Racine: Phaedra

142
ARISTOPHANES
And mixed and kneaded it well, and watched the baking
But he stole round before me and served it up:
And he never allows us to come near our master
To speak a word ; but stands behind his back
At meal times, with a monstrous leathern fly-flap,
Slapping and whisking it round and rapping us off.
Sometimes the old man falls into moods and fancies.
Searching the prophecies till he gets bewildered
And then the Paphlagonian plies him up,
Driving him mad with oracles and predictions.
And that's his harvest. Then he slanders us,
And gets us beaten and lashed, and goes his rounds
Bullying in this way, to squeeze presents from us
*' You saw what a lashing Hylas got just now;
You'd best make friends with me, if you love your lives.
Why then, we give him a trifle, or if we don't.
We pay for it ; for the old fellow knocks us down.
And kicks us on the ground, and stamps and rages.
And tramples out the very entrails of us
[Turning to Nicias.
So now, my worthy fellow ; we must take
A fixed determination ;
now's the time.
Which way to turn ourselves and what to do.
Nicias.—Our last determination was the best
That which we settled to A' Be Ce Desert.
Demosthenes.—Aye, but we could not escape the Paphla-
gonian,
He overlooks us all ; he keeps one foot
In Pylos, and another in the Assembly
And stands with such a stature, stride and grasp
That while his mouth is open in Eatolia,
One hand is firmly clenched upon the Lucrians,
And the other stretching forth to the Peribribeans.
Nicias.—Let's die then, once for all ; that's the best way,
Only we must contrive to manage it.
Nobly and manfully in a proper manner.
Demosthenes.—Aye, aye. Let's do things manfully! that's
my maxim
Nicias.—Well, there's t'le example of Themistocles
To drink bull's blood : that seems a manly death.