_Okean._ I see, Prometheus, and I wish to give thee My best advice, all subtle though thou be. Know thou thyself,[153] and fit thy soul to moods To thee full new. New king the Gods have now; But if thou utter words thus rough and sharp, Perchance, though sitting far away on high, 320 Zeus yet may hear thee, and his present wrath Seem to thee but as child's play of distress. Nay, thou poor sufferer, quit the rage thou hast, And seek a remedy for these thine ills. A tale thrice-told, perchance I seem to speak: Lo! this, Prometheus, is the punishment Of thine o'er lofty speech, nor art thou yet Humbled, nor yieldest to thy miseries, And fain would'st add fresh evils unto these. But thou, if thou wilt take me as thy teacher, 330 Wilt not kick out against the pricks;[154] seeing well A monarch reigns who gives account to none. And now I go, and will an effort make, If I, perchance, may free thee from thy woes; Be still then, hush thy petulance of speech, Or knowest thou not, o'er-clever as thou art, That idle tongues must still their forfeit pay? _Prom._ I envy thee, seeing thou art free from blame Though thou shared'st all, and in my cause wast bold;[155] Nay, let me be, nor trouble thou thyself; 340 Thou wilt not, canst not soothe Him; very hard Is He of soothing. Look to it thyself, Lest thou some mischief meet with in the way. _Okean._ It is thy wont thy neighbours' minds to school Far better than thine own. From deeds, not words, I draw my proof. But do not draw me back When I am hasting on, for lo, I deem, I deem that Zeus will grant this boon to me, That I should free thee from these woes of thine.