歌唱吧，女神[●]！歌唱裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯的愤怒——
●女神：缪斯。
他的暴怒招致了这场凶险的灾祸，给阿开亚人[●]带来了
●阿开亚人：Akhaioi，古希腊人的一个主要部族，集居在塞萨利亚（Thess
-alia）。墨塞奈（Messene）、阿耳戈斯（Argos）和伊萨凯（Ithake）等地。“阿
开亚人”在此泛指希腊人。
受之不尽的苦难，将许多豪杰强健的魂魄
打入了哀地斯，而把他们的躯体，作为美食，扔给了
狗和兀鸟，从而实践了宙斯的意志，
从初时的一场争执开始，当事的双方是
阿特柔斯之子、民众的王者阿伽门农和卓越的阿基琉斯。
是哪位神祗挑起了二者间的这场争斗？
是宙斯和莱托之子阿波罗，后者因阿特桑斯之子
侮辱了克鲁塞斯，他的祭司，而对这位王者大发其火。
他在兵群中降下可怕的瘟疫，吞噬众人的生命。
为了赎回女儿，克鲁塞斯曾身临阿开亚人的
快船，带着难以数计的财礼，
手握黄金节杖，杖上系着远射手
阿波罗的条带[●]，恳求所有的阿开亚人，
●条带：stemata，可能是一种羊毛织物（头带），绑在节杖上，作为通神的
标志。
首先是阿特柔斯的两个儿子，军队的统帅：
“阿特柔斯之子，其他胫甲坚固的阿开亚人！
但愿家住俄林波斯的众神答应让你们洗劫
普里阿摩斯的城堡，然后平安地回返家园。
请你们接受赎礼，交还我的女儿，我的宝贝，
以示对宙斯之子、远射手阿波罗的崇爱。”
其他阿开亚人全都发出赞同的呼声，
表示应该尊重祭司，收下这份光灿灿的赎礼；
然而，此事却没有给阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农带来愉悦，
他用严厉的命令粗暴地赶走了老人：
“老家伙，不要再让我见到你的出现，在这深旷的海船边！
现在不许倘留，以后也不要再来——
否则，你的节杖和神的条带将不再为你保平信安！
我不会交还这位姑娘；在此之前，岁月会把她磨得人老珠黄，
在远离故乡的阿耳戈斯，我的房居，
她将往返穿梭，和布机作伴，随我同床！
走吧，不要惹我生气，也好保住你的性命！”
他如此一顿咒骂，老人心里害怕，不敢抗违。
他默默地行进在涛声震响的滩沿，
走出一段路后，开始一次又一次地向王者
阿波罗、美发菜托的儿子祈愿：
“听我说，卫护克鲁塞和神圣的基拉的银弓之神，
强有力地统领着忒奈多斯的王者，史鸣修斯[●]，
●史鸣修斯：Smintheus，一说意为“鼠神”。
如果，为了欢悦你的心胸，我曾立过你的庙宇，
烧过裹着油脂的腿件，公牛和山羊的
腿骨，那就请你兑现我的祷告，我的心愿：
让达奈人[●]赔报我的眼泪，用你的神箭！”
●达奈人：Danaoi，希腊人的另一个统称。Danaoi原指一个部族，得名或许
和传说中的国王达那俄斯（Danaos）和他的女儿们的活动有关。
他如此一番祈祷，福伊波斯·阿波罗听到了他的声音。
身背弯弓和带盖的箭壶，他从俄林波斯山巅
直奔而下，怒满胸膛，气冲冲地
一路疾行，箭枝在背上铿锵作响——
他来了，像黑夜降临一般，
遥对着战船蹲下，放出一枝飞箭，
银弓发出的声响使人心惊胆战。
他先射骡子和迅跑的狗，然后，
放出一枝撕心裂肺的利箭，对着人群，射倒了他们；
焚尸的烈火熊熊燃烧，经久不灭。
一连九天，神的箭雨横扫着联军。
及至第十天，阿基琉斯出面召聚集会——
白臂女神赫拉眼见着达奈人成片地倒下，
生发了怜悯之情，把集会的念头送进了他的心坎。
当众人走向会场，聚合完毕后，
捷足的阿基琉斯站立起来，在人群中放声说道：
“阿特柔斯之子，由于战事不顺，我以为，
倘若尚能幸免一死，倘若战争和瘟疫
正联手毁灭阿开亚人，我们必须撤兵回返。
不过，先不必着忙，让我们就此问问某位通神的人，某位先知，
哪怕是一位释梦者——因为梦也来自宙斯的神力——
让他告诉我们福伊波斯·阿波罗为何盛怒至此，
是因为我们忽略了某次还愿，还是某次丰盛的祀祭；如果
真是这样，那么，倘若让他闻到烤羊羔和肥美的山羊的熏烟，
他就或许会在某种程度上中止瘟疫带给我们的磨难。”
阿基琉斯言毕下座，人群中站起了塞斯托耳之子
卡尔卡斯，释辨鸟踪的里手，最好的行家。
他博古通今，明晓未来，凭藉
福伊波斯·阿波罗给他的卜占之术，
把阿开亚人的海船带到了伊利昂。
怀着对众人的善意，卡尔卡斯起身说道：
“阿基琉斯，宙斯钟爱的壮勇，你让我卜释，
远射手、王者阿波罗的愤怒，我将
谨遵不违。但是，你得答应并在我面前起誓，
你将真心实意地保护我，用你的话语，你的双手。
我知道，我的释言会激怒一位强者，他统治着
阿耳吉维人[●]，而所有的阿开亚兵勇全都归他指挥。
●阿耳吉维人：Argeioi，“家住阿耳戈斯的人”，常泛指希腊人。
对一个较为低劣的下人，王者的暴怒绝非儿戏。
即使当时可以咽下怒气，他仍会把
怨恨埋在心底，直至如愿以偿的时候。
认真想想吧，你是否打算保护我。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“勇敢些，把神的意思释告我们，不管你知道什么。
