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The deep grief which this scene had at first excited quickly gave

way to rage and despair. They were dead, and I lived; their

murderer also lived, and to destroy him I must drag out my weary

existence. I knelt on the grass and kissed the earth and with

quivering lips exclaimed, "By the sacred earth on which I kneel,

by the shades that wander near me, by the deep and eternal grief

that I feel, I swear; and by thee, O Night, and the spirits that

preside over thee, to pursue the daemon who caused this misery,

until he or I shall perish in mortal conflict. For this purpose I

will preserve my life; to execute this dear revenge will I again

behold the sun and tread the green herbage of earth, which

otherwise should vanish from my eyes for ever. And I call on you,

spirits of the dead, and on you, wandering ministers of

vengeance, to aid and conduct me in my work. Let the cursed and

hellish monster drink deep of agony; let him feel the despair

that now torments me."