Tecum aufer herbas. libera cives metu. 270
Alia fedens tellure foUicita Deos.
MED. Profugere cogis? redde fugienti ratem,
Vel redde comitem. fagere cur folatu jubes?
Non fola veni. ijella fi metuis pati,
Utrumque regno pelle. cur fontes duos 275
Diftinguisf illi Pelia, non nobis jacet
Fugam, rapinafque adice; defertum patrem,
Lacerumque fratem. quidquid etiamnum novas
Docet maritus conjuges, non eft meum.
Toties nocens fum fa<5la, fed nunquam mihi 280
GR. Jam exiffe decuit. quid feris fando moras?
MED. Supplex recedens illud extremum precor,
Ne culpa natos matris infontes trahat.
CR. Vade, hos patemo, ut genitor, excipiam fmu.
MED. Per ego aufpicatos regii thaJami toros, 285
Per fpes futuras, perque regnorum ftatus,
Fortuna varia dubia quos agitat vice,
Precor, brevem largire fugienti moram,
Dum extrema natis mater infigo ofcula,
Fortaffe moriens. CR. Fraudibus tempus petis. 290
MED. Quas fraus timeri tempore exiguo poteft?
CR. Nullum ad nocendum tempus anguftum eft malis.
MF.D. Parumne miferse temporis lacrimis negas?
CR. Etc repugnat precibus infixus timor,
Clear thyself from out of my kingdom, and take with thee all thy poisoned herbs—Free my subjects from any further alarms, and in some other country settle down, and tire out the Gods with thy enchantments,—thy imprecations,—thy sorceries, if thou art anxious to do so!
MEDEA.
Thou orderest me to flee: restore my Argonautic craft, or give me up my partner (Jason). Why dost thou order me to go away alone? If thou fearest to suffer from all the calamities of war, send us both out of the kingdom! Why dost thou make this unfair distinction between two criminals? Pelias was not killed for Jason only, but for both of us conjointly! Don't forget the flight, and add to that the robbery of the fleece! The desertion of a father and the dismemberment of a brother, and whatever a husband instructs his newly-married wife to do, is not certainly her affair only! I have often and often been made to be a criminal, but never for myself alone!
