章节正文
In their mad vaunting and bewildered pride,
Shall guide him as a victor to his home!
For had but justice, maiden-child of Zeus,
Stood by his act and thought, it might have been!
Yet never, from the day he reached the light
Out of the darkness of his mother's womb,
Never in childhood, nor in youthful prime,
Nor when his chin was gathering its beard,
Hath justice hailed or claimed him as her own.
Therefore I deem not that she standeth now
To aid him in this outrage on his home!
Misnamed, in truth, were justice, utterly,
If to impiety she lent her hand.
Sure in this faith, I will myself go forth
And match me with him; who hath fairer claim?
Ruler, against one fain to snatch the rule,
Brother with brother matched, and foe with foe,
Will I confront the issue. To the wall!
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
O thou true heart, O child of Oedipus,
Be not, in wrath, too like the man whose name
Murmurs an evil omen! 'Tis enough
That Cadmus' clan should strive with Arges' host,
For blood there is that can atone that stain!
But-brother upon brother dealing death-
Not time itself can expiate the sin!
ETEOCLES
If man find hurt, yet clasp his honour still,
'Tis well; the dead have honour, nought beside.
Hurt, with dishonour, wins no word of praise!
CHORUS (chanting)
Ah, what is thy desire?
Let not the lust and ravin of the sword
Bear thee adown the tide accursed, abhorred!
Fling off thy passion's rage, thy spirit's prompting dire!
ETEOCLES
Nay-since the god is urgent for our doom,
Let Laius' house, by Phoebus loathed and scorned,
Follow the gale of destiny, and win
Its great inheritance" target="_blank" title="n.继承(物)；遗传；遗产">inheritance, the gulf of hell!
CHORUS (chanting)
Ruthless thy craving is-
Craving for kindred and forbidden blood
To be outpoured-a sacrifice imbrued
With sin, a bitter fruit of murderous enmities!
ETEOCLES
Yea, my own father's fateful Curse proclaims-
A ghastly presence, and her eyes are dry-
Strike! honour is the prize, not life prolonged!
CHORUS (chanting)
Ah, be not urged of her! for none shall dare
To call thee coward, in thy throned estate!
Will not the Fury in her sable pal
Pass outward from these halls, what time the gods
Welcome a votive offering from our hands?
ETEOCLES
The gods! long since they hold us in contempt,
Scornful of gifts thus offered by the lost!
Why should we fawn and flinch away from doom?
CHORUS (chanting)
Now, when it stands beside thee! for its power
May, with a changing gust of milder mood,
Temper the blast that bloweth wild and rude
And frenzied, in this hour!
ETEOCLES
Ay, kindled by the curse of Oedipus-
All too prophetic, out of dreamland came
The vision, meting out our sire's estate!
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Heed women's voices, though thou love them not!
ETEOCLES
Say aught that may avail, but stint thy words.
LEADER
Go not thou forth to guard the seventh gate!
ETEOCLES
Words shall not blunt the edge of my resolve.
LEADER
Yet the god loves to let the weak prevail.
ETEOCLES
That to a swordsman, is no welcome word!
LEADER
Shall thine own brother's blood be victory's palm?
ETEOCLES
Ill which the gods have sent thou canst no-shun!
(ETEOCLES goes out.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
I shudder in dread of the power, abhorred by the gods of high
heaven,
The ruinous curse of the home till roof-tree and rafter be riven!
Too true are the visions of ill, too true the fulfilment they
bring
To the curse that was spoken of old by the frenzy and wrath of the
king!
Her will is the doom of the children, and Discord is kindled
amain,
antistrophe 1
And strange is the Lord of Division, who cleaveth the birthright
in twain,-
The edged thing, born of the north, the steel that is ruthless
and keen,
Dividing in bitter division the lot of the children of teen!
Not the wide lowland around, the realm of their sire, shall they
have,
Yet enough for the dead to inherit, the pitiful space of a grave!
strophe 2
Ah, but when kin meets kin, when sire and child,
Unknowing, are defiled
By shedding common blood, and when the pit
Of death devoureth it,
Drinking the clotted stain, the gory dye-
Who, who can purify?
Who cleanse pollution, where the ancient bane
Rises and reeks again?
antistrophe 2
Whilome in olden days the sin was wrought,
And swift requital brought-
Yea on the children of the child came still
New heritage of ill!
For thrice Apollo spoke this word divine,
From Delphi's central shrine,
To Laius-Die thou childless! thus alone
Can the land's weal be won!
strophe 3
But vainly with his wife's desire he strove,
And gave himself to love,
Begetting Oedipus, by whom he died,
The fateful parricide!
