition to + atheism. The injustice and perversity of mankind led him to deny the + existence of the gods, to lay bare the mysteries and to break the idols. + The Athenians had put a price on his head, so he left Greece and + perished soon afterwards in a storm at sea. + </p> + <p> + f(2) By this jest Aristophanes means to imply that tyranny is dead, and + that no one aspires to despotic power, though this silly accusation was + constantly being raised by the demagogues and always favourably received + by the populace. + </p> + <p> + f(3) A poulterer.—Strouthian, used in joke to designate him, as if + from the name of his 'deme,' is derived from (the Greek for) 'a + sparrow.' The birds' foe is thus grotesquely furnished with an + ornithological surname. + </p> + <p> + f(4) From Aphrodite (Venus), to whom he had awarded the apple, prize of + beauty, in the contest of the "goddesses three." + </p> + <p> + f(5) Laurium was an Athenian deme at the extremity of the Attic + peninsula containing valuable silver mines, the revenues of which were + largely employed in the maintenance of the fleet and payment of the + crews. The "owls of Laurium," of course, mean pieces of money; the + Athenian coinage was stamped with a representation of an owl, the bird + of Athene. + </p> + <p> + f(6) A pun, impossible to keep in English, on the two meanings of (the + Greek) word which signifies both an eagle and the gable of a house or + pediment of a temple. + </p> + <p> + f(7) That is, birds' crops, into which they could stow away plenty of + good things. + </p> + <p> + f(8) The Ancients appear to have placed metal discs over statues + standing in the open air, to save them from injury from the weather, + etc. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Birds! the sacrifice is propitious. But I see no messenger + coming from the wall to tell us what is happening. Ah! here comes one + running himself out of breath as though he were running the Olympic + stadium. + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER Where, where is he? Where, where, where is he? Where, where, + where is he? Where is Pisthetaerus, our leader? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here am I. + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER The wall is finished. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS That's good news. + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER 'Tis a most beautiful, a most magnificent work of art. The + wall is so broad that Proxenides, the Braggartian, and Theogenes could + pass each other in their chariots, even if they were drawn by steeds as + big as the Trojan horse. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis wonderful! + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER Its length is one hundred stadia; I measured it myself. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS A decent length, by Posidon! And who built such a wall? + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER Birds—birds only; they had neither Egyptian brickmaker, + nor stone-mason, nor carpenter; the birds did it all themselves; I could + hardly believe my eyes. Thirty thousand cranes came from Libya with a + supply of stones,(1) intended for the foundations. The water-rails + chiselled them with their beaks. Ten thousand storks were busy making + bricks; plovers and other water fowl carried water into the air. + </p> + <p> + f(1) So as not to be carried away by the wind when crossing the sea, + cranes are popularly supposed to ballast themselves with stones, which + they carry in their beaks. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And who carried the mortar? + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER Herons, in hods. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS But how could they put the mortar into hods? + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER Oh! 'twas a truly clever invention; the geese used their feet + like spades; they buried them in the pile of mortar and then emptied + them into the hods. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! to what use cannot feet be put?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Pisthetaerus modifies the Greek proverbial saying, "To what use + cannot hands be put?" + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER You should have seen how eagerly the ducks carried bricks. To + complete the tale, the swallows came flying to the work, their beaks + full of mortar and their trowel on their back, just the way little + children are carried. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Who would want paid servants after this? But tell me, who + did the woodwork? + </p> + <p> + MESSENGER Birds again, and clever carpenters too, the pelicans, for they + squared up the gates with their beaks in such a fashion that one would + have thought they were using axes; the noise was just like a dockyard. + Now the whole wall is tight everywhere, securely bolted and well + guarded; it is patrolled, bell in hand; the sentinels stand everywhere + and beacons burn on the towers. But I must run off to clean myself; the + rest is your business. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Well! what do you say to it? Are you not astonished at the wall + being completed so quickly? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By the gods, yes, and with good reason. 'Tis really not to + be believed. But here comes another messenger from the wall to bring us + some further news! What a fighting look he has! + </p> + <p> + SECOND MESSENGER Oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What's the matter? + </p> + <p> + SECOND MESSENGER A horrible outrage has occurred; a god sent by Zeus has + passed through our gates and has penetrated the realms of the air + without the knowledge of the jays, who are on guard in the daytime. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis an unworthy and criminal deed. What god was it? + </p> + <p> + SECOND MESSENGER We don't know that. All we know is, that he has got + wings. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why were not guards sent against him at once? + </p> + <p> + SECOND MESSENGER We have d(i)spatched thirty thousand hawks of the + legion of Mounted Archers.(1) All the hook-clawed birds are moving + against him, the kestrel, the buzzard, the vulture, the great-horned + owl; they cleave the air, so that it resounds with the flapping of their + wings; they are looking everywhere for the god, who cannot be far away; + indeed, if I mistake not, he is coming from yonder side. + </p> + <p> + f(1) A corps of Athenian cavalry was so named. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS All arm themselves with slings and bows! This way, all our + soldiers; shoot and strike! Some one give me a sling! + </p> + <p> + CHORUS War, a terrible war is breaking out between us and the gods! + Come, let each one guard Air, the son of Erebus,(1) in which the clouds + float. Take care no immortal enters it without your knowledge. Scan all + sides with your glance. Hark! methinks I can hear the rustle of the + swift wings of a god from heaven. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Chaos, Night, Tartarus, and Erebus alone existed in the beginning; + Eros was born from Night and Erebus, and he wedded Chaos and begot + Earth, Air, and Heaven; so runs the fable. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Hi! you woman! where are you flying to? Halt, don't stir! + keep motionless! not a beat of your wing!—Who are you and from + what country? You must say whence you come.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Iris appears from the top of the stage and arrests her flight in + mid-career. + </p> + <p> + IRIS I come from the abode of the Olympian gods. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What's your name, ship or cap?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Ship, because of her wings, which resemble oars; cap, because she + no doubt wore the head-dress (as a messenger of the gods) with which + Hermes is generally depicted. + </p> + <p> + IRIS I am swift Iris. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Paralus or Salaminia?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The names of the two sacred galleys which carried Athenian + officials on State business. + </p> + <p> + IRIS What do you mean? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Let a buzzard rush at her and seize her.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A buzzard is named in order to raise a laugh, the Greek name also + meaning, etymologically, provided with three testicles, vigorous in + love. + </p> + <p> + IRIS Seize me! But what do all these insults mean? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Woe to you! + </p> + <p> + IRIS 'Tis incomprehensible. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By which gate did you pass through the wall, wretched + woman? + </p> + <p> + IRIS By which gate? Why, great gods, I don't know. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You hear how she holds us in derision. Did you present + yourself to the officers in command of the jays? You don't answer. Have + you a permit, bearing the seal of the storks? + </p> + <p> + IRIS Am I awake? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Did you get one? + </p> + <p> + IRIS Are you mad? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No head-bird gave you a safe-conduct? + </p> + <p> + IRIS A safe-conduct to me, you poor fool! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! and so you slipped into this city on the sly and into + these realms of air-land that don't belong to you. + </p> + <p> + IRIS And what other roads can the gods travel? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By Zeus! I know nothing about that, not I. But they won't + pass this way. And you still dare to complain! Why, if you were treated + according to your deserts, no Iris would ever have more justly suffered + death. + </p> + <p> + IRIS I am immortal. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You would have died nevertheless.—Oh! 'twould be + truly intolerable! What! should the universe obey us and the gods alone + continue their insolence and not understand that they must submit to the + law of the strongest in their due turn? But tell me, where are you + flying to? + </p> + <p> + IRIS I? The messenger of Zeus to mankind, I am going to tell them to + sacrifice sheep and oxen on the altars and to fill their streets with + the rich smoke of burning fat. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Of which gods are you speaking? + </p> + <p> + IRIS Of which? Why, of ourselves, the gods of heaven. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You, gods? + </p> + <p> + IRIS Are there others then? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Men now adore the birds as gods, and 'tis to them, by Zeus, + that they must offer sacrifices, and not to Zeus at all! + </p> + <p> + IRIS Oh! fool! fool! Rouse not the wrath of the gods, for 'tis terrible + indeed. Armed with the brand of Zeus, Justice would annihilate your + race; the lightning would strike you as it did Licymnius and consume + both your body and the porticos of your palace.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Iris' reply is a parody of the tragic style.—'Lycimnius' is, + according to the scholiast, the title of a tragedy by Euripides, which + is about a ship that is struck by lightning. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here! that's enough tall talk. Just you listen and keep + quiet! Do you take me for a Lydian or a Phrygian(1) and think to + frighten me with your big words? Know, that if Zeus worries me again, I + shall go at the head of my eagles, who are armed with lightning, and + reduce his dwelling and that of Amphion to cinders.(2) I shall send more + than six hundred porphyrions clothed in leopards' skins(3) up to heaven + against him; and formerly a single Porphyrion gave him enough to do. As + for you, his messenger, if you annoy me, I shall begin by stretching + your legs asunder, and so conduct myself, Iris though you be, that + despite my age, you will be astonished. I will show you something that + will make you three times over. + </p> + <p> + f(1) i.e. for a poltroon, like the slaves, most of whom came to Athens + from these countries. + </p> + <p> + f(2) A parody of a passage in the lost tragedy of 'Niobe' of Aeschylus. + </p> + <p> + f(3) Because this bird has a spotted plumage.—Porphyrion is also + the name of one of the Titans who tried to storm heave. + </p> + <p> + IRIS May you perish, you wretch, you and your infamous words! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Won't you be off quickly? Come, stretch your wings or look + out for squalls! + </p> + <p> + IRIS If my father does not punish you for your insults... + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ha!... but just you be off elsewhere to roast younger folk + than us with your lightning. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS We forbid the gods, the sons of Zeus, to pass through our city + and the mortals to send them the smoke of their sacrifices by this road. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis odd that the messenger we sent to the mortals has + never returned. + </p> + <p> + HERALD Oh! blessed Pisthetaerus, very wise, very illustrious, very + gracious, thrice happy, very... Come, prompt me, somebody, do. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Get to your story! + </p> + <p> + HERALD All peoples are filled with admiration for your wisdom, and they + award you this golden crown. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I accept it. But tell me, why do the people admire me? + </p> + <p> + HERALD Oh you, who have founded so illustrious a city in the air, you + know not in what esteem men hold you and how many there are who burn + with desire to dwell in it. Before your city was built, all men had a + mania for Sparta; long hair and fasting were held in honour, men went + dirty like Socrates and carried staves. Now all is changed. Firstly, as + soon as 'tis dawn, they all spring out of bed together to go and seek + their food, the same as you do; then they fly off towards the notices + and finally devour the decrees. The bird-madness is so clear, that many + actually bear the names of birds. There is a halting victualler, who + styles himself the partridge; Menippus calls himself the swallow; + Opuntius the one-eyed crow; Philocles the lark; Theogenes the fox-goose; + Lycurgus the ibis; Chaerephon the bat; Syracosius the magpie; Midias the + quail;(1) indeed he looks like a quail that has been hit hard over the + head. Out of love for the birds they repeat all the songs which concern + the swallow, the teal, the goose or the pigeon; in each verse you see + wings, or at all events a few feathers. This is what is happening down + there. Finally, there are more than ten thousand folk who are coming + here from earth to ask you for feathers and hooked claws; so, mind you + supply yourself with wings for the immigrants. + </p> + <p> + f(1) All these surnames bore some relation to the character or the build + of the individual to whom the poet applies them.—Chaerephon, + Socrates' disciple, was of white and ashen hue.—Opuntius was + one-eyed.—Syracosius was a braggart.—Midias had a passion + for quail-fights, and, besides, resembled that bird physically. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! by Zeus, 'tis not the time for idling. Go as quick as + possible and fill every hamper, every basket you can find with wings. + Manes(1) will bring them to me outside the walls, where I will welcome + those who present themselves. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Pisthetaerus' servant, already mentioned. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS This town will soon be inhabited by a crowd of men. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS If fortune favours us. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Folk are more and more delighted with it. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Come, hurry up and bring them along. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Will not man find here everything that can please him—wisdom, + love, the divine Graces, the sweet face of gentle peace? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! you lazy servant! won't you hurry yourself? + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Let a basket of wings be brought speedily. Come, beat him as I + do, and put some life into him; he is as lazy as an ass. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Aye, Manes is a great craven. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Begin by putting this heap of wings in order; divide them in + three parts according to the birds from whom they came; the singing, the + prophetic(1) and the aquatic birds; then you must take care to + distribute them to the men according to their character. + </p> + <p> + f(1) From the inspection of which auguries were taken, e.g. the eagles, + the vultures, the crows. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS (TO MANES) Oh! by the kestrels! I can keep my hands off you + no longer; you are too slow and lazy altogether. + </p> + <p> + A PARRICIDE(1) Oh! might I but become an eagle, who soars in the skies! + Oh! might I fly above the azure waves of the barren sea!(2) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Or rather, a young man who contemplated parricide. + </p> + <p> + f(2) A parody of verses in Sophocles 'Oenomaus.' + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ha! 'twould seem the news was true; I hear someone coming + who talks of wings. + </p> + <p> + PARRICIDE Nothing is more charming than to fly; I burn with desire to + live under the same laws as the birds; I am bird-mad and fly towards + you, for I want to live with you and to obey your laws. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Which laws? The birds have many laws. + </p> + <p> + PARRICIDE All of them; but the one that pleases me most is, that among + the birds it is considered a fine thing to peck and strangle one's + father. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Aye, by Zeus! according to us, he who dares to strike his + father, while still a chick, is a brave fellow. + </p> + <p> + PARRICIDE And therefore I want to dwell here, for I want to strangle my + father and inherit his wealth. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS But we have also an ancient law written in the code of the + storks, which runs thus, "When the stork father has reared his young and + has taught them to fly, the young must in their turn support the + father." + </p> + <p> + PARRICIDE 'Tis hardly worth while coming all this distance to be + compelled to keep my father! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, no, young friend, since you have come to us with such + willingness, I am going to give you these black wings, as though you + were an orphan bird; furthermore, some good advice, that I received + myself in infancy. Don't strike your father, but take these wings in one + hand and these spurs in the other; imagine you have a cock's crest on + your head and go and mount guard and fight; live on your pay and respect + your father's life. You're a gallant fellow! Very well, then! Fly to + Thrace and fight.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The Athenians were then besieging Amphipolis in the Thracian + Chalcidice. + </p> + <p> + PARRICIDE By Bacchus! 'Tis well spoken; I will follow your counsel. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis acting wisely, by Zeus. + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS(1) "On my light pinions I soar off to Olympus; in its + capricious flight my Muse flutters along the thousand paths of poetry in + turn..." + </p> + <p> + f(1) There was a real Cinesias—a dythyrambic poet born at Thebes. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS This is a fellow will need a whole shipload of wings. + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS (singing) "...and being fearless and vigorous, it is seeking + fresh outlet." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Welcome, Cinesias, you lime-wood man!(1) Why have you come + here a-twisting your game leg in circles? + </p> + <p> + f(1) The scholiast thinks that Cinesias, who was tall and slight of + build, wore a kind of corset of lime-wood to support his waist—surely + rather a far-fetched interpretation! + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS "I want to become a bird, a tuneful nightingale." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Enough of that sort of ditty. Tell me what you want. + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS Give me wings and I will fly into the topmost airs to gather + fresh songs in the clouds, in the midst of the vapours and the fleecy + snow. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Gather songs in the clouds? + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS 'Tis on them the whole of our latter-day art depends. The most + brilliant dithyrambs are those that flap their wings in void space and + are clothed in mist and dense obscurity. To appreciate this, just + listen. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! no, no, no! + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS By Hermes! but indeed you shall. "I shall travel through thine + ethereal empire like a winged bird, who cleaveth space with his long + neck..." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Stop! easy all, I say!(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The Greek word used here was the word of command employed to stop + the rowers. + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS "...as I soar over the seas, carried by the breath of the + winds..." + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS By Zeus! but I'll cut your breath short. + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS "...now rushing along the tracks of Notus, now nearing Boreas + across the infinite wastes of the ether." (PISTHETAERUS BEATS HIM.) Ah! + old man, that's a pretty and clever idea truly! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What! are you not delighted to be cleaving the air?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Cinesias makes a bound each time that Pisthetaerus strikes him. + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS To treat a dithyrambic poet, for whom the tribes dispute with + each other, in this style!(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The tribes of Athens, or rather the rich citizens belonging to + them, were wont on feast-days to give representations of dithyrambic + choruses as well as of tragedies and comedies. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Will you stay with us and form a chorus of winged birds as + slender as Leotrophides(1) for the Cecropid tribe? + </p> + <p> + f(1) Another dithyrambic poet, a man of extreme leanness. + </p> + <p> + CINESIAS You are making game of me, 'tis clear; but know that I shall + never leave you in peace if I do not have wings wherewith to traverse + the air. + </p> + <p> + AN INFORMER What are these birds with downy feathers, who look so + pitiable to me? Tell me, oh swallow with the long dappled wings.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A parody of a hemistich from 'Alcaeus.'—The informer is + dissatisfied at only seeing birds of sombre plumage and poor appearance. + He would have preferred to denounce the rich. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! but 'tis a regular invasion that threatens us. Here + comes another of them, humming along. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER Swallow with the long dappled wings, once more I summon you. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS It's his cloak I believe he's addressing; 'faith, it stands + in great need of the swallows' return.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The informer, says the scholiast, was clothed with a ragged cloak, + the tatters of which hung down like wings, in fact, a cloak that could + not protect him from the cold and must have made him long for the + swallows' return, i.e. the spring. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER Where is he who gives out wings to all comers? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis I, but you must tell me for what purpose you want + them. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER Ask no questions. I want wings, and wings I must have. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Do you want to fly straight to Pellene?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A town in Achaia, where woollen cloaks were made. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER I? Why, I am an accuser of the islands,(1) an informer... + </p> + <p> + f(1) His trade was to accuse the rich citizens of the subject islands, + and drag them before the Athenian court; he explains later the special + advantages of this branch of the informer's business. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS A fine trade, truly! + </p> + <p> + INFORMER ...a hatcher of lawsuits. Hence I have great need of wings to + prowl round the cities and drag them before justice. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Would you do this better if you had wings? + </p> + <p> + INFORMER No, but I should no longer fear the pirates; I should return + with the cranes, loaded with a supply of lawsuits by way of ballast. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS So it seems, despite all your youthful vigour, you make it + your trade to denounce strangers? + </p> + <p> + INFORMER Well, and why not? I don't know how to dig. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS But, by Zeus! there are honest ways of gaining a living at + your age without all this infamous trickery. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER My friend, I am asking you for wings, not for words. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis just my words that give you wings. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER And how can you give a man wings with your words? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS 'Tis thus that all first start. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER All? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Have you not often heard the father say to young men in the + barbers' shops, "It's astonishing how Diitrephes' advice has made my son + fly to horse-riding."—"Mine," says another, "has flown towards + tragic poetry on the wings of his imagination." + </p> + <p> + INFORMER So that words give wings? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Undoubtedly; words give wings to the mind and make a man + soar to heaven. Thus I hope that my wise words will give you wings to + fly to some less degrading trade. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER But I do not want to. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What do you reckon on doing then? + </p> + <p> + INFORMER I won't belie my breeding; from generation to generation we + have lived by informing. Quick, therefore, give me quickly some light, + swift hawk or kestrel wings, so that I may summon the islanders, sustain + the accusation here, and haste back there again on flying pinions. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I see. In this way the stranger will be condemned even + before he appears. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER That's just it. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And while he is on his way here by sea, you will be flying + to the islands to despoil him of his property. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER You've hit it, precisely; I must whirl hither and thither like + a perfect humming-top. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I catch the idea. Wait, i' faith, I've got some fine + Corcyraean wings.(1) How do you like them? + </p> + <p> + f(1) That is, whips—Corcyra being famous for these articles. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER Oh! woe is me! Why, 'tis a whip! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, no; these are the wings, I tell you, that set the top + a-spinning. + </p> + <p> + INFORMER Oh! oh! oh! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Take your flight, clear off, you miserable cur, or you will + soon see what comes of quibbling and lying. Come, let us gather up our + wings and withdraw. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS In my ethereal flights I have seen many things new and strange + and wondrous beyond belief. There is a tree called Cleonymus belonging + to an unknown species; it has no heart, is good for nothing and is as + tall as it is cowardly. In springtime it shoots forth calumnies instead + of buds and in autumn it strews the ground with bucklers in place of + leaves.(1) + </p> + <p> + Far away in the regions of darkness, where no ray of light ever enters, + there is a country, where men sit at the table of the heroes and dwell + with them always—save always in the evening. Should any mortal + meet the hero Orestes at night, he would soon be stripped and covered + with blows from head to foot.(2) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Cleonymous is a standing butt of Aristophanes' wit, both as an + informer and a notorious poltroon. + </p> + <p> + f(2) In allusion to the cave of the bandit Orestes; the poet terms him a + hero only because of his heroic name Orestes. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Ah! by the gods! if only Zeus does not espy me! Where is + Pisthetaerus? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ha! what is this? A masked man! + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Can you see any god behind me? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS No, none. But who are you, pray? + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS What's the time, please? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The time? Why, it's past noon. Who are you? + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Is it the fall of day? Is it no later than that?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Prometheus wants night to come and so reduce the risk of being seen + from Olympus. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! 'pon my word! but you grow tiresome. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS What is Zeus doing? Is he dispersing the clouds or gathering + them?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The clouds would prevent Zeus seeing what was happening below him. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Take care, lest I lose all patience. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Come, I will raise my mask. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! my dear Prometheus! + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Stop! stop! speak lower! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why, what's the matter, Prometheus? + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS H'sh! h'sh! Don't call me by my name; you will be my ruin, if + Zeus should see me here. But, if you want me to tell you how things are + going in heaven, take this umbrella and shield me, so that the gods + don't see me. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I can recognize Prometheus in this cunning trick. Come, + quick then, and fear nothing; speak on. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Then listen. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I am listening, proceed! + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS It's all over with Zeus. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! and since when, pray? + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Since you founded this city in the air. There is not a man + who now sacrifices to the gods; the smoke of the victims no longer + reaches us. Not the smallest offering comes! We fast as though it were + the festival of Demeter.(1) The barbarian gods, who are dying of hunger, + are bawling like Illyrians(2) and threaten to make an armed descent upon + Zeus, if he does not open markets where joints of the victims are sold. + </p> + <p> + f(1) The third day of the festival of Demeter was a fast. + </p> + <p> + f(2) A semi-savage people, addicted to violence and brigandage. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What! there are other gods besides you, barbarian gods who + dwell above Olympus? + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS If there were no barbarian gods, who would be the patron of + Execestides?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Who, being reputed a stranger despite his pretension to the title + of a citizen, could only have a strange god for his patron or tutelary + deity. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And what is the name of these gods? + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Their name? Why, the Triballi.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The Triballi were a Thracian people; it was a term commonly used in + Athens to describe coarse men, obscene debauchees and greedy parasites. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah, indeed! 'tis from that no doubt that we derive the word + 'tribulation.'(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) There is a similar pun in the Greek. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Most likely. But one thing I can tell you for certain, + namely, that Zeus and the celestial Triballi are going to send deputies + here to sue for peace. Now don't you treat, unless Zeus restores the + sceptre to the birds and gives you Basileia(1) in marriage. + </p> + <p> + f(1) i.e. the 'supremacy' of Greece, the real object of the war. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Who is this Basileia? + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS A very fine young damsel, who makes the lightning for Zeus; + all things come from her, wisdom, good laws, virtue, the fleet, + calumnies, the public paymaster and the triobolus. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! then she is a sort of general manageress to the god. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Yes, precisely. If he gives you her for your wife, yours will + be the almighty power. That is what I have come to tell you; for you + know my constant and habitual goodwill towards men. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh, yes! 'tis thanks to you that we roast our meat.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Prometheus had stolen the fire from the gods to gratify mankind. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS I hate the gods, as you know. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Aye, by Zeus, you have always detested them. + </p> + <p> + PROMETHEUS Towards them I am a veritable Timon;(1) but I must return in + all haste, so give me the umbrella; if Zeus should see me from up there, + he would think I was escorting one of the Canephori.(2) + </p> + <p> + f(1) A celebrated misanthrope, contemporary to Aristophanes. Hating the + society of men, he had only a single friend, Apimantus, to whom he was + attached, because of their similarity of character; he also liked + Alcibiades, because he foresaw that this young man would be the ruin of + his country. + </p> + <p> + f(2) The Canephori were young maidens, chosen from the first families of + the city, who carried baskets wreathed with myrtle at the feast of + Athene, while at those of Bacchus and Demeter they appeared with gilded + baskets.—The daughters of 'Metics,' or resident aliens, walked + behind them, carrying an umbrella and a stool. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Wait, take this stool as well. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Near by the land of the Sciapodes(1) there is a marsh, from the + borders whereof the odious Socrates evokes the souls of men. Pisander(2) + came one day to see his soul, which he had left there when still alive. + He offered a little victim, a camel,(3) slit his throat and, following + the example of Ulysses, stepped one pace backwards.(4) Then that bat of + a Chaerephon(5) came up from hell to drink the camel's blood. + </p> + <p> + f(1) According to Ctesias, the Sciapodes were a people who dwelt on the + borders of the Atlantic. Their feet were larger than the rest of their + bodies, and to shield themselves from the sun's rays they held up one of + their feet as an umbrella.—By giving the Socratic philosophers the + name of Sciapodes here Aristophanes wishes to convey that they are + walking in the dark and busying themselves with the greatest nonsense. + </p> + <p> + f(2) This Pisander was a notorious coward; for this reason the poet + jestingly supposes that he had lost his soul, the seat of courage. + </p> + <p> + f(3) Considering the shape and height of the camel, (it) can certainly + not be included in the list of SMALL victims, e.g. the sheep and the + goat. + </p> + <p> + f(4) In the evocation of the dead, Book XI of the Odyssey. + </p> + <p> + f(5) Chaerephon was given this same title by the Herald earlier in this + comedy.—Aristophanes supposes him to have come from hell because + he is lean and pallid. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON(1) This is the city of Nephelococcygia, Cloud-cuckoo-town, + whither we come as ambassadors. (TO TRIBALLUS) Hi! what are you up to? + you are throwing your cloak over the left shoulder. Come, fling it quick + over the right! And why, pray, does it draggle in this fashion? Have you + ulcers to hide like Laespodias?(2) Oh! democracy!(3) whither, oh! + whither are you leading us? Is it possible that the gods have chosen + such an envoy? + </p> + <p> + f(1) Posidon appears on the stage accompanied by Heracles and a + Triballian god. + </p> + <p> + f(2) An Athenian general.—Neptune is trying to give Triballus some + notions of elegance and good behaviour. + </p> + <p> + f(3) Aristophanes supposes that democracy is in the ascendant in Olympus + as it is in Athens. + </p> + <p> + TRIBALLUS Leave me alone. