章节正文
Thy choice was to live; mine, to die.
ISMENE
At least thy choice was not made without my protest.
ANTIGONE
One world approved thy wisdom; another, mine.
ISMENE
Howbeit, the offence is the same for both of us.
ANTIGONE
Be of good cheer; thou livest; but my life hath long been given to
death, that so I might serve the dead.
CREON
Lo, one of these maidens hath newly shown herself foolish, as
the other hath been since her life began.
ISMENE
Yea, O king, such reason as nature may have given abides not
with the unfortunate, but goes astray.
CREON
Thine did, when thou chosest vile deeds with the vile.
ISMENE
What life could I endure, without her presence?
CREON
Nay, speak not of her 'presence'; she lives no more.
ISMENE
But wilt thou slay the betrothed of thine own son?
CREON
Nay, there are other fields for him to plough.
ISMENE
But there can never be such love as bound him to her.
CREON
I like not an evil wife for my son.
ANTIGONE
Haemon, beloved! How thy father wrongs thee!
CREON
Enough, enough of thee and of thy marriage!
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Wilt thou indeed rob thy son of this maiden?
CREON
'Tis Death that shall stay these bridals for me.
LEADER
'Tis determined, it seems, that she shall die.
CREON
Determined, yes, for thee and for me.-(To the two attendants) No
more delay-servants, take them within! Henceforth they must be
women, and not range at large; for verily even the bold seek to fly,
when they see Death now closing on their life.
(Exeunt attendants, guarding ANTIGONE and ISMENE.-CREON remains.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
Blest are they whose days have not tasted of evil. For when a
house hath once been shaken from heaven, there the curse fails
nevermore, passing from life to life of the race; even as, when the
surge is driven over the darkness of the deep by the fierce breath
of Thracian sea-winds, it rolls up the black sand from the depths, and
there is sullen roar from wind-vexed headlands that front the blows of
the storm.
antistrophe 1
I see that from olden time the sorrows in the house of the
Labdacidae are heaped upon the sorrows of the dead; and generation
is not freed by generation, but some god strikes them down, and the
race hath no deliverance.
For now that hope of which the light had been spread above the
last root of the house of Oedipus-that hope, in turn, is brought
low--by the blood-stained dust due to the gods infernal, and by
folly in speech, and frenzy at the heart.
strophe 2
Thy power, O Zeus, what human trespass can limit? That power which
neither Sleep, the all-ensnaring, nor the untiring months of the
gods can master; but thou, a ruler to whom time brings not old age,
dwellest in the dazzling splendour of Olympus.
And through the future, near and far, as through the past, shall
this law hold good: Nothing that is vast enters into the life of
mortals without a curse.
antistrophe 2
For that hope whose wanderings are so wide is to many men a
comfort, but to many a false lure of giddy desires; and the
disappointment comes on one who knoweth nought till he burn his foot
against the hot fire.
For with wisdom hath some one given forth the famous saying,
that evil seems good, soon or late, to him whose mind the god draws to
mischief; and but for the briefest space doth he fare free of woe.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
But lo, Haemon, the last of thy sons;-Comes he grieving for the
doom of his promised bride, Antigone, and bitter for the baffled
hope of his marriage?
(Enter HAEMON)
CREON
We shall know soon, better than seers could tell us.-My son,
hearing the fixed doom of thy betrothed, art thou come in rage against
thy father? Or have I thy good will, act how I may?
HAEMON
Father, I am thine; and thou, in thy wisdom, tracest for me
rules which I shall follow. No marriage shall be deemed by me a
greater gain than thy good guidance.
