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Oedipus
[750] Did he go with a small force, or like a chieftain, with many armed followers?

Iocasta
Five they were in all—a herald among them—and there was one carriage which bore Laius.

Oedipus
[755] Alas! It is all clear now! Who gave you this information, lady?

Iocasta
A servant, the only survivor who returned home.

Oedipus
Is he by any chance in the house now?

Iocasta
No. Soon after he returned and found you ruling in Laius' stead, [760] he pled with me, with hand laid on mine, to send him to the fields, to the pastures of the flocks, that he might be far from the sight of this town. And I sent him; he was worthy, for a slave, to win even a larger favor than that.

Oedipus
[765] Would, then, that he return to us without delay!

Iocasta
That is easy. But why do you enjoin this?

Oedipus
I fear, lady, that my words have been rash, and therefore I wish to see him.

Iocasta
He will come. But I think that [770] I too have a claim to learn what lies heavy on your heart, my king.

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