Page:Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902).djvu/320

290 290

ARISTOPHANES

Frofis. Cease with your profane entreaties

All in vain for ever striving : so

Silence is against our natures. With the vernal heat reviving,

Our aquatic crew repair From their periodic sleep, In the dark and chilly deep, as

To the cheerful upper air ; Then we frolic here and there All amidst the meadows fair ; Shady plants of asphodel Are the lodc^es where we dwell : 9o

Chanting in the leafy bowers All the livelong summer hours. Till the sudden gusty showers Send us headlong, helter-skelter, To the pool to seek for shelter : 95

Meagre, eager, leaping, lunging, From the sedgy wharfage plunging To the tranquil depth below, There we muster all a- row ; Where, secure from toil and trouble, 100 With a tuneful hubble-bubble. Our symphonious accents flow. Brekeke-kesh, koash, koash.

Bacchus. I forbid you to proceed.

Frogs. That would be severe indeed ; los

Arbitrary, bold, and rash — Brekeke-kesh, koash, koash.

Bacchus. I command you to desist —

— Oh, my back, there ! oh, my wrist ! AVhat a twist ! uo

What a sprain !

Frogs. Once again —