The sacred seed-plot, his own mother's womb,
He sowed, his house's doom,
A root of blood! by frenzy lured, they came
Unto their wedded shame.
antistrophe 3
And now the waxing surge, the wave of fate,
Rolls on them, triply great-
One billow sinks, the next towers, high and dark,
Above our city's bark-
Only the narrow barrier of the wal
Totters, as soon to fall;
And, if our chieftains in the storm go down,
What chance can save the town?
strophe 4
Curses, inherited from long ago,
Bring heavy freight of woe:
Rich stores of merchandise o'erload the deck,
Near, nearer comes the wreck-
And all is lost, cast out upon the wave,
Floating, with none to save!
antistrophe 4
Whom did the gods, whom did the chief of men,
Whom did each citizen
In crowded concourse, in such honour hold,
As Oedipus of old,
When the grim fiend, that fed on human prey,
He took from us away?
strophe 5
But when, in the fulness of days, he knew of his bridal unblest,
A twofold horror he wrought, in the frenzied despair of his
breast-
Debarred from the grace of the banquet, the service of goblets
of gold
He flung on his children a curse for the splendour they dared to
withhold.
antistrophe 5
A curse prophetic and bitter-The glory of wealth and of pride,
With iron, not gold, in your hands, ye shall come, at the last,
to divide!
Behold, how a shudder runs through me, lest now, in the fulness
of time,
The house-fiend awake and return, to mete out the measure of
crime!
(THE Spy enters.)
THE SPY
Take heart, ye daughters whom your mothers' milk
Made milky-hearted! lo, our city stands,
Saved from the yoke of servitude: the vaunts
Of overweening men are silent now,
And the State sails beneath a sky serene,
Nor in the manifold and battering waves
Hath shipped a single surge, and solid stands
The rampart, and the gates are made secure,
Each with a single champion's trusty guard.
So in the main and at six gates we hold
A victory assured; but, at the seventh,
The god that on the seventh day was born,
Royal Apollo, hath ta'en up his rest
To wreak upon the sons of Oedipus
Their grandsire's wilfulness of long ago.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
What further woefulness besets our home?
THE SPY
The home stands safe-but ah, the princes twain-
LEADER
Who? what of them? I am distraught with fear.
THE SPY
Hear now, and mark! the sons of Oedipus-
LEADER
Ah, my prophetic soul! I feel their doom.
THE SPY
Have done with questions!-with I-with their lives crushed out-
LEADER
Shall guide him as a victor to his home!
For had but justice, maiden-child of Zeus,
Stood by his act and thought, it might have been!
Yet never, from the day he reached the light
Out of the darkness of his mother's womb,
Never in childhood, nor in youthful prime,
Nor when his chin was gathering its beard,
Hath justice hailed or claimed him as her own.
Therefore I deem not that she standeth now
To aid him in this outrage on his home!
Misnamed, in truth, were justice, utterly,
If to impiety she lent her hand.
Sure in this faith, I will myself go forth
And match me with him; who hath fairer claim?
Ruler, against one fain to snatch the rule,
Brother with brother matched, and foe with foe,
Will I confront the issue. To the wall!
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
O thou true heart, O child of Oedipus,
Be not, in wrath, too like the man whose name
Murmurs an evil omen! 'Tis enough
That Cadmus' clan should strive with Arges' host,
For blood there is that can atone that stain!
But-brother upon brother dealing death-
Not time itself can expiate the sin!
ETEOCLES
If man find hurt, yet clasp his honour still,
'Tis well; the dead have honour, nought beside.
Hurt, with dishonour, wins no word of praise!
CHORUS (chanting)
Ah, what is thy desire?
Let not the lust and ravin of the sword
Bear thee adown the tide accursed, abhorred!
Fling off thy passion's rage, thy spirit's prompting dire!
ETEOCLES
Nay-since the god is urgent for our doom,
Let Laius' house, by Phoebus loathed and scorned,
Follow the gale of destiny, and win
Its great inheritance" target="_blank" title="n.继承(物)；遗传；遗产">inheritance, the gulf of hell!
CHORUS (chanting)
Ruthless thy craving is-
Craving for kindred and forbidden blood
To be outpoured-a sacrifice imbrued
With sin, a bitter fruit of murderous enmities!
ETEOCLES
Yea, my own father's fateful Curse proclaims-
A ghastly presence, and her eyes are dry-
Strike! honour is the prize, not life prolonged!
CHORUS (chanting)
Ah, be not urged of her! for none shall dare
To call thee coward, in thy throned estate!