我要对宙斯钟爱的阿波罗起誓——那位你，卡尔卡斯，
在对达奈人卜释他的意志时对之祈祷的天神——
只要我还活着，只要还能见到普照大地的阳光，
深旷的海船旁就没有人敢对你撒野。
没有哪个达奈人敢对你动武，哪怕你指的是阿伽门农，
此人现时正自诩为阿开亚人中最好的雄杰！”
听罢这番话，好心的卜者鼓起勇气，直言道：
“听着，神的怪罪，不是因为我们没有还愿，也不是因为没有举
行丰盛的祀祭，
而是因为阿伽门农侮辱了他的祭司，
不愿交还他的女儿并接受赎礼。
因此，神射手给送来了苦痛，并且还将继续
折磨我们。他将不会消解使达奈人丢脸的瘟疫，
直到我们把那位眼睛闪亮的姑娘交还她的亲爹，
没有代价，没有赎礼，还要给克鲁塞赔送一份神圣而丰厚的
牲祭。这样，我们才可能平息他的愤怒，使他回心转意。”
卡尔卡斯言毕下座，人群中站起了阿特柔斯之子，
统治着辽阔疆域的英雄阿伽门农。
他怒气咻咻，黑心里注满怨愤，
双目熠熠生光，宛如燃烧的火球，
凶狠地盯着卡尔卡斯，先拿他开刀下手：
“灾难的预卜者！你从未对我说过一件好事，
却总是乐衷于卜言灾难；你从未说过
吉利的话．也不曾卜来一件吉利的事。现在，
你又对达奈人卜释起神的意志，声称
远射神之所以使他们备受折磨，
是因为我拒不接受回赎克鲁塞伊丝[●]姑娘的
●克鲁塞伊丝：确切地说，Chruseis只是一个指称，而不是人名，意为“克
鲁塞斯的女儿”。
光灿灿的赎礼。是的，我确实想把她
放在家里；事实上，我喜欢她胜过克鲁泰奈斯特拉，
我的妻子，因为无论是身段或体形，
还是内秀或手工，她都毫不差逊。
尽管如此，我仍愿割爱，如果此举对大家有利。
我祈望军队得救，而不是它的毁灭。不过，
你们得给我找一份应该属于我的战礼，以免
在所有的阿耳吉维人中，独我一人缺少战争赐给的荣誉——
这，何以使得？
你们都已看见，我失去了我的战礼。”
听罢这番话，捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯答道：
“阿特柔斯之子，最尊贵的王者，世上最贪婪的人——你想过
没有，
眼下，心胸豪壮的阿开亚人如何能支给你另一份战礼？
据我所知，我们已没有大量的库存；
得之于掠劫城堡的战礼都已散发殆尽，
而要回已经分发出去的东西是一种不光彩的行径。
不行。现在，你应该把姑娘交还阿波罗；将来，倘若
宙斯允许我们荡劫墙垣精固的特洛伊，
我们阿开亚人将以三倍、四倍的报酬偿敬！”
听罢这番话，强有力的阿伽门农答道：
“不要耍小聪明，神一样的阿基琉斯，不要试图胡弄我，
虽然你是个出色的战勇。你骗不了我，也说服不了我。
你想干什么？打算守着你自己的战礼，而让我空着双手，
干坐此地吗？你想命令我把姑娘交出去吗？
不！除非心胸豪壮的阿开亚人给我一份新的战礼，
按我的心意选来，如我失去的这位一样楚楚动人。
倘若办不到，我就将亲自下令，反正得弄到一个，
不是你的份儿，便是埃阿斯的，或是俄底修斯的。
我将亲往提取——动怒发火去吧，那位接受我造访的伙计！
够了，这些事情我们以后再议。现在，
我们必须拨出一条乌黑的海船，拖人闪光的大海，
配备足够的桨手，搬上丰盛的祀祭——
别忘了那位姑娘，美貌的克鲁塞伊丝。
须由一位首领负责解送，或是埃阿斯，
或是伊多墨纽斯，或是卓越的俄底修斯
也可以是你自己，裴琉斯之子，天底下暴戾的典型
以主持牲祭，平息远射手的恨心。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯恶狠狠地看着他，吼道：
“无耻，彻头彻尾的无耻！你贪得无厌，你利益熏心！
凭着如此德性，你怎能让阿开亚战勇心甘情愿地听从
你的号令，为你出海，或全力以赴地杀敌？
就我而言，把我带到此地的，不是和特洛伊枪手
打仗的希愿。他们没有做过对不起我的事情，
从未抢过我的牛马，从未在土地肥沃。
人了强壮的弗西亚糟蹋过我的庄稼。
可能吗？我们之间隔着广阔的地域，
有投影森森的山脉，呼啸奔腾的大海。为了你的利益——
真是奇耻大辱——我们跟你来到这里，好让你这狗头
高兴快慰，好帮你们——你和墨奈劳斯——从特洛伊人那里
争回脸面！对这一切你都满不在乎，以为理所当然。
现在，你倒扬言要亲往夺走我的份子，
阿开亚人的儿子们给我的酬谢——为了她，我曾拼命苦战。
每当我们攻陷一座特洛伊城堡[●]，一个人财两旺的去处，
●特洛伊城堡：指特洛伊或特罗阿得地区的城镇。
我所得的战礼从来没有你的丰厚。
苦战中，我总是承担最艰巨的
任务，但在分发战礼时，
你总是吞走大头，而我却只能带着那一点东西。
那一点受我珍爱的所得，拖着疲软的双腿，走回海船。
够了！我要返回家乡弗西亚——乘坐弯翘的海船
回家，是一件好得多的美事。我不想忍声吞气，
呆在这里，为你积聚财富，增添库存！”
听罢这番话，民众的王者阿伽门农答道：
“要是存心想走，你就尽管溜之大吉！我不会
求你留在这里，为了一己私利。我的身边还有其他战勇，
他们会给我带来荣誉——当然，首先是宙斯，他是我最强健的
护佑。
宙斯钟爱的王者中，你是我最痛恨的一个；
