You are right. Look! yonder's Dexinicus, who was already getting

to his feet to catch the figs as they flew past him.
(Interlude of dancing by the CHORUS.)

CARIO
How pleasant it is, friends, to live well, especially when it

costs nothing! What a deluge of blessings flood our household, and
that too without our having wronged a single soul! Ah! what a

delightful thing is wealth! The bin is full of white flour and the
wine-jars run over with fragrantliquor; all the chests are crammed

with gold and silver, it is a sight to see; the tank is full of oil,
the phials with perfumes, and the garret with dried figs. Vinegar

flasks, plates, stew-pots and all the platters are of brass; our
rotten old wooden trenchers for the fish have to-day become dishes

of silver; even the thunder-mug is of ivory. We others, the slaves, we
play at odd and even with gold pieces, and carry luxury so far that we

no longer wipe our arses with stones, but use garlic stalks instead.
My master, at this moment, is crowned with flowers and sacrificing a

pig, a goat and ram; it's the smoke that has driven me out, for I
could no longer endure it, it hurt my eyes so.

(A JUST MAN enters, followed by a small slave-lad who
carries a thread-bare cloak and a pair of badly worn sandals.)

JUST MAN
Come, my child, come with me. Let us go and find the god.

CARIO
Who's this?

JUST MAN
A man who was once wretched, but now is happy.

CARIO
A just man then?

JUST MAN
That's right.

CARIO
Well! what do you want?

JUST MAN
I come to thank the god for all the blessings he has showered on

me. My father had left me a fairly decent fortune, and I helped
those of my friends who were in want; it was, to my thinking, the most

useful thing I could do with my fortune.
CARIO

And you were quickly ruined?
JUST MAN

Quite.
CARIO

And since then you have been living in misery?
JUST MAN

Quite; I thought I could count, in case of need, upon the
friends whose property I had helped, but they turned their backs

upon me and pretended not to see me.
CARIO

They laughed at you, that's obvious.
JUST MAN

Quite. With my empty coffers, I had no more friends. But my lot
has changed, and so I come to the god to make him the acts of

gratitude that are his due.
CARIO

But why are you bringing this old cloak, which your slave is
carrying! Tell me.

JUST MAN
I wish to dedicate it to the god.

CARIO
Were you initiated into the Great Mysteries in that cloak?

JUST MAN
No, but I shivered in it for thirteen years.

CARIO
And this footwear?

JUST MAN
These also are my winter companions.

CARIO
And you wish to dedicate them too?

JUST MAN
Certainly.

CARIO
Fine presents to offer to the god!

(An INFORMER enters, followed by a witness.)
INFORMER (before he sees CARIO)

Alas! alas! I am a lost man. Ah! thrice, four, five, twelve times,
or rather ten thousand times unhappy fate! Why, why must fortune

deal me such rough blows?
CARIO

Oh, Apollo, my tutelary! oh! ye favourable gods! what has
overtaken this man?

INFORMER (to CARIO)
Ah! am I not deserving of pity? I have lost everything; this

cursed god has stripped me bare. Ah! if there be justice in heaven, he
shall be struck blind again,

JUST MAN
I think I know what's the matter. If this man is unfortunate, it's

because he's of little account and small honesty; and indeed he
looks it too.

CARIO
Then, by Zeus! his plight is but just.

INFORMER
He promised that if he recovered his sight, he would enrich us all

unaided; whereas he has ruined more than one.
CARIO

But whom has he thus ill-used?
INFORMER

Me.
CARIO

You were doubtless a villainous thief then.
INFORMER

No, it is rather you yourselves who were such wretches; I am
certain you have got my money.

CARIO
Ha! by Demeter! an informer! What impudence! He's ravenously

hungry, that's certain.
INFORMER

You shall follow me this very instant to the market-place, where
the torture of the wheel shall force the confession of your misdeeds

from you.
CARIO (with a threatening gesture)

Watch out, now!
JUST MAN

By Zeus the Deliverer, what gratitude all Greeks owe to Plutus, if
he destroys these vile informers!

INFORMER
You are laughing at me. Well, then I denounce you as their

accomplice. Where did you steal that new cloak from? Yesterday I saw
you with one utterly worn out.

JUST MAN
I fear you not, thanks to this ring, for which I paid Eudemus a

drachma.
CARIO

Ah! there's no ring to preserve you from the informer's bite.
INFORMER

The insolent wretches! But, my fine jokers, you have not told me
what you are up to here. Nothing good, I'm sure of that.

CARIO
Nothing of any good for you, be sure of that.

INFORMER
By Zeus! it's at my expense that you are about to dine.

