and see what tidings yon man tells; this peril touches us too closely for our peace.
Enter Tecmessa.
Te. Why do ye break my rest again, ah me, when I had but just found peace from relentless woes?
Ch. Hearken to yon man, and the tidings of Ajax790 that he hath brought us, to my grief.
Te. Alas, what sayest thou, man? Are we undone?
Me. I know not of thy fortune, but only that, if Ajax is abroad, my mind is ill at ease for him.
Te. He is abroad indeed, so that I am in anguish to know thy meaning.
Me. Teucer straitly commands that ye keep Ajax under shelter of the roof, and suffer him not to go forth alone.
Te. And where is Teucer, and wherefore speaks he thus?
Me. He hath but now returned; and forbodes that this going forth is fraught with death to Ajax.
Te. Unhappy me! from whom can he have learned this?800
Me. From Thestor's son, the seer, this day,—when the issue is one of life or death for Ajax.
Te. Ah me, my friends, protect me from the doom threatened by fate! Speed, some of you, to hasten Teucer's coming; let others go to the westward bays, and others to the eastward, and seek the man's ill-omened steps. I see now that I have been deceived by my lord, and cast out of the favour that once I found with him.