_Chor._ Away, away, let be: Ne'er thought I that such tales Would ever, ever come unto mine ears; Nor that such terrors, woes and outrages, Hard to look on, hard to bear, 710 Would chill my soul with sharp goad, double-edged. Ah fate! Ah fate! I shudder, seeing Io's fortune strange. _Prom._ Thou art too quick in groaning, full of fear: Wait thou a while until thou hear the rest. _Chor._ Speak thou and tell. Unto the sick 'tis sweet Clearly to know what yet remains of pain. _Prom._ Your former wish ye gained full easily. Your first desire was to learn of her 720 The tale she tells of her own sufferings; Now therefore hear the woes that yet remain For this poor maid to bear at Hera's hands. And thou, O child of Inachos! take heed To these my words, that thou may'st hear the goal Of all thy wanderings. First then, turning hence Towards the sunrise, tread the untilled plains, And thou shalt reach the Skythian nomads, those[176] Who on smooth-rolling waggons dwell aloft In wicker houses, with far-darting bows 730 Duly equipped. Approach thou not to these, But trending round the coasts on which the surf Beats with loud murmurs,[177] traverse thou that clime. On the left hand there dwell the Chalybes,[178] Who work in iron. Of these do thou beware, For fierce are they and most inhospitable; And thou wilt reach the river fierce and strong, True to its name.[179] This seek not thou to cross, For it is hard to ford, until thou come To Caucasos itself, of all high hills The highest, where a river pours its strength From the high peaks themselves. And thou must cross 740 Those summits near the stars, must onward go Towards the south, where thou shalt find the host Of the Amâzons, hating men, whose home Shall one day be around Thermôdon's bank, By Themiskyra,[180] where the ravenous jaws Of Salmydessos ope upon the sea, Treacherous to sailors, stepdame stern to ships.[181] And they with right good-will shall be thy guides; And thou, hard by a broad pool's narrow gates, Wilt pass to the Kimmerian isthmus. Leaving This boldly, thou must cross Mæotic channel;[182] 750 And there shall be great fame 'mong mortal men Of this thy journey, and the Bosporos[183] Shall take its name from thee. And Europe's plain Then quitting, thou shalt gain the Asian coast. Doth not the all-ruling monarch of the Gods Seem all ways cruel? For, although a God, He, seeking to embrace this mortal maid, Imposed these wanderings on her. Thou hast found, O maiden! bitter suitor for thy hand; For great as are the ills thou now hast heard, Know that as yet not e'en the prelude's known. 760 _Io._ Ah woe! woe! woe! _Prom._ Again thou groan'st and criest. What wilt do When thou shall learn the evils yet to come?