章节正文
death! What mightst thou not have wrought?
ELECTRA
My nature was the same then, but my mind less ripe.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Strive to keep such a mind through all thy life.
ELECTRA
These counsels mean that thou wilt not share my deed.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
No; for the venture is likely to bring disaster.
ELECTRA
I admire thy prudence; thy cowardice I hate.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
I will listen not less calmly when thou praise me.
ELECTRA
Never fear to suffer that from me.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Time enough in the future to decide that.
ELECTRA
Begone; there is no power to help in thee.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Not so; but in thee, no mind to learn.
ELECTRA
Go, declare all this to thy mother!
CHRYSOTHEMIS
But, again, I do not hate thee with such a hate.
ELECTRA
Yet know at least to what dishonour thou bringest me.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Dishonour, no! I am only thinking of thy good.
ELECTRA
Am I bound, then, to follow thy rule of right?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
When thou art wise, then thou shalt be our guide.
ELECTRA
Sad, that one who speaks so well should speak amiss!
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Thou hast well described the fault to which thou cleavest.
ELECTRA
How? Dost thou not think that I speak with justice?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
But sometimes justice itself is fraught with harm.
ELECTRA
I care not to live by such a law.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Well, if thou must do this, thou wilt praise me yet.
ELECTRA
And do it I will, no whit dismayed by thee.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Is this so indeed? Wilt thou not change thy counsels?
ELECTRA
No, for nothing is more hateful than bad counsel.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Thou seemest to agree with nothing that I urge.
ELECTRA
My resolve is not new, but long since fixed.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Then I will go; thou canst not be brought to approve my words, nor
to commend thy conduct.
ELECTRA
Nay, go within; never will I follow thee, however much thou
mayst desire it; it were great folly even to attempt an idle quest.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Nay, if thou art wise in thine own eyes, be such wisdom thine;
by and by, when thou standest in evil plight, thou wilt praise my
words.
(CHRYSOTHEMIS goes into the palace.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
When we see the birds of the air, with sure instinct, careful to
nourish those who give them life and nurture, why do not we pay
these debts in like measure? Nay, by the lightning-flash of Zeus, by
Themis throned in heaven, it is not long till sin brings sorrow.
Voice that comest to the dead beneath the earth, send a piteous
cry, I pray thee, to the son of Atreus in that world, a joyless
message of dishonour;
antistrophe 1
tell him that the fortunes of his house are now distempered;
while, among his children, strife of sister with sister hath broken
the harmony of loving days. Electra, forsaken, braves the storm alone;
she bewails alway, hapless one, her father's fate, like the
nightingale unwearied in lament; she recks not of death, but is
ready to leave the sunlight, could she but quell the two Furies of her
house. Who shall match such noble child of noble sire?
strophe 2
No generous soul deigns, by a base life, to cloud a fair repute,
and leave a name inglorious; as thou, too, O my daughter, hast
chosen to mourn all thy days with those that mourn, and hast spurned
dishonour, that thou mightest win at once a twofold praise, as wise,
and as the best of daughters.
antistrophe 2
May I yet see thy life raised in might and wealth above thy
foes, even as now it is humbled beneath their hand! For I have found
thee in no prosperousestate; and yet, for observance of nature's
highest laws, winning the noblest renown, by thy piety towards Zeus.
(ORESTES enters, with PYLADES
and two attendants, one of them carrying a funeral urn.)
ORESTES
Ladies, have we been directed aright, and are we on the right path
to our goal?
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
And what seekest thou? With what desire hast thou come?
ORESTES
I have been searching for the home of Aegisthus.
LEADER
Well, thou hast found it; and thy guide is blameless.
ORESTES
Which of you, then, will tell those within that our company,
long desired, hath arrived?
LEADER
This maiden,- if the nearest should announce it.
ORESTES
I pray thee, mistress, make it known in the house that certain men
of Phocis seek Aegisthus.
ELECTRA
Ah, woe is me! Surely ye are not bringing the visible proofs of
that rumour which we heard?
