Racine: Phaedra

THE KNIGHTS 159
Golden sweet secreted honey,
Nature's mintage and her money.
May thy maw be purged and scoured.
From the gobbets it devoured;
By the emetic drench of law
With the cheerful ancient saw,
Then we shall rejoice and sing,
Chanting out with hearty glee,
" Fill a bumper merrily,
For the merry news I bring !
But he, the shrewd and venerable
Manciple -* of the public table,
Will chant and chuckle and rejoice.
With heart and voice.
Cleon.—May I never eat a slice, at any public sacrifice.
If your effrontery and pretence, shall daunt my steadfast
impudence.
Sausage-Seller.—Then, by the memory which I value, of all
the bastings in our alley.
When from the dog butcher's tray I stole the lumps of
meat away.
I trust to match you with a feat, and do credit to my
meat,
Credit to my meat and feeding, and my bringing up and
breeding.
Cleon.—Dog's meat! What a dog art thou! But I shall
dog thee fast enow.
Sausage-Seller.—Then, there were other petty tricks, I prac-
tised as a child
Haunting about the butchers' shops, the weather being
mild.
" See, boys," says I, " the swallow there ! Why
"
sum-
mer's come I say,"
And when they turned to gape and stare, I snatched a
steak away.
Chorus.—A clever lad you must have been, you managed mat-
ters rarely.
To steal at such an early day, so seasonably and fairly.
** The old butler and steward of the ment, would be overjoyed at his de-
Prytantnim. who h.id hitherto been used liverance from such a guest as Cleon.
to well-bred company and ci--V treat-
Classics. Vol. 3(5—