章节正文
TEIRESIAS
This day shall be thy birth-day, and thy grave.
OEDIPUS
Thou lov'st to speak in riddles and dark words.
TEIRESIAS
In reading riddles who so skilled as thou?
OEDIPUS
Twit me with that wherein my greatness lies.
TEIRESIAS
And yet this very greatness proved thy bane.
OEDIPUS
No matter if I saved the commonwealth.
TEIRESIAS
'Tis time I left thee. Come, boy, take me home.
OEDIPUS
Aye, take him quickly, for his presence irks
And lets me; gone, thou canst not plague me more.
TEIRESIAS
I go, but first will tell thee why I came.
Thy frown I dread not, for thou canst not harm me.
Hear then: this man whom thou hast sought to arrest
With threats and warrants this long while, the wretch
Who murdered Laius--that man is here.
He passes for an alien in the land
But soon shall prove a Theban, native born.
And yet his fortune brings him little joy;
For blind of seeing, clad in beggar's weeds,
For purple robes, and leaning on his staff,
To a strange land he soon shall grope his way.
And of the children, inmates of his home,
He shall be proved the brother and the sire,
Of her who bare him son and husband both,
Co-partner, and assassin of his sire.
Go in and ponder this, and if thou find
That I have missed the mark, henceforth declare
I have no wit nor skill in prophecy.
[Exeunt TEIRESIAS and OEDIPUS]
CHORUS
(Str. 1)
Who is he by voice mortal" target="_blank" title="a.不死的n.不朽的人物">immortal named from Pythia's rocky cell,
Doer of foul deeds of bloodshed, horrors that no tongue can tell?
A foot for flight he needs
Fleeter than storm-swift steeds,
For on his heels doth follow,
Armed with the lightnings of his Sire, Apollo.
Like sleuth-hounds too
The Fates pursue.
(Ant. 1)
Yea, but now flashed forth the summons from Parnassus' snowy peak,
"Near and far the undiscovered doer of this murder seek!"
Now like a sullen bull he roves
Through forest brakes and upland groves,
And vainly seeks to fly
The doom that ever nigh
Flits o'er his head,
Still by the avenging Phoebus sped,
The voice divine,
From Earth's mid shrine.
(Str. 2)
Sore perplexed am I by the words of the master seer.
Are they true, are they false? I know not and bridle my tongue for
fear,
Fluttered with vague surmise; nor present nor future is clear.
Quarrel of ancient date or in days still near know I none
Twixt the Labdacidan house and our ruler, Polybus' son.
Proof is there none: how then can I challenge our King's good name,
How in a blood-feud join for an untracked deed of shame?
(Ant. 2)
All wise are Zeus and Apollo, and nothing is hid from their ken;
They are gods; and in wits a man may surpass his fellow men;
But that a mortal seer knows more than I know--where
Hath this been proven? Or how without sign assured, can I blame
Him who saved our State when the winged songstress came,
Tested and tried in the light of us all, like gold assayed?
How can I now assent when a crime is on Oedipus laid?
CREON
Friends, countrymen, I learn King Oedipus
Hath laid against me a most grievous charge,
And come to you protesting. If he deems
That I have harmed or injured him in aught
By word or deed in this our present trouble,
I care not to prolong the span of life,
Thus ill-reputed; for the calumny
Hits not a single blot, but blasts my name,
If by the general voice I am denounced
False to the State and false by you my friends.
CHORUS
This taunt, it well may be, was blurted out
In petulance, not spokenadvisedly.
CREON
Did any dare pretend that it was I
Prompted the seer to utter a forged charge?
CHORUS
Such things were said; with what intent I know not.
CREON
Were not his wits and vision all astray
When upon me he fixed this monstrous charge?
CHORUS
I know not; to my sovereign's acts I am blind.
But lo, he comes to answer for himself.
[Enter OEDIPUS.]
OEDIPUS
Sirrah, what mak'st thou here? Dost thou presume
To approach my doors, thou brazen-faced rogue,
My murderer and the filcher of my crown?
Come, answer this, didst thou detect in me
Some touch of cowardice or witlessness,
That made thee undertake this enterprise?
I seemed forsooth too simple to perceive
The serpent stealing on me in the dark,
Or else too weak to scotch it when I saw.
This _thou_ art witless seeking to possess
Without a following or friends the crown,
A prize that followers and wealth must win.
CREON
Attend me. Thou hast spoken, 'tis my turn
To make reply. Then having heard me, judge.
