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第6章

heracles-第6章

小说: heracles 字数: 每页3500字

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his waking fury! For soon will he heap up fresh carnage on the old;
ranging wildly once more through the streets of Thebes。
  CHORUS
    O Zeus; why hast thou shown such savage hate against thine own son
and plunged him in this sea of troubles?
  HERACLES (waking)
    Aha! my breath returns; I am alive; and my eyes see; opening on
the sky and earth and yon sun's darting beam; but how my senses
reel! in what strange turmoil am I plunged! my fevered breath in quick
spasmodic gasps escapes my lungs。 How now? why am I lying here; made
fast with cables like a ship; my brawny chest and arms tied to a
shattered piece of masonry; with corpses for my neighbours; while o'er
the floor my bow and arrows are scattered; that erst like trusty
squires to my arm both kept me safe and were kept safe of me? Surely I
am not come a second time to Hades' halls; having just returned from
thence for Eurystheus? No; I do not see Sisyphus with his stone; or
Pluto; or his queen; Demeter's child。 Surely I am distraught; I cannot
remember where I am。 Ho; there! which of my friends is near or far
to help me in my ignorance? For I have no clear knowledge of things
once familiar。
  AMPHITRYON
    My aged friends; shall I approach the scene of my sorrow?
  LEADER OF THE CHORUS
    Yes; and let me go with thee; nor desert thee in thy trouble。
  HERACLES
    Father; why dost thou weep and veil thy eyes; standing aloof
from thy beloved son?
  AMPHITRYON
    My child! mine still; for all thy misery。
  HERACLES
    Why; what is there so sad in my case that thou dost weep?
  AMPHITRYON
    That which might make any of the gods weep; were he to suffer so。
  HERACLES
    A bold assertion that; but thou art not yet explaining what has
happened。
  AMPHITRYON
    Thine own eyes see that; if by this time thou are restored to
thy senses。
  HERACLES
    Fill in thy sketch if any change awaits my life。
  AMPHITRYON
    I will explain; if thou art no longer mad as a fiend of hell。
  HERACLES
    God help us! what suspicions these dark hints of thine again
excite!
  AMPHITRYON
    I am still doubtful whether thou art in thy sober senses。
  HERACLES
    I never remember being mad。
  AMPHITRYON
    Am I to loose my son; old friends; or what?
  HERACLES
    Loose and say who bound me; for I feel shame at this。
  AMPHITRYON
    Rest content with what thou knowest of thy woes; the rest forego。
  HERACLES
    Enough! I have no wish to probe thy silence。
  AMPHITRYON
    O Zeus; dost thou behold these deeds proceeding from the throne of
Hera?
  HERACLES
    What! have I suffered something from her enmity?
  AMPHITRYON
    A truce to the goddess! attend to thy own troubles。
  HERACLES
    I am undone; what mischance wilt thou unfold?
  AMPHITRYON
    See here the corpses of thy children。
  HERACLES
    O horror! what hideous sight is here? ah me!
  AMPHITRYON
    My son; against thy children hast thou waged unnatural war。
  HERACLES
    War! what meanst thou? who killed these?
  AMPHITRYON
    Thou and thy bow and some god; whoso he be that is to blame。
  HERACLES
    What sayst thou? what have I done? Speak; father; thou messenger
of evil。
  AMPHITRYON
    Thou wert distraught; 'tis a sad explanation thou art asking。
  HERACLES
    Was it I that slew my wife also?
  AMPHITRYON
    Thy own unaided arm hath done all this。
  HERACLES
    Ah; woe is me! a cloud of sorrow wraps me round。
  AMPHITRYON
    The reason this that I lament thy fate。
  HERACLES
    Did I dash my house to pieces or incite others thereto?
  AMPHITRYON
    Naught know I save this; that thou art utterly undone。
  HERACLES
    Where did my frenzy seize me? where did it destroy me?
  AMPHITRYON
    In the moment thou wert purifying thyself witb fire at the altar。
  HERACLES
    Ah me! why do I spare my own life when I have taken that of my
dear children? Shall I not hasten to leap from some sheer rock; or aim
the sword against my heart and avenge my children's blood; or burn
my body in the fire and so avert from my life the infamy which now
awaits me?
    But hither I see Theseus coming to check my deadly counsels; my
kinsman and friend。 Now shall I stand revealed; and the dearest of
my friends will see the pollution I have incurred by my children's
murder。 Ah; woe is me! what am I to do? Where can I find release
from my sorrows? shall I take wings or plunge beneath the earth? Come;
let me veil my head in darkness; for I am ashamed of the evil I have
done; and; since for these I have incurred fresh blood…guiltiness; I
would fain not harm the innocent。
                                     (THESEUS and his retinue enter。)
  THESEUS
    I am come; and others with me; young warriors from the land of
Athens; encamped by the streams of Asopus; to help thy son; old
friend。 For a rumour reached the city of the Erechtheidae; that
Lycus had usurped the sceptre of this land and was become your enemy
even to battle。 Wherefore I came making recompense for the former
kindness of Heracles in saving me from the world below; if haply ye
have any need of such aid as I or my allies can give; old prince。
    Ha! what means this heap of dead upon the floor? Surely I have not
delayed too long and come too late to check new ills? Who slew these
children? whose wife is this I see? Boys do not go to battle; nay;
it must be some other strange mischance I here discover。

            (The following lines between THESEUS and
               AMPHITRYON are chanted responsively。)

