MAGISTRATE. Oh, indeed, a 'skytalé,' is it? Well, well, speak out
frankly; I know all about these matters. How are things going at Sparta
now?
HERALD. Why, everything is turned upside down at Sparta; and all the
allies are half dead with lusting. We simply must have Pellené.[454]
MAGISTRATE. What is the reason of it all? Is it the god Pan's doing?
HERALD. No, but Lampito's and the Spartan women's, acting at her
instigation; they have denied the men all access to their cunts.
MAGISTRATE. But whatever do you do?
HERALD. We are at our wits' end; we walk bent double, just as if we were
carrying lanterns in a wind. The jades have sworn we shall not so much as
touch their cunts till we have all agreed to conclude peace.
MAGISTRATE. Ha, ha! So I see now, 'tis a general conspiracy embracing all
Greece. Go you back to Sparta and bid them send Envoys with plenary
powers to treat for peace. I will urge our Senators myself to name
Plenipotentiaries from us; and to persuade them, why, I will show them
this. (_Pointing to his erect penis._)
HERALD. What could be better? I fly at your command.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. No wild beast is there, no flame of fire, more fierce
and untameable than woman; the panther is less savage and shameless.
CHORUS OF WOMEN. And yet you dare to make war upon me, wretch, when you
might have me for your most faithful friend and ally.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Never, never can my hatred cease towards women.
CHORUS OF WOMEN. Well, please yourself. Still I cannot bear to leave you
all naked as you are; folks would laugh at me. Come, I am going to put
this tunic on you.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. You are right, upon my word! it was only in my
confounded fit of rage I took it off.
CHORUS OF WOMEN. Now at any rate you look like a man, and they won't make
fun of you. Ah! if you had not offended me so badly, I would take out
that nasty insect you have in your eye for you.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Ah! so that's what was annoying me so! Look, here's a
ring, just remove the insect, and show it me. By Zeus! it has been
hurting my eye this ever so long.
CHORUS OF WOMEN. Well, I agree, though your manners are not over and
above pleasant. Oh! what a huge great gnat! just look! It's from
Tricorysus, for sure.[455]
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. A thousand thanks! the creature was digging a regular
well in my eye; now it's gone, my tears flow freely.
CHORUS OF WOMEN. I will wipe them for you--bad, naughty man though you
are. Now, just one kiss.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. No--a kiss, certainly not!
CHORUS OF WOMEN. Just one, whether you like it or not.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Oh! those confounded women! how they do cajole us! How
true the saying: "'Tis impossible to live with the baggages, impossible
to live without 'em"! Come, let us agree for the future not to regard
each other any more as enemies; and to clinch the bargain, let us sing a
choric song.
CHORUS OF WOMEN. We desire, Athenians, to speak ill of no man; but on the
contrary to say much good of everyone, and to _do_ the like. We have had
enough of misfortunes and calamities. Is there any, man or woman, wants a
bit of money--two or three minas or so;[456] well, our purse is full. If
only peace is concluded, the borrower will not have to pay back. Also I'm
inviting to supper a few Carystian friends,[457] who are excellently well
qualified. I have still a drop of good soup left, and a young porker I'm
going to kill, and the flesh will be sweet and tender. I shall expect you
at my house to-day; but first away to the baths with you, you and your
children; then come all of you, ask no one's leave, but walk straight up,
as if you were at home; never fear, the door will be ... shut in your
faces![458]
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Ah! here come the Envoys from Sparta with their long
flowing beards; why, you would think they wore a cage[459] between their
thighs. (_Enter the Lacedaemonian Envoys._) Hail to you, first of all,
Laconians; then tell us how you fare.
A LACONIAN. No need for many words; you see what a state we are in.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Alas! the situation grows more and more strained! the
intensity of the thing is just frightful.
LACONIAN. 'Tis beyond belief. But to work! summon your Commissioners, and
let us patch up the best peace we may.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Ah! our men too, like wrestlers in the arena, cannot
endure a rag over their bellies; 'tis an athlete's malady, which only
exercise can remedy.
AN ATHENIAN. Can anybody tell us where Lysistrata is? Surely she will
have some compassion on our condition.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Look! 'tis the very same complaint. (_Addressing the
Athenian._) Don't you feel of mornings a strong nervous tension?
ATHENIAN. Yes, and a dreadful, dreadful torture it is! Unless peace is
made very soon, we shall find no resource but to fuck Clisthenes.[460]
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Take my advice, and put on your clothes again; one of
the fellows who mutilated the Hermae[461] might see you.
ATHENIAN. You are right.
LACONIAN. Quite right. There, I will slip on my tunic.
ATHENIAN. Oh! what a terrible state we are in! Greeting to you, Laconian
fellow-sufferers.
LACONIAN (_addressing one of his countrymen_). Ah! my boy, what a thing
it would have been if these fellows had seen us just now when our tools
were on full stand!
ATHENIAN. Speak out, Laconians, what is it brings you here?
