ANTIGONE.
Yes, and is now at hand.
(Enter STRANGER.)
Whate'er is meet
For thee to say, speak; he is at thy side.
OEDIPUS.
O stranger, listen to this maid who sees
Both for herself and me, since our good luck
Hath sent thee to inform our ignorance.
STRANGER.
Ere thou dost question further, leave that place;
'Tis holy ground whereon thou mayest not tread.
OEDIPUS.
What, then, is the indwelling deity?
STRANGER.
I tell thee it is hallowed; it belongs
To the dread Daughters of the Earth and Night.
OEDIPUS.
What is their name? With reverence I would ask.
STRANGER.
With us, the Eumenides, of sleepless eye;
But different names seem good in different lands.
OEDIPUS.
May they receive the suppliant to their grace,
For I intend no more to leave this ground.
STRANGER.
What means this?
OEDIPUS.
'Tis the token of my doom.
STRANGER.
Myself I dare not thrust thee out until
On my report the State my act approves.
OEDIPUS.
To a poor wanderer, friend, be not unkind,
But what I humbly ask thee deign to tell.
STRANGER.
Speak on, and no unkind refusal fear.
OEDIPUS.
What is the place, then, upon which we stand?
STRANGER.
Thou shalt know all that I can tell. The place
Around is holy, dread Posidon here
Is present, present here the lord of fire,
Titan Prometheus. What thou standest on
Is of this region hight the Brazen Way,
The prop of Athens, while these neighbouring fields
Boast of Colonus, that famed charioteer,
As their first settler; and their denizens
Are proud to bear their founder's sainted name.
Such claims to pious reverence hath this place,
Stranger, which they who dwell here feel the more.
OEDIPUS.
There are then people who inhabit it?
STRANGER.
Yes, people named after their patron god.
OEDIPUS.
Has it a king or do the commons rule?
STRANGER.
The King of yonder city is its lord.
OEDIPUS.
And who now fills the seat of royalty?
STRANGER.
Theseus, the son of Aegeus, is his name.
OEDIPUS.
Would one of you my envoy be to him?
STRANGER.
To tell him aught, or bid him come to thee?
OEDIPUS.
To show him how small cost may bring great gain.
STRANGER.
And wherein can the blind advantage him?
OEDIPUS.
My eyes are blind, but when I speak I see.
STRANGER.
Attend my words if thou'rt an honest man,
And honest though ill-starred thou seemst to me.
Stir not from off this spot where thou dost stand,
Till to this township's rural denizens
I have recounted all. They will decide
Whether thou may'st remain or must depart.
(Exit STRANGER.)
OEDIPUS.
My daughter, has the stranger gone from us?