争吵、战争和搏杀永远是你心驰神往的事情。
如果说你非常强健，那也是神赐的厚礼。
带着你的船队，和你的伙伴们一起，登程回家吧；
照当你的王者，统治慕耳弥冬人去吧！我不在乎你这个人，
也不在乎你的愤怒。不过，你要记住我的警告：
既然福伊波斯·阿波罗要取走我的克鲁塞伊丝，
我将命令我的伙伴，用我的船只，
把她遣送归还。但是，我要亲往你的营棚，带走美貌的
布里塞伊丝，你的战礼。这样，你就会知道，和你相比，
我的权势该有多么莽烈！此外，倘若另有犯上之人，畏此
先例，
谅他也就不敢和我抗争，平享我的威严。”
如此一番应答，激怒了裴琉斯的儿子。多毛的
胸腔里，两个不同的念头争扯着他的心魂：
是拔出胯边锋快的铜剑，
撩开挡道的人群，杀了阿特柔斯之子，
还是咽下这口怨气，压住这股狂烈？
正当他权衡着这两种意念，在他的心里和魂里，
从剑鞘里抽出那柄硕大的铜剑，雅典娜
从天而降——白臂女神赫拉一视同仁地
钟爱和关心着他俩，故而遣她下凡——
站在裴琉斯之子背后，伸手抓住他的金发，
只是对他显形，旁人全都一无所见。
惊异中，阿基琉斯转过身子，一眼便认出了
帕拉丝·雅典娜——那双闪着异样光彩的眼睛。
他开口说话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“带埃吉斯[●]的宙斯的孩子，为何现时降临？想看看
●埃吉斯：叫一是一种神用的兵器，相当于凡人的盾牌或供防护的生牛皮。
阿特柔斯之子，看看阿伽门农的骄横跋扈吗？
告诉你——我以为，老天保佑，此事终将成为现实：
此人的骄横将会送掉他的性命！”
听罢这番话，灰眼睛女神雅典娜答道：
“我从天上下来，为的是平息你的愤怒，但愿你能听从
我的劝言。白臂女神赫拉给了我这趟差事，
因她一视同仁地钟爱和关心着你俩。
算了吧，停止争斗，不要手握剑把，
虽然你可出声辱骂，让他知道事情的后果。
我有一事相告，记住，此事定将成为现实：
将来，三倍于此的光灿灿的礼物将会放在你的面前，
以抵销他对你的暴虐。不要动武，听从我俩的规劝。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“女神，我完全遵从——只要你们二位有所指令，凡人必须
服从，
尽管怒满胸怀。如此对他有利。
一个人，如果服从神的意志，神也就会听到他的祈愿。”
言罢，他用握着银质柄把的大手
将硕大的铜剑推回剑鞘，不想违抗
雅典娜的训言。女神起程返回俄林波斯，
带埃吉斯的宙斯的宫殿，和众神聚首相见。
其时，裴琉斯之子再次对阿特桑斯之子亮开嗓门，
夹头夹脑地给他一顿臭骂，怒气分毫不减：
“你这嗜酒如命的家伙，长着恶狗的眼睛，一颗雌鹿的心！
你从来没有这份勇气，把自己武装，和伙伴们一起拼搏，
也从未汇同阿开亚人的豪杰，阻杀伏击。
在你眼里，此类事情意味着死亡；与之相比，
巡行在宽阔的营区，撞见某个敢于和你顶嘴的壮勇，下令
夺走他的战礼——如此作为，在你看来，才算安全。
痛饮兵血的昏王！你的部属都是些无用之辈，
否则，阿特柔斯之子，这将是你最后一次霸道横行！
这里，我有一事奉告，并要对它庄严起誓，
以这支权杖的名义——木杖再也不会生出
枝叶，因为它已永离了山上的树干；
它也不会再抽发新绿，因为铜斧已剥去它的皮条，
剔去它的青叶。现在，阿开亚人的儿子们
把它传握在手，按照宙斯的意志，维护
世代相传的定规。所以，这将是一番郑重的誓告：
将来的某一天，阿开亚人的儿子们，是的，全军将士都会
翘首盼望阿基琉斯；而你，眼看着士兵们成堆地倒死在
杀人狂赫克托耳手下，虽然心中焦恼，
却只能仰天长叹。那时，你会痛悔没有尊重阿开亚全军
最好的战勇，在暴怒的驱使下撕裂自己的心怀！”
言罢，裴琉斯之子把金钉嵌饰的权杖
扔在地上，弯身下坐；对面，阿特柔斯之子
怒火中烧，恶狠狠地盯着他。其时，口才出众的
奈斯托耳在二者之间站立，嗓音清亮的
普洛斯辩说家，谈吐比蜂蜜还要甘甜。
老人已经历两代人的消亡，那些和他同期
出生和长大的人以及他们的后代，
在神圣的普洛斯；现在，他是第三代人的王权。
怀着对二位王者的善意，他开口说道：
“天呢，巨大的悲痛正降临到阿开亚大地！
要是听到你俩争斗的消息——你们，
达奈人中最善谋略和最能搏战的精英，
普里阿摩斯和他的儿子们将会何等的高兴；
特洛伊人会放声欢笑，手舞足蹈！
听从我的劝导吧，你俩都比我年轻。
过去，我曾同比你们更好的人
交往，他们从来不曾把我小看。其后，
我再也没有，将来也不会再见到那样的人杰，
有裴里苏斯、兵士的牧者德鲁阿斯。
开纽斯和厄克萨底俄斯，还有神一样的波鲁菲摩斯
以及埃勾斯之子、貌似天神的塞修斯——
大地哺育的最强健的一代。
这些最强者曾和栖居山野的另一些
最强健的粗野的生灵[●]鏖战，把后者杀得尸首堆连。
●粗野的生灵：指马人（上身像人，下身似马），生活在裴利昂山地。
我曾和他们为伍，应他们的征召，
从遥远的故乡普洛斯出发，会聚群英。
我活跃在战场上，独挡一面。生活在今天的
凡人全都不是他们的对手。然而，他们
倾听我的意见，尊重我的言谈。所以，
你们亦应听从我的劝解，明智者应该从善如流。