OEDIPUS
Thou art glib of tongue, but I am slow to learn
Of thee; I know too well thy venomous hate.
CREON
First I would argue out this very point.
OEDIPUS
O argue not that thou art not a rogue.
CREON
If thou dost count a virtue stubbornness,
Unschooled by reason, thou art much astray.
OEDIPUS
If thou dost hold a kinsman may be wronged,
And no pains follow, thou art much to seek.
CREON
Therein thou judgest rightly, but this wrong
That thou allegest--tell me what it is.
OEDIPUS
Didst thou or didst thou not advise that I
Should call the priest?
CREON
Yes, and I stand to it.
OEDIPUS
Tell me how long is it since Laius...
CREON
Since Laius...? I follow not thy drift.
OEDIPUS
By violent hands was spirited away.
CREON
In the dim past, a many years agone.
OEDIPUS
Did the same prophet then pursue his craft?
CREON
Yes, skilled as now and in no less repute.
OEDIPUS
Did he at that time ever glance at me?
CREON
Not to my knowledge, not when I was by.
OEDIPUS
But was no search and inquisition made?
CREON
Surely full quest was made, but nothing learnt.
OEDIPUS
Why failed the seer to tell his story _then_?
CREON
I know not, and not knowing hold my tongue.
OEDIPUS
This much thou knowest and canst surely tell.
CREON
What's mean'st thou? All I know I will declare.
OEDIPUS
But for thy prompting never had the seer
Ascribed to me the death of Laius.
CREON
If so he thou knowest best; but I
Would put thee to the question in my turn.
OEDIPUS
Question and prove me murderer if thou canst.
CREON
Then let me ask thee, didst thou wed my sister?
OEDIPUS
A fact so plain I cannot well deny.
CREON
And as thy consort queen she shares the throne?
OEDIPUS
I grant her freely all her heart desires.
CREON
And with you twain I share the triple rule?
OEDIPUS
Yea, and it is that proves thee a false friend.
CREON
Not so, if thou wouldst reason with thyself,
As I with myself. First, I bid thee think,
Would any mortal choose a troubled reign
Of terrors rather than secure repose,
If the same power were given him? As for me,
I have no natural craving for the name
Of king, preferring to do kingly deeds,
And so thinks every sober-minded man.
Now all my needs are satisfied through thee,
And I have naught to fear; but were I king,
My acts would oft run counter to my will.
How could a title then have charms for me
Above the sweets of boundless influence?
I am not so infatuate as to grasp
This day shall be thy birth-day, and thy grave.
OEDIPUS
Thou lov'st to speak in riddles and dark words.
TEIRESIAS
In reading riddles who so skilled as thou?
OEDIPUS
Twit me with that wherein my greatness lies.
TEIRESIAS
And yet this very greatness proved thy bane.
OEDIPUS
No matter if I saved the commonwealth.
TEIRESIAS
'Tis time I left thee. Come, boy, take me home.
OEDIPUS
Aye, take him quickly, for his presence irks
And lets me; gone, thou canst not plague me more.
TEIRESIAS
I go, but first will tell thee why I came.
Thy frown I dread not, for thou canst not harm me.
Hear then: this man whom thou hast sought to arrest
With threats and warrants this long while, the wretch
Who murdered Laius--that man is here.
He passes for an alien in the land
But soon shall prove a Theban, native born.
And yet his fortune brings him little joy;
For blind of seeing, clad in beggar's weeds,
For purple robes, and leaning on his staff,
To a strange land he soon shall grope his way.
And of the children, inmates of his home,
He shall be proved the brother and the sire,
Of her who bare him son and husband both,
Co-partner, and assassin of his sire.
Go in and ponder this, and if thou find
That I have missed the mark, henceforth declare
I have no wit nor skill in prophecy.
[Exeunt TEIRESIAS and OEDIPUS]
CHORUS
(Str. 1)
Who is he by voice mortal" target="_blank" title="a.不死的n.不朽的人物">immortal named from Pythia's rocky cell,
Doer of foul deeds of bloodshed, horrors that no tongue can tell?
A foot for flight he needs
Fleeter than storm-swift steeds,
For on his heels doth follow,
Armed with the lightnings of his Sire, Apollo.
Like sleuth-hounds too
The Fates pursue.
(Ant. 1)
Yea, but now flashed forth the summons from Parnassus' snowy peak,
"Near and far the undiscovered doer of this murder seek!"
Now like a sullen bull he roves
Through forest brakes and upland groves,
And vainly seeks to fly
The doom that ever nigh
Flits o'er his head,
Still by the avenging Phoebus sped,
The voice divine,
From Earth's mid shrine.
