IPHIGENIA IN TAURIS
If we were sunk and everything went down,
And if my life were saved but not the letter.
If that should happen, how could I keep my word?
Iphigenia
In any plan, two ways improve on one.
So I will tell you, slowly, line by line, 760
The contents of my letter, which, if need be,
You are to tell my friend. Then he will know.
For either you will place it in his hand
And the written words will speak to him or else,
If they are lost, your voice will be their echo. 765
Pylades
That is a surer way, for both of us.
So whom am I to find for you in Argos?
What shall I say to him?
Iphigenia
Say this to him.
Say to Orestes, son of Agamemnon,
"A greeting comes from one you think is dead." 770
Tell him, "Your sister is not dead at Aulis
But is alive."
Orestes
Alive? Iphigenia?
Oh, no! Unless the dead come back again!
Iphigenia
You are looking at her now, for I am she.
But let me finish what I ask of him.
"O brother, come and save me from a life
As priestess in a loathsome ritual— 775
Save me from dying in this lonely land."
Orestes
Where am I, Pylades? What am I hearing?
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