Ion Attendant maids, that watch and wait your mistress here at the steps of the temple fragrant with incense, say, hath Xuthus already left the holy tripod and the sanctuary, or doth he still abide within to ask yet further of his childlessness?
Chorus He is still in the temple, sir, nor hath he passed this threshold yet. But hark! I hear a footstep at the outlet of the door, and lo! thou mayst see my master this moment coming out.
Xuthus All hail! my son; that word suits well as my first greeting to thee.
Ion ’Tis well with me; do but restrain thyself, and then both of us will be happy.
Xuthus Give me thy hand to grasp, thy body to embrace.
Ion Art thou in thy senses, sir, or hath some spiteful god reft thee of them?
Xuthus I am in my senses, for I have found what I hold most dear, and am eager to show my love.
Ion Cease! touch me not, nor tear these garlands of the god!
Xuthus I will embrace thee, for I am not seizing what is not my own, but only finding my own that I love full well.
Ion Hands off! or thou shalt feel an arrow pierce thy ribs.
Xuthus Why dost thou shun me, now that thou findest in me thy nearest and dearest?
Ion I am not fond of schooling boors and crazy strangers.
Xuthus Kill me, burn me, if thou wilt; for, if thou dost, thou wilt be thy father’s murderer.
Ion Thou my father, indeed! Oh! is not news like this enough to make me laugh?
Xuthus Not so; my tale, as it proceeds, will prove to thee what I assert.
Ion Pray, what hast thou to tell me?
Xuthus That I am thy own father, and thou my very child.
Ion Who says so?
Xuthus Loxias, who gave thee nurture, though thou wert my son.
Ion Thou art thy own witness.
Xuthus Nay, I have learnt the answer of the god.
Ion Thou art mistaken in the dark riddle thou hast heard.
Xuthus It seems then I do not hear aright.
Ion What said Phoebus?
Xuthus That the man who met me—
Ion When and where?
Xuthus As I came forth from the god’s temple—
Ion Well! what should happen to him?
Xuthus Should be my own true son.
Ion Thy own true son, or a gift from others?
Xuthus A gift, but mine for all that.
Ion Am I the first that thou didst meet?
Xuthus I have met no other, my son.
Ion Whence came this piece of luck?
Xuthus To both of us alike it causes surprise.
Ion Ah! but who was my mother?
Xuthus I cannot tell.
Ion Did not Phoebus tell thee that?
Xuthus I was so pleased with this, I did not ask him that.
Ion I must have sprung from mother earth.
Xuthus The ground brings forth no children.
Ion How can I be thine?
Xuthus I know not; I refer it to the god.
Ion Come, let us try another theme.
Xuthus Better hold to this, my son.
Ion Didst thou e’er indulge in illicit amours?
Xuthus Yes, in the folly of youth.
Ion Ere thou didst win Erechtheus’ daughter?
Xuthus Never since.
Ion Could it be, then, thou didst beget me?
Xuthus The time coincides therewith.
Ion In that case, how came I hither?
Xuthus That puzzles me.
Ion After that long journey too?
Xuthus That, too, perplexes me.
Ion Didst thou in days gone by come to the Pythian rock?
Xuthus Yes, to join in the mystic rites of Bacchus.
Ion Didst thou lodge with one of the public hosts?
Xuthus With one who at Delphi—
Ion Initiated thee? or what is it thou sayest?
Xuthus Among the frantic votaries of Bacchus.
Ion Wert thou sober, or in thy cups?
Xuthus I had indulged in the pleasures of the wine-cup.
Ion That is just the history of my birth.
Xuthus Fate hath discovered thee, my son.
Ion How came I to the temple?
Xuthus Maybe the maid exposed thee.
Ion I have escaped the shame of slavish birth.
Xuthus Acknowledge then thy father, my son.
Ion It is not right that I should mistrust the god.
Xuthus Thou art right there.
Ion What more can I desire—
Xuthus Thine eyes now open to the sights they should.
Ion Than from a son of Zeus to spring?
Xuthus Which is indeed thy lot.
Ion May I embrace the author of my being?
Xuthus Aye, put thy trust in the god.
Ion Hail to thee, father mine.
Xuthus With joy that title I accept.
Ion This day—
Xuthus Hath made me blest.
Ion Ah, mother dear! shall I ever see thee too? Now more than ever do I long to gaze upon thee, whoe’er thou art. But thou perhaps art dead, and I shall never have the chance.
Chorus We share the good luck of thy house; but still I could have wished my mistress too, and Erechtheus’ line, had been blest with children.
Xuthus My son, albeit the god hath for thy discovery brought his oracle to a true issue, and united thee to me, while thou, too, hast found what most thou dost desire, till now unconscious of it; still, as touching this anxiety so proper in thee, I feel an equal yearning that thou, my child, mayst find thy mother, and I the wife that bare thee unto me. Maybe we shall discover this, if we leave it to time. But now leave the courts of the god, and this homeless life of thine, and come to Athens, in accordance with thy fathers wishes, for there his happy realm and bounteous wealth await thee; nor shalt thou be taunted with base origin and poverty to boot, because in one of these respects thou something lackest, but thou shalt be renowned alike for birth and wealth. Art silent? why dost fix thy eyes upon the ground? Thou art lost in thought, and by this sudden change from thy former cheerfulness, thou strikest thy father with dismay.
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