BDELYCLEON. Ha! Mister Nobody, you will not laugh presently. Pull him out quick! Ah! the wretch, where has be crept to? Does he not resemble a she-ass to the life? PHILOCLEON. If you do not leave me in peace, I shall commence proceedings. BDELYCLEON. And what will the suit be about? PHILOCLEON. The shade of an ass.[38] BDELYCLEON. You are a poor man of very little wit, but thoroughly brazen. PHILOCLEON. A poor man! Ah! by Zeus! you know not now what I am worth; but you will know when you disembowel the old Heliast's money bag.[39] BDELYCLEON. Come, get back indoors, both you and your ass. PHILOCLEON. Oh! my brethren of the tribunal! oh! Cleon! to the rescue! BDELYCLEON. Go and bawl in there under lock and key. And you there, pile plenty of stones against the door, thrust the bolt home into the staple, and to keep this beam in its place roll that great mortar against it. Quick's the word. SOSIAS. Oh! my god! whence did this brick fall on me? XANTHIAS. Perhaps a rat loosened it. SOSIAS. A rat? 'tis surely our gutter-judge,[40] who has crept beneath the tiles of the roof. XANTHIAS. Ah! woe to us! there he is, he has turned into a sparrow; he will be flying off. Where is the net? where? pschit! pschit! get back! BDELYCLEON. Ah! by Zeus! I would rather have to guard Scioné[41] than such a father. SOSIAS. And how that we have driven him in thoroughly and he can no longer escape without our knowledge, can we not have a few winks of sleep, no matter how few? BDELYCLEON. Why, wretch! the other jurymen will be here almost directly to summon my father! SOSIAS. Why, 'tis scarcely dawn yet! BDELYCLEON. Ah, they must have risen late to-day. Generally it is the middle of the night when they come to fetch him. They arrive here, carrying lanterns in their hands and singing the charming old verses of Phrynichus' "Sidonian Women";[42] 'tis their way of calling him. SOSIAS. Well, if need be, we will chase them off with stones. BDELYCLEON. What! you dare to speak so? Why, this class of old men, if irritated, becomes as terrible as a swarm of wasps. They carry below their loins the sharpest of stings, with which to sting their foe; they shout and leap and their stings burn like so many sparks. SOSIAS. Have no fear! If I can find stones to throw into this nest of jurymen-wasps, I shall soon have them cleared off.