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Thy garb and that marred visage prove to me That thou art he. So pitying thine estate, Most ill-starred OEDIPUS, I fain would know What is the suit ye urge on me and Athens, Thou and the helpless maiden at thy side. Declare it; dire indeed must be the tale Whereat _I_ should recoil. I too was reared, Like thee, in exile, and in foreign lands Wrestled with many perils, no man more. Wherefore no alien in adversity Shall seek in vain my succor, nor shalt thou; I know myself a mortal, and my share In what the morrow brings no more than thine. OEDIPUS Theseus, thy words so apt, so generous So comfortable, need no long reply Both who I am and of what lineage sprung, And from what land I came, thou hast declared. So without prologue I may utter now My brief petition, and the tale is told. THESEUS Say on, and tell me what I fain would learn. OEDIPUS I come to offer thee this woe-worn frame, A gift not fair to look on; yet its worth More precious far than any outward show. THESEUS What profit dost thou proffer to have brought? OEDIPUS Hereafter thou shalt learn, not yet, methinks. THESEUS When may we hope to reap the benefit? OEDIPUS When I am dead and thou hast buried me. THESEUS Thou cravest life's last service; all before-- Is it forgotten or of no account? |