HERALD. The first time, yes. But when, unknown to thee, They came again, she companied them back, Only demanding, if she healed the king, The Golden Fleece in payment for her aid; It was a hateful thing to her, she said; And boded evil. And those foolish maids, All joyful, promised. So she came with them To the king's chamber, where he lay asleep. Straightway she muttered strange and secret words Above him, and his sleep grew ever deep And deeper. Next, to let the bad blood out, She bade them ope his veins. And even this They did, whereat his panting breath grew still And tranquil; then the gaping wounds were bound, And those sad maids were glad to think him healed. Forth went Medea then, as she hath said; His daughters, too, departed, for he slept. But, on a sudden, came a fearful cry From out his chamber! Swift his daughters sped To aid him, and--oh, ghastly, horrible!-- There on the pavement lay the aged king, His body twisted in a hideous knot, The cloths that bound his veins all torn away From off his gaping wounds, whence, in a black And sluggish stream, his blood came welling forth. He lay beside the altar, where the Fleece For long was wont to hang--and that was gone! But, in that selfsame hour, thy wife was seen, The golden gaud upon her shoulder flung, Swift hasting through the night. MEDEA (_dully, staring straight before her_). 'Twas my reward!-- I shudder still, when'er I think upon The old man's furious rage! HERALD. Now, that no longer Such horrors bide here, poisoning this land With their destructive breath, I here proclaim The solemn doom of utter banishment On Jason, the Thessalian, Aeson's son, Spouse of a wicked witch-wife, and himself An arrant villain; and I drive him forth From out this land of Greece, wherein the gods Are wont to walk with men; to exile hence, To flight and wandering I drive him forth, And with him, this, his wife, ay, and his babes, The offspring of his marriage-bed. Henceforth No rood of this, his fatherland, be his, No share in her protection or her rights! [_He raises his hand and three times makes solemn proclamation, turning to different quarters._] Banished are Jason and Medea! Medea and Jason are banished! Banished are Jason and Medea!