章节正文
deliverance from it by wealth or by war, by fenced city, or dark,
sea-beaten ships.
antistrophe 1
And bonds tamed the son of Dryas, swift to wrath, that king of the
Edonians; so paid he for his frenzied taunts, when, by the will of
Dionysus, he was pent in a rocky prison. There the fierce exuberance
of his madness slowly passed away. That man learned to know the god,
whom in his frenzy he had provoked with mockeries; for he had sought
to quell the god-possessed women, and the Bacchanalian fire; and he
angered the Muses that love the flute.
strophe 2
And by the waters of the Dark Rocks, the waters of the twofold
sea, are the shores of Bosporus, and Thracian Salmydessus; where Ares,
neighbour to the city, saw the accurst, blinding wound dealt to the
two sons of Phineus by his fierce wife,-the wound that brought
darkness to those vengeance-craving orbs, smitten with her bloody
hands, smitten with her shuttle for a dagger.
antistrophe 2
Pining in their misery, they bewailed their cruel doom, those sons
of a mother hapless in her marriage; but she traced her descent from
the ancient line of the Erechtheidae; and in far-distant caves she was
nursed amid her father's storms, that child of Boreas, swift as a
steed over the steep hills, a daughter of gods; yet upon her also
the gray Fates bore hard, my daughter.
(Enter TEIRESIAS, led by a Boy, on the spectators' right.)
TEIRESIAS
Princes of Thebes, we have come with linked steps, both served
by the eyes of one; for thus, by a guide's help, the blind must walk.
CREON
And what, aged Teiresias, are thy tidings?
TEIRESIAS
I will tell thee; and do thou hearken to the seer.
CREON
Indeed, it has not been my wont to slight thy counsel.
TEIRESIAS
Therefore didst thou steer our city's course aright.
CREON
I have felt, and can attest, thy benefits.
TEIRESIAS
Mark that now, once more, thou standest on fate's fine edge.
CREON
What means this? How I shudder at thy message!
TEIRESIAS
Thou wilt learn, when thou hearest the warnings of mine art. As
I took my place on mine old seat of augury, where all birds have
been wont to gather within my ken, I heard a strange voice among them;
they were screaming with dire, feverish rage, that drowned their
language in jargon; and I knew that they were rending each other
with their talons, murderously; the whirr of wings told no doubtful
tale.
Forthwith, in fear, I essayed burnt-sacrifice on a duly kindled
altar: but from my offerings the Fire-god showed no flame; a dank
moisture, oozing from the thigh-flesh, trickled forth upon the embers,
and smoked, and sputtered; the gall was scattered to the air; and
the streaming thighs lay bared of the fat that had been wrapped
round them.
Such was the failure of the rites by which I vainly asked a
sign, as from this boy I learned; for he is my guide, as I am guide to
others. And 'tis thy counsel that hath brought this sickness on our
State. For the altars of our city and of our hearths have been
tainted, one and all, by birds and dogs, with carrion from the hapless
corpse, the son of Oedipus: and therefore the gods no more accept
prayer and sacrifice at our hands, or the flame of meat-offering;
nor doth any bird give a clear sign by its shrill cry, for they have
tasted the fatness of a slain man's blood.
Think, then, on these things, my son. All men are liable to err;
but when an error hath been made, that man is no longer witless or
unblest who heals the ill into which he hath fallen, and remains not
stubborn.
Self-will, we know, incurs the charge of folly. Nay, allow the
claim of the dead; stab not the fallen; what prowess is it to slay the
slain anew? I have sought thy good, and for thy good I speak: and
never is it sweeter to learn from a good counsellor than when he
counsels for thine own gain.
CREON
Old man, ye all shoot your shafts at me, as archers at the
butts;-Ye must needs practise on me with seer-craft also;-aye, the
seer-tribe hath long trafficked in me, and made me their
merchandise. Gain your gains, drive your trade, if ye list, in the
silver-gold of Sardis and the gold of India; but ye shall not hide
that man in the grave,-no, though the eagles of Zeus should bear the
carrion morsels to their Master's throne-no, not for dread of that
defilement will I suffer his burial:-for well I know that no mortal
can defile the gods.-But, aged Teiresias, the wisest fall with
shameful fall, when they clothe shameful thoughts in fair words, for
lucre's sake.
TEIRESIAS
Alas! Doth any man know, doth any consider...
CREON
Whereof? What general truth dost thou announce?
TEIRESIAS
How precious, above all wealth, is good counsel.
