Led me in secret to his bed.
ION

Speak on;
Thy words import some glorious fortune to me.

CREUSA
Thee in the tenth revolving month, my son,

A secret pang to Phoebus did I bear.
ION

Thy words, if true, are grateful to my soul.
CREUSA

These swathing bands, thy mother's virgin work,
Wove by my flying shuttle, round thy body

I roll'd; but from thy lips my breast withheld,
A mother's nouriture, nor bathed thy bands

In cleansing lavers; but to death exposed thee,
Laid in the dreary cave, to birds of prey

A feast, rent piecemeal by their ravenous beaks.
ION

Cruel, my mother, was thy deed.
CREUSA

By fear
Constrain'd, my son, I cast thy life away;

Unwillingly I left thee there to die.
ION

And from my hands unholy were thy death.
CREUSA

Dreadful was then my fortune, dreadful here,
Whirl'd by the eddying blast from misery there

To misery here, and back again to joy:
Her boisterous winds are changed; may she remain

In this repose: enough of ills are past:
After the storm soft breathes a favouring gale.

LEADER
From this example, mid the greatest ills

Never let mortal man abandon hope.
ION

O thou, that hast to thousands wrought a change
Of state ere this, involving them in ills,

And raising them to happiness again;
Fortune, to what a point have I been carried,

Ready to kill my mother, horrid thought!
But in the sun's bright course each day affords

Instruction. Thee, my mother, have I found,
In that discovery bless'd; nor hath my birth

Aught I can blame: yet one thing would I say
To thee alone:-walk this way: to thine ear

In secret would I whisper this, and throw
The veil of darkness o'er each circumstance.

Take heed, my mother, lest thy maiden fault
Seeks in these secret nuptials to conceal

Its fault, then charges on the god the deed;
And, fearing my reproach, to Phoebus gives

A son, to Phoebus whom thou didst not bear.
CREUSA

By her, who 'gainst the giants in her car
Fought by the side of Jove, victorious Pallas,

No one of mortal race is father to thee,
But he who brought thee up, the royal Phoebus.

ION
Why give his son then to another father?

Why say that I was born the son of Xuthus?
CREUSA

Not born the son of Xuthus; but he gives thee,
Born from himself (as friend to friend may give

His son, and heir adopted to his house.
ION

True is the god, his tripod else were vain.
Not without cause then is my mind perplex'd.

CREUSA
Hear what my thoughts suggest: to work thee good

Apollo placed thee in a noble house.
Acknowledged his, the rich inheritance

Could not be thine, nor could a father's name;
For I conceal'd my nuptials, and had plann'd

To kill thee secretly: for this the god
In kindness gives thee to another father.

ION
My mind is prompt to entertain such thoughts;

But, entering at his shrine will I inquire
If from a mortal father I am sprung,

Or from Apollo.-Ha! what may this be?
What god above the hallow'd dome unveils

His radiant face that shines another sun?
Haste, let us fly: the presence of the gods

'Tis not for mortals to behold, and live.
(MINERVA appears from above.)

MINERVA
Fly not; in me no enemy you fly;

At Athens friendly to you, and no less
Here. From that land I come, so named from me,

By Phoebus sent with speed: unmeet he deems it
To show himself before you, lest with blame

The past be mention'd; this he gave in charge,
To tell thee that she bore thee, and to him,

Phoebus thy father; he to whom he gave thee,
Not as to the author of thy being gives thee,

But to the inheritance of a noble house.
This declaration made, lest thou shouldst die,

Kill'd by thy mother's wily trains, or she
By thee, these means to save you he devised.

These things in silence long conceal'd, at Athens
The royal Phoebus would have made it known

That thou art sprung from her, thy father he:
But to charge" target="_blank" title="vt.&n.卸货；释放；解雇">discharge my office, and unfold

The oracle of the god, for which you yoked
Your chariots, hear: Creusa, take thy son,

Go to the land of Cecrops: let him mount
The royal throne; for, from Erechtheus sprung,

That honour is his due, the sovereignty
Over my country: through the states of Greece

Wide his renown shall spread; for from his root
Four sons shall spring, that to the land, the tribes,

The dwellers on my rock, shall give their names.
Geleon the first, Hopletes, Argades,

And from my aegis named Aegicores:
Their sons in fate's appointed time shall fix

Their seats along the coast, or in the isles
Girt by the Aegean sea, and to my land

Give strength; extending thence the opposite plains
Of either continent shall make their own,

Europe and Asia, and shall boast their name
Ionians, from the honour'd Ion call'd.

To thee by Xuthus shall a son be born,
Dorus, from whom the Dorian state shall rise

To high renown; in the Pelopian land,
Another near the Rhian cliffs, along

The sea-wash'd coast, his potent monarchy
Shall stretch, Achaeus; and his subject realms

Shall glory in their chief's illustrious name.
Well hath Apollo quitted him in all:

First, without pain he caused thee bear a son.
That from thy friends thou mightst conceal his birth;

After the birth, soon as his infant limbs
Thy hands had clothed, to Mercury he gave

The charge to take the babe, and in his arms
Convey him hither; here with tenderness

He nurtured him, nor suffer'd him to perish.
Guard now the secret that he is thy son,

That his opinion Xuthus may enjoy
Delighted: thou too hast thy blessings, lady.

And now, farewell: from this relief from ills
A prosperous fortune I to both announce.

ION
O Pallas, daughter of all-powerful Jove!

