She catches him in the black-horned trap, and strikes; and he falls into the water-filled vessel.
§1129δολοφόνου λέβητος τύχαν σοι λέγω.
I tell you of the fortune of the murderous cauldron.
(Chorus) I would not boast of being a supreme judge of oracles, but I liken these things to some evil.
Yet from oracles, what good word is sent to mortals?
For through evils, the wordy arts of prophecy bring an ominous dread to be learned.
§1136ἰὼ ἰὼ ταλαίνας κακόποτμοι τύχαι:
(Cassandra) Ah, ah, the wretched and ill-fated fortunes of myself!
§1137τὸ γὰρ ἐμὸν θροῶ πάθος ἐπεγχέαι.
For I cry out my own suffering, to pour it upon his.
§1138ποῖ δή με δεῦρο τὴν τάλαιναν ἤγαγες;
Where indeed have you brought me, wretched as I am?
§1139οὐδέν ποτ᾽ εἰ μὴ ξυνθανουμένην.
For nothing else than to die together.
τί γάρ;
Why indeed?
§1140φρενομανής τις εἶ θεοφόρητος, ἀμ- §1141φὶ δ᾽ αὑτᾶς θροεῖς §1142νόμον ἄνομον, οἷά τις ξουθὰ §1143ἀκόρετος βοᾶς, φεῦ, ταλαίναις φρεσὶν §1144Ἴτυν Ἴτυν στένουσ᾽ ἀμφιθαλῆ κακοῖς §1145ἀηδὼν βίον.
(Chorus) You are someone mad in mind, possessed by a god, and about yourself you wail a tuneless tune, like some tawny nightingale insatiable of cry, alas, with a wretched heart mourning "Itys, Itys" throughout a life flourishing with evils.
§1146ἰὼ ἰὼ λιγείας μόρον ἀηδόνος:
(Cassandra) Ah, ah, the fate of the clear-voiced nightingale!
§1147περίβαλον γάρ οἱ πτεροφόρον δέμας §1148θεοὶ γλυκύν τ᾽ αἰῶνα κλαυμάτων ἄτερ: §1149ἐμοὶ δὲ μίμνει σχισμὸς ἀμφήκει δορί.
For the gods cast around her a winged body and a sweet life without tears; but for me there remains a cleaving with a two-edged spear.
§1150πόθεν ἐπισσύτους θεοφόρους τ᾽ ἔχεις §1151ματαίους δύας, §1152τὰ δ᾽ ἐπίφοβα δυσφάτῳ κλαγγᾷ §1153μελοτυπεῖς ὁμοῦ τ᾽ ὀρθίοις ἐν νόμοις;
(Chorus) Whence do you have these god-possessed, rushing, vain distresses, and mold these terrifying things in ill-omened song together with high-pitched strains?
Whence do you have the boundaries of the divine path that speak of evil?
§1156ἰὼ γάμοι γάμοι Πάριδος ὀλέθριοι φίλων.
(Cassandra) Ah, the marriage, the marriage of Paris, ruinous to his loved ones!
§1157ἰὼ Σκαμάνδρου πάτριον ποτόν.
Ah, Scamander, ancestral stream!
§1158τότε μὲν ἀμφὶ σὰς ἀιόνας τάλαιν᾽ §1159ἠνυτόμαν τροφαῖς: §1160νῦν δ᾽ ἀμφὶ Κωκυτόν τε κἀχερουσίους §1161ὄχθας ἔοικα θεσπιῳδήσειν τάχα.
Once indeed, around your shores, wretched as I was, I grew up being nurtured; but now, around Cocytus and the banks of Acheron, I seem likely to sing my prophecies soon.
§1162τί τόδε τορὸν ἄγαν ἔπος ἐφημίσω;
(Chorus) What is this too clear word you have spoken?
§1163νεόγονος ἂν ἀίων μάθοι.
A newborn child hearing it could understand.
§1164πέπληγμαι δ᾽ ὑπαὶ δάκει φοινίῳ §1165δυσαλγεῖ τύχᾳ μινυρὰ [κακὰ] θρεομένας, §1166θραύματ᾽ ἐμοὶ κλύειν.
And I am struck by a bloody bite, through your painful fortune as you utter your plaintive cries, a shattering thing for me to hear.
§1167ἰὼ πόνοι πόνοι πόλεος ὀλομένας τὸ πᾶν.
(Cassandra) Ah, the labors, the labors of my city utterly destroyed!
Ah, the sacrifices of my father before the towers, with many slaughters of grass-grazing cattle!
But they availed nothing to prevent the city from suffering as indeed it does.
§1172†ἐγὼ δὲ θερμόνους τάχ᾽ ἐμπέδῳ βαλῶ†.
And I, with my mind hot, shall soon cast myself upon the ground.
§1173ἑπόμενα προτέροισι τάδ᾽ ἐφημίσω.
(Chorus) You have spoken these words in sequence to the former ones.
§1174καί τίς σε κακοφρονῶν τίθη- §1175σι δαίμων ὑπερβαρὴς ἐμπίτνων §1176μελίζειν πάθη γοερὰ θανατοφόρα.