你，阿伽门农，尽管了不起，也不应试图带走那位姑娘，
而应让她呆在那里；阿开亚人的儿子们早已把她分给他人，
作为战礼。至于你，裴琉斯之子，也不应企望和一位国王
分庭抗礼；在荣誉的占有上，别人得不到他的份子，
一位手握权杖的王者，宙斯使他获得尊荣。
尽管你比他强健，而生你的母亲又是一位女神，
但你的对手统治着更多的民众，权势更猛。
阿特柔斯之子，平息你的愤怒；瞧，连我都在求你
罢息对阿基琉斯的暴怒——在可怕的战争中，
此人是一座堡垒，挡护着阿开亚全军。”
听罢这番话，强有力的阿伽门农答道：
“我承认，老人家，你的话条理分明，说得一点不错。
但是，此人想要凌驾于众人之上，
试图统治一切，王霸全军，对所有的人
发号施令。然而，就有这么一位，我知道，咽不下这口气！
虽然不死的神祗使他成为枪手，
但却不曾给他肆意谩骂的权利！”
听罢这番话，卓越的阿基琉斯恶狠狠地盯着他，答道：
“好家伙！倘若我对你惟命是从，而不管你是否在
信口开河，那么，人们就会骂我，骂我是胆小鬼和窝囊废。
告诉别人去做这做那吧，不要再对我
发号施令！阿基琉斯再也不想听从你的指挥。
此外，我还有一事相告，并要你牢记在心：
我的双手将不会为那位姑娘而战，既不和你，
也不和其他任何人打斗。你们把她给了我，你们又从我这边
带走了她。
但是，对我的其他财物，堆放在飞快的黑船边，
不经我的许可，你连一个指儿都不许动。
不信的话，你可以放手一试，也好让旁人看看，
顷刻之间，你的黑血便会喷洗我的枪头！”
就这样，俩人出言凶暴，舌战了一场后，
站起身子，解散了这次阿开亚人的集会，在云聚的海船旁。
裴琉斯之子返回营棚和线条匀称的海船，
同行的还有墨诺伊提俄斯之子和他们的伙伴。
与此同时，阿特柔斯之子传令拖船，把一条快船拖下大海，
配拨了二十名桨手，让人抬着祭神的奠物，
丰足的牲品，手牵着美貌的克鲁塞伊丝，
登上木船；精明能干的俄底修斯同行前往，作为督办。
一切收拾停当，海船朝着洋面驶去。
滩沿上，阿特柔斯之子传令全军洁身祭神。
他们洗去身上的污浊，把脏物扔下大海，
供上丰盛的祭品，在荒漠大洋的边岸，
用肥壮的公牛和山羊，祝祭神明阿波罗；
熏烟挟着阵阵的香气，袅绕着升上青天。
就这样，他们在军营里奔走忙碌。但是，阿伽门农
却无意停止争斗，也不曾忘记先时对阿基琉斯发出的威胁，
命令塔耳苏比俄斯和欧鲁巴忒斯，
他的两位使者和勤勉的助手：
“去吧，速往裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯的营棚，
牵回美貌的布里塞伊丝。倘若
他不让你们执令，我将亲往带走那位姑娘，
引着大队的兵勇，从而大大加重他的悲难。”
言罢，他遣走使者，严酷的命令震响在二位的耳畔。
他们行进在拥抱荒漠大海的滩沿，
违心背意，来到慕耳弥冬人的营区和海船边，
发现阿基琉斯正坐在他的营棚和乌黑的海船旁，
板着脸，使者的到来没有使他产生丝毫的悦念。
怀着恐惧和敬畏之情，二位静立
一边，既不说话，也没有发问。
然而，阿基琉斯心里明白，开口说道：
“欢迎你们，信使，宙斯和凡人的使者。来吧，走近些。
在我眼里，你俩清白无辜——该受责惩的是阿伽门农，
是他派遣二位来此，带走布里塞伊丝姑娘。
去吧，高贵的帕特罗克洛斯，把姑娘领来，
交给他们带走。但是，倘若那一天真的来到
我们中间——那时，全军都在等盼我的出战，
为众人挡开可耻的毁灭——我要二位替我作证，
在幸福的神祗面前，在凡人、包括那位残忍的王者
面前。毫无疑问，此人正在有害的狂怒中煎熬，
缺乏瞻前顾后的睿智，无力
保护苦战船边的阿开亚兵汉。”
帕特罗克洛斯得令而去，遵从亲爱的伴友，
以营棚里领出美貌的布里塞伊丝，交给
二位带走，后者动身返回营地，沿着阿开亚人的海船；
姑娘尽管不愿离去，也只得曲意跟随。阿基琉斯
悲痛交加，睁着泪水汪汪的眼睛，远离着伙伴，
独自坐在灰蓝色大洋的滩沿，仁望着渺无垠际的海水，
一次次地高举起双手，呼唤着他的过来：
“我的母亲，既然你生下一个短命的儿郎，
那俄林波斯山上炸响雷的宙斯便至少
应该让我获得荣誉，但他却连一丁点儿都不给。
现在，阿特柔斯之子、强有力的阿伽门农
侮辱了我，夺走了我的份礼，霸为己有。”
他含泪泣诉，高贵的母亲听到了他的声音，
其时正坐在深深的海底，年迈的父亲身边。
像一缕升空的薄雾，女神轻盈地踏上灰蓝色的大海，
行至悲声哭泣的儿子身边，屈腿坐下，
伸手轻轻抚摸，出声呼唤，说道：
“我的儿，为何哭泣？是什么悲愁揪住了你的心房？
告诉我，不要把它藏在心里，好让你我都知道。”
捷足的阿基琼斯长叹一声，答道：
“你是知道的，你是知道此事的，为何还要我对你言告？
我们曾进兵塞贝，厄提昂神圣的城，
荡劫了那个去处，把所得的一切全都带到此地。
阿开亚人的儿子们将战礼逐份发配，
把美貌的克鲁塞伊丝给了阿特柔斯之子。
此后，克鲁塞斯，远射手阿波罗的祭司，
来到身披铜甲的阿开亚人的快船边，
打算赎回女儿，带着难以数计的财礼，
手握黄金节杖，杖上系着远射手
阿波罗的条带，恳求所有的阿开亚人，
