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EURIPIDES.
Herakles.
Nothing the more I know: dark sayings thine.
Admetus.
Know'st not the doom whereon she needs must light?
Herakles.
I know she pledged herself to die for thee.
Admetus.
How lives she then, if she to this consented? 525
Herakles.
Mourn not thy wife ere dead: abide the hour.
Admetus.
Dead is the doomed, and no more is the dead.
Herakles.
Diverse are these—to be and not to be.
Admetus.
This, Herakles, thy sentence: that is mine.
Herakles.
But now, why weep'st thou? What dear friend is dead? 530
Admetus.
A woman—hers the memory we mourn.
Herakles.
Some stranger born, or nigh of kin to thee?