EL. (loudly). Strangers, go in!
For none within the palace will reject
Your burden, nor be gladdened by the event.
Enter the Old Man.
OLD M. O lost in folly and bereft of soul!
Is’t that your care for life hath ebbed away,
Or were you born without intelligence,
When fallen, not near, but in the midst of ill,
And that the greatest, ye perceive it not?
Had I not watched the doors this while, your deeds
Had gone within the palace ere yourselves.
But, as things are, my care hath fenced you round.
Now, then, have done with long-protracted talk,
And this insatiable outburst of joy,
And enter, for in such attempts as these
Delay is harmful: and ’tis more than time.
OR. But how shall I find matters there within?
OLD M. Well. You are shielded by their ignorance.
OR. That means you have delivered me as dead.
OLD M. Alone of dead men thou art here above.
[page 168][1343-1375] OR. Doth this delight them, or how went the talk?
OLD M. I will report, when all is done. Meanwhile,
Know, all is well with them, even what is evil.
EL. Who is this, brother? I beseech thee, tell.