章节正文
BDELYCLEON
You are incorrigible.
ACCUSER (to his witness)
At all events, make a note of his reply. (They start to leave.)
PHILOCLEON
Listen, instead of going off so abruptly. A woman at Sybaris broke
a box.
ACCUSER (to his witness)
I again ask you to witness this.
PHILOCLEON
The box therefore had the fact attested, but the woman said,
"Never worry about witnessing the matter, but hurry off to buy a
cord to tie it together with; that will be the more sensible course."
ACCUSER
Oh! go on with your ribaldry until the Archon calls the case.
(He and his witness depart.)
BDELYCLEON (to PHILOCLEON)
By Demeter! you'll stay here no longer! I am going to take you and
carry you off.
PHILOCLEON
And what for?
BDELYCLEON
What for? I am going to carry you into the house, so that the
accusers will not run out of witnesses.
PHILOCLEON
One day at Delphi, Aesop....
BDELYCLEON
I don't care a fig for that.
PHILOCLEON
....was accused of having stolen a sacred vase. But he replied,
that the horn-beetle....
BDELYCLEON
Oh, dear, dear! You'll drive me crazy with your horn-beetle.
(PHILOCLEON goes on with his fable while BDELYCLEON is carrying him
off the scene by main force.)
CHORUS (singing)
I envy you your happiness, old man. What a contrast to his
former frugal habits and his very hard life! Taught now in quite
another school, he will know nothing but the pleasures of ease.
Perhaps he will jibe at it, for indeed it is difficult to renounce
what has become one's second nature. However, many have done it, and
adopting the ideas of others, have changed their use and wont. As
for Philocleon's son, I, like all wise and judicious men, cannot
sufficiently praise his filialtenderness and his tact. Never have I
met a more amiable nature, and I have conceived the greatest
fondness for him. How he triumphed on every point in his discussion
with his father, when he wanted to bring him back to more worthy and
honourable tastes!
XANTHIAS (coming out of the house)
By Bacchus! Some Evil Genius has brought this unbearable
disorder into our house. The old man, full up with wine and excited by
the sound of the flute, is so delighted, so enraptured, that he is
spending the night executing the old dances that Thespis first
produced on the stage, and just now he offered to prove to the
modern tragedians, by disputing with them for the dancing prize,
that they are nothing but a lot of old dotards.
(BDELYCLEON comes out of the house with his father who is costumed
as POLYPHEMUS in Euripides' Cyclops.)
PHILOCLEON
"Who loiters at the door of the vestibule?"
XANTHIAS
Here comes our pest, our plague!
PHILOCLEON
Let down the barriers. The dance is now to begin.
(He begins to dance in a manner grotesquely parodying that of
Euripides.)
XANTHIAS
Or rather the madness.
PHILOCLEON
Impetuous movement already twists and racks my sides. How my
nostrils wheeze! how my back cracks!
XANTHIAS
Go and fill yourself with hellebore.
PHILOCLEON
Phrynichus is as bold as a cock and terrifies his rivals.
XANTHIAS
He'll be stoned.
PHILOCLEON
His leg kicks out sky-high....
XANTHIAS
....and his arse gapes open.
PHILOCLEON
Mind your own business. Look how easily my leg-joints move.
Isn't that good?
XANTHIAS
God, no, it's merely insane!
PHILOCLEON
And now I summon and challenge my rivals. It there be a tragic
poet who pretends to be a skilful dancer, let him come and contest the
matter with me. Is there one? Is there not one?
XANTHIAS
Here comes one, and one only.
(A very small dancer, costumed as a crab, enters.)
PHILOCLEON
Who is the wretch?
XANTHIAS
The younger son of Carcinus.
PHILOCLEON
I will crush him to nothing; in point of keeping time, I will
knock him out, for he knows nothing of rhythm.
XANTHIAS
Ah! ah! here comes his brother too, another tragedian, and another
son of Carcinus.
(Another dancer, hardly larger than the first, and similarly
costumed, enters.)
PHILOCLEON
Him I will devour for my dinner.
XANTHIAS
Oh! ye gods! I see nothing but crabs. Here is yet another son of
Carcinus.
(A third dancer enters, likewise resembling a crab, but smaller
than either of the others.)
PHILOCLEON
What's this? A shrimp or a spider?
XANTHIAS
It's a crab,-a hermit-crab, the smallest of its kind; it writes
tragedies.
