eumendides-第6章
按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
And hold as nought his mother's right of kin!
APOLLO
Yea; for it stands not with a common death;
That he should die; a chieftain and a king
Decked with the sceptre which high heaven confers…
Die; and by female hands; not smitten down
By a far…shooting bow; held stalwartly
By some strong Amazon。 Another doom
Was his: O Pallas; hear; and ye who sit
In judgment; to discern this thing aright!…
She with a specious voice of welcome true
Hailed him; returning from the mighty mart
Where war for life gives fame; triumphant home;
Then o'er the laver; as he bathed himself;
She spread from head to foot a covering net;
And in the endless mesh of cunning robes
Enwound and trapped her lord; and smote him down。
Lo; ye have heard what doom this chieftain met;
The majesty of Greece; the fleet's high lord:
Such as I tell it; let it gall your ears;
Who stand as judges to decide this cause。
LEADER
Zeus; as thou sayest; holds a father's death
As first of crimes;…yet he of his own act
Cast into chains his father; Cronus old:
How suits that deed with that which now ye tell?
O ye who judge; I bid ye mark my words!
APOLLO
O monsters loathed of all; O scorn of gods;
He that hath bound may loose: a cure there is。
Yea; many a plan that can unbind the chain。
But when the thirsty dust sucks up man's blood
Once shed in death; he shall arise no more。
No chant nor charm for this my Sire hath wrought。
All else there is; he moulds and shifts at will;
Not scant of strength nor breath; whate'er he do。
LEADER
Think yet; for what acquittal thou dost plead:
He who hath shed a mother's kindred blood;
Shall he in Argos dwell; where dwelt his sire?
How shall he stand before the city's shrines;
How share the clansmen's holy lustral bowl?
APOLLO
This too I answer; mark a soothfast word
Not the true parent is the woman's womb
That bears the child; she doth but nurse the seed
New…sown: the male is parent; she for him;
As stranger for a stranger; hoards the germ
Of life; unless the god its promise blight。
And proof hereof before you will I set。
Birth may from fathers; without mothers; be:
See at your side a witness of the same;
Athena; daughter of Olympian Zeus;
Never within the darkness of the womb
Fostered nor fashioned; but a bud more bright
Than any goddess in her breast might bear。
And I; O Pallas; howsoe'er I may;
Henceforth will glorify thy town; thy clan;
And for this end have sent my suppliant here
Unto thy shrine; that he from this time forth
Be loyal unto thee for evermore;
O goddess…queen; and thou unto thy side
Mayst win and hold him faithful; and his line;
And that for aye this pledge and troth remain
To children's children of AtheniaD seed。
ATHENA
Enough is said; I bid the judges now
With pure intent deliver just award。
LEADER
We too have shot our every shaft of speech;
And now abide to hear the doom of law。
ATHENA (to APOLLO and ORESTES)
Say; how ordaining shall I 'scape your blame?
APOLLO
I spake; ye heard; enough。 O stranger men;
Heed well your oath as ye decide the cause。
ATHENA
O men of Athens; ye who first do judge
The law of bloodshed; hear me now ordain。
Here to all time for Aegeus' Attic host
Shall stand this council…court of judges sworn;
Here the tribunal; set on Ares' Hill
Where camped of old the tented Amazons;
What time in hate of Theseus they assailed
Athens; and set against her citadel
A counterwork of new sky…pointing towers;
And there to Ares held their sacrifice;
Where now the rock hath name; even Ares' Hill。
And hence shall Reverence and her kinsman Fear
Pass to each free man's heart; by day and night
Enjoining; Thou shalt do no unjust thing;
So long as law stands as it stood of old
Unmarred by civic change。 Look you; the spring
Is pure; but foul it once with influx vile
And muddy clay; and none can drink thereof。
Therefore; O citizens; I bid ye bow
In awe to this command; Let no man live;
Uncurbed by law nor curbed by tyranny;
Nor banish ye the monarchy of Awe
Beyond the walls; untouched by fear divine;
No man doth justice in the world of men。
Therefore in purity and holy dread
Stand and revere; so shall ye have and hold
A saving bulwark of the state and land;
Such as no man hath ever elsewhere known;
Nor in far Scythia; nor in Pelops' realm。
Thus I ordain it now; a council…court
Pure and unsullied by the lust of gain;
Sacred and swift to vengeance; wakeful ever
To champion men who sleep; the country's guard。
Thus have I spoken; thus to mine own clan
Commended it for ever。 Ye who judge;
Arise; take each his vote; mete out the right;
Your oath revering。 Lo; my word is said。
(The twelve judges come forward; one by one; to the urns of
decision; the first votes; as each of the others follows; the
LEADER and APOLLO speak alternately。)
LEADER
I rede ye well; beware! nor put to shame;
In aught; this grievous company of hell。
APOLLO
I too would warn you; fear mine oracles…
From Zeus they are;…nor make them void of fruit。
LEADER
Presumptuous is thy claim; blood…guilt to judge;
And false henceforth thine oracles shall be。
APOLLO
Failed then the counsels of my sire; when turned
Ixion; first of slayers; to his side?
LEADER
These are but words; but I; if justice fail me;
Will haunt this land in grim and deadly deed。
APOLLO
Scorn of the younger and the elder gods
Art thou: 'tis I that shall prevail anon。
LEADER
Thus didst thou too of old in Pheres' halls;
O'erreaching Fate to make a mortal deathless。
APOLLO
Was it not well; my worshipper to aid;
Then most of all when hardest was the need?
LEADER
I say thou didst annul the lots of life;
Cheating with wine the deities of eld。
APOLLO
I say thou shalt anon; thy pleadings foiled;
Spit venom vainly on thine enemies。
LEADER
Since this young god o'errides mine ancient right;
I tarry but to claim your law; not knowing
If wrath of mine shall blast your state or spare。
ATHENA
Mine is the right to add the final vote;
And I award it to Orestes' cause。
For me no mother bore within her womb;
And; save for wedlock evermore eschewed;
I vouch myself the champion of the man;
Not of the woman; yea; with all my soul;…
In heart; as birth; a father's child alone。
Thus will I not too heinously regard
A woman's death who did her husband slay;
The guardian of her home; and if the votes
Equal do fall; Orestes shall prevail。
Ye of the judges who are named thereto;
Swiftly shake forth the lots from either urn。
(Two judges come forward; one to each urn。)
ORESTES
O bright Apollo; what shall be the end?
LEADER
O Night; dark mother mine; dost mark these things?
ORESTES
Now shall my doom be life; or strangling cords。
LEADER
And mine; lost honour or a wider sway。
APOLLO
O stranger judges; sum aright the count
Of votes cast forth; and; parting them; take heed
Ye err not in decision。 The default
Of one vote only bringeth ruin deep;
One; cast aright。 doth stablish house and home。
ATHENA
Behold; this man is free from guilt of blood;
For half the votes condemn him; half set free!
ORESTES
O Pallas; light and safety of my home;
Thou; thou hast given me back to