首先是阿特柔斯的两个儿子，军队的统帅。
其他阿开亚人全都发出赞同的呼声，
表示应该尊重祭司，收下这份光灿灿的赎礼。
然而，此事却没有给阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农带来愉悦，
他用严厉的命令粗暴地赶走了老人。
老人愤愤不平地离去，但阿波罗听到了
他的告言——他是福伊波斯极钟爱的凡人——
对着阿开亚人射出了毒箭。兵勇们
成群结队地倒下，神的箭雨横扫着
阿开亚人广阔的营盘。其后，幸得知晓
内情的卜者揭出远射手的旨意；
既如此，我就第一个出面，要求慰息阿波罗的愤烦。
由此触犯了阿特柔斯之子，他跳将起来，
对我恫吓威胁。现在，他的胁言已用行动实践。
明眸的阿开亚人正用快船把姑娘
带回克鲁塞，满载着送给阿波罗的礼物。
刚才，使者带走了布里修斯的女儿，
从我的营棚，阿开亚人的儿子们分给我的战礼。
事已至此，你，如果有这个能力，要保护亲生的儿子。
你可直奔俄林波斯，祈求宙斯帮忙，倘若从前
你曾博取过他的欢心，用你的行动或语言。
在父亲家里，我经常听你声称，说是
在不死的神祗中，只有你曾经救过克罗诺斯之子，
乌云的驾驭者，使他免遭可耻的毁灭。
当时，其他俄林波斯众神试图把他付诸绳索，
包括赫拉、波塞冬，还有帕拉丝·雅典娜。其时，
女神，你赶去为他解下索铐，迅速行动，
把那位百手生灵召上俄林波斯山面。这位力士，
神们叫他布里阿桑斯，但凡人都称其为
埃伽昂，虽说他的力气胜比他的亲爹。
他在克罗诺斯之子身边就座，享受着无上的荣光；
幸运的诸神心里害怕，放弃了捆绑宙斯的念头。
你要让他记起这一切；坐在他的身边，抱住
他的膝盖，使他产生帮助特洛伊人的心念，
把阿开亚人逼向木船和大海，在那里
长眠，使他们都能得益于那位王者的恶行，
也能使阿特柔斯之子、统治着辽阔疆域的阿伽门农认识到
自己的骄狂，后悔侮辱了阿开亚人中最好的俊杰。”
听罢这番话，塞提丝泪水横流，答道：
“唉，苦命的儿子！我让你随着不幸来到人间，为何又要把你
带大？
但愿你能聊无烦恼地坐在船边，和泪水绝缘，
只因你今生短暂，剩时不多。现在看来，
你不仅一生短促，而且要比世人承受更多的苦难。
儿啊，我把你生在厅堂里，让你面对厄运的熬煎！
尽管如此，我还要去那白雪覆盖的俄林波斯大山，求合于
喜好炸雷的宙斯。或许，他会使我们得偿如愿。
至于你，你可继续呆在自己的快船边，
满怀对阿开亚人的愤怒，不要参战。
宙斯已远行俄开阿诺斯，就在昨天，参加高贵刚勇的
埃西俄丕亚人的欢宴，带着神的群族，同行的旅伴。
到那第十二天上，他将回到俄林波斯；届时，
我将带着你的祈愿，前往他那青铜铺地的房居，
抱住他的膝盖，我想可以把他争劝。”
言罢，女神飘然而去，留下儿子一人，
为着那位束腰秀美的女子伤心——他们不顾
他的意愿，强行带走了姑娘。与此同时，
俄底修斯的木船。载着神圣的牲祭，已经驶入克鲁塞海面。
当船只进入了蓄水幽深的码头，他们
收拢船帆，堆放在乌黑的海船里，
松动前支索，使桅杆迅速躺倒在支架上，
然后荡起木桨，划向落锚的滩岸。
他们抛出锚石，系牢船尾的绳缆，
足抵滩沿，迈步向前，抬着
献给远射手阿波罗的丰盛的祭件。
克鲁塞伊丝姑娘亦自个儿从破浪远洋的海船上下来，
足智多谋的俄底斯引着她走向祭坛，
把她送入父亲的怀抱，对他说道：
“克鲁塞斯，受民众的王者阿伽门农派遣，
我送回了你的女儿，并准备举行一次神圣的牲祭，
代表达奈人，献给福伊波斯，以平抚这位
王者；他给阿开亚人带来了痛苦和悲哀。”
言罢，他把姑娘留给父亲的怀抱，后者高兴地
接过爱女。其时，坚固的祭坛旁，人们手脚麻利，
收拾着奉祭给阿波罗的牲献。
然后，他们洗过双手，抓起大麦。
克鲁塞斯双臂高扬，用洪亮的声音朗朗作祷：
“听我说，银弓之神，卫护克鲁塞和
神圣的基拉、强有力地统治着忒奈多斯的王者，
倘若你以前曾听过我的诵告，
给了我荣誉并狠狠地惩治了阿开亚人，
那么，请你再次满足我的祈望，
消止达奈人承受的这场可怕的瘟孽。”
他如此一番祈祷，福伊波斯·阿波罗听到了他的声音。
当众人作过祷告，撒过祭麦后，他们
扳起祭畜的头颅，割断它们的喉管，剥去皮张，
然后剔下腿肉，用油脂包裹腿骨，
双层，把小块的生肉置于其上。
老人把肉包放在劈开的木块上焚烤，洒上闪亮的
醇酒，年轻人手握五指尖叉，站在他的身边。
焚烧了祭畜的腿件，品尝过内脏，
他们把所剩部分切成小块，用叉子
挑起来仔细炙烤后，脱叉备用。
当一切整治完毕，盛宴已经排开，
他们张嘴咀嚼，人人都吃到足份的餐肴。
当大家满足了吃喝的欲望，
年轻人将醇酒注满兑缸，先在众人的
杯盏里略倒一点祭神，然后灌满各位的酒盅。
整整一天，他们用歌唱平息神的愤怒，
年轻的阿开亚兵勇唱着动听的赞歌，
颂扬发箭远方的射手，后者正高兴地听着他们的唱颂。
当太阳西沉，夜色降临后，
他们躺倒身子，睡在系连船尾的缆索边。
然而，当年轻的黎明，垂着玫瑰红的手指，重现天际时，
他们登船上路，驶向阿开亚人宽阔的营盘。
远射手阿波罗送来阵阵疾风，
他们树起桅杆，挂上雪白的篷帆，
兜鼓起劲吹的长风；海船迅猛向前，
