Page:The Plays of Euripides Vol. 1- Edward P. Coleridge (1910).djvu/303

Rh. The priestess of Phœbus; I look on her as my mother.

. Until thou camest unto man's estate, what nurture hadst thou?

. The altar fed me, and the bounty of each casual guest.

. Woe is thy mother, then, whoe'er she was!

. Maybe my birth was some poor woman's wrong.

. Hast thou any store, for thy dress is costly enough?

. The god I serve gives me these robes to wear.

. Wert thou never eager to inquire into thy birth?

. Ah! yes, lady! but I have no clue at all to guide me.

. Alas! I know another woman who hath suffered as thy mother did.

. Who is she? If she would but help me in the task, how happy should I be!

. 'Tis she on whose account I have preceded my husband hither.

. What are thy wishes? be sure I will serve thee, lady.

. I would fain obtain a secret answer from Apollo's oracle.

. Name it, then; the rest will I undertake for thee.

. Hear, then, this story. Yet am I ashamed.

. Thus wilt thou accomplish naught, for shame is a goddess slow to act.

. A friend of mine asserts that Phœbus lay with her.

. Phœbus with a mortal woman? Stranger lady, say not so.

. Yea, and she bare the god a child without her father's knowledge.

. It cannot be; some man did wrong her, and she is ashamed of it.

. This she denies herself; and she hath suffered further woe.