Read Online Lysistrata by Fletcher Flora - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Fletcher Flora
Ads: Link
out our strategy most carefully.”
“You are certainly right. Let us go inside and discuss it and have a little wine.”
“I shall come, too,” said Calonice, “although I feel that I am sure to regret it later.”
9
L YCON WANDERED disconsolately around the square. The babble of voices and the ascendant cries of vendors, always previously so melodious in his ears, now struck him as a hideous cacophony. The antics of the clowns were the gyrations and contortions of a kind of sinister madness. The flower girls, in spite of romantic nonsense of poets to the contrary, were vulgar wenches without grace or glamour. Nothing was bright, nothing was sane, nothing was pleasing to the senses. It was absolutely intolerable, he thought, to submit any longer to such monstrous distortions of reality. Or of what he had once considered reality. The truth was, he had become so confused and depressed by events that he no longer had any faith in his ability to distinguish between what was real or normal and what was not. The only thing he knew with certainty was that he must return to Pylos at once for the sake of his dignity, if not for his very sanity. He had never before thought of Pylos as a refuge, but he did so now.
Looking ahead, he was suddenly aware of Acron approaching. Having no desire whatever to see or talk with Acron at this time, he ducked into a convenient lounge, but it was no use. Acron had seen him, and followed him immediately into the lounge.
“Lycon,” he said, “I hope I am mistaken, for the sake of our long friendship, but I had the distinct impression just now that you were trying to avoid me.”
“Avoid you?” said Lycon. “Why in the world should I want to avoid you?”
“You know very well why you want to avoid me, and I assure you that you are wasting time in trying to evade the issue. It is not an act of friendship to be so deceptive.”
“To my knowledge, I have not deceived you in any way, and I’d appreciate your being specific, at least, if you feel compelled to abuse me.”
“Oh, such dissemblance! Shame on you, Lycon! Do you deny that you have gotten us into the most humiliating and distressing mess through your inability to control things at home?”
“I don’t deny that I am in such a mess, which is truly humiliating, as you say, but I don’t see why
you
should be excessively disturbed about it.”
“I declare, Lycon, you are either the most artful dodger in the world, or you are truly ignorant of what has developed.”
“If anything at all has developed, I am certainly ignorant of it.”
“Then permit me to inform you that Calonice has been converted to Lysistrata’s treachery.”
“You mean she has refused to accommodate you?”
“What else could I mean? Furthermore, I am convinced that she would never have adopted such a monstrous attitude, or even have thought of it, if she had not been subjected to Lysistrata’s influence. You are therefore responsible, Lycon, and must answer for it.”
“In what way can I be held responsible for someone who is obviously irrational? It’s not my fault, Acron, that you are being deprived of pleasure. Besides, as you well know, I have troubles of my own, and am not inclined at this time to assume yours.”
“If your dog goes mad and bites a neighbor, you’re responsible, aren’t you? Of course, you are. And a man is certainly as responsible for his wife as he is for his dog. The only difference that I can see is that a wife’s defections are likely to have more serious consequences.”
“This is nonsense, and you know it, and you are only trying to put the blame on me because you are naturally upset and disgruntled. Have you made any effort to restore Calonice’s reason?”
“I’ve beat her thoroughly, if that’s what you mean.”
“Was it effective?”
“Not particularly. She did a lot of howling, which was some satisfaction to me, but in the end she only seemed to become more stubborn because of it. I have
“You are certainly right. Let us go inside and discuss it and have a little wine.”
“I shall come, too,” said Calonice, “although I feel that I am sure to regret it later.”
9
L YCON WANDERED disconsolately around the square. The babble of voices and the ascendant cries of vendors, always previously so melodious in his ears, now struck him as a hideous cacophony. The antics of the clowns were the gyrations and contortions of a kind of sinister madness. The flower girls, in spite of romantic nonsense of poets to the contrary, were vulgar wenches without grace or glamour. Nothing was bright, nothing was sane, nothing was pleasing to the senses. It was absolutely intolerable, he thought, to submit any longer to such monstrous distortions of reality. Or of what he had once considered reality. The truth was, he had become so confused and depressed by events that he no longer had any faith in his ability to distinguish between what was real or normal and what was not. The only thing he knew with certainty was that he must return to Pylos at once for the sake of his dignity, if not for his very sanity. He had never before thought of Pylos as a refuge, but he did so now.
Looking ahead, he was suddenly aware of Acron approaching. Having no desire whatever to see or talk with Acron at this time, he ducked into a convenient lounge, but it was no use. Acron had seen him, and followed him immediately into the lounge.
“Lycon,” he said, “I hope I am mistaken, for the sake of our long friendship, but I had the distinct impression just now that you were trying to avoid me.”
“Avoid you?” said Lycon. “Why in the world should I want to avoid you?”
“You know very well why you want to avoid me, and I assure you that you are wasting time in trying to evade the issue. It is not an act of friendship to be so deceptive.”
“To my knowledge, I have not deceived you in any way, and I’d appreciate your being specific, at least, if you feel compelled to abuse me.”
“Oh, such dissemblance! Shame on you, Lycon! Do you deny that you have gotten us into the most humiliating and distressing mess through your inability to control things at home?”
“I don’t deny that I am in such a mess, which is truly humiliating, as you say, but I don’t see why
you
should be excessively disturbed about it.”
“I declare, Lycon, you are either the most artful dodger in the world, or you are truly ignorant of what has developed.”
“If anything at all has developed, I am certainly ignorant of it.”
“Then permit me to inform you that Calonice has been converted to Lysistrata’s treachery.”
“You mean she has refused to accommodate you?”
“What else could I mean? Furthermore, I am convinced that she would never have adopted such a monstrous attitude, or even have thought of it, if she had not been subjected to Lysistrata’s influence. You are therefore responsible, Lycon, and must answer for it.”
“In what way can I be held responsible for someone who is obviously irrational? It’s not my fault, Acron, that you are being deprived of pleasure. Besides, as you well know, I have troubles of my own, and am not inclined at this time to assume yours.”
“If your dog goes mad and bites a neighbor, you’re responsible, aren’t you? Of course, you are. And a man is certainly as responsible for his wife as he is for his dog. The only difference that I can see is that a wife’s defections are likely to have more serious consequences.”
“This is nonsense, and you know it, and you are only trying to put the blame on me because you are naturally upset and disgruntled. Have you made any effort to restore Calonice’s reason?”
“I’ve beat her thoroughly, if that’s what you mean.”
“Was it effective?”
“Not particularly. She did a lot of howling, which was some satisfaction to me, but in the end she only seemed to become more stubborn because of it. I have
Similar Books