CREON
Yea, this, my son, should be thy heart's fixed law,-in all
things to obey thy father's will. 'Tis for this that men pray to see
dutiful children grow up around them in their homes,-that such may
requite their father's foe with evil, and honour, as their father
doth, his friend. But he who begets unprofitable children-what shall
we say that he hath sown, but troubles for himself, and much triumph
for his foes? Then do not thou, my son, at pleasure's beck, dethrone
thy reason for a woman's sake; knowing that this is a joy that soon
grows cold in clasping arms,-an evil woman to share thy bed and thy
home. For what wound could strike deeper than a false friend? Nay,
with loathing, and as if she were thine enemy, let this girl go to
find a husband in the house of Hades. For since I have taken her,
alone of all the city, in open disobedience, I will not make myself
a liar to my people-I will slay her.
So let her appeal as she will to the majesty of kindred blood.
If I am to nurture mine own kindred in naughtiness, needs must I
bear with it in aliens. He who does his duty in his own household will
be found righteous in the State also. But if any one transgresses, and
does violence to the laws, or thinks to dictate to his rulers, such an
one can win no praise from me. No, whomsoever the city may appoint,
that man must be obeyed, in little things and great, in just things
and unjust; and I should feel sure that one who thus obeys would be
a good ruler no less than a good subject, and in the storm of spears
would stand his ground where he was set, loyal and dauntless at his
comrade's side.
But disobedience is the worst of evils. This it is that ruins
cities; this makes homes desolate; by this, the ranks of allies are
broken into head-long rout; but, of the lives whose course is fair,
the greater part owes safety to obedience. Therefore we must support
the cause of order, and in no wise suffer a woman to worst us.
Better to fall from power, if we must, by a man's hand; then we should
not be called weaker than a woman.
LEADER
To us, unless our years have stolen our wit, thou seemest to say
wisely what thou sayest.
HAEMON
Father, the gods implant reason in men, the highest of all
things that we call our own. Not mine the skill-far from me be the
quest!-to say wherein thou speakest not aright; and yet another man,
too, might have some useful thought. At least, it is my natural office
to watch, on thy behalf, all that men say, or do, or find to blame.
For the dread of thy frown forbids the citizen to speak such words
as would offend thine ear; but can hear these murmurs in the dark,
these moanings of the city for this maiden; 'no woman,' they say,
'ever merited her doom less,-none ever was to die so shamefully for
deeds so glorious as hers; who, when her own brother had fallen in
bloody strife, would not leave him unburied, to be devoured by carrion
dogs, or by any bird:-deserves not she the meed of golden honour?'
Such is the darkling rumour that spreads in secret. For me, my
father, no treasure is so precious as thy welfare. What, indeed, is
a nobler ornament for children than a prospering sire's fair fame,
or for sire than son's? Wear not, then, one mood only in thyself;
think not that thy word, and thine alone, must be right. For if any
man thinks that he alone is wise,-that in speech, or in mind, he
hath no peer,-such a soul, when laid open, is ever found empty.
No, though a man be wise, 'tis no shame for him to learn many
things, and to bend in season. Seest thou, beside the wintry torrent's
course, how the trees that yield to it save every twig, while the
stiff-necked perish root and branch? And even thus he who keeps the
sheet of his sail taut, and never slackens it, upsets his boat, and
finishes his voyage with keel uppermost.
Nay, forego thy wrath; permit thyself to change. For if I, a
younger man, may offer my thought, it were far best, I ween, that
men should be all-wise by nature; but, otherwise-and oft the scale
inclines not so-'tis good also to learn from those who speak aright.
LEADER
Sire, 'tis meet that thou shouldest profit by his words, if he
speaks aught in season, and thou, Haemon, by thy father's; for on both
parts there hath been wise speech.
CREON
Men of my age are we indeed to be schooled, then, by men of his?
HAEMON
In nothing that is not right; but if I am young, thou shouldest
look to my merits, not to my years.
CREON
Is it a merit to honour the unruly?
HAEMON
I could wish no one to show respect for evil-doers.
CREON
Then is not she tainted with that malady?
HAEMON
Our Theban folk, with one voice, denies it.
CREON
Shall Thebes prescribe to me how I must rule?
HAEMON
See, there thou hast spoken like a youth indeed.
CREON
Am I to rule this land by other judgment than mine own?
