Apollo Et Hyacinthus, K. 38: No 18. Recitativo: Rex! Me Redire Cogit (Apollo/Oebalus/Melia)

APOLLO:
Rex! me redire cogit in Hyacinthum amor.
Ignosce, quod Numen ego tua regna audeam
Praesens beare! Disce, quid Numen queat!
Hyacinthe surge! funus et flore aemulo
Nomenque praeferente Defuncti tege.
(Subsidens cum funere tellus hyacinthos
flores germinat.)
OEBALUS:
Quid video? Surrexisse de Nato meo
Conspicio flores?
MELIA:
Numen o nimium potens!
Pudore me suffusa profiteor ream.
Ad verba Zephyri, Patris ad iussa omnia
Quae me poenitet, feci.
OEBALUS:
Optime Parce Deus! Ignarus ego,
quis fuerit necis
Auctor patratae, pessimo Zephyro fidem
Habui, meumque credidi Natum tua
Periisse fraude. Zephyrus o quanta improbus
Induxit in regna mea, ni parcas, mala!
MELIA:
O Numen! haud fuisse contemptum putes
Abire quod te iusserim, imprudens fui
Credulaque nimium, et ira mihi verba abstulit,
Quae de dolore Fratris occisi meant.
APOLLO:
Confide Rex! Apollo non fugiet tua
Regna. Manet, et manebit heic tecum, fide
Iam stare si promissa demonstres tua.
OEBALUS:
Intelligo. Ecce Nata! te sponsam Deus
Dignatur elegisse.
MELIA:
Num credam Deum
Amare posse Meliam?
APOLLO:
O crede! ipsemet
Jupiter amare saepe mortales solet
Amare namque convenit tantum Diis,
Vobis amari.
MELIA:
Numen! en famulam, suo
Quae pro Parente pectus hoc offert tibi.
OEBALUS:
En! Si placere sponsa mortalis potest,
Apollo! nostra Filiam adductam manu
Accipe, meoque semper in regno mane.
Hyacinthus obiit: alter Hyacinthus mihi
Eris, manere Filia hac factus gener,
Regione si digneris in nostra.
APOLLO:
Oebale!
Accipio laetus Meliae oblatae manum,
Rebusque semper placidus adsistam tuis.
MELIA:
Justitia sic tua Deus elucet magis.
OEBALUS:
Sic innocentem debita haud merces fugit.
APOLLO:
Sic saecla te futura clementem sonent.

APOLLO:
O King, love for Hyacinthus compels me to return!
Excuse me for venturing, as a god, to bless your kingdom
with my presence. Learn what a god can do!
Hyacinthus, arise! May his body be swathed in flowers bearing
his image, and marked with the dead boy's name*.
(The dead body sinks into the earth, and hyacinths bloom
in its place.)
OEBALUS:
What am I seeing? Can I see flowers rising
from my son?
MELIA:
O all-powerful god!
Blushing with shame, I confess my guilt.
It was at the words of Zephyrus and the bidding
of my father that I did what now shames me.
OEBALUS:
Noble god, forgive me!
I was blind, and had faith in the monstrous Zephyrus,
who was the author of the murder that was committed,
and I believed my son to have perished by your crime.
O how much evil the wicked Zephyrus has brought
upon my kingdom, unless you spare us!
MELIA:
O divine Power, don't think that you have been scorned!
I ordered you to leave because I was foolish and too
trusting, and my anger wrung from me words which
were uttered out of grief for my murdered brother.
APOLLO:
Rest assured, O King! Apollo will not flee your kingdom.
He remains, and will continue to stay here with you,
if you now honour your vow to stand firm in your faith.
OEBALUS:
I understand. Behold, my daughter, how the god
has deigned to choose you as his bride.
MELIA:
Can I dare to believe that the god
is able to love Melia?
APOLLO:
Believe it! Jupiter himself
has more than once loved a mortal
indeed it is entirely fitting for the gods to love
and to be loved by you.
MELIA:
Divine Power! Behold your servant, who offers
her heart to you in the name of her father.
OEBALUS:
Look! If any mortal bride can please you,
Apollo, receive my daughter from my hand,
and remain in my kingdom forever.
Hyacinthus is dead: you will be for me another
Hyacinthus, if you deign to remain in our land
as husband to my daughter.
APOLLO:
Oebalus!
I joyfully accept your offer of Melia's hand, and
shall stand quietly at your side in all your endeavours.
MELIA:
Thus your justice, O god, glows all the brighter.
OEBALUS:
Thus innocence will gain its just deserts.
APOLLO:
Thus future centuries will proclaim your clemency.