Page:Works of Voltaire Volume 16.djvu/226

204 No, Phorbas; by the gods I beg thee, tell me all.

Begone, avoid Thy children, and thy queen.

Now answer me, For to resist is vain: that infant, doomed To death by thee, say, didst thou give it him? [Pointing to Icarus.

I did: and would that day had been my last!

And of what country was that child?

Of Thebes.

And thou art not his father?

No: alas! Sprung from a nobler, but more wretched race

Who was he then?

My lord, what would you do? [Throwing himself at the feet of Œdipus.

Speak, speak, I say.