Page:Four Plays of Aeschylus (Cookson).djvu/63

Rh

Tush!

I waste no courtesy on aliens

Who violate the sanctuary of the Gods.

Ægyptus' sons shall hear of this.

I care not.

Good: but that I may make a clear report—

As heralds should—what shall I say? By whom

Am I dismissed, sent empty-handed back,

These women—cousins, close in blood withal—

Taken from me? Not that weight of evidence

Will here determine in what sense the doom

That Ares must pronounce shall be decreed,

Nor are the damages assessed in coin

And there an end. No: long ere that can be

Many a tall fellow first must bite the dust

And lives be gasped away with writhing of limbs.

Why should I tell thee who I am? In time

Thou'lt learn my name; thou and thy fellows too.

As for these women, went they willingly,

Were they content, thou might'st lead them away,

Could'st thou show cause that piety allows.

But now the sovran people of this realm

Have with one voice established their decree

Never to yield their virtue up to force.