JASON. No command
At
least I gave.
MEDEA. Ne’er sought to learn if I
Had
heart and courage for the deed?
JASON. Thou know’st
How,
in the first mad burst of rage and hate,
A
man speaks many hot, impetuous threats
Which
calm reflection never would fulfil.
MEDEA. Once thou didst blame thyself for
that mad deed;
Now
thou hast found a victim who can bear
The
guilt in place of thee!
JASON. ’Tis not the thought
Of
such a deed that merits punishment;
It
is the deed itself.
MEDEA (quickly).
I did it not!
JASON. Who, then, is guilty?
MEDEA. Not myself, at least!
Listen,
my husband, and be thou the first
To
do me justice.
As
I stood at the chamber door, to enter
And
steal away the Fleece,
The
king lay there on his couch;
Sudden
I heard a cry! I turned,
And
lo! I saw the aged king
Leap
from his couch with frightful shrieks,
Twisting
and writhing; and he cried,
“Com’st
thou, O brother, to take revenge,
Revenge
on me? Ha! Thou shalt die
Again,
and yet again!” And straight
He
sprang at me, to grip me fast,
For
in my hands I held the Fleece.
I
shook with fear, and cried aloud
For
help to those dark gods I know;
The
Fleece before me like a shield
I
held. His face was twisted swift
To
maniac grins, and leered at me!
Then,
with a shriek, he madly tore
At
the clothes that bound his aged veins;
They
rent; the blood gushed forth in streams,
And,
even as I looked, aghast
And
full of horror, there he lay,
The
king, at my very feet, all bathed
In
his own blood-lay cold and dead!
JASON. And thou canst stand and tell me
such a tale,
Thou
hateful witchwife? Get thee gone from me!
Away!
I shudder at thee! Would that I
Had
ne’er beheld thy face!
MEDEA. Thou knewest well
That
I was skilled in witchcraft, from that day
When
first thou saw’st me at my magic arts,
And
still didst yearn and long to call me thine!
JASON. I was a youth then, and an arrant
fool!
What
boys are pleased with, men oft cast away.