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Introduction

'' differs markedly from all the other Comedies of Aristophanes which have come down to us in subject and general conception. It is just an extravaganza pure and simple--a graceful, whimsical theme chosen expressly for the sake of the opportunities it afforded of bright, amusing dialogue, pleasing lyrical interludes, and charming displays of brilliant stage effects and pretty dresses. Unlike other plays of the same Author, there is here apparently no serious political MOTIF underlying the surface burlesque and buffoonery.

Some critics, it is true, profess to find in it a reference to the unfortunate Sicilian Expedition, then in progress, and a prophecy of its failure and the political downfall of Alcibiades. But as a matter of fact, the whole thing seems rather an attempt on the dramatist's part to relieve the overwrought minds of his fellow- citizens, anxious and discouraged at the unsatisfactory reports from before Syracuse, by a work conceived in a lighter vein than usual and mainly unconnected with contemporary realities. The play was produced in the year 414 B.C., just when success or failure in Sicily hung in the balance, though already the outlook was gloomy, and many circumstances pointed to impending disaster. Moreover, the public conscience was still shocked and perturbed over the mysterious affair of the mutilation of the Hermae, which had occurred immediately before the sailing of the fleet, and strongly suspicious of Alcibiades' participation in the outrage. In spite of the inherent charm of the subject, the splendid outbursts of lyrical poetry in some of the choruses and the beauty of the scenery and costumes, '' failed to win the first prize. This was acclaimed to a play of Aristophanes' rival, Amipsias, the title of which, 'The Comastoe,' or 'Revellers,' "seems to imply that the chief interest was derived from direct allusions to the outrage above mentioned and to the individuals suspected to have been engaged in it."

For this reason, which militated against its immediate success, viz. the absence of direct allusion to contemporary politics-- there are, of course, incidental references here and there to topics and personages of the day--the play appeals perhaps more than any other of our Author's productions to the modern reader. Sparkling wit, whimsical fancy, poetic charm, are of all ages, and can be appreciated as readily by ourselves as by an Athenian audience of two thousand years ago, though, of course, much is inevitably lost "without the important adjuncts of music, scenery, dresses and what we may call 'spectacle' generally, which we know in this instance to have been on the most magnificent scale."

The plot is this. Euelpides and Pisthetaerus, two old Athenians, disgusted with the litigiousness, wrangling and sycophancy of their countrymen, resolve upon quitting Attica. Having heard of the fame of Epops (the hoopoe), sometime called Tereus, and now King of , they determine, under the direction of a raven and a jackdaw, to seek from him and his subject birds a city free from all care and strife." Arrived at the Palace of Epops, they knock, and Trochilus (the wren), in a state of great flutter, as he mistakes them for fowlers, opens the door and informs them that his Majesty is asleep. When he awakes, the strangers appear before him, and after listening to a long and eloquent harangue on the superior attractions of a residence among , they propose a notable scheme of their own to further enhance its advantages and definitely secure the sovereignty of the universe now exercised by the gods of Olympus.

are summoned to meet in general council. They come flying up from all quarters of the heavens, and after a brief mis- understanding, during which they come near tearing the two human envoys to pieces, they listen to the exposition of the latters' plan. This is nothing less than the building of a new city, to be called Nephelococcygia, or 'Cloud-cuckoo-town,' between earth and heaven, to be garrisoned and guarded by in such a way as to intercept all communication of the gods with their worshippers on earth. All steam of sacrifice will be prevented from rising to Olympus, and the Immortals will very soon be starved into an acceptance of any terms proposed. The new Utopia is duly constructed, and the daring plan to secure the sovereignty is in a fair way to succeed. Meantime various quacks and charlatans, each with a special scheme for improving things, arrive from earth, and are one after the other exposed and dismissed. Presently arrives Prometheus, who informs Epops of the desperate straits to which the gods are by this time reduced, and advises him to push his claims and demand the hand of Basileia (Dominion), the handmaid of Zeus. Next an embassy from the Olympians appears on the scene, consisting of Heracles, Posidon and a god from the savage regions of the Triballians. After some disputation, it is agreed that all reasonable demands of are to be granted, while Pisthetaerus is to have Basileia as his bride. The comedy winds up with the epithalamium in honour of the nuptials.

