第7章

Long since I knew thou wert by nature such an one, and now Iknow it better; I must employ my own friends; but, though thou bring no active aid, cheer us on at any rate, that I may find my friends emboldened by thy encouragement.

(ODYSSEUS goes back into the cave.)

LEADER

That will I do; the Carian shall run the risk for us; and as far as encouragement goes, let the Cyclops smoulder.

CHORUS (singing)

What ho! my gallants, thrust away, make haste and burn his eyebrow off, the monster's guest-devouring. Oh! singe and scorch the shepherd of Aetna; twirl the brand and drag it round and be careful lest in his agony he treat thee to some wantonness.

CYCLOPS (bellowing in the cave)

Oh! oh! my once bright eye is burnt to cinders now.

LEADER OF THE CHORUS

Sweet indeed the triumph-song; pray sing it to us, Cyclops.

CYCLOPS (from within)

Oh! oh! once more; what outrage on me and what ruin! But never shall ye escape this rocky cave unpunished, ye worthless creatures;for will stand in the entrance of the cleft and fit my hands into it thus. (Staggering to the entrance)LEADER

Why dost thou cry out, Cyclops?

CYCLOPS

I am undone.

LEADER

Thou art indeed a sorry sight.

CYCLOPS

Aye, and a sad one, too.

LEADER

Didst fall among the coals in a drunken fit?

CYCLOPS

Noman has undone me, LEADER

Then there is no one hurting thee after all.

CYCLOPS

Noman is blinding me.

LEADER

Then art thou not blind.

CYCLOPS

As blind as thou, forsooth.

LEADER

How, pray, could no man have made thee blind?

CYCLOPS

Thou mockest me; but where is this Noman?

LEADER

Nowhere, Cyclops.

CYCLOPS

It was the stranger, vile wretch! who proved my ruin, that thou mayst understand rightly, by swilling me with the liquor he gave me.

LEADER

Ah! wine is a terrible foe, hard to wrestle with.

CYCLOPS

Tell me, I adjure thee, have they escaped or are they still within?

(During the following lines, ODYSSEUS and his men slip by the CYCLOPS, despite his efforts to stop them.)LEADER

Here they are ranged in silence, taking the rock to screen them.

CYCLOPS

On which side?

LEADER

On thy right.

CYCLOPS

Where?

LEADER

Close against the rock. Hast caught them?

CYCLOPS

Trouble on trouble! I have run my skull against the rock and cracked it LEADERAye, and they are escaping thee.

CYCLOPS

This way, was it not? 'Twas this way thou saidst.

LEADER

No, not this way.

CYCLOPS

Which then?

LEADER

They are getting round thee on the left.

CYCLOPS

Alas! I am being mocked; ye jeer me in my evil plight.

LEADER

They are no longer there; but facing thee that stranger stands.

CYCLOPS

Master of villainy, where, oh! where art thou?

ODYSSEUS

Some way from thee I am keeping careful guard over the person of Odysseus.

CYCLOPS

What, a new name! hast changed thine?

ODYSSEUS

Yes, Odysseus, the name my father gave me. But thou wert doomed to pay for thy unholy feast; for I should have seen Troy burned to but sorry purpose, unless I had avenged on thee the slaughter of my comrades.

CYCLOPS

Woe is me! 'tis an old oracle coming true; yes, it said I should have my eye put out by thee on thy way home from Troy; but it likewise foretold that thou wouldst surely pay for this, tossing on the sea for many day.

ODYSSEUS

Go hang! E'en as I say, so have I done. And now will I get me to the beach and start my hollow ship across the sea of Sicily to the land of my fathers.

CYCLOPS

Thou shalt not; I will break a boulder off this rock and crush thee, crew and all, beneath my throw. Blind though I be, I will climb the hill, mounting through yonder tunnel.

LEADER

As for us, henceforth will we be the servants of Bacchus, sharing the voyage of this hero Odysseus.

-THE END-