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Ugh! the cursed savage! you are by far the most barbarous of all + the gods.—Tell me, Heracles, what are we going to do? + </p> + <p> + HERACLES I have already told you that I want to strangle the fellow who + has dared to block us in. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON But, my friend, we are envoys of peace. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES All the more reason why I wish to strangle him. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Hand me the cheese-grater; bring me the silphium for sauce; + pass me the cheese and watch the coals.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) He is addressing his servant, Manes. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES Mortal! we who greet you are three gods. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Wait a bit till I have prepared my silphium pickle. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES What are these meats?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Heracles softens at sight of the food.—Heracles is the + glutton of the comic poets. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS These are birds that have been punished with death for + attacking the people's friends. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES And you are seasoning them before answering us? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! Heracles! welcome, welcome! What's the matter?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) He pretends not to have seen them at first, being so much engaged + with his cookery. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES The gods have sent us here as ambassadors to treat for peace. + </p> + <p> + A SERVANT There's no more oil in the flask. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS And yet the birds must be thoroughly basted with it.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) He pretends to forget the presence of the ambassadors. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES We have no interest to serve in fighting you; as for you, be + friends and we promise that you shall always have rain-water in your + pools and the warmest of warm weather. So far as these points go we are + armed with plenary authority. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS We have never been the aggressors, and even now we are as + well disposed for peace as yourselves, provided you agree to one + equitable condition, namely, that Zeus yield his sceptre to the birds. + If only this is agreed to, I invite the ambassadors to dinner. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES That's good enough for me. I vote for peace. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON You wretch! you are nothing but a fool and a glutton. Do you + want to dethrone your own father? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What an error! Why, the gods will be much more powerful if + the birds govern the earth. At present the mortals are hidden beneath + the clouds, escape your observation, and commit perjury in your name; + but if you had the birds for your allies, and a man, after having sworn + by the crow and Zeus, should fail to keep his oath, the crow would dive + down upon him unawares and pluck out his eye. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Well thought of, by Posidon!(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) Posidon jestingly swears by himself. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES My notion too. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS (TO THE TRIBALLIAN) And you, what's your opinion? + </p> + <p> + TRIBALLUS Nabaisatreu.(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The barbarian god utters some gibberish which Pisthetaerus + interprets into consent. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS D'you see? he also approves. But hear another thing in + which we can serve you. If a man vows to offer a sacrifice to some god, + and then procrastinates, pretending that the gods can wait, and thus + does not keep his word, we shall punish his stinginess. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Ah! ah! and how? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS While he is counting his money or is in the bath, a kite + will relieve him, before he knows it, either in coin or in clothes, of + the value of a couple of sheep, and carry it to the god. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES I vote for restoring them the sceptre. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Ask the Triballian. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES Hi Triballian, do you want a thrashing? + </p> + <p> + TRIBALLUS Saunaka baktarikrousa. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES He says, "Right willingly." + </p> + <p> + POSIDON If that be the opinion of both of you, why, I consent too. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES Very well! we accord the sceptre. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Ah! I was nearly forgetting another condition. I will leave + Here to Zeus, but only if the young Basileia is given me in marriage. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Then you don't want peace. Let us withdraw. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS It matters mighty little to me. Cook, look to the gravy. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES What an odd fellow this Posidon is! Where are you off to? Are + we going to war about a woman? + </p> + <p> + POSIDON What else is there to do? + </p> + <p> + HERACLES What else? Why, conclude peace. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Oh! you ninny! do you always want to be fooled? Why, you are + seeking your own downfall. If Zeus were to die, after having yielded + them the sovereignty, you would be ruined, for you are the heir of all + the wealth he will leave behind. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Oh! by the gods! how he is cajoling you. Step aside, that I + may have a word with you. Your uncle is getting the better of you, my + poor friend.(1) The law will not allow you an obolus of the paternal + property, for you are a bastard and not a legitimate child. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Heracles, the god of strength, was far from being remarkable in the + way of cleverness. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES I a bastard! What's that you tell me? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Why, certainly; are you not born of a stranger woman? + Besides, is not Athene recognized as Zeus' sole heiress? And no daughter + would be that, if she had a legitimate brother. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES But what if my father wished to give me his property on his + death-bed, even though I be a bastard? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS The law forbids it, and this same Posidon would be the + first to lay claim to his wealth, in virtue of being his legitimate + brother. Listen; thus runs Solon's law: "A bastard shall not inherit, if + there are legitimate children; and if there are no legitimate children, + the property shall pass to the nearest kin."(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) This was Athenian law. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES And I get nothing whatever of the paternal property? + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Absolutely nothing. But tell me, has your father had you + entered on the registers of his phratria?(1) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The poet attributes to the gods the same customs as those which + governed Athens, and according to which no child was looked upon as + legitimate unless his father had entered him on the registers of his + phratria. The phratria was a division of the tribe and consisted of + thirty families. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES No, and I have long been surprised at the omission. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS What ails you, that you should shake your fist at heaven? + Do you want to fight it? Why, be on my side, I will make you a king and + will feed you on bird's milk and honey. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES Your further condition seems fair to me. I cede you the young + damsel. + </p> + <p> + POSIDON But I, I vote against this opinion. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Then it all depends on the Triballian. (TO THE TRIBALLIAN.) + What do you say? + </p> + <p> + TRIBALLUS Big bird give daughter pretty and queen. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES You say that you give her? + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Why no, he does not say anything of the sort, that he gives her; + else I cannot understand any better than the swallows. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Exactly so. Does he not say she must be given to the + swallows? + </p> + <p> + POSIDON Very well! you two arrange the matter; make peace, since you + wish it so; I'll hold my tongue. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES We are of a mind to grant you all that you ask. But come up + there with us to receive Basileia and the celestial bounty. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Here are birds already cut up, and very suitable for a + nuptial feast. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES You go and, if you like, I will stay here to roast them. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS You to roast them! you are too much the glutton; come along + with us. + </p> + <p> + HERACLES Ah! how well I would have treated myself! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Let some(one) bring me a beautiful and magnificent tunic + for the wedding. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS(1) At Phanae,(2) near the Clepsydra,(3) there dwells a people who + have neither faith nor law, the Englottogastors,(4) who reap, sow, pluck + the vines and the figs(5) with their tongues; they belong to a barbaric + race, and among them the Philippi and the Gorgiases(6) are to be found; + 'tis these Englottogastorian Philippi who introduced the custom all over + Attica of cutting out the tongue separately at sacrifices.(7) + </p> + <p> + f(1) The chorus continues to tell what it has seen on its flights. + </p> + <p> + f(2) The harbour of the island of Chios; but this name is here used in + the sense of being the land of informers ((from the Greek for) 'to + denounce'). + </p> + <p> + f(3) i.e. near the orators' platform, in the Public Assembly, or because + there stood the water-clock, by which speeches were limited. + </p> + <p> + f(4) A coined name, made up of (the Greek for) the tongue, and (for) the + stomach, and meaning those who fill their stomach with what they gain + with their tongues, to wit, the orators. + </p> + <p> + f(5) (The Greek for) a fig forms part of the word which in Greek means + an informer. + </p> + <p> + f(6) Both rhetoricians. + </p> + <p> + f(7) Because they consecrated it specially to the god of eloquence. + </p> + <p> + A MESSENGER Oh, you, whose unbounded happiness I cannot express in + words, thrice happy race of airy birds, receive your king in your + fortunate dwellings. More brilliant than the brightest star that illumes + the earth, he is approaching his glittering golden palace; the sun + itself does not shine with more dazzling glory. He is entering with his + bride at his side,(1) whose beauty no human tongue can express; in his + hand he brandishes the lightning, the winged shaft of Zeus; perfumes of + unspeakable sweetness pervade the ethereal realms. 'Tis a glorious + spectacle to see the clouds of incense wafting in light whirlwinds + before the breath of the Zephyr! But here he is himself. Divine Muse! + let thy sacred lips begin with songs of happy omen. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Basileia, whom he brings back from heaven. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Fall back! to the right! to the left! advance!(1) Fly around this + happy mortal, whom Fortune loads with her blessings. Oh! oh! what grace! + what beauty! Oh, marriage so auspicious for our city! All honour to this + man! 'tis through him that the birds are called to such glorious + destinies. Let your nuptial hymns, your nuptial songs, greet him and his + Basileia! 'Twas in the midst of such festivities that the Fates formerly + united Olympian Here to the King who governs the gods from the summit of + his inaccessible throne. Oh! Hymen! oh! Hymenaeus! Rosy Eros with the + golden wings held the reins and guided the chariot; 'twas he, who + presided over the union of Zeus and the fortunate Here. Oh! Hymen! oh! + Hymenaeus! + </p> + <p> + f(1) Terms used in regulating a dance. + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS I am delighted with your songs, I applaud your verses. Now + celebrate the thunder that shakes the earth, the flaming lightning of + Zeus and the terrible flashing thunderbolt. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Oh, thou golden flash of the lightning! oh, ye divine shafts of + flame, that Zeus has hitherto shot forth! Oh, ye rolling thunders, that + bring down the rain! 'Tis by the order of OUR king that ye shall now + stagger the earth! Oh, Hymen! 'tis through thee that he commands the + universe and that he makes Basileia, whom he has robbed from Zeus, take + her seat at his side. Oh! Hymen! oh! Hymenaeus! + </p> + <p> + PISTHETAERUS Let all the winged tribes of our fellow-citizens follow the + bridal couple to the palace of Zeus(1) and to the nuptial couch! Stretch + forth your hands, my dear wife! Take hold of me by my wings and let us + dance; I am going to lift you up and carry you through the air. + </p> + <p> + f(1) Where Pisthetaerus is henceforth to reign. + </p> + <p> + CHORUS Oh, joy! Io Paean! Tralala! victory is thing, oh, thou greatest + of the gods! + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Birds, by Aristophanes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRDS *** + +***** This file should be named 3013-h.htm or 3013-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/1/3013/ + +Produced by Derek Davis, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Birds + +Author: Aristophanes + +Posting Date: January 17, 2009 [EBook #3013] +Release Date: January, 2002 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRDS *** + + + + +Produced by Derek Davis + + + + + +THE BIRDS + +By Aristophanes + + +(Translator uncredited. Footnotes have been retained because they +provide the meanings of Greek names, terms and ceremonies and explain +puns and references otherwise lost in translation. Occasional Greek +words in the footnotes have not been included. Footnote numbers, +in brackets, start anew at (1) for each piece of dialogue, and each +footnote follows immediately the dialogue to which it refers, labeled +thus: f(1). + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + + +'The Birds' differs markedly from all the other Comedies of Aristophanes +which have come down to us in subject and general conception. It is +just an extravaganza pure and simple--a graceful, whimsical theme chosen +expressly for the sake of the opportunities it afforded of bright, +amusing dialogue, pleasing lyrical interludes, and charming displays of +brilliant stage effects and pretty dresses. Unlike other plays of +the same Author, there is here apparently no serious political MOTIF +underlying the surface burlesque and buffoonery. + +Some critics, it is true, profess to find in it a reference to the +unfortunate Sicilian Expedition, then in progress, and a prophecy of +its failure and the political downfall of Alcibiades. But as a matter of +fact, the whole thing seems rather an attempt on the dramatist's part +to relieve the overwrought minds of his fellow-citizens, anxious and +discouraged at the unsatisfactory reports from before Syracuse, by a +work conceived in a lighter vein than usual and mainly unconnected with +contemporary realities. The play was produced in the year 414 B.C., just +when success or failure in Sicily hung in the balance, though already +the outlook was gloomy, and many circumstances pointed to impending +disaster. Moreover, the public conscience was still shocked and +perturbed over the mysterious affair of the mutilation of the Hermae, +which had occurred immediately before the sailing of the fleet, and +strongly suspicious of Alcibiades' participation in the outrage. In +spite of the inherent charm of the subject, the splendid outbursts of +lyrical poetry in some of the choruses and the beauty of the scenery and +costumes, 'The Birds' failed to win the first prize. This was acclaimed +to a play of Aristophanes' rival, Amipsias, the title of which, 'The +Comastoe,' or 'Revellers,' "seems to imply that the chief interest was +derived from direct allusions to the outrage above mentioned and to the +individuals suspected to have been engaged in it." + +For this reason, which militated against its immediate success, viz. +the absence of direct allusion to contemporary politics--there are, of +course, incidental references here and there to topics and personages +of the day--the play appeals perhaps more than any other of our Author's +productions to the modern reader. Sparkling wit, whimsical fancy, poetic +charm, are of all ages, and can be appreciated as readily by ourselves +as by an Athenian audience of two thousand years ago, though, of course, +much is inevitably lost "without the important adjuncts of music, +scenery, dresses and what we may call 'spectacle' generally, which we +know in this instance to have been on the most magnificent scale." + +The plot is this. Euelpides and Pisthetaerus, two old Athenians, +disgusted with the litigiousness, wrangling and sycophancy of their +countrymen, resolve upon quitting Attica. Having heard of the fame of +Epops (the hoopoe), sometime called Tereus, and now King of the Birds, +they determine, under the direction of a raven and a jackdaw, to seek +from him and his subject birds a city free from all care and strife. +Arrived at the Palace of Epops, they knock, and Trochilus (the wren), +in a state of great flutter, as he mistakes them for fowlers, opens the +door and informs them that his Majesty is asleep. When he awakes, the +strangers appear before him, and after listening to a long and eloquent +harangue on the superior attractions of a residence among the birds, +they propose a notable scheme of their own to further enhance its +advantages and definitely secure the sovereignty of the universe now +exercised by the gods of Olympus. + +The birds are summoned to meet in general council. They come flying up +from all quarters of the heavens, and after a brief mis-understanding, +during which they come near tearing the two human envoys to pieces, they +listen to the exposition of the latters' plan. This is nothing less +than the building of a new city, to be called Nephelococcygia, or +'Cloud-cuckoo-town,' between earth and heaven, to be garrisoned and +guarded by the birds in such a way as to intercept all communication of +the gods with their worshippers on earth. All steam of sacrifice will +be prevented from rising to Olympus, and the Immortals will very soon be +starved into an acceptance of any terms proposed. The new Utopia is duly +constructed, and the daring plan to secure the sovereignty is in a fair +way to succeed. Meantime various quacks and charlatans, each with a +special scheme for improving things, arrive from earth, and are one +after the other exposed and dismissed. Presently arrives Prometheus, +who informs Epops of the desperate straits to which the gods are by this +time reduced, and advises him to push his claims and demand the hand +of Basileia (Dominion), the handmaid of Zeus. Next an embassy from the +Olympians appears on the scene, consisting of Heracles, Posidon and a +god from the savage regions of the Triballians. After some disputation, +it is agreed that all reasonable demands of the birds are to be granted, +while Pisthetaerus is to have Basileia as his bride. The comedy winds up +with the epithalamium in honour of the nuptials. + + + + +THE BIRDS + + +DRAMATIS PERSONAE + + EUELPIDES + PISTHETAERUS + EPOPS (the Hoopoe) + TROCHILUS, Servant to Epops + PHOENICOPTERUS + HERALDS + A PRIEST + A POET + A PROPHET + METON, a Geometrician + A COMMISSIONER + A DEALER IN DECREES + IRIS + A PARRICIDE + CINESIAS, a Dithyrambic Bard + AN INFORMER + PROMETHEUS + POSIDON + TRIBALLUS + HERACLES + SLAVES OF PISTHETAERUS + MESSENGERS + CHORUS OF BIRDS + + +SCENE: A wild, desolate tract of open country; broken rocks and +brushwood occupy the centre of the stage. + + + +EUELPIDES (TO HIS JAY)(1) Do you think I should walk straight for yon +tree? + +f(1) Euelpides is holding a jay and Pisthetaerus a crow; they are the +guides who are to lead them to the kingdom of the birds. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO HIS CROW) Cursed beast, what are you croaking to +me?... to retrace my steps? + +EUELPIDES Why, you wretch, we are wandering at random, we are exerting +ourselves only to return to the same spot; 'tis labour lost. + +PISTHETAERUS To think that I should trust to this crow, which has made +me cover more than a thousand furlongs! + +EUELPIDES And that I to this jay, which has torn every nail from my +fingers! + +PISTHETAERUS If only I knew where we were.... + +EUELPIDES Could you find your country again from here? + +PISTHETAERUS No, I feel quite sure I could not, any more than could +Execestides(1) find his. + +f(1) A stranger who wanted to pass as an Athenian, although coming +originally for a far-away barbarian country. + +EUELPIDES Oh dear! oh dear! + +PISTHETAERUS Aye, aye, my friend, 'tis indeed the road of "oh dears" we +are following. + +EUELPIDES That Philocrates, the bird-seller, played us a scurvy trick, +when he pretended these two guides could help us to find Tereus,(1) the +Epops, who is a bird, without being born of one. He has indeed sold us +this jay, a true son of Tharelides,(2) for an obolus, and this crow +for three, but what can they do? Why, nothing whatever but bite and +scratch!--What's the matter with you then, that you keep opening your +beak? Do you want us to fling ourselves headlong down these rocks? There +is no road that way. + +f(1) A king of Thrace, a son of Ares, who married Procne, the daughter +of Pandion, King of Athens, whom he had assisted against the Megarians. +He violated his sister-in-law, Philomela, and then cut out her tongue; +she nevertheless managed to convey to her sister how she had been +treated. They both agreed to kill Itys, whom Procne had borne to Tereus, +and dished up the limbs of his own son to the father; at the end of +the meal Philomela appeared and threw the child's head upon the table. +Tereus rushed with drawn sword upon the princesses, but all the actors +in this terrible scene were metamorph(o)sed. Tereus became an Epops +(hoopoe), Procne a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, and Itys a +goldfinch. According to Anacreon and Apollodorus it was Procne who +became the nightingale and Philomela the swallow, and this is the +version of the tradition followed by Aristophanes. + +f(2) An Athenian who had some resemblance to a jay--so says the +scholiast, at any rate. + +PISTHETAERUS Not even the vestige of a track in any direction. + +EUELPIDES And what does the crow say about the road to follow? + +PISTHETAERUS By Zeus, it no longer croaks the same thing it did. + +EUELPIDES And which way does it tell us to go now? + +PISTHETAERUS It says that, by dint of gnawing, it will devour my +fingers. + +EUELPIDES What misfortune is ours! we strain every nerve to get to the +birds,(1) do everything we can to that end, and we cannot find our way! +Yes, spectators, our madness is quite different from that of Sacas. +He is not a citizen, and would fain be one at any cost; we, on the +contrary, born of an honourable tribe and family and living in the midst +of our fellow-citizens, we have fled from our country as hard as ever +we could go. 'Tis not that we hate it; we recognize it to be great and +rich, likewise that everyone has the right to ruin himself; but the +crickets only chirrup among the fig-trees for a month or two, whereas +the Athenians spend their whole lives in chanting forth judgments +from their law-courts.(2) That is why we started off with a basket, a +stew-pot and some myrtle boughs(3) and have come to seek a quiet country +in which to settle. We are going to Tereus, the Epops, to learn from +him, whether, in his aerial flights, he has noticed some town of this +kind. + +f(1) Literally, 'to go to the crows,' a proverbial expression equivalent +to our 'going to the devil.' + +f(2) They leave Athens because of their hatred of lawsuits and +informers; this is the especial failing of the Athenians satirized in +'The Wasps.' + +f(3) Myrtle boughs were used in sacrifices, and the founding of every +colony was started by a sacrifice. + +PISTHETAERUS Here! look! + +EUELPIDES What's the matter? + +PISTHETAERUS Why, the crow has been pointing me to something up there +for some time now. + +EUELPIDES And the jay is also opening its beak and craning its neck to +show me I know not what. Clearly, there are some birds about here. We +shall soon know, if we kick up a noise to start them. + +PISTHETAERUS Do you know what to do? Knock your leg against this rock. + +EUELPIDES And you your head to double the noise. + +PISTHETAERUS Well then use a stone instead; take one and hammer with it. + +EUELPIDES Good idea! Ho there, within! Slave! slave! + +PISTHETAERUS What's that, friend! You say, "slave," to summon Epops! It +would be much better to shout, "Epops, Epops!" + +EUELPIDES Well then, Epops! Must I knock again? Epops! + +TROCHILUS Who's there? Who calls my master? + +PISTHETAERUS Apollo the Deliverer! what an enormous beak!(1) + +f(1) The actors wore masks made to resemble the birds they were supposed +to represent. + +TROCHILUS Good god! they are bird-catchers. + +EUELPIDES The mere sight of him petrifies me with terror. What a +horrible monster. + +TROCHILUS Woe to you! + +EUELPIDES But we are not men. + +TROCHILUS What are you, then? + +EUELPIDES I am the Fearling, an African bird. + +TROCHILUS You talk nonsense. + +EUELPIDES Well, then, just ask it of my feet.(1) + +f(1) Fear had had disastrous effects upon Euelpides' internal economy, +and this his feet evidenced. + +TROCHILUS And this other one, what bird is it? + +PISTHETAERUS I? I am a Cackling,(1) from the land of the pheasants. + +f(1) The same mishap had occurred to Pisthetaerus. + +EUELPIDES But you yourself, in the name of the gods! what animal are +you? + +TROCHILUS Why, I am a slave-bird. + +EUELPIDES Why, have you been conquered by a cock? + +TROCHILUS No, but when my master was turned into a peewit, he begged me +to become a bird too, to follow and to serve him. + +EUELPIDES Does a bird need a servant, then? + +TROCHILUS 'Tis no doubt because he was a man. At times he wants to eat a +dish of loach from Phalerum; I seize my dish and fly to fetch him some. +Again he wants some pea-soup; I seize a ladle and a pot and run to get +it. + +EUELPIDES This is, then, truly a running-bird.(1) Come, Trochilus, do us +the kindness to call your master. + +f(1) The Greek word for a wren is derived from the same root as 'to +run.' + +TROCHILUS Why, he has just fallen asleep after a feed of myrtle-berries +and a few grubs. + +EUELPIDES Never mind; wake him up. + +TROCHILUS I an certain he will be angry. However, I will wake him to +please you. + +PISTHETAERUS You cursed brute! why, I am almost dead with terror! + +EUELPIDES Oh! my god! 'twas sheer fear that made me lose my jay. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! you great coward! were you so frightened that you let +go your jay? + +EUELPIDES And did you not lose your crow, when you fell sprawling on the +ground? Pray tell me that. + +PISTHETAERUS No, no. + +EUELPIDES Where is it, then? + +PISTHETAERUS It has flown away. + +EUELPIDES Then you did not let it go? Oh! you brave fellow! + +EPOPS Open the forest,(1) that I may go out! + +f(1) No doubt there was some scenery to represent a forest. Besides, +there is a pun intended. The words answering for 'forests' and 'door' in +Greek only differ slightly in sound. + +EUELPIDES By Heracles! what a creature! what plumage! What means this +triple crest? + +EPOPS Who wants me? + +EUELPIDES The twelve great gods have used you ill, meseems. + +EPOPS Are you chaffing me about my feathers? I have been a man, +strangers. + +EUELPIDES 'Tis not you we are jeering at. + +EPOPS At what, then? + +EUELPIDES Why, 'tis your beak that looks so odd to us. + +EPOPS This is how Sophocles outrages me in his tragedies. Know, I once +was Tereus.(1) + +f(1) Sophocles had written a tragedy about Tereus, in which, no doubt, +the king finally appears as a hoopoe. + +EUELPIDES You were Tereus, and what are you now? a bird or a peacock?(1) + +f(1) (O)ne would expect the question to be "bird or man."--Are you a +peacock? The hoopoe resembles the peacock inasmuch as both have crests. + +EPOPS I am a bird. + +EUELPIDES Then where are your feathers? For I don't see them. + +EPOPS They have fallen off. + +EUELPIDES Through illness? + +EPOPS No. All birds moult their feathers, you know, every winter, and +others grow in their place. But tell me, who are you? + +EUELPIDES We? We are mortals. + +EPOPS From what country? + +EUELPIDES From the land of the beautiful galleys.(1) + +f(1) Athens. + +EPOPS Are you dicasts?(1) + +f(1) The Athenians were madly addicted to lawsuits. (See 'The Wasps.') + +EUELPIDES No, if anything, we are anti-dicasts. + +EPOPS Is that kind of seed sown among you?(1) + +f(1) As much as to say, 'Then you have such things as anti-dicasts?' And +Euelpides practically replaces, 'Very few.' + +EUELPIDES You have to look hard to find even a little in our fields. + +EPOPS What brings you here? + +EUELPIDES We wish to pay you a visit. + +EPOPS What for? + +EUELPIDES Because you formerly were a man, like we are, formerly you +had debts, as we have, formerly you did not want to pay them, like +ourselves; furthermore, being turned into a bird, you have when flying +seen all lands and seas. Thus you have all human knowledge as well as +that of birds. And hence we have come to you to beg you to direct us to +some cosy town, in which one can repose as if on thick coverlets. + +EPOPS And are you looking for a greater city than Athens? + +EUELPIDES No, not a greater, but one more pleasant to dwell in. + +EPOPS Then you are looking for an aristocratic country. + +EUELPIDES I? Not at all! I hold the son of Scellias in horror.(1) + +f(1) His name was Aristocrates; he was a general and commanded a fleet +sent in aid of Corcyra. + +EPOPS But, after all, what sort of city would please you best? + +EUELPIDES A place where the following would be the most important +business transacted.--Some friend would come knocking at the door quite +early in the morning saying, "By Olympian Zeus, be at my house early, +as soon as you have bathed, and bring your children too. I am giving a +nuptial feast, so don't fail, or else don't cross my threshold when I am +in distress." + +EPOPS Ah! that's what may be called being fond of hardships! And what +say you? + +PISTHETAERUS My tastes are similar. + +EPOPS And they are? + +PISTHETAERUS I want a town where the father of a handsome lad will stop +in the street and say to me reproachfully as if I had failed him, "Ah! +Is this well done, Stilbonides! You met my son coming from the bath +after the gymnasium and you neither spoke to him, nor embraced him, nor +took him with you, nor ever once twitched his parts. Would anyone call +you an old friend of mine?" + +EPOPS Ah! wag, I see you are fond of suffering. But there is a city of +delights, such as you want. 'Tis on the Red Sea. + +EUELPIDES Oh, no. Not a sea-port, where some fine morning the +Salaminian(1) galley can appear, bringing a writ-server along. Have you +no Greek town you can propose to us? + +f(1) The State galley, which carried the officials of the Athenian +republic to their several departments and brought back those whose time +had expired; it was this galley that was sent to Sicily to fetch back +Alcibiades, who was accused of sacrilege. + +EPOPS Why not choose Lepreum in Elis for your settlement? + +EUELPIDES By Zeus! I could not look at Lepreum without disgust, because +of Melanthius.(1) + +f(1) A tragic poet, who was a leper; there is a play, of course, on the +word Lepreum. + +EPOPS Then, again, there is the Opuntian, where you could live. + +EUELPIDES I would not be Opuntian(1) for a talent. But come, what is it +like to live with the birds? You should know pretty well. + +f(1) An allusion to Opuntius, who was one-eyed. + +EPOPS Why, 'tis not a disagreeable life. In the first place, one has no +purse. + +EUELPIDES That does away with much roguery. + +EPOPS For food the gardens yield us white sesame, myrtle-berries, +poppies and mint. + +EUELPIDES Why, 'tis the life of the newly-wed indeed.(1) + +f(1) The newly-married ate a sesame-cake, decorated with garlands of +myrtle, poppies and mint. + +PISTHETAERUS Ha! I am beginning to see a great plan, which will transfer +the supreme power to the birds, if you will but take my advice. + +EPOPS Take your advice? In what way? + +PISTHETAERUS In what way? Well, firstly, do not fly in all directions +with open beak; it is not dignified. Among us, when we see a thoughtless +man, we ask, "What sort of bird is this?" and Teleas answers, "'Tis +a man who has no brain, a bird that has lost his head, a creature you +cannot catch, for it never remains in any one place." + +EPOPS By Zeus himself! your jest hits the mark. What then is to be done? + +PISTHETAERUS Found a city. + +EPOPS We birds? But what sort of city should we build? + +PISTHETAERUS Oh, really, really! 'tis spoken like a fool! Look down. + +EPOPS I am looking. + +PISTHETAERUS Now look upwards. + +EPOPS I am looking. + +PISTHETAERUS Turn your head round. + +EPOPS Ah! 'twill be pleasant for me, if I end in twisting my neck! + +PISTHETAERUS What have you seen? + +EPOPS The clouds and the sky. + +PISTHETAERUS Very well! is not this the pole of the birds then? + +EPOPS How their pole? + +PISTHETAERUS Or, if you like it, the land. And since it turns and passes +through the whole universe, it is called, 'pole.'(1) If you build and +fortify it, you will turn your pole into a fortified city.(2) In this +way you will reign over mankind as you do over the grasshoppers and +cause the gods to die of rabid hunger. + +f(1) From (the word meaning) 'to turn.' + +f(2) The Greek words for 'pole' and 'city' only differ by a single +letter. + +EPOPS How so? + +PISTHETAERUS The air is 'twixt earth and heaven. When we want to go to +Delphi, we ask the Boeotians(1) for leave of passage; in the same way, +when men sacrifice to the gods, unless the latter pay you tribute, you +exercise the right of every nation towards strangers and don't allow the +smoke of the sacrifices to pass through your city and territory. + +f(1) Boeotia separated Attica from Phocis. + +EPOPS By earth! by snares! by network!(1) I never heard of anything more +cleverly conceived; and, if the other birds approve, I am going to build +the city along with you. + +f(1) He swears by the powers that are to him dreadful. + +PISTHETAERUS Who will explain the matter to them? + +EPOPS You must yourself. Before I came they were quite ignorant, but +since I have lived with them I have taught them to speak. + +PISTHETAERUS But how can they be gathered together? + +EPOPS Easily. I will hasten down to the coppice to waken my dear +Procne!(1) as soon as they hear our voices, they will come to us hot +wing. + +f(1) As already stated, according to the legend accepted by +Aristophanes, it was Procne who was turned into the nightengale. + +PISTHETAERUS My dear bird, lose no time, I beg. Fly at once into the +coppice and awaken Procne. + +EPOPS Chase off drowsy sleep, dear companion. Let the sacred hymn gush +from thy divine throat in melodious strains; roll forth in soft cadence +your refreshing melodies to bewail the fate of Itys,(1) which has been +the cause of so many tears to us both. Your pure notes rise through +the thick leaves of the yew-tree right up to the throne of Zeus, where +Phoebus listens to you, Phoebus with his golden hair. And his ivory lyre +responds to your plaintive accents; he gathers the choir of the gods and +from their immortal lips rushes a sacred chant of blessed voices. (THE +FLUTE IS PLAYED BEHIND THE SCENE.) + +f(1) The son of Tereus and Procne. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! by Zeus! what a throat that little bird possesses. He +has filled the whole coppice with honey-sweet melody! + +EUELPIDES Hush! + +PISTHETAERUS What's the matter? + +EUELPIDES Will you keep silence? + +PISTHETAERUS What for? + +EUELPIDES Epops is going to sing again. + +EPOPS (IN THE COPPICE) Epopoi poi popoi, epopoi, popoi, here, here, +quick, quick, quick, my comrades in the air; all you who pillage the +fertile lands of the husbandmen, the numberless tribes who gather and +devour the barley seeds, the swift flying race who sing so sweetly. And +you whose gentle twitter resounds through the fields with the little +cry of tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio; and you who hop about the +branches of the ivy in the gardens; the mountain birds, who feed on the +wild olive berries or the arbutus, hurry to come at my call, trioto, +trioto, totobrix; you also, who snap up the sharp-stinging gnats in the +marshy vales, and you who dwell in the fine plain of Marathon, all +damp with dew, and you, the francolin with speckled wings; you too, the +halcyons, who flit over the swelling waves of the sea, come hither to +hear the tidings; let all the tribes of long-necked birds assemble here; +know that a clever old man has come to us, bringing an entirely new +idea and proposing great reforms. Let all come to the debate here, +here, here, here. Torotorotorotorotix, kikkobau, kikkobau, +torotorotorotorolililix. + +PISTHETAERUS Can you see any bird? + +EUELPIDES By Phoebus, no! and yet I am straining my eyesight to scan the +sky. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Twas really not worth Epops' while to go and bury himself +in the thicket like a plover when a-hatching. + +PHOENICOPTERUS Torotina, torotina. + +PISTHETAERUS Hold, friend, here is another bird. + +EUELPIDES I' faith, yes, 'tis a bird, but of what kind? Isn't it a +peacock? + +PISTHETAERUS Epops will tell us. What is this bird? + +EPOPS 'Tis not one of those you are used to seeing; 'tis a bird from the +marshes. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! oh! but he is very handsome with his wings as crimson +as flame. + +EPOPS Undoubtedly; indeed he is called flamingo.(1) + +f(1) An African bird, that comes to the southern countries of Europe, to +Greece, Italy, and Spain; it is even seen in Provence. + +EUELPIDES Hi! I say! You! + +PISTHETAERUS What are you shouting for? + +EUELPIDES Why, here's another bird. + +PISTHETAERUS Aye, indeed; 'tis a foreign bird too. What is this bird +from beyond the mountains with a look as solemn as it is stupid? + +EPOPS He is called the Mede.(1) + +f(1) Aristophanes amusingly mixes up real birds with people and +individuals, whom he represents in the form of birds; he is personifying +the Medians here. + +PISTHETAERUS The Mede! But, by Heracles, how, if a Mede, has he flown +here without a camel? + +EUELPIDES Here's another bird with a crest. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! that's curious. I say, Epops, you are not the only one +of your kind then? + +EPOPS This bird is the son of Philocles, who is the son of Epops;(1) +so that, you see, I am his grandfather; just as one might say, +Hipponicus,(2) the son of Callias, who is the son of Hipponicus. + +f(1) Philocles, a tragic poet, had written a tragedy on Tereus, which +was simply a plagiarism of the play of the same name by Sophocles. +Philocles is the son of Epops, because he got his inspiration from +Sophocles' Tereus, and at the same time is father to Epops, since he +himself produced another Tereus. + +f(2) This Hipponicus is probably the orator whose ears Alcibiades boxed +to gain a bet; he was a descendant of Callias, who was famous for his +hatred of Pisistratus. + +PISTHETAERUS Then this bird is Callias! Why, what a lot of his feathers +he has lost!(1) + +f(1) This Callias, who must not be confounded with the foe of +Pisistratus, had ruined himself. + +EPOPS That's because he is honest; so the informers set upon him and the +women too pluck out his feathers. + +PISTHETAERUS By Posidon, do you see that many-coloured bird? What is his +name? + +EPOPS This one? 'Tis the glutton. + +PISTHETAERUS Is there another glutton besides Cleonymus? But why, if +he is Cleonymus, has he not thrown away his crest?(1) But what is the +meaning of all these crests? Have these birds come to contend for the +double stadium prize?(2) + +f(1) Cleonymus had cast away his shield; he was as great a glutton as he +was a coward. + +f(2) A race in which the track had to be circled twice. + +EPOPS They are like the Carians, who cling to the crests of their +mountains for greater safety.(1) + +f(1) A people of Asia Minor; when pursued by the Ionians they took +refuge in the mountains. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh, Posidon! do you see what swarms of birds are gathering +here? + +EUELPIDES By Phoebus! what a cloud! The entrance to the stage is no +longer visible, so closely do they fly together. + +PISTHETAERUS Here is the partridge. + +EUELPIDES Faith! there is the francolin. + +PISTHETAERUS There is the poachard. + +EUELPIDES Here is the kingfisher. And over yonder? + +EPOPS 'Tis the barber. + +EUELPIDES What? a bird a barber? + +PISTHETAERUS Why, Sporgilus is one.(1) Here comes the owl. + +f(1) An Athenian barber. + +EUELPIDES And who is it brings an owl to Athens?(1) + +f(1) The owl was dedicated to Athene, and being respected at Athens, +it had greatly multiplied. Hence the proverb, 'taking owls to Athens,' +similar to our English 'taking coals to Newcastle.' + +PISTHETAERUS Here is the magpie, the turtle-dove, the swallow, the +horned owl, the buzzard, the pigeon, the falcon, the ring-dove, the +cuckoo, the red-foot, the red-cap, the purple-cap, the kestrel, the +diver, the ousel, the osprey, the woodpecker. + +EUELPIDES Oh! oh! what a lot of birds! what a quantity of blackbirds! +how they scold, how they come rushing up! What a noise! what a noise! +Can they be bearing us ill-will? Oh! there! there! they are opening +their beaks and staring at us. + +PISTHETAERUS Why, so they are. + +CHORUS Popopopopopopopoi. Where is he who called me? Where am I to find +him? + +EPOPS I have been waiting for you this long while! I never fail in my +word to my friends. + +CHORUS Titititititititi. What good thing have you to tell me? + +EPOPS Something that concerns our common safety, and that is just as +pleasant as it is to the purpose. Two men, who are subtle reasoners, +have come here to seek me. + +CHORUS Where? What? What are you saying? + +EPOPS I say, two old men have come from the abode of men to propose a +vast and splendid scheme to us. + +CHORUS Oh! 'tis a horrible, unheard-of crime! What are you saying? + +EPOPS Nay! never let my words scare you. + +CHORUS What have you done then? + +EPOPS I have welcomed two men, who wish to live with us. + +CHORUS And you have dared to do that! + +EPOPS Aye, and am delighted at having done so. + +CHORUS Where are they? + +EPOPS In your midst, as I am. + +CHORUS Ah! ah! we are betrayed; 'tis sacrilege! Our friend, he who +picked up corn-seeds in the same plains as ourselves, has violated our +ancient laws; he has broken the oaths that bind all birds; he has laid a +snare for me, he has handed us over to the attacks of that impious race +which, throughout all time, has never ceased to war against us. As for +this traitorous bird, we will decide his case later, but the two old men +shall be punished forthwith; we are going to tear them to pieces. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis all over with us. + +EUELPIDES You are the sole cause of all our trouble. Why did you bring +me from down yonder? + +PISTHETAERUS To have you with me. + +EUELPIDES Say rather to have me melt into tears. + +PISTHETAERUS Go to! you are talking nonsense. + +EUELPIDES How so? + +PISTHETAERUS How will you be able to cry when once your eyes are pecked +out? + +CHORUS Io! io! forward to the attack, throw yourselves upon the foe, +spill his blood; take to your wings and surround them on all sides. Woe +to them! let us get to work with our beaks, let us devour them. Nothing +can save them from our wrath, neither the mountain forests, nor the +clouds that float in the sky, nor the foaming deep. Come, peck, tear +to ribbons. Where is the chief of the cohort? Let him engage the right +wing. + +EUELPIDES This is the fatal moment. Where shall I fly to, unfortunate +wretch that I am? + +PISTHETAERUS Stay! stop here! + +EUELPIDES That they may tear me to pieces? + +PISTHETAERUS And how do you think to escape them? + +EUELPIDES I don't know at all. + +PISTHETAERUS Come, I will tell you. We must stop and fight them. Let us +arm ourselves with these stew-pots. + +EUELPIDES Why with the stew-pots? + +PISTHETAERUS The owl will not attack us.(1) + +f(1) An allusion to the Feast of Pots; it was kept at Athens on the +third day of the Anthesteria, when all sorts of vegetables were stewed +together and offered for the dead to Bacchus and Athene. This Feast +was peculiar to Athens.--Hence Pisthetaerus thinks that the owl will +recognize they are Athenians by seeing the stew-pots, and as he is an +Athenian bird, he will not attack them. + +EUELPIDES But do you see all those hooked claws? + +PISTHETAERUS Seize the spit and pierce the foe on your side. + +EUELPIDES And how about my eyes? + +PISTHETAERUS Protect them with this dish or this vinegar-pot. + +EUELPIDES Oh! what cleverness! what inventive genius! You are a great +general, even greater than Nicias,(1) where stratagem is concerned. + +f(1) Nicias, the famous Athenian general.--The siege of Melos in 417 +B.C., or two years previous to the production of 'The Birds,' had +especially done him great credit. He was joint commander of the Sicilian +expedition. + +CHORUS Forward, forward, charge with your beaks! Come, no delay. Tear, +pluck, strike, flay them, and first of all smash the stew-pot. + +EPOPS Oh, most cruel of all animals, why tear these two men to pieces, +why kill them? What have they done to you? They belong to the same +tribe, to the same family as my wife.(1) + +f(1) Procne, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens. + +CHORUS Are wolves to be spared? Are they not our most mortal foes? So +let us punish them. + +EPOPS If they are your foes by nature, they are your friends in heart, +and they come here to give you useful advice. + +CHORUS Advice or a useful word from their lips, from them, the enemies +of my forebears! + +EPOPS The wise can often profit by the lessons of a foe, for caution is +the mother of safety. 'Tis just such a thing as one will not learn from +a friend and which an enemy compels you to know. To begin with, 'tis the +foe and not the friend that taught cities to build high walls, to equip +long vessels of war; and 'tis this knowledge that protects our children, +our slaves and our wealth. + +CHORUS Well then, I agree, let us first hear them, for 'tis best; one +can even learn something in an enemy's school. + +PISTHETAERUS Their wrath seems to cool. Draw back a little. + +EPOPS 'Tis only justice, and you will thank me later. + +CHORUS Never have we opposed your advice up to now. + +PISTHETAERUS They are in a more peaceful mood; put down your stew-pot +and your two dishes; spit in hand, doing duty for a spear, let us mount +guard inside the camp close to the pot and watch in our arsenal closely; +for we must not fly. + +EUELPIDES You are right. But where shall we be buried, if we die? + +PISTHETAERUS In the Ceramicus;(1) for, to get a public funeral, we shall +tell the Strategi that we fell at Orneae,(2) fighting the country's +foes. + +f(1) A space beyond the walls of Athens which contained the gardens of +the Academy and the graves of citizens who had died for their country. + +f(2) A town in Western Argolis, where the Athenians had been recently +defeated. The somewhat similar work in Greek signifies 'birds.' + +CHORUS Return to your ranks and lay down your courage beside your wrath +as the Hoplites do. Then let us ask these men who they are, whence they +come, and with what intent. Here, Epops, answer me. + +EPOPS Are you calling me? What do you want of me? + +CHORUS Who are they? From what country? + +EPOPS Strangers, who have come from Greece, the land of the wise. + +CHORUS And what fate has led them hither to the land of the birds? + +EPOPS Their love for you and their wish to share your kind of life; to +dwell and remain with you always. + +CHORUS Indeed, and what are their plans? + +EPOPS They are wonderful, incredible, unheard of. + +CHORUS Why, do they think to see some advantage that determines them to +settle here? Are they hoping with our help to triumph over their foes or +to be useful to their friends? + +EPOPS They speak of benefits so great it is impossible either to +describe or conceive them; all shall be yours, all that we see here, +there, above and below us; this they vouch for. + +CHORUS Are they mad? + +EPOPS They are the sanest people in the world. + +CHORUS Clever men? + +EPOPS The slyest of foxes, cleverness its very self, men of the world, +cunning, the cream of knowing folk. + +CHORUS Tell them to speak and speak quickly; why, as I listen to you, I +am beside myself with delight. + +EPOPS Here, you there, take all these weapons and hang them up inside +close to the fire, near the figure of the god who presides there and +under his protection;(1) as for you, address the birds, tell them why I +have gathered them together. + +f(1) Epops is addressing the two slaves, no doubt Xanthias and Manes, +who are mentioned later on. + +PISTHETAERUS Not I, by Apollo, unless they agree with me as the little +ape of an armourer agreed with his wife, not to bite me, nor pull me by +the parts, nor shove things up my... + +CHORUS You mean the...(PUTS FINGER TO BOTTOM) Oh! be quite at ease. + +PISTHETAERUS No, I mean my eyes. + +CHORUS Agreed. + +PISTHETAERUS Swear it. + +CHORUS I swear it and, if I keep my promise, let judges and spectators +give me the victory unanimously. + +PISTHETAERUS It is a bargain. + +CHORUS And if I break my word, may I succeed by one vote only. + +HERALD Hearken, ye people! Hoplites, pick up your weapons and return +to your firesides; do not fail to read the decrees of dismissal we have +posted. + +CHORUS Man is a truly cunning creature, but nevertheless explain. +Perhaps you are going to show me some good way to extend my power, +some way that I have not had the wit to find out and which you have +discovered. Speak! 'tis to your own interest as well as to mine, for if +you secure me some advantage, I will surely share it with you. But what +object can have induced you to come among us? Speak boldly, for I shall +not break the truce,--until you have told us all. + +PISTHETAERUS I am bursting with desire to speak; I have already mixed +the dough of my address and nothing prevents me from kneading it.... +Slave! bring the chaplet and water, which you must pour over my hands. +Be quick!(1) + +f(1) It was customary, when speaking in public and also at feasts, to +wear a chaplet; hence the question Euelpides puts.--The guests wore +chaplets of flowers, herbs, and leaves, which had the property of being +refreshing. + +EUELPIDES Is it a question of feasting? What does it all mean? + +PISTHETAERUS By Zeus, no! but I am hunting for fine, tasty words to +break down the hardness of their hearts.--I grieve so much for you, who +at one time were kings... + +CHORUS We kings! Over whom? + +PISTHETAERUS ...of all that exists, firstly of me and of this man, even +of Zeus himself. Your race is older than Saturn, the Titans and the +Earth. + +CHORUS What, older than the Earth! + +PISTHETAERUS By Phoebus, yes. + +CHORUS By Zeus, but I never knew that before! + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis because you are ignorant and heedless, and have never +read your Aesop. 'Tis he who tells us that the lark was born before all +other creatures, indeed before the Earth; his father died of sickness, +but the Earth did not exist then; he remained unburied for five days, +when the bird in its dilemma decided, for want of a better place, to +entomb its father in its own head. + +EUELPIDES So that the lark's father is buried at Cephalae.(1) + +f(1) A deme of Attica. In Greek the word also means 'heads,' and hence +the pun. + +EPOPS Hence, if we existed before the Earth, before the gods, the +kingship belongs to us by right of priority. + +EUELPIDES Undoubtedly, but sharpen your beak well; Zeus won't be in a +hurry to hand over his sceptre to the woodpecker. + +PISTHETAERUS It was not the gods, but the birds, who were formerly the +masters and kings over men; of this I have a thousand proofs. First of +all, I will point you to the cock, who governed the Persians before all +other monarchs, before Darius and Megabyzus.(1) 'Tis in memory of his +reign that he is called the Persian bird. + +f(1) One of Darius' best generals. After his expedition against the +Scythians, this prince gave him the command of the army which he left +in Europe. Megabyzus took Perinthos (afterwards called Heraclea) and +conquered Thrace. + +EUELPIDES For this reason also, even to-day, he alone of all the birds +wears his tiara straight on his head, like the Great King.(1) + +f(1) All Persians wore the tiara, but always on one side; the Great King +alone wore it straight on his head. + +PISTHETAERUS He was so strong, so great, so feared, that even now, on +account of his ancient power, everyone jumps out of bed as soon as +ever he crows at daybreak. Blacksmiths, potters, tanners, shoemakers, +bathmen, corn-dealers, lyre-makers and armourers, all put on their shoes +and go to work before it is daylight. + +EUELPIDES I can tell you something about that. 'Twas the cock's fault +that I lost a splendid tunic of Phrygian wool. I was at a feast in town, +given to celebrate the birth of a child; I had drunk pretty freely and +had just fallen asleep, when a cock, I suppose in a greater hurry +than the rest, began to crow. I thought it was dawn and set out for +Alimos.(1) I had hardly got beyond the walls, when a footpad struck me +in the back with his bludgeon; down I went and wanted to shout, but he +had already made off with my mantle. + +f(1) Noted as the birthplace of Thucydides, a deme of Attica of the +tribe of Leontis. Demosthenes tells us it was thirty-five stadia from +Athens. + +PISTHETAERUS Formerly also the kite was ruler and king over the Greeks. + +EPOPS The Greeks? + +PISTHETAERUS And when he was king, 'twas he who first taught them to +fall on their knees before the kites.(1) + +f(1) The appearance of the kite in Greece betokened the return of +springtime; it was therefore worshipped as a symbol of that season. + +EUELPIDES By Zeus! 'tis what I did myself one day on seeing a kite; but +at the moment I was on my knees, and leaning backwards(1) with mouth +agape, I bolted an obolus and was forced to carry my bag home empty.(2) + +f(1) To look at the kite, who no doubt was flying high in the sky. + +f(2) As already shown, the Athenians were addicted to carrying small +coins in their mouths.--This obolus was for the purpose of buying flour +to fill the bag he was carrying + +PISTHETAERUS The cuckoo was king of Egypt and of the whole of Phoenicia. +When he called out "cuckoo," all the Phoenicians hurried to the fields +to reap their wheat and their barley.(1) + +f(1) In Phoenicia and Egypt the cuckoo makes its appearance about +harvest-time. + +EUELPIDES Hence no doubt the proverb, "Cuckoo! cuckoo! go to the fields, +ye circumcised."(1) + +f(1) This was an Egyptian proverb, meaning, 'When the cuckoo sings we +go harvesting.' Both the Phoenicians and the Egyptians practised +circumcision. + +PISTHETAERUS So powerful were the birds that the kings of Grecian +cities, Agamemnon, Menelaus, for instance, carried a bird on the tip of +their sceptres, who had his share of all presents.(1) + +f(1) The staff, called a sceptre, generally terminated in a piece of +carved work, representing a flower, a fruit, and most often a bird. + +EUELPIDES That I didn't know and was much astonished when I saw Priam +come upon the stage in the tragedies with a bird, which kept watching +Lysicrates(1) to see if he got any present. + +f(1) A general accused of treachery. The bird watches Lysicrates, +because, according to Pisthetaerus, he had a right to a share of the +presents. + +PISTHETAERUS But the strongest proof of all is, that Zeus, who now +reigns, is represented as standing with an eagle on his head as a symbol +of his royalty;(1) his daughter has an owl, and Phoebus, as his servant, +has a hawk. + +f(1) It is thus that Phidias represents his Olympian Zeus. + +EUELPIDES By Demeter, 'tis well spoken. But what are all these birds +doing in heaven? + +PISTHETAERUS When anyone sacrifices and, according to the rite, offers +the entrails to the gods, these birds take their share before Zeus. +Formerly men always swore by the birds and never by the gods; even now +Lampon(1) swears by the goose, when he wants to lie....Thus 'tis clear +that you were great and sacred, but now you are looked upon as slaves, +as fools, as Helots; stones are thrown at you as at raving madmen, even +in holy places. A crowd of bird-catchers sets snares, traps, limed-twigs +and nets of all sorts for you; you are caught, you are sold in heaps +and the buyers finger you over to be certain you are fat. Again, if +they would but serve you up simply roasted; but they rasp cheese into a +mixture of oil, vinegar and laserwort, to which another sweet and greasy +sauce is added, and the whole is poured scalding hot over your back, for +all the world as if you were diseased meat. + +f(1) One of the diviners sent to Sybaris (in Magna Graecia, S. Italy) +with the Athenian colonists, who rebuilt the town under the new name of +Thurium. + +CHORUS Man, your words have made my heart bleed; I have groaned over the +treachery of our fathers, who knew not how to transmit to us the high +rank they held from their forefathers. But 'tis a benevolent Genius, a +happy Fate, that sends you to us; you shall be our deliverer and I +place the destiny of my little ones and my own in your hands with every +confidence. But hasten to tell me what must be done; we should not +be worthy to live, if we did not seek to regain our royalty by every +possible means. + +PISTHETAERUS First I advise that the birds gather together in one city +and that they build a wall of great bricks, like that at Babylon, round +the plains of the air and the whole region of space that divides earth +from heaven. + +EPOPS Oh, Cebriones! oh, Porphyrion!(1) what a terribly strong place! + +f(1) As if he were saying, "Oh, gods!" Like Lampon, he swears by the +birds, instead of swearing by the gods.--The names of these birds are +those of two of the Titans. + +PISTHETAERUS Th(en), this being well done and completed, you demand back +the empire from Zeus; if he will not agree, if he refuses and does not +at once confess himself beaten, you declare a sacred war against him and +forbid the gods henceforward to pass through your country with lust, as +hitherto, for the purpose of fondling their Alcmenas, their Alopes, or +their Semeles!(1) if they try to pass through, you infibulate them with +rings so that they can work no longer. You send another messenger to +mankind, who will proclaim to them that the birds are kings, that for +the future they must first of all sacrifice to them, and only afterwards +to the gods; that it is fitting to appoint to each deity the bird +that has most in common with it. For instance, are they sacrificing to +Aphrodite, let them at the same time offer barley to the coot; are they +immolating a sheep to Posidon, let them consecrate wheat in honour of +the duck;(2) is a steer being offered to Heracles, let honey-cakes be +dedicated to the gull;(3) is a goat being slain for King Zeus, there is +a King-Bird, the wren,(4) to whom the sacrifice of a male gnat is due +before Zeus himself even. + +f(1) Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, King of Thebes and mother of +Heracles.--Semele, the daughter of Cadmus and Hermione and mother of +Bacchus; both seduced by Zeus.--Alope, daughter of Cercyon, a robber, +who reigned at Eleusis and was conquered by Perseus. Alope was honoured +with Posidon's caresses; by him she had a son named Hippothous, at first +brought up by shepherds but who afterwards was restored to the throne of +his grandfather by Theseus. + +f(2) Because water is the duck's domain, as it is that of Posidon. + +f(3) Because the gull, like Heracles, is voracious. + +f(4) The Germans still call it 'Zaunkonig' and the French 'roitelet,' +both names thus containing the idea of 'king.' + +EUELPIDES This notion of an immolated gnat delights me! And now let the +great Zeus thunder! + +EPOPS But how will mankind recognize us as gods and not as jays? Us, who +have wings and fly? + +PISTHETAERUS You talk rubbish! Hermes is a god and has wings and flies, +and so do many other gods. First of all, Victory flies with golden +wings, Eros is undoubtedly winged too, and Iris is compared by Homer to +a timorous dove.(1) If men in their blindness do not recognize you as +gods and continue to worship the dwellers in Olympus, then a cloud of +sparrows greedy for corn must descend upon their fields and eat up all +their seeds; we shall see then if Demeter will mete them out any wheat. + + +f(1) The scholiast draws our attention to the fact that Homer says this +of Here and not of Iris (Iliad, V, 778); it is only another proof that +the text of Homer has reached us in a corrupted form, or it may be that +Aristophanes was liable, like other people, to occasional mistakes of +quotation. + +EUELPIDES By Zeus, she'll take good care she does not, and you will see +her inventing a thousand excuses. + +PISTHETAERUS The crows too will prove your divinity to them by pecking +out the eyes of their flocks and of their draught-oxen; and then +let Apollo cure them, since he is a physician and is paid for the +purpose.(1) + + +f(1) In sacrifices. + +EUELPIDES Oh! don't do that! Wait first until I have sold my two young +bullocks. + +PISTHETAERUS If on the other hand they recognize that you are God, the +principle of life, that you are Earth, Saturn, Posidon, they shall be +loaded with benefits. + +EPOPS Name me one of these then. + +PISTHETAERUS Firstly, the locusts shall not eat up their vine-blossoms; +a legion of owls and kestrels will devour them. Moreover, the gnats and +the gall-bugs shall no longer ravage the figs; a flock of thrushes shall +swallow the whole host down to the very last. + +EPOPS And how shall we give wealth to mankind? This is their strongest +passion. + +PISTHETAERUS When they consult the omens, you will point them to the +richest mines, you will reveal the paying ventures to the diviner, and +not another shipwreck will happen or sailor perish. + +EPOPS No more shall perish? How is that? + +PISTHETAERUS When the auguries are examined before starting on a voyage, +some bird will not fail to say, "Don't start! there will be a storm," or +else, "Go! you will make a most profitable venture." + +EUELPIDES I shall buy a trading-vessel and go to sea, I will not stay +with you. + +PISTHETAERUS You will discover treasures to them, which were buried in +former times, for you know them. Do not all men say, "None knows where +my treasure lies, unless perchance it be some bird."(1) + + +f(1) An Athenian proverb. + +EUELPIDES I shall sell my boat and buy a spade to unearth the vessels. + +EPOPS And how are we to give them health, which belongs to the gods? + +PISTHETAERUS If they are happy, is not that the chief thing towards +health? The miserable man is never well. + +EPOPS Old Age also dwells in Olympus. How will they get at it? Must they +die in early youth? + +PISTHETAERUS Why, the birds, by Zeus, will add three hundred years to +their life. + +EPOPS From whom will they take them? + +PISTHETAERUS From whom? Why, from themselves. Don't you know the cawing +crow lives five times as long as a man? + +EUELPIDES Ah! ah! these are far better kings for us than Zeus! + +PISTHETAERUS Far better, are they not? And firstly, we shall not have to +build them temples of hewn stone, closed with gates of gold; they will +dwell amongst the bushes and in the thickets of green oak; the most +venerated of birds will have no other temple than the foliage of the +olive tree; we shall not go to Delphi or to Ammon to sacrifice;(1) but +standing erect in the midst of arbutus and wild olives and holding forth +our hands filled with wheat and barley, we shall pray them to admit us +to a share of the blessings they enjoy and shall at once obtain them for +a few grains of wheat. + + +f(1) A celebrated temple to Zeus in an oasis of Libya. + +CHORUS Old man, whom I detested, you are now to me the dearest of all; +never shall I, if I can help it, fail to follow your advice. Inspirited +by your words, I threaten my rivals the gods, and I swear that if you +march in alliance with me against the gods and are faithful to our just, +loyal and sacred bond, we shall soon have shattered their sceptre. 'Tis +our part to undertake the toil, 'tis yours to advise. + +EPOPS By Zeus! 'tis no longer the time to delay and loiter like +Nicias;(1) let us act as promptly as possible.... In the first place, +come, enter my nest built of brushwood and blades of straw, and tell me +your names. + + +f(1) Nicias was commander, along with Demosthenes, and later on +Alcibiades, of the Athenian forces before Syracuse, in the ill-fated +Sicilian Expedition, 415-413 B.C. He was much blamed for dilatoriness +and indecision. + +PISTHETAERUS That is soon done; my name is Pisthetaerus. + +EPOPS And his? + +PISTHETAERUS Euelpides, of the deme of Thria. + +EPOPS Good! and good luck to you. + +PISTHETAERUS We accept the omen. + +EPOPS Come in here. + +PISTHETAERUS Very well, 'tis you who lead us and must introduce us. + +EPOPS Come then. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! my god! do come back here. Hi! tell us how we are to +follow you. You can fly, but we cannot. + +EPOPS Well, well. + +PISTHETAERUS Remember Aesop's fables. It is told there, that the fox +fared very ill, because he had made an alliance with the eagle. + +EPOPS Be at ease. You shall eat a certain root and wings will grow on +your shoulders. + +PISTHETAERUS Then let us enter. Xanthias and Manes,(1) pick up our +baggage. + + +f(1) Servants of Pisthetaerus and Euelpides. + +CHORUS Hi! Epops! do you hear me? + +EPOPS What's the matter? + +CHORUS Take them off to dine well and call your mate, the melodious +Procne, whose songs are worthy of the Muses; she will delight our +leisure moments. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! I conjure you, accede to their wish; for this +delightful bird will leave her rushes at the sound of your voice; for +the sake of the gods, let her come here, so that we may contemplate the +nightingale.(1) + + +f(1) It has already been mentioned that, according to the legend +followed by Aristophanes, Procne had been changed into a nightingale and +Philomela into a swallow. + +EPOPS Let it be as you desire. Come forth, Procne, show yourself to +these strangers. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! great Zeus! what a beautiful little bird! what a dainty +form! what brilliant plumage!(1) + + +f(1) The actor, representing Procne, was dressed out as a courtesan, but +wore a mask of a bird. + +EUELPIDES Do you know how dearly I should like to splint her legs for +her? + +PISTHETAERUS She is dazzling all over with gold, like a young girl.(1) + + +f(1) Young unmarried girls wore golden ornaments; the apparel of married +women was much simpler. + +EUELPIDES Oh! how I should like to kiss her! + +PISTHETAERUS Why, wretched man, she has two little sharp points on her +beak! + +EUELPIDES I would treat her like an egg, the shell of which we remove +before eating it; I would take off her mask and then kiss her pretty +face. + +EPOPS Let us go in. + +PISTHETAERUS Lead the way, and may success attend us. + +CHORUS Lovable golden bird, whom I cherish above all others, you, whom I +associate with all my songs, nightingale, you have come, you have come, +to show yourself to me and to charm me with your notes. Come, you, +who play spring melodies upon the harmonious flute,(1) lead off our +anapaests.(2) + +Weak mortals, chained to the earth, creatures of clay as frail as the +foliage of the woods, you unfortunate race, whose life is but darkness, +as unreal as a shadow, the illusion of a dream, hearken to us, who +are immortal beings, ethereal, ever young and occupied with eternal +thoughts, for we shall teach you about all celestial matters; you shall +know thoroughly what is the nature of the birds, what the origin of +the gods, of the rivers, of Erebus, and Chaos; thanks to us, even +Prodicus(3) will envy you your knowledge. + +At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night, dark Erebus, and +deep Tartarus. Earth, the air and heaven had no existence. Firstly, +black-winged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom of the infinite +deeps of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution of long ages, +sprang the graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings, swift as the +whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus with dark Chaos, +winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, which was the +first to see the light. That of the Immortals did not exist until Eros +had brought together all the ingredients of the world, and from their +marriage Heaven, Ocean, Earth and the imperishable race of blessed gods +sprang into being. Thus our origin is very much older than that of the +dwellers in Olympus. We are the offspring of Eros; there are a thousand +proofs to show it. We have wings and we lend assistance to lovers. How +many handsome youths, who had sworn to remain insensible, have not been +vanquished by our power and have yielded themselves to their lovers when +almost at the end of their youth, being led away by the gift of a quail, +a waterfowl, a goose, or a cock.(4) + +And what important services do not the birds render to mortals! First +of all, they mark the seasons for them, springtime, winter, and autumn. +Does the screaming crane migrate to Libya,--it warns the husbandman +to sow, the pilot to take his ease beside his tiller hung up in his +dwelling,(5) and Orestes(6) to weave a tunic, so that the rigorous cold +may not drive him any more to strip other folk. When the kite reappears, +he tells of the return of spring and of the period when the fleece of +the sheep must be clipped. Is the swallow in sight? All hasten to sell +their warm tunic and to buy some light clothing. We are your Ammon, +Delphi, Dodona, your Phoebus Apollo.(7) Before undertaking anything, +whether a business transaction, a marriage, or the purchase of food, +you consult the birds by reading the omens, and you give this name of +omen(8) to all signs that tell of the future. With you a word is an +omen, you call a sneeze an omen, a meeting an omen, an unknown sound +an omen, a slave or an ass an omen.(9) Is it not clear that we are a +prophetic Apollo to you? If you recognize us as gods, we shall be your +divining Muses, through us you will know the winds and the seasons, +summer, winter, and the temperate months. We shall not withdraw +ourselves to the highest clouds like Zeus, but shall be among you +and shall give to you and to your children and the children of your +children, health and wealth, long life, peace, youth, laughter, songs +and feasts; in short, you will all be so well off, that you will be +weary and satiated with enjoyment. + +Oh, rustic Muse of such varied note, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, I sing +with you in the groves and on the mountain tops, tio, tio, tio, tio, +tiotinx.(10) I poured forth sacred strains from my golden throat in +honour of the god Pan,(11) tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, from the top of the +thickly leaved ash, and my voice mingles with the mighty choirs who +extol Cybele on the mountain tops,(12) tototototototototinx. 'Tis to our +concerts that Phrynichus comes to pillage like a bee the ambrosia of +his songs, the sweetness of which so charms the ear, tio, tio, tio, tio, +tinx. + +If there be one of you spectators who wishes to spend the rest of +his life quietly among the birds, let him come to us. All that is +disgraceful and forbidden by law on earth is on the contrary honourable +among us, the birds. For instance, among you 'tis a crime to beat your +father, but with us 'tis an estimable deed; it's considered fine to run +straight at your father and hit him, saying, "Come, lift your spur if +you want to fight."(13) The runaway slave, whom you brand, is only a +spotted francolin with us.(14) Are you Phrygian like Spintharus?(15) +Among us you would be the Phrygian bird, the goldfinch, of the race of +Philemon.(16) Are you a slave and a Carian like Execestides? Among us +you can create yourself fore-fathers;(17) you can always find relations. +Does the son of Pisias want to betray the gates of the city to the foe? +Let him become a partridge, the fitting offspring of his father; among +us there is no shame in escaping as cleverly as a partridge. + +So the swans on the banks of the Hebrus, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, +mingle their voices to serenade Apollo, tio, tio, tio, tio. tiotinx, +flapping their wings the while, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx; their notes +reach beyond the clouds of heaven; all the dwellers in the forest stand +still with astonishment and delight; a calm rests upon the waters, and +the Graces and the choirs in Olympus catch up the strain, tio, tio, tio, +tio, tiotinx. + +There is nothing more useful nor more pleasant than to have wings. To +begin with, just let us suppose a spectator to be dying with hunger and +to be weary of the choruses of the tragic poets; if he were winged, he +would fly off, go home to dine and come back with his stomach filled. +Some Patroclides in urgent need would not have to soil his cloak, but +could fly off, satisfy his requirements, and, having recovered his +breath, return. If one of you, it matters not who, had adulterous +relations and saw the husband of his mistress in the seats of the +senators, he might stretch his wings, fly thither, and, having appeased +his craving, resume his place. Is it not the most priceless gift of all, +to be winged? Look at Diitrephes!(18) His wings were only wicker-work +ones, and yet he got himself chosen Phylarch and then Hipparch; from +being nobody, he has risen to be famous; 'tis now the finest gilded cock +of his tribe.(19) + + +f(1) The actor, representing Procne, was a flute-player. + +f(2) The parabasis. + +f(3) A sophist of the island of Ceos, a disciple of Protagoras, as +celebrated for his knowledge as for his eloquence. The Athenians +condemned him to death as a corrupter of youth in 396 B.C. + + +f(4) Lovers were wont to make each other presents of birds. The cock and +the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest. + +f(5) i.e. that it gave notice of the approach of winter, during which +season the Ancients did not venture to sea. + +f(6) A notorious robber. + +f(7) Meaning, "We are your oracles." --Dodona was an oracle in +Epirus.