HAEMON
That is no city which belongs to one man.
CREON
Is not the city held to be the ruler's?
HAEMON
Thou wouldst make a good monarch of a desert.
CREON
This boy, it seems, is the woman's champion.
HAEMON
If thou art a woman; indeed, my care is for thee.
CREON
Shameless, at open feud with thy father!
HAEMON
Nay, I see thee offending against justice.
CREON
Do I offend, when I respect mine own prerogatives?
HAEMON
Thou dost not respect them, when thou tramplest on the gods'
honours,
ISMENE
At least thy choice was not made without my protest.
ANTIGONE
One world approved thy wisdom; another, mine.
ISMENE
Howbeit, the offence is the same for both of us.
ANTIGONE
Be of good cheer; thou livest; but my life hath long been given to
death, that so I might serve the dead.
CREON
Lo, one of these maidens hath newly shown herself foolish, as
the other hath been since her life began.
ISMENE
Yea, O king, such reason as nature may have given abides not
with the unfortunate, but goes astray.
CREON
Thine did, when thou chosest vile deeds with the vile.
ISMENE
What life could I endure, without her presence?
CREON
Nay, speak not of her 'presence'; she lives no more.
ISMENE
But wilt thou slay the betrothed of thine own son?
CREON
Nay, there are other fields for him to plough.
ISMENE
But there can never be such love as bound him to her.
CREON
I like not an evil wife for my son.
ANTIGONE
Haemon, beloved! How thy father wrongs thee!
CREON
Enough, enough of thee and of thy marriage!
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
Wilt thou indeed rob thy son of this maiden?
CREON
'Tis Death that shall stay these bridals for me.
LEADER
'Tis determined, it seems, that she shall die.
CREON
Determined, yes, for thee and for me.-(To the two attendants) No
more delay-servants, take them within! Henceforth they must be
women, and not range at large; for verily even the bold seek to fly,
when they see Death now closing on their life.
(Exeunt attendants, guarding ANTIGONE and ISMENE.-CREON remains.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
Blest are they whose days have not tasted of evil. For when a
house hath once been shaken from heaven, there the curse fails
nevermore, passing from life to life of the race; even as, when the
surge is driven over the darkness of the deep by the fierce breath
of Thracian sea-winds, it rolls up the black sand from the depths, and
there is sullen roar from wind-vexed headlands that front the blows of
the storm.
antistrophe 1
I see that from olden time the sorrows in the house of the
Labdacidae are heaped upon the sorrows of the dead; and generation
is not freed by generation, but some god strikes them down, and the
race hath no deliverance.
For now that hope of which the light had been spread above the
last root of the house of Oedipus-that hope, in turn, is brought
low--by the blood-stained dust due to the gods infernal, and by
folly in speech, and frenzy at the heart.
strophe 2
Thy power, O Zeus, what human trespass can limit? That power which
neither Sleep, the all-ensnaring, nor the untiring months of the
gods can master; but thou, a ruler to whom time brings not old age,
dwellest in the dazzling splendour of Olympus.
And through the future, near and far, as through the past, shall
this law hold good: Nothing that is vast enters into the life of
mortals without a curse.
antistrophe 2
For that hope whose wanderings are so wide is to many men a
comfort, but to many a false lure of giddy desires; and the
disappointment comes on one who knoweth nought till he burn his foot
against the hot fire.
For with wisdom hath some one given forth the famous saying,
that evil seems good, soon or late, to him whose mind the god draws to
mischief; and but for the briefest space doth he fare free of woe.
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
But lo, Haemon, the last of thy sons;-Comes he grieving for the
doom of his promised bride, Antigone, and bitter for the baffled
hope of his marriage?
(Enter HAEMON)
CREON
We shall know soon, better than seers could tell us.-My son,
hearing the fixed doom of thy betrothed, art thou come in rage against
thy father? Or have I thy good will, act how I may?
