Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/193

Rh A better fate,—thine own; and time's full course,

Making thee old, has robbed thee of thy mind.

I told thee this before, and tell thee now,

To bring the girls as quickly as thou can'st,

Unless thou fain would'st live an alien here,

By force, against thy will. And this I say,

With all my soul, as well as with my tongue.

Chor. See'st thou, Ο stranger, how the case doth stand?

Just by thy birth and fame, thy deeds are wrong.

Creon. Not that I count this city void of men,

(I use thy words, Ο son of Ægeus old,)

Nor void of counsel, have I done this deed,

Well knowing that no zeal for those my kindred

Would ever lead it to receive them here

In spite of my commands. I also knew

Ye ne'er would shield a parricide impure,

Nor one whose marriage was an incest foul;

I knew that in this land a Council met

Upon the hill of Ares, wise and good,

Which suffers not such wanderers to dwell

Within their city. Trusting this report,

I ventured on this seizure. Yet e'en thus

I had not done it, but he heaped his curse

On me and on my house, and, suffering thus,

I claimed the right of rendering ill for ill,

[For headstrong wrath knows no old age but death;

The dead are callous to the touch of pain.]

Wherefore do what thou wilt, for though I speak

With justice on my side, yet, being alone,

But little power is left me. Yet thy deeds

Old as I am I [sic]'ll strive to render back.

Œdip. Ο shameless soul! on which, think'st thou, thy scorn

Will fall most heavily, my age or thine?