(Str. 2)
Sore perplexed am I by the words of the master seer.
Are they true, are they false? I know not and bridle my tongue for
fear,
Fluttered with vague surmise; nor present nor future is clear.
Quarrel of ancient date or in days still near know I none
Twixt the Labdacidan house and our ruler, Polybus' son.
Proof is there none: how then can I challenge our King's good name,
How in a blood-feud join for an untracked deed of shame?
(Ant. 2)
All wise are Zeus and Apollo, and nothing is hid from their ken;
They are gods; and in wits a man may surpass his fellow men;
But that a mortal seer knows more than I know--where
Hath this been proven? Or how without sign assured, can I blame
Him who saved our State when the winged songstress came,
Tested and tried in the light of us all, like gold assayed?
How can I now assent when a crime is on Oedipus laid?
CREON
Friends, countrymen, I learn King Oedipus
Hath laid against me a most grievous charge,
And come to you protesting. If he deems
That I have harmed or injured him in aught
By word or deed in this our present trouble,
I care not to prolong the span of life,
Thus ill-reputed; for the calumny
Hits not a single blot, but blasts my name,
If by the general voice I am denounced
False to the State and false by you my friends.
CHORUS
This taunt, it well may be, was blurted out
In petulance, not spokenadvisedly.
CREON
Did any dare pretend that it was I
Prompted the seer to utter a forged charge?
CHORUS
Such things were said; with what intent I know not.
CREON
Were not his wits and vision all astray
When upon me he fixed this monstrous charge?
CHORUS
I know not; to my sovereign's acts I am blind.
But lo, he comes to answer for himself.
[Enter OEDIPUS.]
OEDIPUS
Sirrah, what mak'st thou here? Dost thou presume
To approach my doors, thou brazen-faced rogue,
My murderer and the filcher of my crown?
Come, answer this, didst thou detect in me
Some touch of cowardice or witlessness,
That made thee undertake this enterprise?
I seemed forsooth too simple to perceive
The serpent stealing on me in the dark,
Or else too weak to scotch it when I saw.
This _thou_ art witless seeking to possess
Without a following or friends the crown,
A prize that followers and wealth must win.
CREON
Attend me. Thou hast spoken, 'tis my turn
To make reply. Then having heard me, judge.
OEDIPUS
Thou art glib of tongue, but I am slow to learn
Of thee; I know too well thy venomous hate.
CREON
First I would argue out this very point.
OEDIPUS
O argue not that thou art not a rogue.
CREON
If thou dost count a virtue stubbornness,
Unschooled by reason, thou art much astray.
OEDIPUS
If thou dost hold a kinsman may be wronged,
And no pains follow, thou art much to seek.
CREON
Therein thou judgest rightly, but this wrong
That thou allegest--tell me what it is.
OEDIPUS
Didst thou or didst thou not advise that I
Should call the priest?
CREON
Yes, and I stand to it.
OEDIPUS
Tell me how long is it since Laius...
CREON
Since Laius...? I follow not thy drift.
OEDIPUS
By violent hands was spirited away.
CREON
In the dim past, a many years agone.
OEDIPUS
Did the same prophet then pursue his craft?
CREON
Yes, skilled as now and in no less repute.
OEDIPUS
Did he at that time ever glance at me?
CREON
Not to my knowledge, not when I was by.
OEDIPUS
But was no search and inquisition made?
CREON
Surely full quest was made, but nothing learnt.
OEDIPUS
Why failed the seer to tell his story _then_?
CREON
I know not, and not knowing hold my tongue.
OEDIPUS
This much thou knowest and canst surely tell.
CREON
What's mean'st thou? All I know I will declare.
OEDIPUS
But for thy prompting never had the seer
Ascribed to me the death of Laius.
CREON
If so he thou knowest best; but I
Would put thee to the question in my turn.
OEDIPUS
Question and prove me murderer if thou canst.
CREON
Then let me ask thee, didst thou wed my sister?
OEDIPUS
A fact so plain I cannot well deny.
CREON
And as thy consort queen she shares the throne?
OEDIPUS
I grant her freely all her heart desires.
CREON
And with you twain I share the triple rule?
OEDIPUS
Yea, and it is that proves thee a false friend.
CREON
Not so, if thou wouldst reason with thyself,
As I with myself. First, I bid thee think,
Would any mortal choose a troubled reign
Of terrors rather than secure repose,
If the same power were given him? As for me,
I have no natural craving for the name
Of king, preferring to do kingly deeds,
And so thinks every sober-minded man.