--The temple of Zeus there was surrounded by a dense forest, +all the trees of which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; both the +sacred oaks and the pigeons that lived in them answered the questions of +those who came to consult the oracle in pure Greek. + +f(8) The Greek word for 'omen' is the same as that for 'bird.' + +f(9) A satire on the passion of the Greeks for seeing an omen in +everything. + +f(10) An imitation of the nightingale's song. + +f(11) God of the groves and wilds. + +f(12) The 'Mother of the Gods'; roaming the mountains, she held dances, +always attended by Pan and his accompanying rout of Fauns and Satyrs. + +f(13) An allusion to cock-fighting; the birds are armed with brazen +spurs. + +f(14) An allusion to the spots on this bird, which resemble the scars +left by a branding iron. + +f(15) He was of Asiatic origin, but wished to pass for an Athenian. + +f(16) Or Philamnon, King of Thrace; the scholiast remarks that the +Phrygians and the Thracians had a common origin. + +f(17) The Greek word here is also the name of a little bird. + +f(18) A basket-maker who had become rich.--The Phylarchs were the +headmen of the tribes. They presided at the private assemblies and were +charged with the management of the treasury.--The Hipparchs, as the name +implies, were the leaders of the cavalry; there were only two of these +in the Athenian army. + +f(19) He had become a senator. + +PISTHETAERUS Halloa! What's this? By Zeus! I never saw anything so funny +in all my life.(1) + + +f(1) Pisthetaerus and Euelpides now both return with wings. + +EUELPIDES What makes you laugh? + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis your bits of wings. D'you know what you look like? +Like a goose painted by some dauber-fellow. + +EUELPIDES And you look like a close-shaven blackbird. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis ourselves asked for this transformation, and, as +Aeschylus has it, "These are no borrowed feathers, but truly our +own."(1) + + +f(1) Meaning, 'tis we who wanted to have these wings.--The verse from +Aeschylus, quoted here, is taken from 'The Myrmidons,' a tragedy of +which only a few fragments remain. + +EPOPS Come now, what must be done? + +PISTHETAERUS First give our city a great and famous name, then sacrifice +to the gods. + +EUELPIDES I think so too. + +EPOPS Let's see. What shall our city be called? + +PISTHETAERUS Will you have a high-sounding Laconian name? Shall we call +it Sparta? + +EUELPIDES What! call my town Sparta? Why, I would not use esparto for my +bed,(1) even though I had nothing but bands of rushes. + + +f(1) The Greek word signified the city of Sparta, and also a kind of +broom used for weaving rough matting, which served for the beds of the +very poor. + +PISTHETAERUS Well then, what name can you suggest? + +EUELPIDES Some name borrowed from the clouds, from these lofty regions +in which we dwell--in short, some well-known name. + +PISTHETAERUS Do you like Nephelococcygia?(1) + + +f(1) A fanciful name constructed from (the word for) a cloud, +and (the word for) a cuckoo; thus a city of clouds and +cuckoos.--'Wolkenkukelheim' is a clever approximation in German. +Cloud-cuckoo-town, perhaps, is the best English equivalent. + +EPOPS Oh! capital! truly 'tis a brilliant thought! + +EUELPIDES Is it in Nephelococcygia that all the wealth of Theovenes(1) +and most of Aeschines'(2) is? + + +f(1) He was a boaster nicknamed 'smoke,' because he promised a great +deal and never kept his word. + +f(2) Also mentioned in 'The Wasps.' + +PISTHETAERUS No, 'tis rather the plain of Phlegra,(1) where the gods +withered the pride of the sons of the Earth with their shafts. + + +f(1) Because the war of the Titans against the gods was only a fiction +of the poets. + +EUELPIDES Oh! what a splendid city! But what god shall be its patron? +for whom shall we weave the peplus?(1) + + +f(1) A sacred cloth, with which the statue of Athene in the Acropolis +was draped. + +PISTHETAERUS Why not choose Athene Polias?(1) + + +f(1) Meaning, to be patron-goddess of the city. Athene had a temple of +this name. + +EUELPIDES Oh! what a well-ordered town 'twould be to have a female deity +armed from head to foot, while Clisthenes(1) was spinning! + + +f(1) An Athenian effeminate, frequently ridiculed by Aristophanes. + +PISTHETAERUS Who then shall guard the Pelargicon?(1) + + +f(1) This was the name of the wall surrounding the Acropolis. + +EPOPS One of us, a bird of Persian strain, who is everywhere proclaimed +to be the bravest of all, a true chick of Ares.(1) + + +f(1) i.e. the fighting cock. + +EUELPIDES Oh! noble chick! What a well-chosen god for a rocky home! + +PISTHETAERUS Come! into the air with you to help the workers who are +building the wall; carry up rubble, strip yourself to mix the mortar, +take up the hod, tumble down the ladder, an you like, post sentinels, +keep the fire smouldering beneath the ashes, go round the walls, bell in +hand,(1) and go to sleep up there yourself; then d(i)spatch two heralds, +one to the gods above, the other to mankind on earth and come back here. + + +f(1) To waken the sentinels, who might else have fallen asleep.--There +are several merry contradictions in the various parts of this list of +injunctions. + +EUELPIDES As for yourself, remain here, and may the plague take you for +a troublesome fellow! + +PISTHETAERUS Go, friend, go where I send you, for without you my orders +cannot be obeyed. For myself, I want to sacrifice to the new god, and I +am going to summon the priest who must preside at the ceremony. Slaves! +slaves! bring forward the basket and the lustral water. + +CHORUS I do as you do, and I wish as you wish, and I implore you to +address powerful and solemn prayers to the gods, and in addition to +immolate a sheep as a token of our gratitude. Let us sing the Pythian +chant in honour of the god, and let Chaeris accompany our voices. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO THE FLUTE-PLAYER) Enough! but, by Heracles! what is +this? Great gods! I have seen many prodigious things, but I never saw a +muzzled raven.(1) + + +f(1) In allusion to the leather strap which flute-players wore to +constrict the cheeks and add to the power of the breath. The performer +here no doubt wore a raven's mask. + +EPOPS Priest! 'tis high time! Sacrifice to the new gods. + +PRIEST I begin, but where is he with the basket? Pray to the Vesta of +the birds, to the kite, who presides over the hearth, and to all the god +and goddess-birds who dwell in Olympus. + +CHORUS Oh! Hawk, the sacred guardian of Sunium, oh, god of the storks! + +PRIEST Pray to the swan of Delos, to Latona the mother of the quails, +and to Artemis, the goldfinch. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis no longer Artemis Colaenis, but Artemis the +goldfinch.(1) + + +f(1) Hellanicus, the Mitylenian historian, tells that this surname of +Artemis is derived from Colaenus, King of Athens before Cecrops and a +descendant of Hermes. In obedience to an oracle he erected a temple to +the goddess, invoking her as Artemis Colaenis (the Artemis of Colaenus). + +PRIEST And to Bacchus, the finch and Cybele, the ostrich and mother of +the gods and mankind. + +CHORUS Oh! sovereign ostrich, Cybele, The mother of Cleocritus,(1) grant +health and safety to the Nephelococcygians as well as to the dwellers in +Chios... + + +f(1) This Cleocritus, says the scholiast, was long-necked and strutted +like an ostrich. + +PISTHETAERUS The dwellers in Chios! Ah! I am delighted they should be +thus mentioned on all occasions.(1) + + +f(1) The Chians were the most faithful allies of Athens, and hence their +name was always mentioned in prayers, decrees, etc. + +CHORUS ...to the heroes, the birds, to the sons of heroes, to the +porphyrion, the pelican, the spoon-bill, the redbreast, the grouse, the +peacock, the horned-owl, the teal, the bittern, the heron, the stormy +petrel, the fig-pecker, the titmouse... + +PISTHETAERUS Stop! stop! you drive me crazy with your endless list. +Why, wretch, to what sacred feast are you inviting the vultures and the +sea-eagles? Don't you see that a single kite could easily carry off the +lot at once? Begone, you and your fillets and all; I shall know how to +complete the sacrifice by myself. + +PRIEST It is imperative that I sing another sacred chant for the rite of +the lustral water, and that I invoke the immortals, or at least one of +them, provided always that you have some suitable food to offer him; +from what I see here, in the shape of gifts, there is naught whatever +but horn and hair. + +PISTHETAERUS Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged +gods. + +A POET Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns. + +PISTHETAERUS What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who +are you? + +POET I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave of +the Muses, as Homer has it. + +PISTHETAERUS You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long? + +POET No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves of the +Muses, according to Homer. + +PISTHETAERUS In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! +But, poet, what ill wind drove you here? + +POET I have composed verses in honour of your Nephelococcygia, a host of +splendid dithyrambs and parthenians(1) worthy of Simonides himself. + + +f(1) Verses sung by maidens. + +PISTHETAERUS And when did you compose them? How long since? + +POET Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honour of this +city. + +PISTHETAERUS But I am only celebrating its foundation with this +sacrifice;(1) I have only just named it, as is done with little babies. + + +f(1) This ceremony took place on the tenth day after birth, and may be +styled the pagan baptism. + +POET "Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does the +voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of the town +of Aetna,(1) thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices,(2) make us +such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest." + + +f(1) Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse.--This passage is borrowed from Pindar. + + +f(2) (Hiero) in Greek means 'sacrifice.' + +PISTHETAERUS He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some +present. Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off +and give it to this clever poet. Come, take this fur; you look to me to +be shivering with cold. + +POET My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses of +Pindar's on your mind. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! what a pest! 'Tis impossible then to be rid of him! + +POET "Straton wanders among the Scythian nomads, but has no linen +garment. He is sad at only wearing an animal's pelt and no tunic." Do +you conceive my bent? + +PISTHETAERUS I understand that you want me to offer you a tunic. Hi! +you (TO EUELPIDES), take off yours; we must help the poet.... Come, you, +take it and begone. + +POET I am going, and these are the verses that I address to this city: +"Phoebus of the golden throne, celebrate this shivery, freezing city; +I have travelled through fruitful and snow-covered plains. Tralala! +Tralala!"(1) + + +f(1) A parody of poetic pathos, not to say bathos. + +PISTHETAERUS What are you chanting us about frosts? Thanks to the tunic, +you no longer fear them. Ah! by Zeus! I could not have believed this +cursed fellow could so soon have learnt the way to our city. Come, +priest, take the lustral water and circle the altar. + +PRIEST Let all keep silence! + +A PROPHET Let not the goat be sacrificed.(1) + + +f(1) Which the priest was preparing to sacrifice. + +PISTHETAERUS Who are you? + +PROPHET Who am I? A prophet. + +PISTHETAERUS Get you gone. + +PROPHET Wretched man, insult not sacred things. For there is an oracle +of Bacis, which exactly applies to Nephelococcygia. + +PISTHETAERUS Why did you not reveal it to me before I founded my city? + +PROPHET The divine spirit was against it. + +PISTHETAERUS Well, 'tis best to know the terms of the oracle. + +PROPHET "But when the wolves and the white crows shall dwell together +between Corinth and Sicyon..." + +PISTHETAERUS But how do the Corinthians concern me? + +PROPHET 'Tis the regions of the air that Bacis indicated in this manner. +"They must first sacrifice a white-fleeced goat to Pandora, and give the +prophet, who first reveals my words, a good cloak and new sandals." + +PISTHETAERUS Are the sandals there? + +PROPHET Read. "And besides this a goblet of wine and a good share of the +entrails of the victim." + +PISTHETAERUS Of the entrails--is it so written? + +PROPHET Read. "If you do as I command, divine youth, you shall be an +eagle among the clouds; if not, you shall be neither turtle-dove, nor +eagle, nor woodpecker." + +PISTHETAERUS Is all that there? + +PROPHET Read. + +PISTHETAERUS This oracle in no sort of way resembles the one Apollo +dictated to me: "If an impostor comes without invitation to annoy you +during the sacrifice and to demand a share of the victim, apply a stout +stick to his ribs." + +PROPHET You are drivelling. + +PISTHETAERUS "And don't spare him, were he an eagle from out of the +clouds, were it Lampon(1) himself or the great Diopithes."(2) + + +f(1) Noted Athenian diviner, who, when the power was still shared +between Thucydides and Pericles, predicted that it would soon be centred +in the hands of the latter; his ground for this prophecy was the sight +of a ram with a single horn. + +f(2) No doubt another Athenian diviner, and possibly the same person +whom Aristophanes names in 'The Knights' and 'The Wasps' as being a +thief. + +PROPHET Is all that there? + +PISTHETAERUS Here, read it yourself, and go and hang yourself. + +PROPHET Oh! unfortunate wretch that I am. + +PISTHETAERUS Away with you, and take your prophecies elsewhere. + +METON(1) I have come to you. + + +f(1) A celebrated geometrician and astronomer. + +PISTHETAERUS Yet another pest! What have you come to do? What's your +plan? What's the purpose of your journey? Why these splendid buskins? + +METON I want to survey the plains of the air for you and to parcel them +into lots. + +PISTHETAERUS In the name of the gods, who are you? + +METON Who am I? Meton, known throughout Greece and at Colonus.(1) + + +f(1) A deme contiguous to Athens. It is as though he said, "Well known +throughout all England and at Croydon. + +PISTHETAERUS What are these things? + +METON Tools for measuring the air. In truth, the spaces in the air have +precisely the form of a furnace. With this bent ruler I draw a line +from top to bottom; from one of its points I describe a circle with the +compass. Do you understand? + +PISTHETAERUS Not the very least. + +METON With the straight ruler I set to work to inscribe a square within +this circle; in its centre will be the market-place, into which all +the straight streets will lead, converging to this centre like a star, +which, although only orbicular, sends forth its rays in a straight line +from all sides. + +PISTHETAERUS Meton, you new Thales...(1) + + +f(1) Thales was no less famous as a geometrician than he was as a sage. + +METON What d'you want with me? + +PISTHETAERUS I want to give you a proof of my friendship. Use your legs. + +METON Why, what have I to fear? + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis the same here as in Sparta. Strangers are driven away, +and blows rain down as thick as hail. + +METON Is there sedition in your city? + +PISTHETAERUS No, certainly not. + +METON What's wrong then? + +PISTHETAERUS We are agreed to sweep all quacks and impostors far from +our borders. + +METON Then I'm off. + +PISTHETAERUS I fear 'tis too late. The thunder growls already. (BEATS +HIM.) + +METON Oh, woe! oh, woe! + +PISTHETAERUS I warned you. Now, be off, and do your surveying somewhere +else. (METON TAKES TO HIS HEELS.) + +AN INSPECTOR Where are the Proxeni?(1) + + +f(1) Officers of Athens, whose duty was to protect strangers who came on +political or other business, and see to their interests generally. + +PISTHETAERUS Who is this Sardanapalus?(1) + + +f(1) He addresses the inspector thus because of the royal and +magnificent manners he assumes. + +INSPECTOR I have been appointed by lot to come to Nephelococcygia as +inspector.(1) + + +f(1) Magistrates appointed to inspect the tributary towns. + +PISTHETAERUS An inspector! and who sends you here, you rascal? + +INSPECTOR A decree of T(e)leas.(1) + + +f(1) A much-despised citizen, already mentioned. He ironically supposes +him invested with the powers of an Archon, which ordinarily were +entrusted only to men of good repute. + +PISTHETAERUS Will you just pocket your salary, do nothing, and be off? + +INSPECTOR I' faith! that I will; I am urgently needed to be at Athens +to attend the assembly; for I am charged with the interests of +Pharnaces.(1) + + +f(1) A Persian satrap.--An allusion to certain orators, who, bribed with +Asiatic gold, had often defended the interests of the foe in the Public +Assembly. + +PISTHETAERUS Take it then, and be off. See, here is your salary. (BEATS +HIM.) + +INSPECTOR What does this mean? + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis the assembly where you have to defend Pharnaces. + +INSPECTOR You shall testify that they dare to strike me, the inspector. + +PISTHETAERUS Are you not going to clear out with your urns? 'Tis not +to be believed; they send us inspectors before we have so much as paid +sacrifice to the gods. + +A DEALER IN DECREES "If the Nephelococcygian does wrong to the +Athenian..." + +PISTHETAERUS Now whatever are these cursed parchments? + +DEALER IN DECREES I am a dealer in decrees, and I have come here to sell +you the new laws. + +PISTHETAERUS Which? + +DEALER IN DECREES "The Nephelococcygians shall adopt the same weights, +measures and decrees as the Olophyxians."(1) + + +f(1) A Macedonian people in the peninsula of Chalcidice. This name is +chosen because of its similarity to the Greek word (for) 'to groan.' It +is from another verb, meaning the same thing, that Pisthetaerus coins +the name of Ototyxians, i.e. groaners, because he is about to beat the +dealer.--The mother-country had the right to impose any law it chose +upon its colonies. + +PISTHETAERUS And you shall soon be imitating the Ototyxians. (BEATS +HIM.) + +DEALER IN DECREES Hullo! what are you doing? + +PISTHETAERUS Now will you be off with your decrees? For I am going to +let YOU see some severe ones. + +INSPECTOR (RETURNING) I summon Pisthetaerus for outrage for the month of +Munychion.(1) + + +f(1) Corresponding to our month of April. + +PISTHETAERUS Ha! my friend! are you still there? + +DEALER IN DECREES "Should anyone drive away the magistrates and not +receive them, according to the decree duly posted..." + +PISTHETAERUS What! rascal! you are there too? + +INSPECTOR Woe to you! I'll have you condemned to a fine of ten thousand +drachmae. + +PISTHETAERUS And I'll smash your urns.(1) + + +f(1) Which the inspector had brought with him for the purpose of +inaugurating the assemblies of the people or some tribunal. + +INSPECTOR Do you recall that evening when you stooled against the column +where the decrees are posted? + +PISTHETAERUS Here! here! let him be seized. (THE INSPECTOR RUNS OFF.) +Well! don't you want to stop any longer? + +PRIEST Let us get indoors as quick as possible; we will sacrifice the +goat inside.(1) + + +f(1) So that the sacrifices might no longer be interrupted. + +CHORUS Henceforth it is to me that mortals must address their sacrifices +and their prayers. Nothing escapes my sight nor my might. My glance +embraces the universe, I preserve the fruit in the flower by destroying +the thousand kinds of voracious insects the soil produces, which attack +the trees and feed on the germ when it has scarcely formed in the calyx; +I destroy those who ravage the balmy terrace gardens like a deadly +plague; all these gnawing crawling creatures perish beneath the lash of +my wing. I hear it proclaimed everywhere: "A talent for him who shall +kill Diagoras of Melos,(1) and a talent for him who destroys one of the +dead tyrants."(2) We likewise wish to make our proclamation: "A talent +to him among you who shall kill Philocrates, the Struthian;(3) four, +if he brings him to us alive. For this Philocrates skewers the finches +together and sells them at the rate of an obolus for seven. He tortures +the thrushes by blowing them out, so that they may look bigger, sticks +their own feathers into the nostrils of blackbirds, and collects +pigeons, which he shuts up and forces them, fastened in a net, to decoy +others." That is what we wish to proclaim. And if anyone is keeping +birds shut up in his yard, let him hasten to let them loose; those who +disobey shall be seized by the birds and we shall put them in chains, so +that in their turn they may decoy other men. + +Happy indeed is the race of winged birds who need no cloak in winter! +Neither do I fear the relentless rays of the fiery dog-days; when the +divine grasshopper, intoxicated with the sunlight, when noon is burning +the ground, is breaking out into shrill melody; my home is beneath the +foliage in the flowery meadows. I winter in deep caverns, where I frolic +with the mountain nymphs, while in spring I despoil the gardens of the +Graces and gather the white, virgin berry on the myrtle bushes. + +I want now to speak to the judges about the prize they are going to +award; if they are favourable to us, we will load them with benefits far +greater than those Paris(4) received. Firstly, the owls of Laurium,(5) +which every judge desires above all things, shall never be wanting to +you; you shall see them homing with you, building their nests in your +money-bags and laying coins. Besides, you shall be housed like the +gods, for we shall erect gables(6) over your dwellings; if you hold +some public post and want to do a little pilfering, we will give you the +sharp claws of a hawk. Are you dining in town, we will provide you with +crops.(7) But, if your award is against us, don't fail to have metal +covers fashioned for yourselves, like those they place over statues;(8) +else, look out! for the day you wear a white tunic all the birds will +soil it with their droppings. + + +f(1) A disciple of Democrites; he passed over from superstition to +atheism. The injustice and perversity of mankind led him to deny the +existence of the gods, to lay bare the mysteries and to break the +idols. The Athenians had put a price on his head, so he left Greece and +perished soon afterwards in a storm at sea. + +f(2) By this jest Aristophanes means to imply that tyranny is dead, and +that no one aspires to despotic power, though this silly accusation was +constantly being raised by the demagogues and always favourably received +by the populace. + +f(3) A poulterer.--Strouthian, used in joke to designate him, as if from +the name of his 'deme,' is derived from (the Greek for) 'a sparrow.' The +birds' foe is thus grotesquely furnished with an ornithological surname. + +f(4) From Aphrodite (Venus), to whom he had awarded the apple, prize of +beauty, in the contest of the "goddesses three." + +f(5) Laurium was an Athenian deme at the extremity of the Attic +peninsula containing valuable silver mines, the revenues of which were +largely employed in the maintenance of the fleet and payment of the +crews. The "owls of Laurium," of course, mean pieces of money; the +Athenian coinage was stamped with a representation of an owl, the bird +of Athene. + +f(6) A pun, impossible to keep in English, on the two meanings of (the +Greek) word which signifies both an eagle and the gable of a house or +pediment of a temple. + +f(7) That is, birds' crops, into which they could stow away plenty of +good things. + +f(8) The Ancients appear to have placed metal discs over statues +standing in the open air, to save them from injury from the weather, +etc. + +PISTHETAERUS Birds! the sacrifice is propitious. But I see no messenger +coming from the wall to tell us what is happening. Ah! here comes one +running himself out of breath as though he were running the Olympic +stadium. + +MESSENGER Where, where is he? Where, where, where is he? Where, where, +where is he? Where is Pisthetaerus, our leader? + +PISTHETAERUS Here am I. + +MESSENGER The wall is finished. + +PISTHETAERUS That's good news. + +MESSENGER 'Tis a most beautiful, a most magnificent work of art. The +wall is so broad that Proxenides, the Braggartian, and Theogenes could +pass each other in their chariots, even if they were drawn by steeds as +big as the Trojan horse. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis wonderful! + +MESSENGER Its length is one hundred stadia; I measured it myself. + +PISTHETAERUS A decent length, by Posidon! And who built such a wall? + +MESSENGER Birds--birds only; they had neither Egyptian brickmaker, nor +stone-mason, nor carpenter; the birds did it all themselves; I could +hardly believe my eyes. Thirty thousand cranes came from Libya with +a supply of stones,(1) intended for the foundations. The water-rails +chiselled them with their beaks. Ten thousand storks were busy making +bricks; plovers and other water fowl carried water into the air. + + +f(1) So as not to be carried away by the wind when crossing the sea, +cranes are popularly supposed to ballast themselves with stones, which +they carry in their beaks. + +PISTHETAERUS And who carried the mortar? + +MESSENGER Herons, in hods. + +PISTHETAERUS But how could they put the mortar into hods? + +MESSENGER Oh! 'twas a truly clever invention; the geese used their feet +like spades; they buried them in the pile of mortar and then emptied +them into the hods. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! to what use cannot feet be put?(1) + + +f(1) Pisthetaerus modifies the Greek proverbial saying, "To what use +cannot hands be put?" + +MESSENGER You should have seen how eagerly the ducks carried bricks. +To complete the tale, the swallows came flying to the work, their beaks +full of mortar and their trowel on their back, just the way little +children are carried. + +PISTHETAERUS Who would want paid servants after this? But tell me, who +did the woodwork? + +MESSENGER Birds again, and clever carpenters too, the pelicans, for they +squared up the gates with their beaks in such a fashion that one would +have thought they were using axes; the noise was just like a dockyard. +Now the whole wall is tight everywhere, securely bolted and well +guarded; it is patrolled, bell in hand; the sentinels stand everywhere +and beacons burn on the towers. But I must run off to clean myself; the +rest is your business. + +CHORUS Well! what do you say to it? Are you not astonished at the wall +being completed so quickly? + +PISTHETAERUS By the gods, yes, and with good reason. 'Tis really not to +be believed. But here comes another messenger from the wall to bring us +some further news! What a fighting look he has! + +SECOND MESSENGER Oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! + +PISTHETAERUS What's the matter? + +SECOND MESSENGER A horrible outrage has occurred; a god sent by Zeus +has passed through our gates and has penetrated the realms of the air +without the knowledge of the jays, who are on guard in the daytime. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis an unworthy and criminal deed. What god was it? + +SECOND MESSENGER We don't know that. All we know is, that he has got +wings. + +PISTHETAERUS Why were not guards sent against him at once? + +SECOND MESSENGER We have d(i)spatched thirty thousand hawks of the +legion of Mounted Archers.(1) All the hook-clawed birds are moving +against him, the kestrel, the buzzard, the vulture, the great-horned +owl; they cleave the air, so that it resounds with the flapping of their +wings; they are looking everywhere for the god, who cannot be far away; +indeed, if I mistake not, he is coming from yonder side. + + +f(1) A corps of Athenian cavalry was so named. + +PISTHETAERUS All arm themselves with slings and bows! This way, all our +soldiers; shoot and strike! Some one give me a sling! + +CHORUS War, a terrible war is breaking out between us and the gods! +Come, let each one guard Air, the son of Erebus,(1) in which the clouds +float. Take care no immortal enters it without your knowledge. Scan +all sides with your glance. Hark! methinks I can hear the rustle of the +swift wings of a god from heaven. + + +f(1) Chaos, Night, Tartarus, and Erebus alone existed in the beginning; +Eros was born from Night and Erebus, and he wedded Chaos and begot +Earth, Air, and Heaven; so runs the fable. + +PISTHETAERUS Hi! you woman! where are you flying to? Halt, don't stir! +keep motionless! not a beat of your wing!--Who are you and from what +country? You must say whence you come.(1) + + +f(1) Iris appears from the top of the stage and arrests her flight in +mid-career. + +IRIS I come from the abode of the Olympian gods. + +PISTHETAERUS What's your name, ship or cap?(1) + + +f(1) Ship, because of her wings, which resemble oars; cap, because she +no doubt wore the head-dress (as a messenger of the gods) with which +Hermes is generally depicted. + +IRIS I am swift Iris. + +PISTHETAERUS Paralus or Salaminia?(1) + + +f(1) The names of the two sacred galleys which carried Athenian +officials on State business. + +IRIS What do you mean? + +PISTHETAERUS Let a buzzard rush at her and seize her.(1) + + +f(1) A buzzard is named in order to raise a laugh, the Greek name also +meaning, etymologically, provided with three testicles, vigorous in +love. + +IRIS Seize me! But what do all these insults mean? + +PISTHETAERUS Woe to you! + +IRIS 'Tis incomprehensible. + +PISTHETAERUS By which gate did you pass through the wall, wretched +woman? + +IRIS By which gate? Why, great gods, I don't know. + +PISTHETAERUS You hear how she holds us in derision. Did you present +yourself to the officers in command of the jays? You don't answer. Have +you a permit, bearing the seal of the storks? + +IRIS Am I awake? + +PISTHETAERUS Did you get one? + +IRIS Are you mad? + +PISTHETAERUS No head-bird gave you a safe-conduct? + +IRIS A safe-conduct to me, you poor fool! + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! and so you slipped into this city on the sly and into +these realms of air-land that don't belong to you. + +IRIS And what other roads can the gods travel? + +PISTHETAERUS By Zeus! I know nothing about that, not I. But they won't +pass this way. And you still dare to complain! Why, if you were treated +according to your deserts, no Iris would ever have more justly suffered +death. + +IRIS I am immortal. + +PISTHETAERUS You would have died nevertheless.--Oh! 'twould be truly +intolerable! What! should the universe obey us and the gods alone +continue their insolence and not understand that they must submit to +the law of the strongest in their due turn? But tell me, where are you +flying to? + +IRIS I? The messenger of Zeus to mankind, I am going to tell them to +sacrifice sheep and oxen on the altars and to fill their streets with +the rich smoke of burning fat. + +PISTHETAERUS Of which gods are you speaking? + +IRIS Of which? Why, of ourselves, the gods of heaven. + +PISTHETAERUS You, gods? + +IRIS Are there others then? + +PISTHETAERUS Men now adore the birds as gods, and 'tis to them, by Zeus, +that they must offer sacrifices, and not to Zeus at all! + +IRIS Oh! fool! fool! Rouse not the wrath of the gods, for 'tis terrible +indeed. Armed with the brand of Zeus, Justice would annihilate your +race; the lightning would strike you as it did Licymnius and consume +both your body and the porticos of your palace.(1) + + +f(1) Iris' reply is a parody of the tragic style.--'Lycimnius' is, +according to the scholiast, the title of a tragedy by Euripides, which +is about a ship that is struck by lightning. + +PISTHETAERUS Here! that's enough tall talk. Just you listen and keep +quiet! Do you take me for a Lydian or a Phrygian(1) and think to +frighten me with your big words? Know, that if Zeus worries me again, +I shall go at the head of my eagles, who are armed with lightning, and +reduce his dwelling and that of Amphion to cinders.(2) I shall send more +than six hundred porphyrions clothed in leopards' skins(3) up to heaven +against him; and formerly a single Porphyrion gave him enough to do. +As for you, his messenger, if you annoy me, I shall begin by stretching +your legs asunder, and so conduct myself, Iris though you be, that +despite my age, you will be astonished. I will show you something that +will make you three times over. + + +f(1) i.e. for a poltroon, like the slaves, most of whom came to Athens +from these countries. + +f(2) A parody of a passage in the lost tragedy of 'Niobe' of Aeschylus. + +f(3) Because this bird has a spotted plumage.--Porphyrion is also the +name of one of the Titans who tried to storm heave. + +IRIS May you perish, you wretch, you and your infamous words! + +PISTHETAERUS Won't you be off quickly? Come, stretch your wings or look +out for squalls! + +IRIS If my father does not punish you for your insults... + +PISTHETAERUS Ha!... but just you be off elsewhere to roast younger folk +than us with your lightning. + +CHORUS We forbid the gods, the sons of Zeus, to pass through our city +and the mortals to send them the smoke of their sacrifices by this road. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis odd that the messenger we sent to the mortals has +never returned. + +HERALD Oh! blessed Pisthetaerus, very wise, very illustrious, very +gracious, thrice happy, very... Come, prompt me, somebody, do. + +PISTHETAERUS Get to your story! + +HERALD All peoples are filled with admiration for your wisdom, and they +award you this golden crown. + +PISTHETAERUS I accept it. But tell me, why do the people admire me? + +HERALD Oh you, who have founded so illustrious a city in the air, you +know not in what esteem men hold you and how many there are who burn +with desire to dwell in it. Before your city was built, all men had a +mania for Sparta; long hair and fasting were held in honour, men went +dirty like Socrates and carried staves. Now all is changed. Firstly, as +soon as 'tis dawn, they all spring out of bed together to go and seek +their food, the same as you do; then they fly off towards the notices +and finally devour the decrees. The bird-madness is so clear, that many +actually bear the names of birds. There is a halting victualler, who +styles himself the partridge; Menippus calls himself the swallow; +Opuntius the one-eyed crow; Philocles the lark; Theogenes the fox-goose; +Lycurgus the ibis; Chaerephon the bat; Syracosius the magpie; Midias the +quail;(1) indeed he looks like a quail that has been hit hard over the +head. Out of love for the birds they repeat all the songs which concern +the swallow, the teal, the goose or the pigeon; in each verse you see +wings, or at all events a few feathers. This is what is happening down +there. Finally, there are more than ten thousand folk who are coming +here from earth to ask you for feathers and hooked claws; so, mind you +supply yourself with wings for the immigrants. + + +f(1) All these surnames bore some relation to the character or the build +of the individual to whom the poet applies them.--Chaerephon, +Socrates' disciple, was of white and ashen hue.--Opuntius was +one-eyed.--Syracosius was a braggart.--Midias had a passion for +quail-fights, and, besides, resembled that bird physically. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! by Zeus, 'tis not the time for idling. Go as quick as +possible and fill every hamper, every basket you can find with wings. +Manes(1) will bring them to me outside the walls, where I will welcome +those who present themselves. + + +f(1) Pisthetaerus' servant, already mentioned. + +CHORUS This town will soon be inhabited by a crowd of men. + +PISTHETAERUS If fortune favours us. + +CHORUS Folk are more and more delighted with it. + +PISTHETAERUS Come, hurry up and bring them along. + +CHORUS Will not man find here everything that can please him--wisdom, +love, the divine Graces, the sweet face of gentle peace? + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! you lazy servant! won't you hurry yourself? + +CHORUS Let a basket of wings be brought speedily. Come, beat him as I +do, and put some life into him; he is as lazy as an ass. + +PISTHETAERUS Aye, Manes is a great craven. + +CHORUS Begin by putting this heap of wings in order; divide them in +three parts according to the birds from whom they came; the singing, +the prophetic(1) and the aquatic birds; then you must take care to +distribute them to the men according to their character. + + +f(1) From the inspection of which auguries were taken, e.g. the eagles, +the vultures, the crows. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO MANES) Oh! by the kestrels! I can keep my hands off you +no longer; you are too slow and lazy altogether. + +A PARRICIDE(1) Oh! might I but become an eagle, who soars in the skies! +Oh! might I fly above the azure waves of the barren sea!(2) + + +f(1) Or rather, a young man who contemplated parricide. + +f(2) A parody of verses in Sophocles 'Oenomaus.' + +PISTHETAERUS Ha! 'twould seem the news was true; I hear someone coming +who talks of wings. + +PARRICIDE Nothing is more charming than to fly; I burn with desire to +live under the same laws as the birds; I am bird-mad and fly towards +you, for I want to live with you and to obey your laws. + +PISTHETAERUS Which laws? The birds have many laws. + +PARRICIDE All of them; but the one that pleases me most is, that among +the birds it is considered a fine thing to peck and strangle one's +father. + +PISTHETAERUS Aye, by Zeus! according to us, he who dares to strike his +father, while still a chick, is a brave fellow. + +PARRICIDE And therefore I want to dwell here, for I want to strangle my +father and inherit his wealth. + +PISTHETAERUS But we have also an ancient law written in the code of the +storks, which runs thus, "When the stork father has reared his young +and has taught them to fly, the young must in their turn support the +father." + +PARRICIDE 'Tis hardly worth while coming all this distance to be +compelled to keep my father! + +PISTHETAERUS No, no, young friend, since you have come to us with such +willingness, I am going to give you these black wings, as though you +were an orphan bird; furthermore, some good advice, that I received +myself in infancy. Don't strike your father, but take these wings in one +hand and these spurs in the other; imagine you have a cock's crest on +your head and go and mount guard and fight; live on your pay and respect +your father's life. You're a gallant fellow! Very well, then! Fly to +Thrace and fight.