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Enter female servant of Persephone.

Servant
O dearest Heracles, you've returned! Come right in.
When the goddess heard you'd arrived, right off
she had us bake loaves of bread, and boil two or three pots
of ground pea soup; and roast a whole ox;
bake cakes and cookies; do come in.

Xanthias
Fine, I'm much obliged, but...

Servant
By Apollo, I will not
let you go away, since she's also
stewing up some flesh of fowls, and cooked
desserts, and mixed her sweetest wine.
So please come in.

Xanthias
Very nice, but...

Servant
You're kidding.
I won't let go of you. There's also a flute-girl for you
inside, a beauty, and other dancing girls
some two or three.

Xanthias
What'd you say? dancing girls?

Xanthias
Ripe to bursting and freshly plucked.
Come inside, since the cook was just about to take off
the fillets, and the table's coming in.

Xanthias
Go on, and first tell the dancing girls
who are inside that I myself am coming in:
Follow, slave, and bring my baggage.

Dionysus
You, stop! You're not really serious,
since I dressed you up as Heracles for a joke.
Stop fooling around, Xanthias;
Pick the bags back up and bring them along.

Xanthias
What? surely you don't intend to take away from me
what you gave me yourself.

Dionysus
No maybes, I'm doing it.
Take off the hide.

Xanthias
I'll sue you!
and entrust my case to the gods.

Dionysus
Which gods?
To expect that you—isn't it vain and foolish?
that you, a slave and mortal, could be Alcmena's son?

Xanthias
Well, never mind, fine; take them, but maybe soon
you'll need me, if god so wills.

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