And some evil-minded deity, falling heavily upon you, makes you sing of mournful, death-bringing sufferings.
§1177τέρμα δ᾽ ἀμηχανῶ.
But I am at a loss for the end.
§1178καὶ μὴν ὁ χρησμὸς οὐκέτ᾽ ἐκ καλυμμάτων §1179ἔσται δεδορκὼς νεογάμου νύμφης δίκην: §1180λαμπρὸς δ᾽ ἔοικεν ἡλίου πρὸς ἀντολὰς §1181πνέων ἐσᾴξειν, ὥστε κύματος δίκην §1182κλύζειν πρὸς αὐγὰς τοῦδε πήματος πολὺ
(Cassandra) And yet the oracle shall no longer look out from behind veils like a newly-wed bride; but it seems likely to rush, blowing bright toward the sun's rising, so as to wash up like a wave against the rays, far greater than this calamity.
§1183μεῖζον: φρενώσω δ᾽ οὐκέτ᾽ ἐξ αἰνιγμάτων.
I will no longer instruct you through riddles.
And bear witness as I run close behind, scenting the track of evils committed of old.
For this roof a chorus never leaves, chanting in unison, not sweet-voiced; for they do not speak well.
§1188καὶ μὴν πεπωκώς γ᾽, ὡς θρασύνεσθαι πλέον, §1189βρότειον αἷμα κῶμος ἐν δόμοις μένει, §1190δύσπεμπτος ἔξω, συγγόνων Ἐρινύων.
And indeed, having drunk human blood so as to be more bold, a revel-rout of kindred Furies remains in the house, hard to send away.
§1191ὑμνοῦσι δ᾽ ὕμνον δώμασιν προσήμεναι §1192πρώταρχον ἄτην: ἐν μέρει δ᾽ ἀπέπτυσαν §1193εὐνὰς ἀδελφοῦ τῷ πατοῦντι δυσμενεῖς.
Sitting by the house, they sing a song of primal ruin; and in turn they spit upon a brother's bed, hostile to him who trampled it.
§1194ἥμαρτον, ἢ θηρῶ τι τοξότης τις ὥς;
Did I miss, or do I hunt like some archer?
§1195ἢ ψευδόμαντίς εἰμι θυροκόπος φλέδων;
Or am I a false prophet, a babbler knocking at doors?
Bear witness, swearing beforehand that I know by report the ancient sins of this house.
(Chorus) And how could an oath, a bond nobly bound, become a healer?
θαυμάζω δέ σε §1200πόντου πέραν τραφεῖσαν ἀλλόθρουν πόλιν §1201κυρεῖν λέγουσαν, ὥσπερ εἰ παρεστάτεις.
But I marvel at you, bred across the sea, that you succeed in speaking of a city of foreign tongue as though you had been present.
§1202μάντις μ᾽ Ἀπόλλων τῷδ᾽ ἐπέστησεν τέλει.
(Cassandra) The prophet Apollo appointed me to this office.
§1203μῶν καὶ θεός περ ἱμέρῳ πεπληγμένος;
(Chorus) Was he, though a god, smitten with desire?
§1204προτοῦ μὲν αἰδὼς ἦν ἐμοὶ λέγειν τάδε.
(Cassandra) Before this indeed, I felt shame to speak of these things.
§1205ἁβρύνεται γὰρ πᾶς τις εὖ πράσσων πλέον.
(Chorus) Yes, for everyone when faring well is more delicate.
§1206ἀλλ᾽ ἦν παλαιστὴς κάρτ᾽ ἐμοὶ πνέων χάριν.
(Cassandra) But he was a mighty wrestler, breathing grace upon me.
§1207ἦ καὶ τέκνων εἰς ἔργον ἠλθέτην νόμῳ;
(Chorus) Did you indeed come to the act of children in the customary way?
§1208ξυναινέσασα Λοξίαν ἐψευσάμην.
(Cassandra) Having consented to Loxias, I deceived him.
§1209ἤδη τέχναισιν ἐνθέοις ᾑρημένη;
(Chorus) Were you already possessed by the divine arts?
§1210ἤδη πολίταις πάντ᾽ ἐθέσπιζον πάθη.
(Cassandra) Already I was prophesying all their sufferings to my citizens.
§1211πῶς δῆτ᾽ ἄνατος ἦσθα Λοξίου κότῳ;
(Chorus) How then were you unharmed by the wrath of Loxias?
§1212ἔπειθον οὐδέν᾽ οὐδέν, ὡς τάδ᾽ ἤμπλακον.
(Cassandra) I persuaded no one of anything, since I committed this sin.
§1213ἡμῖν γε μὲν δὴ πιστὰ θεσπίζειν δοκεῖς.
(Chorus) To us at least, you seem to prophesy trustworthy things.
§1214ἰοὺ ἰού, ὢ ὢ κακά.
(Cassandra) Oh, oh, alas! Woe, the evils!
Again the terrible pain of true prophecy whirls and troubles me with ill-omened preludes.
Do you see these young ones sitting by the house, like the shapes of dreams?