Читать книгу The Complete Poems of C.P. Cavafy - Daniel Mendelsohn, Daniel Mendelsohn - Страница 57

They ­hadn’t seen, in Delphi, such beautiful gifts in centuries

as those that were sent by the two, the Ptolemies,

the rival brother kings. Ever since the priests accepted them,

though, they’ve been worried about the oracle. To frame it

with finesse they’ll need all of their expertise:

which of the two, two such as these, must be displeased.

And they convene at night, secretly,

to confer about the Lagid family.

But look, the envoys have come back. They take their leave.

Returning to Alexandria, they say. They no longer have

need of oracles. The priests are overjoyed to hear this

(it’s understood they’ll keep the fabulous gifts)

but they’re also bewildered in the extreme,

clueless as to what this sudden lack of interest means.

For yesterday the envoys had grim news of which priests are unaware:

At Rome the oracle was handed down; destinies were meted there.

[1915; 1918]