Dramatis Personae

EUELPIDES

PISTHETAERUS

EPOPS (the Hoopoe)

TROCHILUS, Servant to Epops

PHOENICOPTERUS

HERALDS

A PRIEST

A POET

A PROPHET

METON, a Geometrician

A COMMISSIONER

A DEALER IN DECREES

IRIS

A PARRICIDE

CINESIAS, a Dithyrambic Bard

AN INFORMER

PROMETHEUS

POSIDON

TRIBALLUS

HERACLES

SLAVES OF PISTHETAERUS

MESSENGERS

CHORUS OF BIRDS

SCENE: A wild, desolate tract of open country; broken rocks and brushwood occupy the centre of the stage.

EUELPIDES (TO HIS JAY)[1]

Do you think I should walk straight for yon tree?

[1] Euelpides is holding a jay and Pisthetaerus a crow; they are the guides who are to lead them to the kingdom of .

PISTHETAERUS (TO HIS CROW)

Cursed beast, what are you croaking to me?...to retrace my steps?

EUELPIDES

Why, you wretch, we are wandering at random, we are exerting ourselves only to return to the same spot; 'tis labour lost.

PISTHETAERUS

To think that I should trust to this crow, which has made me cover more than a thousand furlongs!

EUELPIDES

And that I to this jay, which has torn every nail from my fingers!

PISTHETAERUS

If only I knew where we were....

EUELPIDES

Could you find your country again from here?

PISTHETAERUS

No, I feel quite sure I could not, any more than could Execestides[1] find his.

[1] A stranger who wanted to pass as an Athenian, although coming originally for a far-away barbarian country.

EUELPIDES

Oh dear! oh dear!

PISTHETAERUS

Aye, aye, my friend, 'tis indeed the road of "oh dears" we are following.

EUELPIDES

That Philocrates, the bird-seller, played us a scurvy trick, when he pretended these two guides could help us to find Tereus,[1] the Epops, who is a bird, without being born of one. He has indeed sold us this jay, a true son of Tharelides,[2] for an obolus, and this crow for three, but what can they do? Why, nothing whatever but bite and scratch! --What's the matter with you then, that you keep opening your beak? Do you want us to fling ourselves headlong down these rocks? There is no road that way.

[1] A king of Thrace, a son of Ares, who married Procne, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens, whom he had assisted against the Megarians. He violated his sister-in-law, Philomela, and then cut out her tongue; she nevertheless managed to convey to her sister how she had been treated. They both agreed to kill Itys, whom Procne had borne to Tereus, and dished up the limbs of his own son to the father; at the end of the meal Philomela appeared and threw the child's head upon the table. Tereus rushed with drawn sword upon the princesses, but all the actors in this terrible scene were metamorphsed. Tereus became an Epops (hoopoe), Procne a swallow, Philomela a nightingale, and Itys a goldfinch. According to Anacreon and Apollodorus it was Procne who became the nightingale and Philomela the swallow, and this is the version of the tradition followed by Aristophanes.

[2] An Athenian who had some resemblance to a jay--so says the scholiast, at any rate.

PISTHETAERUS

Not even the vestige of a track in any direction.

EUELPIDES

And what does the crow say about the road to follow?

PISTHETAERUS

By Zeus, it no longer croaks the same thing it did.

EUELPIDES

And which way does it tell us to go now?

PISTHETAERUS

It says that, by dint of gnawing, it will devour my fingers.

EUELPIDES

What misfortune is ours! we strain every nerve to get to ,[1] do everything we can to that end, and we cannot find our way! Yes, spectators, our madness is quite different from that of Sacas. He is not a citizen, and would fain be one at any cost; we, on the contrary, born of an honourable tribe and family and living in the midst of our fellow-citizens, we have fled from our country as hard as ever we could go. 'Tis not that we hate it; we recognize it to be great and rich, likewise that everyone has the left to ruin himself; but the crickets only chirrup among the fig-trees for a month or two, whereas the Athenians spend their whole lives in chanting forth judgments from their law-courts.[2] That is why we started off with a basket, a stew-pot and some myrtle boughs[3] and have come to seek a quiet country in which to settle. We are going to Tereus, the Epops, to learn from him, whether, in his aerial flights, he has noticed some town of this kind.

