Off with her head! Pyrganax. A jury of the Pigs. Swellfoot. But I must first impanel Pack them then. Pyrganax. Or fattening some few in two separate sties, Of ribbon round their legs-giving their Sows And their young Boars white and red rags, and tails Good Lord! they'd rip each other's bellies up,— Not to say, help us in destroying her. Swellfoot. This plan might be tried too ;-where's General Laoctonos? Enter LAOCTONOS and DAKRY. It is my royal pleasure That you, Lord General, bring the head and body Laoctonos. That pleasure I well knew ; And made a charge with those battalions bold Called, from their dress and grin, the Royal Apes, Upon the Swine,-who in a hollow square Enclosed her, and received the first attack Like so many rhinoceroses, and then, What is still worse, some Sows upon the ground "Long live Iona! down with Swellfoot!" Pyrganax. Hark! The Swine (without). Long live Iona! down with Swellfoot! Dakry. I Went to the garret of the Swineherd's Tower Which overlooks the sty, and made a long Of delicacy, mercy, judgment, law, Morals, and precedents, and purity, And how I loved the Queen!-And then I wept And every tear turned to a millstone, which A slough of blood and brains upon the place, With dust and stones. Mammon. Enter MAMMON. I wonder that grey wizards Like you should be so beardless in their schemes; To keep Iona and the Swine apart. Divide and rule. But ye have made a junction On which our spies skulked in ovation through The streets of Thebes when they were paved with dead. A bane so much the deadlier fills it now As calumny is worse than death,--for here Murmured this pious baptism :-"Be thou called That thy contents, on whomsoever poured, Turn innocence to guilt, and gentlest looks To savage, foul, and fierce deformity. Let all baptized by thy infernal dew Be called adulterer, drunkard, liar, wretch! Be they called tyrant, beast, fool, glutton, lover Of what was human ! let not man nor beast Or hear their names with ears that tingle not [SWELLFOOT approaches to touch the GREEN BAG. Beware! for God's sake, beware!—if you should break Pyrganax. Give it to me: I have been used to handle All sorts of poisons. His dread Majesty Only desires to see the colour of it. There! Mammon. Now, with a little common sense, my lords, Only undoing all that has been done, (Yet so as it may seem we but confirm it) Our victory is assured. We must entice Her Majesty from the Sty; and make the Pigs Are the true test of guilt or innocence ; And that, if she be guilty, 'twill transform her If innocent, she will become transfigured And they will see her flying through the air, You, Pyrganax, who have the gift o' the gab, Kept to the honour of our goddess Famine, Take place of the uglification of the Queen. Dakry (to Swellfoot). I, as the keeper of your sacred conscience, Humbly remind your Majesty that the care Of your high office, as man-milliner To red Bellona, should not be deferred. Pyrganax. All part, in happier plight to meet again! [Exeunt. ACT II. SCENE I.-The Public Sty. The Boars in full Assembly. Pyrganax. Grant me your patience, Gentlemen and Boars, Ye by whose patience under public burthens The glorious constitution of these sties Subsists, and shall subsist. The Lean-pig rates To teach the other nations how to live?) The failure of a foreign market for Sausages, bristles, and blood-puddings, Instead of hog-wash, has been fed on straw And water, is a fact which is--you know— That is it is a state necessity Temporary, of course. Those impious Pigs Irreverent mockery of the genuflexions Inculcated by the Arch-priest, have been whipped Into a loyal and an orthodox whine. Things being in this happy state, the Queen Iona A loud cry from the Pigs. She is innocent! most innocent! Pyrganax. That is the very thing that I was saying, Gentlemen Swine. The Queen Iona, being Most innocent, no doubt, returns to Thebes, (I mean those more substantial Pigs who swill A Boar (interrupting him). Does any one accuse her of? Pyrganax. Makes any positive accusation. What Why, no one But There were hints dropped; and so the privy wizards His Majesty to investigate their truth. Not for his own sake; he could be content Of Sucking Pigs, if it could be suspected First Boar. Well, go on; we long To hear what she can possibly have done. Pyrganax. Why, it is hinted that a certain Bull Thus much is known:-The milk-white Bulls that feed Beside Clitumnus and the crystal lakes Of the Cisalpine mountains, in fresh dews Of lotus-grass and blossoming asphodel Sleeking their silken hair, and with sweet breath Loading the morning winds until they faint With living fragrance, are so beautiful! [A pause. |