Parodos
[Episode]
Give me wings and I will fly into the topmost airs to gather fresh songs in the clouds,
Cinesias
in the midst of the vapors and the fleecy snow.
1385
Pisthetaerus
Gather songs in the clouds?
Cinesias
'Tis on them the whole of our latter-day art depends. The most brilliant dithyrambs are those that flap their wings in empty space and are clothed in mist and dense obscurity.
To appreciate this, just listen.
1390
Pisthetaerus
Oh! no, no, no!
Cinesias
By Hermes! but indeed you shall.
I shall travel through thine ethereal empire
like a winged bird, who cleaveth space with his long neck ...
Pisthetaerus
Stop! Way enough!
1395
Cinesias
... as I soar over the seas, carried by the breath of the winds ...
Pisthetaerus
By Zeus! I'll cut your breath short.
He picks up a pair of wings and begins trying to stop Cinesias' mouth with them.
Cinesias
... now rushing along the tracks of Notus, now nearing Boreas
across the infinite wastes of the ether.
1400
Ah! old man, that's a pretty and clever idea truly!
Pisthetaerus
What! are you not delighted to be cleaving the air?
Cinesias
To treat a dithyrambic poet, for whom the tribes dispute with each other, in this style!
Pisthetaerus
Will you stay with us and form a chorus of winged birds as slender as Leotrophides for the Cecropid tribe?
1405
Cinesias
You are making game of me, that's clear; but know that I shall never leave you in peace if I do not have wings wherewith to traverse the air.
Informer
What are these birds with downy feathers, who look so pitiable to me? Tell me, oh swallow with the long dappled wings.
1410
Pisthetaerus
Oh! it's a regular invasion that threatens us. Here comes another one, humming along.
Informer
Swallow with the long dappled wings, once more I summon you.
1415
Pisthetaerus
It's his cloak I believe he's addressing; it stands in great need of the swallows' return.
Informer
Where is he who gives out wings to all comers?
Pisthetaerus
Here I am, but you must tell me for what purpose you want them.
Informer
Ask no questions. I want wings, and wings I must have.
1420
Pisthetaerus
Do you want to fly straight to Pellene?
Informer
I? Why, I am an accuser of the islands, an informer ...
Pisthetaerus
A fine trade, truly!
Informer
... a hatcher of lawsuits. Hence I have great need of wings