(1) + + +f(1) The Athenians were then besieging Amphipolis in the Thracian +Chalcidice. + +PARRICIDE By Bacchus! 'Tis well spoken; I will follow your counsel. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis acting wisely, by Zeus. + +CINESIAS(1) "On my light pinions I soar off to Olympus; in its +capricious flight my Muse flutters along the thousand paths of poetry in +turn..." + + +f(1) There was a real Cinesias--a dythyrambic poet born at Thebes. + +PISTHETAERUS This is a fellow will need a whole shipload of wings. + +CINESIAS (singing) "...and being fearless and vigorous, it is seeking +fresh outlet." + +PISTHETAERUS Welcome, Cinesias, you lime-wood man!(1) Why have you come +here a-twisting your game leg in circles? + + +f(1) The scholiast thinks that Cinesias, who was tall and slight of +build, wore a kind of corset of lime-wood to support his waist--surely +rather a far-fetched interpretation! + +CINESIAS "I want to become a bird, a tuneful nightingale." + +PISTHETAERUS Enough of that sort of ditty. Tell me what you want. + +CINESIAS Give me wings and I will fly into the topmost airs to gather +fresh songs in the clouds, in the midst of the vapours and the fleecy +snow. + +PISTHETAERUS Gather songs in the clouds? + +CINESIAS 'Tis on them the whole of our latter-day art depends. The most +brilliant dithyrambs are those that flap their wings in void space +and are clothed in mist and dense obscurity. To appreciate this, just +listen. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! no, no, no! + +CINESIAS By Hermes! but indeed you shall. "I shall travel through thine +ethereal empire like a winged bird, who cleaveth space with his long +neck..." + +PISTHETAERUS Stop! easy all, I say!(1) + + +f(1) The Greek word used here was the word of command employed to stop +the rowers. + +CINESIAS "...as I soar over the seas, carried by the breath of the +winds..." + +PISTHETAERUS By Zeus! but I'll cut your breath short. + +CINESIAS "...now rushing along the tracks of Notus, now nearing Boreas +across the infinite wastes of the ether." (PISTHETAERUS BEATS HIM.) Ah! +old man, that's a pretty and clever idea truly! + +PISTHETAERUS What! are you not delighted to be cleaving the air?(1) + + +f(1) Cinesias makes a bound each time that Pisthetaerus strikes him. + +CINESIAS To treat a dithyrambic poet, for whom the tribes dispute with +each other, in this style!(1) + + +f(1) The tribes of Athens, or rather the rich citizens belonging to +them, were wont on feast-days to give representations of dithyrambic +choruses as well as of tragedies and comedies. + +PISTHETAERUS Will you stay with us and form a chorus of winged birds as +slender as Leotrophides(1) for the Cecropid tribe? + + +f(1) Another dithyrambic poet, a man of extreme leanness. + +CINESIAS You are making game of me, 'tis clear; but know that I shall +never leave you in peace if I do not have wings wherewith to traverse +the air. + +AN INFORMER What are these birds with downy feathers, who look so +pitiable to me? Tell me, oh swallow with the long dappled wings.(1) + + +f(1) A parody of a hemistich from 'Alcaeus.'--The informer is +dissatisfied at only seeing birds of sombre plumage and poor appearance. +He would have preferred to denounce the rich. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! but 'tis a regular invasion that threatens us. Here +comes another of them, humming along. + +INFORMER Swallow with the long dappled wings, once more I summon you. + +PISTHETAERUS It's his cloak I believe he's addressing; 'faith, it stands +in great need of the swallows' return.(1) + + +f(1) The informer, says the scholiast, was clothed with a ragged cloak, +the tatters of which hung down like wings, in fact, a cloak that could +not protect him from the cold and must have made him long for the +swallows' return, i.e. the spring. + +INFORMER Where is he who gives out wings to all comers? + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis I, but you must tell me for what purpose you want +them. + +INFORMER Ask no questions. I want wings, and wings I must have. + +PISTHETAERUS Do you want to fly straight to Pellene?(1) + + +f(1) A town in Achaia, where woollen cloaks were made. + +INFORMER I? Why, I am an accuser of the islands,(1) an informer... + + +f(1) His trade was to accuse the rich citizens of the subject islands, +and drag them before the Athenian court; he explains later the special +advantages of this branch of the informer's business. + +PISTHETAERUS A fine trade, truly! + +INFORMER ...a hatcher of lawsuits. Hence I have great need of wings to +prowl round the cities and drag them before justice. + +PISTHETAERUS Would you do this better if you had wings? + +INFORMER No, but I should no longer fear the pirates; I should return +with the cranes, loaded with a supply of lawsuits by way of ballast. + +PISTHETAERUS So it seems, despite all your youthful vigour, you make it +your trade to denounce strangers? + +INFORMER Well, and why not? I don't know how to dig. + +PISTHETAERUS But, by Zeus! there are honest ways of gaining a living at +your age without all this infamous trickery. + +INFORMER My friend, I am asking you for wings, not for words. + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis just my words that give you wings. + +INFORMER And how can you give a man wings with your words? + +PISTHETAERUS 'Tis thus that all first start. + +INFORMER All? + +PISTHETAERUS Have you not often heard the father say to young men in the +barbers' shops, "It's astonishing how Diitrephes' advice has made my son +fly to horse-riding."--"Mine," says another, "has flown towards tragic +poetry on the wings of his imagination." + +INFORMER So that words give wings? + +PISTHETAERUS Undoubtedly; words give wings to the mind and make a man +soar to heaven. Thus I hope that my wise words will give you wings to +fly to some less degrading trade. + +INFORMER But I do not want to. + +PISTHETAERUS What do you reckon on doing then? + +INFORMER I won't belie my breeding; from generation to generation we +have lived by informing. Quick, therefore, give me quickly some light, +swift hawk or kestrel wings, so that I may summon the islanders, sustain +the accusation here, and haste back there again on flying pinions. + +PISTHETAERUS I see. In this way the stranger will be condemned even +before he appears. + +INFORMER That's just it. + +PISTHETAERUS And while he is on his way here by sea, you will be flying +to the islands to despoil him of his property. + +INFORMER You've hit it, precisely; I must whirl hither and thither like +a perfect humming-top. + +PISTHETAERUS I catch the idea. Wait, i' faith, I've got some fine +Corcyraean wings.(1) How do you like them? + + +f(1) That is, whips--Corcyra being famous for these articles. + +INFORMER Oh! woe is me! Why, 'tis a whip! + +PISTHETAERUS No, no; these are the wings, I tell you, that set the top +a-spinning. + +INFORMER Oh! oh! oh! + +PISTHETAERUS Take your flight, clear off, you miserable cur, or you will +soon see what comes of quibbling and lying. Come, let us gather up our +wings and withdraw. + +CHORUS In my ethereal flights I have seen many things new and strange +and wondrous beyond belief. There is a tree called Cleonymus belonging +to an unknown species; it has no heart, is good for nothing and is as +tall as it is cowardly. In springtime it shoots forth calumnies instead +of buds and in autumn it strews the ground with bucklers in place of +leaves.(1) + +Far away in the regions of darkness, where no ray of light ever enters, +there is a country, where men sit at the table of the heroes and dwell +with them always--save always in the evening. Should any mortal meet the +hero Orestes at night, he would soon be stripped and covered with blows +from head to foot.(2) + + +f(1) Cleonymous is a standing butt of Aristophanes' wit, both as an +informer and a notorious poltroon. + +f(2) In allusion to the cave of the bandit Orestes; the poet terms him a +hero only because of his heroic name Orestes. + +PROMETHEUS Ah! by the gods! if only Zeus does not espy me! Where is +Pisthetaerus? + +PISTHETAERUS Ha! what is this? A masked man! + +PROMETHEUS Can you see any god behind me? + +PISTHETAERUS No, none. But who are you, pray? + +PROMETHEUS What's the time, please? + +PISTHETAERUS The time? Why, it's past noon. Who are you? + +PROMETHEUS Is it the fall of day? Is it no later than that?(1) + + +f(1) Prometheus wants night to come and so reduce the risk of being seen +from Olympus. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! 'pon my word! but you grow tiresome. + +PROMETHEUS What is Zeus doing? Is he dispersing the clouds or gathering +them?(1) + + +f(1) The clouds would prevent Zeus seeing what was happening below him. + +PISTHETAERUS Take care, lest I lose all patience. + +PROMETHEUS Come, I will raise my mask. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! my dear Prometheus! + +PROMETHEUS Stop! stop! speak lower! + +PISTHETAERUS Why, what's the matter, Prometheus? + +PROMETHEUS H'sh! h'sh! Don't call me by my name; you will be my ruin, if +Zeus should see me here. But, if you want me to tell you how things +are going in heaven, take this umbrella and shield me, so that the gods +don't see me. + +PISTHETAERUS I can recognize Prometheus in this cunning trick. Come, +quick then, and fear nothing; speak on. + +PROMETHEUS Then listen. + +PISTHETAERUS I am listening, proceed! + +PROMETHEUS It's all over with Zeus. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! and since when, pray? + +PROMETHEUS Since you founded this city in the air. There is not a man +who now sacrifices to the gods; the smoke of the victims no longer +reaches us. Not the smallest offering comes! We fast as though it were +the festival of Demeter.(1) The barbarian gods, who are dying of hunger, +are bawling like Illyrians(2) and threaten to make an armed descent upon +Zeus, if he does not open markets where joints of the victims are sold. + + +f(1) The third day of the festival of Demeter was a fast. + +f(2) A semi-savage people, addicted to violence and brigandage. + +PISTHETAERUS What! there are other gods besides you, barbarian gods who +dwell above Olympus? + +PROMETHEUS If there were no barbarian gods, who would be the patron of +Execestides?(1) + + +f(1) Who, being reputed a stranger despite his pretension to the title +of a citizen, could only have a strange god for his patron or tutelary +deity. + +PISTHETAERUS And what is the name of these gods? + +PROMETHEUS Their name? Why, the Triballi.(1) + + +f(1) The Triballi were a Thracian people; it was a term commonly used in +Athens to describe coarse men, obscene debauchees and greedy parasites. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah, indeed! 'tis from that no doubt that we derive the word +'tribulation.'(1) + + +f(1) There is a similar pun in the Greek. + +PROMETHEUS Most likely. But one thing I can tell you for certain, +namely, that Zeus and the celestial Triballi are going to send deputies +here to sue for peace. Now don't you treat, unless Zeus restores the +sceptre to the birds and gives you Basileia(1) in marriage. + + +f(1) i.e. the 'supremacy' of Greece, the real object of the war. + +PISTHETAERUS Who is this Basileia? + +PROMETHEUS A very fine young damsel, who makes the lightning for +Zeus; all things come from her, wisdom, good laws, virtue, the fleet, +calumnies, the public paymaster and the triobolus. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! then she is a sort of general manageress to the god. + +PROMETHEUS Yes, precisely. If he gives you her for your wife, yours will +be the almighty power. That is what I have come to tell you; for you +know my constant and habitual goodwill towards men. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh, yes! 'tis thanks to you that we roast our meat.(1) + + +f(1) Prometheus had stolen the fire from the gods to gratify mankind. + +PROMETHEUS I hate the gods, as you know. + +PISTHETAERUS Aye, by Zeus, you have always detested them. + +PROMETHEUS Towards them I am a veritable Timon;(1) but I must return in +all haste, so give me the umbrella; if Zeus should see me from up there, +he would think I was escorting one of the Canephori.(2) + + +f(1) A celebrated misanthrope, contemporary to Aristophanes. Hating the +society of men, he had only a single friend, Apimantus, to whom he +was attached, because of their similarity of character; he also liked +Alcibiades, because he foresaw that this young man would be the ruin of +his country. + +f(2) The Canephori were young maidens, chosen from the first families +of the city, who carried baskets wreathed with myrtle at the feast of +Athene, while at those of Bacchus and Demeter they appeared with gilded +baskets.--The daughters of 'Metics,' or resident aliens, walked behind +them, carrying an umbrella and a stool. + +PISTHETAERUS Wait, take this stool as well. + +CHORUS Near by the land of the Sciapodes(1) there is a marsh, from the +borders whereof the odious Socrates evokes the souls of men. Pisander(2) +came one day to see his soul, which he had left there when still alive. +He offered a little victim, a camel,(3) slit his throat and, following +the example of Ulysses, stepped one pace backwards.(4) Then that bat of +a Chaerephon(5) came up from hell to drink the camel's blood. + + +f(1) According to Ctesias, the Sciapodes were a people who dwelt on the +borders of the Atlantic. Their feet were larger than the rest of their +bodies, and to shield themselves from the sun's rays they held up one of +their feet as an umbrella.--By giving the Socratic philosophers the name +of Sciapodes here Aristophanes wishes to convey that they are walking in +the dark and busying themselves with the greatest nonsense. + +f(2) This Pisander was a notorious coward; for this reason the poet +jestingly supposes that he had lost his soul, the seat of courage. + +f(3) Considering the shape and height of the camel, (it) can certainly +not be included in the list of SMALL victims, e.g. the sheep and the +goat. + +f(4) In the evocation of the dead, Book XI of the Odyssey. + +f(5) Chaerephon was given this same title by the Herald earlier in this +comedy.--Aristophanes supposes him to have come from hell because he is +lean and pallid. + +POSIDON(1) This is the city of Nephelococcygia, Cloud-cuckoo-town, +whither we come as ambassadors. (TO TRIBALLUS) Hi! what are you up to? +you are throwing your cloak over the left shoulder. Come, fling it quick +over the right! And why, pray, does it draggle in this fashion? Have +you ulcers to hide like Laespodias?(2) Oh! democracy!(3) whither, oh! +whither are you leading us? Is it possible that the gods have chosen +such an envoy? + + +f(1) Posidon appears on the stage accompanied by Heracles and a +Triballian god. + +f(2) An Athenian general.--Neptune is trying to give Triballus some +notions of elegance and good behaviour. + +f(3) Aristophanes supposes that democracy is in the ascendant in Olympus +as it is in Athens. + +TRIBALLUS Leave me alone. + +POSIDON Ugh! the cursed savage! you are by far the most barbarous of all +the gods.--Tell me, Heracles, what are we going to do? + +HERACLES I have already told you that I want to strangle the fellow who +has dared to block us in. + +POSIDON But, my friend, we are envoys of peace. + +HERACLES All the more reason why I wish to strangle him. + +PISTHETAERUS Hand me the cheese-grater; bring me the silphium for sauce; +pass me the cheese and watch the coals.(1) + + +f(1) He is addressing his servant, Manes. + +HERACLES Mortal! we who greet you are three gods. + +PISTHETAERUS Wait a bit till I have prepared my silphium pickle. + +HERACLES What are these meats?(1) + + +f(1) Heracles softens at sight of the food.--Heracles is the glutton of +the comic poets. + +PISTHETAERUS These are birds that have been punished with death for +attacking the people's friends. + +HERACLES And you are seasoning them before answering us? + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! Heracles! welcome, welcome! What's the matter?(1) + + +f(1) He pretends not to have seen them at first, being so much engaged +with his cookery. + +HERACLES The gods have sent us here as ambassadors to treat for peace. + +A SERVANT There's no more oil in the flask. + +PISTHETAERUS And yet the birds must be thoroughly basted with it.(1) + + +f(1) He pretends to forget the presence of the ambassadors. + +HERACLES We have no interest to serve in fighting you; as for you, be +friends and we promise that you shall always have rain-water in your +pools and the warmest of warm weather. So far as these points go we are +armed with plenary authority. + +PISTHETAERUS We have never been the aggressors, and even now we are +as well disposed for peace as yourselves, provided you agree to one +equitable condition, namely, that Zeus yield his sceptre to the birds. +If only this is agreed to, I invite the ambassadors to dinner. + +HERACLES That's good enough for me. I vote for peace. + +POSIDON You wretch! you are nothing but a fool and a glutton. Do you +want to dethrone your own father? + +PISTHETAERUS What an error! Why, the gods will be much more powerful if +the birds govern the earth. At present the mortals are hidden beneath +the clouds, escape your observation, and commit perjury in your name; +but if you had the birds for your allies, and a man, after having sworn +by the crow and Zeus, should fail to keep his oath, the crow would dive +down upon him unawares and pluck out his eye. + +POSIDON Well thought of, by Posidon!(1) + + +f(1) Posidon jestingly swears by himself. + +HERACLES My notion too. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO THE TRIBALLIAN) And you, what's your opinion? + +TRIBALLUS Nabaisatreu.(1) + + +f(1) The barbarian god utters some gibberish which Pisthetaerus +interprets into consent. + +PISTHETAERUS D'you see? he also approves. But hear another thing in +which we can serve you. If a man vows to offer a sacrifice to some god, +and then procrastinates, pretending that the gods can wait, and thus +does not keep his word, we shall punish his stinginess. + +POSIDON Ah! ah! and how? + +PISTHETAERUS While he is counting his money or is in the bath, a kite +will relieve him, before he knows it, either in coin or in clothes, of +the value of a couple of sheep, and carry it to the god. + +HERACLES I vote for restoring them the sceptre. + +POSIDON Ask the Triballian. + +HERACLES Hi Triballian, do you want a thrashing? + +TRIBALLUS Saunaka baktarikrousa. + +HERACLES He says, "Right willingly." + +POSIDON If that be the opinion of both of you, why, I consent too. + +HERACLES Very well! we accord the sceptre. + +PISTHETAERUS Ah! I was nearly forgetting another condition. I will leave +Here to Zeus, but only if the young Basileia is given me in marriage. + +POSIDON Then you don't want peace. Let us withdraw. + +PISTHETAERUS It matters mighty little to me. Cook, look to the gravy. + +HERACLES What an odd fellow this Posidon is! Where are you off to? Are +we going to war about a woman? + +POSIDON What else is there to do? + +HERACLES What else? Why, conclude peace. + +POSIDON Oh! you ninny! do you always want to be fooled? Why, you are +seeking your own downfall. If Zeus were to die, after having yielded +them the sovereignty, you would be ruined, for you are the heir of all +the wealth he will leave behind. + +PISTHETAERUS Oh! by the gods! how he is cajoling you. Step aside, that +I may have a word with you. Your uncle is getting the better of you, +my poor friend.(1) The law will not allow you an obolus of the paternal +property, for you are a bastard and not a legitimate child. + + +f(1) Heracles, the god of strength, was far from being remarkable in the +way of cleverness. + +HERACLES I a bastard! What's that you tell me? + +PISTHETAERUS Why, certainly; are you not born of a stranger woman? +Besides, is not Athene recognized as Zeus' sole heiress? And no daughter +would be that, if she had a legitimate brother. + +HERACLES But what if my father wished to give me his property on his +death-bed, even though I be a bastard? + +PISTHETAERUS The law forbids it, and this same Posidon would be the +first to lay claim to his wealth, in virtue of being his legitimate +brother. Listen; thus runs Solon's law: "A bastard shall not inherit, if +there are legitimate children; and if there are no legitimate children, +the property shall pass to the nearest kin."(1) + + +f(1) This was Athenian law. + +HERACLES And I get nothing whatever of the paternal property? + +PISTHETAERUS Absolutely nothing. But tell me, has your father had you +entered on the registers of his phratria?(1) + + +f(1) The poet attributes to the gods the same customs as those which +governed Athens, and according to which no child was looked upon as +legitimate unless his father had entered him on the registers of his +phratria. The phratria was a division of the tribe and consisted of +thirty families. + +HERACLES No, and I have long been surprised at the omission. + +PISTHETAERUS What ails you, that you should shake your fist at heaven? +Do you want to fight it? Why, be on my side, I will make you a king and +will feed you on bird's milk and honey. + +HERACLES Your further condition seems fair to me. I cede you the young +damsel. + +POSIDON But I, I vote against this opinion. + +PISTHETAERUS Then it all depends on the Triballian. (TO THE TRIBALLIAN.) +What do you say? + +TRIBALLUS Big bird give daughter pretty and queen. + +HERACLES You say that you give her? + +POSIDON Why no, he does not say anything of the sort, that he gives her; +else I cannot understand any better than the swallows. + +PISTHETAERUS Exactly so. Does he not say she must be given to the +swallows? + +POSIDON Very well! you two arrange the matter; make peace, since you +wish it so; I'll hold my tongue. + +HERACLES We are of a mind to grant you all that you ask. But come up +there with us to receive Basileia and the celestial bounty. + +PISTHETAERUS Here are birds already cut up, and very suitable for a +nuptial feast. + +HERACLES You go and, if you like, I will stay here to roast them. + +PISTHETAERUS You to roast them! you are too much the glutton; come along +with us. + +HERACLES Ah! how well I would have treated myself! + +PISTHETAERUS Let some(one) bring me a beautiful and magnificent tunic +for the wedding. + +CHORUS(1) At Phanae,(2) near the Clepsydra,(3) there dwells a people who +have neither faith nor law, the Englottogastors,(4) who reap, sow, pluck +the vines and the figs(5) with their tongues; they belong to a barbaric +race, and among them the Philippi and the Gorgiases(6) are to be found; +'tis these Englottogastorian Philippi who introduced the custom all over +Attica of cutting out the tongue separately at sacrifices.(7) + + +f(1) The chorus continues to tell what it has seen on its flights. + +f(2) The harbour of the island of Chios; but this name is here used +in the sense of being the land of informers ((from the Greek for) 'to +denounce'). + +f(3) i.e. near the orators' platform, in the Public Assembly, or because +there stood the water-clock, by which speeches were limited. + +f(4) A coined name, made up of (the Greek for) the tongue, and (for) the +stomach, and meaning those who fill their stomach with what they gain +with their tongues, to wit, the orators. + +f(5) (The Greek for) a fig forms part of the word which in Greek means +an informer. + +f(6) Both rhetoricians. + +f(7) Because they consecrated it specially to the god of eloquence. + +A MESSENGER Oh, you, whose unbounded happiness I cannot express in +words, thrice happy race of airy birds, receive your king in your +fortunate dwellings. More brilliant than the brightest star that illumes +the earth, he is approaching his glittering golden palace; the sun +itself does not shine with more dazzling glory. He is entering with his +bride at his side,(1) whose beauty no human tongue can express; in his +hand he brandishes the lightning, the winged shaft of Zeus; perfumes +of unspeakable sweetness pervade the ethereal realms. 'Tis a glorious +spectacle to see the clouds of incense wafting in light whirlwinds +before the breath of the Zephyr! But here he is himself. Divine Muse! +let thy sacred lips begin with songs of happy omen. + + +f(1) Basileia, whom he brings back from heaven. + +CHORUS Fall back! to the right! to the left! advance!(1) Fly around this +happy mortal, whom Fortune loads with her blessings. Oh! oh! what grace! +what beauty! Oh, marriage so auspicious for our city! All honour to +this man! 'tis through him that the birds are called to such glorious +destinies. Let your nuptial hymns, your nuptial songs, greet him and his +Basileia! 'Twas in the midst of such festivities that the Fates formerly +united Olympian Here to the King who governs the gods from the summit +of his inaccessible throne. Oh! Hymen! oh! Hymenaeus! Rosy Eros with +the golden wings held the reins and guided the chariot; 'twas he, who +presided over the union of Zeus and the fortunate Here. Oh! Hymen! oh! +Hymenaeus! + + +f(1) Terms used in regulating a dance. + +PISTHETAERUS I am delighted with your songs, I applaud your verses. Now +celebrate the thunder that shakes the earth, the flaming lightning of +Zeus and the terrible flashing thunderbolt. + +CHORUS Oh, thou golden flash of the lightning! oh, ye divine shafts of +flame, that Zeus has hitherto shot forth! Oh, ye rolling thunders, that +bring down the rain! 'Tis by the order of OUR king that ye shall now +stagger the earth! Oh, Hymen! 'tis through thee that he commands the +universe and that he makes Basileia, whom he has robbed from Zeus, take +her seat at his side. Oh! Hymen! oh! Hymenaeus! + +PISTHETAERUS Let all the winged tribes of our fellow-citizens follow the +bridal couple to the palace of Zeus(1) and to the nuptial couch! Stretch +forth your hands, my dear wife! Take hold of me by my wings and let us +dance; I am going to lift you up and carry you through the air. + + +f(1) Where Pisthetaerus is henceforth to reign. + +CHORUS Oh, joy! Io Paean! Tralala! victory is thing, oh, thou greatest +of the gods! + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Birds, by Aristophanes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRDS *** + +***** This file should be named 3013.txt or 3013.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/1/3013/ + +Produced by Derek Davis + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Occasional Greek +words in the footnotes have not been included. Footnote numbers, +in brackets, start anew at [1] for each piece of dialogue, and each +footnote follows immediately the dialogue to which it refers, labeled +thus: f[1]. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + + +'The Birds' differs markedly from all the other Comedies of +Aristophanes which have come down to us in subject and general +conception. It is just an extravaganza pure and simple--a +graceful, whimsical theme chosen expressly for the sake of the +opportunities it afforded of bright, amusing dialogue, pleasing +lyrical interludes, and charming displays of brilliant stage +effects and pretty dresses. Unlike other plays of the same Author, +there is here apparently no serious political MOTIF underlying +the surface burlesque and buffoonery. + +Some critics, it is true, profess to find in it a reference to +the unfortunate Sicilian Expedition, then in progress, and a +prophecy of its failure and the political downfall of Alcibiades. +But as a matter of fact, the whole thing seems rather an attempt +on the dramatist's part to relieve the overwrought minds of his fellow- +citizens, anxious and discouraged at the unsatisfactory reports +from before Syracuse, by a work conceived in a lighter vein +than usual and mainly unconnected with contemporary realities. +The play was produced in the year 414 B.C., just when success or +failure in Sicily hung in the balance, though already the outlook +was gloomy, and many circumstances pointed to impending +disaster. Moreover, the public conscience was still shocked and +perturbed over the mysterious affair of the mutilation of the +Hermae, which had occurred immediately before the sailing +of the fleet, and strongly suspicious of Alcibiades' participation +in the outrage. In spite of the inherent charm of the subject, +the splendid outbursts of lyrical poetry in some of the choruses and +the beauty of the scenery and costumes, 'The Birds' failed to +win the first prize. This was acclaimed to a play of Aristophanes' +rival, Amipsias, the title of which, 'The Comastoe,' or 'Revellers,' +"seems to imply that the chief interest was derived from direct +allusions to the outrage above mentioned and to the individuals +suspected to have been engaged in it." + +For this reason, which militated against its immediate success, +viz. the absence of direct allusion to contemporary politics-- +there are, of course, incidental references here and there to +topics and personages of the day--the play appeals perhaps +more than any other of our Author's productions to the modern +reader. Sparkling wit, whimsical fancy, poetic charm, are of all +ages, and can be appreciated as readily by ourselves as by +an Athenian audience of two thousand years ago, though, of course, +much is inevitably lost "without the important adjuncts +of music, scenery, dresses and what we may call 'spectacle' generally, +which we know in this instance to have been on the most +magnificent scale." + +The plot is this. Euelpides and Pisthetaerus, two old Athenians, +disgusted with the litigiousness, wrangling and sycophancy of +their countrymen, resolve upon quitting Attica. Having heard +of the fame of Epops (the hoopoe), sometime called Tereus, +and now King of the Birds, they determine, under the direction +of a raven and a jackdaw, to seek from him and his subject +birds a city free from all care and strife." Arrived at the Palace +of Epops, they knock, and Trochilus (the wren), in a state of +great flutter, as he mistakes them for fowlers, opens the door +and informs them that his Majesty is asleep. When he awakes, +the strangers appear before him, and after listening to a long +and eloquent harangue on the superior attractions of a residence +among the birds, they propose a notable scheme of their own +to further enhance its advantages and definitely secure the +sovereignty of the universe now exercised by the gods of Olympus. + +The birds are summoned to meet in general council. They come +flying up from all quarters of the heavens, and after a brief mis- +understanding, during which they come near tearing the two +human envoys to pieces, they listen to the exposition of the latters' +plan. This is nothing less than the building of a new city, +to be called Nephelococcygia, or 'Cloud-cuckoo-town,' between +earth and heaven, to be garrisoned and guarded by the birds in +such a way as to intercept all communication of the gods with +their worshippers on earth. All steam of sacrifice will be prevented +from rising to Olympus, and the Immortals will very +soon be starved into an acceptance of any terms proposed. +The new Utopia is duly constructed, and the daring plan to secure +the sovereignty is in a fair way to succeed. Meantime various quacks +and charlatans, each with a special scheme for improving things, +arrive from earth, and are one after the other exposed and dismissed. +Presently arrives Prometheus, who informs Epops of the desperate straits +to which the gods are by this time reduced, and advises him to push +his claims and demand the hand of Basileia (Dominion), the handmaid +of Zeus. Next an embassy from the Olympians appears on the scene, +consisting of Heracles, Posidon and a god from the savage regions +of the Triballians. After some disputation, it is agreed +that all reasonable demands of the birds are to be granted, while +Pisthetaerus is to have Basileia as his bride. The comedy winds +up with the epithalamium in honour of the nuptials. + + + +DRAMATIS PERSONAE + +EUELPIDES +PISTHETAERUS +EPOPS (the Hoopoe) +TROCHILUS, Servant to Epops +PHOENICOPTERUS +HERALDS +A PRIEST +A POET +A PROPHET +METON, a Geometrician +A COMMISSIONER +A DEALER IN DECREES +IRIS +A PARRICIDE +CINESIAS, a Dithyrambic Bard +AN INFORMER +PROMETHEUS +POSIDON +TRIBALLUS +HERACLES +SLAVES OF PISTHETAERUS +MESSENGERS +CHORUS OF BIRDS + + + + +SCENE: A wild, desolate tract of open country; broken rocks +and brushwood occupy the centre of the stage. + + + +EUELPIDES (TO HIS JAY)[1] +Do you think I should walk straight for yon tree? + +f[1] Euelpides is holding a jay and Pisthetaerus a crow; they are +the guides who are to lead them to the kingdom of the birds. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO HIS CROW) +Cursed beast, what are you croaking to me?...to retrace my steps? + +EUELPIDES +Why, you wretch, we are wandering at random, we are exerting +ourselves only to return to the same spot; 'tis labour lost. + +PISTHETAERUS +To think that I should trust to this crow, which has made me cover +more than a thousand furlongs! + +EUELPIDES +And that I to this jay, which has torn every nail from my fingers! + +PISTHETAERUS +If only I knew where we were.... + +EUELPIDES +Could you find your country again from here? + +PISTHETAERUS +No, I feel quite sure I could not, any more than could +Execestides[1] find his. + +f[1] A stranger who wanted to pass as an Athenian, although coming +originally for a far-away barbarian country. + +EUELPIDES +Oh dear! oh dear! + +PISTHETAERUS +Aye, aye, my friend, 'tis indeed the road of "oh dears" we are +following. + +EUELPIDES +That Philocrates, the bird-seller, played us a scurvy trick, +when he pretended these two guides could help us to find Tereus,[1] +the Epops, who is a bird, without being born of one. He has +indeed sold us this jay, a true son of Tharelides,[2] for +an obolus, and this crow for three, but what can they do? Why, +nothing whatever but bite and scratch! --What's the matter with you +then, that you keep opening your beak? Do you want us to fling +ourselves headlong down these rocks? There is no road that way. + +f[1] A king of Thrace, a son of Ares, who married Procne, the daughter +of Pandion, King of Athens, whom he had assisted against the Megarians. +He violated his sister-in-law, Philomela, and then cut out her +tongue; she nevertheless managed to convey to her sister how she had +been treated. They both agreed to kill Itys, whom Procne had borne +to Tereus, and dished up the limbs of his own son to the father; +at the end of the meal Philomela appeared and threw the child's head +upon the table. Tereus rushed with drawn sword upon the princesses, +but all the actors in this terrible scene were metamorph[o]sed. Tereus +became an Epops (hoopoe), Procne a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, +and Itys a goldfinch. According to Anacreon and Apollodorus it was +Procne who became the nightingale and Philomela the swallow, and this +is the version of the tradition followed by Aristophanes. +f[2] An Athenian who had some resemblance to a jay--so says +the scholiast, at any rate. + +PISTHETAERUS +Not even the vestige of a track in any direction. + +EUELPIDES +And what does the crow say about the road to follow? + +PISTHETAERUS +By Zeus, it no longer croaks the same thing it did. + +EUELPIDES +And which way does it tell us to go now? + +PISTHETAERUS +It says that, by dint of gnawing, it will devour my fingers. + +EUELPIDES +What misfortune is ours! we strain every nerve to get to the birds,[1] +do everything we can to that end, and we cannot find our way! +Yes, spectators, our madness is quite different from that of Sacas. +He is not a citizen, and would fain be one at any cost; we, on the +contrary, born of an honourable tribe and family and living in the midst +of our fellow-citizens, we have fled from our country as hard as ever +we could go. 'Tis not that we hate it; we recognize it to be great +and rich, likewise that everyone has the right to ruin himself; but +the crickets only chirrup among the fig-trees for a month or two, +whereas the Athenians spend their whole lives in chanting forth +judgments from their law-courts.[2] That is why we started off +with a basket, a stew-pot and some myrtle boughs[3] and have come +to seek a quiet country in which to settle. We are going to Tereus, +the Epops, to learn from him, whether, in his aerial flights, +he has noticed some town of this kind. + +f[1] Literally, 'to go to the crows,' a proverbial expression +equivalent to our 'going to the devil.' +f[2] They leave Athens because of their hatred of lawsuits and informers; +this is the especial failing of the Athenians satirized in 'The Wasps.' +f[3] Myrtle boughs were used in sacrifices, and the founding of every +colony was started by a sacrifice. + +PISTHETAERUS +Here! look! + +EUELPIDES +What's the matter? + +PISTHETAERUS +Why, the crow has been pointing me to something up there for some +time now. + +EUELPIDES +And the jay is also opening its beak and craning its neck to show +me I know not what. Clearly, there are some birds about here. +We shall soon know, if we kick up a noise to start them. + +PISTHETAERUS +Do you know what to do? Knock your leg against this rock. + +EUELPIDES +And you your head to double the noise. + +PISTHETAERUS +Well then use a stone instead; take one and hammer with it. + +EUELPIDES +Good idea! Ho there, within! Slave! slave! + +PISTHETAERUS +What's that, friend! You say, "slave," to summon Epops! It would +be much better to shout, "Epops, Epops!" + +EUELPIDES +Well then, Epops! Must I knock again? Epops! + +TROCHILUS +Who's there? Who calls my master? + +PISTHETAERUS +Apollo the Deliverer! what an enormous beak![1] + +f[1] The actors wore masks made to resemble the birds they were supposed +to represent. + +TROCHILUS +Good god! they are bird-catchers. + +EUELPIDES +The mere sight of him petrifies me with terror. What a horrible monster. + +TROCHILUS +Woe to you! + +EUELPIDES +But we are not men. + +TROCHILUS +What are you, then? + +EUELPIDES +I am the Fearling, an African bird. + +TROCHILUS +You talk nonsense. + +EUELPIDES +Well, then, just ask it of my feet.