Will not the Fury in her sable pal
Pass outward from these halls, what time the gods
Welcome a votive offering from our hands?
ETEOCLES
The gods! long since they hold us in contempt,
Scornful of gifts thus offered by the lost!
Why should we fawn and flinch away from doom?
CHORUS (chanting)
Now, when it stands beside thee! for its power
May, with a changing gust of milder mood,
Temper the blast that bloweth wild and rude
And frenzied, in this hour!
ETEOCLES
Ay, kindled by the curse of Oedipus-
All too prophetic, out of dreamland came
The vision, meting out our sire's estate!
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Heed women's voices, though thou love them not!
ETEOCLES
Say aught that may avail, but stint thy words.
LEADER
Go not thou forth to guard the seventh gate!
ETEOCLES
Words shall not blunt the edge of my resolve.
LEADER
Yet the god loves to let the weak prevail.
ETEOCLES
That to a swordsman, is no welcome word!
LEADER
Shall thine own brother's blood be victory's palm?
ETEOCLES
Ill which the gods have sent thou canst no-shun!
(ETEOCLES goes out.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
I shudder in dread of the power, abhorred by the gods of high
heaven,
The ruinous curse of the home till roof-tree and rafter be riven!
Too true are the visions of ill, too true the fulfilment they
bring
To the curse that was spoken of old by the frenzy and wrath of the
king!
Her will is the doom of the children, and Discord is kindled
amain,
antistrophe 1
And strange is the Lord of Division, who cleaveth the birthright
in twain,-
The edged thing, born of the north, the steel that is ruthless
and keen,
Dividing in bitter division the lot of the children of teen!
Not the wide lowland around, the realm of their sire, shall they
have,
Yet enough for the dead to inherit, the pitiful space of a grave!
strophe 2
Ah, but when kin meets kin, when sire and child,
Unknowing, are defiled
By shedding common blood, and when the pit
Of death devoureth it,
Drinking the clotted stain, the gory dye-
Who, who can purify?
Who cleanse pollution, where the ancient bane
Rises and reeks again?
antistrophe 2
Whilome in olden days the sin was wrought,
And swift requital brought-
Yea on the children of the child came still
New heritage of ill!
For thrice Apollo spoke this word divine,
From Delphi's central shrine,
To Laius-Die thou childless! thus alone
Can the land's weal be won!
strophe 3
But vainly with his wife's desire he strove,
And gave himself to love,
Begetting Oedipus, by whom he died,
The fateful parricide!
The sacred seed-plot, his own mother's womb,
He sowed, his house's doom,
A root of blood! by frenzy lured, they came
Unto their wedded shame.
antistrophe 3
And now the waxing surge, the wave of fate,
Rolls on them, triply great-
One billow sinks, the next towers, high and dark,
Above our city's bark-
Only the narrow barrier of the wal
Totters, as soon to fall;
And, if our chieftains in the storm go down,
What chance can save the town?
strophe 4
Curses, inherited from long ago,
Bring heavy freight of woe:
Rich stores of merchandise o'erload the deck,
Near, nearer comes the wreck-
And all is lost, cast out upon the wave,
Floating, with none to save!
antistrophe 4
Whom did the gods, whom did the chief of men,
Whom did each citizen
In crowded concourse, in such honour hold,
As Oedipus of old,
When the grim fiend, that fed on human prey,
He took from us away?
strophe 5
But when, in the fulness of days, he knew of his bridal unblest,
A twofold horror he wrought, in the frenzied despair of his
breast-
Debarred from the grace of the banquet, the service of goblets
of gold
He flung on his children a curse for the splendour they dared to
withhold.
antistrophe 5
A curse prophetic and bitter-The glory of wealth and of pride,
With iron, not gold, in your hands, ye shall come, at the last,
to divide!
Behold, how a shudder runs through me, lest now, in the fulness
of time,
The house-fiend awake and return, to mete out the measure of
crime!
(THE Spy enters.)
THE SPY
Take heart, ye daughters whom your mothers' milk
Made milky-hearted! lo, our city stands,
Saved from the yoke of servitude: the vaunts
Of overweening men are silent now,
And the State sails beneath a sky serene,
Nor in the manifold and battering waves
Hath shipped a single surge, and solid stands
The rampart, and the gates are made secure,
Each with a single champion's trusty guard.
So in the main and at six gates we hold
A victory assured; but, at the seventh,
The god that on the seventh day was born,
Royal Apollo, hath ta'en up his rest
To wreak upon the sons of Oedipus
Their grandsire's wilfulness of long ago.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
What further woefulness besets our home?
