What mean'st thou? what is it thou hast said? Repeat, I pray, thy words.
PORTRESS
The daughter of Tyndareus is here, who erst in Sparta dwelt.
MENELAUS
Whence came she? What means this business?
PORTRESS
She came from Lacedaemon hither.
MENELAUS
When? Surely I have never been robbed of my wife from the cave!
PORTRESS
Before the Achaeans went to Troy, sir stranger. But get thee hence; for somewhat hath chanced within, whereat the whole palace is in an uproar. Thou comest most unseasonably; and if my master catch thee, death will be thy stranger's gift. This say I, because to Hellas I am well disposed, albeit I gave thee harsh answers for fear of my master.
(The PORTRESS goes back into the palace.)MENELAUS
What can I think or say? For after my previous troubles, this is a fresh piece of ill-luck I hear, if, indeed, after recovering my wife from Troy and bringing her hither, and putting her for safety in the cave, I am then to find another woman living here with the same name as my wife. She called her the begotten child of Zeus. Can there be a man that hath the name of Zeus by the banks of Nile? The Zeus of heaven is only one, at any rate. Where is there a Sparta in the world save where Eurotas glides between his reedy banks? The name of Tyndareus is the name of one alone. Is there any land of the same name as Lacedaemon or Troy? I know not what to say; for naturally there are many in the wide world that have the same names, cities and women too;there is nothing, then, to marvel at. Nor yet again will I fly from the alarm a servant raises; for there is none so cruel of heart as to refuse me food when once he hears my name. All have heard of Ilium's burning, and I, that set it ablaze, am famous now throughout the world, I, Menelaus. I therefore wait the master of this house.
There are two issues I must watch; if he prove somewhat stern of heart, I will to my wreck and there conceal myself; but if he show any sign of pity, I will ask for help in this my present strait. This is the crowning woe in all my misery, to beg the means of life from other princes, prince though I be myself; still needs must I. Yea, this is no saying of mine, but a word of wisdom, "Naught in might exceedeth dread necessity."(HELEN and the CHORUS enter from the palace. They do not notice MENELAUS.)CHORUS (singing)I have heard the voice of the maiden inspired. Clear is the answer she hath vouchsafed within yon palace, declaring that Menelaus is not yet dead and buried, passed to the land of shades, where darkness takes the place of light; but on the stormy main is wearing out his life, nor yet hath reached the haven of his country, a wanderer dragging out a piteous existence, reft of every friend, setting foot in every corner of the world, as he voyageth home from Troy.
HELEN
Lo! once again I seek the shelter of this tomb, with Theonoe's sweet tidings in my ears; she that knoweth all things of a truth;for she saith my lord is yet alive and in the light of day, albeit he is roaming to and fro after many a weary voyage, and hither shall he come whenso he reach the limit of his toils, no novice in the wanderer's life. But one thing did she leave unsaid. Is he to escape when he hath come? And I refrained from asking that question clearly, so glad was I when she told me he was safe. For she said that he was somewhere nigh this shore, cast up by shipwreck with a handful of friends. Ah! when shall I see thee come? How welcome will thy advent be! (She catches sight of MENELAUS.) Ha! who is this? Am I being snared by some trick of Proteus' impious son? Oh! let me, like a courser at its speed, or a votary of Bacchus, approach the tomb! for there is something wild about this fellow's looks, who is eager to o'ertake me.
MENELAUS
Ho there! thou that with fearful effort seekest to reach the basement of the tomb and the pillars of burnt sacrifice, stay thee.
Wherefore art flying? Ah! with what speechless amaze the sight of thee affects me!
HELEN
O friends! I am being ill-treated. This man is keeping me from the tomb, and is eager to take and give me to his master, whose wooing Iwas seeking to avoid.
MENELAUS
No robber I, or minister of evil.
HELEN
At any rate the garb wherein thou art clad is unseemly.
MENELAUS
Stay thy hasty flight; put fear aside.
HELEN
I do so, now that I have reached this spot.
MENELAUS
Who art thou? whom do I behold in thee, lady?
HELEN
Nay, who art thou? The self-same reason prompts us both.
MENELAUS
never saw a closer resemblance.
HELEN
Great God! Yea, for to recognize our friends is of God.
MENELAUS
Art thou from Hellas, or a native of this land?
HELEN
From Hellas; but I would learn thy story too.
MENELAUS
Lady, in thee I see a wondrous likeness to Helen.
HELEN
And I in thee to Menelaus; I know not what to say.
MENELAUS
Well, thou hast recognized aright a man of many sorrows.
HELEN
Hail! to thy wife's arms restored at last!
MENELAUS
Wife indeed! Lay not a finger on my robe.
HELEN
The wife that Tyndareus, my father, gave thee.
MENELAUS
O Hecate, giver of light, send thy visions favourably!
HELEN
In me thou beholdest no spectre of the night, attendant on the queen of phantoms.
MENELAUS
Nor yet am I in my single person the husband of two wives.
HELEN
What other woman calls thee lord?
MENELAUS
The inmate of yonder cave, whom I from Troy convey.
HELEN
Thou hast none other wife but me.
MENELAUS
Can it be my mind is wandering, my sight failing?
HELEN
Dost not believe thou seest in me thy wife?
MENELAUS
Thy form resembles her, but the real truth robs me of this belief.
HELEN
Observe me well; what need hast thou of clearer proof?
MENELAUS
Thou art like her; that will I never deny.
HELEN
Who then shall teach thee, unless it be thine own eyes?
MENELAUS
Herein is my dilemma; I have another wife.
HELEN
To Troy I never went; that was a phantom.
MENELAUS
Pray, who fashions living bodies?
HELEN
The air, whence thou hast a wife of heaven's workmanship.
MENELAUS
What god's handiwork? Strange is the tale thou tellest.
HELEN
Hera made it as a substitute, to keep me from Paris.
MENELAUS
How then couldst thou have been here, and in Troy, at the same time?
HELEN