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Neoptolemus
Beware lest you be ready now, but later,
520when you have come in contact with his illness
and tire of it, you change to other plans.
chorus
No, never fear, for you will never have
just cause to utter that reproach against me.
Neoptolemus
I would account it shameful to be slower
525than you to serve this stranger in his need.
Come, let us sail and leave at once, for surely
our ship will not refuse to carry him.
And may the gods convey us from this land
safely, wherever we may wish to sail.
Philoctetes
530 Oh sweetest day of days, oh kindest man!
Sailors, my friends, I wish that I could show you
truly how dear you have become to me!
Son, let us go - but first we must salute
this home which is no home, for you must learn
535how I sustained myself with patient heart.
I think no other man than I could even
look for a moment on this sight and bear it;
but destiny has taught me to endure.
chorus
Wait, let us listen, for two men are coming -
540one from our ship, the other man a stranger.
Listen to what they say before you enter.
Enter spy, with another sailor.
spy
Son of Achilles, I asked this sailor here,
who, with two other men, was standing guard
over your ship, to tell me where you were.
545I met you when I least expected to,
for only chance has brought me to this island.
I was sailing as a merchant back from Troy
with a small crew to my grape-clustered home
Peparethus. When I learned that all these sailors
550were members of your crew, why, I decided
not to sail on my way in silence, but
to speak with you - and take my due reward.
You see, you don't know anything at all
about the new plans which the Greeks are making
555concerning you - not only plans, but deeds,
and deeds in progress, not just thought about.
The women of Trachis and Philoctetes. A new translation in verse by Robert Torrance. Houghton Mifflin. 1966.
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