Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/468

370 Neop. What shall I do then?

Phil. Do not in thy fear

Desert me, for it now is come, perchance,

After long time, retreating when 'tis sated.

Neop. Ah! miserable one, most miserable,

All worn with many woes, dost thou then wish

That I should hold thee, touch thee?

Phil. Nay, not so:

But take my bow and arrows, which but now

Thou asked'st for, and keep them till the force

Of the sharp pain be spent; yea, guard them well,

For slumber takes me, when this evil ends;

Nor can it cease before: but thou must leave me

To sleep in peace; and should they come meanwhile,

Of whom we heard, by all the Gods I charge thee,

Nor with thy will, nor yet against it, give

These things to them, by any art entrapped,

Lest thou should'st deal destruction on thyself,

And me who am thy suppliant.

Neop. Take good heart,

If forethought can avail. To none but thee

And me shall they be given. Hand them me,

And good luck come with them!

Phil. [Giving his bow and arrows to .]

Lo there, my son!

Receive thou them, but first adore the Power

Whose name is Jealousy, that they may prove

To thee less full of trouble than they were

To me, and him who owned them ere I owned.

Neop. So be it, Ο ye Gods, to both of us;

And may we have a fair and prosperous voyage

Where God thinks right, and these our ships are bound.

Phil. I fear, Ο boy, lest all thy prayers be vain;

For now the dark blood, oozing from the depths,