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{CHORUS} Why do you stir up and rehash these arguments? Your Child has perished, and you stir up many words. {THEOTOKOS} O you who have said terrible things, will you not shut your mouth? Do you think the savior of the world has perished? {CHORUS} Advancing a little, you will see your Child's sufferings, running the contest for his soul that is set before him, whom you may now see, alive or dead. {THEOTOKOS} Alas, what do I see? By the hands of the wicked ones, my divinely-born Child, you are dragged and carried, and you have come into bonds and are willingly led by them, you, the loosener of bonds for the race of the bound. Ai ai ai ai; These things are not in harmony with the Angel's former words, nor in agreement with my hopes, Child. {CHORUS} But they are in harmony with the things foretold, which he said he would suffer at the hands of the wicked. {THEOTOKOS} Ai ai, what shall I do? For my heart is gone. Where, where are you going, Child? How I am undone! For whose sake do you run this swift race? Is there another wedding in Cana, and you are running there, to turn water into wine in a wondrous way? Shall I follow you, Child, or shall I wait for you still? Give, give me a word, O Word of God the Father, do not pass by your servant mother in silence; for now I long to hear the voice from your loving mouth and to speak to you, O Child. Grant me, by your Father himself, O Child, to touch your divine flesh with my hands, to touch your feet and to embrace you. Alas, alas, what shall I do? My heart is torn. O come, friends, come, let us leave fear behind; come near, greet him and speak to him, take hold of his right hand. Wretched am I, how full of fresh tears and fear I am. Ai ai, utterly destroyed, I, the wretched one, am perishing. Women, when I saw the grim face of my Child, I longed to die, and can no longer bear to live. Alas, what shall I do? How can I escape the hands of the people? For the enemies are letting out every rope, and there is no easy escape from ruin. What then, what shall I do? How can I escape so many snares? {CHORUS} I do not know, dearest sister; for I am afraid, and a hot tear has rushed to my eyes. But retreat and walk in silence. Creep towards the terrible things; now is the contest of courage; and we will follow with timid step; for a maddened crowd runs around him, and one must not approach close to those who are enraged. For their mind is heavy, nor will the hostile, ill-willed, bloodthirsty crowd bear to look, terrible in its impulse by the sway of its hateful purpose; a savage character, the nature of a barbarian mind. I fear it, lest it plot something new and devise a sharper sorrow for you; and seeing this I fear greatly more lest it thrust a sharpened sword through your liver, and then you receive a new, greater sorrow, if the public road should take the entrails of your Child. But turning aside a little from the wicked