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.
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