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Ion
Mother mine, since my father too is here, let him share the joy I have brought to thee.
Mother mine, since my father too is here, let him share the joy I have brought to thee.
Creusa
My child, my child, what sayst thou? How is my sin finding me out!
1470
My child, my child, what sayst thou? How is my sin finding me out!
1470
Ion
What meanest thou?
What meanest thou?
Creusa
Thou art of a different, for different stock.
Thou art of a different, for different stock.
Ion
Alas for me! Am I a bastard, then, bom in thy maiden days?
Alas for me! Am I a bastard, then, bom in thy maiden days?
Creusa
Nor nuptial torch nor dance,
my child, ushered in my wedding and thy birth.
1475
Nor nuptial torch nor dance,
my child, ushered in my wedding and thy birth.
1475
Ion
O mother, mother! whence do I draw my base origin?
O mother, mother! whence do I draw my base origin?
Creusa
Be witness she who slew the Gorgon,
Be witness she who slew the Gorgon,
Ion
What meanest thou?
What meanest thou?
Creusa
She that on my native rocks
makes the olive-clad hill her seat.
1480
She that on my native rocks
makes the olive-clad hill her seat.
1480
Ion
Thy words to me are but as cunning riddles. I cannot read them.
Thy words to me are but as cunning riddles. I cannot read them.
Creusa
Hard by the rock with nightingales melodious, Phoebus,
Hard by the rock with nightingales melodious, Phoebus,
Ion
Why dost thou mention Phoebus?
Why dost thou mention Phoebus?
Creusa
Forced on me his secret love.
Forced on me his secret love.
Ion
Say on; for thy story will crown me with fame and fortune.
1485
Say on; for thy story will crown me with fame and fortune.
1485
Creusa
And as the tenth month came round I bore a child to Phoebus in secret.
And as the tenth month came round I bore a child to Phoebus in secret.
Ion
Oh! thy happy tidings, if thy story is true.
Oh! thy happy tidings, if thy story is true.
Creusa
And about thee as swaddling-clothes I fastened this my maiden work,
the faulty efforts of my loom. But to my breast I never held thy lips, or suckled or washed thee with a mother’s care; but in a desert cave wert thou cast out
1490
to die, for taloned kites to rend and feast upon.
1495
And about thee as swaddling-clothes I fastened this my maiden work,
the faulty efforts of my loom. But to my breast I never held thy lips, or suckled or washed thee with a mother’s care; but in a desert cave wert thou cast out
1490
to die, for taloned kites to rend and feast upon.
1495
Ion
An awful deed! O mother!
An awful deed! O mother!
Creusa
Fear held me captive, and I cast thy life away, my child;
I would, though loth, have slain thee too.
1500
Fear held me captive, and I cast thy life away, my child;
I would, though loth, have slain thee too.
1500
Ion
Thou too wert all but slain by me most impiously.
Thou too wert all but slain by me most impiously.
Creusa
O the horror of all I suffered then! O the horror of what is to follow now! To and fro
from bad to good we toss, though now the gale is shifting round. May it remain steady! the past brought sorrows enough; but now hath a fair breeze sprung up, my son, to waft us out of woe.
1505
O the horror of all I suffered then! O the horror of what is to follow now! To and fro
from bad to good we toss, though now the gale is shifting round. May it remain steady! the past brought sorrows enough; but now hath a fair breeze sprung up, my son, to waft us out of woe.
1505
Ion. Euripides. Edward P. Coleridge (Translator). London. 1906.
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