Andromache Part 29

_sword and flies at_ ORESTES, _who disarms him at a blow_.

ORESTES.

Hold the boy! Hurt him not!

HERMIONE.

[_In a stupefied tone._] His blood is running down the steps of the altar!

PYRRHUS.

Where is Molossus? Boy, if you leave these dogs unpunished----

ANDROMACHE.

Nay, curse him not! Oh, my lord, if you have ever loved him, curse him not! Let him be free; he will do all that is well.

PYRRHUS.

[_Faintly._] Andromache? Ay, then, so be it. It is the same in the end.

I am glad I did not slay you, Andromache. [_Dies._

HERMIONE.

[_As before._] His blood is trickling into the mark of the footprint of Thetis! [_Wildly._] Ah, drag him away, or it will be a curse upon us!

He must not die at the altar!

ORESTES.

_I_ never slew him. I will not touch a man dying at an altar.

Andromache, touch him not; he will haunt you.

HERMIONE.

She is not afraid of the haunting of the dead. See, she is whispering in his ear. She is doing witchwork to bring him back. [_Crossing to_ ANDROMACHE, _who is still bending over_ PYRRHUS' _body, and kneeling to her_.] Nay, in the G.o.ddess's name, Andromache, do not wake him! I have wronged you much, but I will make amends; I will set you free. _He_ would never have done that. Only, do not whisper to him! Do not call him back to haunt me!

ANDROMACHE.

Hold your peace, traitor and coward! If I _could_ bring him back, think you I would stay my voice for you?

HERMIONE.

O G.o.d! And the noise on the wind is nearer and nearer!

ORESTES.

[_To_ HERMIONE.] You did not slay him. Even if he does wake, he will only haunt them that slew him.

HERMIONE.

He saw them not; he knows them not. He has only seen you and me.

[_Rapidly._] Oh, in G.o.d's name, it is too much! The sound of Their wings is all about me, and if I dared look, I know I should see Their faces.

It is more than one woman can bear. If he wakes I shall go mad!

ORESTES.

It is done now. We will fly in the s.h.i.+p quickly; he will never follow us over the seas.

HERMIONE.

[_As before._] _She_ will show him the way! Oh, she will have no pity! I have sought so long to slay her. She would not spare me now for all the treasures of Egypt. I knew well I should have no peace till I saw her dead.--Oh, woman, woman! bend not over him; whisper to him no more!

ANDROMACHE.

I _will_ whisper no more; I will cry aloud--in dead ears, as I have cried all my life! [_To_ PYRRHUS.] O thou who hearest me not, who hast never heard me, I call again to thee, let there at last be peace! If thou hast found thy sleep, oh, cling to it! Never wake nor stir to follow these who murdered thee!

HERMIONE.

What does she mean? It is all magic. She means that he _is_ to follow us!

ANDROMACHE.

The living have never heard me, and the dead cannot hear; but broken and dying men know the words that I speak. Remember the one moment before utter death, when thine eyes were opened to see and thine ears to hear.

Remember that, and forget the long waste of days before!

HERMIONE.

She bids him remember!--He will awake. I can feel that he will wake and follow us!

ANDROMACHE.

By the bitter hate wherewith once I hated thee; by the blood in the streets of Troy and the death-cry of Hector's child; by the love wherewith I have loved thee in spite of all--[_the body moves_]--and love thee still----

HERMIONE.

[_With a shriek._] O G.o.d! He is waking! [_Grovelling in terror and hiding her eyes._] Oh, smite off his feet that he shall not pursue, and his hands that he may never lay hold of me!

ANDROMACHE.

Before thy soul is fled far away, hearken to me and put away thine hatred.

HERMIONE.

[_As before._] Smite off his hands and his feet!

ORESTES.

She is not crying him to waken. She is bidding him rest in peace and not harm us.