Page:Balaustion's adventure- including a transcript from Euripides (IA balaustionsadven01brow).pdf/59

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Nor thou, left lonely of thy wife, would'st groanWith children reared in orphanage: but thusSome God disposed things, willed they so should be.Be they so! Now do thou remember this,Do me in turn a favor—favor, sinceCertainly I shall never claim my due,For nothing is more precious than a life:But a fit favor, as thyself wilt say,Loving our children here no less than I,If head and heart be sound in thee at least.Uphold them, make them masters of my house,Nor wed and give a step-dame to the pair,Who, being a worse wife than I, thro' spiteWill raise her hand against both thine and mine.Never do this at least, I pray to thee!For hostile the new-comer, the step-dame,To the old brood—a very viper sheFor gentleness! Here stand they, boy and girl;