Stasimon 4
[Episode]
that he had rashly attacked her with a false accusation and weeping that he must now live orphaned of both alike, of his father and of her.
Such are the fortunes of this house. Rash, indeed, is he who reckons on tomorrow, or perchance on days beyond it.
940
Nurse
There is no tomorrow, until today is safely past. Exit the Nurse.
945
[Choral 1]
Which disaster shall I bewail first? Which is more to be pitied? In my grief I cannot decide.
Chorus
One sorrow may be seen in the house; for one we wait with apprehension. To have and to await are one and the same.
950
[Choral 2]
oh, that some strong breeze, a fair wind, might arise at our hearth
Chorus
to bear me far from this land, so that I might not die of terror when I look but once
955
upon the mighty seed of Zeus! For they say that he is approaching the house in torments from which there is no deliverance, a wonder of unutterable woe.
960
Ah, he was not far off, but close to us, he for whom I cried in advance, like the shrill nightingale! Here is a foreign procession of strange men. And in what manner, then, do they bring him? In sorrow, as for some loved one, they tread their mournful, noiseless tread. Ah, he is carried on in silence!
965
Should I think that he is dead, or just asleep?
970
