AESCHYLUS. Yes, faith, enough indeed! I wish now to see my verses weighed in the scales; 'tis the only way to end this poetic struggle. DIONYSUS. Well then, come, I am going to sell the poet's genius the same way cheese is sold in the market. CHORUS. Truly clever men are possessed of an inventive mind. Here again is a new idea that is marvellous and strange, and which another would not have thought of; as for myself I would not have believed anyone who had told me of it, I would have treated him as a driveller. DIONYSUS. Come, hither to the scales. AESCHYLUS AND EURIPIDES. Here we are. DIONYSUS. Let each one hold one of the scales, recite a verse, and not let go until I have cried, "Cuckoo!" AESCHYLUS AND EURIPIDES. We understand. DIONYSUS. Well then, recite and keep your hands on the scales. EURIPIDES. "Would it had pleased the gods that the vessel Argo had never unfurled the wings of her sails!"[521] AESCHYLUS. "Oh! river Sperchius! oh! meadows, where the oxen graze!"[522] DIONYSUS. Cuckoo! let go! Oh! the verse of Aeschylus sinks far the lower of the two. EURIPIDES. And why? DIONYSUS. Because, like the wool-merchants, who moisten their wares, he has thrown a river into his verse and has made it quite wet, whereas yours was winged and flew away. EURIPIDES. Come, another verse! You recite, Aeschylus, and you, weigh. DIONYSUS. Hold the scales again. AESCHYLUS AND EURIPIDES. Ready. DIONYSUS (_to Euripides_). You begin. EURIPIDES. "Eloquence is Persuasion's only sanctuary."[523] AESCHYLUS. "Death is the only god whom gifts cannot bribe."[524] DIONYSUS. Let go! let go! Here again our friend Aeschylus' verse drags down the scale; 'tis because he has thrown in Death, the weightiest of all ills. EURIPIDES. And I Persuasion; my verse is excellent. DIONYSUS. Persuasion has both little weight and little sense. But hunt again for a big weighty verse and solid withal, that it may assure you the victory. EURIPIDES. But where am I to find one--where? DIONYSUS. I'll tell you one: "Achilles has thrown two and four."[525] Come, recite! 'tis the last trial. EURIPIDES. "With his arm he seized a mace, studded with iron."[526] AESCHYLUS. "Chariot upon chariot and corpse upon corpse."[527] DIONYSUS (_to Euripides_) There you're foiled again. EURIPIDES. Why? DIONYSUS. There are two chariots and two corpses in the verse; why, 'tis a weight a hundred Egyptians could not lift.[528] AESCHYLUS. 'Tis no longer verse against verse that I wish to weigh, but let him clamber into the scale himself, he, his children, his wife, Cephisophon[529] and all his works; against all these I will place but two of my verses on the other side. DIONYSUS. I will _not_ be their umpire, for they are dear to me and I will not have a foe in either of them; meseems the one is mighty clever, while the other simply delights me. PLUTO. Then you are foiled in the object of your voyage. DIONYSUS. And if I do decide?