Amphitryon.
The king hath many an ally, lackland knaves,
Fellows that have a name that they are rich,
Who sowed sedition, ruining the land, 590
To plunder neighbours, since their own estates,
Squandered by wasteful idleness, were gone.
Thou wast seen entering Thebes: since thou wast seen,
Let not foes gather, and thou fall unwares.
Herakles.
Though all the city saw me, nought reck I. 595
Yet, since I marked a bird in ominous place,
I knew that trouble on mine house had fallen,
And of set purpose entered secretly.
Amphitryon.
Go now, and hail thine hearth-gods with fair speech,
And show thy face to thine ancestral halls. 600
Himself, yon king, shall come to hale thy wife
And sons for murder, and to slaughter me.
If here thou bide, shall all go well with thee,
And thou shalt gain by surety. Stir not up
Thy city, ere thou hast ordered all things well. 605
Herakles.
I will: well said. I pass mine halls within.
Returned at last from sunless nether crypts
Of Hades and The Maid,[1] I will not slight
The Gods, but hail them first beneath my roof.