Not with distrust shall we receive thy words:
I am convinced that Phoebus is my father,

My mother she, not unassured before.
CREUSA

Hear me too, now: Phoebus I praise, before
Unpraised; my son he now restores, of whom

Till now I deem'd him heedless. Now these gates
Are beauteous to mine eyes; his oracles

Now grateful to my soul, unpleasant late.
With rapture on these sounding rings my hands

Now hang; with rapture I address the gates.
MINERVA

This I approve, thy former wayward thoughts
Resign'd, with honour that thou name the god.

Slow are the gifts of Heaven, but found at length
Not void of power.

CREUSA
My son, let us now go

To Athens.
MINERVA

Go; myself will follow you.
CREUSA

A noble guard, and friendly to the state.
MINERVA

But seat him high on thy paternalthrone.
CREUSA

A rich possession, and I glory in him.
(MINERVA disappears.)

CHORUS (singing)
Son of Latona and all-powerful Jove,

Apollo, hail! Though fortune's blackest storms
Rage on his house, the man whose pious soul

Reveres the gods, assumes a confidence,
And justly: for the good at length obtain

The meed of virtue; but the unholy wretch
(Such is his nature) never can be happy.

-THE END-
.

• import [im´pɔ:t, ´impɔ:t] vt.&n.进口；输入 (初中英语单词)
• glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
• grateful [´greitful] a.感谢的；令人愉快的 (初中英语单词)
• dreadful [´dredful] a.可怕的；讨厌的 (初中英语单词)
• misery [´mizəri] n.痛苦；悲惨；穷困 (初中英语单词)
• abandon [ə´bændən] vt.抛弃，放弃，离弃 (初中英语单词)
• wrought [rɔ:t] work 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
• whisper [´wispə] v.耳语 n.低语；沙沙声 (初中英语单词)
• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
• entertain [,entə´tein] vt.招待；娱乐；使高兴 (初中英语单词)
• discharge [dis´tʃɑ:dʒ] vt.&n.卸货；释放；解雇 (初中英语单词)
• thence [ðens] ad.从那里；因此 (初中英语单词)
• continent [´kɔntinənt] n.大陆，陆地 (初中英语单词)
• apollo [ə´pɔləu] n.阿波罗 (初中英语单词)
• conceal [kən´si:l] vt.藏；隐瞒 (初中英语单词)
• infant [´infənt] n.&a.婴(幼)儿 (初中英语单词)
• mercury [´mə:kjuri] n.汞；水银柱 (初中英语单词)
• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
• hither [´hiðə] ad.到此处 (初中英语单词)
• farewell [feə´wel] int.再见 n.&a.告别 (初中英语单词)
• relief [ri´li:f] n.救济；援救；减轻 (初中英语单词)
• prosperous [´prɔspərəs] a.繁荣的；顺利的 (初中英语单词)
• approve [ə´pru:v] v.赞成；同意；批准 (初中英语单词)
• virtue [´və:tʃu:] n.美德；贞操；长处 (初中英语单词)
• virgin [´və:dʒin] a.处女(般)的 n.处女 (高中英语单词)
• dreary [´driəri] a.阴郁的；枯燥无味的 (高中英语单词)
• repose [ri´pəuz] v.&n.(使)休息；安息 (高中英语单词)
• mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
• horrid [´hɔrid] a.令人讨厌的；极糟的 (高中英语单词)
• reproach [ri´prəutʃ] vt.&n.责备；指责；耻辱 (高中英语单词)
• victorious [vik´tɔ:riəs] a.得胜的，胜利的 (高中英语单词)
• secretly [´si:kritli] ad.秘密地；隐蔽地 (高中英语单词)
• prompt [prɔmpt] a.敏捷的 vt.促使 (高中英语单词)
• shrine [ʃrain] n.神龛；神殿；圣地 (高中英语单词)
• radiant [´reidiənt] a.发光的 n.光源(体) (高中英语单词)
• athens [´æθinz] n.雅典 (高中英语单词)
• inheritance [in´heritəns] n.继承(物)；遗传；遗产 (高中英语单词)
• declaration [,deklə´reiʃən] n.宣布；宣言；申报 (高中英语单词)
• sprung [sprʌŋ] spring的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
• oracle [´ɔrəkl] n.预言(者)；圣理名言 (高中英语单词)
• throne [θrəun] n.宝座；王位 (高中英语单词)
• renown [ri´naun] n.名望 vt.使有名望 (高中英语单词)
• illustrious [i´lʌstriəs] a.杰出的，显赫的 (高中英语单词)
• distrust [dis´trʌst] n.&vt.不信任，怀疑 (高中英语单词)
• unpleasant [ʌn´plezənt] a.不愉快的；不合意的 (高中英语单词)
• rapture [´ræptʃə] n.着迷；全神贯注 (高中英语单词)
• potent [´pəutənt] a.有(势)力的；烈性的 (英语四级单词)
• heedless [´hi:dlis] a.不注意的，不留心的 (英语四级单词)
• justly [´dʒʌstli] ad.公正地，正当地 (英语四级单词)
• phoebus [´fi:bəs] n.太阳神 (英语六级单词)
• boisterous [´bɔistərəs] a.狂暴的；吵闹的 (英语六级单词)
• beauteous [´bju:tiəs] a.美的，美丽的 (英语六级单词)
• wayward [´weiwəd] a.任性的；不易控制的 (英语六级单词)
• paternal [pə´tə:nl] a.(象)父亲的；父方的 (英语六级单词)