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Hippolytus-Part5_Euripides(480-406BC)_Translated Works(翻译文学)-第2页

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A very master in his craft the man, who can force fools to be



wise! But these ill-timed subtleties of thine, father, make me fear

thy tongue is running wild through trouble.



THESEUS

Fie upon thee! man needs should have some certain test set up to



try his friends, some touchstone of their hearts, to know each

friend whether he be true or false; all men should have two voices,



one the voice of honesty, expediency's the other, so would honesty

confute its knavish opposite, and then we could not be deceived.



HIPPOLYTUS

Say, hath some friend been slandering me and hath he still thine



ear? and I, though guiltless, banned? I am amazed, for thy random,

frantic words fill me with wild alarm.



THESEUS

O the mind of mortal man! to what lengths will it proceed? What



limit will its bold assurance have? for if it goes on growing as man's

life advances, and each successor outdo the man before him in



villainy, the gods will have to add another sphere unto the world,

which shall take in the knaves and villians. Behold this man; he, my



own son, hath outraged mine honour, his guilt most clearly proved by

my dead wife. Now, since thou hast dared this loathly crime, come,



look thy father in the face. Art thou the man who dost with gods

consort, as one above the vulgar herd? art thou the chaste and sinless



saint? Thy boasts will never persuade me to be guilty of attributing

ignorance to gods. Go then, vaunt thyself, and drive thy petty trade



in viands formed of lifeless food; take Orpheus for thy chief and go

a-revelling, with all honour for the vapourings of many a written



scroll, seeing thou now art caught. Let all beware, I say, of such

hypocrites! who hunt their prey with fine words, and all the while are



scheming villainy. She is dead; dost think that this will save thee?

Why this convicts thee more than all, abandoned wretch! What oaths,



what pleas can outweigh this letter, so that thou shouldst 'scape

thy doom? Thou wilt assert she hated thee, that 'twixt the bastard and



the true-born child nature has herself put war; it seems then by thy

showing she made a sorry bargain with her life, if to gratify her hate



of thee she lost what most she prized. 'Tis said, no doubt, that

frailty finds no place in man but is innate in woman; my experience



is, young men are no more secure than women, whenso the Queen of

Love excites a youthful breast; although their sex comes in to help



them. Yet why do I thus bandy words with thee, when before me lies the

corpse, to be the clearest witness? Begone at once, an exile from this



land, and ne'er set foot again in god-built Athens nor in the confines

of my dominion. For if I am tamely to submit to this treatment from



such as thee, no more will Sinis, robber of the Isthmus, bear me

witness how I slew him, but say my boasts are idle, nor will those



rocks Scironian, that fringe the sea, call me the miscreants' scourge.

LEADER



I know not how to call happy any child of man; for that which

was first has turned and now is last.



HIPPOLYTUS

Father, thy wrath and the tension of thy mind are terrible; yet



this charge, specious though its arguments appear, becomes a

calumny, if one lay it bare. Small skill have I in speaking to a



crowd, but have a readier wit for comrades of mine own age and small

companies. Yea, and this is as it should be; for they, whom the wise



despise, are better qualified to speak before a mob. Yet am I

constrained under the present circumstances to break silence. And at



the outset will I take the point which formed the basis of thy

stealthy attack on me, designed to put me out of court unheard; dost



see yon sun, this earth? These do not contain, for all thou dost

deny it, chastity surpassing mine. To reverence God I count the



highest knowledge, and to adopt as friends not those who attempt

injustice, but such as would blush to propose to their companions



aught disgraceful or pleasure them by shameful services; to mock at

friends is not my way, father, but I am still the same behind their



backs as to their face. The very crime thou thinkest to catch me in,

is just the one I am untainted with, for to this day have I kept me



pure from women. Nor know I aught thereof, save what I hear or see

in pictures, for I have no wish to look even on these, so pure my



virgin soul. I grant my claim to chastity may not convince thee; well,

'tis then for thee to show the way I was corrupted. Did this woman






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