ORESTES
I know nothing of thy 'rumour'; but the aged Strophius charged
me with tidings of Orestes.
ELECTRA
What are they, sir? Ah, how I thrill with fear!
ORESTES
He is dead; and in a small urn, as thou seest, we bring the scanty
relics home.
ELECTRA
Ah me unhappy! There, at last, before mine eyes, I see that
woful burden in your hands
ORESTES
If thy tears are for aught which Orestes hath suffered, know
that yonder vessel holds his dust.
ELECTRA
Ah, sir, allow me, then, I implore thee, if this urn indeed
contains him, to take it in my hands,- that I may weep and wail, not
for these ashes alone, but for myself and for all our house therewith!
ORESTES (to the attendants)
Bring it and give it her, whoe'er she be; for she who begs this
boon must be one who wished him no evil, but a friend, or haply a
kinswoman in blood.
(The urn is placed in ELECTRA'S hands.)
ELECTRA
Ah, memorial of him whom I loved best on earth! Ah, Orestes, whose
life hath no relic left save this,- how far from the hopes with
which I sent thee forth is the manner in which I receive thee back!
Now I carry thy poor dust in my hands; but thou wert radiant, my
child, when I sped the forth from home! Would that I had yielded up my
breath, ere, with these hands, I stole thee away, and sent thee to a
strange land, and rescued the from death; that so thou mightest have
been stricken down on that self-same day, and had thy portion in the
tomb of thy sire!
But now, an exile from home and fatherland, thou hast perished
miserably, far from thy sister; woe is me, these loving hands have not
washed or decked thy corpse, nor taken up, as was meet, their sad
burden from the flaming pyre. No! at the hands of strangers, hapless
one, thou hast had those rites, and so art come to us, a little dust
in a narrow urn.
Ah, woe is me for my nursing long ago, so vain, that I oft
bestowed on thee with loving toil I For thou wast never thy mother's
darling so much as mine; nor was any in the house thy nurse but I; and
by thee I was ever called 'sister.' But now all this hath vanished
in a day, with thy death; like a whirlwind, thou hast swept all away
with thee. Our father is gone; I am dead in regard to thee; thou
thyself hast perished: our foes exult; that mother, who is none, is
mad with joy,- she of whom thou didst oft send me secret messages, thy
heralds, saying that thou thyself wouldst appear as an avenger. But
our evil fortune. thine and mine, hath reft all that away, and hath
sent thee forth unto me thus,- no more the form that I loved so
well, but ashes and an idle shade.
Ah me, ah me! O piteous dust! Alas, thou dear one, sent on a
dire journey, how hast undone me,- undone me indeed, O brother mine!
Therefore take me to this thy home, me who am as nothing, to thy
nothingness, that I may dwell with thee henceforth below; for when
thou wert on earth, we shared alike; and now I fain would die, that
I may not be parted from thee in the grave. For I see that the dead
have rest from pain.
LEADER
Bethink thee, Electra, thou art the child of mortal sire, and
mortal was Orestes; thereforegrieve not too much. This is a debt
which all of us must pay.
ORESTES
Alas, what shall I say? What words can serve me at this pass? I
can restrain my lips no longer!
ELECTRA
What hath troubled thee? Why didst thou say that?
ORESTES
Is this the form of the illustrious Electra that I behold?
ELECTRA
It is; and very grievous is her plight.
ORESTES
Alas, then, for this miserable fortune!
ELECTRA
Surely, sir, thy lament is not for me?
ORESTES
O form cruelly, godlessly misused!
ELECTRA
Those ill-omened words, sir, fit no one better than me.
ORESTES
Alas for thy life, unwedded and all unblest!
ELECTRA
Why this steadfast gaze, stranger, and these laments?
ORESTES
How ignorant was I, then, of mine own sorrows!
ELECTRA
My nature was the same then, but my mind less ripe.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Strive to keep such a mind through all thy life.
