There then! touch the dead, thy children.
OEDIPUS

Woe for you! dear fallen sons, sad offspring of a sire as sad!
ANTIGONE

O my brother Polyneices, name most dear to me!
OEDIPUS

Now is the oracle of Loxias being fulfilled, my child.
ANTIGONE

What oracle was that? canst thou have further woes to tell?
OEDIPUS

That I should die in glorious Athens after a life of wandering.
ANTIGONE

Where? what fenced town in Attica will take thee in?
OEDIPUS

Hallowed Colonus, home of the god of steeds. Come then, attend
on thy blind father, since thou art minded to share his exile.

(OEDIPUS and ANTIGONE chant their remaining lines as they slowly
depart.)

ANTIGONE
To wretched exile go thy way; stretch forth thy hand, my aged

sire, taking me to guide thee, like a breeze that speedeth barques.
OEDIPUS

See, daughter, I am advancing; be thou my guide, poor child.
ANTIGONE

Ah, poor indeed! the saddest maid of all in Thebes.
OEDIPUS

Where am I planting my aged step? Bring my staff, child.
ANTIGONE

This way, this way, father mine! plant thy footsteps here, like
dream for all the strength thou hast.

OEDIPUS
Woe unto thee that art driving my aged limbs in grievous exile

from their land! Ah me! the sorrows I endure!
ANTIGONE

"Endure"! why speak of enduring? Justice regardeth not the
sinner and requiteth not men's follies.

OEDIPUS
I am he whose name passed into high songs of victory because I

guessed the maiden's baffling riddle.
ANTIGONE

Thou art bringing up again the reproach of the Sphinx. Talk no
more of past success. This misery was in store for thee all the while,

to become an exile from thy country and die thou knowest not where;
while I, bequeathing to my girlish friends tears of sad regret, must

go forth from my native land, roaming as no maiden ought.
Ah! this dutiful resolve will crown me with glory in respect of my

father's sufferings. Woe is me for the insults heaped on thee and on
my brother whose dead body is cast forth from the palace unburied;

poor boy! I will yet bury him secretly, though I have to die for it,
father.

OEDIPUS
To thy companions show thyself.

ANTIGONE
My own laments suffice.

OEDIPUS
Go pray then at the altars.

ANTIGONE
They are weary of my piteous tale.

OEDIPUS
At least go seek the Bromian god in his hallowed haunt amongst the

Maenads' hills.
ANTIGONE

Offering homage that is no homage in Heaven's eyes to him in whose
honour I once fringed my dress with the Theban fawn-skin and led the

dance upon the hills for the holy choir of Semele?
OEDIPUS

My noble fellow-countrymen, behold me; I am Oedipus, who solved
the famous riddle, and once was first of men, I who alone cut short

the murderous Sphinx's tyranny am now myself expelled the land in
shame and misery. Go to; why make this moan and bootless

lamentation? Weak mortal as I am, I must endure the fate that God
decrees.

CHORUS (chanting)
Hail majestic Victory! keep thou my life nor ever cease to crown

my song! -THE END-
.

• glorious [´glɔ:riəs] a.光荣的；辉煌的 (初中英语单词)
• wretched [´retʃid] a.可怜的；倒霉的 (初中英语单词)
• breeze [bri:z] n.微风；不费力的事 (初中英语单词)
• victory [´viktəri] n.胜利，战胜 (初中英语单词)
• misery [´mizəri] n.痛苦；悲惨；穷困 (初中英语单词)
• maiden [´meidn] n.少女 a.未婚的 (初中英语单词)
• resolve [ri´zɔlv] v.决心 n.决心；刚毅 (初中英语单词)
• endure [in´djuə] vt.忍耐，忍受；坚持 (初中英语单词)
• oracle [´ɔrəkl] n.预言(者)；圣理名言 (高中英语单词)
• athens [´æθinz] n.雅典 (高中英语单词)
• reproach [ri´prəutʃ] vt.&n.责备；指责；耻辱 (高中英语单词)
• secretly [´si:kritli] ad.秘密地；隐蔽地 (高中英语单词)
• amongst [ə´mʌŋst] prep.其中之一 =among (高中英语单词)
• homage [´hɔmidʒ] n.敬意，尊敬 (高中英语单词)
• riddle [´ridl] n.谜(语) v.解(谜等) (高中英语单词)
• tyranny [´tirəni] n.暴政；专制政治 (高中英语单词)
• mortal [´mɔ:tl] a.致命的 n.凡人 (高中英语单词)
• majestic [mə´dʒestik] a.雄伟的；崇高的 (高中英语单词)
• grievous [´gri:vəs] a.痛苦的；严重的 (英语四级单词)
• hallowed [´hæləud] a.神圣的，崇高的 (英语四级单词)
• murderous [´mə:dərəs] a.行凶的；势不可挡的 (英语四级单词)
• minded [´maindid] a.有...心的 (英语六级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• enduring [in´djuəriŋ] a.持久的 (英语六级单词)