Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/433

Rh Or for thy brother; wherefore look thou well

Not to my business only but thine own;

For should'st thou hurt me, thou shalt wish to be

A coward rather than wax bold on me.

Chor. Thou com'st, Ο King Odysseus, seasonably,

If thou art here to stop, not stir the strife.

Odys. What is it, sirs? for from afar I heard

The Atreidæ's clamour o'er this noble corpse.

Agam. And have we not, Ο King Odysseus, heard

But now most shameful language from this man?

Odys. What was it? I can much forgive a man

Who, hearing vile things, answers evil words.

Agam. Foul words he heard, for such his deeds to me.

Odys. And what was this he did that injured thee?

Agam. He says he will not leave this corpse untombed,

But, spite of my command, will bury it.

Odys. And may I, as a friend who speaks the truth,

Row in thy boat, as welcome as before?

Agam. Speak on; or else I should be most unwise,

Who count thee, of all Argives, truest friend.

Odys. Hear then; by all the Gods, I thee entreat,

Cast not this man out so unfeelingly,

Nor leave him there unburied. Let not wrath

Prevail on thee that thou should'st hate so far

As upon right to trample. Unto me

This man of all the host was greatest foe,

Since I prevailed to gain Achilles' arms;

But, though he were so, being what he was,

I would not put so foul a shame on him,

As not to own I looked upon a man,