章节正文
him:-but where is Creon?
(CREON enters hurriedly from the palace.)
LEADER
Lo, he comes forth again from the house, at our need.
CREON
What is it? What hath chanced, that makes my coming timely?
GUARD
O king, against nothing should men pledge their word; for the
after-thought belies the first intent. I could have vowed that I
should not soon be here again,-scared by thy threats, with which I had
just been lashed: but,-since the joy that surprises and transcends our
hopes is like in fulness to no other pleasure,-I have come, though
'tis in breach of my sworn oath, bringing this maid; who was taken
showing grace to the dead. This time there was no casting of lots; no,
this luck hath fallen to me, and to none else. And now, sire, take her
thyself, question her, examine her, as thou wilt; but I have a right
to free and final quittance of this trouble.
CREON
And thy prisoner here-how and whence hast thou taken her?
GUARD
She was burying the man; thou knowest all.
CREON
Dost thou mean what thou sayest? Dost thou speak aright?
GUARD
I saw her burying the corpse that thou hadst forbidden to bury. Is
that plain and clear?
CREON
And how was she seen? how taken in the act?
GUARD
It befell on this wise. When we had come to the place,-with
those dread menaces of thine upon us,-we swept away all the dust
that covered the corpse, and bared the dank body well; and then sat us
down on the brow of the hill, to windward, heedful that the smell from
him should not strike us; every man was wide awake, and kept his
neighbour alert with torrents of threats, if anyone should be careless
of this task.
So went it, until the sun's bright orb stood in mid heaven, and
the heat began to burn: and then suddenly a whirlwind lifted from
the earth storm of dust, a trouble in the sky the plain, marring all
the leafage of its woods; and the wide air was choked therewith: we
closed our eyes, and bore the plague from the gods.
And when, after a long while, this storm had passed, the maid
was seen; and she cried aloud with the sharp cry of a bird in its
bitterness,-even as when, within the empty nest, it sees the bed
stripped of its nestlings. So she also, when she saw the corpse
bare, lifted up a voice of wailing, and called down curses on the
doers of that deed. And straightway she brought thirsty dust in her
hands; and from a shapely ewer of bronze, held high, with
thrice-poured drink-offering she crowned the dead.
We rushed forward when we saw it, and at once dosed upon our
quarry, who was in no wise dismayed. Then we taxed her with her past
and present doings; and she stood not on denial of aught,-at once to
my joy and to my pain. To have escaped from ills one's self is a great
joy; but 'tis painful to bring friends to ill. Howbeit, all such
things are of less account to me than mine own safety.
CREON
Thou-thou whose face is bent to earth-dost thou avow, or
disavow, this deed?
ANTIGONE
I avow it; I make no denial.
CREON (to GUARD)
Thou canst betake thee whither thou wilt, free and clear of a
grave charge.
(Exit GUARD)
(To ANTIGONE) Now, tell me thou-not in many words, but
briefly-knewest thou that an edict had forbidden this?
ANTIGONE
I knew it: could I help it? It was public.
CREON
And thou didst indeed dare to transgress that law?
ANTIGONE
Yes; for it was not Zeus that had published me that edict; not
such are the laws set among men by the justice who dwells with the
gods below; nor deemed I that thy decrees were of such force, that a
mortal could override the unwritten and unfailing statutes of
heaven. For their life is not of to-day or yesterday, but from all
time, and no man knows when they were first put forth.
Not through dread of any human pride could I answer to the gods
for breaking these. Die I must,-I knew that well (how should I
not?)-even without thy edicts. But if I am to die before my time, I
count that a gain: for when any one lives, as I do, compassed about
with evils, can such an one find aught but gain in death?
So for me to meet this doom is trifling grief; but if I had
suffered my mother's son to lie in death an unburied corpse, that
would have grieved me; for this, I am not grieved. And if my present
deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge
arraigns my folly.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
The maid shows herself passionate child of passionate sire, and
knows not how to bend before troubles.
CREON
Yet I would have thee know that o'er-stubborn spirits are most
often humbled; 'tis the stiffest iron, baked to hardness in the
fire, that thou shalt oftenest see snapped and shivered; and I have
known horses that show temper brought to order by a little curb; there
is no room for pride when thou art thy neighbour's slave.-This girl
was already versed in insolence when she transgressed the laws that
had been set forth; and, that done, lo, a second insult,-to vaunt of
this, and exult in her deed.
Now verily I am no man, she is the man, if this victory shall rest
with her, and bring no penalty. No! be she sister's child, or nearer
to me in blood than any that worships Zeus at the altar of our
house,-she and her kinsfolk shall not avoid a doom most dire; for
indeed I charge that other with a like share in the plotting of this
burial.
