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THE LYSISTRATA 109
Fiercely they stalk in the midst of the crockery,
sternly parade by the cabbage and kail.
MAG. Right, for a soldier should always be soldierly !
LYS. Troth, 'tis a mighty ridiculous jest,
Watching them haggle for shrimps
in the
market-place,
grimly accoutred with shield and with crest.
STRAT. Comes, like a Tereus, a Thracian irregular,
shaking his dart and his target to boot ;
Off runs a shopgirl, appalled at the sight of him,
down he sits soldierly, gobbles her fruit.
MAG. You, I presume, could adroitly and gingerly
settle this intricate, tangled concern :
You in a trice could relieve our perplexities.
LYS.
MAG.
Certainly.
How ? permit me to learn.
LYS. Just as a woman, with nimble dexterity,
thus with her hands disentangles a skein.
MAG. Wonderful, marvellous feats, not a doubt of it,
you with your skeins and your spindles can
show;
Fools ! do you really expect to unravel a
terrible war like a bundle of tow ?
LYS. Ah, if you only could manage your politics
just in the way that we deal with a fleece !
MAG. Heard any ever the like of their impudence,
these who have nothing to do with the war,
Preaching of bobbins, and beatings, and
washing-tubs ?
LYS. Nothing to do with it, wretch that you are ?