Chorus
Well, if he knows what fear is, he will quail
And flee before the terror of thy curse.

Oedipus
Words scare not him who blenches not at deeds.

Chorus
But here is one to arraign him.  Lo, at length
They bring the god-inspired seer in whom
Above all other men is truth inborn.
[Enter Teiresias, led by a boy.]

Oedipus
Teiresias, seer who comprehendest all,
Lore of the wise and hidden mysteries,
High things of heaven and low things of the earth,
Thou knowest, though thy blinded eyes see naught,
What plague infects our city; and we turn
To thee, O seer, our one defense and shield. 
The purport of the answer that the God
Returned to us who sought his oracle,
The messengers have doubtless told thee—­how
One course alone could rid us of the pest,
To find the murderers of Laius,
And slay them or expel them from the land. 
Therefore begrudging neither augury
Nor other divination that is thine,
O save thyself, thy country, and thy king,
Save all from this defilement of blood shed. 
On thee we rest.  This is man’s highest end,
To others’ service all his powers to lend.

Teiresias
Alas, alas, what misery to be wise
When wisdom profits nothing!  This old lore
I had forgotten; else I were not here.

Oedipus
What ails thee?  Why this melancholy mood?

Teiresias
Let me go home; prevent me not; ’twere best
That thou shouldst bear thy burden and I mine.

Oedipus
For shame! no true-born Theban patriot
Would thus withhold the word of prophecy.

Teiresias
Thy words, O king, are wide of the mark, and I
For fear lest I too trip like thee...

Oedipus
                                        Oh speak,
Withhold not, I adjure thee, if thou know’st,
Thy knowledge.  We are all thy suppliants.

Teiresias
Aye, for ye all are witless, but my voice
Will ne’er reveal my miseries—­or thine. [2]

Oedipus
What then, thou knowest, and yet willst not speak! 
Wouldst thou betray us and destroy the State?

Teiresias
I will not vex myself nor thee.  Why ask
Thus idly what from me thou shalt not learn?

Oedipus
Monster! thy silence would incense a flint. 
Will nothing loose thy tongue?  Can nothing melt thee,
Or shake thy dogged taciturnity?

Teiresias
Thou blam’st my mood and seest not thine own
Wherewith thou art mated; no, thou taxest me.

Oedipus
And who could stay his choler when he heard
How insolently thou dost flout the State?

Teiresias
Well, it will come what will, though I be mute.

Oedipus
Since come it must, thy duty is to tell me.