LACONIAN. We have come to treat for peace.
ATHENIAN. Well said; we are of the same mind. Better call Lysistrata
then; she is the only person will bring us to terms.
LACONIAN. Yes, yes--and Lysistratus into the bargain, if you will.
CHORUS OF OLD MEN. Needless to call her; she has heard your voices, and
here she comes.
ATHENIAN. Hail, boldest and bravest of womankind! The time is come to
show yourself in turn uncompromising and conciliatory, exacting and
yielding, haughty and condescending. Call up all your skill and
artfulness. Lo! the foremost men in Hellas, seduced by your fascinations,
are agreed to entrust you with the task of ending their quarrels.
LYSISTRATA. 'Twill be an easy task--if only they refrain from mutual
indulgence in masculine love; if they do, I shall know the fact at once.
Now, where is the gentle goddess Peace? Lead hither the Laconian Envoys.
But, look you, no roughness or violence; our husbands always behaved so
boorishly.[462] Bring them to me with smiles, as women should. If any
refuse to give you his hand, then catch him by the penis and draw him
politely forward. Bring up the Athenians too; you may take them just how
you will. Laconians, approach; and you, Athenians, on my other side. Now
hearken all! I am but a woman; but I have good common sense; Nature has
dowered me with discriminating judgment, which I have yet further
developed, thanks to the wise teachings of my father and the elders of
the city. First I must bring a reproach against you that applies equally
to both sides. At Olympia, and Thermopylae, and Delphi, and a score of
other places too numerous to mention, you celebrate before the same
altars ceremonies common to all Hellenes; yet you go cutting each other's
throats, and sacking Hellenic cities, when all the while the Barbarian is
yonder threatening you! That is my first point.
ATHENIAN. Ah, ah! concupiscence is killing me!
LYSISTRATA. Now 'tis to you I address myself, Laconians. Have you
forgotten how Periclides,[463] your own countryman, sat a suppliant
before our altars? How pale he was in his purple robes! He had come to
crave an army of us; 'twas the time when Messenia was pressing you sore,
and the Sea-god was shaking the earth. Cimon marched to your aid at the
head of four thousand hoplites, and saved Lacedaemon. And, after such a
service as that, you ravage the soil of your benefactors!
ATHENIAN. They do wrong, very wrong, Lysistrata.
LACONIAN. We do wrong, very wrong. Ah! great gods! what lovely thighs she
has!
LYSISTRATA. And now a word to the Athenians. Have you no memory left of
how, in the days when ye wore the tunic of slaves, the Laconians came,
spear in hand, and slew a host of Thessalians and partisans of Hippias
the Tyrant? They, and they only, fought on your side on that eventful
day; they delivered you from despotism, and thanks to them our Nation
could change the short tunic of the slave for the long cloak of the free
man.
LACONIAN. I have never seen a woman of more gracious dignity.
ATHENIAN. I have never seen a woman with a finer cunt!
LYSISTRATA. Bound by such ties of mutual kindness, how can you bear to be
at war? Stop, stay the hateful strife, be reconciled; what hinders you?
LACONIAN. We are quite ready, if they will give us back our rampart.
LYSISTRATA. What rampart, my dear man?
LACONIAN. Pylos, which we have been asking for and craving for ever so
long.
ATHENIAN. In the Sea-god's name, you shall never have it!
LYSISTRATA. Agree, my friends, agree.
ATHENIAN. But then what city shall we be able to stir up trouble in?
LYSISTRATA. Ask for another place in exchange.
ATHENIAN. Ah! that's the ticket! Well, to begin with, give us Echinus,
the Maliac gulf adjoining, and the two legs of Megara.[464]
LACONIAN. Oh! surely, surely not all that, my dear sir.
LYSISTRATA. Come to terms; never make a difficulty of two legs more or
less!
ATHENIAN. Well, I'm ready now to off coat and cultivate my land.
LACONIAN. And I too, to dung it to start with.
LYSISTRATA. That's just what you shall do, once peace is signed. So, if
you really want to make it, go consult your allies about the matter.
ATHENIAN. What allies, I should like to know? Why, we are _all_ on the
stand; not one but is mad to be fucking. What we all want, is to be abed
with our wives; how should our allies fail to second our project?
LACONIAN. And ours the same, for certain sure!
ATHENIANS. The Carystians first and foremost, by the gods!
LYSISTRATA. Well said, indeed! Now be off to purify yourselves for
entering the Acropolis, where the women invite you to supper; we will
empty our provision baskets to do you honour. At table, you will exchange
oaths and pledges; then each man will go home with his wife.
ATHENIAN. Come along then, and as quick as may be.
LACONIAN. Lead on; I'm your man.
ATHENIAN. Quick, quick's the word, say I.
