CHORUS. Strike, strike the villain, who has spread confusion amongst the ranks of the Knights, this public robber, this yawning gulf of plunder, this devouring Charybdis,[31] this villain, this villain, this villain! I cannot say the word too often, for he _is_ a villain a thousand times a day. Come, strike, drive, hurl him over and crush him to pieces; hate him as we hate him; stun him with your blows and your shouts. And beware lest he escape you; he knows the way Eucrates[32] took straight to a bran sack for concealment. CLEON. Oh! veteran Heliasts,[33] brotherhood of the three obols,[34] whom I fostered by bawling at random, help me; I am being beaten to death by rebels. CHORUS. And 'tis justice; you devour the public funds that all should share in; you treat the officers answerable for the revenue like the fruit of the fig tree, squeezing them to find which are still green or more or less ripe; and, when you find one simple and timid, you force him to come from the Chersonese,[35] then you seize him by the middle, throttle him by the neck, while you twist his shoulder back; he falls and you devour him.[36] Besides, you know very well how to select from among the citizens those who are as meek as lambs, rich, without guile and loathers of lawsuits. CLEON. Eh! what! Knights, are you helping them? But, if I am beaten, 'tis in your cause, for I was going to propose to erect you a statue in the city in memory of your bravery. CHORUS. Oh! the impostor! the dull varlet! See! he treats us like old dotards and crawls at our feet to deceive us; but the cunning wherein lies his power shall this time recoil on himself; he trips up himself by resorting to such artifices. CLEON. Oh Citizens! oh people! see how these brutes are bursting my belly. CHORUS. What shouts! but 'tis this very bawling that incessantly upsets the city! SAUSAGE-SELLER. I can shout too--and so loud that you will flee with fear. CHORUS. If you shout louder than he does, I will strike up the triumphal hymn; if you surpass him in impudence, the cake is ours. CLEON. I denounce this fellow; he has had tasty stews exported from Athens for the Spartan fleet. SAUSAGE-SELLER. And I denounce him, who runs into the Prytaneum with empty belly and comes out with it full. DEMOSTHENES. And by Zeus! he carries off bread, meat, and fish, which is forbidden. Pericles himself never had this right. CLEON. You are travelling the right road to get killed. SAUSAGE-SELLER. I'll bawl three times as loud as you. CLEON. I will deafen you with my yells. SAUSAGE-SELLER. And I you with my bellowing. CLEON. I shall calumniate you, if you become a Strategus.[37] SAUSAGE-SELLER. Dog, I will lay your back open with the lash. CLEON. I will make you drop your arrogance. SAUSAGE-SELLER. I will baffle your machinations. CLEON. Dare to look me in the face! SAUSAGE-SELLER. I too was brought up in the market-place. CLEON. I will cut you to shreds if you whisper a word.