OEDIPUS Thou lov'st to speak in riddles and dark words.

TEIRESIAS In reading riddles who so skilled as thou?

OEDIPUS Twit me with that wherein my greatness lies.

TEIRESIAS And yet this very greatness proved thy bane.

OEDIPUS No matter if I saved the commonwealth.

TEIRESIAS 'Tis time I left thee. Come, boy, take me home.

OEDIPUS Aye, take him quickly, for his presence irks And lets me; gone, thou canst not plague me more.

TEIRESIAS I go, but first will tell thee why I came.

Thy frown I dread not, for thou canst not harm me.

Hear then: this man whom thou hast sought to arrest With threats and warrants this long while, the wretch Who murdered Laius--that man is here.

He pa.s.ses for an alien in the land But soon shall prove a Theban, native born.

And yet his fortune brings him little joy; For blind of seeing, clad in beggar's weeds, For purple robes, and leaning on his staff, To a strange land he soon shall grope his way.

And of the children, inmates of his home, He shall be proved the brother and the sire, Of her who bare him son and husband both, Co-partner, and a.s.sa.s.sin of his sire.

Go in and ponder this, and if thou find That I have missed the mark, henceforth declare I have no wit nor skill in prophecy.

[Exeunt TEIRESIAS and OEDIPUS]

CHORUS (Str. 1) Who is he by voice immortal named from Pythia's rocky cell, Doer of foul deeds of bloodshed, horrors that no tongue can tell?

A foot for flight he needs Fleeter than storm-swift steeds, For on his heels doth follow, Armed with the lightnings of his Sire, Apollo.

Like sleuth-hounds too The Fates pursue.

(Ant. 1) Yea, but now flashed forth the summons from Parna.s.sus' snowy peak, "Near and far the undiscovered doer of this murder seek!"

Now like a sullen bull he roves Through forest brakes and upland groves, And vainly seeks to fly The doom that ever nigh Flits o'er his head, Still by the avenging Phoebus sped, The voice divine, From Earth's mid shrine.

(Str. 2) Sore perplexed am I by the words of the master seer.

Are they true, are they false? I know not and bridle my tongue for fear, Fluttered with vague surmise; nor present nor future is clear.

Quarrel of ancient date or in days still near know I none Twixt the Labdacidan house and our ruler, Polybus' son.

Proof is there none: how then can I challenge our King's good name, How in a blood-feud join for an untracked deed of shame?

(Ant. 2) All wise are Zeus and Apollo, and nothing is hid from their ken; They are G.o.ds; and in wits a man may surpa.s.s his fellow men; But that a mortal seer knows more than I know--where Hath this been proven? Or how without sign a.s.sured, can I blame Him who saved our State when the winged songstress came, Tested and tried in the light of us all, like gold a.s.sayed?

How can I now a.s.sent when a crime is on Oedipus laid?

CREON Friends, countrymen, I learn King Oedipus Hath laid against me a most grievous charge, And come to you protesting. If he deems That I have harmed or injured him in aught By word or deed in this our present trouble, I care not to prolong the span of life, Thus ill-reputed; for the calumny Hits not a single blot, but blasts my name, If by the general voice I am denounced False to the State and false by you my friends.

CHORUS This taunt, it well may be, was blurted out In petulance, not spoken advisedly.

CREON Did any dare pretend that it was I Prompted the seer to utter a forged charge?

CHORUS Such things were said; with what intent I know not.

CREON Were not his wits and vision all astray When upon me he fixed this monstrous charge?

CHORUS I know not; to my sovereign's acts I am blind.

But lo, he comes to answer for himself.

[Enter OEDIPUS.]

OEDIPUS Sirrah, what mak'st thou here? Dost thou presume To approach my doors, thou brazen-faced rogue, My murderer and the filcher of my crown?

Come, answer this, didst thou detect in me Some touch of cowardice or witlessness, That made thee undertake this enterprise?

I seemed forsooth too simple to perceive The serpent stealing on me in the dark, Or else too weak to scotch it when I saw.

This _thou_ art witless seeking to possess Without a following or friends the crown, A prize that followers and wealth must win.

CREON Attend me. Thou hast spoken, 'tis my turn To make reply. Then having heard me, judge.

OEDIPUS Thou art glib of tongue, but I am slow to learn Of thee; I know too well thy venomous hate.

CREON First I would argue out this very point.

OEDIPUS O argue not that thou art not a rogue.

CREON If thou dost count a virtue stubbornness, Unschooled by reason, thou art much astray.

OEDIPUS If thou dost hold a kinsman may be wronged, And no pains follow, thou art much to seek.

CREON Therein thou judgest rightly, but this wrong That thou allegest--tell me what it is.

OEDIPUS Didst thou or didst thou not advise that I Should call the priest?

CREON Yes, and I stand to it.

OEDIPUS Tell me how long is it since Laius...

CREON Since Laius...? I follow not thy drift.

OEDIPUS By violent hands was spirited away.

CREON In the dim past, a many years agone.

OEDIPUS Did the same prophet then pursue his craft?

CREON Yes, skilled as now and in no less repute.

OEDIPUS Did he at that time ever glance at me?

CREON Not to my knowledge, not when I was by.

OEDIPUS But was no search and inquisition made?

CREON Surely full quest was made, but nothing learnt.

OEDIPUS Why failed the seer to tell his story _then_?

CREON I know not, and not knowing hold my tongue.

OEDIPUS This much thou knowest and canst surely tell.