劈开一条暗蓝色的水路，浪花唰唰地飞溅，唱着轰响的歌。
海船破浪前进，朝着目的地疾行。
及至抵达阿开亚人宽阔的营盘，
他们把乌黑的木船拖上海岸，置放在
高高的沙滩，搬起长长的支木，塞垫在船的底面。
然后，众人就地散伙，返回各自的营棚和海船。
但是，裴琉斯高贵的儿子、捷足的阿基琉斯
此时仍然盛怒不息，置身迅捷的海船旁边。
现在，他既不去集会——人们在那里争得荣誉，
也不参加战斗，而是日复一日地呆在船边，耗磨着
自己的心力，渴望重上战场，听闻震耳的杀喊。
然而，那天以后，随着第十二个黎明的降临，
永生的神祗，在宙斯带领下，一起返回
俄林波斯山面。其时，塞提丝没有忘记
儿子的恳求，一大早就从海浪里踏出
身腿，直奔俄林波斯山顶，辽阔的天界，
发现沉雷远播的宙斯，正离着众神，
独自坐在山脊耸叠的俄林波斯的峰巅。
她扑上前去，坐在他的面前，左手抱住
他的膝盖，右手上伸，托住他的颌沿，
向王者宙斯、克罗诺斯之子求援：
“父亲宙斯，如果说，在不死的神祗中，我确曾帮过你，
用我的话语或行动，那么，就请你答应我的祈愿：
让我儿获得荣誉，帮助这个世间
最短命的人儿！现在，民众的王者阿伽门农
侮辱了他，夺走了他的份礼，霸为己有。
多谋善断的宙斯，依林波斯的主宰，让我儿获取尊誉，
让特洛伊人得胜战场，直到阿开亚人
补足他的损失，增添他的荣光！”
塞提丝如此一番恳求，但汇聚乌云的宙斯静坐
不语，沉默了许久。塞提丝的左手一直不曾
松开他的膝盖，此时更是紧抱不放，再次催求：
“答应兑现我的恳求，父亲，给我点个头！
要不，你就拒绝我的请求，因为你啥也不怕，倒是可以
让我知道，神祗中，我这个最受委屈的女神，已经倒霉到了什
么程度。”
此番话极大地烦扰了宙斯的心境，乌云的汇聚者答道：
“这是件会引来灾难的麻烦事，你将导致我同赫拉的
抗争。看着吧，她会用刻薄的言词对我挑衅。
即便在目前的情势下，她还总是当着众神的脸面，指责
我的作为，说我在战斗中，如此这般地帮助了特洛伊兵汉。
现在，你马上离开此地，以免让她抓住把柄。
我会把此事放在心上，并保证使它实现。
为了让你放心，我将对你点头；
对不死的神祗，这是我所能给的最庄重的诺愿。
只要我点头应允，我的言行就不会掺假，不容
毁驳；我的意图必将成为不可逆转的现实。”
克罗诺斯之子言罢，弯颈点动浓黑的眉毛，
涂着仙液的发绺从王者永生的头颅上
顺势泼泻，摇撼着巍伟的俄林波斯山脉。
两位神祗，议毕，分手而行。塞提丝
从晶亮的俄林波斯跃下，回到大海的深处，
而宙斯则返回自己的宫殿。神们见状，起身离座，
所有的神祗，向父亲致意；宙斯朝着宝座举步，谁也不敢
留恋自己的座椅，全都起身直立，迎接他的来临。
宙斯在王位上就座。然而，赫拉知晓事情的
经过，曾亲眼看见海洋老人的女儿。
银脚的塞提丝和宙斯的聚谋。
她迅速出击，启口揶揄，对着克罗诺斯的儿子：
“刚才，诡计多端的大神，又是哪一位神祗和你聚首合谋来着？
背着我诡密地思考和判断，永远是
你的嗜爱。你从来没有这个雅量，
把你打算要做的事情直率地对我告言。”
听罢这番话，神和人的父亲开口驳斥，说道：
“赫拉，不要痴心企望了解我的每一丝心绪，
这些不是你所能理解的事情，虽然你是我的妻侣。
任何念头，只要是适合于让你听闻的，那么，
不管是神还是人，谁都不能抢在你的头前。
但是，倘若我想避开众神，谋划点什么，
你不要总想寻根刨底，也不许探察盘问！”
听罢这番话，牛眼睛夫人[●]赫拉答道；
●牛眼睛夫人：作为一个固定的修饰成分，“牛眼睛的”可能产生在远古的
时代——那时，人们崇拜的神抵往往以动物的形象出现。
“可怕的王者，克罗诺斯之子，你说了些什么？
你知道，过去，我可从未询问，也不曾盘问过你。
事实上，你总是随心思谋，按你自己的意愿。
但现在，我却十分害怕，怕你已被她说服，
那银脚的塞提丝，海洋老人的女儿。不是吗，
今天一早，她就跑到你的身边，抱住你的膝盖，
我想你已点头答应，使阿基琉斯获得
光荣，把众多的阿开亚人放倒在海船边。”
听罢这番话，宙斯，乌云的汇聚者，呵斥道：
“你总是满腹疑忌，狂迷的夫人；我的一举一动都躲不过你的
眼睛！
不过，对这一切，你可有半点作为？你的表现只能进一步
削弱你的地位，在我的心中——对于你，这将更为不利。
如果说你的话不假，那是因为我愿意让事情如此这般地发生。
闭上你的嘴，静静地坐到一边去。按我说的办——，
否则，当我走过去，对你甩开双臂，展示不可抵御的神力时，
俄林波斯山上的众神，就是全部出动，也帮不了你的忙！”
听罢这番话，牛眼睛夫人赫拉心里害怕，
一声不吭地克制着自己的心念，服从了他的意志。
宙斯的宫居里，神们心绪纷荡，个个如此。
其时，为了安抚亲爱的母亲、白臂膀的赫拉，
赫法伊斯托斯，声名遐迩的工匠，在神祗中站立起来，说道：
“要是你们二位争吵不休，为了凡人的琐事，
在诸神中引起械斗，那么，这将是一场灾祸，
一种无法忍受的苦难。盛宴将不再给我们
带来欢乐；令人讨厌的混战会破毁一切。
所以，我敦请母亲，虽说她自己办亦已明白，
主动接近我们心爱的父亲，争取宙斯的谅解；这样，