And summon her-for I saw her e'en now within,-raving, and not
mistress of her wits. So oft, before the deed, the mind stands
self-convicted in its treason, when folks are plotting mischief in the
dark. But verily this, too, is hateful,-when one who hath been
caught in wickednes then seeks to make the crime a glory.
ANTIGONE
Wouldst thou do more than take and slay me?
CREON
No more, indeed; having that, I have all.
ANTIGONE
Why then dost thou delay? In thy discourse there is nought that
pleases me,-never may there be!-and so my words must needs be
unpleasing to thee. And yet, for glory-whence could I have won a
nobler, than by giving burial to mine own brother? All here would
own that they thought it well, were not their lips sealed by fear. But
royalty, blest in so much besides, hath the power to do and say what
it will.
CREON
Thou differest from all these Thebans in that view.
ANTIGONE
These also share it; but they curb their tongues for thee.
CREON
And art thou not ashamed to act apart from them?
ANTIGONE
No; there is nothing shameful in piety to a brother.
CREON
Was it not a brother, too, that died in the opposite cause?
ANTIGONE
Brother by the same mother and the same sire.
CREON
Why, then, dost thou render a grace that is impious in his sight?
ANTIGONE
The dead man will not say that he so deems it.
CREON
Yea, if thou makest him but equal in honour with the wicked.
ANTIGONE
It was his brother, not his slave, that perished.
CREON
Wasting this land; while he fell as its champion.
ANTIGONE
Nevertheless, Hades desires these rites.
CREON
But the good desires not a like portion with the evil.
ANTIGONE
Who knows but this seems blameless in the world below?
CREON
A foe is never a friend-not even in death.
ANTIGONE
Tis not my nature to join in hating, but in loving.
CREON
Pass, then, to the world of the dead, and, it thou must needs
love, love them. While I live, no woman shall rule me.
(Enter ISMENE from the house, led in by two attendants.)
CHORUS (chanting)
Lo, yonder Ismene comes forth, shedding such tears as fond sisters
weep; a cloud upon her brow casts its shadow over her
darkly-flushing face, and breaks in rain on her fair cheek.
CREON
And thou, who, lurking like a viper in my house, wast secretly
draining my life-blood, while I knew not that I was nurturing two
pests, to rise against my throne-come, tell me now, wilt thou also
confess thy part in this burial, or wilt thou forswear all knowledge
of it?
ISMENE
I have done the deed,-if she allows my claim,-and share the burden
of the charge.
ANTIGONE
Nay, justice will not suffer thee to do that: thou didst not
consent to the deed, nor did I give thee part in it.
ISMENE
But, now that ills beset thee, I am not ashamed to sail the sea of
trouble at thy side.
ANTIGONE
Whose was the deed, Hades and the dead are witnesses: a friend
in words is not the friend that I love.
ISMENE
Nay, sister, reject me not, but let me die with thee, and duly
honour the dead.
ANTIGONE
Share not thou my death, nor claim deeds to which thou hast not
put thy hand: my death will suffice.
ISMENE
And what life is dear to me, bereft of thee?
ANTIGONE
Ask Creon; all thy care is for him.
ISMENE
Why vex me thus, when it avails thee nought?
ANTIGONE
Indeed, if I mock, 'tis with pain that I mock thee.
ISMENE
Tell me,-how can I serve thee, even now?
ANTIGONE
Save thyself: I grudge not thy escape.
ISMENE
Ah, woe is me! And shall I have no share in thy fate?
ANTIGONE
(CREON enters hurriedly from the palace.)
LEADER
Lo, he comes forth again from the house, at our need.
CREON
What is it? What hath chanced, that makes my coming timely?
GUARD
O king, against nothing should men pledge their word; for the
after-thought belies the first intent. I could have vowed that I
should not soon be here again,-scared by thy threats, with which I had
just been lashed: but,-since the joy that surprises and transcends our
hopes is like in fulness to no other pleasure,-I have come, though
'tis in breach of my sworn oath, bringing this maid; who was taken
showing grace to the dead. This time there was no casting of lots; no,
this luck hath fallen to me, and to none else. And now, sire, take her
thyself, question her, examine her, as thou wilt; but I have a right
to free and final quittance of this trouble.
CREON
And thy prisoner here-how and whence hast thou taken her?
GUARD
She was burying the man; thou knowest all.
CREON
Dost thou mean what thou sayest? Dost thou speak aright?
GUARD
I saw her burying the corpse that thou hadst forbidden to bury. Is
that plain and clear?
CREON
And how was she seen? how taken in the act?
GUARD
It befell on this wise. When we had come to the place,-with
those dread menaces of thine upon us,-we swept away all the dust
that covered the corpse, and bared the dank body well; and then sat us
down on the brow of the hill, to windward, heedful that the smell from
him should not strike us; every man was wide awake, and kept his
neighbour alert with torrents of threats, if anyone should be careless
of this task.
