Pericles uttered a prayer in an undertone, without showing especially deep sorrow, for he had gone through much, and learnt to suffer.
“Two sons the gods have taken from me. Are they enough to atone?”
“What have you to atone for?” asked Aspasia.
“One must suffer for another; the individual for the State. Pericles has suffered for Athens.”
“Pardon me that my tears dry sooner than yours. The thought that our son lives, gives me comfort.”
“It comforts me also, but not so much.”
“Shall I go, before your wife comes?”
“You must not leave me, for I am ill.”
“You have spoken of it for a long time now. Is it serious?”
“My soul is sick. When the State suffers, I am ill.... There comes the mother of the dead.”