_Chor._ Woe! woe! Ah woe! ah woe, For this foul wrong! Thou utterest fearful things; *Thou art too bold and insolent of speech. *May mighty Nile that reared thee turn away Thy wanton pride and lust That we behold it not! _Her._ I bid you go to yon ship double-prowed,[262] With all your speed. Let no one lag behind; But little shall my grasp your ringlets spare. 860 [_Seizes on the leader of the Suppliants_ STROPHE III _Chor._ Ah me! my father, ah! The help of holiest statues turns to woe; He leads me to the sea, With motion spider-like, Or like a dream, a dark and dismal dream, Ah woe! ah woe! ah woe! O mother Earth! O Earth! O mother mine! Avert that cry of fear, O Zeus, thou king! O son of mother Earth! _Her._ Nay, I fear not the Gods they worship here; They did not rear nor lead me up to age. 870 ANTISTROPHE III _Chor._ Near me he rages now, · · · · · That biped snake, And like a viper bites me by the foot. Oh, woe is me! woe! woe! O mother Earth! O Earth! O mother mine! Avert that cry of fear, O Zeus, thou king! O son of mother Earth! _Her._ If some one yield not, and to yon ship go, The hand that tears her tunic will not pity. STROPHE IV _Chor._ Ho! rulers of the State! 880 Ye princes! I am seized. _Her._ It seems, since ye are slow to hear my words, That I shall have to drag you by the hair. ANTISTROPHE IV _Chor._ We are undone, undone! We suffer, prince, unlooked-for outrages, _Her._ Full many princes, heirs of great Ægyptos, Ye soon shall see. Take courage; ye shall have No cause to speak of anarchy as there. _Enter_ KING _followed by his_ Bodyguard _King._ Ho there! What dost thou? and with what intent Dost thou so outrage this Pelasgic land? Dost think thou comest to a town of women? 890 Too haughty thou, a stranger 'gainst Hellenes, And, sinning much, hast nothing done aright. _Her._ What sin against the right have I then done? _King._ First, thou know'st not how stranger-guest should act. _Her._ How so? When I, but finding what I lost.... _King._ Whom among us dost thou then patrons call? _Her._ Hermes the Searcher, chiefest patron mine.[263] _King._ Thou, Gods invoking, honourest not the Gods. _Her._ The Gods of Neilos are the Gods I worship. _King._ Ours then are nought, if I thy meaning catch. 900 _Her._ These girls I'll lead, if no one rescues them. _King._ Lay hand on them, and soon thou'lt pay the cost. _Her._ I hear a word in no wise hospitable. _King._ Who rob the Gods I welcome not as guests. _Her._ I then will tell Ægyptos' children this.