CREON
As folly, I think, is the worst mischief.
TEIRESIAS
Yet thou art tainted with that distemper.
CREON
I would not answer the seer with a taunt.
TEIRESIAS
But thou dost, in saying that I prophesy falsely.
CREON
Well, the prophet-tribe was ever fond of money.
TEIRESIAS
And the race bred of tyrants loves base gain.
CREON
Knowest thou that thy speech is spoken of thy king?
TEIRESIAS
I know it; for through me thou hast saved Thebes.
CREON
Thou art a wise seer; but thou lovest evil deeds.
TEIRESIAS
Thou wilt rouse me to utter the dread secret in my soul.
CREON
Out with it!-Only speak it not for gain.
TEIRESIAS
Indeed, methinks, I shall not,-as touching thee.
CREON
Know that thou shalt not trade on my resolve.
TEIRESIAS
Then know thou-aye, know it well-that thou shalt not live
through many more courses of the sun's swift chariot, ere one begotten
of thine own loins shall have been given by thee, a corpse for
corpses; because thou hast thrust children of the sunlight to the
shades, and ruthlessly lodged a living soul in the grave; but
keepest in this world one who belongs to the gods infernal, a corpse
unburied, unhonoured, all unhallowed. In such thou hast no part, nor
have the gods above, but this is a violence done to them by thee.
Therefore the avenging destroyers lie in wait for thee, the Furies
of Hades and of the gods, that thou mayest be taken in these same
ills.
And mark well if I speak these things as a hireling. A time not
long to be delayed shall awaken the wailing of men and of women in thy
house. And a tumult of hatred against thee stirs all the cities
whose mangled sons had the burial-rite from dogs, or from wild beasts,
or from some winged bird that bore a polluting breath to each city
that contains the hearths of the dead.
Such arrows for thy heart-since thou provokest me-have I
launched at thee, archer-like, in my anger,-sure arrows, of which thou
shalt not escape the smart.-Boy, lead me home, that he may spend his
rage on younger men, and learn to keep a tongue more temperate, and to
bear within his breast a better mind than now he bears.
(The Boy leads TEIRESIAS Out.)
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
The man hath gone, O King, with dread prophecies. And, since the
hair on this head, once dark, hath been white, I know that he hath
never been a false prophet to our city.
CREON
I, too, know it well, and am troubled in soul. 'Tis dire to yield;
but, by resistance, to smite my pride with ruin-this, too, is a dire
choice.
LEADER
Son of Menoeceus, it behoves thee to take wise counsel.
CREON
What should I do then? Speak and I will obey.
LEADER
Go thou, and free the maiden from her rocky chamber, and make a
tomb for the unburied dead.
CREON
And this is thy counsel? Thou wouldst have me yield?
LEADER
Yea, King, and with all speed; for swift harms from the gods cut
short the folly of men.
CREON
Ah me, 'tis hard, but I resign my cherished resolve,-I obey. We
must not wage a vain war with destiny.
LEADER
Go, thou, and do these things; leave them not to others.
CREON
Even as I am I'll go:-on, on, my servants, each and all of
you,-take axes in your hands, and hasten to the ground that ye see
yonder! Since our judgment hath taken this turn, I will be present
to unloose her, as myself bound her. My heart misgives me, 'tis best
to keep the established laws, even to life's end.
(CREON and his servants hasten out on the spectators' left.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
O thou of many names, glory of the Cadmeian bride, offspring of
loud-thundering Zeus! thou who watchest over famed Italia, and
reignest, where all guests are welcomed, in the sheltered plain of
Eleusinian Deo! O Bacchus, dweller in Thebe, mother-city of Bacchants,
by the softly-gliding stream of Ismenus, on the soil where the
fierce dragon's teeth were sown!
antistrophe 1
Thou hast been seen where torch-flames glare through smoke,
above the crests of the twin peaks, where move the Corycian nymphs,
thy votaries, hard by Castalia's stream.
Thou comest from the ivy-mantled slopes of Nysa's hills, and
from the shore green with many-clustered vines, while thy name is
lifted up on strains of more than mortal power, as thou visitest the
ways of Thebe:
strophe 2
Thebe, of all cities, thou holdest first in honour, thou and thy
mother whom the lightning smote; and now, when all our people is
captive to a violentplague, come thou with healing feet over the
Parnassian height, or over the moaning strait!
antistrophe 2
O thou with whom the stars rejoice as they move, the stars whose
breath is fire; O master of the voices of the night; son begotten of
Zeus; appear, O king, with thine attendant Thyiads, who in
night-long frenzy dance before thee, the giver of good gifts, Iacchus!