[1] Literally, 'to go to the crows,' a proverbial expression equivalent to our 'going to the devil.'

[2] They leave Athens because of their hatred of lawsuits and informers; this is the especial failing of the Athenians satirized in 'The Wasps.'

[3] Myrtle boughs were used in sacrifices, and the founding of every colony was started by a sacrifice.

PISTHETAERUS

Here! look!

EUELPIDES

What's the matter?

PISTHETAERUS

Why, the crow has been pointing me to something up there for some time now.

EUELPIDES

And the jay is also opening its beak and craning its neck to show me I know not what. Clearly, there are some birds about here. We shall soon know, if we kick up a noise to start them.

PISTHETAERUS

Do you know what to do? Knock your leg against this rock.

EUELPIDES

And you your head to double the noise.

PISTHETAERUS

Well then use a stone instead; take one and hammer with it.

EUELPIDES

Good idea! Ho there, within! Slave! slave!

PISTHETAERUS

What's that, friend! You say, "slave," to summon Epops! It would be much better to shout, "Epops, Epops!"

EUELPIDES

Well then, Epops! Must I knock again? Epops!

TROCHILUS

Who's there? Who calls my master?

PISTHETAERUS

Apollo the Deliverer! what an enormous beak![1]

[1] The actors wore masks made to resemble they were supposed to represent.

TROCHILUS

Good god! they are bird-catchers.

EUELPIDES

The mere sight of him petrifies me with terror. What a horrible monster.

TROCHILUS

Woe to you!

EUELPIDES

But we are not men.

TROCHILUS

What are you, then?

EUELPIDES

I am the Fearling, an African bird.

TROCHILUS

You talk nonsense.

EUELPIDES

Well, then, just ask it of my feet.[1]

[1] Fear had had disastrous effects upon Euelpides' internal economy, and this his feet evidenced.

TROCHILUS

And this other one, what bird is it?

PISTHETAERUS

I? I am a Cackling,[1] from the land of the pheasants.

[1] The same mishap had occurred to Pisthetaerus.

EUELPIDES

But you yourself, in the name of the gods! what animal are you?

TROCHILUS

Why, I am a slave-bird.

EUELPIDES

Why, have you been conquered by a cock?

TROCHILUS

No, but when my master was turned into a peewit, he begged me to become a bird too, to follow and to serve him.

EUELPIDES

Does a bird need a servant, then?

TROCHILUS

'Tis no doubt because he was a man. At times he wants to eat a dish of loach from Phalerum; I seize my dish and fly to fetch him some. Again he wants some pea-soup; I seize a ladle and a pot and run to get it.

EUELPIDES

This is, then, truly a running-bird.[1] Come, Trochilus, do us the kindness to call your master.

[1] The Greek word for a wren is derived from the same root as 'to run.'

TROCHILUS

Why, he has just fallen asleep after a feed of myrtle-berries and a few grubs.

EUELPIDES

Never mind; wake him up.

TROCHILUS

I an certain he will be angry. However, I will wake him to please you.

PISTHETAERUS

You cursed brute! why, I am almost dead with terror!

EUELPIDES

Oh! my god! 'twas sheer fear that made me lose my jay.

PISTHETAERUS

Ah! you great coward! were you so frightened that you let go your jay?

EUELPIDES

And did you not lose your crow, when you fell sprawling on the ground? Pray tell me that.

PISTHETAERUS

No, no.

EUELPIDES

Where is it, then?

PISTHETAERUS

It has flown away.

EUELPIDES

Then you did not let it go? Oh! you brave fellow!

EPOPS

Open the forest,[1] that I may go out!

[1] No doubt there was some scenery to represent a forest. Besides, there is a pun intended. The words answering for 'forests' and 'door' in Greek only differ slightly in sound.

