HERALD
Let the Thracians withdraw and return the day after tomorrow; the Prytanes declare the sitting at an end.
Let the Thracians withdraw and return the day after tomorrow; the Prytanes declare the sitting at an end.
DICAEOPOLIS
Ye gods, what garlic I have lost! But here comes Amphitheus returned from
Lacedaemon
. Welcome, Amphitheus.
Ye gods, what garlic I have lost! But here comes Amphitheus returned from
Lacedaemon
. Welcome, Amphitheus.
AMPHITHEUS
No, there is no welcome for me and I fly as fast as I can, for I am pursued by the Acharnians.
No, there is no welcome for me and I fly as fast as I can, for I am pursued by the Acharnians.
DICAEOPOLIS
Why, what has happened?
Why, what has happened?
AMPHITHEUS
I was hurrying to bring your treaty of truce, but some old dotards from Acharnae
1
got scent of the thing; they are veterans of Marathon, tough as oak or maple, of which they are made for sure—rough and ruthless. They all started a-crying:
Wretch! you are the bearer of a treaty, and the enemy has only just cut our vines! Meanwhile they were gathering stones in their cloaks, so I fled and they ran after me shouting.
I was hurrying to bring your treaty of truce, but some old dotards from Acharnae
1
got scent of the thing; they are veterans of Marathon, tough as oak or maple, of which they are made for sure—rough and ruthless. They all started a-crying:
Wretch! you are the bearer of a treaty, and the enemy has only just cut our vines!
Meanwhile they were gathering stones in their cloaks, so I fled and they ran after me shouting.
DICAEOPOLIS
Let 'em shout as much as they please! But HAVE you brought me a treaty?
Let 'em shout as much as they please! But HAVE you brought me a treaty?
AMPHITHEUS
Most certainly, here are three samples to select from,
2
this one is five years old; take it and taste.
Most certainly, here are three samples to select from,
2
this one is five years old; take it and taste.
DICAEOPOLIS
Faugh!
Faugh!
AMPHITHEUS
Well?
Well?
DICAEOPOLIS
It does not please me; it smells of pitch and of the ships they are fitting out.
3
It does not please me; it smells of pitch and of the ships they are fitting out.
3
AMPHITHEUS
Here is another, ten years old; taste it.
Here is another, ten years old; taste it.
DICAEOPOLIS
It smells strongly of the delegates, who go around the towns to chide the allies for their slowness.
4
It smells strongly of the delegates, who go around the towns to chide the allies for their slowness.
4
AMPHITHEUS
This last is a truce of thirty years, both on sea and land.
This last is a truce of thirty years, both on sea and land.
DICAEOPOLIS
Oh! by Bacchus! what a bouquet! It has the aroma of nectar and ambrosia; this does not say to us,
Provision yourselves for three days. But it lisps the gentle numbers,
Go whither you will.
5
I accept it, ratify it, drink it at one draught and consign the Acharnians to limbo. Freed from the war and its ills, I shall keep the Dionysia
6
in the country.
Oh! by Bacchus! what a bouquet! It has the aroma of nectar and ambrosia; this does not say to us,
Provision yourselves for three days.
But it lisps the gentle numbers,
Go whither you will.
5
I accept it, ratify it, drink it at one draught and consign the Acharnians to limbo. Freed from the war and its ills, I shall keep the Dionysia
6
in the country.
AMPHITHEUS
And I shall run away, for I'm mortally afraid of the Acharnians.
And I shall run away, for I'm mortally afraid of the Acharnians.
Acharnians. Aristophanes. Anonymous (Translator). New York. 192?.
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