till.

TRYGAEUS But let us also scan the mien of the spectators; we shall thus
find out the trade of each.

HERMES Ah! good gods! Look at that poor crest-maker, tearing at his
hair,(1) and at that pike-maker, who has just broken wind in yon
sword-cutler's face.

f(1) Aristophanes has already shown us the husbandmen and
workers in peaceful trades pulling at the rope the extricate
Peace, while the armourers hindered them by pulling the
other way.

TRYGAEUS And do you see with what pleasure this sickle-maker is making
long noses at the spear-maker?

HERMES Now ask the husbandmen to be off.

TRYGAEUS Listen, good folk! Let the husbandmen take their farming tools
and return to their fields as quick as possible, but without either
sword, spear or javelin. All is as quiet as if Peace had been reigning
for a century. Come, let everyone go till the earth, singing the Paean.

CHORUS Oh, thou, whom men of standing desired and who art good to
husbandmen, I have gazed upon thee with delight; and now I go to greet
my vines, to caress after so long an absence the fig trees I planted in
my youth.

TRYGAEUS Friends, let us first adore the goddess, who has delivered us
from crests and Gorgons;(1) then let us hurry to our farms, having first
bought a nice little piece of salt fish to eat in the fields.

f(1) An allusion to Lamachus' shield.

HERMES By Posidon! what a fine crew they make and dense as the crust of
a cake; they are as nimble as guests on their way to a feast.

TRYGAEUS See, how their iron spades glitter and how beautifully their
three-pronged mattocks glisten in the sun! How regularly they align the
plants! I also burn myself to go into the country and to turn over the
earth I have so long neglected.--Friends, do you remember the happy life
that Peace afforded us formerly; can you recall the splendid baskets
of figs, both fresh and dried, the myrtles, the sweet wine, the violets
blooming near the spring, and the olives, for which we have wept so
much? Worship, adore the goddess for restoring you so many blessings.

CHORUS Hail! hail! thou beloved divinity! thy return overwhelms us with
joy. When far from thee, my ardent wish to see my fields again made me
pine with regret. From thee came all blessings. Oh! much desired Peace!
thou art the sole support of those who spend their lives tilling the
earth. Under thy rule we had a thousand delicious enjoyments at our
beck; thou wert the husba