And our pledged altar-offering. 'Tis the same.
Thoas.
O marvel beyond marvel! By what name
More rich in wonder can I name thee right?
Messenger.
Give not thy mind to that. Let ear and sight
Be mine awhile; and when thou hast heard the whole
Devise how best to trap them ere the goal.
Thoas.
Aye, tell thy tale. Our Tauric seas stretch far,
Where no man may escape my wand of war.
The Messenger gives Thoas an excited account of what has happened, ending by saying that if he send out pursuers immediately, he may even yet seize the fugitives. Thoas gives his orders.
Thoas.
Ho, all ye dwellers of my savage town
Set saddle on your steeds, and gallop down
To watch the heads, and gather what is cast
Alive from this Greek wreck. We shall make fast,
By God's help, the blasphemers.—Send a corps
Out in good boats a furlong from the shore;
So we shall either snare them on the seas
Or ride them down by land, and at our ease
Fling them down gulfs of rock, or pale them high
On stakes in the sun, to feed our birds and die.
Women: you knew this plot. Each one of you
Shall know, before the work I have to do
Is done, what torment is.—Enough! A clear
Task is afoot. I must not linger here.