THE CONVERSATION OF THE DANCERS
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to eat, then you sleep and rest and spend the night with me and
tomorrow morning you go to your ship.
The ivlan:
No, I must get back to my ship now.
Laidion:
I thank you for your courtesy. Does everyone on your
ship have such good manners?
The Man:
Goodbye.
Laidion:
Go wherever you like.
(He goes off.)
Hymnis:
What did he give you?
Laidion:
Hymnis:
That belt hanging there, is that from him?
Laidion:
Hymnis:
Is this string of dark green stones from him, too? But
they are not real.
Laidion:
Of course they're real. Why shouldn't they be real?
Hymnis:
Real ones have to be transparent.
Laidion:
Those there have little veins of gold.
Hymnis:
Who knows if it's real gold?
Laidion:
Hymnis:
Are you asleep?
If
you want to sleep, I'll leave again. Do
you know what he put there? Four drachma. For a sailor that
isn't bad, what with the presents as well. I always like men off
ships much better than soldiers. Now I see you want to sleep.
So I'm off.... Well, I'd like you to know, this evening I saw De–
manassa dance, together with her sister, Bacchis. They're supposed
not to be sisters at all, by the way. Ha! There's nothing so unheard
of about their dancing. But what a fuss the men make over them!
Demonassa has pretty shoulders and a good back and moves well
from the hips, that's all. And Bacchis, she has nicely jointed arms
and legs, and pointed fingers. Hussies both of them, but the one
shows it and the other hides it: that is what puts them over. We two
could do everything they do, if you only wanted to. There's not a
thing about it which hasn't been seen before. But all their panto–
mimes are invented by poets, each by a different one, and they have
verses recited at the same time, and in this way they throw dust in
the peoples' eyes, as if one hadn't seen all that before and done it
oneself. Bacchis is best when she has a lot to do with her hands:
when a nymph is transformed into a young tree, or Ampelis into
