Str. Is not Olympian Jupiter our God?
Soc. What Jupiter? nay, jest not—there is none.
Str. How say'st thou? who then rains?—this first of all
Declare to me.
Soc. Why these (the clouds): by mighty signs
This I will prove to thee. Hast ever seen
Jove raining without clouds?—if it were so,
Through the clear fields of ether must he rain,
While these were far away.
Str. Now by Apollo,
Full well hast thou discours'd upon this point;
Till now, in truth, I thought 'twas Jupiter,
Distilling through a sieve. But tell me next,
Who is the thunderer?—this awakes my dread.
Soc. They thunder as they roll.
Str. But how, I pray?
Say, thou who darest all.
Soc. When they are fill'd
With water, and perforce impell'd along,
Driven precipitate, all full of rain,
They meet together, bursting with a crash.
Str. But who compels them thus to move along?
Is not this Jove?
Soc. No, but th'ætherial whirl.