CH. From thine own spirit, Aias, all may tell, That utterance came, and none have prompted thee. Yet stay thy hurrying thought, and by thy friends Be ruled to loose this burden from thy mind. TEC. O my great master! heaviest of all woe Is theirs whose life is crushed beyond recall. I, born of one the mightiest of the free And wealthiest in the Phrygian land, am now A captive. So Heaven willed, and thy strong arm Determined. Therefore, since the hour that made My being one with thine, I breathe for thee; And I beseech thee by the sacred fire Of home, and by the sweetness of the night When from thy captive I became thy bride, Leave me not guardless to the unworthy touch And cruel taunting of thine enemies' For, shouldst thou die and leave us, then shall I Borne off by Argive violence with thy boy Eat from that day the bread of slavery. And some one of our lords shall smite me there With galling speech: Behold the concubine Of Aias, first of all the Greeks for might, How envied once, worn with what service now! So will they speak; and while my quailing heart Shall sink beneath its burden, clouds of shame Will dim thy glory and degrade thy race. Oh! think but of thy father, left to pine In doleful age, and let thy mother's grief-- Who, long bowed down with many a careful year, Prays oftentimes thou may'st return alive-- O'er awe thee. Yea, and pity thine own son, Unsheltered in his boyhood, lorn of thee, With bitter foes to tend his orphanhood, Think, O my lord, what sorrow in thy death Thou send'st on him and me. For I have nought To lean to but thy life. My fatherland Thy spear hath ruined. Fate--not thou--hath sent My sire and mother to the home of death What wealth have I to comfort me for thee? What land of refuge? Thou art all my stay Oh, of me too take thought! Shall men have joy, And not remember? Or shall kindness fade? Say, can the mind be noble, where the stream Of gratitude is withered from the spring? CH. Aias, I would thy heart were touched like mine With pity; then her words would win thy praise. AI. My praise she shall not miss, if she perform My bidding with firm heart, and fail not here. TEC. Dear Aias, I will fail in nought thou bidst me. AI. Bring me my boy, that I may see his face. TEC. Oh, in my terror I conveyed him hence! AI. Clear of this mischief, mean'st thou? or for what? TEC. Lest he might run to thee, poor child, and die. AI. That issue had been worthy of my fate! TEC. But I kept watch to fence his life from harm. AI. 'Twas wisely done. I praise thy foresight there. TEC. Well, since 'tis so, how can I help thee now? AI. Give me to speak to him and see him near. TEC. He stands close by with servants tending him. AI. Then why doth he not come, but still delay? TEC. Thy father calls thee, child. Come, lead him hither, Whichever of you holds him by the hand. AI. Moves he? or do thine accents idly fall? TEC. See, where thy people bring him to thine eye.