ELECTRA
These counsels mean that thou wilt not share my deed.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
No; for the venture is likely to bring disaster.
ELECTRA
I admire thy prudence; thy cowardice I hate.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
I will listen not less calmly when thou praise me.
ELECTRA
Never fear to suffer that from me.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Time enough in the future to decide that.
ELECTRA
Begone; there is no power to help in thee.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Not so; but in thee, no mind to learn.
ELECTRA
Go, declare all this to thy mother!
CHRYSOTHEMIS
But, again, I do not hate thee with such a hate.
ELECTRA
Yet know at least to what dishonour thou bringest me.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Dishonour, no! I am only thinking of thy good.
ELECTRA
Am I bound, then, to follow thy rule of right?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
When thou art wise, then thou shalt be our guide.
ELECTRA
Sad, that one who speaks so well should speak amiss!
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Thou hast well described the fault to which thou cleavest.
ELECTRA
How? Dost thou not think that I speak with justice?
CHRYSOTHEMIS
But sometimes justice itself is fraught with harm.
ELECTRA
I care not to live by such a law.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Well, if thou must do this, thou wilt praise me yet.
ELECTRA
And do it I will, no whit dismayed by thee.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Is this so indeed? Wilt thou not change thy counsels?
ELECTRA
No, for nothing is more hateful than bad counsel.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Thou seemest to agree with nothing that I urge.
ELECTRA
My resolve is not new, but long since fixed.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Then I will go; thou canst not be brought to approve my words, nor
to commend thy conduct.
ELECTRA
Nay, go within; never will I follow thee, however much thou
mayst desire it; it were great folly even to attempt an idle quest.
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Nay, if thou art wise in thine own eyes, be such wisdom thine;
by and by, when thou standest in evil plight, thou wilt praise my
words.
(CHRYSOTHEMIS goes into the palace.)
CHORUS (singing)
strophe 1
When we see the birds of the air, with sure instinct, careful to
nourish those who give them life and nurture, why do not we pay
these debts in like measure? Nay, by the lightning-flash of Zeus, by
Themis throned in heaven, it is not long till sin brings sorrow.
Voice that comest to the dead beneath the earth, send a piteous
cry, I pray thee, to the son of Atreus in that world, a joyless
message of dishonour;
antistrophe 1
tell him that the fortunes of his house are now distempered;
while, among his children, strife of sister with sister hath broken
the harmony of loving days. Electra, forsaken, braves the storm alone;
she bewails alway, hapless one, her father's fate, like the
nightingale unwearied in lament; she recks not of death, but is
ready to leave the sunlight, could she but quell the two Furies of her
house. Who shall match such noble child of noble sire?
strophe 2
No generous soul deigns, by a base life, to cloud a fair repute,
and leave a name inglorious; as thou, too, O my daughter, hast
chosen to mourn all thy days with those that mourn, and hast spurned
dishonour, that thou mightest win at once a twofold praise, as wise,
and as the best of daughters.
antistrophe 2
May I yet see thy life raised in might and wealth above thy
foes, even as now it is humbled beneath their hand! For I have found
thee in no prosperousestate; and yet, for observance of nature's
highest laws, winning the noblest renown, by thy piety towards Zeus.
(ORESTES enters, with PYLADES
and two attendants, one of them carrying a funeral urn.)
ORESTES
Ladies, have we been directed aright, and are we on the right path
to our goal?
LEADER OF THE CHORUS
And what seekest thou? With what desire hast thou come?
ORESTES
I have been searching for the home of Aegisthus.
LEADER
Well, thou hast found it; and thy guide is blameless.
ORESTES
Which of you, then, will tell those within that our company,
long desired, hath arrived?
LEADER
This maiden,- if the nearest should announce it.
ORESTES
I pray thee, mistress, make it known in the house that certain men
of Phocis seek Aegisthus.
ELECTRA
Ah, woe is me! Surely ye are not bringing the visible proofs of
that rumour which we heard?