THE SPY
The home stands safe-but ah, the princes twain-
LEADER
Who? what of them? I am distraught with fear.
THE SPY
Hear now, and mark! the sons of Oedipus-
LEADER
Ah, my prophetic soul! I feel their doom.
THE SPY
Have done with questions!-with I-with their lives crushed out-
LEADER
- childhood [´tʃaildhud]
n.幼年(时代)；早期 (初中英语单词) - youthful [´ju:θfəl] a.年轻的；青年的 (初中英语单词)
- snatch [snætʃ] v.&n.抢，夺取，抓住 (初中英语单词)
- coward [´kauəd] n.胆怯者 a.胆小的 (初中英语单词)
- vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
- welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- apollo [ə´pɔləu] n.阿波罗 (初中英语单词)
- sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)
- freight [freit] n.运货 vt.运送；充满 (初中英语单词)
- horror [´hɔrə] n.恐怖；战栗 (初中英语单词)
- wrought [rɔ:t] work 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
- despair [di´speə] vi.&n.绝望 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
- victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- outrage [´aut,reidʒ] n.残暴 vt.虐待；伤害 (高中英语单词)
- confront [kən´frʌnt] vt.(使)面对；正视 (高中英语单词)
- strive [straiv] vi.争取；努力；奋斗 (高中英语单词)
- dealing [´di:liŋ] n.交易；来往 (高中英语单词)
- destiny [´destini] n.命运 (高中英语单词)
- inheritance [in´heritəns] n.继承(物)；遗传；遗产 (高中英语单词)
- kindred [´kindrid] n.亲属关系；同源关系 (高中英语单词)
- forbidden [fə´bidn] forbid的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- ghastly [´gɑ:stli] a.苍白的；可怕的 (高中英语单词)
- outward [´autwəd] a.外面的 ad.向外 (高中英语单词)
- offering [´ɔfəriŋ] n.提供；礼物；捐献 (高中英语单词)
- shudder [´ʃʌdə] n.&vi.震颤；发抖 (高中英语单词)
- lowland [´ləulənd] n.&a.低地(的) (高中英语单词)
- inherit [in´herit] v.继承；遗传 (高中英语单词)
- pitiful [´pitifəl] a.可怜的；慈悲的 (高中英语单词)
- cleanse [klenz] vt.使清洁；净化 (高中英语单词)
- vainly [´veinli] ad.虚荣地；自负地 (高中英语单词)
- barrier [´bæriə] n.栅栏；屏障；障碍 (高中英语单词)
- merchandise [´mə:tʃəndaiz] n.商品 v.经商 (高中英语单词)
- crowded [´kraudid] a.充(拥)满了的 (高中英语单词)
- banquet [´bæŋkwit] n.宴会，盛宴 (高中英语单词)
- victor [´viktə] n.&a.胜利者(的) (英语四级单词)
- gathering [´gæðəriŋ] n.集会，聚集 (英语四级单词)
- nought [nɔ:t] n.=naught (英语四级单词)
- accursed [ə´kə:sid] a.被诅咒的；可憎的 (英语四级单词)
- urgent [´ə:dʒənt] a.急迫的，紧急的 (英语四级单词)
- murderous [´mə:dərəs] a.行凶的；势不可挡的 (英语四级单词)
- rafter [´rɑ:ftə] n.橼 vt.装橼子于 (英语四级单词)
- frenzy [´frenzi] n.&vt.(使)狂乱 (英语四级单词)
- heritage [´heritidʒ] n.遗产，继承物 (英语四级单词)
- thrice [θrais] ad.三倍地；三次 (英语四级单词)
- wedded [´wedid] a.(已)结婚的；献身的 (英语四级单词)
- billow [´biləu] n.巨浪 v.(使)翻腾 (英语四级单词)
- bridal [´braidl] a.&n.婚礼(的) (英语四级单词)
- manifold [´mænifəuld] a.多样的；多种特征的 (英语四级单词)
- trusty [´trʌsti] a.可靠的 n.可信任的 (英语四级单词)
- phoebus [´fi:bəs] n.太阳神 (英语六级单词)
- craving [´kreiviŋ] n.渴望，热望 (英语六级单词)
- prophetic [prə´fetik] a.预言(家)的；预示的 (英语六级单词)
- fulfilment [ful´filmənt] n.完成，成就 (英语六级单词)
- discord [´diskɔ:d] n.不一致；不和谐 (英语六级单词)
- servitude [´sə:vitju:d] n.奴隶状态；苦役 (英语六级单词)
- rampart [´ræmpɑ:t] n.壁垒 vt.防护 (英语六级单词)
- assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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