  AMPHITRYON
    O king; whose home is that olive…clad hill!
  THESEUS
    Why this piteous prelude in addressing me?
  AMPHITRYON
    Heaven has afflicted us with grievous suffering。
  THESEUS
    Whose be these children; o'er whom thou weepest?
  AMPHITRYON
    My own son's children; woe to him! their father and butcher both
was he; hardening his heart to the bloody deed。
  THESEUS
    Hush good words only!
  AMPHITRYON
    I would I could obey!
  THESEUS
    What dreadful words!
  AMPHITRYON
    Fortune has spread her wings; and we are ruined; ruined。
  THESEUS
    What meanest thou? what hath he done?
  AMPHITRYON
    Slain them in a wild fit of frenzy with arrows dipped in the venom
of the hundred…headed hydra。
  THESEUS
    This is Hera's work; but who lies there among the dead; old man?
  AMPHITRYON
    My son; my own enduring son; that marched with gods to Phlegra's
plain; there to battle with giants and slay them; warrior that he was。
  THESEUS
    Ah; woe for him! whose fortune was e'er so curst as his?
  AMPHITRYON
    Never wilt thou find another that hath borne a larger share of
suffering or been more fatally deceived。
  THESEUS
    Why doth he veil his head; poor wretch; in his robe?
  AMPHITRYON
    He is ashamed to meet thine eye; his kinsman's kind intent and his
children's blood make him abashed。
  THESEUS
    But I come to sympathize; uncover him。
  AMPHITRYON
    My son; remove that mantle from thine eyes; throw it from thee;
show thy fare unto the sun; a counterpoise to weeping is battling
for the mastery。 In suppliant wise I entreat thee; as I grasp thy
beard; thy knees; thy hands; and let fall the tear from my old eyes。 O
my child! restrain thy savage lion…like temper; for thou art rushing
forth on an unholy course of bloodshed; eager to join woe to woe。
  THESEUS
    Ho! To thee I call who art huddled there in thy misery; show to
they friends thy face; for no darkness is black enough to hide thy sad
mischance。 Why dost thou wave thy hand at me; signifying murder? is it
that I may not be polluted by speaking with thee? If I share thy
misfortune; what is that to me? For if I too had luck in days gone by;
must refer it to the time when thou didst bring me safe from the
dead to the light of life。 I hate a friend whose gratitude grows
old; one who ready to enjoy his friends' prosperity but unwilling to
sail in the same ship with them when their fortune lours。 Arise;
unveil thy head; poor wretch! and look on me。 The gallant soul endures
without a word such blows as heaven deals。
  HERACLES
    O Theseus; didst thou witness this struggle with my children?
  THESEUS
    I heard of it; and now I see the horrors thou meanest。
  HERACLES
    Why then hast thou unveiled my head to the sun?
  THESEUS
    Why have I? Thou; a man; canst not pollute what is of God。
  HERACLES
    Fly; luckless wretch; from my unholy taint。
  THESEUS
    The avenging fiend goes not forth from friend to friend。
  HERACLES
    For this I thank thee; I do not regret the service I did thee。
  THESEUS
    While I; for kindness then received; now show my pity for thee。
  HERACLES
    Ah yes! I am piteous; a murderer of my sons。
  THESEUS
    I weep for thee in thy changed fortunes。
  HERACLES
    Didst ever find another more afflicted?
  THESEUS
    Thy misfortunes reach from earth to heaven。
  HERACLES
    Therefore am I resolved on death。
  THESEUS
    Dost thou suppose the gods attend to these thy threats?
  HERACLES
    Remorseless hath heaven been to me; so I will prove the like to
it。
  THESEUS
    Hush! lest thy presumption add to thy sufferings。
  HERACLES
    My barque is freighted full with sorrow; there is no room to
stow aught further。
  THESEUS
    What wilt thou do? whither is thy fury drifting thee?
  HERACLES
    I will die and return to that world below whence I have just come。
  THESEUS
    Such language is fit for any common fellow。
  HERACLES
    Ah! thine is the advice of one outside sorrow's pale。
  THESEUS
    Are these indeed the words of Heracles; the much…enduring?
  HERACLES
    Though never so much as this。 Endurance must have a limit。
  THESEUS
    Is this man's benefactor; his chiefest friend?
  HERACLES
    Man brings no help to me; no! Hera has her way。
  THESEUS
    Never will Hellas suffer thee to die through sheer perversity。
  HERACLES
    Hear me a moment; that I may enter the lists with words in
answer to thy admonitions; and I will unfold to thee why life now as
well as formerly has been unbearable to me。 First I am the son of a
man who incurred the guilt of blood; before he married my mother
Alcmena; by slaying her aged sire。 Now when the foundation is badly
laid at birth; needs must the race be cursed with woe; and Zeus;
whoever this Zeus may be; begot me as a butt for Hera's hate; yet be
not thou vexed thereat; old man; for thee rather than Zeus do I regard
as my father。 Then whilst I was yet being suckled; that bride of
Zeus did foist into my cradle fearsome snakes to compass my death。
After I was grown to man's estate; of all the toils I then endured
what need to tell? of all the lions; Typhons triple…bodied; and giants
that I slew; or of the battle I won against the hosts of four…legged
Centaurs? or how when I had killed the hydra; that monster with a ring
of heads with power to grow again; I passed through countless other
toils besides and came unto the dead to fetch to the light at the
bidding of Eurystheus the three…headed hound; hell's porter。 Last; ah;
woe is me have I perpetrated this bloody deed to crown the sorrows
of my house with my children's murder。 To this sore strait am I
come; no longer may

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