56 ARISTOPHANES,

And so indeed it was. The old man came forward,
changed to a handsome youth, and wearing in his
hair the old-fashioned ornament of the grasshopper,
symbol of the antiquity of the Athenian race. Nota
little ashamed was he when his new adviser reminded
him of the follies of the past; how he would listen
to any unprincipled politician that proclaimed him-
self his friend; how he would spend the public
money, not in equipping fleets, but in feeing the
jurymen. But he is resolved to be wiser in the
future. Orators who appeal to his selfish fears shall
be tossed headlong into the pit.! The seamen shall
have all their pay the very moment of their return
to port. No one whose name stands on the roll for
military service shall be permitted to evade the obli-
gation.

“And now,” said the new minister, when he had
heard all these good resolutions, “see what I have
got for you !”

And he led out the lovely figure of Peace.

“Where did you find her?” cried Demos.

“ Bluster hid her away in his house,” replied the
minister, “that you might not catch sight of her.
Take her; she is yours; and live henceforth in the
country home where you are always so happy.”

1The “barathron,” into which criminals were hurled. We may
compare the Tarpeian rock and the Tullianum at Rome,