How we cite our quotes: Line
Quote #10
How dangerous to entertain / a lust for villainy, / like this old man, who'd now evade / the debts he ought to pay. / Before the day has run its course / the time will surely come / when our old sophist feels remorse / about the harm he's done. / I think that he will soon obtain / the answer to his prayer: / a son who's able to maintain / what's unjust and unfair. / And though the son wins every case / with wickedness and lies, / perhaps, perhaps his dad will pray / his tongue gets paralyzed. (1303-1320)
The Clouds are weighing in here with their true opinion of Strepsiades's little scheme. Although they've egged him on up to this point, don't be fooled—they were only doing that to make sure the life-lesson hit home hard. As they predict, Strepsiades ends up really regretting what he's done when Pheidippides turns the rhetoric around on him and uses it to justify beating him.