CHORUS OF WOMEN. Embroidered stuffs, and dainty tunics, and flowing
gowns, and golden ornaments, everything I have, I offer them you with all
my heart; take them all for your children, for your girls, against they
are chosen "basket-bearers" to the goddess. I invite you every one to
enter, come in and choose whatever you will; there is nothing so well
fastened, you cannot break the seals, and carry away the contents. Look
about you everywhere ... you won't find a blessed thing, unless you have
sharper eyes than mine.[465] And if any of you lacks corn to feed his
slaves and his young and numerous family, why, I have a few grains of
wheat at home; let him take what I have to give, a big twelve-pound loaf
included. So let my poorer neighbours all come with bags and wallets; my
man, Manes, shall give them corn; but I warn them not to come near my
door, or--beware the dog![465]
A MARKET-LOUNGER. I say, you, open the door!
A SLAVE. Go your way, I tell you. Why, bless me, they're sitting down
now; I shall have to singe 'em with my torch to make 'em stir! What an
impudent lot of fellows!
MARKET-LOUNGER. I don't mean to budge.
SLAVE. Well, as you _must_ stop, and I don't want to offend you--but
you'll see some queer sights.
MARKET-LOUNGER. Well and good, I've no objection.
SLAVE. No, no, you must be off--or I'll tear your hair out, I will; be
off, I say, and don't annoy the Laconian Envoys; they're just coming out
from the banquet-hall.
AN ATHENIAN. Such a merry banquet I've never seen before! The Laconians
were simply charming. After the drink is in, why, we're all wise men,
all. It's only natural, to be sure, for sober, we're all fools. Take my
advice, my fellow-countrymen, our Envoys should always be drunk. We go to
Sparta; we enter the city sober; why, we must be picking a quarrel
directly. We don't understand what they say to us, we imagine a lot they
don't say at all, and we report home all wrong, all topsy-turvy. But,
look you, to-day it's quite different; we're enchanted whatever happens;
instead of Clitagoras, they might sing us Telamon,[466] and we should
clap our hands just the same. A perjury or two into the bargain, la! what
does that matter to merry companions in their cups?
SLAVE. But here they are back again! Will you begone, you loafing
scoundrels.
MARKET-LOUNGER. Ah ha! here's the company coming out already.
A LACONIAN. My dear, sweet friend, come, take your flute in hand; I would
fain dance and sing my best in honour of the Athenians and our noble
selves.
AN ATHENIAN. Yes, take your flute, i' the gods' name. What a delight to
see him dance!
CHORUS OF LACONIANS. Oh Mnemosyné! inspire these men, inspire my muse who
knows our exploits and those of the Athenians. With what a godlike ardour
did they swoop down at Artemisium[467] on the ships of the Medes! What a
glorious victory was that! For the soldiers of Leonidas,[468] they were
like fierce wild-boars whetting their tushes. The sweat ran down their
faces, and drenched all their limbs, for verily the Persians were as many
as the sands of the seashore. Oh! Artemis, huntress queen, whose arrows
pierce the denizens of the woods, virgin goddess, be thou favourable to
the Peace we here conclude; through thee may our hearts be long united!
May this treaty draw close for ever the bonds of a happy friendship! No
more wiles and stratagems! Aid us, oh! aid us, maiden huntress!
LYSISTRATA. All is for the best; and now, Laconians, take your wives away
home with you, and you, Athenians, yours. May husband live happily with
wife, and wife with husband. Dance, dance, to celebrate our bliss, and
let us be heedful to avoid like mistakes for the future.
CHORUS OF ATHENIANS Appear, appear, dancers, and the Graces with you! Let
us invoke, one and all, Artemis, and her heavenly brother, gracious
Apollo, patron of the dance, and Dionysus, whose eye darts flame, as he
steps forward surrounded by the Maenad maids, and Zeus, who wields the
flashing lightning, and his august, thrice-blessed spouse, the Queen of
Heaven! These let us invoke, and all the other gods, calling all the
inhabitants of the skies to witness the noble Peace now concluded under
the fond auspices of Aphrodité. Io Paean! Io Paean! dance, leap, as in
honour of a victory won. Evoé! Evoé! And you, our Laconian guests, sing
us a new and inspiring strain!
CHORUS OF LACONIANS. Leave once more, oh! leave once more the noble
height of Taygetus, oh! Muse of Lacedaemon, and join us in singing the
praises of Apollo of Amyclae, and Athena of the Brazen House, and the
gallant twin sons of Tyndarus, who practise arms on the banks of Eurotas
river.[469] Haste, haste hither with nimble-footed pace, let us sing
Sparta, the city that delights in choruses divinely sweet and graceful
dances, when our maidens bound lightly by the river side, like frolicsome
fillies, beating the ground with rapid steps and shaking their long locks
in the wind, as Bacchantes wave their wands in the wild revels of the
Wine-god. At their head, oh! chaste and beauteous goddess, daughter of
Latona, Artemis, do thou lead the song and dance. A fillet binding thy
waving tresses, appear in thy loveliness; leap like a fawn; strike thy
divine hands together to animate the dance, and aid us to renown the
valiant goddess of battles, great Athené of the Brazen House!
* * * * *