Page:Tragedies of Seneca (1907) Miller.djvu/59

41 Oedipus: My father's kingdom would I seek, but still I fear my mother. Old Man: Fear'st thou her who waits With anxious heart, imploring thy return? Oedipus: 'Tis piety itself that bids me flee. Old Man: And wouldst thou leave her in her widowhood? Oedipus: Thou speak'st the very essence of my fears. Old Man: Speak out the fear that doth oppress thy soul; For 'tis my wont in trusty confidence To counsel kings. Oedipus: By Phoebus' word forewarned, From wedlock with my mother do I flee. Old Man: Then cease thy empty fears, and lay aside Thy base forebodings; for I tell thee here That thou art not the son of Merope. Oedipus: Why did she wish to rear a spurious son? Old Man: Because the proud security of kings Is by a son established. Oedipus: Tell me now How thou dost know the secrets of the court. Old Man: With my own hands I gave thee to the king. Oedipus: Thou gavest me? But who gave me to thee? Old Man: A shepherd on Cithaeron's snowy slopes. Oedipus: How camest thou within that sacred wood? Old Man: My sheep upon that mountain did I seek. Oedipus: Now on my body name some well-known mark. Old Man: Behold, thy feet in infancy were pierced, And from thy swollen ankles art thou named. Oedipus: Who was the man who gave me as a gift Into thy hands? Old Man: He fed the royal flocks, And under him the hireling shepherds served. Oedipus: But tell his name. Old Man: An old man's memory Grows faint and weakly falters with disuse. Oedipus: But wouldst thou know the features of the man? Old Man: I might recall him, for a slender clue Ofttimes awakens memory of things Long buried and forgot.