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Sausage-Seller
Yes, hear what sort of citizen he is. Cleon
Won't you let me speak? Sausage-Seller
Assuredly not, for I too am an awful rascal. Chorus
If he does not give in at that, tell him your parents were awful rascals too. Cleon
Once more, will you let me speak? Sausage-Seller
No, by Zeus! Cleon
Yes, by Zeus, you shall! Sausage-Seller
No, by Poseidon! We will fight first to see who shall speak first. Cleon
[340] I will die sooner. Sausage-Seller
I will not let you . Chorus
Let him, in the name of the gods, let him die. Cleon
What makes you so bold as to dare to speak to my face? Sausage-Seller
Because I know both how to speak and how to cook. Cleon
Hah! the fine speaker! Truly, if some business matter fell your way, [345] you would know thoroughly well how to attack it, to carve it up alive! Shall I tell you what has happened to you? Like so many others, you have gained some petty lawsuit against some alien. Did you drink enough water to inspire you? Did you mutter over the thing sufficiently through the night, spout it along the street, recite it to all you met? Have you bored your friends enough with it? And for this [350] you deem yourself an orator. You poor fool! Sausage-Seller
And what do you drink yourself then, to be able all alone by yourself to dumbfound and stupefy the city so with your clamor? Cleon
Can you match me with a rival? Me? When I have devoured a good hot tunny-fish and drunk on top of it a great [355] jar of unmixed wine. I say “to Hell with the generals of Pylos!” Sausage-Seller
And I, when I have bolted the tripe of an ox together with a sow's belly and swallowed the broth as well, I am fit, though slobbering with grease, to bellow louder than all orators and to terrify Nicias. Chorus
I admire your language so much; [360] the only thing I do not approve is that you swallow all the broth yourself. Cleon
Even though you gorged yourself on sea-dogs, you would not beat the Milesians. Sausage-Seller
Give me a bullock's breast to devour, and I am a man to traffic in mines. Cleon
I will rush into the Senate and set them all by the ears. Sausage-Seller
And I will pull out your arse to stuff like a sausage. Cleon
[365] As for me, I will seize you by the rump and hurl your head foremost through the door. Chorus
By Poseidon, only after you have thrown me there first.
Aristophanes. Knights. The Complete Greek Drama, vol. 2. Eugene O'Neill, Jr. New York. Random House. 1938.
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