CARIO
You and your witness, I hope you both burst...

JUST MAN
With an empty belly.

INFORMER
You deny it? I reckon, you villains, that there is much salt

fish and roast meat in this house. (He sniffs elaborately.)
CARIO

Can you smell anything, rascal?
JUST MAN

The cold, perhaps.
INFORMER

Can such outrages be home, oh, Zeus! Ye gods! how cruel it is to
see me treated thus, when I am such an honest fellow and such a good

citizen!
JUST MAN

You an honest man! you a good citizen!
INFORMER

A better one than any.
JUST MAN

Ah! well then, answer my questions.
INFORMER

Concerning what?
JUST MAN

Are you a husbandman?
INFORMER

D'ye take me for a fool?
JUST MAN

A merchant?
INFORMER

I assume the title, when it serves me.
JUST MAN

Do you ply any trade?
INFORMER

No, most assuredly not!
JUST MAN

Then how do you live, if you do nothing?
INFORMER

I superintend public and private business.
JUST MAN

You do? And by what right, pray?
INFORMER

Because it pleases me to do so.
JUST MAN

Like a thief you sneak yourself in where you have no business. You
are hated by all and you claim to be an honest man.

INFORMER
What, you fool? I have not the right to dedicate myself entirely

to my country's service?
JUST MAN

Is the country served by vile intrigue?
INFORMER

It is served by watching that the established law is observed-by
allowing no one to violate it.

JUST MAN
That's the duty of the tribunals; they are established to that

end.
INFORMER

And who is the prosecutor before the dicasts?
JUST MAN

Whoever wishes to be.
INFORMER

Well then, it is I who choose to be prosecutor; and thus all
public affairs fall within my province.

JUST MAN
I pity Athens for being in such vile clutches. But would you not

prefer to live quietly and free from all care and anxiety?
INFORMER

To do nothing is to live an animal's life.
JUST MAN

• liquor [´likə] n.酒类；(溶)液 (初中英语单词)
• wooden [´wudn] a.木制的；呆板的 (初中英语单词)
• luxury [´lʌkʃəri] n.奢侈(品)；享受 (初中英语单词)
• driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
• endure [in´djuə] vt.忍耐，忍受；坚持 (初中英语单词)
• wretched [´retʃid] a.可怜的；倒霉的 (初中英语单词)
• unhappy [ʌn´hæpi] a.不幸的；不快乐的 (初中英语单词)
• apollo [ə´pɔləu] n.阿波罗 (初中英语单词)
• unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)
• account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
• whereas [weər´æz] conj.鉴于；因此；而 (初中英语单词)
• doubtless [´dautlis] ad.无疑地；大概，多半 (初中英语单词)
• instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
• torture [´tɔ:tʃə] n.&vt.折磨；痛苦；拷问 (初中英语单词)
• gratitude [´grætitju:d] n.感激，感谢 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• preserve [pri´zə:v] v.保藏 n.保藏物 (初中英语单词)
• witness [´witnis] n.见证人 vt.目击 (初中英语单词)
• reckon [´rekən] v.计算；认为；估计 (初中英语单词)
• fragrant [´freigrənt] a.芳香的，芬芳的 (高中英语单词)
• decent [´di:sənt] a.体面的，正派的 (高中英语单词)
• dedicate [´dedikeit] vt.献给；献身于 (高中英语单词)
• honesty [´ɔnisti] n.诚实，老实 (高中英语单词)
• plight [plait] n.境况；困境；苦境 (高中英语单词)
• enrich [in´ritʃ] vt.使丰富；改进 (高中英语单词)
• confession [kən´feʃən] n.招供；认错；交待 (高中英语单词)
• denounce [di´nauns] vt.指责；告发；揭发 (高中英语单词)
• athens [´æθinz] n.雅典 (高中英语单词)
• garret [´gærit] n.阁楼，顶楼 (英语四级单词)
• thrice [θrais] ad.三倍地；三次 (英语四级单词)
• assuredly [ə´ʃuəridli] ad.确实地；确信地 (英语四级单词)
• violate [´vaiəleit] vt.违背；冒犯；侵害 (英语四级单词)
• deluge [´delju:dʒ] n.大洪水 vt.泛滥 (英语六级单词)
• garlic [´gɑ:lik] n.蒜，大蒜 (英语六级单词)
• deliverer [di´livərə] n.投递者；拯救者 (英语六级单词)
• insolent [´insələnt] a.傲慢的；无礼的 (英语六级单词)
• superintend [,su:pərin´tend, ,sju:-] v.监督；管理；指挥 (英语六级单词)