[Meaning] I will be withered.[1] Also [sc. attested is] a)fau/ei ["he/she/it dries out"]. Aristophanes [writes]: "reaping others' corn ears, he ties them up and dries them out in the stall, and tries to sell them."[2] That is, Kleon himself is farming and reaping others' efforts. [The poet] is hinting at the city,[3] because when Demosthenes had already done the work Kleon recorded the victory concerning the events in Sphakteria. Now those ears of corn, which he brought thence, he has tied up and is drying out in the stall, and tries to sell them. In reference to the prisoners-of-war. He spoke of ears of corn from the harvest, which Kleon promised he would bring out alive after a time. So he is saying: those whom he tied up and brought out he intends to let go.
Also [sc. attested is] a)fau/ein, [meaning] to burn. "To shave these off, and to burn what's below."[4]