PISTHETAERUS Hi! you woman! where are you flying to? Halt, don't stir! keep motionless! not a beat of your wing!—Who are you and from what country? You must say whence you come.(1)
f(1) Iris appears from the top of the stage and arrests her flight in mid-career.
IRIS I come from the abode of the Olympian gods.
PISTHETAERUS What's your name, ship or cap?(1)
f(1) Ship, because of her wings, which resemble oars; cap, because she no doubt wore the head-dress (as a messenger of the gods) with which Hermes is generally depicted.
IRIS I am swift Iris.
PISTHETAERUS Paralus or Salaminia?(1)
f(1) The names of the two sacred galleys which carried Athenian officials on State business.
IRIS What do you mean?
PISTHETAERUS Let a buzzard rush at her and seize her.(1)