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Attendant
Why dost thou, so long my lady’s own handmaid,
stand here at the gate alone, loudly lamenting to thyself the piteous tale? how comes it that Medea will have thee leave her to herself?
50
Why dost thou, so long my lady’s own handmaid,
stand here at the gate alone, loudly lamenting to thyself the piteous tale? how comes it that Medea will have thee leave her to herself?
50
Nurse
Old man, attendant on the sons of Jason, our masters’ fortunes when they go awry make good slaves grieve
and touch their hearts. Oh! I have come to such a pitch of grief that there stole a yearning wish upon me to come forth hither and proclaim to heaven and earth my mistress’s hard fate.
55
Old man, attendant on the sons of Jason, our masters’ fortunes when they go awry make good slaves grieve
and touch their hearts. Oh! I have come to such a pitch of grief that there stole a yearning wish upon me to come forth hither and proclaim to heaven and earth my mistress’s hard fate.
55
Attendant
What! has not the poor lady ceased yet from her lamentation?
What! has not the poor lady ceased yet from her lamentation?
Nurse
Would I were as thou art! the mischief is but now beginning; it has not reached its climax yet.
60
Would I were as thou art! the mischief is but now beginning; it has not reached its climax yet.
60
Attendant
O foolish one, if I may call my mistress such a name; how little she recks of evils yet more recent!
O foolish one, if I may call my mistress such a name; how little she recks of evils yet more recent!
Nurse
What mean’st, old man? grudge not to tell me.
What mean’st, old man? grudge not to tell me.
Attendant
’Tis naught; I do repent me even of the words I have spoken.
’Tis naught; I do repent me even of the words I have spoken.
Nurse
Nay, by thy beard I conjure thee, hide it not from thy fellow-slave; I will be silent, if need be, on that text.
65
Nay, by thy beard I conjure thee, hide it not from thy fellow-slave; I will be silent, if need be, on that text.
65
Attendant
I heard one say, pretending not to listen as I approached the place where our greybeards sit playing draughts
1
near Pirene’s sacred spring,
that Creon, the ruler of this land, is bent on driving these children and their mother from the boundaries of Corinth; but I know not whether the news is to be relied upon, and would fain it were not.
70
I heard one say, pretending not to listen as I approached the place where our greybeards sit playing draughts
1
near Pirene’s sacred spring,
that Creon, the ruler of this land, is bent on driving these children and their mother from the boundaries of Corinth; but I know not whether the news is to be relied upon, and would fain it were not.
70
Nurse
What! will Jason brook such treatment of his sons,
even though he be at variance with their mother?
75
What! will Jason brook such treatment of his sons,
even though he be at variance with their mother?
75
Attendant
Old ties give way to new; he bears no longer any love to this family.
Old ties give way to new; he bears no longer any love to this family.
Nurse
Undone, it seems, are we, if to old woes fresh ones we add, ere we have drained the former to the dregs.
Undone, it seems, are we, if to old woes fresh ones we add, ere we have drained the former to the dregs.
Attendant
Hold thou thy peace, say not a word of this; ’tis no time for our mistress to learn hereof.
80
Hold thou thy peace, say not a word of this; ’tis no time for our mistress to learn hereof.
80
Nurse
O children, do ye hear how your father feels towards you? Perdition catch him, but no! he is my master still; yet is he proved a veiy traitor to his nearest and dearest.
O children, do ye hear how your father feels towards you? Perdition catch him, but no! he is my master still; yet is he proved a veiy traitor to his nearest and dearest.
Attendant
And who ’mongst men is not? Art learning only now, that every single man cares for himself more than for his neighbour, some from honest, motives, others for mere gain’s sake? seeing that to indulge his passion their father has ceased to love these children.
85
And who ’mongst men is not? Art learning only now, that every single man cares for himself more than for his neighbour, some from honest, motives, others for mere gain’s sake? seeing that to indulge his passion their father has ceased to love these children.
85
Nurse
Go, children, within the house; all will be well.
Do thou keep them as far away as may be, and bring them not near their mother in her evil hour. For ere this have I seen her eyeing them savagely, as though she were minded to do them some hurt, and well I know she will not cease from her fury till she have pounced on some victim.
90
At least may she turn her hand against her foes, and not against her friends.
95
Go, children, within the house; all will be well.
Do thou keep them as far away as may be, and bring them not near their mother in her evil hour. For ere this have I seen her eyeing them savagely, as though she were minded to do them some hurt, and well I know she will not cease from her fury till she have pounced on some victim.
90
At least may she turn her hand against her foes, and not against her friends.
95
Medea. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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