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Tecmessa
284
Since you partake the sorrows of a friend,
I'll tell vou all. Know then, at dead of ni'^'ht,
What time the evening taper were expired,
Snatching his sword, he seemed as if he meant
To roam abroad. I saw and chid him for it ;
285
What wouldst thou do, I cried, my dearest Ajax i
285
Unasked, uncalled for, whither wouldst thou go 1
285
No trunipt't sounds to battle, the whole host
Is wrapped in sleep. Then did he answer me
With brief but sharp rebuke, as he was wont :
'* Woman, thy sex's noblest ornament
jl; Is silence." Thus reproved, I said no more.
• Tlien forth he rushed alone, where, and for what,
I knew not ; but returning, he brought home
In chains tlie captive herd, in pieces some
He tore, whilst others bound like slaves he lashed
Indignant ; then out at the portal ran,
And with some shadow seemed to hold discourse
Against tli' Atrida?, and Ulysses oft
Would he inveigh ; or, laughing loud, rejoice
That he had ta'en revenge for all his wrongs ;
290
Then back he came. At length, by slow degrees,
290
His frenzy ceased ; when, soon as he beheld
290
The tents o'erwhelmed with slaughter, he cried out,
And beat his brain ; rolled o'er the bloody heaps
Of cattle slain, and tore his clotted hair.
Long fixed in silence : then, with horrid threats
He bade me tell him all that had befallen
And what he had been doing. I obeyed.
Trembling with fear, and told him all I knew.
Instant he poured forth bitt'rest lamentations,
Such as I ne'er had heard from him before.
For grief like that, he oft would say, betrayed
A weak and little mind, and therefore ever
When sorrow came refrained from loud complaint.
And, like the lowing heifer, inly mourned.
But sinking now beneath this sore distress.
295
He will not taste of food or nourishment ;
295
Silent he sits, amid the slaughtered cattle,
295
Or, if he speaks, utters such dreadful words
As shows a mind intent on something ill.
Now. then, my friends, for therefore came I hither.
Oh I if ye have the power, assist me now ;
Perhaps ye may ; for oft th' afflicted man
Will listen to the counsels of a friend.
Since you partake the sorrows of a friend,
I'll tell vou all. Know then, at dead of ni'^'ht,
What time the evening taper were expired,
Snatching his sword, he seemed as if he meant
To roam abroad. I saw and chid him for it ;
285
What wouldst thou do, I cried, my dearest Ajax i
285
Unasked, uncalled for, whither wouldst thou go 1
285
No trunipt't sounds to battle, the whole host
Is wrapped in sleep. Then did he answer me
With brief but sharp rebuke, as he was wont :
'* Woman, thy sex's noblest ornament
jl; Is silence." Thus reproved, I said no more.
• Tlien forth he rushed alone, where, and for what,
I knew not ; but returning, he brought home
In chains tlie captive herd, in pieces some
He tore, whilst others bound like slaves he lashed
Indignant ; then out at the portal ran,
And with some shadow seemed to hold discourse
Against tli' Atrida?, and Ulysses oft
Would he inveigh ; or, laughing loud, rejoice
That he had ta'en revenge for all his wrongs ;
290
Then back he came. At length, by slow degrees,
290
His frenzy ceased ; when, soon as he beheld
290
The tents o'erwhelmed with slaughter, he cried out,
And beat his brain ; rolled o'er the bloody heaps
Of cattle slain, and tore his clotted hair.
Long fixed in silence : then, with horrid threats
He bade me tell him all that had befallen
And what he had been doing. I obeyed.
Trembling with fear, and told him all I knew.
Instant he poured forth bitt'rest lamentations,
Such as I ne'er had heard from him before.
For grief like that, he oft would say, betrayed
A weak and little mind, and therefore ever
When sorrow came refrained from loud complaint.
And, like the lowing heifer, inly mourned.
But sinking now beneath this sore distress.
295
He will not taste of food or nourishment ;
295
Silent he sits, amid the slaughtered cattle,
295
Or, if he speaks, utters such dreadful words
As shows a mind intent on something ill.
Now. then, my friends, for therefore came I hither.
Oh I if ye have the power, assist me now ;
Perhaps ye may ; for oft th' afflicted man
Will listen to the counsels of a friend.
Ajax. Sophocles. Thomas Francklin (Translator). London. 1758–1759.