be grieving for the distempers which lately vexed him, when he sees their work.
Aj. O my son, my son!
Te. Ah me! Eurysaces, 'tis for thee he calls!340 What can be his purpose? Where art thou? Unhappy that I am!
Aj. Ho, Teucer! Where is Teucer? Will his foray last for ever? And I perish!
Ch. He seems to be sane. Come, open there! open—perchance e'en at the sight of me he may come to a more sober mood.
Te. Behold, I open: thou canst look on yon man's deeds, and his own plight.
Ajax is discovered sitting amidst the slaughtered cattle.
str. 1. Aj. Alas, good sailors, alone of my friends, alone still constant to your loyalty,350 behold what a wave hath but now surged around me and hemmed me in, under stress of a deadly storm!
Ch. Ah, lady, how sadly true seems thy report! The fact proves that no sane mind is here.
ant. 1. Aj. Alas, ye mates staunch in sea-craft, ye who manned the ship and made the oar-blade flash upon the brine,—in you,360 in you alone I see a defence against misery: come, slay me also!
Ch. Hush thy wild lips: cure not ill by ill, nor increase the anguish of the doom.