PHILOCLEON
Oh! Carcinus, how proud you should be of your brood! What a
crowd of kinglets have come swooping down here! But we shall have to
measure ourselves against them. Have marinade prepared for seasoning
them, in case I prove the victor.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Let us stand out of the way a little, so that they may twirl at
their ease.
CHORUS
(It divides in two and accompanies with its song the wild
dancing of PHILOCLEON and the sons of CARCINUS in the centre of the
Orchestra.) Come, illustrious children of this inhabitant of the
brine, brothers of the shrimps, skip on the sand and the shore of
the barren sea; show us the lightning whirls and twirls of your nimble
limbs. Glorious offspring of Phrynichus, let fly your kicks, so that
the spectators may be overjoyed at seeing your legs so high in air.
Twist, twirl, tap your bellies, kick your legs to the sky. Here
comes your famous father, the ruler of the sea, delighted to see his
three lecherous kinglets. Go on with your dancing, if it pleases
you, but as for us, we shall not join you. Lead us promptly off the
stage, for never a comedy yet was seen where the Chorus finished off
with a dance.
THE END
.
You are incorrigible.
ACCUSER (to his witness)
At all events, make a note of his reply. (They start to leave.)
PHILOCLEON
Listen, instead of going off so abruptly. A woman at Sybaris broke
a box.
ACCUSER (to his witness)
I again ask you to witness this.
PHILOCLEON
The box therefore had the fact attested, but the woman said,
"Never worry about witnessing the matter, but hurry off to buy a
cord to tie it together with; that will be the more sensible course."
ACCUSER
Oh! go on with your ribaldry until the Archon calls the case.
(He and his witness depart.)
BDELYCLEON (to PHILOCLEON)
By Demeter! you'll stay here no longer! I am going to take you and
carry you off.
PHILOCLEON
And what for?
BDELYCLEON
What for? I am going to carry you into the house, so that the
accusers will not run out of witnesses.
PHILOCLEON
One day at Delphi, Aesop....
BDELYCLEON
I don't care a fig for that.
PHILOCLEON
....was accused of having stolen a sacred vase. But he replied,
that the horn-beetle....
BDELYCLEON
Oh, dear, dear! You'll drive me crazy with your horn-beetle.
(PHILOCLEON goes on with his fable while BDELYCLEON is carrying him
off the scene by main force.)
CHORUS (singing)
I envy you your happiness, old man. What a contrast to his
former frugal habits and his very hard life! Taught now in quite
another school, he will know nothing but the pleasures of ease.
Perhaps he will jibe at it, for indeed it is difficult to renounce
what has become one's second nature. However, many have done it, and
adopting the ideas of others, have changed their use and wont. As
for Philocleon's son, I, like all wise and judicious men, cannot
sufficiently praise his filialtenderness and his tact. Never have I
met a more amiable nature, and I have conceived the greatest
fondness for him. How he triumphed on every point in his discussion
with his father, when he wanted to bring him back to more worthy and
honourable tastes!
XANTHIAS (coming out of the house)
By Bacchus! Some Evil Genius has brought this unbearable
disorder into our house. The old man, full up with wine and excited by
the sound of the flute, is so delighted, so enraptured, that he is
spending the night executing the old dances that Thespis first
produced on the stage, and just now he offered to prove to the
modern tragedians, by disputing with them for the dancing prize,
that they are nothing but a lot of old dotards.
(BDELYCLEON comes out of the house with his father who is costumed
as POLYPHEMUS in Euripides' Cyclops.)
PHILOCLEON
"Who loiters at the door of the vestibule?"
XANTHIAS
Here comes our pest, our plague!
PHILOCLEON
Let down the barriers. The dance is now to begin.
(He begins to dance in a manner grotesquely parodying that of
Euripides.)
XANTHIAS
Or rather the madness.
PHILOCLEON
Impetuous movement already twists and racks my sides. How my
nostrils wheeze! how my back cracks!
XANTHIAS
Go and fill yourself with hellebore.
PHILOCLEON
Phrynichus is as bold as a cock and terrifies his rivals.
XANTHIAS
He'll be stoned.
PHILOCLEON
His leg kicks out sky-high....
XANTHIAS
....and his arse gapes open.
PHILOCLEON
Mind your own business. Look how easily my leg-joints move.
Isn't that good?
XANTHIAS
God, no, it's merely insane!
