Oedipus: Yes, from my cradle that dread brand I bore.
Messenger: Whence thou deriv’st the name that still is thine.
Oedipus: Who did it? I adjure thee, tell me who Say, was it father, mother?
Messenger: I know not. The man from whom I had thee may know more.
Oedipus: What, did another find me, not thyself?
Messenger: Not I; another shepherd gave thee me.
Oedipus: Who was he? Would’st thou know again the man?
Messenger: He passed indeed for one of Laius’ house.
Oedipus: The king who ruled the country long ago?
Messenger: The same: he was a herdsman of the king.
Oedipus: And is he living still for me to see him?
Messenger: His fellow-countrymen should best know that.
Oedipus: Doth any bystander among you know The herd he speaks of, or by seeing him Afield or in the city? answer straight! The hour hath come to clear this business up.
Chorus: Methinks he means none other than the hind Whom thou anon wert fain to see; but that Our queen Jocasta best of all could tell.
Oedipus: Madam, dost know the man we sent to fetch? Is the same of whom the stranger speaks?
Jocasta: Who is the man? What matter? Let it be. ’Twere waste of thought to weigh such idle words.
Oedipus: No, with such guiding clues I cannot fail To bring to light the secret of my birth.
Jocasta: Oh, as thou carest for thy life, give o’er This quest. Enough the anguish I endure.
Oedipus: Be of good cheer; though I be proved the son Of a bondwoman, aye, through three descents Triply a slave, thy honor is unsmirched.
Jocasta: Yet humour me, I pray thee; do not this.
Oedipus: I cannot; I must probe this matter home.
Jocasta: ’Tis for thy sake I advise thee for the best.
Oedipus: I grow impatient of this best advice.
Jocasta: Ah mayst thou ne’er discover who thou art!
Oedipus: Go, fetch me here the herd, and leave yon woman To glory in her pride of ancestry.