Third Episode

(As the song ceases there enters a stranger, walking strongly, but travel-stained, dusty, and tired. His lion-skin and club show him to be HERACLES.)

HERACLES.Ho, countrymen! To Pherae am I comeBy now? And is Admetus in his home?

LEADER.Our King is in his house, Lord Heracles.--But say, what need brings thee in days like theseTo Thessaly and Pherae's wallèd ring?

HERACLES.A quest I follow for the Argive King.

LEADER.What prize doth call thee, and to what far place?

HERACLES.The horses of one Diomede, in Thrace.

LEADER.But how...? Thou know'st not? Is he strange to thee?

HERACLES.Quite strange. I ne'er set foot in Bistony.

LEADER.Not without battle shalt thou win those steeds.

HERACLES.So be it! I cannot fail my master's needs.

LEADER.'Tis slay or die, win or return no more.

HERACLES.Well, I have looked on peril's face before.

LEADER.What profit hast thou in such manslaying?

HERACLES.I shall bring back the horses to my King.

LEADER.'Twere none such easy work to bridle them.

HERACLES.Not easy? Have they nostrils breathing flame?

LEADER.They tear men's flesh; their jaws are swift with blood.

HERACLES.Men's flesh! 'Tis mountain wolves', not horses' food!

LEADER.Thou wilt see their mangers clogged with blood, like mire.

HERACLES.And he who feeds such beasts, who was his sire?

LEADER.Ares, the war-lord of the Golden Targe.

HERACLES.Enough!--This labour fitteth well my largeFortune, still upward, still against the wind.How often with these kings of Ares' kindMust I do battle? First the dark wolf-man,Lycaon; then 'twas he men called The Swan;And now this man of steeds!... Well, none shall seeAlcmena's son turn from his enemy.

LEADER.Lo, as we speak, this land's high governor,Admetus, cometh from his castle door.

(Enter ADMETUS from the Castle.)

ADMETUS.Zeus-born of Perseid line, all joy to thee!

HERACLES.Joy to Admetus, Lord of Thessaly!

ADMETUS.Right welcome were she!--But thy love I know.

HERACLES.But why this mourning hair, this garb of woe?

ADMETUS (in a comparatively light tone).There is a burial I must make to-day.

HERACLES.God keep all evil from thy children!

ADMETUS.Nay,My children live.

HERACLES.Thy father, if 'tis he,Is ripe in years.

ADMETUS.He liveth, friend, and sheWho bore me.

HERACLES.Surely not thy wife? 'Tis notAlcestis?

ADMETUS (his composure a little shaken).Ah; two answers share my thought,Questioned of her.

HERACLES.Is she alive or dead?

ADMETUS.She is, and is not; and my heart hath bledLong years for her.

HERACLES.I understand no more.Thy words are riddles.

ADMETUS.Heard'st thou not of yoreThe doom that she must meet?

HERACLES.I know thy wifeHas sworn to die for thee.

ADMETUS.And is it life,To live with such an oath hung o'er her head?

HERACLES (relieved).Ah,Weep not too soon, friend. Wait till she be dead.

ADMETUS.He dies who is doomed to die; he is dead who dies.

HERACLES.The two are different things in most men's eyes.

ADMETUS.Decide thy way, lord, and let me decideThe other way.

HERACLES.Who is it that has died?Thou weepest.

ADMETUS.'Tis a woman. It doth takeMy memory back to her of whom we spake.

HERACLES.A stranger, or of kin to thee?

ADMETUS.Not kin,But much beloved.

HERACLES.How came she to be inThy house to die?

ADMETUS.Her father died, and soShe came to us, an orphan, long ago.

HERACLES (as though about to depart).'Tis sad.I would I had found thee on a happier day.

ADMETUS.Thy words have some intent: what wouldst thou say?

HERACLES.I must find harbour with some other friend.

ADMETUS.My prince, it may not be! God never sendSuch evil!

HERACLES.'Tis great turmoil, when a guestComes to a mourning house.

ADMETUS.Come in and rest.Let the dead die!

HERACLES.I cannot, for mere shame,Feast beside men whose eyes have tears in them.

ADMETUS.The guest-rooms are apart where thou shalt be.

HERACLES.Friend, let me go. I shall go gratefully.

ADMETUS.Thou shalt not enter any door but mine.(To an Attendant)Lead in our guest. Unlock the furthest lineOf guest-chambers; and bid the stewards thereMake ready a full feast; then close with careThe midway doors. 'Tis unmeet, if he hearsOur turmoil or is burdened with our tears.

(The Attendant leads HERACLES into the house.)

LEADER.How, master? When within a thing so sadLies, thou wilt house a stranger? Art thou mad?

ADMETUS.And had I turned the stranger from my door,Who sought my shelter, hadst thou praised me more?I trow not, if my sorrow were therebyNo whit less, only the more friendless I.And more, when bards tell tales, were it not worseMy house should lie beneath the stranger's curse?Now he is my sure friend, if e'er I standLonely in Argos, in a thirsty land.

LEADER.Thou callest him thy friend; how didst thou dareKeep hid from him the burden of thy care?

ADMETUS.He never would have entered, had he knownMy grief.--Aye, men may mock what I have done,And call me fool. My house hath never learnedTo fail its friend, nor seen the stranger spurned.

(ADMETUS goes into the house)