Now all my needs are satisfied through thee,
And I have naught to fear; but were I king,
My acts would oft run counter to my will.
How could a title then have charms for me
Above the sweets of boundless influence?
I am not so infatuate as to grasp
- reading [´ri:diŋ]
n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词) - purple [´pə:pl] n.紫色 a.紫(红)的 (初中英语单词)
- henceforth [´hens´fɔ:θ] ad.今后；从今以后 (初中英语单词)
- immortal [i´mɔ:təl] a.不死的n.不朽的人物 (初中英语单词)
- flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
- challenge [´tʃælindʒ] n.&vt.向....挑战；怀疑 (初中英语单词)
- apollo [ə´pɔləu] n.阿波罗 (初中英语单词)
- winged [´wiŋd] a.有翼的 (初中英语单词)
- spoken [´spəukən] speak的过去分词 (初中英语单词)
- pretend [pri´tend] v.假装；借口；妄求 (初中英语单词)
- intent [in´tent] a.专心致志的 n.意图 (初中英语单词)
- vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
- undertake [,ʌndə´teik] vt.从事；承担；担保 (初中英语单词)
- wealth [welθ] n.财富，财产 (初中英语单词)
- virtue [´və:tʃu:] n.美德；贞操；长处 (初中英语单词)
- advise [əd´vaiz] vt.忠告；建议；通知 (初中英语单词)
- violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
- prophet [´prɔfit] n.预言家；先知；提倡者 (初中英语单词)
- pursue [pə´sju:] v.追赶；追踪；从事 (初中英语单词)
- knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)
- freely [´fri:li] ad.自由地；慷慨地 (初中英语单词)
- skilled [skild] a.有技能的，熟练的 (高中英语单词)
- wherein [weər´in] ad.那里面 (高中英语单词)
- greatness [´greitnis] n.巨大；高尚；卓越 (高中英语单词)
- plague [pleig] n.瘟疫 vt.使...染疫 (高中英语单词)
- seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)
- ponder [´pɔndə] v.沉思；考虑；估量 (高中英语单词)
- sullen [´sʌlən] a.不高兴的 (高中英语单词)
- vainly [´veinli] ad.虚荣地；自负地 (高中英语单词)
- bridle [´braidl] n.(马)笼头；束缚 (高中英语单词)
- surpass [sə´pɑ:s] vt.超过，胜过 (高中英语单词)
- mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
- assent [ə´sent] vi.&n.同意，赞成 (高中英语单词)
- prolong [prə´lɔŋ] vt.延长；拉长；拖延 (高中英语单词)
- monstrous [´mɔnstrəs] a.怪异的；庞大的 (高中英语单词)
- murderer [´mə:dərə] n.杀人犯，凶手 (高中英语单词)
- detect [di´tekt] vt.发觉；侦察 (高中英语单词)
- serpent [´sə:pənt] n.大毒蛇；阴险的人 (高中英语单词)
- scotch [skɔtʃ] vt.&n.刻痕(于)；划伤 (高中英语单词)
- naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)
- counter [´kauntə] n.计算者；柜台；计算机 (高中英语单词)
- grievous [´gri:vəs] a.痛苦的；严重的 (英语四级单词)
- rightly [´raitli] ad.正义地；正确地 (英语四级单词)
- consort [´kɔnsɔ:t] n.&v.配偶；合作；一致 (英语四级单词)
- kingly [´kiŋli] a.国王的 ad.国王似地 (英语四级单词)
- boundless [´baundlis] a.无边无际的 (英语四级单词)
- assassin [ə´sæsin] n.刺客，暗杀者 (英语六级单词)
- bloodshed [´blʌdʃed] n.流血；杀人 (英语六级单词)
- upland [´ʌplənd] n.高地；山地 (英语六级单词)
- phoebus [´fi:bəs] n.太阳神 (英语六级单词)
- surmise [´sə:maiz] n.&a.推测(的)；猜疑(的) (英语六级单词)
- assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)
- cowardice [´kauədis] n.懦弱，胆怯 (英语六级单词)
- venomous [´venəməs] a.有毒的；恶意的 (英语六级单词)
- inquisition [iŋkwi´ziʃən] n.调查，询问 (英语六级单词)
- triple [´tripəl] a.三倍的v.增加到三倍 (英语六级单词)
- craving [´kreiviŋ] n.渴望，热望 (英语六级单词)
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章节正文
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