EUELPIDES

By Heracles! what a creature! what plumage! What means this triple crest?

EPOPS

Who wants me?

EUELPIDES

The twelve great gods have used you ill, meseems.

EPOPS

Are you chaffing me about my feathers? I have been a man, strangers.

EUELPIDES

'Tis not you we are jeering at.

EPOPS

At what, then?

EUELPIDES

Why, 'tis your beak that looks so odd to us.

EPOPS

This is how Sophocles outrages me in his tragedies. Know, I once was Tereus.[1]

[1] Sophocles had written a tragedy about Tereus, in which, no doubt, the king finally appears as a hoopoe.

EUELPIDES

You were Tereus, and what are you now? a bird or a peacock?[1]

[1] One would expect the question to be "bird or man." --Are you a peacock? The hoopoe resembles the peacock inasmuch as both have crests.

EPOPS

I am a bird.

EUELPIDES

Then where are your feathers? For I don't see them.

EPOPS

They have fallen off.

EUELPIDES

Through illness?

EPOPS

No. All birds moult their feathers, you know, every winter, and others grow in their place. But tell me, who are you?

EUELPIDES

We? We are mortals.

EPOPS

From what country?

EUELPIDES

From the land of the beautiful galleys.[1]

[1] Athens.

EPOPS

Are you dicasts?[1]

[1] The Athenians were madly addicted to lawsuits. (See 'The Wasps.')

EUELPIDES

No, if anything, we are anti-dicasts.

EPOPS

Is that kind of seed sown among you?[1]

[1] As much as to say, 'Then you have such things as anti-dicasts?' And Euelpides practically replaces, 'Very few.'

EUELPIDES

You have to look hard to find even a little in our fields.

EPOPS

What brings you here?

EUELPIDES

We wish to pay you a visit.

EPOPS

What for?

EUELPIDES

Because you formerly were a man, like we are, formerly you had debts, as we have, formerly you did not want to pay them, like ourselves; furthermore, being turned into a bird, you have when flying seen all lands and seas. Thus you have all human knowledge as well as that of birds. And hence we have come to you to beg you to direct us to some cosy town, in which one can repose as if on thick coverlets.

EPOPS

And are you looking for a greater city than Athens?

EUELPIDES

No, not a greater, but one more pleasant to dwell in.

EPOPS

Then you are looking for an aristocratic country.

EUELPIDES

I? Not at all! I hold the son of Scellias in horror.[1]

[1] His name was Aristocrates; he was a general and commanded a fleet sent in aid of Corcyra.

EPOPS

But, after all, what sort of city would please you best?

EUELPIDES

A place where the following would be the most important business transacted. --Some friend would come knocking at the door quite early in the morning saying, "By Olympian Zeus, be at my house early, as soon as you have bathed, and bring your children too. I am giving a nuptial feast, so don't fail, or else don't cross my threshold when I am in distress."

EPOPS

Ah! that's what may be called being fond of hardships! And what say you?

PISTHETAERUS

My tastes are similar.

EPOPS

And they are?

PISTHETAERUS

I want a town where the father of a handsome lad will stop in the street and say to me reproachfully as if I had failed him, "Ah! Is this well done, Stilbonides! You met my son coming from the bath after the gymnasium and you neither spoke to him, nor embraced him, nor took him with you, nor ever once twitched his parts. Would anyone call you an old friend of mine?"

EPOPS

Ah! wag, I see you are fond of suffering. But there is a city of delights, such as you want. 'Tis on the Red Sea.

EUELPIDES

Oh, no. Not a sea-port, where some fine morning the Salaminian[1] galley can appear, bringing a writ-server along. Have you no Greek town you can propose to us?

[1] The State galley, which carried the officials of the Athenian republic to their several departments and brought back those whose time had expired; it was this galley that was sent to Sicily to fetch back Alcibiades, who was accused of sacrilege.

EPOPS

Why not choose Lepreum in Elis for your settlement?

