The public weal calls there, and here thine own,830

And both with equal voice. Direct thy steps

Along a middle course! provoke not fate;

Permit thy fortune to unfold itself.

It profits naught to change a happy state.

Oedipus: A change is well when all is at the worst.

Old Man: What better canst thou ask than royal birth?835

No further seek, lest thou thy sire repent.

Oedipus: Though I should prove to be of shameful blood,

My purpose still is fixed to know the truth.