Neop. Well, be it so. But thou hast now thy bow,
And hast no cause for wrath or blaming me.
Phil. I own it. Thou, dear boy, hast shown the stock1310
From which thou springest, not from Sisyphos,
But from Achilles, who alive was held
Of highest fame, and is so with the dead.
Neop. It gives me joy to hear thee praise my father,
Praising me also; but what now I wish
Hear thou, I pray thee. Mortals needs must bear
The chances which the Gods on high shall give;
But those who fall upon self-chosen ills,
As thou hast fallen, they have little claim
To pardon or compassion. Thou art fierce,1320
And wilt not list to one who counsels thee;
And if one give advice in pure good will,
Thou hatest him, and deemest him a foe.
Yet I will speak, invoking holy Zeus,
The guardian of all oaths. Be sure of this,
And write it in the tablets of thy mind,
Thy pain has come to thee by heaven-sent chance,
In that thou cam'st too near to Chryse's guard,
The serpent who in secret keeps his watch
Over the unroofed precincts of her shrine;
And know that thou shalt find no respite here
From this thy sore disease, while yet yon sun1330
Rises on this side, sets again on that,
Until thou journey of thine own free will
To Troïa's plains, and meeting there with those
Who call Asclepios father,[1] shalt be healed
Of thy disease, and shalt with these thy darts,
And with my help, lay low its ancient Towers.
- ↑ The two sons of Asclepios, Machaon and Podalelrios, appear in the Iliad (ii. 731) as the great surgeons of the Hellenic army.
