Part 7

OEDIPUS. [None but a fool would credit such as thou.]3

CREON. Thou art not wise.

OEDIPUS. Wise for myself at least.

CREON. Why not for me too?

OEDIPUS. Why for such a knave?

CREON. Suppose thou lackest sense.

OEDIPUS. Yet kings must rule.

CREON. Not if they rule ill.

OEDIPUS. Oh my Thebans, hear him!

CREON. Thy Thebans? am not I a Theban too?

CHORUS. Cease, princes; lo there comes, and none too soon, Jocasta from the palace. Who so fit As peacemaker to reconcile your feud? [Enter JOCASTA.]

JOCASTA. Misguided princes, why have ye upraised This wordy wrangle? Are ye not ashamed, While the whole land lies striken, thus to voice Your private injuries? Go in, my lord; Go home, my brother, and forebear to make A public scandal of a petty grief.

CREON. My royal sister, Oedipus, thy lord, Hath bid me choose (O dread alternative!) An outlaw’s exile or a felon’s death.

OEDIPUS. Yes, lady; I have caught him practicing Against my royal person his vile arts.

CREON. May I ne’er speed but die accursed, if I In any way am guilty of this charge.

JOCASTA. Believe him, I adjure thee, Oedipus, First for his solemn oath’s sake, then for mine, And for thine elders’ sake who wait on thee.

CHORUS. (Str. 1) Hearken, King, reflect, we pray thee, but not stubborn but relent.

OEDIPUS. Say to what should I consent?

CHORUS. Respect a man whose probity and troth Are known to all and now confirmed by oath.

OEDIPUS. Dost know what grace thou cravest?

CHORUS. Yea, I know.

OEDIPUS. Declare it then and make thy meaning plain.

CHORUS. Brand not a friend whom babbling tongues assail; Let not suspicion ’gainst his oath prevail.

OEDIPUS. Bethink you that in seeking this ye seek In very sooth my death or banishment?

CHORUS. No, by the leader of the host divine! (Str. 2) Witness, thou Sun, such thought was never mine, Unblest, unfriended may I perish, If ever I such wish did cherish! But O my heart is desolate Musing on our striken State, Doubly fall’n should discord grow Twixt you twain, to crown our woe.

OEDIPUS. Well, let him go, no matter what it cost me, Or certain death or shameful banishment, For your sake I relent, not his; and him, Where’er he be, my heart shall still abhor.

CREON. Thou art as sullen in thy yielding mood As in thine anger thou wast truculent. Such tempers justly plague themselves the most.

OEDIPUS. Leave me in peace and get thee gone.