96 ARISTOPHANES,

pockets his shilling? And then if there’s a bite
going, do you get it? Not you; it goes to him and
his partner. They work it between them, like two
men at a saw, one pulling and one giving way.”

Phil. “Ts that what they do? This is terrible
hearing.”

Bdel. “ Think how rich you might be, if it wasn’t
for these demagogues, — you, the master of I know
not how many cities from the Black Sea to Sar-
dinia, — and they dole you out this miserable pit-
tance, just as if they were dropping oil from wool.
The fact is, that they want you to be poor, and I'll
tell you why. You must know your feeder’s hand ;
and then if he sets you on any one that he wants
to bring down, you fly at the wretch like a wild
beast. Now listen to me. There are a thousand
cities that are subject to us and pay us tribute.
Allot twenty Athenian citizens to each to feed.
Then you have twenty thousand citizens living like
princes on hare and cream andall good things, with
garlands on their heads, just as the men deserve to
live who won the great fight at Marathon.”

Coll, ‘Well, that was a wise man who said, ‘ Don’t
decide till you have heard both sides.’ Bdelycleon,
you have gained the day.

‘‘And you, my old friend, you had better give in,
And be stubborn no more. If my own kith and kin
Would befriend me like this, oh, how thankful I'd be!
Some god, it is plain, sends this fortune to thee.”