Orestes And as for the other matter, fortune will ordain well.
Electra Let this man here help us with both.
Old man I will; but how will you find a way to kill your mother?
Electra Go to Clytemnestra, old man, and say this: report that I have given birth to a male child.
Old man That you have given birth some time ago, or quite recently?
Electra Ten days ago, in which a woman who has given birth stays pure.
Old man And how does this grant us the slaughter of your mother?
Electra She will come, when she hears of my childbirth pangs.
Old man How is that? Do you think she cares for you, child?
Electra Yes; and she will weep, surely, over my child’s low rank.
Old man Perhaps; bring your story back again to the turning-point.
Electra Well then, if she comes, it is clear that she will die.
Old man Yes, she will come right up to the door of your house.
Electra Won’t it then be a little thing for her to turn aside to Hades?
Old man May I die, once I have seen this!
Electra First of all, old man, guide my brother—
Old man To the place where Aegisthus is now sacrificing to the gods?
Electra Then, going to meet my mother, give her my message.
Old man So that the very words will seem to have been said by you.
Electra Your work begins at once; you have drawn the first lot in the slaughter.
Orestes I would go, if some one would show me the way.
Old man Yes, I can escort you myself, not against my will.
Orestes O Zeus, god of my fathers, be also the vanquisher of my enemies—
Electra And have pity on us; for we have suffered pitiably—
Old man Yes, indeed, have pity on your own descendants.
Electra And Hera, you who rule Mycenae’s altars—
Orestes Give us victory, if we are asking for what is right.
Old man Yes, indeed, give them the right of vengeance for their father.
Orestes You too, father, living below the earth through an unholy deed—
Electra And Lady Earth, to whom I give my hands—
Old man Defend, defend these, your dearest children.
Orestes Now come and bring with you all the dead as allies.
Electra Those who destroyed the Trojans in war with you—
Old man And all who hate the unholy and polluted.
Electra Do you hear me, you who suffered dreadful things from my mother?
Old man Your father hears everything, I know; but it is time to be on our way.
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