THE KNIGHTS. - 4S

himself on those stone seats,‘and he takes leave of
his senses.”

However, his friends encouraged him; he plucked
up spirit, and, when Demos had taken his seat in the
Pnyx, boldly confronted his rival. ‘“ Demos,” began
Bluster, ‘ now listen to me :—

“If I should despise you, or ever advise you
Against what is best for your comfort and rest,
Or neglect to attend you, defend you, befriend you,
May I perish and pine; may'this carcase of mine
Be withered and dried, and curried beside,
And straps for your harness cut out from the hide.”

The sausage-seller was not behindhand. “Listen
to me,” he said : —

“O Demos, if I tell one word of a lie,
If any man more can dote or adore,
With so tender a care, then ] make it my prayer,
My prayer and my wish to be stewed in a dish,
To be sliced and be slashed, to be minced and be hashed,
And like offal remains that are left by the cook,
To the place of the dead be dragged off on a hook.”

B. “Demos, had you ever a better friend than I
have been? Haven't I piled up heaps of money in
your treasury, torturing and squeezing and threaten-
ing, caring nothing for any man, as long as I could
do you a good turn?”

S.-s. “There is nothing wonderful about that. I
can do all that for you. I can filch another man’s
loaves and serve them up at your table. But I have