For with much toil she came unto my hands.
To such as dare contend some public games,
Which well deserv'd my toil, I find propos'd;
I bring her thence, she is the prize of conquest:
For slight assays each victor led away
A courser; but for those of harder proof {1100}
The conqueror was rewarded from the herd,
And with some female graced; victorious there,
A prize so noble it were base to slight.
Take her to thy protection, not by stealth
Obtain'd, but the reward of many toils:
The time, perchance, may come when thou will thank me.
_Adm._ Not that I slight thy friendship, or esteem thee
Other than noble, wished I to conceal
My wife's unhappy fate; but to my grief
It had been added grief, if thou had'st sought
Elsewhere the rites of hospitality;
Suffice it that I mourn ills which are mine.
This woman, if it may be, give in charge,
I beg thee, king, to some Thessalian else,
That hath not cause like me to grieve; in Pherae
Thou may'st find many friends; call not my woes
Fresh to my memory; never in my house
Could I behold her, but my tears would flow:
To sorrow add not sorrow; now enough
I sink beneath its weight.
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