LXXXI SCENE
Mitchell S. (Mitchell Starrett) Buck translation
“WHERE wast thou?—At the flower merchant’s. I have bought some very beautiful irises. Here they are, I have brought them to thee.—In so long a time thou hast bought four flowers?—The flower-woman detained me.
“Thy cheeks are pale and thine eyes brilliant.—It is fatigue from the walk.—Thy hair is moist and tangled.—It is the heat and the wind which almost blew down my hair.
“Someone has untied thy girdle. I made the knot myself, looser than this one.—So loose that it became undone; a slave who passed retied it for me.
“There is a spot upon thy robe.—It is water which has fallen from the flowers.—Mnasidika, my little soul, thine irises are fairer than any in all Mytilene.—That I know well, that I know well.”