HERALD
Let the Thracians withdraw and return the day after tomorrow;
the Prytanes declare the sitting at an end.
DICAEOPOLIS
Ye gods, what garlic I have lost! But here comes Amphitheus
returned from Lacedaemon. Welcome, Amphitheus.
AMPHITHEUS
No, there is no welcome for me and I fly as fast as I can, for I
am pursued by the Acharnians.
DICAEOPOLIS
Why, what has happened?
AMPHITHEUS
I was hurrying to bring your treaty of truce, but some old dotards
from Acharnae1 got scent of the thing; they are veterans of Marathon,
tough as oak or maple, of which they are made for sure—rough and
ruthless. They all started a-crying: “Wretch! you are the bearer of
a treaty, and the enemy has only just cut our vines!” Meanwhile they
were gathering stones in their cloaks, so I fled and they ran after
me shouting.
DICAEOPOLIS
Let 'em shout as much as they please! But HAVE you brought me
a treaty?
AMPHITHEUS
Most certainly, here are three samples to select from,2 this one is
five years old; take it and taste.
DICAEOPOLIS
Faugh!
AMPHITHEUS
Well?
DICAEOPOLIS
It does not please me; it smells of pitch and of the ships they are
fitting out.3
AMPHITHEUS
Here is another, ten years old; taste it.
DICAEOPOLIS
It smells strongly of the delegates, who go around the towns
to chide the allies for their slowness.4
AMPHITHEUS
This last is a truce of thirty years, both on sea and land.
DICAEOPOLIS
Oh! by Bacchus! what a bouquet! It has the aroma of nectar and
ambrosia; this does not say to us, “Provision yourselves for three
days.” But it lisps the gentle numbers, “Go whither you will.”5
I accept it, ratify it, drink it at one draught and consign the
Acharnians to limbo. Freed from the war and its ills, I shall
keep the Dionysia6 in the country.
AMPHITHEUS
And I shall run away, for I'm mortally afraid of the Acharnians.
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1 The deme of Acharnae was largely inhabited by charcoal-burners, who supplied the city with fuel.
2 He presents them in the form of wines contained in three separate skins.
3 Meaning, preparations for war.
4 Meaning, securing allies for the continuance of the war.
5 When Athens sent forth an army, the soldiers were usually ordered to assemble at some particular spot with provisions for three days.
6 These feasts were also called the Anthesteria or Lenaea; the Lenaem was a temple to Bacchus, erected outside the city. They took place during the month Anthesterion (February).
Aristophanes. Acharnians. The Eleven Comedies. Anonymous. New York. Liveright. 192?.