Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/185

Rh Antig. O land, thus blest with praises that excel,

'Tis now thy task to prove these glories true.

[ is seen approaching.

Œdip. What new thing happens, child?

Antig. Creon comes!

And comes, my father, not without an escort.

Œdip. Now, dear and honoured friends, of reverend age,

In you is my one goal of safety found.

Chor. Take heart! Thou {{sic||'lt find it; old although I be,

Our country's strength has not yet waxen old.

{{c|Enter {{sc|Creon}}, attended by guards.}}

{{gap|1em}}Creon. Ye worthy dwellers of this land, I see,

Your faces showing it, ye feel some fear

At this my sudden entry. Yet, I pray you,{{pline|730|r}}

Shrink ye not from me, speak no evil words,

For I am come with no design to act,

Seeing I too am old, and know that I

Come to a city, great and powerful,

As any is in Hellas. I was sent,

Old as I am, this old man to persuade

To follow me to yon Cadmeian plain,

Not one man's envoy, but by all sent forth,

Because by kinship it is mine to mourn,

More than all others, this man's sufferings.

And thou, Ο woe-worn Œdipus, list to me,{{pline|740|r}}

And homeward turn. The whole Cadmeian race

Invites thee heartily, I, most of all,

Since most, unless I were of all men basest,

I mourn, old man, for all thy many woes,

Beholding thee in all thy misery,

A stranger, and a wanderer evermore,

And wanting still the very means of life.