(Enter MESSENGER, on the spectators' left.)
sea-beaten ships.
antistrophe 1
And bonds tamed the son of Dryas, swift to wrath, that king of the
Edonians; so paid he for his frenzied taunts, when, by the will of
Dionysus, he was pent in a rocky prison. There the fierce exuberance
of his madness slowly passed away. That man learned to know the god,
whom in his frenzy he had provoked with mockeries; for he had sought
to quell the god-possessed women, and the Bacchanalian fire; and he
angered the Muses that love the flute.
strophe 2
And by the waters of the Dark Rocks, the waters of the twofold
sea, are the shores of Bosporus, and Thracian Salmydessus; where Ares,
neighbour to the city, saw the accurst, blinding wound dealt to the
two sons of Phineus by his fierce wife,-the wound that brought
darkness to those vengeance-craving orbs, smitten with her bloody
hands, smitten with her shuttle for a dagger.
antistrophe 2
Pining in their misery, they bewailed their cruel doom, those sons
of a mother hapless in her marriage; but she traced her descent from
the ancient line of the Erechtheidae; and in far-distant caves she was
nursed amid her father's storms, that child of Boreas, swift as a
steed over the steep hills, a daughter of gods; yet upon her also
the gray Fates bore hard, my daughter.
(Enter TEIRESIAS, led by a Boy, on the spectators' right.)
TEIRESIAS
Princes of Thebes, we have come with linked steps, both served
by the eyes of one; for thus, by a guide's help, the blind must walk.
CREON
And what, aged Teiresias, are thy tidings?
TEIRESIAS
I will tell thee; and do thou hearken to the seer.
CREON
Indeed, it has not been my wont to slight thy counsel.
TEIRESIAS
Therefore didst thou steer our city's course aright.
CREON
I have felt, and can attest, thy benefits.
TEIRESIAS
Mark that now, once more, thou standest on fate's fine edge.
CREON
What means this? How I shudder at thy message!
TEIRESIAS
Thou wilt learn, when thou hearest the warnings of mine art. As
I took my place on mine old seat of augury, where all birds have
been wont to gather within my ken, I heard a strange voice among them;
they were screaming with dire, feverish rage, that drowned their
language in jargon; and I knew that they were rending each other
with their talons, murderously; the whirr of wings told no doubtful
tale.
Forthwith, in fear, I essayed burnt-sacrifice on a duly kindled
altar: but from my offerings the Fire-god showed no flame; a dank
moisture, oozing from the thigh-flesh, trickled forth upon the embers,
and smoked, and sputtered; the gall was scattered to the air; and
the streaming thighs lay bared of the fat that had been wrapped
round them.
Such was the failure of the rites by which I vainly asked a
sign, as from this boy I learned; for he is my guide, as I am guide to
others. And 'tis thy counsel that hath brought this sickness on our
State. For the altars of our city and of our hearths have been
tainted, one and all, by birds and dogs, with carrion from the hapless
corpse, the son of Oedipus: and therefore the gods no more accept
prayer and sacrifice at our hands, or the flame of meat-offering;
nor doth any bird give a clear sign by its shrill cry, for they have
tasted the fatness of a slain man's blood.
Think, then, on these things, my son. All men are liable to err;
but when an error hath been made, that man is no longer witless or
unblest who heals the ill into which he hath fallen, and remains not
stubborn.
Self-will, we know, incurs the charge of folly. Nay, allow the
claim of the dead; stab not the fallen; what prowess is it to slay the
slain anew? I have sought thy good, and for thy good I speak: and
never is it sweeter to learn from a good counsellor than when he
counsels for thine own gain.
CREON
Old man, ye all shoot your shafts at me, as archers at the
butts;-Ye must needs practise on me with seer-craft also;-aye, the
seer-tribe hath long trafficked in me, and made me their
merchandise. Gain your gains, drive your trade, if ye list, in the
silver-gold of Sardis and the gold of India; but ye shall not hide
that man in the grave,-no, though the eagles of Zeus should bear the
carrion morsels to their Master's throne-no, not for dread of that
defilement will I suffer his burial:-for well I know that no mortal
can defile the gods.-But, aged Teiresias, the wisest fall with
shameful fall, when they clothe shameful thoughts in fair words, for
lucre's sake.
TEIRESIAS
Alas! Doth any man know, doth any consider...
CREON
Whereof? What general truth dost thou announce?