ORESTES
I know nothing of thy 'rumour'; but the aged Strophius charged
me with tidings of Orestes.
ELECTRA
What are they, sir? Ah, how I thrill with fear!
ORESTES
He is dead; and in a small urn, as thou seest, we bring the scanty
relics home.
ELECTRA
Ah me unhappy! There, at last, before mine eyes, I see that
woful burden in your hands
ORESTES
If thy tears are for aught which Orestes hath suffered, know
that yonder vessel holds his dust.
ELECTRA
Ah, sir, allow me, then, I implore thee, if this urn indeed
contains him, to take it in my hands,- that I may weep and wail, not
for these ashes alone, but for myself and for all our house therewith!
ORESTES (to the attendants)
Bring it and give it her, whoe'er she be; for she who begs this
boon must be one who wished him no evil, but a friend, or haply a
kinswoman in blood.
(The urn is placed in ELECTRA'S hands.)
ELECTRA
Ah, memorial of him whom I loved best on earth! Ah, Orestes, whose
life hath no relic left save this,- how far from the hopes with
which I sent thee forth is the manner in which I receive thee back!
Now I carry thy poor dust in my hands; but thou wert radiant, my
child, when I sped the forth from home! Would that I had yielded up my
breath, ere, with these hands, I stole thee away, and sent thee to a
strange land, and rescued the from death; that so thou mightest have
been stricken down on that self-same day, and had thy portion in the
tomb of thy sire!
But now, an exile from home and fatherland, thou hast perished
miserably, far from thy sister; woe is me, these loving hands have not
washed or decked thy corpse, nor taken up, as was meet, their sad
burden from the flaming pyre. No! at the hands of strangers, hapless
one, thou hast had those rites, and so art come to us, a little dust
in a narrow urn.
Ah, woe is me for my nursing long ago, so vain, that I oft
bestowed on thee with loving toil I For thou wast never thy mother's
darling so much as mine; nor was any in the house thy nurse but I; and
by thee I was ever called 'sister.' But now all this hath vanished
in a day, with thy death; like a whirlwind, thou hast swept all away
with thee. Our father is gone; I am dead in regard to thee; thou
thyself hast perished: our foes exult; that mother, who is none, is
mad with joy,- she of whom thou didst oft send me secret messages, thy
heralds, saying that thou thyself wouldst appear as an avenger. But
our evil fortune. thine and mine, hath reft all that away, and hath
sent thee forth unto me thus,- no more the form that I loved so
well, but ashes and an idle shade.
Ah me, ah me! O piteous dust! Alas, thou dear one, sent on a
dire journey, how hast undone me,- undone me indeed, O brother mine!
Therefore take me to this thy home, me who am as nothing, to thy
nothingness, that I may dwell with thee henceforth below; for when
thou wert on earth, we shared alike; and now I fain would die, that
I may not be parted from thee in the grave. For I see that the dead
have rest from pain.
LEADER
Bethink thee, Electra, thou art the child of mortal sire, and
mortal was Orestes; thereforegrieve not too much. This is a debt
which all of us must pay.
ORESTES
Alas, what shall I say? What words can serve me at this pass? I
can restrain my lips no longer!
ELECTRA
What hath troubled thee? Why didst thou say that?
ORESTES
Is this the form of the illustrious Electra that I behold?
ELECTRA
It is; and very grievous is her plight.
ORESTES
Alas, then, for this miserable fortune!
ELECTRA
Surely, sir, thy lament is not for me?
ORESTES
O form cruelly, godlessly misused!
ELECTRA
Those ill-omened words, sir, fit no one better than me.
ORESTES
Alas for thy life, unwedded and all unblest!
ELECTRA
Why this steadfast gaze, stranger, and these laments?
ORESTES
How ignorant was I, then, of mine own sorrows!