EUELPIDES

By Zeus! I could not look at Lepreum without disgust, because of Melanthius.[1]

[1] A tragic poet, who was a leper; there is a play, of course, on the word Lepreum.

EPOPS

Then, again, there is the Opuntian, where you could live.

EUELPIDES

I would not be Opuntian[1] for a talent. But come, what is it like to live with ? You should know pretty well.

[1] An allusion to Opuntius, who was one-eyed.

EPOPS

Why, 'tis not a disagreeable life. In the first place, one has no purse.

EUELPIDES

That does away with much roguery.

EPOPS

For food the gardens yield us white sesame, myrtle-berries, poppies and mint.

EUELPIDES

Why, 'tis the life of the newly-wed indeed.[1]

[1] The newly-married ate a sesame-cake, decorated with garlands of myrtle, poppies and mint.

PISTHETAERUS

Ha! I am beginning to see a great plan, which will transfer the supreme power to , if you will but take my advice.

EPOPS

Take your advice? In what way?

PISTHETAERUS

In what way? Well, firstly, do not fly in all directions with open beak; it is not dignified. Among us, when we see a thoughtless man, we ask, "What sort of bird is this?" and Teleas answers, "'Tis a man who has no brain, a bird that has lost his head, a creature you cannot catch, for it never remains in any one place."

EPOPS

By Zeus himself! your jest hits the mark. What then is to be done?

PISTHETAERUS

Found a city.

EPOPS

We birds? But what sort of city should we build?

PISTHETAERUS

Oh, really, really! 'tis spoken like a fool! Look down.

EPOPS

I am looking.

PISTHETAERUS

Now look upwards.

EPOPS

I am looking.

PISTHETAERUS

Turn your head round.

EPOPS

Ah! 'twill be pleasant for me, if I end in twisting my neck!

PISTHETAERUS

What have you seen?

EPOPS

The clouds and the sky.

PISTHETAERUS

Very well! is not this the pole of then?

EPOPS

How their pole?

PISTHETAERUS

Or, if you like it, the land. And since it turns and passes through the whole universe, it is called, 'pole.'[1] If you build and fortify it, you will turn your pole into a fortified city.[2] In this way you will reign over mankind as you do over the grasshoppers and cause the gods to die of rabid hunger

[1] From [the word meaning] 'to turn.'

[2] The Greek words for 'pole' and 'city' only differ by a single letter.

EPOPS

How so?

PISTHETAERUS

The air is 'twixt earth and heaven. When we want to go to Delphi, we ask the Boeotians[1] for leave of passage; in the same way, when men sacrifice to the gods, unless the latter pay you tribute, you exercise the left of every nation towards strangers and don't allow the smoke of the sacrifices to pass through your city and territory.

[1] Boeotia separated Attica from Phocis.

EPOPS

By earth! by snares! by network![1] I never heard of anything more cleverly conceived; and, if the other birds approve, I am going to build the city along with you.

[1] He swears by the powers that are to him dreadful.

PISTHETAERUS

Who will explain the matter to them?

EPOPS

You must yourself. Before I came they were quite ignorant, but since I have lived with them I have taught them to speak.

PISTHETAERUS

But how can they be gathered together?

EPOPS

Easily. I will hasten down to the coppice to waken my dear Procne![1] as soon as they hear our voices, they will come to us hot wing.

[1] As already stated, according to the legend accepted by Aristophanes, it was Procne who was turned into the nightengale.

PISTHETAERUS

My dear bird, lose no time, I beg. Fly at once into the coppice and awaken Procne.

EPOPS

Chase off drowsy sleep, dear companion. Let the sacred hymn gush from thy divine throat in melodious strains; roll forth in soft cadence your refreshing melodies to bewail the fate of Itys,[1] which has been the cause of so many tears to us both. Your pure notes rise through the thick leaves of the yew-tree left up to the throne of Zeus, where Phoebus listens to you, Phoebus with his golden hair. And his ivory lyre responds to your plaintive accents; he gathers the choir of the gods and from their immortal lips rushes a sacred chant of blessed voices. (THE FLUTE IS PLAYED BEHIND THE SCENE.)