TEIRESIAS
How precious, above all wealth, is good counsel.
CREON
As folly, I think, is the worst mischief.
TEIRESIAS
Yet thou art tainted with that distemper.
CREON
I would not answer the seer with a taunt.
TEIRESIAS
But thou dost, in saying that I prophesy falsely.
CREON
Well, the prophet-tribe was ever fond of money.
TEIRESIAS
And the race bred of tyrants loves base gain.
CREON
Knowest thou that thy speech is spoken of thy king?
TEIRESIAS
I know it; for through me thou hast saved Thebes.
CREON
Thou art a wise seer; but thou lovest evil deeds.
TEIRESIAS
Thou wilt rouse me to utter the dread secret in my soul.
CREON
Out with it!-Only speak it not for gain.
TEIRESIAS
Indeed, methinks, I shall not,-as touching thee.
CREON
Know that thou shalt not trade on my resolve.
TEIRESIAS
Then know thou-aye, know it well-that thou shalt not live
through many more courses of the sun's swift chariot, ere one begotten
of thine own loins shall have been given by thee, a corpse for
corpses; because thou hast thrust children of the sunlight to the
shades, and ruthlessly lodged a living soul in the grave; but
keepest in this world one who belongs to the gods infernal, a corpse
unburied, unhonoured, all unhallowed. In such thou hast no part, nor
have the gods above, but this is a violence done to them by thee.
Therefore the avenging destroyers lie in wait for thee, the Furies
of Hades and of the gods, that thou mayest be taken in these same
ills.
And mark well if I speak these things as a hireling. A time not
long to be delayed shall awaken the wailing of men and of women in thy
house. And a tumult of hatred against thee stirs all the cities
whose mangled sons had the burial-rite from dogs, or from wild beasts,
or from some winged bird that bore a polluting breath to each city
that contains the hearths of the dead.
Such arrows for thy heart-since thou provokest me-have I
launched at thee, archer-like, in my anger,-sure arrows, of which thou
shalt not escape the smart.-Boy, lead me home, that he may spend his
rage on younger men, and learn to keep a tongue more temperate, and to
bear within his breast a better mind than now he bears.
(The Boy leads TEIRESIAS Out.)
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
The man hath gone, O King, with dread prophecies. And, since the
hair on this head, once dark, hath been white, I know that he hath
never been a false prophet to our city.
CREON
I, too, know it well, and am troubled in soul. 'Tis dire to yield;
but, by resistance, to smite my pride with ruin-this, too, is a dire
choice.
LEADER
Son of Menoeceus, it behoves thee to take wise counsel.
CREON
What should I do then? Speak and I will obey.
LEADER
Go thou, and free the maiden from her rocky chamber, and make a
tomb for the unburied dead.
CREON
And this is thy counsel? Thou wouldst have me yield?
LEADER
Yea, King, and with all speed; for swift harms from the gods cut
short the folly of men.
CREON
Ah me, 'tis hard, but I resign my cherished resolve,-I obey. We
must not wage a vain war with destiny.
LEADER
Go, thou, and do these things; leave them not to others.
CREON
Even as I am I'll go:-on, on, my servants, each and all of
you,-take axes in your hands, and hasten to the ground that ye see
yonder! Since our judgment hath taken this turn, I will be present
to unloose her, as myself bound her. My heart misgives me, 'tis best
to keep the established laws, even to life's end.
(CREON and his servants hasten out on the spectators' left.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
O thou of many names, glory of the Cadmeian bride, offspring of
loud-thundering Zeus! thou who watchest over famed Italia, and
reignest, where all guests are welcomed, in the sheltered plain of
Eleusinian Deo! O Bacchus, dweller in Thebe, mother-city of Bacchants,
by the softly-gliding stream of Ismenus, on the soil where the
fierce dragon's teeth were sown!
antistrophe 1
Thou hast been seen where torch-flames glare through smoke,
above the crests of the twin peaks, where move the Corycian nymphs,
thy votaries, hard by Castalia's stream.
Thou comest from the ivy-mantled slopes of Nysa's hills, and
from the shore green with many-clustered vines, while thy name is
lifted up on strains of more than mortal power, as thou visitest the
ways of Thebe:
strophe 2
Thebe, of all cities, thou holdest first in honour, thou and thy
mother whom the lightning smote; and now, when all our people is
captive to a violentplague, come thou with healing feet over the
Parnassian height, or over the moaning strait!
antistrophe 2
O thou with whom the stars rejoice as they move, the stars whose
breath is fire; O master of the voices of the night; son begotten of
Zeus; appear, O king, with thine attendant Thyiads, who in
night-long frenzy dance before thee, the giver of good gifts, Iacchus!
