Old Man: Now check thy words awhile, thy mourning cease;

For hither bends the Ithacan his course.

Andromache [with a final appealing look toward the tomb]: Yawn deep, O earth, and thou, my husband, rend

To even greater depths thy tomb's deep cave,520

And hide the sacred trust I gave to thee

Within the very bosom of the pit.

Now comes Ulysses, grave and slow of tread;

Methinks he plotteth mischief in his heart.

[Enter Ulysses.]

Ulysses: As harsh fate's minister, I first implore