PISTHETAERUS. Have you not often heard the father say to young men in the barbers' shops, "It's astonishing how Diitrephes' advice has made my son fly to horse-riding."--"Mine," says another, "has flown towards tragic poetry on the wings of his imagination."
INFORMER. So that words give wings?
PISTHETAERUS. Undoubtedly; words give wings to the mind and make a man soar to heaven. Thus I hope that my wise words will give you wings to fly to some less degrading trade.
INFORMER. But I do not want to.
PISTHETAERUS. What do you reckon on doing then?
INFORMER. I won't belie my breeding; from generation to generation we have lived by informing. Quick, therefore, give me quickly some light, swift hawk or kestrel wings, so that I may summon the islanders, sustain the accusation here, and haste back there again on flying pinions.
PISTHETAERUS. I see. In this way the stranger will be condemned even before he appears.
INFORMER. That's just it.
PISTHETAERUS. And while he is on his way here by sea, you will be flying to the islands to despoil him of his property.
Studies