[1] The son of Tereus and Procne.

PISTHETAERUS

Oh! by Zeus! what a throat that little bird possesses. He has filled the whole coppice with honey-sweet melody!

EUELPIDES

Hush!

PISTHETAERUS

What's the matter?

EUELPIDES

Will you keep silence?

PISTHETAERUS

What for?

EUELPIDES

Epops is going to sing again.

EPOPS (IN THE COPPICE)

Epopoi poi popoi, epopoi, popoi, here, here, quick, quick, quick, my comrades in the air; all you who pillage the fertile lands of the husbandmen, the numberless tribes who gather and devour the barley seeds, the swift flying race who sing so sweetly. And you whose gentle twitter resounds through the fields with the little cry of tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tio; and you who hop about the branches of the ivy in the gardens; the mountain birds, who feed on the wild olive berries or the arbutus, hurry to come at my call, trioto, trioto, totobrix; you also, who snap up the sharp-stinging gnats in the marshy vales, and you who dwell in the fine plain of Marathon, all damp with dew, and you, the francolin with speckled wings; you too, the halcyons, who flit over the swelling waves of the sea, come hither to hear the tidings; let all the tribes of long-necked birds assemble here; know that a clever old man has come to us, bringing an entirely new idea and proposing great reforms. Let all come to the debate here, here, here, here. Torotorotorotorotix, kikkobau, kikkobau, torotorotorotorolililix.

PISTHETAERUS

Can you see any bird?

EUELPIDES

By Phoebus, no! and yet I am straining my eyesight to scan the sky.

PISTHETAERUS

'Twas really not worth Epops' while to go and bury himself in the thicket like a plover when a-hatching.

PHOENICOPTERUS

Torotina, torotina.

PISTHETAERUS

Hold, friend, here is another bird.

EUELPIDES

I' faith, yes, 'tis a bird, but of what kind? Isn't it a peacock?

PISTHETAERUS

Epops will tell us. What is this bird?

EPOPS

'Tis not one of those you are used to seeing; 'tis a bird from the marshes.

PISTHETAERUS

Oh! oh! but he is very handsome with his wings as crimson as flame.

EPOPS

Undoubtedly; indeed he is called flamingo.[1]

[1] An African bird, that comes to the southern countries of Europe, to Greece, Italy, and Spain; it is even seen in Provence.

EUELPIDES

Hi! I say! You!

PISTHETAERUS

What are you shouting for?

EUELPIDES

Why, here's another bird.

PISTHETAERUS

Aye, indeed; 'tis a foreign bird too. What is this bird from beyond the mountains with a look as solemn as it is stupid?

EPOPS

He is called the Mede.[1]

[1] Aristophanes amusingly mixes up real birds with people and individuals, whom he represents in the form of birds; he is personifying the Medians here.

PISTHETAERUS

The Mede! But, by Heracles, how, if a Mede, has he flown here without a camel?

EUELPIDES

Here's another bird with a crest.

PISTHETAERUS

Ah! that's curious. I say, Epops, you are not the only one of your kind then?

EPOPS

This bird is the son of Philocles, who is the son of Epops;[1] so that, you see, I am his grandfather; just as one might say, Hipponicus,[2] the son of Callias, who is the son of Hipponicus.

[1] Philocles, a tragic poet, had written a tragedy on Tereus, which was simply a plagiarism of the play of the same name by Sophocles. Philocles is the son of Epops, because he got his inspiration from Sophocles' Tereus, and at the same time is father to Epops, since he himself produced another Tereus.

[2] This Hipponicus is probably the orator whose ears Alcibiades boxed to gain a bet; he was a descendant of Callias, who was famous for his hatred of Pisistratus.

PISTHETAERUS

Then this bird is Callias! Why, what a lot of his feathers he has lost![1]

[1] This Callias, who must not be confounded with the foe of Pisistratus, had ruined himself.

EPOPS

That's because he is honest; so the informers set upon him and the women too pluck out his feathers.

PISTHETAERUS

By Posidon, do you see that many-coloured bird? What is his name?

