Page:Tragedies of Sophocles (Plumptre 1878).djvu/501

Rh

Thy speech is worthy, not too harshly said;

A noble stock that bears the test of proof,

Will still gain fair repute beyond all blame.

Who can count man's prosperity as great,

Or small and lowly, or of no account?

None of all this continues in one stay.

Strange is it that the godless, who have sprung

From evil-doers, should fare prosperously,

While good men, born of noble stock, should be

By adverse fortune vexed. It was ill done

For the Gods thus to order lives of men.

What ought to be is this, that godly souls

Should from the Gods gain some clear recompense,

And the unjust pay some clear penalty;

So none would prosper who are base of soul.

Then does men's life become one vast disease,

When once they seek their ills by ills to cure.

Not easy is it to resist the just.

Deceit is base, unfit for noble souls.

A righteous tongue has with it mightiest strength.

Hush, boy! for silence brings a thousand gains.

Why tellest thou thy tale of many words?

Superfluous speech is irksome everywhere.