So went it, until the sun's bright orb stood in mid heaven, and
the heat began to burn: and then suddenly a whirlwind lifted from
the earth storm of dust, a trouble in the sky the plain, marring all
the leafage of its woods; and the wide air was choked therewith: we
closed our eyes, and bore the plague from the gods.
And when, after a long while, this storm had passed, the maid
was seen; and she cried aloud with the sharp cry of a bird in its
bitterness,-even as when, within the empty nest, it sees the bed
stripped of its nestlings. So she also, when she saw the corpse
bare, lifted up a voice of wailing, and called down curses on the
doers of that deed. And straightway she brought thirsty dust in her
hands; and from a shapely ewer of bronze, held high, with
thrice-poured drink-offering she crowned the dead.
We rushed forward when we saw it, and at once dosed upon our
quarry, who was in no wise dismayed. Then we taxed her with her past
and present doings; and she stood not on denial of aught,-at once to
my joy and to my pain. To have escaped from ills one's self is a great
joy; but 'tis painful to bring friends to ill. Howbeit, all such
things are of less account to me than mine own safety.
CREON
Thou-thou whose face is bent to earth-dost thou avow, or
disavow, this deed?
ANTIGONE
I avow it; I make no denial.
CREON (to GUARD)
Thou canst betake thee whither thou wilt, free and clear of a
grave charge.
(Exit GUARD)
(To ANTIGONE) Now, tell me thou-not in many words, but
briefly-knewest thou that an edict had forbidden this?
ANTIGONE
I knew it: could I help it? It was public.
CREON
And thou didst indeed dare to transgress that law?
ANTIGONE
Yes; for it was not Zeus that had published me that edict; not
such are the laws set among men by the justice who dwells with the
gods below; nor deemed I that thy decrees were of such force, that a
mortal could override the unwritten and unfailing statutes of
heaven. For their life is not of to-day or yesterday, but from all
time, and no man knows when they were first put forth.
Not through dread of any human pride could I answer to the gods
for breaking these. Die I must,-I knew that well (how should I
not?)-even without thy edicts. But if I am to die before my time, I
count that a gain: for when any one lives, as I do, compassed about
with evils, can such an one find aught but gain in death?
So for me to meet this doom is trifling grief; but if I had
suffered my mother's son to lie in death an unburied corpse, that
would have grieved me; for this, I am not grieved. And if my present
deeds are foolish in thy sight, it may be that a foolish judge
arraigns my folly.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
The maid shows herself passionate child of passionate sire, and
knows not how to bend before troubles.
CREON
Yet I would have thee know that o'er-stubborn spirits are most
often humbled; 'tis the stiffest iron, baked to hardness in the
fire, that thou shalt oftenest see snapped and shivered; and I have
known horses that show temper brought to order by a little curb; there
is no room for pride when thou art thy neighbour's slave.-This girl
was already versed in insolence when she transgressed the laws that
had been set forth; and, that done, lo, a second insult,-to vaunt of
this, and exult in her deed.
Now verily I am no man, she is the man, if this victory shall rest
with her, and bring no penalty. No! be she sister's child, or nearer
to me in blood than any that worships Zeus at the altar of our
house,-she and her kinsfolk shall not avoid a doom most dire; for
indeed I charge that other with a like share in the plotting of this
burial.
And summon her-for I saw her e'en now within,-raving, and not
mistress of her wits. So oft, before the deed, the mind stands
self-convicted in its treason, when folks are plotting mischief in the
dark. But verily this, too, is hateful,-when one who hath been
caught in wickednes then seeks to make the crime a glory.
ANTIGONE
Wouldst thou do more than take and slay me?
CREON
No more, indeed; having that, I have all.
ANTIGONE
Why then dost thou delay? In thy discourse there is nought that
pleases me,-never may there be!-and so my words must needs be
unpleasing to thee. And yet, for glory-whence could I have won a
nobler, than by giving burial to mine own brother? All here would
own that they thought it well, were not their lips sealed by fear. But
royalty, blest in so much besides, hath the power to do and say what
it will.
CREON
Thou differest from all these Thebans in that view.
ANTIGONE
These also share it; but they curb their tongues for thee.
CREON
And art thou not ashamed to act apart from them?
ANTIGONE
No; there is nothing shameful in piety to a brother.
CREON
Was it not a brother, too, that died in the opposite cause?
ANTIGONE
Brother by the same mother and the same sire.
CREON
Why, then, dost thou render a grace that is impious in his sight?
ANTIGONE
The dead man will not say that he so deems it.
CREON
Yea, if thou makest him but equal in honour with the wicked.
ANTIGONE
It was his brother, not his slave, that perished.
CREON
Wasting this land; while he fell as its champion.
ANTIGONE
Nevertheless, Hades desires these rites.
CREON
But the good desires not a like portion with the evil.
