Neop. Deem that beyond all doubt.810
Phil. I do not care to bind thee by an oath.
Neop. I may not go from hence apart from thee.
Phil. Give me thy hand as pledge.
Neop. I give it thee
As pledge of our remaining.
Phil. [Starting in agony.] Take me there,
There, there, I say.
Neop. But whither meanest thou?
Phil. Above. . . . .
Neop. [Laying hold on Philoctetes.] Why ravest
thou, and why dost gaze
Upon yon vault above us?
Phil. Let me go,
I tell thee; let me go!
Neop. Where shall I leave thee?
Phil. Leave me, I say, a while.
Neop. It may not be.
Phil. If thou but touch me, thou wilt work my death.
Neop. [Releasing him.] And I will let thee go, if thou, indeed,
Art calmer now.
Phil. [Throwing himself on the ground.] Ο Earth, receive
me here,
Just as I am, half-dead. This sore disease
No longer lets me hold myself upright. 820[Falls asleep.
Neop. Sleep, so 'twould seem, would make the man its own
In no long time; for, lo! his head droops back,
And drops of sweat from all his body fall,
And the dark vein from out his instep breaks,
Bursting with blood. But let us leave him here
In peace, that he may fall on sleep at last.
