Interlude of dancing by the Chorus.
A Just Man enters, followed by a small slave-lad who carries a threadbare cloak and a pair of badly worn sandals.
Cario
How pleasant it is, friends, to live well, especially when it costs nothing! What a deluge of blessings
805
flood our household, and that too without our having wronged a single soul! [Ah! what a delightful thing is wealth!] The bin is full of white flour and the wine-jars run over with fragnant liquor; all the chests are crammed with gold and silver, it is a sight to see;
810
the tank is full of oil, the phials with perfumes, and the garret with dried figs. Vinegar flasks, plates, stew-pots and all the platters are of brass; our rotten old wooden trenchers for the fish have to-day become dishes of silver;
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even the thunder-mug is of ivory. We others, the slaves, we play at odd and even with gold pieces, and carry luxury so far that we no longer wipe our arses with stones, but use garlic stalks instead. My master, at this moment,
820
is crowned with flowers and sacrificing a pig, a goat and a ram; it's the smoke that has driven me out, for I could no longer endure it, it hurt my eyes so.
A Just Man enters, followed by a small slave-lad who carries a threadbare cloak and a pair of badly worn sandals.
How pleasant it is, friends, to live well, especially when it costs nothing! What a deluge of blessings
805
flood our household, and that too without our having wronged a single soul! [Ah! what a delightful thing is wealth!] The bin is full of white flour and the wine-jars run over with fragnant liquor; all the chests are crammed with gold and silver, it is a sight to see;
810
the tank is full of oil, the phials with perfumes, and the garret with dried figs. Vinegar flasks, plates, stew-pots and all the platters are of brass; our rotten old wooden trenchers for the fish have to-day become dishes of silver;
815
even the thunder-mug is of ivory. We others, the slaves, we play at odd and even with gold pieces, and carry luxury so far that we no longer wipe our arses with stones, but use garlic stalks instead. My master, at this moment,
820
is crowned with flowers and sacrificing a pig, a goat and a ram; it's the smoke that has driven me out, for I could no longer endure it, it hurt my eyes so.
Just Man
Come, my child, come with me. Let us go and find the god.
Come, my child, come with me. Let us go and find the god.
Cario
Who's this?
Who's this?
Just Man
825
A man who was once wretched, but now is happy.
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A man who was once wretched, but now is happy.
Cario
A just man then?
A just man then?
Just Man
That's right.
That's right.
Cario
Well! what do you want?
Well! what do you want?
Just Man
I come to thank the god for all the blessings he has showered on me. My father had left me a fairly decent fortune,
830
and I helped those of my friends who were in want; it was, to my thinking, the most useful thing I could do with my fortune.
I come to thank the god for all the blessings he has showered on me. My father had left me a fairly decent fortune,
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and I helped those of my friends who were in want; it was, to my thinking, the most useful thing I could do with my fortune.
Cario
And you were quickly ruined?
And you were quickly ruined?
Just Man
Quite.
Quite.
Cario
And since then you have been living in misery?
And since then you have been living in misery?
Just Man
Quite; I thought
835
I could count, in case of need, upon the friends whose property I had helped, but they turned their backs upon me and pretended not to see me.
Quite; I thought
835
I could count, in case of need, upon the friends whose property I had helped, but they turned their backs upon me and pretended not to see me.
Cario
They laughed at you, that's obvious.
They laughed at you, that's obvious.
Just Man
Quite. With my empty coffers, I had no more friends.
Quite. With my empty coffers, I had no more friends.
Cario
840
But that's no longer so.
840
But that's no longer so.
Just Man
My lot has changed, and so I come to the god to make him the acts of gratitude that are his due.
My lot has changed, and so I come to the god to make him the acts of gratitude that are his due.
Cario
But why are you bringing this old cloak, which your slave is carrying? Tell me.
But why are you bringing this old cloak, which your slave is carrying? Tell me.
Just Man
I wish to dedicate it to the god.
I wish to dedicate it to the god.
Cario
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Were you initiated into the Great Mysteries in that cloak?
845
Were you initiated into the Great Mysteries in that cloak?
Just Man
No, but I shivered in it for thirteen years.
No, but I shivered in it for thirteen years.
Cario
And this footwear?
And this footwear?
Just Man
These also are my winter companions.
These also are my winter companions.
Cario
And you wish to dedicate them too?
And you wish to dedicate them too?
Just Man
Certainly.
Certainly.
Cario
Fine presents to offer to the god!
Fine presents to offer to the god!
Wealth. Aristophanes. ed. Eugene O'Neill, Jr.. New York. 1938.
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