Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/442

344 To do thine office now, and search out well

Where lies a cavern here with double mouth,

Where in the winter twofold sunny side

Is found to sit in, while in summer heat

The breeze sends slumber through the tunnelled vault;

And just below, a little to the left,

Thou may'st perchance a stream of water see,

If still it flow there. Go, and show in silence

If he is dwelling in this self-same spot,

Or wanders elsewhere, that in all that comes

Thou may'st give heed to me, and I may speak,

And common counsels work for good from both.

Neop. [Clambering on the rocks.] Ο King Odysseus, no

far task thou giv'st;

For such a cave, methinks, I see hard by.

Odys. Above thee or below? for this I see not.

Neop. *Here, just above; yet footstep there is none.

Odys. Look to it lest he chance to sleep within.

Neop. I see an empty cave untenanted.

Odys. *Are there no household luxuries within?

Neop. Some leaves pressed down as for some dweller's use.

Odys. Is all else empty? nought beneath the roof?

Neop. A simple cup of wood, the common work

Of some poor craftsman, and this tinder stuff.

Odys. His precious store it is thou tell'st me of.

Neop. [Starting back.] Ah! And here, too, these

rags are set to dry,

Full of some foul and sickening noisomeness.

Odys. Clearly the man is dwelling in this spot,

And is not distant. How could one so worn

With that old evil in his foot go far?

But either he is gone in search of food,

Or knows perchance some herb medicinal;