but ever directed his path towards any stagnant pool that he could find as he gazed around him.

ChorusBut now, after those troubles, he will attain happiness and heartiness in the endbecause of his meeting with this son of a noble race, who after the fullness of many months carries him aboard our sea-crossing hull to his ancestral home,the haunt of Malian nymphs, and to the banks of the Spercheius in that very land where, above Oeta’s heights, the hero of the brazen shield approached the gods, illuminated by his father’s divine fire.

NeoptolemusPlease, come on. Why so silent with no apparent cause? And why are you paralyzed?PhiloctetesAi, ai!NeoptolemusWhat is the matter?PhiloctetesNothing serious—go on, son.NeoptolemusAre you in pain from the disease that frequents you?PhiloctetesNo, indeed no. I think it is better now.—Gods, oh!NeoptolemusWhy do you groan like this and call on the gods?PhiloctetesThat they may come to me with power to save and soothe.—Ai! Ai!NeoptolemusWhat troubles you? Speak, do not keep so silent. It is plain enough that you are suffering somehow.PhiloctetesI am destroyed, boy—I can never conceal my suffering when you are close. Ah! Ah! It shoots through me, shoots straight through! Oh, the pain,the misery!I am destroyed, boy—I am devoured! Ah, by the gods I beg you, if you have a sword ready to hand, strike at my ankle—cut it off now! Do not spare my life!Quick, boy, quick!NeoptolemusWhat new thing has come on you so suddenly that you wail for yourself with these loud shrieks?PhiloctetesYou know, son.NeoptolemusWhat is it?PhiloctetesYou know, boy.NeoptolemusWhat ails you? I do not know.PhiloctetesHow could you not know? Oh, oh!NeoptolemusYes, terrible is the burden of your disease.PhiloctetesTerrible beyond telling! Oh, pity me!NeoptolemusWhat shall I do?PhiloctetesDo not betray me because of fear. This plague comes only now and then,—perhaps when she has been sated with her roamings elsewhere.NeoptolemusAh, poor wretch! Poor man, truly for all your sufferings! Shall I support you, or somehow offer a helping hand?PhiloctetesNo, no. But take this bow of mine—as you earlier asked of me—and keep it in your care and safeuntil this present bout with my disease is past. For indeed sleep takes me as soon as this pain passes away, nor can it cease before then. But you must allow me to sleep in peace. And ifthose men come in the meantime, then by the gods I forbid you willingly or unwillingly, or by any skilled trickery, to give up this bow to them, lest you bring destruction at once on yourself and on me, who am your suppliant.