Epeisodion 3
Oedipus
just so much soil in my realm in which to die. Am I not wiser than you in the fortunes of Thebes? Yes, far wiser, by as much as the sources of my knowledge are truer: Phoebus I mean, and his father, Zeus himself. But you have come here with fraud on your lips, yes,
790
and with a tongue keener than the edge of a sword; yet by their use you may well reap more sorrow than salvation. Still, since I know that I cannot persuade you of this, go! Allow us to live on here; for even in this plight our life would not be bad, if we should be content with it.
795
Creon
Which of us, do you think, suffers more in this exchange—I by your action, or you by your own?
800
Oedipus
For me, it is enough if your pleading fails both with me and with these men nearby.
Creon
Unhappy man, will you let everyone see that even in your years you have gained no sense?
Must you live on to disgrace your old age?
805
Oedipus
You have a clever tongue, but I know no just man who can produce from every side a pretty speech.
Creon
Words may be many, and yet not to the point.
Oedipus
As if yours, indeed, were few, but on the mark.
Creon
They cannot be, not for one whose mind is such as yours.
810
Oedipus
Begone! I will say it for these men too. And do not besiege me with a jealous watch where I am destined to remain.
Creon
I call these men, and not you, to witness the tenor of your words to your friends. And if I ever catch you—
Oedipus
And who could catch me against the will of these allies?
815
Creon
I promise you, soon you will be pained even without that.
Oedipus
Where is the deed which backs that threatening word?
Creon
One of your two daughters I have myself just seized and sent away. The other I will drag off immediately.
Creon
You will soon find more to weep about.
820
Oedipus
You have my child?
Creon
And I will have this one in no long time.
