Œdip. Speak first, Ægeon, say, is this the man?
Æge. My lord, it is; Though time has ploughed that face
With many furrows since I saw it first,
Yet I'm too well acquainted with the ground,
Quite to forget it.
201 Œdip. Peace; stand back a while.—
Come hither, friend; I hear thy name is Phorbas.
Why dost thou turn thy face? I charge thee answer
To what I shall enquire: Wert thou not once
The servant to king Laius here in Thebes?
Phor. I was, great sir, his true and faithful servant;
Born and bred up in court, no foreign slave.
Œdip. What office hadst thou? what was thy employment?
Phor. He made me lord of all his rural pleasures;
For much he loved them: oft I entertained him
With sporting swains, o'er whom I had command.
Œdip. Where was thy residence? to what part of the country
Didst thou most frequently resort?
Phor. To mount Cithæron, and the pleasant vallies
Which all about lie shadowing its large feet.
Œdip. Come forth, Ægeon.—Ha! why start'st thou, Phorbas?
Forward, I say, and face to face confront him:
Look wistly on him,—through him, if thou canst!
And tell me on thy life, say, dost thou know him?
Didst thou e'er see him? e'er converse with him
Near mount Cithæron?
Phor. Who, my lord, this man?