EPOPS

This one? 'Tis the glutton.

PISTHETAERUS

Is there another glutton besides Cleonymus? But why, if he is Cleonymus, has he not thrown away his crest?[1] But what is the meaning of all these crests? Have these birds come to contend for the double stadium prize?[2]

[1] Cleonymus had cast away his shield; he was as great a glutton as he was a coward.

[2] A race in which the track had to be circled twice.

EPOPS

They are like the Carians, who cling to the crests of their mountains for greater safety.[1]

[1] A people of Asia Minor; when pursued by the Ionians they took refuge in the mountains.

PISTHETAERUS

Oh, Posidon! do you see what swarms of birds are gathering here?

EUELPIDES

By Phoebus! what a cloud! The entrance to the stage is no longer visible, so closely do they fly together.

PISTHETAERUS

Here is the partridge.

EUELPIDES

Faith! there is the francolin.

PISTHETAERUS

There is the poachard.

EUELPIDES

Here is the kingfisher. And over yonder?

EPOPS

'Tis the barber.

EUELPIDES

What? a bird a barber?

PISTHETAERUS

Why, Sporgilus is one.[1] Here comes the owl.

[1] An Athenian barber.

EUELPIDES

And who is it brings an owl to Athens?[1]

[1] The owl was dedicated to Athene, and being respected at Athens, it had greatly multiplied. Hence the proverb, 'taking owls to Athens,' similar to our English 'taking coals to Newcastle.'

PISTHETAERUS

Here is the magpie, the turtle-dove, the swallow, the horned owl, the buzzard, the pigeon, the falcon, the ring-dove, the cuckoo, the red-foot, the red-cap, the purple-cap, the kestrel, the diver, the ousel, the osprey, the woodpecker.

EUELPIDES

Oh! oh! what a lot of birds! what a quantity of blackbirds! how they scold, how they come rushing up! What a noise! what a noise! Can they be bearing us ill-will? Oh! there! there! they are opening their beaks and staring at us.

PISTHETAERUS

Why, so they are.

CHORUS

Popopopopopopopoi. Where is he who called me? Where am I to find him?

EPOPS

I have been waiting for you this long while! I never fail in my word to my friends.

CHORUS

Titititititititi. What good thing have you to tell me?

EPOPS

Something that concerns our common safety, and that is just as pleasant as it is to the purpose. Two men, who are subtle reasoners, have come here to seek me.

CHORUS

Where? What? What are you saying?

EPOPS

I say, two old men have come from the abode of men to propose a vast and splendid scheme to us.

CHORUS

Oh! 'tis a horrible, unheard-of crime! What are you saying?

EPOPS

Nay! never let my words scare you.

CHORUS

What have you done then?

EPOPS

I have welcomed two men, who wish to live with us.

CHORUS

And you have dared to do that!

EPOPS

Aye, and am delighted at having done so.

CHORUS

Where are they?

EPOPS

In your midst, as I am.

CHORUS

Ah! ah! we are betrayed; 'tis sacrilege! Our friend, he who picked up corn-seeds in the same plains as ourselves, has violated our ancient laws; he has broken the oaths that bind all birds; he has laid a snare for me, he has handed us over to the attacks of that impious race which, throughout all time, has never ceased to war against us. As for this traitorous bird, we will decide his case later, but the two old men shall be punished forthwith; we are going to tear them to pieces.

PISTHETAERUS

'Tis all over with us.

EUELPIDES

You are the sole cause of all our trouble. Why did you bring me from down yonder?

PISTHETAERUS

To have you with me.

EUELPIDES

Say rather to have me melt into tears.

PISTHETAERUS

Go to! you are talking nonsense.

EUELPIDES

How so?

PISTHETAERUS

How will you be able to cry when once your eyes are pecked out?

CHORUS

Io! io! forward to the attack, throw yourselves upon the foe, spill his blood; take to your wings and surround them on all sides. Woe to them! let us get to work with our beaks, let us devour them. Nothing can save them from our wrath, neither the mountain forests, nor the clouds that float in the sky, nor the foaming deep. Come, peck, tear to ribbons. Where is the chief of the cohort? Let him engage the left wing.

