8
ARISTOPHANES' FROGS
Dionysus.
Oh, not so big. Perhaps as large as Molon.
Heracles.
Who was the lady?
Dionysus.
Lady?
Heracles.
Well, the girl?
Dionysus.
Great Heaven, there wasn't one!
Heracles.
Well, I have always
Considered Cleisthenes a perfect lady!
Dionysus.
Don't mock me, brother! It's a serious thing,
A passion that has worn me to a shadow.
Heracles.
Well, tell us all about it.
Dionysus
(with the despair of an artist explaining himself to a common athlete).
No; I can't.
You never . . . But I'll think of an analogy.
You never felt a sudden inward craving
For . . . pease-broth?
Heracles.
Pease-broth? Bless me, crowds of times.