POLYM. For thee, O Priam, my unhappy friend,
And you, my dearest Hecuba, I weep,
Beholding your distress, your city taken,
Your daughter newly slain: alas! there’s nought
To be relied on; fame is insecure,
Nor can the prosperous their enjoyments guard
Against a change of Fortune, for the gods
Backward and forward turn her wavering wheel,
And introduce confusion in the world,
That we, because we know not will happen,
May worship them. But of what use are plaints
Which have no virtue to remove our woes?
If you my absence censure, be appeased,
For in the midst of Thracia’s wide domains
I from these coasts was distant at the time
Of your arrival: soon as I returned,
When from the palace I was issuing forth,
This your attendant met me, and delivered
The message, hearing which, I hither came.
HEC. O Polymestor, wretched as I am,
I blush to see thy face; because thou erst
In happier days didst know me, I with shame
Appear before thee in my present fortunes.
Nor can I look at thee with steadfast eyes:
But this thou wilt not deem to be a mark
Of enmity: the cause of such behaviour
Is only custom, which forbids our sex
To gaze on men.
POLYM. No wonder you thus act
Under such circumstances. But what need
Have you of me, and wherefore did you send
To fetch me from the palace?
HEC. I in private
A secret of importance would disclose
To thee and to thy children. From these tents
Give orders for thy followers to depart.
POLYM. [_to his attendants, who retire_.]
Withdraw; this solitary spot is safe.
For you and the confederate Grecian host
Are all attached to me. But ’tis incumbent
On you t’ inform me what my prosperous fortunes
Can yield to succour my unhappy friends!
For this is what I wish to do.
HEC. Say first,
If he, my son, whom this maternal hand
And his fond father in thy mansions placed,
My Polydore, yet live. I’ll then pursue
My questions.
POLYM. Yes, in him you still are blest.
HEC. How kind, how worthy of thyself that speech,
My dearest friend!
POLYM. What farther would you know?
HEC. If haply yet the youth remember aught
Of me his mother.
POLYM. Much he wished to come
And visit you in private.
HEC. Is the gold
He brought from Troy preserved?
POLYM. I keep it safe
In my own palace.
HEC. Keep it if thou wilt:
But covet not the treasures of thy friends.
POLYM. I do not covet them; my utmost wish
Is to enjoy, O woman, what I have.
HEC. Know’st thou then, what to thee and to thy sons
I want to say?
POLYM. I know not; till in words
Your thoughts are signified.
HEC. Bestow such love
On Polydore as thou receiv’st from me.
POLYM. What is it that to me and to my children
You would disclose?
HEC. The spot, where deep in earth,
The ancient treasures of all Priam’s house
Lie buried.
POLYM. Is this secret what you wish
Should to your son be mentioned?
HEC. Yes, by thee,
Because thou art a virtuous man!
POLYM. But wherefore
Did you require these children should be present?
HEC. For them to know the secret, if thou die,
Will be of great advantage.
POLYM. You have spoken
Well and discreetly.
HEC. Know’st thou where at Troy
Minerva’s temple stands?
POLYM. Is the gold there?
But by what mark shall I the spot distinguish?
HEC. Above the surface rises a black stone.
POLYM. Will you describe the place yet more minutely?
HEC. The gold I in thy custody would place,
Which I from Ilion hither bring.
POLYM. Where is it?
Concealed beneath your garment?
HEC. ’Midst a heap
Of spoils laid up within yon tents.
POLYM. Where mean you?
These are the Grecian mariners’ abode.
HEC. In separate dwellings have they placed the captives?
POLYM. But how can we rely upon the faith
Of those within? doth no man thither come?
HEC. There’s not a Greek within; we are alone:
But enter thou these doors: for now the host,
Impatient to weigh anchor, would return
From Ilion to their homes. Thou with thy children
T’ accomplish all the dread behests of fate,
Shalt thither go where thou hast lodged my son.
[_Exeunt_ HECUBA _and_ POLYMESTOR.
CHOR. Thou hast not yet received the blow,
But justice sure will lay thee low.
Like him who headlong from on high
Falls where no friendly haven’s nigh,
Into the ocean’s stormy wave,
Here shalt thou find a certain grave:
For twofold ruin doth impend
O’er him who human laws pursue,
And righteous gods indignant view:
Thee shall the hope of gain mislead,
Which prompts thee to advance with speed,
And Pluto’s loathed abode descend:
Soon shalt thou press th’ ensanguined strand,
Slain by a woman’s feeble hand.
POLYM. [_within._] Ah me, the light that visited these eyes
is darkened.
SEMICHOR. Heard ye, O my friends, the shriek
Of yonder Thracian?
POLYM. [_within._] Yet again, alas,
My children’s foul and execrable murder!
SEMICHOR. My friends, some recent mischief hath within
Been perpetrated.
POLYM. [_within._] Though your feet are swift,
Ye shall not ’scape, for through the walls I’ll burst
My passage.
SEMICHOR. With a forceful hand, behold
He brandishes the javelin. Shall we rush
To seize him? This important crisis bids us
Assist our queen and Phrygia’s valiant dames.
HEC. Now do thy worst, and from their hinges rend
Yon massive gates; no more canst thou impart
To those lost eyes their visual orbs, nor see
Thy sons, whom I have slain, to life restored.