The shadow when I hold the substance fast.

Now all men cry me Godspeed! wish me well,
And every suitor seeks to gain my ear,

If he would hope to win a grace from thee.
Why should I leave the better, choose the worse?

That were sheer madness, and I am not mad.
No such ambition ever tempted me,

Nor would I have a share in such intrigue.
And if thou doubt me, first to Delphi go,

There ascertain if my report was true
Of the god's answer; next investigate

If with the seer I plotted or conspired,
And if it prove so, sentence me to death,

Not by thy voice alone, but mine and thine.
But O condemn me not, without appeal,

On bare suspicion. 'Tis not right to adjudge
Bad men at random good, or good men bad.

I would as lief a man should cast away
The thing he counts most precious, his own life,

As spurn a true friend. Thou wilt learn in time
The truth, for time alone reveals the just;

A villain is detected in a day.
CHORUS

To one who walketh warily his words
Commend themselves; swift counsels are not sure.

OEDIPUS
When with swift strides the stealthy plotter stalks

I must be quick too with my counterplot.
To wait his onset passively, for him

Is sure success, for me assured defeat.
CREON

What then's thy will? To banish me the land?
OEDIPUS

I would not have thee banished, no, but dead,
That men may mark the wages envy reaps.

CREON
I see thou wilt not yield, nor credit me.

OEDIPUS
[None but a fool would credit such as thou.] [3]

CREON
Thou art not wise.

OEDIPUS
Wise for myself at least.

CREON
Why not for me too?

OEDIPUS
Why for such a knave?

CREON
Suppose thou lackest sense.

OEDIPUS
Yet kings must rule.

CREON
Not if they rule ill.

OEDIPUS
Oh my Thebans, hear him!

CREON
Thy Thebans? am not I a Theban too?

CHORUS
Cease, princes; lo there comes, and none too soon,

Jocasta from the palace. Who so fit
As peacemaker to reconcile your feud?

[Enter JOCASTA.]
JOCASTA

Misguided princes, why have ye upraised
This wordy wrangle? Are ye not ashamed,

While the whole land lies striken, thus to voice
Your private injuries? Go in, my lord;

Go home, my brother, and forebear to make
A public scandal of a petty grief.

CREON
My royal sister, Oedipus, thy lord,

Hath bid me choose (O dread alternative!)
An outlaw's exile or a felon's death.

OEDIPUS
Yes, lady; I have caught him practicing

Against my royal person his vile arts.
CREON

May I ne'er speed but die accursed, if I
In any way am guilty of this charge.

JOCASTA
Believe him, I adjure thee, Oedipus,

First for his solemn oath's sake, then for mine,
And for thine elders' sake who wait on thee.

CHORUS
(Str. 1)

Hearken, King, reflect, we pray thee, but not stubborn but relent.
OEDIPUS

Say to what should I consent?
CHORUS

Respect a man whose probity and troth
Are known to all and now confirmed by oath.

OEDIPUS
Dost know what grace thou cravest?

CHORUS
Yea, I know.

OEDIPUS
Declare it then and make thy meaning plain.

CHORUS
Brand not a friend whom babbling tongues assail;

Let not suspicion 'gainst his oath prevail.
OEDIPUS

Bethink you that in seeking this ye seek
In very sooth my death or banishment?

CHORUS
No, by the leader of the host divine!

(Str. 2)
Witness, thou Sun, such thought was never mine,

Unblest, unfriended may I perish,
If ever I such wish did cherish!

But O my heart is desolate
Musing on our striken State,

Doubly fall'n should discord grow
Twixt you twain, to crown our woe.

OEDIPUS
Well, let him go, no matter what it cost me,

Or certain death or shamefulbanishment,
For your sake I relent, not his; and him,

Where'er he be, my heart shall still abhor.
CREON

Thou art as sullen in thy yielding mood
As in thine anger thou wast truculent.

Such tempers justlyplague themselves the most.
OEDIPUS

Leave me in peace and get thee gone.
CREON

I go,
By thee misjudged, but justified by these.

[Exeunt CREON]
CHORUS

(Ant. 1)
Lady, lead indoors thy consort; wherefore longer here delay?

JOCASTA
Tell me first how rose the fray.

CHORUS
Rumors bred unjustsuspicious and injustice rankles sore.

JOCASTA
Were both at fault?

CHORUS
Both.

JOCASTA
What was the tale?

CHORUS
Ask me no more. The land is sore distressed;

'Twere better sleeping ills to leave at rest.
OEDIPUS

Strange counsel, friend! I know thou mean'st me well,
And yet would'st mitigate and blunt my zeal.

CHORUS
(Ant. 2)

King, I say it once again,
Witless were I proved, insane,

If I lightly put away
Thee my country's prop and stay,

Pilot who, in danger sought,
To a quiet haven brought

Our distracted State; and now
Who can guide us right but thou?

JOCASTA
Let me too, I adjure thee, know, O king,

What cause has stirred this unrelenting wrath.
OEDIPUS

I will, for thou art more to me than these.
Lady, the cause is Creon and his plots.

