PROMETHEUS. So be it! Being thus whetted in desire, I would not Oppose your wills. First Io, what remains Of thy far-sweeping wanderings hear, and grave My words on the sure tablets of thy mind. When thou hast crossed the narrow stream that parts[n45] The continents, to the far flame-faced East Thou shalt proceed, the highway of the Sun; Then cross the sounding Ocean, till thou reach Cisthené and the Gorgon plains, where dwell Phorcys' three daughters, maids with frosty eld Hoar as the swan, with one eye and one tooth Shared by the three; them Phœbus beamy-bright Beholds not, nor the nightly Moon. Near them Their winged sisters dwell, the Gorgons dire, Man-hating monsters, snaky-locked, whom eye Of mortal ne'er might look upon and live. This for thy warning. One more sight remains, That fills the eye with horror: mark me well; The sharp-beaked Griffins, hounds of Jove, avoid. Fell dogs that bark not; and the one-eyed host Of Arimaspian horsemen with swift hoofs Beating the banks of golden-rolling Pluto. A distant land, a swarthy people next Receives thee: near the fountains of the Sun They dwell by Aethiops' wave. This river trace {204} Until thy weary feet shall reach the pass Whence from the Bybline heights the sacred Nile Pours his salubrious flood.[n46] The winding wave Thence to triangled Egypt guides thee, where A distant home awaits thee, fated mother Of no unstoried race. And now, if aught That I have spoken doubtful seem or dark, Repeat the question, and in plainer speech Expect reply. I feel no lack of leisure. CHORUS. If thou hast more to speak to her, speak on; Or aught omitted to supply, supply it; But if her tale is finished, as thou say'st, Remember our request.