Iphigenia in Tauris [6]
righteous to repay Her former mischiefs, seize her prey! But with what rapture should I hear his voice, If one this shore should reach from Greece, And bid the toils of slavery cease! Or might I in the hour of rest With pleasing dreams of Greece be bless'd; So in my house, my native land rejoice; In sleep enjoy the pleasing strain For happiness restored again (IPHIGENIA enters from the temple.) IPHIGENIA But the two youths, their hands fast bound in chains, The late-seized victims to the goddess, come. Silence, my friends; for, destined at the shrine To bleed, the Grecian strangers near approach; And no false tidings did the herdsman bring. LEADER OF THE CHORUS Goddess revered, if grateful to thy soul This state presents such sacrifice, accept The victims, which the custom of this land Gives thee, but deem'd unholy by the Greeks. (Guards lead in ORESTES and PYLADES, bound.) IPHIGENIA No more; that to the goddess each due rite Be well perform'd shall be my care. Unchain The strangers' hands; that, hallow'd as they are, They may no more be bound. (The guards release ORESTES and PYLADES.) Go you, prepare Within the temple what the rites require. Unhappy youths, what mother brought you forth, Your father who? Your sister, if perchance Ye have a sister, of what youths deprived? For brother she shall have no more. Who knows Whom such misfortunes may attend? For dark What the gods will creeps on; and none can tell The ills to come: this fortune from the sight Obscures. But, O unhappy strangers, say, Whence came you? Sail'd you long since for this land? But long will be your absence from your homes, For ever, in the dreary realms below. ORESTES Lady, whoe'er thou art, why for these things Dost thou lament? why mourn for ills, which soon Will fall on us? Him I esteem unwise, Who, when he sees death near, tries to o'ercome Its terrors with bewailings, without hope Of safety: ill he adds to ill, and makes His folly known, yet dies. We must give way To fortune; therefore mourn not thou for us: We know, we are acquainted with your rites. IPHIGENIA Which of you by the name of Pylades Is call'd? This first it is my wish to know. ORESTES If aught of pleasure that may give thee, he. IPHIGENIA A native of what Grecian state, declare. ORESTES What profit knowing this wouldst thou obtain? IPHIGENIA And are you brothers, of one mother born? ORESTES Brothers by friendship, lady, not by birth. IPHIGENIA To thee what name was by thy father given? ORESTES With just cause I Unhappy might be call'd. IPHIGENIA I ask not that; to fortune that ascribe. ORESTES Dying unknown, rude scoffs I shall avoid. IPHIGENIA Wilt thou refuse? Why are thy thoughts so high? ORESTES My body thou mayst kill, but not my name. IPHIGENIA Wilt thou not say a native of what state? ORESTES The question naught avails, since I must die. IPHIGENIA What hinders thee from granting me this grace? ORESTES The illustrious Argos I my country boast. IPHIGENIA By the gods, stranger, is thy birth from thence? ORESTES My birth is from Mycenae, once the bless'd. IPHIGENIA Dost thou an exile fly, or by what fate? ORESTES Of my free will, in part not free, I fly. IPHIGENIA Wilt thou then tell me what I wish to know? ORESTES Whate'er is foreign to my private griefs. IPHIGENIA To my dear wish from Argos art thou come. ORESTES Not to my wish; but if to thine, enjoy it. IPHIGENIA Troy, whose fame spreads so wide, perchance thou know'st. ORESTES O that I ne'er had known her, ev'n in dreams! IPHIGENIA They say she is no more, by war destroy'd. ORESTES It is so: you have heard no false reports. IPHIGENIA Is Helena with Menelaus return'd? ORESTES She is;