ones, let us watch the drama of the blood-stained men. Let us go, then, let us go where there is a grove. {THEOTOKOS} You win, since this pleases you all; and so let us go away, to where you think best. {CHORUS} From here we must watch, as from a vantage point. {THEOTOKOS} Unhappy, wretched me, if I do not see my Child suffering terrible things, until the tomb receives him. But I fled the crowds, so that I might not suffer anything myself. What gain is there for me to still live in this life? O that I might be quickly released by fate, if I am not to live to a great old age, as is the hope, with my Child rising and gathering the nations in righteous judgment, whom his kinsmen, the Hebrews, kill out of envy. Yes, kinsmen of me, his wretched mother, I say, not of his Father, the Word made mortal, whom I bore without seed, I know beyond reason, and I escaped the harsh pains of childbirth. For I trust, I trust, even if I groan much, not bearing to see him suffering now. I bore him, and I know how I gave birth; but I am unskilled at speaking of mysteries. Yet it is necessary, now that disaster has come, for me to loosen my tongue. And I will begin to speak first of how it first came upon me as a mother, I who have kept my body pure to this day; nor do I know pleasure, or bear to hear of it in word or see it in writing; for I am not eager to consider these things, and I have a virgin soul. I swear by him who knows all things clearly, that I would not have wished it, nor even have had the thought; or may I perish without fame, without a name, and may neither sea nor earth nor heavens receive my body, and may the hands of my suffering Son receive my soul, as is my prayer; for hope nourishes me, and will not put me to shame. These things I know; for now it is not right to say more, lamenting as I must. For I have suffered many things worthy of tears, but I do not know

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{ΧΟΡΟΣ} Τί τούσδε κινεῖς κἀναμοχλεύεις λόγους; ὄλωλέ σοι Παῖς, καὶ κινεῖς πολλοὺς λόγους. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} Ὦ δεινὰ λέξασ', οὐχὶ συγκλείσεις στόμα; σωτῆρα κόσμου σὺ δοκεῖς ὀλωλέναι; {ΧΟΡΟΣ} Βραχὺ προβᾶσα Παιδὸς ὄψει σου πάθη ψυχῆς ἀγῶνα τὸν προκείμενον πέρι τρέχοντος, ᾧ ζῶντ' ἢ θανόντα νῦν ἴδῃς. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} Οἴμοι, τί λεύσσω; χερσὶ τῶν ἀλαστόρων, θεηγενές μοι Τέκνον, ἕλκῃ καὶ φέρεις, εἰς δεσμά τ' ἦλθες καὶ θέλων ἄγῃ σφίσιν, ὁ δεσμολύτης τοῦ γένους τῶν δεσμίων. Αἲ αἲ αἲ αἴ· Ταῦτ' οὐ ξυνῳδὰ τοῖς πρὶν Ἀγγέλου λόγοις, οὐδ' ἐλπίσι ξύμφωνα ταῖς ἐμαῖς, Τέκνον. {ΧΟΡΟΣ} Ἀλλὰ ξυνῳδὰ τοῖς προηγορευμένοις οἷς εἶπε παθεῖν χερσὶ τῶν ἀλαστόρων. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} Αἲ αἴ, τί δράσω; καρδία γὰρ οἴχεται. Πῇ πῇ πορεύῃ, Τέκνον; ὡς ἀπωλόμην· ἕκητι τίνος τὸν ταχὺν τελεῖς δρόμον; μὴ γάμος αὖθις ἐν Κανᾷ κἀκεῖ τρέχεις, ἵν' ἐξ ὕδατος οἰνοποιήσῃς ξένως; Ἐφέψομαί σοι, Τέκνον, ἢ μενῶ σ' ἔτι; ∆ὸς δὸς λόγον μοι, τοῦ Θεοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγε, μὴ δὴ παρέλθῃς σῖγα δούλην μητέρα· νῦν γὰρ στόματος φιλίου χρῄζω σέθεν φωνῆς ἀκοῦσαι καὶ προσειπεῖν, ὦ Τέκνον. ∆ός μοι, πρὸς αὐτοῦ Πατρός, ὦ Τέκνον, σέθεν, σοῦ θεσπεσίου χρωτὸς ἅψασθαι χεροῖν ψαῦσαι ποδῶν τε καὶ περιπτύξασθαί σε. Φεῦ φεῦ, τί δράσω; καρδία μου δίκεται. Ὦ δεῦτε, φίλαι, δεῦτε, λίπωμεν φόβον· προσέλθετ', ἀσπάσασθε καὶ προσείπατε, λάζεσθε χειρὸς δεξιᾶς. Τάλαιν' ἐγώ, ὡς ἀρτίδακρύς εἰμι καὶ φόβου πλέα. Αἲ αἴ, πανώλης ἡ τάλαιν' ἀπόλλυμαι. Γυναῖκες, ὄψιν στυγνὰν ὡς εἶδον Τέκνου, ποθῶ τεθνᾶναι, ζῆν δ' ἔτ' οὐδαμῶς φέρω. Οἴμοι, τί δράσω; πῶς λάθω λαῶν χέρας; ἐχθροὶ γὰρ ἐξιᾶσι πάντα δὴ κάλων, κοὐκ ἔστιν ἄτης εὐπρόσοιστος ἔκβασις. Τί γοῦν τί δράσω; πῶς φύγω τόσους βρόχους; {ΧΟΡΟΣ} Οὐκ οἶδ', ἀδελφὴ φιλτάτη· δέδοικα γάρ, κἀμοὶ κατ' ὄσσων θερμὸν ὡρμήθη δάκρυ. Ὀπισθόπους δ' ἔξιθι καὶ σιγῇ βάθι. Ἕρπ' εἰς τὰ δεινά· νῦν ἀγὼν εὐψυχίας· ἡμεῖς τ' ἐφεψόμεσθα δειλαίᾳ βάσει· ὄχλος γὰρ αὐτὸν μαινόλης περιτρέχει, κοὐ δεῖ πελάζειν ἐγγὺς ἐνθυμουμένοις. Βαρεῖα γὰρ φρήν, οὐδ' ἀνέξεται βλέπειν ὅμιλος ἐχθρός, δυσμενής, μιαιφόνος, ὁρμήν τε δεινὸς στυγερᾶς γνώμης ῥοπῇ· ἄγριον ἦθος, βαρβάρου φύσις φρενός. ∆έδοικα δ' αὐτόν, μή τι βουλεύσας νέον δριμυτέραν σοι συμφορὰν συσκευάσῃ· καὶ κάρτα τόνδ' ὁρῶσα δειμαίνω πλέον μὴ θηκτὸν ὤσῃ φάσγανον δι' ἥπατος, κἄπειτα μείζω συμφορὰν δέξῃ νέαν, ἔγκατα Παιδὸς εἰ λεωφόρος λάβῃ. Ἀλλ' ἐκκλίνασαι βραχὺ τῶν ἀλαστόρων, ἐπισκοπῶμεν δρᾶμα τῶν μιαιφόνων. Ἴωμεν οὖν, ἴωμεν ᾗχί που νάπος. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} Νικᾶτ' ἐπειδὴ ταῦτα πάσαις ἁνδάνει· καὶ λοιπὸν ἀπίωμεν, ἔνθ' ὑμῖν δοκεῖ. {ΧΟΡΟΣ} Ἐντεῦθεν ἀθρεῖν ὡς ἐξ ἀπόπτου δέον. {ΘΕΟΤΟΚΟΣ} ∆ειλαί' ἐγὼ δύστηνος, εἰ Παῖδ' οὐχ ὁρῶ πάσχοντα δεινά, μέχρι καὶ τύμβος λάβῃ. Ὄχλους δ' ἔφυγον, ἵνα μή τι καὶ πάθω. Τί μοι δ' ἔτι ζῆν κέρδος ἐστὶν ἐν βίῳ; Αἴθ' αἴθε πότμῳ καταλυσαίμαν ταχεῖ, εἰ μὴ μεγάλως καταγηράσκειν ἔχω, ὡς ἐλπίς ἐστι, Παιδὸς ἀνισταμένου ἔθνη τε συνάγοντος ἐνδίκῳ κρίσει, ὃν συγγενεῖς κτείνουσιν Ἑβραῖοι φθόνῳ. Ναὶ συγγενεῖς μου τλήμονος μητρὸς λέγω, οὐ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ τοῦ βροτωθέντος Λόγου, ὃν ἀσπόρως ἔτικτον οἶδ' ὑπὲρ λόγον, στερράς τ' ἔφυγον ἐν τόκοις ἀλγηδόνας. Πέποιθα γάρ, πέποιθα, κἂν πολλὰ στένω, πάσχοντα μὴ φέρουσα τοῦτον νῦν βλέπειν. Ἔτικτον αὐτόν, οἶδα δ' ὡς ἐγεινάμην· ἀλλ' εἴμ' ἄκομψος ἐκφέρειν μυστήρια. Ὅμως δ' ἀνάγκη, συμφορᾶς ἀφιγμένης, γλῶσσάν μ' ἀφεῖναι. Πρῶτα δ' ἄρξομαι λέγειν, ὅθεν μ' ὑπῆλθε πρῶτον οἷα μητέρα, φέρουσαν ἁγνὸν ἐς τόδ' ἡμέρας δέμας· οὐδ' οἶδα τέρψιν ἢ λόγῳ κλύειν φέρω γραφῇ τε λεύσσειν· οὐδὲ ταῦτα γὰρ σκοπεῖν ἐγὼ πρόθυμος, παρθένον ψυχὴν δ' ἔχω. Ὄμνυμι τὸν σύμπαντα σαφῶς εἰδότα, μηδ' ἂν θελῆσαι μηδ' ἂν ἔννοιαν λαβεῖν· ἢ κατολοίμην ἀκλεής, ἀνώνυμος, καὶ μήτε πόντος μήτε γῆ μήτ' αὖ πόλος τὸ σῶμά μου δέξαιτο, καὶ ψυχὴν χέρες πάσχοντος Υἱοῦ γ', ὡς κατ' εὐχήν ἐστί μοι· ἐλπὶς τρέφει τε, κοὐ καταισχυνεῖ δέ με. Ταῦτ' οἶδα· νῦν γὰρ οὐ θέμις πέρα λέγειν θρηνοῦσαν ὡς δεῖ. ∆ακρύων γὰρ ἄξια πέπονθα πόλλ', οὐκ οἶδα δ'