(Enter MESSENGER, on the spectators' left.)
- wealth [welθ]
n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词) - fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
- misery [´mizəri] n.痛苦；悲惨；穷困 (初中英语单词)
- failure [´feiljə] n.失败；衰竭；破产 (初中英语单词)
- counsel [´kaunsəl] n.商议；劝告；律师 (初中英语单词)
- sickness [´siknis] n.生病；呕吐，恶心 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
- practise [´præktis] v.实践(行，施)；提倡 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- thrust [θrʌst] v.&n.猛推；冲；刺；挤进 (初中英语单词)
- sunlight [´sʌnlait] n.日光 (初中英语单词)
- violence [´vaiələns] n.猛烈；暴力(行) (初中英语单词)
- awaken [ə´weikən] v.唤起，叫醒 (初中英语单词)
- hatred [´heitrid] n.憎恨，敌意 (初中英语单词)
- winged [´wiŋd] a.有翼的 (初中英语单词)
- breath [breθ] n.呼吸；气息 (初中英语单词)
- prophet [´prɔfit] n.预言家；先知；提倡者 (初中英语单词)
- resistance [ri´zistəns] n.抵抗；抵制；耐力 (初中英语单词)
- maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
- resign [ri´zain] v.辞职；放弃；委托 (初中英语单词)
- hasten [´heisən] vt.催促；促进 vi.赶紧 (初中英语单词)
- stream [stri:m] n.河 vi.流出；飘扬 (初中英语单词)
- lightning [´laitniŋ] n.闪电 a.突然的 (初中英语单词)
- violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
- height [hait] n.高度；顶点；卓越 (初中英语单词)
- rejoice [ri´dʒɔis] v.(使)高兴；欢庆 (初中英语单词)
- attendant [ə´tendənt] n.随员 a.伴随的 (初中英语单词)
- messenger [´mesindʒə] n.使者；送信人 (初中英语单词)
- madness [´mædnis] n.疯狂；狂热 (高中英语单词)
- learned [´lə:nid] a.有学问的，博学的 (高中英语单词)
- descent [di´sent] n.出身，家世 (高中英语单词)
- shudder [´ʃʌdə] n.&vi.震颤；发抖 (高中英语单词)
- vainly [´veinli] ad.虚荣地；自负地 (高中英语单词)
- shrill [ʃril] a.(声音)尖锐的 (高中英语单词)
- liable [´laiəbəl] a.易于...的；有责任的 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- methinks [mi´θiŋks] vi.据我看来 (高中英语单词)
- chariot [´tʃæriət] n.古时双轮战车 (高中英语单词)
- tumult [´tju:mʌlt, ´tu:-] n.喧哗；激昂；烦乱 (高中英语单词)
- temperate [´tempərit] a.有节制的；温和的 (高中英语单词)
- chamber [´tʃeimbə] n.房间；议院；会议室 (高中英语单词)
- mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
- plague [pleig] n.瘟疫 vt.使...染疫 (高中英语单词)
- deliverance [di´livərəns] n.援救；获释 (英语四级单词)
- frenzy [´frenzi] n.&vt.(使)狂乱 (英语四级单词)
- hearken [´hɑ:kən] vi.听 (英语四级单词)
- attest [ə´test] v.证明；作证；证实 (英语四级单词)
- feverish [´fi:vəriʃ] a.发烧的；狂热的 (英语四级单词)
- prowess [´prauis] n.勇猛；技术；本领 (英语四级单词)
- shameful [´ʃeimfəl] a.可耻的；猥亵的 (英语四级单词)
- prophesy [´prɔfisai] v.预言；预示 (英语四级单词)
- touching [´tʌtʃiŋ] a.动人的 prep.提到 (英语四级单词)
- corpse [kɔ:ps] n.尸体 (英语四级单词)
- unloose [ʌn´lu:s] vt.解开；放松；释放 (英语四级单词)
- dweller [´dwelə] n.居住者；居民 (英语四级单词)
- smitten [´smitn] smite的过去分词 (英语六级单词)
- hapless [´hæpləs] a.不幸的；倒楣的 (英语六级单词)
- defile [di´fail] vt.弄脏，玷污 (英语六级单词)
- infernal [in´fə:nəl] a.地狱的，恶魔似的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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