HAEMON
Father, I am thine; and thou, in thy wisdom, tracest for me
rules which I shall follow. No marriage shall be deemed by me a
greater gain than thy good guidance.
CREON
Yea, this, my son, should be thy heart's fixed law,-in all
things to obey thy father's will. 'Tis for this that men pray to see
dutiful children grow up around them in their homes,-that such may
requite their father's foe with evil, and honour, as their father
doth, his friend. But he who begets unprofitable children-what shall
we say that he hath sown, but troubles for himself, and much triumph
for his foes? Then do not thou, my son, at pleasure's beck, dethrone
thy reason for a woman's sake; knowing that this is a joy that soon
grows cold in clasping arms,-an evil woman to share thy bed and thy
home. For what wound could strike deeper than a false friend? Nay,
with loathing, and as if she were thine enemy, let this girl go to
find a husband in the house of Hades. For since I have taken her,
alone of all the city, in open disobedience, I will not make myself
a liar to my people-I will slay her.
So let her appeal as she will to the majesty of kindred blood.
If I am to nurture mine own kindred in naughtiness, needs must I
bear with it in aliens. He who does his duty in his own household will
be found righteous in the State also. But if any one transgresses, and
does violence to the laws, or thinks to dictate to his rulers, such an
one can win no praise from me. No, whomsoever the city may appoint,
that man must be obeyed, in little things and great, in just things
and unjust; and I should feel sure that one who thus obeys would be
a good ruler no less than a good subject, and in the storm of spears
would stand his ground where he was set, loyal and dauntless at his
comrade's side.
But disobedience is the worst of evils. This it is that ruins
cities; this makes homes desolate; by this, the ranks of allies are
broken into head-long rout; but, of the lives whose course is fair,
the greater part owes safety to obedience. Therefore we must support
the cause of order, and in no wise suffer a woman to worst us.
Better to fall from power, if we must, by a man's hand; then we should
not be called weaker than a woman.
LEADER
To us, unless our years have stolen our wit, thou seemest to say
wisely what thou sayest.
HAEMON
Father, the gods implant reason in men, the highest of all
things that we call our own. Not mine the skill-far from me be the
quest!-to say wherein thou speakest not aright; and yet another man,
too, might have some useful thought. At least, it is my natural office
to watch, on thy behalf, all that men say, or do, or find to blame.
For the dread of thy frown forbids the citizen to speak such words
as would offend thine ear; but can hear these murmurs in the dark,
these moanings of the city for this maiden; 'no woman,' they say,
'ever merited her doom less,-none ever was to die so shamefully for
deeds so glorious as hers; who, when her own brother had fallen in
bloody strife, would not leave him unburied, to be devoured by carrion
dogs, or by any bird:-deserves not she the meed of golden honour?'
Such is the darkling rumour that spreads in secret. For me, my
father, no treasure is so precious as thy welfare. What, indeed, is
a nobler ornament for children than a prospering sire's fair fame,
or for sire than son's? Wear not, then, one mood only in thyself;
think not that thy word, and thine alone, must be right. For if any
man thinks that he alone is wise,-that in speech, or in mind, he
hath no peer,-such a soul, when laid open, is ever found empty.
No, though a man be wise, 'tis no shame for him to learn many
things, and to bend in season. Seest thou, beside the wintry torrent's
course, how the trees that yield to it save every twig, while the
stiff-necked perish root and branch? And even thus he who keeps the
sheet of his sail taut, and never slackens it, upsets his boat, and
finishes his voyage with keel uppermost.
Nay, forego thy wrath; permit thyself to change. For if I, a
younger man, may offer my thought, it were far best, I ween, that
men should be all-wise by nature; but, otherwise-and oft the scale
inclines not so-'tis good also to learn from those who speak aright.
LEADER
Sire, 'tis meet that thou shouldest profit by his words, if he
speaks aught in season, and thou, Haemon, by thy father's; for on both
parts there hath been wise speech.
CREON
Men of my age are we indeed to be schooled, then, by men of his?