ANTIGONE
Who knows but this seems blameless in the world below?
CREON
A foe is never a friend-not even in death.
ANTIGONE
Tis not my nature to join in hating, but in loving.
CREON
Pass, then, to the world of the dead, and, it thou must needs
love, love them. While I live, no woman shall rule me.
(Enter ISMENE from the house, led in by two attendants.)
CHORUS (chanting)
Lo, yonder Ismene comes forth, shedding such tears as fond sisters
weep; a cloud upon her brow casts its shadow over her
darkly-flushing face, and breaks in rain on her fair cheek.
CREON
And thou, who, lurking like a viper in my house, wast secretly
draining my life-blood, while I knew not that I was nurturing two
pests, to rise against my throne-come, tell me now, wilt thou also
confess thy part in this burial, or wilt thou forswear all knowledge
of it?
ISMENE
I have done the deed,-if she allows my claim,-and share the burden
of the charge.
ANTIGONE
Nay, justice will not suffer thee to do that: thou didst not
consent to the deed, nor did I give thee part in it.
ISMENE
But, now that ills beset thee, I am not ashamed to sail the sea of
trouble at thy side.
ANTIGONE
Whose was the deed, Hades and the dead are witnesses: a friend
in words is not the friend that I love.
ISMENE
Nay, sister, reject me not, but let me die with thee, and duly
honour the dead.
ANTIGONE
Share not thou my death, nor claim deeds to which thou hast not
put thy hand: my death will suffice.
ISMENE
And what life is dear to me, bereft of thee?
ANTIGONE
Ask Creon; all thy care is for him.
ISMENE
Why vex me thus, when it avails thee nought?
ANTIGONE
Indeed, if I mock, 'tis with pain that I mock thee.
ISMENE
Tell me,-how can I serve thee, even now?
ANTIGONE
Save thyself: I grudge not thy escape.
ISMENE
Ah, woe is me! And shall I have no share in thy fate?
ANTIGONE
- pledge [pledʒ]
n.信物；誓约vt.使发誓 (初中英语单词) - intent [in´tent] a.专心致志的 n.意图 (初中英语单词)
- therewith [ðɛə´wið] ad.于是，随即 (初中英语单词)
- doings [´du:iŋz] n.行动；所作的事 (初中英语单词)
- account [ə´kaunt] vi.说明 vt.认为 n.帐目 (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- trifling [´traifliŋ] a.微小的；轻浮的 (初中英语单词)
- temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)
- victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
- charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
- mischief [´mistʃif] n.伤害；故障；调皮 (初中英语单词)
- ashamed [ə´ʃeimd] a.惭愧；不好意思 (初中英语单词)
- portion [´pɔ:ʃən] n.嫁妆；命运 vt.分配 (初中英语单词)
- breach [bri:tʃ] n.&v.破坏；违犯 (高中英语单词)
- forbidden [fə´bidn] forbid的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- plague [pleig] n.瘟疫 vt.使...染疫 (高中英语单词)
- straightway [´streitwei] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)
- bronze [brɔnz] n.青铜(器) (高中英语单词)
- painful [´peinfəl] a.痛(苦)的；费力的 (高中英语单词)
- passionate [´pæʃənit] a.易动情的；易怒的 (高中英语单词)
- penalty [´penlti] n.刑罚；惩罚；障碍 (高中英语单词)
- summon [´sʌmən] vt.召集；号召 (高中英语单词)
- treason [´tri:zən] n.叛逆；不忠 (高中英语单词)
- discourse [´diskɔ:s] n.论文；演说；说教 (高中英语单词)
- reject [ri´dʒekt] vt.拒绝；抵制；否决 (高中英语单词)
- grudge [grʌdʒ] vt.&n.吝啬；怨恨 (高中英语单词)
- hurriedly [´hʌridli] ad.仓促地，忙乱地 (英语四级单词)
- whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)
- corpse [kɔ:ps] n.尸体 (英语四级单词)
- befell [bi´fel] befall的过去式 (英语四级单词)
- whirlwind [´wə:l,wind] n.旋风；猛烈的势力 (英语四级单词)
- hardness [´hɑ:dnis] n.坚硬；严厉；难度 (英语四级单词)
- verily [´verili] ad.真实的；肯定地 (英语四级单词)
- nought [nɔ:t] n.=naught (英语四级单词)
- shameful [´ʃeimfəl] a.可耻的；猥亵的 (英语四级单词)
- denial [di´naiəl] n.否认；拒绝 (英语六级单词)
- insolence [´insələns] n.傲慢；无礼 (英语六级单词)
- impious [´impiəs] a.不敬的；不孝的 (英语六级单词)
- blameless [´bleimlis] a.无可责难的 (英语六级单词)
- bereft [bi´reft] bereave的过去分词 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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