[1] + +f[1] Fear had had disastrous effects upon Euelpides' internal +economy, and this his feet evidenced. + +TROCHILUS +And this other one, what bird is it? + +PISTHETAERUS +I? I am a Cackling,[1] from the land of the pheasants. + +f[1] The same mishap had occurred to Pisthetaerus. + +EUELPIDES +But you yourself, in the name of the gods! what animal are you? + +TROCHILUS +Why, I am a slave-bird. + +EUELPIDES +Why, have you been conquered by a cock? + +TROCHILUS +No, but when my master was turned into a peewit, he begged me to +become a bird too, to follow and to serve him. + +EUELPIDES +Does a bird need a servant, then? + +TROCHILUS +'Tis no doubt because he was a man. At times he wants to eat a dish +of loach from Phalerum; I seize my dish and fly to fetch him some. +Again he wants some pea-soup; I seize a ladle and a pot and run +to get it. + +EUELPIDES +This is, then, truly a running-bird.[1] Come, Trochilus, do us the +kindness to call your master. + +f[1] The Greek word for a wren is derived from the same root as 'to run.' + +TROCHILUS +Why, he has just fallen asleep after a feed of myrtle-berries +and a few grubs. + +EUELPIDES +Never mind; wake him up. + +TROCHILUS +I an certain he will be angry. However, I will wake him to please +you. + +PISTHETAERUS +You cursed brute! why, I am almost dead with terror! + +EUELPIDES +Oh! my god! 'twas sheer fear that made me lose my jay. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! you great coward! were you so frightened that you let go your jay? + +EUELPIDES +And did you not lose your crow, when you fell sprawling on the ground? +Pray tell me that. + +PISTHETAERUS +No, no. + +EUELPIDES +Where is it, then? + +PISTHETAERUS +It has flown away. + +EUELPIDES +Then you did not let it go? Oh! you brave fellow! + +EPOPS +Open the forest,[1] that I may go out! + +f[1] No doubt there was some scenery to represent a forest. Besides, +there is a pun intended. The words answering for 'forests' and 'door' +in Greek only differ slightly in sound. + +EUELPIDES +By Heracles! what a creature! what plumage! What means this triple crest? + +EPOPS +Who wants me? + +EUELPIDES +The twelve great gods have used you ill, meseems. + +EPOPS +Are you chaffing me about my feathers? I have been a man, strangers. + +EUELPIDES +'Tis not you we are jeering at. + +EPOPS +At what, then? + +EUELPIDES +Why, 'tis your beak that looks so odd to us. + +EPOPS +This is how Sophocles outrages me in his tragedies. Know, I once +was Tereus.[1] + +f[1] Sophocles had written a tragedy about Tereus, in which, no doubt, +the king finally appears as a hoopoe. + +EUELPIDES +You were Tereus, and what are you now? a bird or a peacock?[1] + +f[1] [O]ne would expect the question to be "bird or man." --Are you +a peacock? The hoopoe resembles the peacock inasmuch as both have crests. + +EPOPS +I am a bird. + +EUELPIDES +Then where are your feathers? For I don't see them. + +EPOPS +They have fallen off. + +EUELPIDES +Through illness? + +EPOPS +No. All birds moult their feathers, you know, every winter, +and others grow in their place. But tell me, who are you? + +EUELPIDES +We? We are mortals. + +EPOPS + From what country? + +EUELPIDES + From the land of the beautiful galleys.[1] + +f[1] Athens. + +EPOPS +Are you dicasts?[1] + +f[1] The Athenians were madly addicted to lawsuits. (See 'The Wasps.') + +EUELPIDES +No, if anything, we are anti-dicasts. + +EPOPS +Is that kind of seed sown among you?[1] + +f[1] As much as to say, 'Then you have such things as anti-dicasts?' +And Euelpides practically replaces, 'Very few.' + +EUELPIDES +You have to look hard to find even a little in our fields. + +EPOPS +What brings you here? + +EUELPIDES +We wish to pay you a visit. + +EPOPS +What for? + +EUELPIDES +Because you formerly were a man, like we are, formerly you had +debts, as we have, formerly you did not want to pay them, like +ourselves; furthermore, being turned into a bird, you have when flying +seen all lands and seas. Thus you have all human knowledge as well +as that of birds. And hence we have come to you to beg you to direct +us to some cosy town, in which one can repose as if on thick coverlets. + +EPOPS +And are you looking for a greater city than Athens? + +EUELPIDES +No, not a greater, but one more pleasant to dwell in. + +EPOPS +Then you are looking for an aristocratic country. + +EUELPIDES +I? Not at all! I hold the son of Scellias in horror.[1] + +f[1] His name was Aristocrates; he was a general and commanded +a fleet sent in aid of Corcyra. + +EPOPS +But, after all, what sort of city would please you best? + +EUELPIDES +A place where the following would be the most important +business transacted. --Some friend would come knocking at the door +quite early in the morning saying, "By Olympian Zeus, be at my house +early, as soon as you have bathed, and bring your children too. I am +giving a nuptial feast, so don't fail, or else don't cross my threshold +when I am in distress." + +EPOPS +Ah! that's what may be called being fond of hardships! And what say you? + +PISTHETAERUS +My tastes are similar. + +EPOPS +And they are? + +PISTHETAERUS +I want a town where the father of a handsome lad will stop in the street +and say to me reproachfully as if I had failed him, "Ah! Is this well done, +Stilbonides! You met my son coming from the bath after the gymnasium +and you neither spoke to him, nor embraced him, nor took him with you, +nor ever once twitched his parts. Would anyone call you an old +friend of mine?" + +EPOPS +Ah! wag, I see you are fond of suffering. But there is a city of +delights, such as you want. 'Tis on the Red Sea. + +EUELPIDES +Oh, no. Not a sea-port, where some fine morning the Salaminian[1] +galley can appear, bringing a writ-server along. Have you no Greek town +you can propose to us? + +f[1] The State galley, which carried the officials of the Athenian +republic to their several departments and brought back those whose time +had expired; it was this galley that was sent to Sicily to fetch back +Alcibiades, who was accused of sacrilege. + +EPOPS +Why not choose Lepreum in Elis for your settlement? + +EUELPIDES +By Zeus! I could not look at Lepreum without disgust, because of +Melanthius.[1] + +f[1] A tragic poet, who was a leper; there is a play, of course, +on the word Lepreum. + +EPOPS +Then, again, there is the Opuntian, where you could live. + +EUELPIDES +I would not be Opuntian[1] for a talent. But come, what is it like +to live with the birds? You should know pretty well. + +f[1] An allusion to Opuntius, who was one-eyed. + +EPOPS +Why, 'tis not a disagreeable life. In the first place, one has no purse. + +EUELPIDES +That does away with much roguery. + +EPOPS +For food the gardens yield us white sesame, myrtle-berries, +poppies and mint. + +EUELPIDES +Why, 'tis the life of the newly-wed indeed.[1] + +f[1] The newly-married ate a sesame-cake, decorated with garlands +of myrtle, poppies and mint. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ha! I am beginning to see a great plan, which will transfer the +supreme power to the birds, if you will but take my advice. + +EPOPS +Take your advice? In what way? + +PISTHETAERUS +In what way? Well, firstly, do not fly in all directions with open +beak; it is not dignified. Among us, when we see a thoughtless man, +we ask, "What sort of bird is this?" and Teleas answers, "'Tis a man +who has no brain, a bird that has lost his head, a creature you cannot +catch, for it never remains in any one place." + +EPOPS +By Zeus himself! your jest hits the mark. What then is to be done? + +PISTHETAERUS +Found a city. + +EPOPS +We birds? But what sort of city should we build? + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh, really, really! 'tis spoken like a fool! Look down. + +EPOPS +I am looking. + +PISTHETAERUS +Now look upwards. + +EPOPS +I am looking. + +PISTHETAERUS +Turn your head round. + +EPOPS +Ah! 'twill be pleasant for me, if I end in twisting my neck! + +PISTHETAERUS +What have you seen? + +EPOPS +The clouds and the sky. + +PISTHETAERUS +Very well! is not this the pole of the birds then? + +EPOPS +How their pole? + +PISTHETAERUS +Or, if you like it, the land. And since it turns and passes through +the whole universe, it is called, 'pole.'[1] If you build and +fortify it, you will turn your pole into a fortified city.[2] +In this way you will reign over mankind as you do over the grasshoppers +and cause the gods to die of rabid hunger + +f[1] From [the word meaning] 'to turn.' +f[2] The Greek words for 'pole' and 'city' only differ by +a single letter. + +EPOPS +How so? + +PISTHETAERUS +The air is 'twixt earth and heaven. When we want to go to Delphi, +we ask the Boeotians[1] for leave of passage; in the same way, when men +sacrifice to the gods, unless the latter pay you tribute, you exercise +the right of every nation towards strangers and don't allow +the smoke of the sacrifices to pass through your city and territory. + +f[1] Boeotia separated Attica from Phocis. + +EPOPS +By earth! by snares! by network![1] I never heard of anything +more cleverly conceived; and, if the other birds approve, I am going +to build the city along with you. + +f[1] He swears by the powers that are to him dreadful. + +PISTHETAERUS +Who will explain the matter to them? + +EPOPS +You must yourself. Before I came they were quite ignorant, but +since I have lived with them I have taught them to speak. + +PISTHETAERUS +But how can they be gathered together? + +EPOPS +Easily. I will hasten down to the coppice to waken my dear Procne![1] +as soon as they hear our voices, they will come to us hot wing. + +f[1] As already stated, according to the legend accepted by Aristophanes, +it was Procne who was turned into the nightengale. + +PISTHETAERUS +My dear bird, lose no time, I beg. Fly at once into the coppice +and awaken Procne. + +EPOPS +Chase off drowsy sleep, dear companion. Let the sacred hymn gush +from thy divine throat in melodious strains; roll forth in soft +cadence your refreshing melodies to bewail the fate of Itys,[1] which +has been the cause of so many tears to us both. Your pure notes rise +through the thick leaves of the yew-tree right up to the throne of Zeus, +where Phoebus listens to you, Phoebus with his golden hair. +And his ivory lyre responds to your plaintive accents; he gathers +the choir of the gods and from their immortal lips rushes a sacred chant +of blessed voices. (THE FLUTE IS PLAYED BEHIND THE SCENE.) + +f[1] The son of Tereus and Procne. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! by Zeus! what a throat that little bird possesses. He has filled +the whole coppice with honey-sweet melody! + +EUELPIDES +Hush! + +PISTHETAERUS +What's the matter? + +EUELPIDES +Will you keep silence? + +PISTHETAERUS +What for? + +EUELPIDES +Epops is going to sing again. + +EPOPS (IN THE COPPICE) +Epopoi poi popoi, epopoi, popoi, here, here, quick, quick, quick, +my comrades in the air; all you who pillage the fertile lands +of the husbandmen, the numberless tribes who gather and devour +the barley seeds, the swift flying race who sing so sweetly. +And you whose gentle twitter resounds through the fields +with the little cry of tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio; +and you who hop about the branches of the ivy in the gardens; +the mountain birds, who feed on the wild olive berries or the arbutus, +hurry to come at my call, trioto, trioto, totobrix; you also, who snap up +the sharp-stinging gnats in the marshy vales, and you who dwell +in the fine plain of Marathon, all damp with dew, and you, the francolin +with speckled wings; you too, the halcyons, who flit over the swelling +waves of the sea, come hither to hear the tidings; let all the tribes +of long-necked birds assemble here; know that a clever old man has come +to us, bringing an entirely new idea and proposing great reforms. +Let all come to the debate here, here, here, here. Torotorotorotorotix, +kikkobau, kikkobau, torotorotorotorolililix. + +PISTHETAERUS +Can you see any bird? + +EUELPIDES +By Phoebus, no! and yet I am straining my eyesight to scan the sky. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Twas really not worth Epops' while to go and bury himself in the +thicket like a plover when a-hatching. + +PHOENICOPTERUS +Torotina, torotina. + +PISTHETAERUS +Hold, friend, here is another bird. + +EUELPIDES +I' faith, yes, 'tis a bird, but of what kind? Isn't it a peacock? + +PISTHETAERUS +Epops will tell us. What is this bird? + +EPOPS +'Tis not one of those you are used to seeing; 'tis a bird from +the marshes. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! oh! but he is very handsome with his wings as crimson as flame. + +EPOPS +Undoubtedly; indeed he is called flamingo.[1] + +f[1] An African bird, that comes to the southern countries of Europe, +to Greece, Italy, and Spain; it is even seen in Provence. + +EUELPIDES +Hi! I say! You! + +PISTHETAERUS +What are you shouting for? + +EUELPIDES +Why, here's another bird. + +PISTHETAERUS +Aye, indeed; 'tis a foreign bird too. What is this bird from beyond +the mountains with a look as solemn as it is stupid? + +EPOPS +He is called the Mede.[1] + +f[1] Aristophanes amusingly mixes up real birds with people and +individuals, whom he represents in the form of birds; he is +personifying the Medians here. + +PISTHETAERUS +The Mede! But, by Heracles, how, if a Mede, has he flown here +without a camel? + +EUELPIDES +Here's another bird with a crest. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! that's curious. I say, Epops, you are not the only one of your +kind then? + +EPOPS +This bird is the son of Philocles, who is the son of Epops;[1] so +that, you see, I am his grandfather; just as one might say, +Hipponicus,[2] the son of Callias, who is the son of Hipponicus. + +f[1] Philocles, a tragic poet, had written a tragedy on Tereus, +which was simply a plagiarism of the play of the same name +by Sophocles. Philocles is the son of Epops, because he got his +inspiration from Sophocles' Tereus, and at the same time is father +to Epops, since he himself produced another Tereus. +f[2] This Hipponicus is probably the orator whose ears Alcibiades +boxed to gain a bet; he was a descendant of Callias, who was famous +for his hatred of Pisistratus. + +PISTHETAERUS +Then this bird is Callias! Why, what a lot of his feathers he +has lost![1] + +f[1] This Callias, who must not be confounded with the foe +of Pisistratus, had ruined himself. + +EPOPS +That's because he is honest; so the informers set upon him and the +women too pluck out his feathers. + +PISTHETAERUS +By Posidon, do you see that many-coloured bird? What is his name? + +EPOPS +This one? 'Tis the glutton. + +PISTHETAERUS +Is there another glutton besides Cleonymus? But why, if he is +Cleonymus, has he not thrown away his crest?[1] But what is the meaning +of all these crests? Have these birds come to contend for the double +stadium prize?[2] + +f[1] Cleonymus had cast away his shield; he was as great a glutton +as he was a coward. +f[2] A race in which the track had to be circled twice. + +EPOPS +They are like the Carians, who cling to the crests of their +mountains for greater safety.[1] + +f[1] A people of Asia Minor; when pursued by the Ionians they took +refuge in the mountains. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh, Posidon! do you see what swarms of birds are gathering here? + +EUELPIDES +By Phoebus! what a cloud! The entrance to the stage is no longer +visible, so closely do they fly together. + +PISTHETAERUS +Here is the partridge. + +EUELPIDES +Faith! there is the francolin. + +PISTHETAERUS +There is the poachard. + +EUELPIDES +Here is the kingfisher. And over yonder? + +EPOPS +'Tis the barber. + +EUELPIDES +What? a bird a barber? + +PISTHETAERUS +Why, Sporgilus is one.[1] Here comes the owl. + +f[1] An Athenian barber. + +EUELPIDES +And who is it brings an owl to Athens?[1] + +f[1] The owl was dedicated to Athene, and being respected at Athens, +it had greatly multiplied. Hence the proverb, 'taking owls to Athens,' +similar to our English 'taking coals to Newcastle.' + +PISTHETAERUS +Here is the magpie, the turtle-dove, the swallow, the horned owl, +the buzzard, the pigeon, the falcon, the ring-dove, the cuckoo, +the red-foot, the red-cap, the purple-cap, the kestrel, the diver, +the ousel, the osprey, the woodpecker. + +EUELPIDES +Oh! oh! what a lot of birds! what a quantity of blackbirds! +how they scold, how they come rushing up! What a noise! what a +noise! Can they be bearing us ill-will? Oh! there! there! they are +opening their beaks and staring at us. + +PISTHETAERUS +Why, so they are. + +CHORUS +Popopopopopopopoi. Where is he who called me? Where am I to find him? + +EPOPS +I have been waiting for you this long while! I never fail in my +word to my friends. + +CHORUS +Titititititititi. What good thing have you to tell me? + +EPOPS +Something that concerns our common safety, and that is just as +pleasant as it is to the purpose. Two men, who are subtle reasoners, +have come here to seek me. + +CHORUS +Where? What? What are you saying? + +EPOPS +I say, two old men have come from the abode of men to propose a +vast and splendid scheme to us. + +CHORUS +Oh! 'tis a horrible, unheard-of crime! What are you saying? + +EPOPS +Nay! never let my words scare you. + +CHORUS +What have you done then? + +EPOPS +I have welcomed two men, who wish to live with us. + +CHORUS +And you have dared to do that! + +EPOPS +Aye, and am delighted at having done so. + +CHORUS +Where are they? + +EPOPS +In your midst, as I am. + +CHORUS +Ah! ah! we are betrayed; 'tis sacrilege! Our friend, he who picked +up corn-seeds in the same plains as ourselves, has violated our +ancient laws; he has broken the oaths that bind all birds; he has laid +a snare for me, he has handed us over to the attacks of that impious +race which, throughout all time, has never ceased to war against us. +As for this traitorous bird, we will decide his case later, but +the two old men shall be punished forthwith; we are going to tear them +to pieces. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis all over with us. + +EUELPIDES +You are the sole cause of all our trouble. Why did you bring me +from down yonder? + +PISTHETAERUS +To have you with me. + +EUELPIDES +Say rather to have me melt into tears. + +PISTHETAERUS +Go to! you are talking nonsense. + +EUELPIDES +How so? + +PISTHETAERUS +How will you be able to cry when once your eyes are pecked out? + +CHORUS +Io! io! forward to the attack, throw yourselves upon the foe, +spill his blood; take to your wings and surround them on all sides. +Woe to them! let us get to work with our beaks, let us devour them. +Nothing can save them from our wrath, neither the mountain forests, +nor the clouds that float in the sky, nor the foaming deep. +Come, peck, tear to ribbons. Where is the chief of the cohort? Let +him engage the right wing. + +EUELPIDES +This is the fatal moment. Where shall I fly to, unfortunate wretch +that I am? + +PISTHETAERUS +Stay! stop here! + +EUELPIDES +That they may tear me to pieces? + +PISTHETAERUS +And how do you think to escape them? + +EUELPIDES +I don't know at all. + +PISTHETAERUS +Come, I will tell you. We must stop and fight them. Let us arm +ourselves with these stew-pots. + +EUELPIDES +Why with the stew-pots? + +PISTHETAERUS +The owl will not attack us.[1] + +f[1] An allusion to the Feast of Pots; it was kept at Athens +on the third day of the Anthesteria, when all sorts of vegetables +were stewed together and offered for the dead to Bacchus and Athene. +This Feast was peculiar to Athens. --Hence Pisthetaerus thinks that +the owl will recognize they are Athenians by seeing the stew-pots, +and as he is an Athenian bird, he will not attack them. + +EUELPIDES +But do you see all those hooked claws? + +PISTHETAERUS +Seize the spit and pierce the foe on your side. + +EUELPIDES +And how about my eyes? + +PISTHETAERUS +Protect them with this dish or this vinegar-pot. + +EUELPIDES +Oh! what cleverness! what inventive genius! You are a great general, +even greater than Nicias,[1] where stratagem is concerned. + +f[1] Nicias, the famous Athenian general. --The siege of Melos in 417 +B.C., or two years previous to the production of 'The Birds,' had +especially done him great credit. He was joint commander of the Sicilian +expedition. + +CHORUS +Forward, forward, charge with your beaks! Come, no delay. Tear, +pluck, strike, flay them, and first of all smash the stew-pot. + +EPOPS +Oh, most cruel of all animals, why tear these two men to pieces, +why kill them? What have they done to you? They belong to the same +tribe, to the same family as my wife.[1] + +f[1] Procne, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens. + +CHORUS +Are wolves to be spared? Are they not our most mortal foes? So let +us punish them. + +EPOPS +If they are your foes by nature, they are your friends in heart, +and they come here to give you useful advice. + +CHORUS +Advice or a useful word from their lips, from them, the enemies of +my forebears! + +EPOPS +The wise can often profit by the lessons of a foe, for caution +is the mother of safety. 'Tis just such a thing as one will not learn +from a friend and which an enemy compels you to know. To begin with, +'tis the foe and not the friend that taught cities to build high +walls, to equip long vessels of war; and 'tis this knowledge that +protects our children, our slaves and our wealth. + +CHORUS +Well then, I agree, let us first hear them, for 'tis best; +one can even learn something in an enemy's school. + +PISTHETAERUS +Their wrath seems to cool. Draw back a little. + +EPOPS +'Tis only justice, and you will thank me later. + +CHORUS +Never have we opposed your advice up to now. + +PISTHETAERUS +They are in a more peaceful mood; put down your stew-pot and +your two dishes; spit in hand, doing duty for a spear, let us mount +guard inside the camp close to the pot and watch in our arsenal +closely; for we must not fly. + +EUELPIDES +You are right. But where shall we be buried, if we die? + +PISTHETAERUS +In the Ceramicus;[1] for, to get a public funeral, we shall tell +the Strategi that we fell at Orneae,[2] fighting the country's foes. + +f[1] A space beyond the walls of Athens which contained the gardens +of the Academy and the graves of citizens who had died for their country. +f[2] A town in Western Argolis, where the Athenians had been recently +defeated. The somewhat similar work in Greek signifies 'birds.' + +CHORUS +Return to your ranks and lay down your courage beside your wrath +as the Hoplites do. Then let us ask these men who they are, whence +they come, and with what intent. Here, Epops, answer me. + +EPOPS +Are you calling me? What do you want of me? + +CHORUS +Who are they? From what country? + +EPOPS +Strangers, who have come from Greece, the land of the wise. + +CHORUS +And what fate has led them hither to the land of the birds? + +EPOPS +Their love for you and their wish to share your kind of life; +to dwell and remain with you always. + +CHORUS +Indeed, and what are their plans? + +EPOPS +They are wonderful, incredible, unheard of. + +CHORUS +Why, do they think to see some advantage that determines them to +settle here? Are they hoping with our help to triumph over their +foes or to be useful to their friends? + +EPOPS +They speak of benefits so great it is impossible either to describe +or conceive them; all shall be yours, all that we see here, there, +above and below us; this they vouch for. + +CHORUS +Are they mad? + +EPOPS +They are the sanest people in the world. + +CHORUS +Clever men? + +EPOPS +The slyest of foxes, cleverness its very self, men of the world, +cunning, the cream of knowing folk. + +CHORUS +Tell them to speak and speak quickly; why, as I listen to you, +I am beside myself with delight. + +EPOPS +Here, you there, take all these weapons and hang them up inside +close to the fire, near the figure of the god who presides there and +under his protection;[1] as for you, address the birds, tell them why +I have gathered them together. + +f[1] Epops is addressing the two slaves, no doubt Xanthias and Manes, +who are mentioned later on. + +PISTHETAERUS +Not I, by Apollo, unless they agree with me as the little ape of +an armourer agreed with his wife, not to bite me, nor pull me by the +parts, nor shove things up my... + +CHORUS +You mean the...(PUTS FINGER TO BOTTOM) Oh! be quite at ease. + +PISTHETAERUS +No, I mean my eyes. + +CHORUS +Agreed. + +PISTHETAERUS +Swear it. + +CHORUS +I swear it and, if I keep my promise, let judges and spectators +give me the victory unanimously. + +PISTHETAERUS +It is a bargain. + +CHORUS +And if I break my word, may I succeed by one vote only. + +HERALD +Hearken, ye people! Hoplites, pick up your weapons and return to +your firesides; do not fail to read the decrees of dismissal we have +posted. + +CHORUS +Man is a truly cunning creature, but nevertheless explain. Perhaps +you are going to show me some good way to extend my power, some way +that I have not had the wit to find out and which you have discovered. +Speak! 'tis to your own interest as well as to mine, for if you secure +me some advantage, I will surely share it with you. But what object +can have induced you to come among us? Speak boldly, for I shall not +break +the truce, --until you have told us all. + +PISTHETAERUS +I am bursting with desire to speak; I have already mixed the dough +of my address and nothing prevents me from kneading it.... Slave! bring +the chaplet and water, which you must pour over my hands. Be quick![1] + +f[1] It was customary, when speaking in public and also at feasts, +to wear a chaplet; hence the question Euelpides puts. --The guests wore +chaplets of flowers, herbs, and leaves, which had the property of being +refreshing. + +EUELPIDES +Is it a question of feasting? What does it all mean? + +PISTHETAERUS +By Zeus, no! but I am hunting for fine, tasty words to break down +the hardness of their hearts. --I grieve so much for you, who +at one time were kings... + +CHORUS +We kings! Over whom? + +PISTHETAERUS +...of all that exists, firstly of me and of this man, even of Zeus +himself. Your race is older than Saturn, the Titans and the Earth. + +CHORUS +What, older than the Earth! + +PISTHETAERUS +By Phoebus, yes. + +CHORUS +By Zeus, but I never knew that before! + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis because you are ignorant and heedless, and have never read +your Aesop. 'Tis he who tells us that the lark was born +before all other creatures, indeed before the Earth; his father died +of sickness, but the Earth did not exist then; he remained unburied +for five days, when the bird in its dilemma decided, for want of +a better place, to entomb its father in its own head. + +EUELPIDES +So that the lark's father is buried at Cephalae.[1] + +f[1] A deme of Attica. In Greek the word also means 'heads,' +and hence the pun. + +EPOPS +Hence, if we existed before the Earth, before the gods, +the kingship belongs to us by right of priority. + +EUELPIDES +Undoubtedly, but sharpen your beak well; Zeus won't be in a hurry +to hand over his sceptre to the woodpecker. + +PISTHETAERUS +It was not the gods, but the birds, who were formerly the masters +and kings over men; of this I have a thousand proofs. First of all, +I will point you to the cock, who governed the Persians before +all other monarchs, before Darius and Megabyzus.[1] 'Tis in memory +of his reign that he is called the Persian bird. + +f[1] One of Darius' best generals. After his expedition against +the Scythians, this prince gave him the command of the army which he +left in Europe. Megabyzus took Perinthos (afterwards called Heraclea) +and conquered Thrace. + +EUELPIDES +For this reason also, even to-day, he alone of all the birds wears +his tiara straight on his head, like the Great King.[1] + +f[1] All Persians wore the tiara, but always on one side; the Great King +alone wore it straight on his head. + +PISTHETAERUS +He was so strong, so great, so feared, that even now, on account +of his ancient power, everyone jumps out of bed as soon as ever he +crows at daybreak. Blacksmiths, potters, tanners, shoemakers, bathmen, +corn-dealers, lyre-makers and armourers, all put on their shoes and +go to work before it is daylight. + +EUELPIDES +I can tell you something about that. 'Twas the cock's fault +that I lost a splendid tunic of Phrygian wool. I was at a feast +in town, given to celebrate the birth of a child; I had drunk pretty +freely and had just fallen asleep, when a cock, I suppose in a greater +hurry than the rest, began to crow. I thought it was dawn and set +out for Alimos.[1] I had hardly got beyond the walls, when a footpad +struck me in the back with his bludgeon; down I went and wanted +to shout, but he had already made off with my mantle. + +f[1] Noted as the birthplace of Thucydides, a deme of Attica of +the tribe of Leontis. Demosthenes tells us it was thirty-five stadia +from Athens. + +PISTHETAERUS +Formerly also the kite was ruler and king over the Greeks. + +EPOPS +The Greeks? + +PISTHETAERUS +And when he was king, 'twas he who first taught them to fall +on their knees before the kites.[1] + +f[1] The appearance of the kite in Greece betokened the return of +springtime; it was therefore worshipped as a symbol of that season. + +EUELPIDES +By Zeus! 'tis what I did myself one day on seeing a kite; but +at the moment I was on my knees, and leaning backwards[1] with mouth +agape, I bolted an obolus and was forced to carry my bag home empty.[2] + +f[1] To look at the kite, who no doubt was flying high in the sky. +f[2] As already shown, the Athenians were addicted to carrying small +coins in their mouths. --This obolus was for the purpose of buying flour +to fill the bag he was carrying + +PISTHETAERUS +The cuckoo was king of Egypt and of the whole of Phoenicia. When +he called out "cuckoo," all the Phoenicians hurried to the fields to +reap their wheat and their barley.[1] + +f[1] In Phoenicia and Egypt the cuckoo makes its appearance about +harvest-time. + +EUELPIDES +Hence no doubt the proverb, "Cuckoo! cuckoo! go to the fields, +ye circumcised."[1] + +f[1] This was an Egyptian proverb, meaning, 'When the cuckoo sings we +go harvesting.' Both the Phoenicians and the Egyptians practised +circumcision. + +PISTHETAERUS +So powerful were the birds that the kings of Grecian cities, +Agamemnon, Menelaus, for instance, carried a bird on the tip of +their sceptres, who had his share of all presents.[1] + +f[1] The staff, called a sceptre, generally terminated in a piece +of carved work, representing a flower, a fruit, and most often a bird. + +EUELPIDES +That I didn't know and was much astonished when I saw Priam come +upon the stage in the tragedies with a bird, which kept watching +Lysicrates[1] to see if he got any present. + +f[1] A general accused of treachery. The bird watches Lysicrates, +because, according to Pisthetaerus, he had a right to a share +of the presents. + +PISTHETAERUS +But the strongest proof of all is, that Zeus, who now reigns, is +represented as standing with an eagle on his head as a symbol of his +royalty;[1] his daughter has an owl, and Phoebus, as his servant, has a +hawk. + +f[1] It is thus that Phidias represents his Olympian Zeus. + +EUELPIDES +By Demeter, 'tis well spoken. But what are all these birds doing +in heaven? + +PISTHETAERUS +When anyone sacrifices and, according to the rite, offers the entrails +to the gods, these birds take their share before Zeus. Formerly men always +swore by the birds and never by the gods; even now Lampon[1] swears +by the goose, +when he wants to lie....Thus 'tis clear that you were great and +sacred, but now you +are looked upon as slaves, as fools, as Helots; stones are thrown +at you as at raving madmen, even in holy places. A crowd of +bird-catchers sets snares, traps, limed-twigs and nets of all sorts +for you; you are caught, you are sold in heaps and the buyers finger +you over to be certain you are fat. Again, if they would but serve you +up simply roasted; but they rasp cheese into a mixture of oil, vinegar +and laserwort, to which another sweet and greasy sauce is added, +and the whole is poured scalding hot over your back, for all the world +as if you were diseased meat. + +f[1] One of the diviners sent to Sybaris (in Magna Graecia, S. Italy) +with the Athenian colonists, who rebuilt the town under the new name +of Thurium. + +CHORUS +Man, your words have made my heart bleed; I have groaned over +the treachery of our fathers, who knew not how to transmit to us the +high rank they held from their forefathers. But 'tis a benevolent +Genius, a happy Fate, that sends you to us; you shall be our deliverer +and I place the destiny of my little ones and my own in your hands +with every confidence. But hasten to tell me what must be done; +we should not be worthy to live, if we did not seek to regain +our royalty by every possible means. + +PISTHETAERUS +First I advise that the birds gather together in one city and that +they build a wall of great bricks, like that at Babylon, round the +plains of the air and the whole region of space that divides earth +from heaven. + +EPOPS +Oh, Cebriones! oh, Porphyrion![1] what a terribly strong place! + +f[1] As if he were saying, "Oh, gods!" Like Lampon, he swears by the birds, +instead of swearing by the gods. --The names of these birds are those of two +of the Titans. + +PISTHETAERUS +Th[en], this being well done and completed, you demand +back the empire from Zeus; if he will not agree, if he refuses and +does not at once confess himself beaten, you declare a sacred war +against him and forbid the gods henceforward to pass through your +country with lust, as hitherto, for the purpose of fondling +their Alcmenas, their Alopes, or their Semeles![1] if they try to pass +through, you infibulate them with rings so that they can work no +longer. You send another messenger to mankind, who will proclaim to +them that the birds are kings, that for the future they must first +of all sacrifice to them, and only afterwards to the gods; that it +is fitting to appoint to each deity the bird that has most in common +with it. For instance, are they sacrificing to Aphrodite, let them +at the same time offer barley to the coot; are they immolating a sheep +to Posidon, let them consecrate wheat in honour of the duck;[2] is a +steer being offered to Heracles, let honey-cakes be dedicated to +the gull;[3] is a goat being slain for King Zeus, there is a +King-Bird, the wren,[4] to whom the sacrifice of a male gnat is due +before Zeus himself even. + +f[1] Alcmena, wife of Amphitryon, King of Thebes and mother +of Heracles. --Semele, the daughter of Cadmus and Hermione and mother +of Bacchus; both seduced by Zeus. --Alope, daughter of Cercyon, +a robber, who reigned at Eleusis and was conquered by Perseus. Alope +was honoured with Posidon's caresses; by him she had a son named +Hippothous, at first brought up by shepherds but who afterwards +was restored to the throne of his grandfather by Theseus. +f[2] Because water is the duck's domain, as it is that of Posidon. +f[3] Because the gull, like Heracles, is voracious. +f[4] The Germans still call it 'Zaunkonig' and the French 'roitelet,' +both names thus containing the idea of 'king.' + +EUELPIDES +This notion of an immolated gnat delights me! And now let the great +Zeus thunder! + +EPOPS +But how will mankind recognize us as gods and not as jays? Us, who +have wings and fly? + +PISTHETAERUS +You talk rubbish! Hermes is a god and has wings and flies, and +so do many other gods. First of all, Victory flies with golden +wings, Eros is undoubtedly winged too, and Iris is compared by Homer +to a timorous dove.[1] If men in their blindness do not recognize you +as gods and continue to worship the dwellers in Olympus, then a cloud +of sparrows greedy for corn must descend upon their fields and eat up +all their seeds; we shall see then if Demeter will mete them out +any wheat. + +f[1] The scholiast draws our attention to the fact that Homer says this +of Here and not of Iris (Iliad, V, 778); it is only another proof that +the text of Homer has reached us in a corrupted form, or it may be that +Aristophanes was liable, like other people, to occasional mistakes of +quotation. + +EUELPIDES +By Zeus, she'll take good care she does not, and you will see +her inventing a thousand excuses. + +PISTHETAERUS +The crows too will prove your divinity to them by pecking out +the eyes of their flocks and of their draught-oxen; and then let +Apollo cure them, since he is a physician and is paid for +the purpose.[1] + +f[1] In sacrifices. + +EUELPIDES +Oh! don't do that! Wait first until I have sold my two young bullocks. + +PISTHETAERUS +If on the other hand they recognize that you are God, the principle +of life, that you are Earth, Saturn, Posidon, they shall be loaded +with benefits. + +EPOPS +Name me one of these then. + +PISTHETAERUS +Firstly, the locusts shall not eat up their vine-blossoms; a legion +of owls and kestrels will devour them. Moreover, the gnats +and the gall-bugs shall no longer ravage the figs; a flock +of thrushes shall swallow the whole host down to the very last. + +EPOPS +And how shall we give wealth to mankind? This is their strongest +passion. + +PISTHETAERUS +When they consult the omens, you will point them to the richest +mines, you will reveal the paying ventures to the diviner, and not +another shipwreck will happen or sailor perish. + +EPOPS +No more shall perish? How is that? + +PISTHETAERUS +When the auguries are examined before starting on a voyage, some +bird will not fail to say, "Don't start! there will be a storm," +or else, "Go! you will make a most profitable venture." + +EUELPIDES +I shall buy a trading-vessel and go to sea, I will not stay with +you. + +PISTHETAERUS +You will discover treasures to them, which were buried in former +times, for you know them. Do not all men say, "None knows where my +treasure lies, unless perchance it be some bird."