226 ARISTOPHANES.

Chrem. “What! two men run away from one
woman?”

Blep. “Yes; but the one woman is Poverty, and a
more terrible creature does not exist.”

At last, however, Blepsidemus consented to stay,
and the matter was argued out.

Chremylus argued on behalf of his plan for restor- _
ing eyesight to Plutus. He said: “Every one allows
that good men ought to prosper, and that the bad
and impious should fare ill. It has been our object
‘to bring this about, and after much thinking we
have devised a really good plan for doing so. If for
the future Plutus should be able to see, and not wan-
der about blindly, as he has hitherto done, then he
will take up his abode with the good and shun the
bad. So it will come about that all men will become
good and pious. Is it possible to invent a better
scheme than this? As for man’s life, as it is at pres-
ent, it is nothing but sheer, raving madness. Bad
men enjoy the wealth which they collected by the
most villainous devices, and the good are next door
to starvation.”

Poverty. “Now, you foolish old creature, listen to
what I have got to say. Let Plutus divide his fa-
vours equally, and who would cultivate any art or
knowledge? who would be a brazier, a shipwright, a
tailor, a wheelwright, a shoemaker, a brickmaker, a
dyer, or a skinner? who would sow and reap when
he might sit at ease and enjoy himself?”