Peace | Page 8

that the wishes of the initiates were always granted, and they were
feared as to-day the 'jettatori' (spell-throwers, casters of the evil eye) in
Sicily are feared.
TUMULT (WHO RETURNS) Alas! alas! thrice again, alas!
WAR What is it? Again you come back without it?
TUMULT The Spartans too have lost their pestle.
WAR How, varlet?
TUMULT They had lent it to their allies in Thrace,[1] who have lost it
for them.
f[1] Brasidas perished in Thrace in the same battle as Cleon at
Amphipolis, 422 B.C.
TRYGAEUS Long life to you, Thracians! My hopes revive, pluck up
courage, mortals!
WAR Take all this stuff away; I am going in to make a pestle for
myself.
TRYGAEUS 'Tis now the time to sing as Datis did, as he abused
himself at high noon, "Oh pleasure! oh enjoyment! oh delights!" 'Tis
now, oh Greeks! the moment when freed of quarrels and fighting, we
should rescue sweet Peace and draw her out of this pit, before some
other pestle prevents us. Come, labourers, merchants, workmen,
artisans, strangers, whether you be domiciled or not, islanders, come
here, Greeks of all countries, come hurrying here with picks and levers
and ropes! 'Tis the moment to drain a cup in honour of the Good
Genius.
CHORUS Come hither all! quick, hasten to the rescue! All peoples of

Greece, now is the time or never, for you to help each other. You see
yourselves freed from battles and all their horrors of bloodshed. The
day, hateful to Lamachus[1], has come. Come then, what must be done?
Give your orders, direct us, for I swear to work this day without ceasing,
until with the help of our levers and our engines we have drawn back
into light the greatest of all goddesses, her to whom the olive is so dear.
f[1] An Athenian general as ambitious as he was brave. In 423 B.C. he
had failed in an enterprise against Heracles, a storm having destroyed
his fleet. Since then he had distingued himself in several actions, and
was destined, some years later, to share the command of the expedition
to Sicily with Alcibiades and Nicias.
TRYGAEUS Silence! if War should hear your shouts of joy he would
bound forth from his retreat in fury.
CHORUS Such a decree overwhelms us with joy; how different to the
edict, which bade us muster with provisions for three days.[1]
f[1] Meaning, to start a military expedition.
TRYGAEUS Let us beware lest the cursed Cerberus[1] prevent us even
from the nethermost hell from delivering the goddess by his furious
howling, just as he did when on earth.
f[1] Cleon.
CHORUS Once we have hold of her, none in the world will be able to
take her from us. Huzza! huzza![1]
f[1] The Chorus insist on the conventional choric dance.
TRYGAEUS You will work my death if you don't subdue your shouts.
War will come running out and trample everything beneath his feet.
CHORUS Well then! LET him confound, let him trample, let him
overturn everything! We cannot help giving vent to our joy.
TRYGAEUS Oh! cruel fate! My friends! in the name of the gods, what
possesses you? Your dancing will wreck the success of a fine
undertaking.
CHORUS 'Tis not I who want to dance; 'tis my legs that bound with
delight.
TRYGAEUS Enough, an you love me, cease your gambols.
CHORUS There! 'Tis over.
TRYGAEUS You say so, and nevertheless you go on.
CHORUS Yet one more figure and 'tis done.
TRYGAEUS Well, just this one; then you must dance no more.

CHORUS No, no more dancing, if we can help you.
TRYGAEUS But look, you are not stopping even now.
CHORUS By Zeus, I am only throwing up my right leg, that's all.
TRYGAEUS Come, I grant you that, but pray, annoy me no further.
CHORUS Ah! the left leg too will have its fling; well, 'tis but its right. I
am so happy, so delighted at not having to carry my buckler any more.
I sing and I laugh more than if I had cast my old age, as a serpent does
its skin.
TRYGAEUS No, 'tis not time for joy yet, for you are not sure of
success. But when you have got the goddess, then rejoice, shout and
laugh; thenceforward you will be able to sail or stay at home, to make
love or sleep, to attend festivals and processions, to play at cottabos,[1]
live like true Sybarites and to shout, Io, io!
f[1] One of the most favourite games with the Greeks. A stick was set
upright in the ground and to this the beam of a balance was attached by
its centre. Two vessels were hung from the extremities of the beam so
as to balance; beneath these two other and larger dishes were placed