第 6 节
作者:九米      更新:2021-02-21 15:33      字数:9322
  handsome maiden; they put a necklace of dried figs about my neck;
  and I was one of the Canephori。
  LEADER OF CHORUS OF WOMEN
  So surely I am bound to give my best advice to Athens。 What
  matters that I was born a woman; if I can cure your misfortunes? I pay
  my share of tolls and taxes; by giving men to the State。 But you;
  you miserable greybeards; you contribute nothing to the public
  charges; on the contrary; you have wasted the treasure of our
  forefathers; as it was called; the treasure amassed in the days of the
  Persian Wars。 You pay nothing at all in return; and into the bargain
  you endanger our lives and liberties by your mistakes。 Have you one
  word to say for yourselves?。。。 Ah! don't irritate me; you there; or
  I'll lay my slipper across your jaws; and it's pretty heavy。
  CHORUS OF OLD MEN  (singing)
  Outrage upon outrage! things are going from bad to worse。 Let us
  punish the minxes; every one of us that has balls to boast of。 Come;
  off with our tunics; for a man must savour of manhood; come; my
  friends; let us strip naked from head to foot。 Courage; I say; we
  who in our day garrisoned Lipsydrion; let us be young again; and shake
  off eld。
  LEADER OF CHORUS OF OLD MEN
  If we give them the least hold over us; that's the end! their
  audacity will know no bounds! We shall see them building ships; and
  fighting sea…fights; like Artemisia; and; if they want to mount and
  ride as cavalry; we had best cashier the knights; for indeed women
  excel in riding; and have a fine。 firm seat for the gallop。 Just think
  of all those squadrons of Amazons Micon has painted for us engaged
  in hand…to…hand combat with men。 Come then; we must now fit collars to
  all these willing necks。
  CHORUS OF WOMEN  (singing)
  By the blessed goddesses; if you anger me; I will let loose the
  beast of my evil passions; and a very hailstorm of blows will set
  you yelling for help。 Come; dames; off with your tunics; and quick's
  the word; women must smell the smell of women in the throes of
  passion。。。。 Now just you dare to measure strength with me; old
  greybeard; and I warrant you you'll never eat garlic or black beans
  any more。 No; not a word! my anger is at boiling point; and I'll do
  with you what the beetle did with the eagle's eggs。
  LEADER OF CHORUS OF WOMEN
  I laugh at your threats; so long as I have on my side Lampito
  here; and the noble Theban; my dear Ismenia。。。。 Pass decree on decree;
  you can do us no hurt; you wretch abhorred of all your fellows。 Why;
  only yesterday; on occasion of the feast of Hecate; I asked my
  neighbours of Boeotia for one of their daughters for whom my girls
  have a lively liking …a fine; fat eel to wit; and if they did not
  refuse; all along of your silly decrees! We shall never cease to
  suffer the like; till some one gives you a neat trip…up and breaks
  your neck for you!  (To LYSISTRATA as she comes out from the
  Acropolis)  You; Lysistrata; you who are leader of our glorious
  enterprise; why do I see you coming towards me with so gloomy an air?
  LYSISTRATA
  It's the behaviour of these naughty women; it's the female heart
  and female weakness that so discourage me。
  LEADER OF CHORUS OF WOMEN
  Tell us; tell us; what is it?
  LYSISTRATA
  I only tell the simple truth。
  LEADER OF CHORUS OF WOMEN
  What has happened so disconcerting? Come; tell your friends。
  LYSISTRATA
  Oh! the thing is so hard to tell…yet so impossible to conceal。
  LEADER OF CHORUS OF WOMEN
  Never seek to hide any ill that has befallen our cause。
  LYSISTRATA
  To blurt it out in a word…we want laying!
  LEADER OF CHORUS OF WOMEN
  Oh! Zeus; oh! Zeus!
  LYSISTRATA
  What use calling upon Zeus? The thing is even as I say。 I cannot
  stop them any longer from lusting after the men。 They are all for
  deserting。 The first I caught was slipping out by the postern gate
  near the cave of Pan; another was letting herself down by a rope and
  pulley; a third was busy preparing her escape; while a fourth; perched
  on a bird's back; was just taking wing for Orsilochus' house; when I
  seized her by the hair。 One and all; they are inventing excuses to
  be off home。  (Pointing to the gate)  Look! there goes one; trying
  to get out! Halloa there! whither away so fast?
