ELECTRA [3]
for we will
follow thee.
ELECTRA
I am ashamed, my friends, if ye deem me too impatient for my oft
complaining; but, since a hard constraint forces me to this, bear with
me. How indeed could any woman of noble nature refrain, who saw the
calamities of a father's house, as I see them by day and night
continually, not fading, but in the summer of their strength? I,
who, first, from the mother that bore me have found bitter enmity;
next, in mine own home I dwell with my father's murderers; they rule
over me, and with them it rests to give or to withhold what I need.
And then think what manner of days I pass, when I see Aegisthus
sitting on my father's throne, wearing the robes which he wore, and
pouring libations at the hearth where he slew my sire; and when I
see the outrage that crowns all, the murderer in our father's bed at
our wretched mother's side, if mother she should be called, who is his
wife; but so hardened is she that she lives with that accursed one,
fearing no Erinys; nay, as if exulting in her deeds, having found
the day on which she treacherously slew my father of old, she keeps it
with dance and song, and month by month sacrifices sheep to the gods
who have wrought her deliverance.
But I, hapless one, beholding it, weep and pine in the house,
and bewail the unholy feast named after my sire,- weep to myself
alone; since I may not even indulge my grief to the full measure of my
yearning. For this woman, in professions so noble, loudly upbraids
me with such taunts as these: 'Impious and hateful girl, hast thou
alone lost a father, and is there no other mourner in the world? An
evil doom be thine, and may the gods infernal give thee no riddance
from thy present laments.'
Thus she insults; save when any one brings her word that Orestes
is coming: then, infuriated, she comes up to me, and cries;- 'Hast not
thou brought this upon me? Is not this deed thine, who didst steal
Orestes from my hands, and privily convey him forth? Yet be sure
that thou shalt have thy due reward.' So she shrieks; and, aiding her,
the renowned spouse at her side is vehement in the same strain,-
that abject dastard, that utter pest, who fights his battles with
the help of women. But I, looking ever for Orestes to come and end
these woes, languish in my misery. Always intending to strike a
blow, he has worn out every hope that I could conceive. In such a
case, then, friends, there is no room for moderation or for reverence;
in sooth, the stress of ills leaves no choice but to follow evil ways.
LEADER
Say, is Aegisthus near while thou speakest thus, or absent from
home?
ELECTRA
Absent, certainly; do not think that I should have come to the
doors, if he had been near; but just now he is afield.
LEADER
Might I converse with thee more freely, if this is so?
ELECTRA
He is not here, so put thy question; what wouldst thou?
LEADER
I ask thee, then, what sayest thou of thy brother? Will he come
soon, or is he delaying? I fain would know.
ELECTRA
He promises to come; but he never fulfils the promise.
LEADER
Yea, a man will pause on the verge of a great work.
ELECTRA
And yet I saved him without pausing.
LEADER
Courage; he is too noble to fail his friends.
ELECTRA
I believe it; or I should not have lived so long.
LEADER
Say no more now; for I see thy sister coming from the house,
Chrysothemis, daughter of the same sire and mother, with sepulchral
gifts in her hands, such as are given to those in the world below.
(CHRYSOTHEMIS enters from the palace. She is richly dressed.)
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Why, sister, hast thou come forth once more to declaim thus at the
public doors? Why wilt thou not learn with any lapse of time to desist
from vain indulgence of idle wrath? Yet this I know,- that I myself
am- grieved at our plight; indeed, could I find the strength, I would
show what love I bear them. But now, in these troubled waters, 'tis
best, methinks, to shorten sail; I care not to seem active,
follow thee.
ELECTRA
I am ashamed, my friends, if ye deem me too impatient for my oft
complaining; but, since a hard constraint forces me to this, bear with
me. How indeed could any woman of noble nature refrain, who saw the
calamities of a father's house, as I see them by day and night
continually, not fading, but in the summer of their strength? I,
who, first, from the mother that bore me have found bitter enmity;
next, in mine own home I dwell with my father's murderers; they rule
over me, and with them it rests to give or to withhold what I need.
And then think what manner of days I pass, when I see Aegisthus
sitting on my father's throne, wearing the robes which he wore, and
pouring libations at the hearth where he slew my sire; and when I
see the outrage that crowns all, the murderer in our father's bed at
our wretched mother's side, if mother she should be called, who is his
wife; but so hardened is she that she lives with that accursed one,
fearing no Erinys; nay, as if exulting in her deeds, having found
the day on which she treacherously slew my father of old, she keeps it
with dance and song, and month by month sacrifices sheep to the gods
who have wrought her deliverance.
But I, hapless one, beholding it, weep and pine in the house,
and bewail the unholy feast named after my sire,- weep to myself
alone; since I may not even indulge my grief to the full measure of my
yearning. For this woman, in professions so noble, loudly upbraids
me with such taunts as these: 'Impious and hateful girl, hast thou
alone lost a father, and is there no other mourner in the world? An
evil doom be thine, and may the gods infernal give thee no riddance
from thy present laments.'
Thus she insults; save when any one brings her word that Orestes
is coming: then, infuriated, she comes up to me, and cries;- 'Hast not
thou brought this upon me? Is not this deed thine, who didst steal
Orestes from my hands, and privily convey him forth? Yet be sure
that thou shalt have thy due reward.' So she shrieks; and, aiding her,
the renowned spouse at her side is vehement in the same strain,-
that abject dastard, that utter pest, who fights his battles with
the help of women. But I, looking ever for Orestes to come and end
these woes, languish in my misery. Always intending to strike a
blow, he has worn out every hope that I could conceive. In such a
case, then, friends, there is no room for moderation or for reverence;
in sooth, the stress of ills leaves no choice but to follow evil ways.
LEADER
Say, is Aegisthus near while thou speakest thus, or absent from
home?
ELECTRA
Absent, certainly; do not think that I should have come to the
doors, if he had been near; but just now he is afield.
LEADER
Might I converse with thee more freely, if this is so?
ELECTRA
He is not here, so put thy question; what wouldst thou?
LEADER
I ask thee, then, what sayest thou of thy brother? Will he come
soon, or is he delaying? I fain would know.
ELECTRA
He promises to come; but he never fulfils the promise.
LEADER
Yea, a man will pause on the verge of a great work.
ELECTRA
And yet I saved him without pausing.
LEADER
Courage; he is too noble to fail his friends.
ELECTRA
I believe it; or I should not have lived so long.
LEADER
Say no more now; for I see thy sister coming from the house,
Chrysothemis, daughter of the same sire and mother, with sepulchral
gifts in her hands, such as are given to those in the world below.
(CHRYSOTHEMIS enters from the palace. She is richly dressed.)
CHRYSOTHEMIS
Why, sister, hast thou come forth once more to declaim thus at the
public doors? Why wilt thou not learn with any lapse of time to desist
from vain indulgence of idle wrath? Yet this I know,- that I myself
am- grieved at our plight; indeed, could I find the strength, I would
show what love I bear them. But now, in these troubled waters, 'tis
best, methinks, to shorten sail; I care not to seem active,