Health to my son!This first address is proper.
ION
I have my health:be in thy senses thou,And both are well.
XUTHUS
O let me kiss thy hand,And throw mine arms around thee.
ION
Art thou,stranger,Well in thy wits?or hath the god's displeasure Bereft thee of thy reason?
XUTHUS
Reason bids,That which is dearest being found,to wish A fond embrace.
ION
Off,touch me not;thy hands Will mar the garlands of the god.
XUTHUS
My touch Asserts no pledge:my own,and that most dear,I find.
ION
Wilt thou not keep thee distant,ere Thou hast my arrow in thy heart?
XUTHUS
Why fly me,When thou shouldst own what is most fond of thee?
ION
I am not fond of curing wayward strangers,And madmen.
XUTHUS
Kill me,raise my funeral pyre;
But,if thou kill me,thou wilt kill thy father.
ION
My father thou!how so?it makes me laugh To hear thee.
XUTHUS
This my words may soon explain.
ION
What wilt thou say to me?
XUTHUS
I am thy father,And thou my son.
ION
Who declares this?
XUTHUS
The god,That nurtured thee,though mine.
ION
Thou to thyself Art witness.
XUTHUS
By the oracle inform'd.
ION
Misled by some dark answer.
XUTHUS
Well I heard it.
ION
What were the words of Phoebus?
XUTHUS
That who first Should meet me-
ION
How?-what meeting?
XUTHUS
As I pass'd.
Forth from the temple.
ION
What the event to him?
XUTHUS
He is my son.
ION
Born so,or by some other Presented?
XUTHUS
Though a present,born my son.
ION
And didst thou first meet me?
XUTHUS
None else,my son.
ION
This fortune whence?
XUTHUS
At that we marvel both.
ION
Who is my mother?
XUTHUS
That I cannot say.
ION
Did not the god inform thee?
XUTHUS
Through my joy,For this I ask'd not.
ION
Haply from the earth I sprung,my mother.
XUTHUS
No,the earth no sons Produces.
ION
How then am I thine?
XUTHUS
I know not.
To Phoebus I appeal.
ION
Be this discourse Chang'd to some other.
XUTHUS
This delights me most.
ION
Hast thou e'er mounted an unlawful bed?
XUTHUS
In foolishness of youth.
ION
Was that before Thy marriage with the daughter of Erechtheus?
XUTHUS
Since never.
ION
Owe I then my birth to that?
XUTHUS
The time agrees.
ION
How came I hither then?
XUTHUS
I can form no conjecture.
ION
Was I brought From some far distant part?
XUTHUS
That fills my mind With doubtful musing.
ION
Didst thou e'er before Visit the Pythian rock?
XUTHUS
Once,at the feast Of Bacchus.
ION
By some public host received?
XUTHUS
Who with the Delphian damsels-
ION
To the orgies Led thee,or how?
XUTHUS
And with the Maenades Of Bacchus-
ION
In the temperate hour,or warm With wine?
XUTHUS
Amid the revels of the god.
ION
From thence I date my birth.
XUTHUS
And fate,my son,Hath found thee.
ION
How then came I to the temple?
XUTHUS
Perchance exposed.
ION
The state of servitude Have I escaped.
XUTHUS
Thy father now,my son,Receive.
ION
Indecent were it in the god Not to confide.
XUTHUS
Thy thoughts are just.
ION
What else Would we?
XUTHUS
Thou seest what thou oughtst to see.
ION
Am I the son then of the son of Jove?
XUTHUS
Such is thy fortune.
ION
Those that gave me birth Do I embrace?
XUTHUS
Obedient to the god.
ION
My father,hail!
XUTHUS
That dear name I accept With joy.
ION
This present day-
XUTHUS
Hath made me happy.
ION
O my dear mother,when shall I behold Thy face?Whoe'er thou art,more wish I now To see thee than before;but thou perchance Art dead,and nothing our desires avail.
LEADER
We in the blessing of our house rejoice.
Yet wish we that our mistress too were happy In children,and the lineage of Erechtheus.
XUTHUS
Well hath the god accomplish'd this,my son,Discovering thee,well hath he joined thee to me;And thou hast found the most endearing ties,To which,before this hour,thou wast a stranger.
And the warm wish,which thou hast well conceived,Is likewise mine,that thou mayst find thy mother;I from what woman thou derivest thy birth.
This,left to time,may haply be discover'd.
Now quit this hallow'd earth,the god no more Attending,and to mine accord thy mind,To visit Athens,where thy father's sceptre,No mean one,waits thee,and abundant wealth:
Nor,though thou grieve one parent yet unknown,Shalt thou be censured as ignobly born,Or poor:no,thou art noble,and thy state Adorn'd with rich possessions.Thou art silent.
Why is thine eye thus fixed upon the ground?
Why on thy brow that cloud?The smile of joy Vanish'd,thou strikest thy father's heart with fear.
ION
Far other things appear when nigh,than seen At distance.I indeed embrace my fortune,In thee my father found.But hear what now Wakes sad reflections.Proud of their high race Are your Athenians,natives of the land,Not drawn from foreign lineage:I to them Shall come unwelcome,in two points defective,My father not a native,and myself Of spurious birth:loaded with this reproach,If destitute of power,I shall be held Abject and worthless:should I rush among The highest order of the state,and wish To appear important,inferior ranks Will hate me;aught above them gives disgust.
The good,the wise,men form'd to serve the state,Are silent,nor at public honours aim Too hastily:by such,were I not quiet In such a bustling state,I should be deem'd Ridiculous,and proverb'd for a fool.
Should I attain the dignity of those,Whose approved worth hath raised them to the height Of public honours,by such suffrage more Should I be watch'd;for they that hold in states Rule and pre-eminence,bear hostile minds To all that vie with them.And should I come To a strange house a stranger,to a woman Childless herself,who that misfortune shared Before with thee,now sees it her sole lot,And feels it bitterly,would she not hate me,And that with justice?When I stand before them.
With what an eye would she,who hath no child,Look on thy child?In tenderness to her,Thy wife,thou must forsake me,or embroil Thy house in discord,if thou favour me.
What murderous means,what poisonous drugs for men Have women with inventive rage prepared!