Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/290

192 Thee only of a father? Do none else

Feel touch of sorrow? Evil fate be thine,

And never may the Gods that reign below

Free thee from wailing!" So she still reviles;

But when she hears one speak Orestes' name,

As one day coming, then in maddened rage

She comes and screams, "And art not thou the cause?

And is not this thy deed, who, stealing him,

Orestes, from my hands, hast rescued him?

But know that thou shalt pay full price for this."

So does she howl, and he too eggs her on,

That spouse of hers as noble, standing near,

That utter coward, that mere mischief, he

Who with the help of women wages war.

And I, who wait Orestes evermore

To come and stop these evils, waste away;

For he, still ever meaning to effect

Some great achievement, brings to nothingness

All my hopes here, and all hopes far away.

At such a time, my friends, there is no room

For self-control or measured reverence;

Ills force us into choosing words of ill.

Chor. Tell us, I pray, if thus thou speakest out,

Ægisthos being near, or gone from home.

Elec. From home, most surely; do not dream that I,

If he were near, had ventured out of doors;

But, as it happens, he is gone a-field.

Chor. So much the more would I take heart to hold

My converse with thee, if indeed 'tis so.

Elec. Yes, he is gone. Ask thou whatever thou wilt.

Chor. Well, then, I ask thee of thy brother first,

Comes he, or stays he still? I fain would know.

Elec. He speaks of coming; yet he nothing does.