[1] + +f[1] An Athenian proverb. + +EUELPIDES +I shall sell my boat and buy a spade to unearth the vessels. + +EPOPS +And how are we to give them health, which belongs to the gods? + +PISTHETAERUS +If they are happy, is not that the chief thing towards health? +The miserable man is never well. + +EPOPS +Old Age also dwells in Olympus. How will they get at it? Must they +die in early youth? + +PISTHETAERUS +Why, the birds, by Zeus, will add three hundred years to their life. + +EPOPS + From whom will they take them? + +PISTHETAERUS + From whom? Why, from themselves. Don't you know the cawing crow +lives five times as long as a man? + +EUELPIDES +Ah! ah! these are far better kings for us than Zeus! + +PISTHETAERUS +Far better, are they not? And firstly, we shall not have to build +them temples of hewn stone, closed with gates of gold; they will +dwell amongst the bushes and in the thickets of green oak; the most +venerated of birds will have no other temple than the foliage of the +olive tree; we shall not go to Delphi or to Ammon to sacrifice;[1] but +standing erect in the midst of arbutus and wild olives and holding +forth our hands filled with wheat and barley, we shall pray them +to admit us to a share of the blessings they enjoy and shall at once +obtain them for a few grains of wheat. + +f[1] A celebrated temple to Zeus in an oasis of Libya. + +CHORUS +Old man, whom I detested, you are now to me the dearest of all; +never shall I, if I can help it, fail to follow your advice. +Inspirited by your words, I threaten my rivals the gods, and I +swear that if you march in alliance with me against the gods and are +faithful to our just, loyal and sacred bond, we shall soon have +shattered their sceptre. 'Tis our part to undertake the toil, +'tis yours to advise. + +EPOPS +By Zeus! 'tis no longer the time to delay and loiter like +Nicias;[1] let us act as promptly as possible.... In the first place, +come, enter my nest built of brushwood and blades of straw, and tell +me your names. + +f[1] Nicias was commander, along with Demosthenes, and later on +Alcibiades, of the Athenian forces before Syracuse, in the ill-fated +Sicilian Expedition, 415-413 B.C. He was much blamed for dilatoriness +and indecision. + +PISTHETAERUS +That is soon done; my name is Pisthetaerus. + +EPOPS +And his? + +PISTHETAERUS +Euelpides, of the deme of Thria. + +EPOPS +Good! and good luck to you. + +PISTHETAERUS +We accept the omen. + +EPOPS +Come in here. + +PISTHETAERUS +Very well, 'tis you who lead us and must introduce us. + +EPOPS +Come then. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! my god! do come back here. Hi! tell us how we are to follow +you. You can fly, but we cannot. + +EPOPS +Well, well. + +PISTHETAERUS +Remember Aesop's fables. It is told there, that the fox fared +very ill, because he had made an alliance with the eagle. + +EPOPS +Be at ease. You shall eat a certain root and wings will grow on +your shoulders. + +PISTHETAERUS +Then let us enter. Xanthias and Manes,[1] pick up our baggage. + +f[1] Servants of Pisthetaerus and Euelpides. + +CHORUS +Hi! Epops! do you hear me? + +EPOPS +What's the matter? + +CHORUS +Take them off to dine well and call your mate, the melodious +Procne, whose songs are worthy of the Muses; she will delight our +leisure moments. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! I conjure you, accede to their wish; for this delightful +bird will leave her rushes at the sound of your voice; for the sake of +the gods, let her come here, so that we may contemplate the +nightingale.[1] + +f[1] It has already been mentioned that, according to the legend followed +by Aristophanes, Procne had been changed into a nightingale and Philomela +into a swallow. + +EPOPS +Let is be as you desire. Come forth, Procne, show yourself to these strangers. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! great Zeus! what a beautiful little bird! what a dainty +form! what brilliant plumage![1] + +f[1] The actor, representing Procne, was dressed out as a courtesan, but wore +a mask of a bird. + +EUELPIDES +Do you know how dearly I should like to splint her legs for her? + +PISTHETAERUS +She is dazzling all over with gold, like a young girl.[1] + +f[1] Young unmarried girls wore golden ornaments; the apparel of married women +was much simpler. + +EUELPIDES +Oh! how I should like to kiss her! + +PISTHETAERUS +Why, wretched man, she has two little sharp points on her beak! + +EUELPIDES +I would treat her like an egg, the shell of which we remove before +eating it; I would take off her mask and then kiss her pretty face. + +EPOPS +Let us go in. + +PISTHETAERUS +Lead the way, and may success attend us. + +CHORUS +Lovable golden bird, whom I cherish above all others, you, whom +I associate with all my songs, nightingale, you have come, you have +come, to show yourself to me and to charm me with your notes. Come, +you, who play spring melodies upon the harmonious flute,[1] lead off +our anapaests.[2] + +Weak mortals, chained to the earth, creatures of clay as frail +as the foliage of the woods, you unfortunate race, whose life is but +darkness, as unreal as a shadow, the illusion of a dream, hearken +to us, who are immortal beings, ethereal, ever young and occupied +with eternal thoughts, for we shall teach you about all celestial +matters; you shall know thoroughly what is the nature of the birds, +what the origin of the gods, of the rivers, of Erebus, and Chaos; +thanks to us, even Prodicus[3] will envy you your knowledge. + +At the beginning there was only Chaos, Night, dark Erebus, +and deep Tartarus. Earth, the air and heaven had no existence. +Firstly, black-winged Night laid a germless egg in the bosom +of the infinite deeps of Erebus, and from this, after the revolution +of long ages, sprang the graceful Eros with his glittering golden wings, +swift as the whirlwinds of the tempest. He mated in deep Tartarus +with dark Chaos, winged like himself, and thus hatched forth our race, +which was the first to see the light. That of the Immortals did not +exist until Eros had brought together all the ingredients of the world, +and from their marriage Heaven, Ocean, Earth and the imperishable race +of blessed gods sprang into being. Thus our origin is very much +older than that of the dwellers in Olympus. We are the offspring +of Eros; there are a thousand proofs to show it. We have wings and we +lend assistance to lovers. How many handsome youths, who had sworn +to remain insensible, have not been vanquished by our power +and have yielded themselves to their lovers when almost at the end +of their youth, being led away by the gift of a quail, a waterfowl, +a goose, or a cock.[4] + +And what important services do not the birds render to mortals! +First of all, they mark the seasons for them, springtime, winter, +and autumn. Does the screaming crane migrate to Libya, --it warns +the husbandman to sow, the pilot to take his ease beside his tiller hung +up in his dwelling,[5] and Orestes[6] to weave a tunic, so that the +rigorous cold +may not drive him any more to strip other folk. When the kite +reappears, he tells +of the return of spring and of the period when the fleece of the sheep +must be clipped. Is the swallow in sight? All hasten to sell their warm tunic +and to buy some light clothing. We are your Ammon, Delphi, Dodona, +your Phoebus +Apollo.[7] Before undertaking anything, whether a business transaction, +a marriage, or the purchase of food, you consult the birds by reading +the omens, and you give this name of omen[8] to all signs that tell +of the future. With you a word is an omen, you call a sneeze an omen, +a meeting an omen, an unknown sound an omen, a slave or an ass +an omen.[9] Is it not clear that we are a prophetic Apollo to you? +If you recognize us as gods, we shall be your divining Muses, +through us you will know the winds and the seasons, summer, winter, +and the temperate months. We shall not withdraw ourselves +to the highest clouds like Zeus, but shall be among you and shall give +to you and to your children and the children of your children, health +and wealth, long life, peace, youth, laughter, songs and feasts; +in short, you will all be so well off, that you will be weary and +satiated with enjoyment. + +Oh, rustic Muse of such varied note, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, I sing +with you in the groves and on the mountain tops, tio, tio, tio, tio, +tiotinx.[10] I poured forth sacred strains from my golden throat +in honour of the god Pan,[11] tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, from the top +of the thickly leaved ash, and my voice mingles with the mighty choirs +who extol Cybele on the mountain tops,[12] tototototototototinx. +'Tis to our concerts that Phrynichus comes to pillage like a bee +the ambrosia of his songs, the sweetness of which so charms the ear, +tio, tio, tio, tio, tinx. + +If there be one of you spectators who wishes to spend the rest +of his life quietly among the birds, let him come to us. All that +is disgraceful and forbidden by law on earth is on the contrary +honourable among us, the birds. For instance, among you 'tis a crime +to beat your father, but with us 'tis an estimable deed; it's +considered fine to run straight at your father and hit him, saying, +"Come, lift your spur if you want to fight."[13] The runaway slave, +whom you brand, is only a spotted francolin with us.[14] Are you +Phrygian like Spintharus?[15] Among us you would be the Phrygian bird, +the goldfinch, of the race of Philemon.[16] Are you a slave and +a Carian like Execestides? Among us you can create yourself +fore-fathers;[17] you can always find relations. Does the son of Pisias +want to betray the gates of the city to the foe? Let him become +a partridge, the fitting offspring of his father; among us there is +no shame in escaping as cleverly as a partridge. + +So the swans on the banks of the Hebrus, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx, +mingle their voices to serenade Apollo, tio, tio, tio, tio. tiotinx, +flapping their wings the while, tio, tio, tio, tio, tiotinx; their notes +reach beyond the clouds of heaven; all the dwellers in the forest stand +still with astonishment and delight; a calm rests upon the waters, +and the Graces and the choirs in Olympus catch up the strain, tio, tio, +tio, tio, tiotinx. + +There is nothing more useful nor more pleasant than to have wings. +To begin with, just let us suppose a spectator to be dying with hunger +and to be weary of the choruses of the tragic poets; if he were +winged, he would fly off, go home to dine and come back with his +stomach filled. Some Patroclides in urgent need would not have to +soil his cloak, but could fly off, satisfy his requirements, and, +having recovered his breath, return. If one of you, it matters not who, +had adulterous relations and saw the husband of his mistress +in the seats of the senators, he might stretch his wings, fly thither, +and, having appeased his craving, resume his place. Is it not +the most priceless gift of all, to be winged? Look at Diitrephes![18] +His wings were only wicker-work ones, and yet he got himself chosen +Phylarch and then Hipparch; from being nobody, he has risen +to be famous; 'tis now the finest gilded cock of his tribe.[19] + +f[1] The actor, representing Procne, was a flute-player. +f[2] The parabasis. +f[3] A sophist of the island of Ceos, a disciple of Protagoras, +as celebrated for his knowledge as for his eloquence. The Athenians +condemned him to death as a corrupter of youth in 396 B.C. +f[4] Lovers were wont to make each other presents of birds. The cock +and the goose are mentioned, of course, in jest. +f[5] i.e. that it gave notice of the approach of winter, during which +season the Ancients did not venture to sea. +f[6] A notorious robber. +f[7] Meaning, "We are your oracles." --Dodona was an oracle in Epirus. +--The temple of Zeus there was surrounded by a dense forest, all +the trees of which were endowed with the gift of prophecy; both +the sacred oaks and the pigeons that lived in them answered +the questions of those who came to consult the oracle in pure Greek. +f[8] The Greek word for 'omen' is the same as that for 'bird.' +f[9] A satire on the passion of the Greeks for seeing an omen +in everything. +f[10] An imitation of the nightingale's song. +f[11] God of the groves and wilds. +f[12] The 'Mother of the Gods'; roaming the mountains, she held dances, +always attended by Pan and his accompanying rout of Fauns and Satyrs. +f[13] An allusion to cock-fighting; the birds are armed with brazen spurs. +f[14] An allusion to the spots on this bird, which resemble the scars +left by a branding iron. +f[15] He was of Asiatic origin, but wished to pass for an Athenian. +f[16] Or Philamnon, King of Thrace; the scholiast remarks that +the Phrygians and the Thracians had a common origin. +f[17] The Greek word here is also the name of a little bird. +f[18] A basket-maker who had become rich. --The Phylarchs were the +headmen of the tribes. They presided at the private assemblies +and were charged with the management of the treasury. --The Hipparchs, +as the name implies, were the leaders of the cavalry; there were +only two of these in the Athenian army. +f[19] He had become a senator. + +PISTHETAERUS +Halloa! What's this? By Zeus! I never saw anything so funny in all +my life.[1] + +f[1] Pisthetaerus and Euelpides now both return with wings. + +EUELPIDES +What makes you laugh? + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis your bits of wings. D'you know what you look like? Like a goose +painted by some dauber-fellow. + +EUELPIDES +And you look like a close-shaven blackbird. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis ourselves asked for this transformation, and, as Aeschylus +has it, "These are no borrowed feathers, but truly our own."[1] + +f[1] Meaning, 'tis we who wanted to have these wings. --The verse +from Aeschylus, quoted here, is taken from 'The Myrmidons,' a tragedy +of which only a few fragments remain. + +EPOPS +Come now, what must be done? + +PISTHETAERUS +First give our city a great and famous name, then sacrifice to the gods. + +EUELPIDES +I think so too. + +EPOPS +Let's see. What shall our city be called? + +PISTHETAERUS +Will you have a high-sounding Laconian name? Shall we call it Sparta? + +EUELPIDES +What! call my town Sparta? Why, I would not use esparto for my +bed,[1] even though I had nothing but bands of rushes. + +f[1] The Greek word signified the city of Sparta, and also a kind +of broom used for weaving rough matting, which served for the beds +of the very poor. + +PISTHETAERUS +Well then, what name can you suggest? + +EUELPIDES +Some name borrowed from the clouds, from these lofty regions +in which we dwell--in short, some well-known name. + +PISTHETAERUS +Do you like Nephelococcygia?[1] + +f[1] A fanciful name constructed from [the word for] a cloud, and +[the word for] a cuckoo; thus a city of clouds and cuckoos. +--'Wolkenkukelheim' is a clever approximation in German. +Cloud-cuckoo-town, perhaps, is the best English equivalent. + +EPOPS +Oh! capital! truly 'tis a brilliant thought! + +EUELPIDES +Is it in Nephelococcygia that all the wealth of Theovenes[1] and most +of Aeschines'[2] is? + +f[1] He was a boaster nicknamed 'smoke,' because he promised +a great deal and never kept his word. +f[2] Also mentioned in 'The Wasps.' + +PISTHETAERUS +No, 'tis rather the plain of Phlegra,[1] where the gods withered +the pride of the sons of the Earth with their shafts. + +f[1] Because the war of the Titans against the gods was only a fiction +of the poets. + +EUELPIDES +Oh! what a splendid city! But what god shall be its patron? +for whom shall we weave the peplus?[1] + +f[1] A sacred cloth, with which the statue of Athene in the Acropolis +was draped. + +PISTHETAERUS +Why not choose Athene Polias?[1] + +f[1] Meaning, to be patron-goddess of the city. Athene had a temple +of this name. + +EUELPIDES +Oh! what a well-ordered town 'twould be to have a female deity +armed from head to foot, while Clisthenes[1] was spinning! + +f[1] An Athenian effeminate, frequently ridiculed by Aristophanes. + +PISTHETAERUS +Who then shall guard the Pelargicon?[1] + +f[1] This was the name of the wall surrounding the Acropolis. + +EPOPS +One of us, a bird of Persian strain, who is everywhere proclaimed to be +the bravest of all, a true chick of Ares.[1] + +f[1] i.e. the fighting cock. + +EUELPIDES +Oh! noble chick! What a well-chosen god for a rocky home! + +PISTHETAERUS +Come! into the air with you to help the workers who are building +the wall; carry up rubble, strip yourself to mix the mortar, take up +the hod, tumble down the ladder, an you like, post sentinels, keep +the fire smouldering beneath the ashes, go round the walls, bell +in hand,[1] and go to sleep up there yourself; then d[i]spatch two +heralds, one to the gods above, the other to mankind on earth +and come back here. + +f[1] To waken the sentinels, who might else have fallen asleep. +--There are several merry contradictions in the various parts +of this list of injunctions. + +EUELPIDES +As for yourself, remain here, and may the plague take you for +a troublesome fellow! + +PISTHETAERUS +Go, friend, go where I send you, for without you my orders +cannot be obeyed. For myself, I want to sacrifice to the new god, +and I am going to summon the priest who must preside at the ceremony. +Slaves! slaves! bring forward the basket and the lustral water. + +CHORUS +I do as you do, and I wish as you wish, and I implore you to +address powerful and solemn prayers to the gods, and in addition to +immolate a sheep as a token of our gratitude. Let us sing the +Pythian chant in honour of the god, and let Chaeris accompany our +voices. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO THE FLUTE-PLAYER) +Enough! but, by Heracles! what is this? Great gods! I have seen +many prodigious things, but I never saw a muzzled raven.[1] + +f[1] In allusion to the leather strap which flute-players wore +to constrict the cheeks and add to the power of the breath. +The performer here no doubt wore a raven's mask. + +EPOPS +Priest! 'tis high time! Sacrifice to the new gods. + +PRIEST +I begin, but where is he with the basket? Pray to the Vesta +of the birds, to the kite, who presides over the hearth, and +to all the god and goddess-birds who dwell in Olympus. + +CHORUS +Oh! Hawk, the sacred guardian of Sunium, oh, god of the storks! + +PRIEST +Pray to the swan of Delos, to Latona the mother of the quails, and to +Artemis, the goldfinch. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis no longer Artemis Colaenis, but Artemis the goldfinch.[1] + +f[1] Hellanicus, the Mitylenian historian, tells that this surname +of Artemis is derived from Colaenus, King of Athens before Cecrops +and a descendant of Hermes. In obedience to an oracle he erected +a temple to the goddess, invoking her as Artemis Colaenis (the Artemis +of Colaenus). + +PRIEST +And to Bacchus, the finch and Cybele, the ostrich and mother +of the gods and mankind. + +CHORUS +Oh! sovereign ostrich, Cybele, The mother of Cleocritus,[1] +grant health and safety to the Nephelococcygians as well as +to the dwellers in Chios... + +f[1] This Cleocritus, says the scholiast, was long-necked and strutted +like an ostrich. + +PISTHETAERUS +The dwellers in Chios! Ah! I am delighted they should be thus +mentioned on all occasions.[1] + +f[1] The Chians were the most faithful allies of Athens, and hence +their name was always mentioned in prayers, decrees, etc. + +CHORUS +...to the heroes, the birds, to the sons of heroes, to +the porphyrion, the pelican, the spoon-bill, the redbreast, the grouse, +the peacock, the horned-owl, the teal, the bittern, the heron, +the stormy petrel, the fig-pecker, the titmouse... + +PISTHETAERUS +Stop! stop! you drive me crazy with your endless list. Why, +wretch, to what sacred feast are you inviting the vultures and +the sea-eagles? Don't you see that a single kite could easily carry off +the lot at once? Begone, you and your fillets and all; I shall know +how to complete the sacrifice by myself. + +PRIEST +It is imperative that I sing another sacred chant for the rite +of the lustral water, and that I invoke the immortals, or at least one +of them, provided always that you have some suitable food to offer +him; from what I see here, in the shape of gifts, there is naught +whatever but horn and hair. + +PISTHETAERUS +Let us address our sacrifices and our prayers to the winged gods. + +A POET +Oh, Muse! celebrate happy Nephelococcygia in your hymns. + +PISTHETAERUS +What have we here? Where did you come from, tell me? Who are you? + +POET +I am he whose language is sweeter than honey, the zealous slave +of the Muses, as Homer has it. + +PISTHETAERUS +You a slave! and yet you wear your hair long? + +POET +No, but the fact is all we poets are the assiduous slaves +of the Muses, according to Homer. + +PISTHETAERUS +In truth your little cloak is quite holy too through zeal! +But, poet, what ill wind drove you here? + +POET +I have composed verses in honour of your Nephelococcygia, a host +of splendid dithyrambs and parthenians[1] worthy of Simonides himself. + +f[1] Verses sung by maidens. + +PISTHETAERUS +And when did you compose them? How long since? + +POET +Oh! 'tis long, aye, very long, that I have sung in honour of this city. + +PISTHETAERUS +But I am only celebrating its foundation with this sacrifice;[1] +I have only just named it, as is done with little babies. + +f[1] This ceremony took place on the tenth day after birth, and +may be styled the pagan baptism. + +POET +"Just as the chargers fly with the speed of the wind, so does +the voice of the Muses take its flight. Oh! thou noble founder of +the town of Aetna,[1] thou, whose name recalls the holy sacrifices,[2] +make us such gift as thy generous heart shall suggest." + +f[1] Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse. --This passage is borrowed from Pindar. +f[2] [Hiero] in Greek means 'sacrifice.' + +PISTHETAERUS +He will drive us silly if we do not get rid of him by some present. +Here! you, who have a fur as well as your tunic, take it off +and give it to this clever poet. Come, take this fur; you look to me +to be shivering with cold. + +POET +My Muse will gladly accept this gift; but engrave these verses +of Pindar's on your mind. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! what a pest! 'Tis impossible then to be rid of him! + +POET +"Straton wanders among the Scythian nomads, but has no linen garment. +He is sad at only wearing an animal's pelt and no tunic." +Do you conceive my bent? + +PISTHETAERUS +I understand that you want me to offer you a tunic. Hi! you (TO +EUELPIDES), take off yours; we must help the poet.... Come, you, +take it and begone. + +POET +I am going, and these are the verses that I address to this city: +"Phoebus of the golden throne, celebrate this shivery, +freezing city; I have travelled through fruitful and snow-covered +plains. Tralala! Tralala!"[1] + +f[1] A parody of poetic pathos, not to say bathos. + +PISTHETAERUS +What are you chanting us about frosts? Thanks to the tunic, you no +longer fear them. Ah! by Zeus! I could not have believed this cursed +fellow could so soon have learnt the way to our city. Come, priest, +take the lustral water and circle the altar. + +PRIEST +Let all keep silence! + +A PROPHET +Let not the goat be sacrificed.[1] + +F[1] Which the priest was preparing to sacrifice. + +PISTHETAERUS +Who are you? + +PROPHET +Who am I? A prophet. + +PISTHETAERUS +Get you gone. + +PROPHET +Wretched man, insult not sacred things. For there is an oracle +of Bacis, which exactly applies to Nephelococcygia. + +PISTHETAERUS +Why did you not reveal it to me before I founded my city? + +PROPHET +The divine spirit was against it. + +PISTHETAERUS +Well, 'tis best to know the terms of the oracle. + +PROPHET +"But when the wolves and the white crows shall dwell together +between Corinth and Sicyon..." + +PISTHETAERUS +But how do the Corinthians concern me? + +PROPHET +'Tis the regions of the air that Bacis indicated in this manner. +"They must first sacrifice a white-fleeced goat to Pandora, and give +the prophet, who first reveals my words, a good cloak and new sandals." + +PISTHETAERUS +Are the sandals there? + +PROPHET +Read. "And besides this a goblet of wine and a good share +of the entrails of the victim." + +PISTHETAERUS +Of the entrails--is it so written? + +PROPHET +Read. "If you do as I command, divine youth, you shall be an eagle +among the clouds; if not, you shall be neither turtle-dove, nor eagle, +nor woodpecker." + +PISTHETAERUS +Is all that there? + +PROPHET +Read. + +PISTHETAERUS +This oracle in no sort of way resembles the one Apollo dictated +to me: "If an impostor comes without invitation to annoy you during +the sacrifice and to demand a share of the victim, apply a stout stick +to his ribs." + +PROPHET +You are drivelling. + +PISTHETAERUS +"And don't spare him, were he an eagle from out of the clouds, +were it Lampon[1] himself or the great Diopithes."[2] + +f[1] Noted Athenian diviner, who, when the power was still shared +between Thucydides and Pericles, predicted that it would soon be +centred in the hands of the latter; his ground for this prophecy was +the sight of a ram with a single horn. +f[2] No doubt another Athenian diviner, and possibly the same person whom +Aristophanes names in 'The Knights' and 'The Wasps' as being a thief. + +PROPHET +Is all that there? + +PISTHETAERUS +Here, read it yourself, and go and hang yourself. + +PROPHET +Oh! unfortunate wretch that I am. + +PISTHETAERUS +Away with you, and take your prophecies elsewhere. + +METON[1] +I have come to you. + +f[1] A celebrated geometrician and astronomer. + +PISTHETAERUS +Yet another pest! What have you come to do? What's your plan? +What's the purpose of your journey? Why these splendid buskins? + +METON +I want to survey the plains of the air for you and to parcel +them into lots. + +PISTHETAERUS +In the name of the gods, who are you? + +METON +Who am I? Meton, known throughout Greece and at Colonus.[1] + +f[1] A deme contiguous to Athens. It is as though he said, "Well known +throughout all England and at Croydon. + +PISTHETAERUS +What are these things? + +METON +Tools for measuring the air. In truth, the spaces in the air +have precisely the form of a furnace. With this bent ruler I draw +a line from top to bottom; from one of its points I describe a circle +with the compass. Do you understand? + +PISTHETAERUS +Not the very least. + +METON +With the straight ruler I set to work to inscribe a square +within this circle; in its centre will be the market-place, into which +all the straight streets will lead, converging to this centre like +a star, which, although only orbicular, sends forth its rays +in a straight line from all sides. + +PISTHETAERUS +Meton, you new Thales...[1] + +f[1] Thales was no less famous as a geometrician than he was as a sage. + +METON +What d'you want with me? + +PISTHETAERUS +I want to give you a proof of my friendship. Use your legs. + +METON +Why, what have I to fear? + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis the same here as in Sparta. Strangers are driven away, +and blows rain down as thick as hail. + +METON +Is there sedition in your city? + +PISTHETAERUS +No, certainly not. + +METON +What's wrong then? + +PISTHETAERUS +We are agreed to sweep all quacks and impostors far from our borders. + +METON +Then I'm off. + +PISTHETAERUS +I fear 'tis too late. The thunder growls already. (BEATS HIM.) + +METON +Oh, woe! oh, woe! + +PISTHETAERUS +I warned you. Now, be off, and do your surveying somewhere else. +(METON TAKES TO HIS HEELS.) + +AN INSPECTOR +Where are the Proxeni?[1] + +f[1] Officers of Athens, whose duty was to protect strangers who came +on political or other business, and see to their interests generally. + +PISTHETAERUS +Who is this Sardanapalus?[1] + +f[1] He addresses the inspector thus because of the royal +and magnificent manners he assumes. + +INSPECTOR +I have been appointed by lot to come to Nephelococcygia. +as inspector.[1] + +f[1] Magistrates appointed to inspect the tributary towns. + +PISTHETAERUS +An inspector! and who sends you here, you rascal? + +INSPECTOR +A decree of T[e]leas.[1] + +f[1] A much-despised citizen, already mentioned. He ironically +supposes him invested with the powers of an Archon, which ordinarily +were entrusted only to men of good repute. + +PISTHETAERUS +Will you just pocket your salary, do nothing, and be off? + +INSPECTOR +I' faith! that I will; I am urgently needed to be at Athens to attend +the assembly; for I am charged with the interests of Pharnaces.[1] + +f[1] A Persian satrap. --An allusion to certain orators, who, bribed +with Asiatic gold, had often defended the interests of the foe +in the Public Assembly. + +PISTHETAERUS +Take it then, and be off. See, here is your salary. (BEATS HIM.) + +INSPECTOR +What does this mean? + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis the assembly where you have to defend Pharnaces. + +INSPECTOR +You shall testify that they dare to strike me, the inspector. + +PISTHETAERUS +Are you not going to clear out with your urns? 'Tis not to be +believed; they send us inspectors before we have so much as paid +sacrifice to the gods. + +A DEALER IN DECREES +"If the Nephelococcygian does wrong to the Athenian..." + +PISTHETAERUS +Now whatever are these cursed parchments? + +DEALER IN DECREES +I am a dealer in decrees, and I have come here to sell you +the new laws. + +PISTHETAERUS +Which? + +DEALER IN DECREES +"The Nephelococcygians shall adopt the same weights, measures +and decrees as the Olophyxians."[1] + +f[1] A Macedonian people in the peninsula of Chalcidice. This name +is chosen because of its similarity to the Greek word [for] 'to groan.' +It is from another verb, meaning the same thing, that Pisthetaerus coins +the name of Ototyxians, i.e. groaners, because he is about to beat +the dealer. --The mother-country had the right to impose any law +it chose upon its colonies. + +PISTHETAERUS +And you shall soon be imitating the Ototyxians. (BEATS HIM.) + +DEALER IN DECREES +Hullo! what are you doing? + +PISTHETAERUS +Now will you be off with your decrees? For I am going to let YOU +see some severe ones. + +INSPECTOR (RETURNING) +I summon Pisthetaerus for outrage for the month of Munychion.[1] + +f[1] Corresponding to our month of April. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ha! my friend! are you still there? + +DEALER IN DECREES +"Should anyone drive away the magistrates and not receive them, +according to the decree duly posted..." + +PISTHETAERUS +What! rascal! you are there too? + +INSPECTOR +Woe to you! I'll have you condemned to a fine of ten thousand +drachmae. + +PISTHETAERUS +And I'll smash your urns.[1] + +f[1] Which the inspector had brought with him for the purpose +of inaugurating the assemblies of the people or some tribunal. + +INSPECTOR +Do you recall that evening when you stooled against the column where +the decrees are posted? + +PISTHETAERUS +Here! here! let him be seized. (THE INSPECTOR RUNS OFF.) Well! +don't you want to stop any longer? + +PRIEST +Let us get indoors as quick as possible; we will sacrifice the goat +inside.[1] + +f[1] So that the sacrifices might no longer be interrupted. + +CHORUS +Henceforth it is to me that mortals must address their +sacrifices and their prayers. Nothing escapes my sight nor my might. +My glance embraces the universe, I preserve the fruit in the flower +by destroying the thousand kinds of voracious insects the soil +produces, which attack the trees and feed on the germ when it has +scarcely formed in the calyx; I destroy those who ravage the balmy +terrace gardens like a deadly plague; all these gnawing crawling +creatures perish beneath the lash of my wing. I hear it proclaimed +everywhere: "A talent for him who shall kill Diagoras of Melos,[1] +and a talent for him who destroys one of the dead tyrants."[2] +We likewise wish to make our proclamation: "A talent to him among you +who shall kill Philocrates, the Struthian;[3] four, if he +brings him to us alive. For this Philocrates skewers the finches +together and sells them at the rate of an obolus for seven. He +tortures the thrushes by blowing them out, so that they may look +bigger, sticks their own feathers into the nostrils of blackbirds, and +collects pigeons, which he shuts up and forces them, fastened in a +net, to decoy others." That is what we wish to proclaim. And if anyone +is keeping birds shut up in his yard, let him hasten to let them +loose; those who disobey shall be seized by the birds and we shall put +them in chains, so that in their turn they may decoy other men. + +Happy indeed is the race of winged birds who need no cloak in winter! +Neither do I fear the relentless rays of the fiery dog-days; +when the divine grasshopper, intoxicated with the sunlight, when noon +is burning the ground, is breaking out into shrill melody; my home +is beneath the foliage in the flowery meadows. I winter in deep +caverns, where I frolic with the mountain nymphs, while in spring +I despoil the gardens of the Graces and gather the white, virgin berry +on the myrtle bushes. + +I want now to speak to the judges about the prize they are going +to award; if they are favourable to us, we will load them with +benefits far greater than those Paris[4] received. Firstly, the owls +of Laurium,[5] which every judge desires above all things, shall never +be wanting to you; you shall see them homing with you, building their +nests in your money-bags and laying coins. Besides, you shall be +housed like the gods, for we shall erect gables[6] over your dwellings; +if you hold some public post and want to do a little pilfering, +we will give you the sharp claws of a hawk. Are you dining in town, +we will provide you with crops.[7] But, if your award is against us, +don't fail to have metal covers fashioned for yourselves, like those +they place over statues;[8] else, look out! for the day you wear +a white tunic all the birds will soil it with their droppings. + +f[1] A disciple of Democrites; he passed over from superstition +to atheism. The injustice and perversity of mankind led him to deny +the existence of the gods, to lay bare the mysteries and to break +the idols. The Athenians had put a price on his head, so he left Greece +and perished soon afterwards in a storm at sea. +f[2] By this jest Aristophanes means to imply that tyranny is dead, and +that no one aspires to despotic power, though this silly accusation +was constantly being raised by the demagogues and always favourably +received by the populace. +f[3] A poulterer. --Strouthian, used in joke to designate him, as if +from the name of his 'deme,' is derived from [the Greek for] 'a sparrow.' +The birds' foe is thus grotesquely furnished with an ornithological +surname. +f[4] From Aphrodite (Venus), to whom he had awarded the apple, prize +of beauty, in the contest of the "goddesses three." +f[5] Laurium was an Athenian deme at the extremity of the Attic +peninsula containing valuable silver mines, the revenues of which +were largely employed in the maintenance of the fleet and payment +of the crews. The "owls of Laurium," of course, mean pieces of money; +the Athenian coinage was stamped with a representation of an owl, +the bird of Athene. +f[6] A pun, impossible to keep in English, on the two meanings +of [the Greek] word which signifies both an eagle and the gable +of a house or pediment of a temple. +f[7] That is, birds' crops, into which they could stow away plenty +of good things. +f[8] The Ancients appear to have placed metal discs over statues +standing in the open air, to save them from injury from the weather, etc. + +PISTHETAERUS +Birds! the sacrifice is propitious. But I see no messenger +coming from the wall to tell us what is happening. Ah! here comes +one running himself out of breath as though he were running the Olympic +stadium. + +MESSENGER +Where, where is he? Where, where, where is he? Where, where, where +is he? Where is Pisthetaerus, our leader? + +PISTHETAERUS +Here am I. + +MESSENGER +The wall is finished. + +PISTHETAERUS +That's good news. + +MESSENGER +'Tis a most beautiful, a most magnificent work of art. The wall is +so broad that Proxenides, the Braggartian, and Theogenes could pass +each other in their chariots, even if they were drawn by steeds as big +as the Trojan horse. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis wonderful! + +MESSENGER +Its length is one hundred stadia; I measured it myself. + +PISTHETAERUS +A decent length, by Posidon! And who built such a wall? + +MESSENGER +Birds--birds only; they had neither Egyptian brickmaker, nor +stone-mason, nor carpenter; the birds did it all themselves; I could +hardly believe my eyes. Thirty thousand cranes came from Libya +with a supply of stones,[1] intended for the foundations. The water- +rails chiselled them with their beaks. Ten thousand storks were busy +making bricks; plovers and other water fowl carried water +into the air. + +f[1] So as not to be carried away by the wind when crossing the sea, +cranes are popularly supposed to ballast themselves with stones, +which they carry in their beaks. + +PISTHETAERUS +And who carried the mortar? + +MESSENGER +Herons, in hods. + +PISTHETAERUS +But how could they put the mortar into hods? + +MESSENGER +Oh! 'twas a truly clever invention; the geese used their feet +like spades; they buried them in the pile of mortar and then emptied +them into the hods. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! to what use cannot feet be put?[1] + +f[1] Pisthetaerus modifies the Greek proverbial saying, "To what use +cannot hands be put?" + +MESSENGER +You should have seen how eagerly the ducks carried bricks. To +complete the tale, the swallows came flying to the work, their beaks +full of mortar and their trowel on their back, just the way little +children are carried. + +PISTHETAERUS +Who would want paid servants after this? But tell me, who did +the woodwork? + +MESSENGER +Birds again, and clever carpenters too, the pelicans, for they +squared up the gates with their beaks in such a fashion that one would +have thought they were using axes; the noise was just like a dockyard. +Now the whole wall is tight everywhere, securely bolted and well +guarded; it is patrolled, bell in hand; the sentinels stand everywhere +and beacons burn on the towers. But I must run off to clean myself; +the rest is your business. + +CHORUS +Well! what do you say to it? Are you not astonished at the wall +being completed so quickly? + +PISTHETAERUS +By the gods, yes, and with good reason. 