JOCASTA
But what provoked the quarrel? make this clear.

OEDIPUS
He points me out as Laius' murderer.

JOCASTA
Of his own knowledge or upon report?

OEDIPUS
He is too cunning to commit himself,

And makes a mouthpiece of a knavish seer.
JOCASTA

Then thou mayest ease thy conscience on that score.
Listen and I'll convince thee that no man

Hath scot or lot in the prophetic art.
Here is the proof in brief. An oracle

Once came to Laius (I will not say
'Twas from the Delphic god himself, but from

His ministers) declaring he was doomed
To perish by the hand of his own son,

A child that should be born to him by me.
Now Laius--so at least report affirmed--

Was murdered on a day by highwaymen,
No natives, at a spot where three roads meet.

As for the child, it was but three days old,
When Laius, its ankles pierced and pinned

Together, gave it to be cast away
By others on the trackless mountain side.

So then Apollo brought it not to pass
The child should be his father's murderer,

Or the dread terror find accomplishment,
And Laius be slain by his own son.

Such was the prophet's horoscope. O king,
Regard it not. Whate'er the god deems fit

To search, himself unaided will reveal.
OEDIPUS

What memories, what wild tumult of the soul
Came o'er me, lady, as I heard thee speak!

JOCASTA
What mean'st thou? What has shocked and startled thee?

• ambition [æm´biʃən] n.雄心，野心；企图 (初中英语单词)
• sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
• condemn [kən´dem] vt.谴责；定罪，判处 (初中英语单词)
• suspicion [sə´spiʃən] n.怀(猜)疑；嫌疑 (初中英语单词)
• guilty [´gilti] a.有罪的；心虚的 (初中英语单词)
• solemn [´sɔləm] a.严肃的；隆重的 (初中英语单词)
• reflect [ri´flekt] v.反射；反响；表达 (初中英语单词)
• sleeping [´sli:piŋ] n.&a.睡着(的) (初中英语单词)
• counsel [´kaunsəl] n.商议；劝告；律师 (初中英语单词)
• lightly [´laitli] ad.轻微地，稍微 (初中英语单词)
• cunning [´kʌniŋ] a.&n.狡猾(诡诈)的 (初中英语单词)
• commit [kə´mit] vt.犯(罪)；把...判处 (初中英语单词)
• conscience [´kɔnʃəns] n.良心；道德心 (初中英语单词)
• convince [kən´vins] vt.使确信；使认识错误 (初中英语单词)
• perish [´periʃ] v.灭亡；消灭；(使)死去 (初中英语单词)
• apollo [ə´pɔləu] n.阿波罗 (初中英语单词)
• terror [´terə] n.恐怖；惊骇 (初中英语单词)
• madness [´mædnis] n.疯狂；狂热 (高中英语单词)
• ascertain [,æsə´tein] vt.探查；查明 (高中英语单词)
• random [´rændəm] n.偶然的行动 (高中英语单词)
• banish [´bæniʃ] vt.流放；消除(顾虑等) (高中英语单词)
• reconcile [´rekənsail] vt.调和；使和谐 (高中英语单词)
• scandal [´skændl] n.丑闻；耻辱；流言蜚语 (高中英语单词)
• stubborn [´stʌbən] a.顽固的；坚持的 (高中英语单词)
• sullen [´sʌlən] a.不高兴的 (高中英语单词)
• plague [pleig] n.瘟疫 vt.使...染疫 (高中英语单词)
• indoors [,in´dɔ:z] ad.在屋里 (高中英语单词)
• suspicious [sə´spiʃəs] a.可疑的，多疑的 (高中英语单词)
• injustice [in´dʒʌstis] n.不公正，不公平 (高中英语单词)
• tumult [´tju:mʌlt, ´tu:-] n.喧哗；激昂；烦乱 (高中英语单词)
• suitor [´su:tə, ´sju:-] n.原告；请求者；求爱者 (英语四级单词)
• villain [´vilən] n.坏人；恶棍；反面角色 (英语四级单词)
• accursed [ə´kə:sid] a.被诅咒的；可憎的 (英语四级单词)
• shameful [´ʃeimfəl] a.可耻的；猥亵的 (英语四级单词)
• justly [´dʒʌstli] ad.公正地，正当地 (英语四级单词)
• consort [´kɔnsɔ:t] n.&v.配偶；合作；一致 (英语四级单词)
• wherefore [´weəfɔ:] ad.为什么；因此 (英语四级单词)
• unjust [ʌn´dʒʌst] a.不公平(正)的 (英语四级单词)
• assured [ə´ʃuəd] a.确实的 n.被保险人 (英语六级单词)
• wrangle [´ræŋgəl] v.争论，口角，争吵 (英语六级单词)
• discord [´diskɔ:d] n.不一致；不和谐 (英语六级单词)
• relent [ri´lent] vi.发慈悲心；怜悯 (英语六级单词)
• prophetic [prə´fetik] a.预言(家)的；预示的 (英语六级单词)