- venture [´ventʃə]
n.投机 v.冒险；敢于 (初中英语单词) - calmly [´kɑ:mli] ad.平静地；无风浪地 (初中英语单词)
- resolve [ri´zɔlv] v.决心 n.决心；刚毅 (初中英语单词)
- approve [ə´pru:v] v.赞成；同意；批准 (初中英语单词)
- wisdom [´wizdəm] n.智慧，聪明，才智 (初中英语单词)
- instinct [´instiŋkt] n.本能；直觉；天资 (初中英语单词)
- measure [´meʒə] n.量度；范围 vt.测量 (初中英语单词)
- harmony [´hɑ:məni] n.调合，协调，和谐 (初中英语单词)
- sunlight [´sʌnlait] n.日光 (初中英语单词)
- generous [´dʒenərəs] a.慷慨的；丰盛的 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- prosperous [´prɔspərəs] a.繁荣的；顺利的 (初中英语单词)
- estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中英语单词)
- funeral [´fju:nərəl] n.葬礼，丧葬；困难 (初中英语单词)
- mistress [´mistris] n.女主人；情妇；女能手 (初中英语单词)
- visible [´vizəbəl] a.可见的；明显的 (初中英语单词)
- thrill [θril] v.震惊；激动；刺激 (初中英语单词)
- vessel [´vesəl] n.容器；船；脉管 (初中英语单词)
- portion [´pɔ:ʃən] n.嫁妆；命运 vt.分配 (初中英语单词)
- henceforth [´hens´fɔ:θ] ad.今后；从今以后 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- grieve [gri:v] v.&n.(使)悲痛；哀悼 (初中英语单词)
- miserable [´mizərəbəl] a.悲惨的；可怜的 (初中英语单词)
- ignorant [´ignərənt] a.无知的，愚昧的 (初中英语单词)
- commend [kə´mend] vt.把...交托给；称赞 (高中英语单词)
- plight [plait] n.境况；困境；苦境 (高中英语单词)
- strife [straif] n.竞争；吵架；冲突 (高中英语单词)
- loving [´lʌviŋ] a.爱的，有爱情的 (高中英语单词)
- lament [lə´ment] v.哀悼 n.哀悼；恸哭 (高中英语单词)
- renown [ri´naun] n.名望 vt.使有名望 (高中英语单词)
- tidings [´taidiŋz] n.消息，音信 (高中英语单词)
- implore [im´plɔ:] vt.乞求，恳求 (高中英语单词)
- memorial [mi´mɔ:riəl] a.纪念的 n.纪念物 (高中英语单词)
- radiant [´reidiənt] a.发光的 n.光源(体) (高中英语单词)
- stricken [´strikən] strike的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
- saying [´seiŋ, ´sei-iŋ] n.言语；言论；格言 (高中英语单词)
- mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
- restrain [ri´strein] vt.抑制；管束；限制 (高中英语单词)
- illustrious [i´lʌstriəs] a.杰出的，显赫的 (高中英语单词)
- prudence [´pru:dəns] n.谨慎；慎重；节俭 (英语四级单词)
- hateful [´heitfəl] a.可恨的，可憎的 (英语四级单词)
- observance [əb´zə:vəns] n.遵守；惯例；仪式 (英语四级单词)
- winning [´winiŋ] n.&a.胜利(的) (英语四级单词)
- corpse [kɔ:ps] n.尸体 (英语四级单词)
- flaming [´fleimiŋ] a.熊熊燃烧的；热情的 (英语四级单词)
- whirlwind [´wə:l,wind] n.旋风；猛烈的势力 (英语四级单词)
- grievous [´gri:vəs] a.痛苦的；严重的 (英语四级单词)
- cruelly [´kruəli] ad.残酷地；极，非常 (英语四级单词)
- cowardice [´kauədis] n.懦弱，胆怯 (英语六级单词)
- fraught [frɔ:t] a.充满...的 (英语六级单词)
- forsaken [fə´seik] forsake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)
- undone [,ʌn´dʌn] a.未完成的，没有做的 (英语六级单词)
- steadfast [´stedfɑ:st, -fæst] a.坚定的，不动摇的 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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