2–3
Menippus
I see you are bent on making a jest of it. Well, it is extraordinary; you could not be expected to see that it is not aromance. The fact is, I needed neither ladder nor amorous eagle; I had wings of my own.
5
Friend
Stranger and stranger! this beats Daedalus. What, you turned into a hawk or a crow on the sly?
Menippus
Now that is not a bad shot; it was Daedalus’s wing trick that I tried.
Friend
Well, talk of foolhardiness! did you like the idea of falling into the sea, and giving us a Mare Menippeum after the irae of the Icarium?
No fear. Icarus’s feathers were fastened with wax, and Pe course, directly the sun warmed this, he moulted and fell. No wax for me, thank you.
How did you manage, then? I declare I shall be believing you soon, if you go on like this.
Menippus
Well, I caught a fine eagle, and also a particularly powerful vulture, and cut off their wings above the shoulder-joint.
But no; if you are not in a hurry, I may as well give you dhe enterprise from the beginning.
5
Friend
Do, do; I am rapt aloft by your words already, my. mouth open for your bonne bouche; as you love me, leave me not in those upper regions hung up by the ears!
