The runaway slave, whom you brand, is only a spotted francolin with us. Are you Phrygian like Spintharus? Among us you would be the Phrygian bird, the goldfinch, of the race of Philemon. Are you a slave and a Carian like Execestides? Among us you can create yourself forefathers; you can always find relations. Does the son of Pisias want to betray the gates of the city to the foe? Let him become a partridge, the fitting offspring of his father; among us there is no shame in escaping as cleverly as a partridge. Second Semi-Chorus Singing. So the swans on the banks of the Hebrus , tiotiotiotiotiotinx, mingle their voices to serenade Apollo, tiotiotiotinx, flapping their wings the while, tiotiotiotinx; their notes reach beyond the clouds of heaven; they startle the various tribes of the beasts; a windless sky calms the waves, totototototototototinx; all Olympus resounds, and astonishment seizes its rulers; the Olympian graces and Muses cry aloud the strain, tiotiotiotinx. Leader of Second Semi-Chorus There is nothing more useful nor more pleasant than to have wings. To begin with, just let us suppose a spectator to be dying with hunger and to be weary of the choruses of the tragic poets; if he were winged, he would fly off, go home to dine and come back with his stomach filled. Some Patroclides, needing to take a crap, would not have to spill it out on his cloak, but could fly off, satisfy his requirements, let a few farts and, having recovered his breath, return. If one of you, it matters not who, had adulterous relations and saw the husband of his mistress in the seats of the senators, he might stretch his wings, fly to her, and, having laid her, resume his place. Is it not the most priceless gift of all, to be winged? Look at Diitrephes! His wings were only wicker-work ones, and yet he got himself chosen Phylarch and then Hipparch; from being nobody, he has risen to be famous; he's now the finest gilded cock of his tribe. Pisthetaerus and Euelpides return; they now have wings. Pisthetaerus Halloa! What's this? By Zeus! I never saw anything so funny in all my life. Euelpides What makes you laugh? Pisthetaerus Your little wings. D'you know what you look like? Like a goose painted by some dauber. Euelpides And you look like a close-shaven blackbird. Pisthetaerus We ourselves asked for this transformation, and, as Aeschylus has it, These are no borrowed feathers, but truly our own. Epops Come now, what must be done? Pisthetaerus First give our city a great and famous name, then sacrifice to the gods. Euelpides I think so too. Leader of the Chorus Let's see. What shall our city be called? Pisthetaerus Will you have a high-sounding Laconian name? Shall we call it Sparta ? Euelpides What! call my town Sparta ? Why, I would not use esparto for my bed, even though I had nothing but bands of rushes. Pisthetaerus Well then, what name can you suggest? Euelpides Some name borrowed from the clouds, from these lofty regions in which we dwell —in short, some well-known name. Pisthetaerus Do you like Nephelococcygia? Leader of the Chorus Oh! capital! truly that's a brilliant thought! Euelpides Is it in Nephelococcygia that all the wealth of Theogenes and most of Aeschines' is?