_Thyestes:_ Believe me, son, 'tis by their lying names That things seem great, while others harsh appear Which are not truly so. When high in power I stood, I never ceased to be in fear; Yea, even did I fear the very sword Upon my thigh. Oh, what a boon it is To be at feud with none, to eat one's bread 450 Without a trace of care, upon the ground! Crime enters not the poor man's humble cot; And all in safety may one take his food From slender boards; for 'tis in cups of gold That poison lurks--I speak what I do know. Ill fortune is to be preferred to good. For since my palace does not threatening stand 455 In pride upon some lofty mountain top, The people fear me not; my towering roofs Gleam not with ivory, nor do I need A watchful guard to keep me while I sleep. I do not fish with fleets, nor drive the sea With massive dykes back from its natural shore; 460 I do not gorge me at the world's expense; For me no fields remote are harvested Beyond the Getae and the Parthians; No incense burns for me, nor are my shrines Adorned in impious neglect of Jove; No forests wave upon my battlements, No vast pools steam for my delight; my days 465 Are not to slumber given, nor do I spend The livelong night in drunken revelry. No one feels fear of me, and so my home, Though all unguarded, is from danger free; For poverty alone may be at peace. And this I hold: the mightiest king is he, Who from the lust of sovereignty is free. 470 _Tantalus:_ But if some god a kingdom should bestow, It is not meet for mortal to refuse: Behold, thy brother bids thee to the throne. _Thyestes:_ He bids? 'Tis but a cloak for treachery. _Tantalus:_ But brotherly regard ofttimes returns Unto the heart from which it has been driven; And righteous love regains its former strength. _Thyestes:_ And dost thou speak of brother's love to me? 475 Sooner shall ocean bathe the heavenly Bears, The raging waves of Sicily be still; And sooner shall the Ionian waters yield Ripe fields of grain; black night illume the earth; And fire shall mate with water, life with death, 480 And winds shall make a treaty with the sea: Than shall Thyestes know a brother's love. _Tantalus:_ What treachery dost thou fear? _Thyestes:_ All treachery. What proper limit shall I give my fear? My brother's power is boundless as his hate. _Tantalus:_ How can he harm thee? _Thyestes:_ For myself alone 485 I have no fears; but 'tis for you, my sons, That Atreus must be held in fear by me. _Tantalus:_ But canst thou be o'ercome, if on thy guard? _Thyestes:_ Too late one guards when in the midst of ills. But let us on. In this one thing I show My fatherhood: I do not lead to ill, But follow you.