HAEMON
In nothing that is not right; but if I am young, thou shouldest
look to my merits, not to my years.
CREON
Is it a merit to honour the unruly?
HAEMON
I could wish no one to show respect for evil-doers.
CREON
Then is not she tainted with that malady?
HAEMON
Our Theban folk, with one voice, denies it.
CREON
Shall Thebes prescribe to me how I must rule?
HAEMON
See, there thou hast spoken like a youth indeed.
CREON
Am I to rule this land by other judgment than mine own?
HAEMON
That is no city which belongs to one man.
CREON
Is not the city held to be the ruler's?
HAEMON
Thou wouldst make a good monarch of a desert.
CREON
This boy, it seems, is the woman's champion.
HAEMON
If thou art a woman; indeed, my care is for thee.
CREON
Shameless, at open feud with thy father!
HAEMON
Nay, I see thee offending against justice.
CREON
Do I offend, when I respect mine own prerogatives?
HAEMON
Thou dost not respect them, when thou tramplest on the gods'
honours,
- wisdom [´wizdəm]
n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词) - unfortunate [ʌn´fɔ:tʃunit] a.不幸的，运气差的 (初中英语单词)
- endure [in´djuə] vt.忍耐，忍受；坚持 (初中英语单词)
- henceforth [´hens´fɔ:θ] ad.今后；从今以后 (初中英语单词)
- shaken [´ʃeikən] shake的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- driven [´driv(ə)n] drive 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
- generation [,dʒenə´reiʃən] n.发生；世代；同龄人 (初中英语单词)
- knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
- majesty [´mædʒisti] n.壮丽；崇高；尊严 (初中英语单词)
- violence [´vaiələns] n.猛烈；暴力(行) (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- stolen [´stəulən] steal 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- offend [ə´fend] v.犯错误；违犯；犯罪 (初中英语单词)
- maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
- glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
- welfare [´welfeə] n.福利(事业) (初中英语单词)
- ornament [´ɔ:nəmənt] n.装饰(物) vt.装饰 (初中英语单词)
- perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)
- voyage [´vɔi-idʒ] n.&vi.航海；航程；旅行 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- monarch [´mɔnək] n.君主；(大)王 (初中英语单词)
- sullen [´sʌlən] a.不高兴的 (高中英语单词)
- appeal [ə´pi:l] vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉 (高中英语单词)
- kindred [´kindrid] n.亲属关系；同源关系 (高中英语单词)
- dictate [dik´teit] v.口授；指示，命令 (高中英语单词)
- desolate [´desəleit] a.荒凉的；孤独的 (高中英语单词)
- allies [´ælaiz, ə´laiz] n.协约国 (高中英语单词)
- obedience [ə´bi:djəns] n.服从；顺从 (高中英语单词)
- wherein [weər´in] ad.那里面 (高中英语单词)
- behalf [bi´hɑ:f] n.利益 (高中英语单词)
- strife [straif] n.竞争；吵架；冲突 (高中英语单词)
- prescribe [pri´skraib] v.指示；处(方)；嘱咐 (高中英语单词)
- verily [´verili] ad.真实的；肯定地 (英语四级单词)
- frenzy [´frenzi] n.&vt.(使)狂乱 (英语四级单词)
- nought [nɔ:t] n.=naught (英语四级单词)
- righteous [´raitʃəs] a.正直的；正当的 (英语四级单词)
- unjust [ʌn´dʒʌst] a.不公平(正)的 (英语四级单词)
- infernal [in´fə:nəl] a.地狱的，恶魔似的 (英语六级单词)
- trespass [´trespəs, -pæs] vi.&n.侵入(占)；打扰 (英语六级单词)
- unprofitable [ʌn´prɔfitəbl] a.没有利润的；无益的 (英语六级单词)
- dauntless [´dɔ:ntlis] a.无畏的；不屈不挠的 (英语六级单词)
- wintry [´wintri] a.冬天的；荒凉的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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