And you your head to double the noise. Pisthetaerus Well then use a stone instead; take one and hammer with it. Euelpides Good idea! He does so. Ho there, within! Slave! slave! Pisthetaerus What's that, friend! You say, slave, to summon Epops? It would be much better to shout, Epops, Epops! Euelpides Well then, Epops! Must I knock again? Epops! Trochilus Rushing out of a thicket. Who's there? Who calls my master? Pisthetaerus In terror. Apollo the Deliverer! what an enormous beak! He defecates. In the confusion both the jay and the crow fly away. Trochilus Equally frightened. Good god! they are bird-catchers. Euelpides Reassuring himself. But is it so terrible? Wouldn't it be better to explain things? Trochilus Also reassuring himself. You're done for. Euelpides But we are not men. Trochilus What are you, then? Euelpides Defecating also. I am the Fearling, an African bird. Trochilus You talk nonsense. Euelpides Well, then, just ask it of my feet. Trochilus And this other one, what bird is it? To Pisthetaerus. Speak up! Pisthetaerus Weakly. I? I am a Crapple, from the land of the pheasants. Euelpides But you yourself, in the name of the gods! what animal are you? Trochilus Why, I am a slave-bird. Euelpides Why, have you been conquered by a cock? Trochilus No, but when my master was turned into a hoopoe, he begged me to become a bird also, to follow and to serve him. Euelpides Does a bird need a servant, then? Trochilus That's no doubt because he was once a man. At times he wants to eat a dish of sardines from Phalerum; I seize my dish and fly to fetch him some. Again he wants some pea-soup; I seize a ladle and a pot and run to get it. Euelpides This is, then, truly a running-bird. Come, Trochilus, do us the kindness to call your master. Trochilus Why, he has just fallen asleep after a feed of myrtle-berries and a few grubs. Euelpides Never mind; wake him up. Trochilus I am certain he will be angry. However, I will wake him to please you. He goes back into the thicket. Pisthetaerus As soon as Trochilus is out of sight. You cursed brute! why, I am almost dead with terror! Euelpides Oh! my god! it was sheer fear that made me lose my jay.