Ah, kind friends, it has come! what I so long have dreaded.TalthybiusThe lot has decided your fates already, if that was what you feared.HecubaAh me! What city did you say, Thessalian, Phthian, or Cadmean?TalthybiusEach warrior took his prize in turn; you were not all at once assigned.HecubaTo whom has the lot assigned us severally? Which of us Trojan women does a happy fortune await?TalthybiusI know, but ask your questions separately, not all at once.HecubaThen tell me, whose prize is my daughter, hapless Cassandra?TalthybiusKing Agamemnon has chosen her out for himself.HecubaTo be the slave-girl of his Spartan wife? Ah me!TalthybiusNo, to share with him his stealthy love.HecubaWhat! Phoebus’ virgin-priestess, to whom the god with golden locks granted the gift of maidenhood?TalthybiusThe dart of love has pierced his heart, love for the frenzied maid.HecubaDaughter, cast from you the sacred keys, and from your body tear the holy wreaths that drape you in their folds.TalthybiusWhy! is it not an honor that she should win our monarch’s love?HecubaWhat have you done to her whom recently you took from me, my child?TalthybiusDo you mean Polyxena, or whom do you inquire about?HecubaYes, that one; to whom has the lot assigned her?