Euripides, Electra
E. P. Coleridge, Ed.

Old man
Where are the guests? I want to see them and question them about your brother. As he speaks, Orestes and Pylades come out of the hut.

Electra
There they are, coming quickly out of the house.

Old man
[550] They are well-born, but that may ring false; for many of the well-born are base. However; I give the guests welcome.

Orestes
Welcome, old man! To which of your friends, Electra, does this ancient remnant of a man belong?

Electra
[555] This is the one who brought up my father, stranger.

Orestes
What are you saying? Is this the one who stole away your brother?

Electra
This is the one who saved him, if indeed he is still alive.

Orestes
Oh! Why does he look at me, as if he were examining the clear mark impressed on a silver coin? Is he comparing me to someone?

Electra
[560] Perhaps he is glad to see in you a companion of Orestes.

Orestes
A beloved man, yes. But why is he circling all around me?

Electra
I too am amazed, looking at this, stranger.

Old man
O mistress, daughter Electra, pray to the gods.

Electra
For what thing, present or absent?

Old man
[565] To have a beloved treasure, which the god is revealing.

Electra
See: I call on the gods. Or whatever do you mean, old man?

Old man
Look now at this man, my child, your dearest one.

Electra
I have been looking for a long time, to see whether you have lost your mind.

Old man
Lost my mind, because I see your brother?

Electra
[570] What do you mean, old man, by this word, unhoped for?

Old man
That I see Orestes here, Agamemnon's son.

Electra
What mark do you see, by which I shall be persuaded?

Old man
A scar along his brow, where he fell and drew blood one day in his father's home when chasing a fawn with you.

Electra
[575] What are you saying? I see the sign of the fall.

Old man
Then do you hesitate to embrace your dearest one?

Electra
Not any longer, old man; for my heart is persuaded by your tokens. O you who have appeared at last, I hold you, beyond all hope.

Orestes
And you are held by me at last.

Electra
[580] I never expected it.

Orestes
Nor did I hope.

Electra
Are you that one?

Orestes
Yes, your one ally. If I draw back the cast of the net I am aiming for—but I have confidence; or else we must no longer believe in gods, if wrong is to be victorious over right.