EUELPIDES

This is the fatal moment. Where shall I fly to, unfortunate wretch that I am?

PISTHETAERUS

Stay! stop here!

EUELPIDES

That they may tear me to pieces?

PISTHETAERUS

And how do you think to escape them?

EUELPIDES

I don't know at all.

PISTHETAERUS

Come, I will tell you. We must stop and fight them. Let us arm ourselves with these stew-pots.

EUELPIDES

Why with the stew-pots?

PISTHETAERUS

The owl will not attack us.[1]

[1] An allusion to the Feast of Pots; it was kept at Athens on the third day of the Anthesteria, when all sorts of vegetables were stewed together and offered for the dead to Bacchus and Athene. This Feast was peculiar to Athens. --Hence Pisthetaerus thinks that the owl will recognize they are Athenians by seeing the stew-pots, and as he is an Athenian bird, he will not attack them.

EUELPIDES

But do you see all those hooked claws?

PISTHETAERUS

Seize the spit and pierce the foe on your side.

EUELPIDES

And how about my eyes?

PISTHETAERUS

Protect them with this dish or this vinegar-pot.

EUELPIDES

Oh! what cleverness! what inventive genius! You are a great general, even greater than Nicias,[1] where stratagem is concerned.

[1] Nicias, the famous Athenian general. --The siege of Melos in 417 B.C., or two years previous to the production of ',' had especially done him great credit. He was joint commander of the Sicilian expedition.

CHORUS

Forward, forward, charge with your beaks! Come, no delay. Tear, pluck, strike, flay them, and first of all smash the stew-pot.

EPOPS

Oh, most cruel of all animals, why tear these two men to pieces, why kill them? What have they done to you? They belong to the same tribe, to the same family as my wife.[1]

[1] Procne, the daughter of Pandion, King of Athens.

CHORUS

Are wolves to be spared? Are they not our most mortal foes? So let us punish them.

EPOPS

If they are your foes by nature, they are your friends in heart, and they come here to give you useful advice.

CHORUS

Advice or a useful word from their lips, from them, the enemies of my forebears!

EPOPS

The wise can often profit by the lessons of a foe, for caution is the mother of safety. 'Tis just such a thing as one will not learn from a friend and which an enemy compels you to know. To begin with, 'tis the foe and not the friend that taught cities to build high walls, to equip long vessels of war; and 'tis this knowledge that protects our children, our slaves and our wealth.

CHORUS

Well then, I agree, let us first hear them, for 'tis best; one can even learn something in an enemy's school.

PISTHETAERUS

Their wrath seems to cool. Draw back a little.

EPOPS

'Tis only justice, and you will thank me later.

CHORUS

Never have we opposed your advice up to now.

PISTHETAERUS

They are in a more peaceful mood; put down your stew-pot and your two dishes; spit in hand, doing duty for a spear, let us mount guard inside the camp close to the pot and watch in our arsenal closely; for we must not fly.

EUELPIDES

You are left. But where shall we be buried, if we die?

PISTHETAERUS

In the Ceramicus;[1] for, to get a public funeral, we shall tell the Strategi that we fell at Orneae,[2] fighting the country's foes.

[1] A space beyond the walls of Athens which contained the gardens of the Academy and the graves of citizens who had died for their country.

[2] A town in Western Argolis, where the Athenians had been recently defeated. The somewhat similar work in Greek signifies 'birds.'

CHORUS

Return to your ranks and lay down your courage beside your wrath as the Hoplites do. Then let us ask these men who they are, whence they come, and with what intent. Here, Epops, answer me.

EPOPS

Are you calling me? What do you want of me?

CHORUS

Who are they? From what country?

EPOPS

Strangers, who have come from Greece, the land of the wise.

CHORUS

And what fate has led them hither to the land of ?

EPOPS

Their love for you and their wish to share your kind of life; to dwell and remain with you always.

CHORUS

Indeed, and what are their plans?

EPOPS

They are wonderful, incredible, unheard of.

"

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