父亲就不再会责骂我们，也不会砸烂宴席上的杯盘。
如果俄林波斯的主宰，玩闪电的大神，打算把
我们拎出座椅，我等之中可没有与之匹敌的神选。
母亲，走上前去，用温柔的声调和他说话，
顷刻之间，俄林波斯大神便会恢复对我们的亲善。”
言罢，他跳立起来，将一只双把的杯盏
送到母亲手中，劝慰道：“耐心些，
我的妈妈，忍让着点，虽然你心里难受。
否则，尽管爱你，我将眼睁睁地看着你挨揍，
在我的面前；那时，虽说伤心，我却难能
帮援。同俄林波斯大神格斗，可是件吃力不讨好的苦差。
还记得上回的情景吗？那时，我想帮你，
被他一把逮住，抓住我的脚，扔出神圣的门槛。
我飘落直下，整整一天，及至日落时分，
跌撞在莱姆诺斯岛上，气息奄奄。
当地的新提亚人趋身救护，照料倒地的神仙。”
他侃侃道来，逗得白臂女神赫拉眉开眼笑；
她笑容可掬地接过杯盏，从儿子手中。接着，
赫法伊斯托斯从调缸里舀出甘甜的奈克塔耳[●]，
●奈克塔耳：一种神用的饮料。神不喝酒。
从左至右，逐个斟倒，注满众神的杯盏。
看着他在宫居里颠跑忙碌的模样，
幸福的神祗忍俊不住，爆发出欢乐的笑声。
就这样，他们享受着盛宴的愉悦，直到太阳西沉。
整整痛快了一天。神们全都吃到足够的份额，
聆听着阿波罗弹出的曲调，用那把漂亮的竖琴，
和缪斯姑娘们悦耳动听的轮唱。
终于，当灿烂的夕光从地平线上消失，
众神返回各自的居所，倒身睡觉——声名遐迩的
能工巧匠、双臂粗壮的赫法伊斯托斯曾给每
一位神祗盖过殿堂，以他的工艺，他的匠心。
宙斯，闪电之王，俄林波斯的主宰，此时亦行往他的睡床，
每当甜蜜的睡眠降附神体，这里从来便是他栖身的地方。
他上床入睡，身边躺着享用金座的赫拉。
ARGUMENT.(40)
THE CONTENTION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON.
In the war of Troy, the Greeks having sacked some of the neighbouring
towns, and taken from thence two beautiful captives, Chryseis and Briseis,
allotted the first to Agamemnon, and the last to Achilles. Chryses, the
father of Chryseis, and priest of Apollo, comes to the Grecian camp to
ransom her; with which the action of the poem opens, in the tenth year of
the siege. The priest being refused, and insolently dismissed by
Agamemnon, entreats for vengeance from his god; who inflicts a pestilence
on the Greeks. Achilles calls a council, and encourages Chalcas to declare
the cause of it; who attributes it to the refusal of Chryseis. The king,
being obliged to send back his captive, enters into a furious contest with
Achilles, which Nestor pacifies; however, as he had the absolute command
of the army, he seizes on Briseis in revenge. Achilles in discontent
withdraws himself and his forces from the rest of the Greeks; and
complaining to Thetis, she supplicates Jupiter to render them sensible of
the wrong done to her son, by giving victory to the Trojans. Jupiter,
granting her suit, incenses Juno: between whom the debate runs high, till
they are reconciled by the address of Vulcan.
The time of two-and-twenty days is taken up in this book: nine during the
plague, one in the council and quarrel of the princes, and twelve for
