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Was sleeping. In my sleep there came a dream.
780
I seemed to see the horses—mine own team
I had trained long since and drove at Rhesus’ side—
But wolves were on their backs, wolves, couched astride,
Who drove and scourged; I saw the horses rear
And stagger with wide nostrils, stiff with fear,
785
And, starting up to drive the beasts away,
I woke.—A terror of great darkness lay
About me, but I lifted up my head
And listened. There was moaning, like the dead
That moan at night, and over me there flowed,
790
So soft, so warm—it was my master’s blood,
Who writhed beside me, dying! With a bound
I sprang up, empty-handed, groping round
For spear or sword, when, lo, a young strong man
Was close to me and slashed, and the sword ran
795
Deep through my flank. I felt its passage well,
So deep, so wide, so spreading . . . then I fell.
And they, they got the bridles in their hand
And fled .... Ah! Ah! This pain. I cannot stand.
The Guards catch him as he reels, and lay him on the ground.
I know, I saw, thus much. But why or how
800
Those dead men went to death I cannot know,
Nor by whose work. But this I say; God send
’Tis not foul wrong wrought on us by a friend.
Was sleeping. In my sleep there came a dream.
780
I seemed to see the horses—mine own team
I had trained long since and drove at Rhesus’ side—
But wolves were on their backs, wolves, couched astride,
Who drove and scourged; I saw the horses rear
And stagger with wide nostrils, stiff with fear,
785
And, starting up to drive the beasts away,
I woke.—A terror of great darkness lay
About me, but I lifted up my head
And listened. There was moaning, like the dead
That moan at night, and over me there flowed,
790
So soft, so warm—it was my master’s blood,
Who writhed beside me, dying! With a bound
I sprang up, empty-handed, groping round
For spear or sword, when, lo, a young strong man
Was close to me and slashed, and the sword ran
795
Deep through my flank. I felt its passage well,
So deep, so wide, so spreading . . . then I fell.
And they, they got the bridles in their hand
And fled .... Ah! Ah! This pain. I cannot stand.
I know, I saw, thus much. But why or how
800
Those dead men went to death I cannot know,
Nor by whose work. But this I say; God send
’Tis not foul wrong wrought on us by a friend.
LEADER.
Good charioteer of that ill-fortuned king,
Suspect us not. ’Tis Greeks have done this thing.
805
But yonder Hector comes. He hath been shown
The foul deed, and thy sorrows are his own.
Enter HECTOR in wrath, with a band of Guards.
Good charioteer of that ill-fortuned king,
Suspect us not. ’Tis Greeks have done this thing.
805
But yonder Hector comes. He hath been shown
The foul deed, and thy sorrows are his own.
HECTOR.
Ye workers of amazement! Have your eyes
No sight? Ye watch and let these
Argive
spies
Pass—and our friends are butchered in their sleep—
1
810
And then pass back unwounded, laughing deep
Amid the galleys at the news they bring
Of Trojan sluggards and the fool their king?
Great God, ye never baulked them as they came,
Nor smote them as they went!
His eye falls on the CAPTAIN.
Who bears the blame
Of this but thou? Thou wast the watcher set
To guard this host till morn. I tell thee yet
815
For this deed—I have sworn by Zeus our Lord !—
The scourge of torment or the headsman’s sword
Awaits thee. Else, be Hector in your thought
Writ down a babbler and a man of nought.
Ye workers of amazement! Have your eyes
No sight? Ye watch and let these
Argive
spies
Pass—and our friends are butchered in their sleep—
1
810
And then pass back unwounded, laughing deep
Amid the galleys at the news they bring
Of Trojan sluggards and the fool their king?
Great God, ye never baulked them as they came,
Nor smote them as they went!
Who bears the blame
Of this but thou? Thou wast the watcher set
To guard this host till morn. I tell thee yet
815
For this deed—I have sworn by Zeus our Lord !—
The scourge of torment or the headsman’s sword
Awaits thee. Else, be Hector in your thought
Writ down a babbler and a man of nought.
Rhesus. Euripides. Gilbert Murray (Translator). London. 1913.
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