  FIRST WOMAN
  I want to go home; I have some Milesian wool in the house; which
  is getting all eaten up by the worms。
  LYSISTRATA
  Bah! you and your worms! go back; I say!
  FIRST WOMAN
  I will return immediately; I swear I will by the two goddesses!
  I only have just to spread it out on the bed。
  LYSISTRATA
  You shall not do anything of the kind! I say; you shall not go。
  FIRST WOMAN
  Must I leave my wool to spoil then?
  LYSISTRATA
  Yes; if need be。
  SECOND WOMAN
  Unhappy woman that I am! Alas for my flax! I've left it at home
  unstript!
  LYSISTRATA
  So; here's another trying to escape to go home and strip her flax!
  SECOND WOMAN
  Oh! I swear by the goddess of light; the instant I have put it
  in condition I will come straight back。
  LYSISTRATA
  You shall do nothing of the kind! If once you began; others
  would want to follow suit。
  THIRD WOMAN
  Oh! goddess divine; Ilithyia; patroness of women in labour;
  stay; stay the birth; till I have reached a spot less hallowed than
  Athene's mount!
  LYSISTRATA
  What mean you by these silly tales?
  THIRD WOMAN
  I am going to have a child…now; this minute!
  LYSISTRATA
  But you were not pregnant yesterday!
  THIRD WOMAN
  Well; I am to…day。 Oh! let me go in search of the midwife;
  Lysistrata; quick; quick!
  LYSISTRATA
  What is this fable you are telling me?  (Feeling her stomach)  Ah!
  what have you got there so hard?
  THIRD WOMAN
  A male child。
  LYSISTRATA
  No; no; by Aphrodite! nothing of the sort! Why; it feels like
  something hollow…a pot or a kettle。  (Opening her robe)  Oh! you silly
  creature; if you have not got the sacred helmet of Pallas…and you said
  you were with child!
  THIRD WOMAN
  And so I am; by Zeus; I am!
  LYSISTRATA
  Then why this helmet; pray?
  THIRD WOMAN
  For fear my pains should seize me in the Acropolis; I mean to
  lay my eggs in this helmet; as the doves do。
  LYSISTRATA
  Excuses and pretences every word! the thing's as clear as
  daylight。 Anyway; you must stay here now till the fifth day; your
  day of purification。
  THIRD WOMAN
  I cannot sleep any more in the Acropolis; now I have seen the
  snake that guards the temple。
  FOURTH WOMAN
  Ah! and those awful owls with their dismal hooting! I cannot get a
  wink of rest; and I'm just dying of fatigue。
  LYSISTRATA
  You wicked women; have done with your falsehoods! You want your
  husbands; that's plain enough。 But don't you think they want you
  just as badly? They are spending dreadful nights; oh! I know that well
  enough。 But hold out; my dears; hold out! A little more patience;
  and the victory will be ours。 An oracle promises us success; if only
  we remain united。 Shall I repeat the words?
  THIRD WOMAN
  Yes; tell us what the oracle declares。
  LYSISTRATA
  Silence then! Now…〃Whenas the swallows; fleeing before the
  hoopoes; shall have all flocked together in one place; and shall
  refrain them from all amorous commerce; then will be the end of all
  the ills of life; yea; and Zeus; who doth thunder in the skies;
  shall set above what was erst below。。。。〃
  THIRD WOMAN
  What! shall the men be underneath?
  LYSISTRATA
  〃But if dissension do arise among the swallows; and they take wing
  from the holy temple; it will be said there is never a more wanton
  bird in all the world。〃
  THIRD WOMAN
  Ye gods! the prophecy is clear。
  LYSISTRATA
  Nay; never let us be cast down by calamity! let us be brave to
  bear; and go back to our posts。 It would be shameful indeed not to
  trust the promises of the oracle。
  (They all go back into the Acropolis。)
  CHORUS OF OLD MEN  (singing)
  I want to tell you a fable they used to relate to me when I was
  a little boy。 This is it: Once upon a time there was a young man
  called Melanion; who hated the thought of marriage so sorely that he
  fled away to the wilds。 So he dwelt in the mountains; wove himself
  nets; and caught hares。 He never; never came back; he had such a
  horror of women。 As chaste as Melanion; we loathe the jades just as
  much as he did。
  AN OLD MAN  (beginning a brief duet with one of the women)
  You dear old woman; I would fain kiss you。
  WOMAN
  I