friend here for not having paid my addresses to you earlier. You must have thought me negligent?
Nike.
Oh! Dionysus, I assure you it is not so. Your temperament is one of violent extremes—you are either sparkling with miraculous rapidity of apprehension, or you are sunken in a heavy doze. These have doubtless been some of your sleepy days. And I ... oh! I am very deeply changed.
Dionysus.
No, not at all. Hardly at all. [He scarcely glances at her, but turns to Æsculapius.] But farewell to both of you, for I am going down to the sea-board to watch for dolphins. That long melancholy plunge of the black snout thrills me with pleasure. It always did, and the
coast-line here curiously reminds me of Naxos. Be kind to Æsculapius, Nike.
[He descends along the water-course, and exit. Nike smiles sadly, and half holds out her arms towards Æsculapius.]
Nike.
It is for you, O brother of Hermes, to be kind to me. How altered we all are! Dionysus is not himself.... As I came here, I passed below the little grey precipice of limestone——
Æsculapius.