Iphigenia in Tauris [9]
to other thoughts. ORESTES What? Share them; so thou best mayst be inform'd. PYLADES That thou shouldst die, and I behold this light, Were base: with thee I sail'd, with thee to die Becomes me; else shall I obtain the name Of a vile coward through the Argive state, And the deep vales of Phocis. Most will think (For most think ill) that by betraying the I saved myself, home to return alone; Or haply that I slew thee, and thy death Contrived, that in the ruin of thy house Thy empire I might grasp, to me devolved As wedded to thy sister, now sole heir. These things I fear, and hold them infamous. Behooves me then with thee to die, with the To bleed a victim, on the pyre with thine To give my body to the flames; for this Becomes me as thy friend. who dreads reproach. ORESTES Speak more auspicious words: 'tis mine to bear Ills that are mine; and single when the wo, I would not bear it double. What thou say'st Is vile and infamous, would light on me, Should I cause thee to die, who in my toils Hast borne a share: to me, who from the gods Suffer afflictions which I suffer, death Is not unwelcome: thou art happy, thine An unpolluted and a prosperous house; Mine impious and unbless'd: if thou art saved, And from my sister (whom I gave to thee, Betroth'd thy bride) art bless'd with sons, my name May yet remain, nor all my father's house In total ruin sink. Go then, and live: Dwell in the mansion of thy ancestors: And when thou comest to Greece, to Argos famed For warrior-steeds, by this right hand I charge the Raise a sepulchral mound, and on it place A monument to me; and to my tomb Her tears, her tresses let my sister give; And say, that by an Argive woman's hand I perish'd, to the altar's bloody rites A hallow'd victim. Never let thy soul Betray my sister, for thou seest her state, Of friends how destitute, her father's house How desolate. Farewell. Of all my friends, Thee have I found most friendly, from my youth Train'd up with me, in all my sylvan sports Thou dear associate, and through many toils Thou faithful partner of my miseries. Me Phoebus, though a prophet, hath deceived, And, meditating guile, hath driven me far From Greece, of former oracles ashamed; To him resign'd, obedient to his words, I slew my mother, and my meed is death. PYLADES Yes, I will raise thy tomb: thy sister's bed I never will betray, unhappy youth, For I will hold thee dearer when thou art dead, Than while thou livest; nor hath yet the voice Of Phoebus quite destroy'd thee, though thou stand To sometimes mighty but sometimes mighty woes Yield mighty changes, so when Fortune wills. ORESTES Forbear: the words of Phoebus naught avail me; For, passing from the shrine, the virgin comes.
(IPHIGENIA enters from the temple. She is carrying a letter.)
IPHIGENIA (to the guards) Go you away, and in the shrine prepare What those, who o'er the rites preside, require. (The guards go into the temple.) Here, strangers, is the letter folded close: What I would further, hear. The mind of man In dangers, and again, from fear relieved, Of safety when assured, is not the same: I therefore fear lest he, who should convey To Argos this epistle, when return'd Safe to his native country, will neglect My letter, as a thing of little worth. ORESTES What wouldst thou then? What is thy anxious thought? IPHIGENIA This: let him give an oath that he will bear To Argos this epistle to those friends, To whom it is my ardent wish to send it. ORESTES And wilt thou in return give him thy oath? IPHIGENIA That I will do, or will not do, say what. ORESTES To send him from this barbarous shore alive. IPHIGENIA That's just: how should he bear my letter else? ORESTES But will the monarch to these things
(IPHIGENIA enters from the temple. She is carrying a letter.)
IPHIGENIA (to the guards) Go you away, and in the shrine prepare What those, who o'er the rites preside, require. (The guards go into the temple.) Here, strangers, is the letter folded close: What I would further, hear. The mind of man In dangers, and again, from fear relieved, Of safety when assured, is not the same: I therefore fear lest he, who should convey To Argos this epistle, when return'd Safe to his native country, will neglect My letter, as a thing of little worth. ORESTES What wouldst thou then? What is thy anxious thought? IPHIGENIA This: let him give an oath that he will bear To Argos this epistle to those friends, To whom it is my ardent wish to send it. ORESTES And wilt thou in return give him thy oath? IPHIGENIA That I will do, or will not do, say what. ORESTES To send him from this barbarous shore alive. IPHIGENIA That's just: how should he bear my letter else? ORESTES But will the monarch to these things