Hipponax.. [With a final snap and pull] Ferry!! Not a soul about.
Alice.. He can't see Mercury because he doesn't believe in him.
[Then comes Charon from the ferry with his long pole. He is but a half-god and so can grow old, older and ever old, though he may never die. He looks at Hipponax with great contempt.
Charon.. Another of these philosophers!
Hipponax.. I have rung this bell I don't know how many times.
Charon.. I heard you.
Hipponax.. You heard me. [Then he swells.] Do you know who I am? Hipponax.
Charon.. Do you know who I am? Charon.
Hipponax.. Charon!
[It is as if trees and rocks had begun to speak to him. His breath goes, he fishes wildly for his book, his immortal work they called it, so naturally he did manage to bring one copy out of the world with him.