FIRST WIFE. By the gods, yes.
SECOND WIFE. Terrified to death, we clambered up to the upper storey, and he fled at top speed, carrying off our baskets with him.
XANTHIAS. Ah! this is again his style! But you ought to take action.
FIRST WIFE. Run quick and call Cleon, my patron.
SECOND WIFE. And you, should you run against Hyperbolus,[444] bring him to me; we will knock the life out of our robber.
FIRST WIFE. Oh! you miserable glutton! how I should delight in breaking those grinders of yours, which devoured my goods!
SECOND WIFE. And I in hurling you into the malefactor's pit.
FIRST WIFE. And I in slitting with one stroke of the sickle that gullet that bolted down the tripe. But I am going to fetch Cleon; he shall summon you before the court this very day and force you to disgorge.
DIONYSUS. May I die, if Xanthias is not my dearest friend.
XANTHIAS. Can I be the son of Alcmena, I, a slave and a mortal?