PHILOCLEON
And now I summon and challenge my rivals. It there be a tragic
poet who pretends to be a skilful dancer, let him come and contest the
matter with me. Is there one? Is there not one?
XANTHIAS
Here comes one, and one only.
(A very small dancer, costumed as a crab, enters.)
PHILOCLEON
Who is the wretch?
XANTHIAS
The younger son of Carcinus.
PHILOCLEON
I will crush him to nothing; in point of keeping time, I will
knock him out, for he knows nothing of rhythm.
XANTHIAS
Ah! ah! here comes his brother too, another tragedian, and another
son of Carcinus.
(Another dancer, hardly larger than the first, and similarly
costumed, enters.)
PHILOCLEON
Him I will devour for my dinner.
XANTHIAS
Oh! ye gods! I see nothing but crabs. Here is yet another son of
Carcinus.
(A third dancer enters, likewise resembling a crab, but smaller
than either of the others.)
PHILOCLEON
What's this? A shrimp or a spider?
XANTHIAS
It's a crab,-a hermit-crab, the smallest of its kind; it writes
tragedies.
PHILOCLEON
Oh! Carcinus, how proud you should be of your brood! What a
crowd of kinglets have come swooping down here! But we shall have to
measure ourselves against them. Have marinade prepared for seasoning
them, in case I prove the victor.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Let us stand out of the way a little, so that they may twirl at
their ease.
CHORUS
(It divides in two and accompanies with its song the wild
dancing of PHILOCLEON and the sons of CARCINUS in the centre of the
Orchestra.) Come, illustrious children of this inhabitant of the
brine, brothers of the shrimps, skip on the sand and the shore of
the barren sea; show us the lightning whirls and twirls of your nimble
limbs. Glorious offspring of Phrynichus, let fly your kicks, so that
the spectators may be overjoyed at seeing your legs so high in air.
Twist, twirl, tap your bellies, kick your legs to the sky. Here
comes your famous father, the ruler of the sea, delighted to see his
three lecherous kinglets. Go on with your dancing, if it pleases
you, but as for us, we shall not join you. Lead us promptly off the
stage, for never a comedy yet was seen where the Chorus finished off
with a dance.
THE END
.
- abruptly [ə´brʌptli]
ad.突然地；粗鲁地 (初中英语单词) - witness [´witnis] n.见证人 vt.目击 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- sensible [´sensəbəl] a.感觉得到的 (初中英语单词)
- stolen [´stəulən] steal 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)
- contrast [´kɔntrɑ:st] n.对比 v.使对比(照) (初中英语单词)
- worthy [´wə:ði] a.有价值的；值得的 (初中英语单词)
- genius [´dʒi:niəs] n.天才(人物)；天赋 (初中英语单词)
- movement [´mu:vmənt] n.活动；运动；动作 (初中英语单词)
- challenge [´tʃælindʒ] n.&vt.向....挑战；怀疑 (初中英语单词)
- contest [kən´test, ´kɔntest] v.争辩 n.争夺；竞赛 (初中英语单词)
- likewise [´laikwaiz] ad.同样地；也，又 (初中英语单词)
- barren [´bærən] a.贫瘠的；不生育的 (初中英语单词)
- lightning [´laitniŋ] n.闪电 a.突然的 (初中英语单词)
- glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
- promptly [´prɔmptli] ad.敏捷地；即时地 (初中英语单词)
- chorus [´kɔ:rəs] n.合唱；齐声 v.合唱 (初中英语单词)
- tenderness [´tendənis] n.娇嫩；柔软；温柔 (高中英语单词)
- summon [´sʌmən] vt.召集；号召 (高中英语单词)
- dancer [´dɑ:nsə] n.舞蹈者，舞蹈演员 (高中英语单词)
- devour [di´vauə] vt.吞食；毁坏 (高中英语单词)
- illustrious [i´lʌstriəs] a.杰出的，显赫的 (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- comedy [´kɔmidi] n.喜剧；喜剧场面 (高中英语单词)
- amiable [´eimiəbəl] a.亲切的，温和的 (英语四级单词)
- delighted [di´laitid] a.高兴的；喜欢的 (英语四级单词)
- frugal [´fru:gəl] a.节俭的，俭朴的 (英语六级单词)
- judicious [dʒu:´diʃəs] a.明智的；贤明的 (英语六级单词)
- filial [´filiəl] a.子女的；孝顺的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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