side not to a calm, there is no hope

Of safety to the strangers. Be assured,
That Neptune, awful monarch of the main,

Remembers Troy; and, hostile to the race
Of Pelops, will deliver to thy hands,

And to thy people, as is meet, the son
Of Agamemnon; and bring back to the

His sister, who the goddess hath betray'd,
Unmindful of the blood at Aulis shed.

LEADER
Unhappy Iphigenia, thou must die,

Thy brother too must die, if thou again,
Seized in thy flight, to thy lord's hands shalt come.

THOAS
Inhabitants of this barbaric land,

Will you not rein your steeds, will you not fly
Along the shore, to seize whate'er this skiff

Of Greece casts forth; and, for your goddess roused,
Hunt down these impious men? Will you not launch

Instant your swift-oar'd barks, by sea, by land
To catch them, from the rugged rock to hurl

Their bodies, or impale them on the stake?
But for you, women, in these dark designs

Accomplices, hereafter, as I find
Convenient leisure, I will punish you.

The occasion urges now, and gives no pause.
(MINERVA appears above.)

MINERVA
Whither, O royal Thoas, dost thou lead

This vengeful chase? Attend: Minerva speaks.
Cease thy pursuit, and stop this rushing flood

Of arms; for hither, by the fateful voice
Of Phoebus, came Orestes, warn'd to fly

The anger of the Furies, to convey
His sister to her native Argos back,

And to my land the sacred image bear.
Thoas, I speak to thee: him, whom thy rage

Would kill, Orestes, on the wild waves seized,
Neptune, to do me grace, already wafts

On the smooth sea, the swelling surges calm'd.
And thou, Orestes (for my voice thou hear'st,

Though distant far), to my commands attend:
Go, with the sacred image, which thou bear'st,

And with thy sister: but when thou shalt come
To Athens built by gods, there is a place

On the extreme borders of the Attic land,
Close neighbouring to Carystia's craggy height,

Sacred; my people call it Alae: there
A temple raise, and fix the statue there,

Which from the Tauric goddess shall receive
Its name, and from thy toils, which thou, through Greece

Driven by the Furies' maddening stings, hast borne;
And mortals shall in future times with hymns

The Tauric goddess there, Diana, hail.
And be this law establish'd; when the feast

For thy deliverance from this shrine is held,
To a man's throat that they apply the sword,

And draw the blood, in memory of these rites,
That of her honours naught the goddess lose.

Thou, Iphigenia, on the hallow'd heights
Of Brauron on this goddess shalt attend

Her priestess, dying shalt be there interr'd,
Graced with the honours of the gorgeous vests

Of finest texture, in their houses left
By matrons who in childbed pangs expired.

These Grecian dames back to their country lead,
I charge thee; justice this return demands,

For I saved thee, when on the mount of Mars
The votes were equal; and from that decree

The shells in number equal still absolve.
But, son of Agamemnon, from this land

Thy sister bear; nor, Thoas, be thou angry.
THOAS

Royal Minerva, he that hears the gods
Commanding, and obeys not, is unwise.

My anger 'gainst Orestes flames no more,
Gone though he be, and bears with him away

The statue of the goddess, and his sister.
Have mortals glory 'gainst the powerful gods

Contending? Let them go, and to thy land
The sacred image bear, and fix it there;

Good fortune go with them. To favour Greece,
These dames, at thy high bidding, I will send.

My arms will I restrain, which I had raised
Against the strangers, and my swift-oar'd barks,

Since, potentgoddess, this is pleasing to thee.
MINERVA

I praise thy resolution; for the power
Of Fate o'er thee and o'er the gods prevails.

Breathe soft, ye favouring gales, to Athens bear
These sprung from Agamemnon; on their course

Attending, I will go, and heedful save
My sister's sacred image. You too go (to the CHORUS)

Prosperous, and in the fate that guards you bless'd.
(MINERVA vanishes.)

CHORUS (chanting)
O thou, among the mortal" target="_blank" title="a.不死的n.不朽的人物">immortal gods revered

And mortal men, Minerva, we will do
As thou commandest; for with transport high,

Exceeding hope, our ears receive thy words.
O Victory, I revere thy awful power:

Guard thou my life, nor ever cease to crown me!
-THE END-

.

• monarch [´mɔnək] n.君主；(大)王 (初中英语单词)
• hostile [´hɔstail] a.敌方的，敌意的 (初中英语单词)
• goddess [´gɔdis] n.女神 (初中英语单词)
• flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
• greece [gri:s] n.希腊 (初中英语单词)
• punish [´pʌniʃ] vt.(惩)罚；痛击；折磨 (初中英语单词)
• pursuit [pə´sju:t] n.追踪；追击；事务 (初中英语单词)
• hither [´hiðə] ad.到此处 (初中英语单词)
• sacred [´seikrid] a.神圣的；庄严的 (初中英语单词)
• extreme [ik´stri:m] a.尽头的 n.极端 (初中英语单词)
• temple [´tempəl] n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴 (初中英语单词)
• statue [´stætʃu:] n.塑像，雕像 (初中英语单词)
• throat [θrəut] n.咽喉；嗓子；出入口 (初中英语单词)
• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
• resolution [,rezə´lu:ʃən] n.决心；坚决；果断 (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)
• transport [træn´spɔ:t] n.运输；流放 (初中英语单词)
• victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
• rugged [´rʌgid] a.不平的；粗犷的 (高中英语单词)
• hereafter [hiər´ɑ:ftə] ad.&n.将来；来世 (高中英语单词)
• leisure [´leʒə] n.空闲；悠闲；安定 (高中英语单词)
• athens [´æθinz] n.雅典 (高中英语单词)
• shrine [ʃrain] n.神龛；神殿；圣地 (高中英语单词)
• naught [nɔ:t] n.无；零 (高中英语单词)
• gorgeous [´gɔ:dʒəs] a.华丽的；宜人的 (高中英语单词)
• restrain [ri´strein] vt.抑制；管束；限制 (高中英语单词)
• pleasing [´pli:ziŋ] a.使人愉快的；合意的 (高中英语单词)
• sprung [sprʌŋ] spring的过去分词 (高中英语单词)
• mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
• neptune [´neptju:n, ´neptu:n] n.尼普顿(海神) (英语四级单词)
• deliverance [di´livərəns] n.援救；获释 (英语四级单词)
• texture [´tekstʃə] n.(织物等的)质地 (英语四级单词)
• potent [´pəutənt] a.有(势)力的；烈性的 (英语四级单词)
• impious [´impiəs] a.不敬的；不孝的 (英语六级单词)
• phoebus [´fi:bəs] n.太阳神 (英语六级单词)
• grecian [´gri:ʃən] a.古希腊的 n.希腊人 (英语六级单词)
• revere [ri´viə] vt.尊敬；敬畏 (英语六级单词)