Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/323

Rh Elec. Am I then deemed unworthy of the dead?

Ores. Of none unworthy. This is nought to thee.

Elec. Yet if I hold Orestes' body here

Ores. 'Tis not Orestes' save in show of speech.

Elec. Where, then, is that poor exile's sepulchre?

Ores. Nay, of the living there's no sepulchre.

Elec. What say'st thou, boy?

Ores. No falsehood what I say.

Elec. And does he live?

Ores. He lives, if I have life.

Elec. What? Art thou he?

Ores. Look thou upon this seal,

My father's once, and learn if I speak truth.

Elec. Ο blessed light!

Ores. Most blessed, I too own.

Elec. Ο voice! And art thou come?

Ores. No longer learn

Thy news from others.

Elec. And I have thee here,

Here in my grasp?

Ores. So may'st thou always have me!

Elec. Ο dearest friends, my fellow-citizens,

Look here on this Orestes, dead indeed

In feignèd craft, and by that feigning saved.

Chor. We see it, daughter; and at what has chanced

A tear of gladness trickles from our eyes.

Elec. Ο offspring, offspring of a form most dear,

Ye came, ye came at last,

Ye found us, yea, ye came,

Ye saw whom ye desired.

Ores. Yes, we are come. Yet wait and hold thy peace.

Elec. What now?

Ores. Silence is best, lest some one hear within.

Elec. Nay, nay. By Artemis,