'Tis really not to be +believed. But here comes another messenger from the wall to bring us +some further news! What a fighting look he has! + +SECOND MESSENGER +Oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! oh! + +PISTHETAERUS +What's the matter? + +SECOND MESSENGER +A horrible outrage has occurred; a god sent by Zeus has passed +through our gates and has penetrated the realms of the air without +the knowledge of the jays, who are on guard in the daytime. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis an unworthy and criminal deed. What god was it? + +SECOND MESSENGER +We don't know that. All we know is, that he has got wings. + +PISTHETAERUS +Why were not guards sent against him at once? + +SECOND MESSENGER +We have d[i]spatched thirty thousand hawks of the legion of Mounted +Archers.[1] All the hook-clawed birds are moving against him, the +kestrel, the buzzard, the vulture, the great-horned owl; they cleave +the air, so that it resounds with the flapping of their wings; they are +looking everywhere for the god, who cannot be far away; indeed, if I +mistake not, he is coming from yonder side. + +f[1] A corps of Athenian cavalry was so named. + +PISTHETAERUS +All arm themselves with slings and bows! This way, all our soldiers; +shoot and strike! Some one give me a sling! + +CHORUS +War, a terrible war is breaking out between us and the gods! Come, +let each one guard Air, the son of Erebus,[1] in which the clouds +float. Take care no immortal enters it without your knowledge. +Scan all sides with your glance. Hark! methinks I can hear the +rustle of the swift wings of a god from heaven. + +f[1] Chaos, Night, Tartarus, and Erebus alone existed in the beginning; +Eros was born from Night and Erebus, and he wedded Chaos and begot +Earth, Air, and Heaven; so runs the fable. + +PISTHETAERUS +Hi! you woman! where are you flying to? Halt, don't stir! keep +motionless! not a beat of your wing! --Who are you and from what +country? You must say whence you come.[1] + +f[1] Iris appears from the top of the stage and arrests her flight +in mid-career. + +IRIS +I come from the abode of the Olympian gods. + +PISTHETAERUS +What's your name, ship or cap?[1] + +f[1] Ship, because of her wings, which resemble oars; cap, because she +no doubt wore the head-dress (as a messenger of the gods) with which +Hermes is generally depicted. + +IRIS +I am swift Iris. + +PISTHETAERUS +Paralus or Salaminia?[1] + +f[1] The names of the two sacred galleys which carried Athenian +officials on State business. + +IRIS +What do you mean? + +PISTHETAERUS +Let a buzzard rush at her and seize her.[1] + +f[1] A buzzard is named in order to raise a laugh, the Greek name also +meaning, etymologically, provided with three testicles, vigorous +in love. + +IRIS +Seize me! But what do all these insults mean? + +PISTHETAERUS +Woe to you! + +IRIS +'Tis incomprehensible. + +PISTHETAERUS +By which gate did you pass through the wall, wretched woman? + +IRIS +By which gate? Why, great gods, I don't know. + +PISTHETAERUS +You hear how she holds us in derision. Did you present yourself +to the officers in command of the jays? You don't answer. Have you +a permit, bearing the seal of the storks? + +IRIS +Am I awake? + +PISTHETAERUS +Did you get one? + +IRIS +Are you mad? + +PISTHETAERUS +No head-bird gave you a safe-conduct? + +IRIS +A safe-conduct to me, you poor fool! + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! and so you slipped into this city on the sly and into these +realms of air-land that don't belong to you. + +IRIS +And what other roads can the gods travel? + +PISTHETAERUS +By Zeus! I know nothing about that, not I. But they won't pass +this way. And you still dare to complain! Why, if you were treated +according to your deserts, no Iris would ever have more justly +suffered death. + +IRIS +I am immortal. + +PISTHETAERUS +You would have died nevertheless. --Oh! 'twould be truly +intolerable! What! should the universe obey us and the gods alone +continue their insolence and not understand that they must submit +to the law of the strongest in their due turn? But tell me, where +are you flying to? + +IRIS +I? The messenger of Zeus to mankind, I am going to tell them to +sacrifice sheep and oxen on the altars and to fill their streets +with the rich smoke of burning fat. + +PISTHETAERUS +Of which gods are you speaking? + +IRIS +Of which? Why, of ourselves, the gods of heaven. + +PISTHETAERUS +You, gods? + +IRIS +Are there others then? + +PISTHETAERUS +Men now adore the birds as gods, and 'tis to them, by Zeus, that +they must offer sacrifices, and not to Zeus at all! + +IRIS +Oh! fool! fool! Rouse not the wrath of the gods, for 'tis +terrible indeed. Armed with the brand of Zeus, Justice would +annihilate your race; the lightning would strike you as it did +Licymnius and consume both your body and the porticos of your palace.[1] + +f[1] Iris' reply is a parody of the tragic style. --'Lycimnius' +is, according to the scholiast, the title of a tragedy by Euripides, +which is about a ship that is struck by lightning. + +PISTHETAERUS +Here! that's enough tall talk. Just you listen and keep quiet! +Do you take me for a Lydian or a Phrygian[1] and think to frighten me +with your big words? Know, that if Zeus worries me again, I shall go +at the head of my eagles, who are armed with lightning, and reduce his +dwelling and that of Amphion to cinders.[2] I shall send more than six +hundred porphyrions clothed in leopards' skins[3] up to heaven against +him; and formerly a single Porphyrion gave him enough to do. As for +you, his messenger, if you annoy me, I shall begin by stretching your +legs asunder, and so conduct myself, Iris though you be, that despite +my age, you will be astonished. I will show you something that will +make you three times over. + +f[1] i.e. for a poltroon, like the slaves, most of whom came to Athens +from these countries. +f[2] A parody of a passage in the lost tragedy of 'Niobe' of Aeschylus. +f[3] Because this bird has a spotted plumage. --Porphyrion is also +the name of one of the Titans who tried to storm heave. + +IRIS +May you perish, you wretch, you and your infamous words! + +PISTHETAERUS +Won't you be off quickly? Come, stretch your wings or look out for squalls! + +IRIS +If my father does not punish you for your insults... + +PISTHETAERUS +Ha!... but just you be off elsewhere to roast younger folk than us +with your lightning. + +CHORUS +We forbid the gods, the sons of Zeus, to pass through our city and +the mortals to send them the smoke of their sacrifices by this road. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis odd that the messenger we sent to the mortals has never +returned. + +HERALD +Oh! blessed Pisthetaerus, very wise, very illustrious, very +gracious, thrice happy, very... Come, prompt me, somebody, do. + +PISTHETAERUS +Get to your story! + +HERALD +All peoples are filled with admiration for your wisdom, and they +award you this golden crown. + +PISTHETAERUS +I accept it. But tell me, why do the people admire me? + +HERALD +Oh you, who have founded so illustrious a city in the air, you +know not in what esteem men hold you and how many there are who burn +with desire to dwell in it. Before your city was built, all men had +a mania for Sparta; long hair and fasting were held in honour, men +went dirty like Socrates and carried staves. Now all is changed. +Firstly, as soon as 'tis dawn, they all spring out of bed together +to go and seek their food, the same as you do; then they fly off +towards the notices and finally devour the decrees. The bird-madness +is so clear, that many actually bear the names of birds. There is +a halting victualler, who styles himself the partridge; Menippus calls +himself the swallow; Opuntius the one-eyed crow; Philocles the lark; +Theogenes the fox-goose; Lycurgus the ibis; Chaerephon the bat; +Syracosius the magpie; Midias the quail;[1] indeed he looks like +a quail that has been hit hard over the head. Out of love for the birds +they repeat all the songs which concern the swallow, the teal, the +goose or the pigeon; in each verse you see wings, or at all events +a few feathers. This is what is happening down there. Finally, +there are more than ten thousand folk who are coming here from earth +to ask you for feathers and hooked claws; so, mind you supply yourself +with wings for the immigrants. + +f[1] All these surnames bore some relation to the character or the build +of the individual to whom the poet applies them. --Chaerephon, +Socrates' disciple, +was of white and ashen hue. --Opuntius was one-eyed. --Syracosius was +a braggart. +--Midias had a passion for quail-fights, and, besides, resembled that bird +physically. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! by Zeus, 'tis not the time for idling. Go as quick as possible +and fill every hamper, every basket you can find with wings. Manes[1] +will bring them to me outside the walls, where I will welcome those +who present themselves. + +f[1] Pisthetaerus' servant, already mentioned. + +CHORUS +This town will soon be inhabited by a crowd of men. + +PISTHETAERUS +If fortune favours us. + +CHORUS +Folk are more and more delighted with it. + +PISTHETAERUS +Come, hurry up and bring them along. + +CHORUS +Will not man find here everything that can please him--wisdom, +love, the divine Graces, the sweet face of gentle peace? + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! you lazy servant! won't you hurry yourself? + +CHORUS +Let a basket of wings be brought speedily. Come, beat him as I do, +and put some life into him; he is as lazy as an ass. + +PISTHETAERUS +Aye, Manes is a great craven. + +CHORUS +Begin by putting this heap of wings in order; divide them in three +parts according to the birds from whom they came; the singing, the +prophetic[1] and the aquatic birds; then you must take care +to distribute them to the men according to their character. + +f[1] From the inspection of which auguries were taken, e.g. the eagles, +the vultures, the crows. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO MANES) +Oh! by the kestrels! I can keep my hands off you no longer; you +are too slow and lazy altogether. + +A PARRICIDE[1] +Oh! might I but become an eagle, who soars in the skies! Oh! might +I fly above the azure waves of the barren sea![2] + +f[1] Or rather, a young man who contemplated parricide. +f[2] A parody of verses in Sophocles 'Oenomaus.' + +PISTHETAERUS +Ha! 'twould seem the news was true; I hear someone coming who +talks of wings. + +PARRICIDE +Nothing is more charming than to fly; I burn with desire to live +under the same laws as the birds; I am bird-mad and fly +towards you, for I want to live with you and to obey your laws. + +PISTHETAERUS +Which laws? The birds have many laws. + +PARRICIDE +All of them; but the one that pleases me most is, that among the +birds it is considered a fine thing to peck and strangle one's father. + +PISTHETAERUS +Aye, by Zeus! according to us, he who dares to strike his father, while +still a chick, is a brave fellow. + +PARRICIDE +And therefore I want to dwell here, for I want to strangle my +father and inherit his wealth. + +PISTHETAERUS +But we have also an ancient law written in the code of the storks, +which runs thus, "When the stork father has reared his young and has +taught them to fly, the young must in their turn support the father." + +PARRICIDE +'Tis hardly worth while coming all this distance to be compelled +to keep my father! + +PISTHETAERUS +No, no, young friend, since you have come to us with such +willingness, I am going to give you these black wings, as though you +were an orphan bird; furthermore, some good advice, that I received +myself in infancy. Don't strike your father, but take these wings +in one hand and these spurs in the other; imagine you have a +cock's crest on your head and go and mount guard and fight; live +on your pay and respect your father's life. You're a gallant fellow! +Very well, then! Fly to Thrace and fight.[1] + +f[1] The Athenians were then besieging Amphipolis in the Thracian Chalcidice. + +PARRICIDE +By Bacchus! 'Tis well spoken; I will follow your counsel. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis acting wisely, by Zeus. + +CINESIAS[1] +"On my light pinions I soar off to Olympus; in its capricious +flight my Muse flutters along the thousand paths of poetry in turn..." + +f[1] There was a real Cinesias--a dythyrambic poet born at Thebes. + +PISTHETAERUS +This is a fellow will need a whole shipload of wings. + +CINESIAS (singing) +"...and being fearless and vigorous, it is seeking fresh outlet." + +PISTHETAERUS +Welcome, Cinesias, you lime-wood man![1] Why have you come here +a-twisting your game leg in circles? + +f[1] The scholiast thinks that Cinesias, who was tall and slight +of build, wore a kind of corset of lime-wood to support his waist-- +surely rather a far-fetched interpretation! + +CINESIAS +"I want to become a bird, a tuneful nightingale." + +PISTHETAERUS +Enough of that sort of ditty. Tell me what you want. + +CINESIAS +Give me wings and I will fly into the topmost airs to gather fresh +songs in the clouds, in the midst of the vapours and the fleecy snow. + +PISTHETAERUS +Gather songs in the clouds? + +CINESIAS +'Tis on them the whole of our latter-day art depends. The most +brilliant dithyrambs are those that flap their wings in void space +and are clothed in mist and dense obscurity. To appreciate this, +just listen. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! no, no, no! + +CINESIAS +By Hermes! but indeed you shall. "I shall travel through thine +ethereal empire like a winged bird, who cleaveth space with his +long neck..." + +PISTHETAERUS +Stop! easy all, I say![1] + +f[1] The Greek word used here was the word of command employed +to stop the rowers. + +CINESIAS +"...as I soar over the seas, carried by the breath of the +winds..." + +PISTHETAERUS +By Zeus! but I'll cut your breath short. + +CINESIAS +"...now rushing along the tracks of Notus, now nearing Boreas +across the infinite wastes of the ether." (PISTHETAERUS BEATS HIM.} +Ah! old man, that's a pretty and clever idea truly! + +PISTHETAERUS +What! are you not delighted to be cleaving the air?[1] + +F[1] Cinesias makes a bound each time that Pisthetaerus strikes him. + +CINESIAS +To treat a dithyrambic poet, for whom the tribes dispute with each +other, in this style![1] + +f[1] The tribes of Athens, or rather the rich citizens belonging +to them, were wont on feast-days to give representations of dithyrambic +choruses as well as of tragedies and comedies. + +PISTHETAERUS +Will you stay with us and form a chorus of winged birds as slender +as Leotrophides[1] for the Cecropid tribe? + +f[1] Another dithyrambic poet, a man of extreme leanness. + +CINESIAS +You are making game of me, 'tis clear; but know that I shall +never leave you in peace if I do not have wings wherewith +to traverse the air. + +AN INFORMER +What are these birds with downy feathers, who look so pitiable +to me? Tell me, oh swallow with the long dappled wings.[1] + +f[1] A parody of a hemistich from 'Alcaeus.' --The informer is +dissatisfied at only seeing birds of sombre plumage and poor appearance. +He would have preferred to denounce the rich. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! but 'tis a regular invasion that threatens us. Here comes +another of them, humming along. + +INFORMER +Swallow with the long dappled wings, once more I summon you. + +PISTHETAERUS +It's his cloak I believe he's addressing; 'faith, it stands in great +need of the swallows' return.[1] + +f[1] The informer, says the scholiast, was clothed with a ragged cloak, +the tatters of which hung down like wings, in fact, a cloak that could +not protect him from the cold and must have made him long for the +swallows' return, i.e. the spring. + +INFORMER +Where is he who gives out wings to all comers? + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis I, but you must tell me for what purpose you want them. + +INFORMER +Ask no questions. I want wings, and wings I must have. + +PISTHETAERUS +Do you want to fly straight to Pellene?[1] + +f[1] A town in Achaia, where woollen cloaks were made. + +INFORMER +I? Why, I am an accuser of the islands,[1] an informer... + +f[1] His trade was to accuse the rich citizens of the subject islands, +and drag them before the Athenian court; he explains later the special +advantages of this branch of the informer's business. + +PISTHETAERUS +A fine trade, truly! + +INFORMER +...a hatcher of lawsuits. Hence I have great need of wings +to prowl round the cities and drag them before justice. + +PISTHETAERUS +Would you do this better if you had wings? + +INFORMER +No, but I should no longer fear the pirates; I should return +with the cranes, loaded with a supply of lawsuits by way of ballast. + +PISTHETAERUS +So it seems, despite all your youthful vigour, you make it your +trade to denounce strangers? + +INFORMER +Well, and why not? I don't know how to dig. + +PISTHETAERUS +But, by Zeus! there are honest ways of gaining a living at your age +without all this infamous trickery. + +INFORMER +My friend, I am asking you for wings, not for words. + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis just my words that give you wings. + +INFORMER +And how can you give a man wings with your words? + +PISTHETAERUS +'Tis thus that all first start. + +INFORMER +All? + +PISTHETAERUS +Have you not often heard the father say to young men in the +barbers' shops, "It's astonishing how Diitrephes' advice has made +my son fly to horse-riding." --"Mine," says another, "has flown +towards tragic poetry on the wings of his imagination." + +INFORMER +So that words give wings? + +PISTHETAERUS +Undoubtedly; words give wings to the mind and make a man soar +to heaven. Thus I hope that my wise words will give you wings to fly +to some less degrading trade. + +INFORMER +But I do not want to. + +PISTHETAERUS +What do you reckon on doing then? + +INFORMER +I won't belie my breeding; from generation to generation we have +lived by informing. Quick, therefore, give me quickly some light, +swift hawk or kestrel wings, so that I may summon the islanders, +sustain the accusation here, and haste back there again on flying +pinions. + +PISTHETAERUS +I see. In this way the stranger will be condemned even before +he appears. + +INFORMER +That's just it. + +PISTHETAERUS +And while he is on his way here by sea, you will be flying +to the islands to despoil him of his property. + +INFORMER +You've hit it, precisely; I must whirl hither and thither like +a perfect humming-top. + +PISTHETAERUS +I catch the idea. Wait, i' faith, I've got some fine Corcyraean +wings.[1] How do you like them? + +f[1] That is, whips--Corcyra being famous for these articles. + +INFORMER +Oh! woe is me! Why, 'tis a whip! + +PISTHETAERUS +No, no; these are the wings, I tell you, that set the top a-spinning. + +INFORMER +Oh! oh! oh! + +PISTHETAERUS +Take your flight, clear off, you miserable cur, or you will soon +see what comes of quibbling and lying. Come, let us gather up our wings +and withdraw. + +CHORUS +In my ethereal flights I have seen many things new and strange and +wondrous beyond belief. There is a tree called Cleonymus belonging +to an unknown species; it has no heart, is good for nothing and is +as tall as it is cowardly. In springtime it shoots forth calumnies +instead of buds and in autumn it strews the ground with bucklers in +place of leaves.[1] + +Far away in the regions of darkness, where no ray of light ever +enters, there is a country, where men sit at the table of the heroes +and dwell with them always--save always in the evening. Should any +mortal meet the hero Orestes at night, he would soon be stripped and +covered with blows from head to foot.[2] + +f[1] Cleonymous is a standing butt of Aristophanes' wit, both as an informer +and a notorious poltroon. +f[2] In allusion to the cave of the bandit Orestes; the poet terms him a hero +only because of his heroic name Orestes. + +PROMETHEUS +Ah! by the gods! if only Zeus does not espy me! Where is Pisthetaerus? + +PISTHETAERUS +Ha! what is this? A masked man! + +PROMETHEUS +Can you see any god behind me? + +PISTHETAERUS +No, none. But who are you, pray? + +PROMETHEUS +What's the time, please? + +PISTHETAERUS +The time? Why, it's past noon. Who are you? + +PROMETHEUS +Is it the fall of day? Is it no later than that?[1] + +f[1] Prometheus wants night to come and so reduce the risk +of being seen from Olympus. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! 'pon my word! but you grow tiresome. + +PROMETHEUS +What is Zeus doing? Is he dispersing the clouds or gathering them?[1] + +f[1] The clouds would prevent Zeus seeing what was happening below him. + +PISTHETAERUS +Take care, lest I lose all patience. + +PROMETHEUS +Come, I will raise my mask. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! my dear Prometheus! + +PROMETHEUS +Stop! stop! speak lower! + +PISTHETAERUS +Why, what's the matter, Prometheus? + +PROMETHEUS +H'sh! h'sh! Don't call me by my name; you will be my ruin, if Zeus +should see me here. But, if you want me to tell you how things are +going in heaven, take this umbrella and shield me, so that the gods +don't see me. + +PISTHETAERUS +I can recognize Prometheus in this cunning trick. Come, quick +then, and fear nothing; speak on. + +PROMETHEUS +Then listen. + +PISTHETAERUS +I am listening, proceed! + +PROMETHEUS +It's all over with Zeus. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! and since when, pray? + +PROMETHEUS +Since you founded this city in the air. There is not a man who now +sacrifices to the gods; the smoke of the victims no longer reaches us. +Not the smallest offering comes! We fast as though it were the +festival of Demeter.[1] The barbarian gods, who are dying of hunger, +are bawling like Illyrians[2] and threaten to make an armed descent +upon Zeus, if he does not open markets where joints of the victims +are sold. + +f[1] The third day of the festival of Demeter was a fast. +f[2] A semi-savage people, addicted to violence and brigandage. + +PISTHETAERUS +What! there are other gods besides you, barbarian gods who dwell +above Olympus? + +PROMETHEUS +If there were no barbarian gods, who would be the patron of +Execestides?[1] + +f[1] Who, being reputed a stranger despite his pretension to the title +of a citizen, could only have a strange god for his patron or +tutelary deity. + +PISTHETAERUS +And what is the name of these gods? + +PROMETHEUS +Their name? Why, the Triballi.[1] + +f[1] The Triballi were a Thracian people; it was a term commonly used +in Athens to describe coarse men, obscene debauchees and greedy +parasites. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah, indeed! 'tis from that no doubt that we derive the word +'tribulation.'[1] + +f[1] There is a similar pun in the Greek. + +PROMETHEUS +Most likely. But one thing I can tell you for certain, namely, +that Zeus and the celestial Triballi are going to send deputies here +to sue for peace. Now don't you treat, unless Zeus restores the sceptre +to the birds and gives you Basileia[1] in marriage. + +f[1] i.e. the 'supremacy' of Greece, the real object of the war. + +PISTHETAERUS +Who is this Basileia? + +PROMETHEUS +A very fine young damsel, who makes the lightning for Zeus; all +things come from her, wisdom, good laws, virtue, the fleet, calumnies, +the public paymaster and the triobolus. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! then she is a sort of general manageress to the god. + +PROMETHEUS +Yes, precisely. If he gives you her for your wife, yours will be +the almighty power. That is what I have come to tell you; for you know +my constant and habitual goodwill towards men. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh, yes! 'tis thanks to you that we roast our meat.[1] + +f[1] Prometheus had stolen the fire from the gods to gratify mankind. + +PROMETHEUS +I hate the gods, as you know. + +PISTHETAERUS +Aye, by Zeus, you have always detested them. + +PROMETHEUS +Towards them I am a veritable Timon;[1] but I must return in all +haste, so give me the umbrella; if Zeus should see me from up there, +he would think I was escorting one of the Canephori.[2] + +f[1] A celebrated misanthrope, contemporary to Aristophanes. Hating +the society of men, he had only a single friend, Apimantus, to whom +he was attached, because of their similarity of character; he also +liked Alcibiades, because he foresaw that this young man would be +the ruin of his country. +f[2] The Canephori were young maidens, chosen from the first families +of the city, who carried baskets wreathed with myrtle at the feast +of Athene, while at those of Bacchus and Demeter they appeared +with gilded baskets. --The daughters of 'Metics,' or resident aliens, +walked behind them, carrying an umbrella and a stool. + +PISTHETAERUS +Wait, take this stool as well. + +CHORUS +Near by the land of the Sciapodes[1] there is a marsh, from the +borders whereof the odious Socrates evokes the souls of men. +Pisander[2] came one day to see his soul, which he had left there when +still alive. He offered a little victim, a camel,[3] slit his throat +and, following the example of Ulysses, stepped one pace backwards.[4] +Then that bat of a Chaerephon[5] came up from hell to drink the camel's +blood. + +f[1] According to Ctesias, the Sciapodes were a people who dwelt +on the borders of the Atlantic. Their feet were larger than the rest +of their bodies, and to shield themselves from the sun's rays they +held up one of their feet as an umbrella. --By giving the Socratic +philosophers the name of Sciapodes here Aristophanes wishes to convey +that they are walking in the dark and busying themselves with +the greatest nonsense. +f[2] This Pisander was a notorious coward; for this reason the poet +jestingly supposes that he had lost his soul, the seat of courage. +f[3] Considering the shape and height of the camel, [it] can certainly +not be included in the list of SMALL victims, e.g. the sheep and +the goat. +f[4] In the evocation of the dead, Book XI of the Odyssey. +f[5] Chaerephon was given this same title by the Herald earlier +in this comedy. --Aristophanes supposes him to have come from hell +because he is lean and pallid. + +POSIDON[1] +This is the city of Nephelococcygia, Cloud-cuckoo-town, whither we come +as ambassadors. (TO TRIBALLUS) Hi! what are you up to? you are +throwing your cloak over the left shoulder. Come, fling it quick over +the right! And why, pray, does it draggle in this fashion? Have you +ulcers to hide like Laespodias?[2] Oh! democracy![3] whither, oh! +whither are you leading us? Is it possible that the gods have chosen +such an envoy? + +f[1] Posidon appears on the stage accompanied by Heracles and +a Triballian god. +f[2] An Athenian general. --Neptune is trying to give Triballus some +notions of elegance and good behaviour. +f[3] Aristophanes supposes that democracy is in the ascendant in Olympus +as it is in Athens. + +TRIBALLUS +Leave me alone. + +POSIDON +Ugh! the cursed savage! you are by far the most barbarous of all +the gods. --Tell me, Heracles, what are we going to do? + +HERACLES +I have already told you that I want to strangle the fellow who has +dared to block us in. + +POSIDON +But, my friend, we are envoys of peace. + +HERACLES +All the more reason why I wish to strangle him. + +PISTHETAERUS +Hand me the cheese-grater; bring me the silphium for sauce; pass +me the cheese and watch the coals.[1] + +f[1] He is addressing his servant, Manes. + +HERACLES +Mortal! we who greet you are three gods. + +PISTHETAERUS +Wait a bit till I have prepared my silphium pickle. + +HERACLES +What are these meats?[1] + +f[1] Heracles softens at sight of the food. --Heracles is the glutton +of the comic poets. + +PISTHETAERUS +These are birds that have been punished with death for attacking +the people's friends. + +HERACLES +And you are seasoning them before answering us? + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! Heracles! welcome, welcome! What's the matter?[1] + +f[1] He pretends not to have seen them at first, being so much engaged +with his cookery. + +HERACLES +The gods have sent us here as ambassadors to treat for peace. + +A SERVANT +There's no more oil in the flask. + +PISTHETAERUS +And yet the birds must be thoroughly basted with it.[1] + +f[1] He pretends to forget the presence of the ambassadors. + +HERACLES +We have no interest to serve in fighting you; as for you, be +friends and we promise that you shall always have rain-water in your +pools and the warmest of warm weather. So far as these points go we +are armed with plenary authority. + +PISTHETAERUS +We have never been the aggressors, and even now we are as well +disposed for peace as yourselves, provided you agree to one +equitable condition, namely, that Zeus yield his sceptre to the birds. +If only this is agreed to, I invite the ambassadors to dinner. + +HERACLES +That's good enough for me. I vote for peace. + +POSIDON +You wretch! you are nothing but a fool and a glutton. Do you +want to dethrone your own father? + +PISTHETAERUS +What an error! Why, the gods will be much more powerful if the +birds govern the earth. At present the mortals are hidden beneath +the clouds, escape your observation, and commit perjury in your +name; but if you had the birds for your allies, and a man, after +having sworn by the crow and Zeus, should fail to keep his oath, +the crow would dive down upon him unawares and pluck out his eye. + +POSIDON +Well thought of, by Posidon![1] + +f[1] Posidon jestingly swears by himself. + +HERACLES +My notion too. + +PISTHETAERUS (TO THE TRIBALLIAN) +And you, what's your opinion? + +TRIBALLUS +Nabaisatreu.[1] + +f[1] The barbarian god utters some gibberish which Pisthetaerus +interprets into consent. + +PISTHETAERUS +D'you see? he also approves. But hear another thing in which we can +serve you. If a man vows to offer a sacrifice to some god, and then +procrastinates, pretending that the gods can wait, and thus does not +keep his word, we shall punish his stinginess. + +POSIDON +Ah! ah! and how? + +PISTHETAERUS +While he is counting his money or is in the bath, a kite will +relieve him, before he knows it, either in coin or in clothes, of +the value of a couple of sheep, and carry it to the god. + +HERACLES +I vote for restoring them the sceptre. + +POSIDON +Ask the Triballian. + +HERACLES +Hi Triballian, do you want a thrashing? + +TRIBALLUS +Saunaka baktarikrousa. + +HERACLES +He says, "Right willingly." + +POSIDON +If that be the opinion of both of you, why, I consent too. + +HERACLES +Very well! we accord the sceptre. + +PISTHETAERUS +Ah! I was nearly forgetting another condition. I will leave Here +to Zeus, but only if the young Basileia is given me in marriage. + +POSIDON +Then you don't want peace. Let us withdraw. + +PISTHETAERUS +It matters mighty little to me. Cook, look to the gravy. + +HERACLES +What an odd fellow this Posidon is! Where are you off to? Are we +going to war about a woman? + +POSIDON +What else is there to do? + +HERACLES +What else? Why, conclude peace. + +POSIDON +Oh! you ninny! do you always want to be fooled? Why, you are seeking +your own downfall. If Zeus were to die, after having yielded +them the sovereignty, you would be ruined, for you are the heir of all +the wealth he will leave behind. + +PISTHETAERUS +Oh! by the gods! how he is cajoling you. Step aside, that I may +have a word with you. Your uncle is getting the better of you, my poor +friend.[1] The law will not allow you an obolus of the paternal +property, for you are a bastard and not a legitimate child. + +f[1] Heracles, the god of strength, was far from being remarkable +in the way of cleverness. + +HERACLES +I a bastard! What's that you tell me? + +PISTHETAERUS +Why, certainly; are you not born of a stranger woman? Besides, +is not Athene recognized as Zeus' sole heiress? And no daughter +would be that, if she had a legitimate brother. + +HERACLES +But what if my father wished to give me his property on his +death-bed, even though I be a bastard? + +PISTHETAERUS +The law forbids it, and this same Posidon would be the first to +lay claim to his wealth, in virtue of being his legitimate brother. +Listen; thus runs Solon's law: "A bastard shall not inherit, if +there are legitimate children; and if there are no legitimate +children, the property shall pass to the nearest kin."[1] + +f[1] This was Athenian law. + +HERACLES +And I get nothing whatever of the paternal property? + +PISTHETAERUS +Absolutely nothing. But tell me, has your father had you entered +on the registers of his phratria?[1] + +f[1] The poet attributes to the gods the same customs as those +which governed Athens, and according to which no child was +looked upon as legitimate unless his father had entered him +on the registers of his phratria. The phratria was a division +of the tribe and consisted of thirty families. + +HERACLES +No, and I have long been surprised at the omission. + +PISTHETAERUS +What ails you, that you should shake your fist at heaven? Do you want +to fight it? Why, be on my side, I will make you a king and will feed +you on bird's milk and honey. + +HERACLES +Your further condition seems fair to me. I cede you the young +damsel. + +POSIDON +But I, I vote against this opinion. + +PISTHETAERUS +Then it all depends on the Triballian. (TO THE TRIBALLIAN.) What do +you say? + +TRIBALLUS +Big bird give daughter pretty and queen. + +HERACLES +You say that you give her? + +POSIDON +Why no, he does not say anything of the sort, that he gives her; else +I cannot understand any better than the swallows. + +PISTHETAERUS +Exactly so. Does he not say she must be given to the swallows? + +POSIDON +Very well! you two arrange the matter; make peace, since you +wish it so; I'll hold my tongue. + +HERACLES +We are of a mind to grant you all that you ask. But come up +there with us to receive Basileia and the celestial bounty. + +PISTHETAERUS +Here are birds already cut up, and very suitable for a nuptial feast. + +HERACLES +You go and, if you like, I will stay here to roast them. + +PISTHETAERUS +You to roast them! you are too much the glutton; come along with us. + +HERACLES +Ah! how well I would have treated myself! + +PISTHETAERUS +Let some[one] bring me a beautiful and magnificent tunic for the +wedding. + +CHORUS[1] +At Phanae,[2] near the Clepsydra,[3] there dwells a people who have +neither faith nor law, the Englottogastors,[4] who reap, sow, pluck +the vines and the figs[5] with their tongues; they belong to a barbaric +race, and among them the Philippi and the Gorgiases[6] are to be found; +'tis these Englottogastorian Philippi who introduced the custom all over +Attica of cutting out the tongue separately at sacrifices.[7] + +f[1] The chorus continues to tell what it has seen on its flights. +f[2] The harbour of the island of Chios; but this name is here used +in the sense of being the land of informers ([from the Greek for] +'to denounce'). +f[3] i.e. near the orators' platform, in the Public Assembly, or because +there stood the water-clock, by which speeches were limited. +f[4] A coined name, made up of [the Greek for] the tongue, and [for] +the stomach, and meaning those who fill their stomach with what they +gain with their tongues, to wit, the orators. +f[5] [The Greek for] a fig forms part of the word which in Greek means +an informer. +f[6] Both rhetoricians. +f[7] Because they consecrated it specially to the god of eloquence. + +A MESSENGER +Oh, you, whose unbounded happiness I cannot express in words, +thrice happy race of airy birds, receive your king in your fortunate +dwellings. More brilliant than the brightest star that illumes the +earth, he is approaching his glittering golden palace; the sun +itself does not shine with more dazzling glory. He is entering with +his bride at his side,[1] whose beauty no human tongue can express; in +his hand he brandishes the lightning, the winged shaft of Zeus; +perfumes of unspeakable sweetness pervade the ethereal realms. 'Tis +a glorious spectacle to see the clouds of incense wafting in light +whirlwinds before the breath of the Zephyr! But here he is himself. +Divine Muse! let thy sacred lips begin with songs of happy omen. + +f[1] Basileia, whom he brings back from heaven. + +CHORUS +Fall back! to the right! to the left! advance![1] Fly around this +happy mortal, whom Fortune loads with her blessings. Oh! oh! what +grace! what beauty! Oh, marriage so auspicious for our city! All +honour to this man! 'tis through him that the birds are called to such +glorious destinies. Let your nuptial hymns, your nuptial songs, +greet him and his Basileia! 'Twas in the midst of such festivities +that the Fates formerly united Olympian Here to the King who governs +the gods from the summit of his inaccessible throne. Oh! Hymen! oh! +Hymenaeus! Rosy Eros with the golden wings held the reins and guided +the chariot; 'twas he, who presided over the union of Zeus and the +fortunate Here. Oh! Hymen! oh! Hymenaeus! + +f[1] Terms used in regulating a dance. + +PISTHETAERUS +I am delighted with your songs, I applaud your verses. Now +celebrate the thunder that shakes the earth, the flaming lightning +of Zeus and the terrible flashing thunderbolt. + +CHORUS +Oh, thou golden flash of the lightning! oh, ye divine shafts +of flame, that Zeus has hitherto shot forth! Oh, ye rolling thunders, +that bring down the rain! 'Tis by the order of OUR king that ye +shall now stagger the earth! Oh, Hymen! 'tis through thee that he +commands the universe and that he makes Basileia, whom he has robbed +from Zeus, take her seat at his side. Oh! Hymen! oh! Hymenaeus! + +PISTHETAERUS +Let all the winged tribes of our fellow-citizens follow the bridal +couple to the palace of Zeus[1] and to the nuptial couch! Stretch forth +your hands, my dear wife! Take hold of me by my wings and let us +dance; I am going to lift you up and carry you through the air. + +f[1] Where Pisthetaerus is henceforth to reign. + +CHORUS +Oh, joy! Io Paean! Tralala! victory is thing, oh, thou greatest of the gods! + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Birds +by Aristophanes + diff --git a/old/birds10.zip b/old/birds10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bdb584e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/birds10.zip |