Epeisodion 4
Electra
No, by the gods, do not do this to me, stranger!
Orestes
Do as I say, and you will never be mistaken.
Electra
No, I beg you, do not rip from me what I hold most dear!
Orestes
You must not keep it.
Electra
Ah, what misery I will have because of you,
Orestes, if I am robbed of your burial!
1210
Orestes
Hush! No ill-omened words! You have no right to grieve.
Electra
How is it not right for me to grieve for my dead brother?
Orestes
It is not proper for you to speak of him as you do.
Electra
Am I so without rights in the dead?
Orestes
You are without rights in nothing; but this burial is not your concern.
1215
Electra
Yes it is, if these are the remains of Orestes that I hold.
Orestes
They are not his, except inasmuch as fiction alone contrives to make them so. He gently takes the urn from her.
Electra
And where is that sufferer’s tomb?
Orestes
There is none; the living have no tomb.
Electra
What are you saying, boy?
1220
Orestes
Nothing that is untrue.
Electra
The man is alive?
Orestes
If there is life in me.
Electra
What? Are you he?
Orestes
Look at this signet, once our father’s, and know if I speak the truth.
Orestes
Blissful, I am your witness!
Electra
Is this your voice?
1225
Orestes
Hear it from no other.
1225
Electra
Do I hold you in my arms?
Orestes
May you hold me so always hereafter!
Electra
Ah, dear friends and fellow-citizens, see Orestes here, who was dead by design, and now by design has come safely home!
Chorus
We see him, daughter, and for this happy turn of fortune a tear of joy trickles from our eyes.
1230
