_Cario._ Marry did I, and sorely--lest his godship Should get the start of me, and grab the dish. But the old lady, when she heard me coming, Put her hand out; and so I gave a hiss, And bit her gently; ’twas the Holy Snake, She thought, and pulled her hand in, and lay still. But the mistress of the house is too delighted with the good news which Carlo has brought to chide him very severely for his irreverence. She orders her maids at once to prepare a banquet for the return of this blessed guest, who presently reappears, attended by Chremylus and a troop of friends. Plutus salutes his new home in a burlesque of the high vein of tragedy:-- All hail! thou first, O bright and blessed sun, And thou, fair plain, where awful Pallas dwells, And this Cecropian land, henceforth mine home! I blush to mind me of my past estate-- Of the vile herd with whom I long consorted; While those who had been worthy of my friendship I, poor blind wretch! unwittingly passed by. But now the wrong I did will I undo, And show henceforth to all mankind, that sore Against my will I kept bad company. [Enter Chremylus, surrounded and followed by a crowd of congratulating friends, whom he thrusts aside right and left.] _Chr._ To the devil with you all--d’ye hear, good people! Why, what a plague friends are on these occasions! One hatches them in swarms, when one gets money. They nudge my sides, and pat me on the back, And smother me with tokens of affection; Men bow to me I never saw before; And all the pompous dawdlers in the Square Find me the very centre of attraction! Even his wife is unusually affectionate; and the welcome guest is ushered into the house with choral dance and song--highly burlesque, no doubt; but both are lost to us, and such losses are not always to be regretted. The scene which follows introduces Cario in a state of great contentment with the new order of things. It is possible that, as in ‘The Knights,’ there was an entire change of scenery as well as of dresses at this point of the performance; that the ancient country grange has been transmuted into a grand modern mansion, with all the appliances of wealth and luxury. At all events, Cario (who from a rustic slave has now become quite a “gentleman’s gentleman”) informs the Chorus, who listen to him open-mouthed, that such has been the result of entertaining Plutus.