Jupiter's stay with the Æthiopians, at whose return Thetis prefers her
petition. The scene lies in the Grecian camp, then changes to Chrysa, and
lastly to Olympus.
Achilles' wrath, to Greece the direful spring
Of woes unnumber'd, heavenly goddess, sing!
That wrath which hurl'd to Pluto's gloomy reign
The souls of mighty chiefs untimely slain;
Whose limbs unburied on the naked shore,
Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore.(41)
Since great Achilles and Atrides strove,
Such was the sovereign doom, and such the will of Jove!(42)
Declare, O Muse! in what ill-fated hour(43)
Sprung the fierce strife, from what offended power
Latona's son a dire contagion spread,(44)
And heap'd the camp with mountains of the dead;
The king of men his reverent priest defied,(45)
And for the king's offence the people died.
For Chryses sought with costly gifts to gain
His captive daughter from the victor's chain.
Suppliant the venerable father stands;
Apollo's awful ensigns grace his hands
By these he begs; and lowly bending down,
Extends the sceptre and the laurel crown
He sued to all, but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings, of Atreus' royal race(46)
"Ye kings and warriors! may your vows be crown'd,
And Troy's proud walls lie level with the ground.
May Jove restore you when your toils are o'er
Safe to the pleasures of your native shore.
But, oh! relieve a wretched parent's pain,
And give Chryseis to these arms again;
If mercy fail, yet let my presents move,
And dread avenging Phoebus, son of Jove."
The Greeks in shouts their joint assent declare,
The priest to reverence, and release the fair.
Not so Atrides; he, with kingly pride,
Repulsed the sacred sire, and thus replied:
"Hence on thy life, and fly these hostile plains,
Nor ask, presumptuous, what the king detains
Hence, with thy laurel crown, and golden rod,
Nor trust too far those ensigns of thy god.
Mine is thy daughter, priest, and shall remain;
And prayers, and tears, and bribes, shall plead in vain;
Till time shall rifle every youthful grace,
And age dismiss her from my cold embrace,
In daily labours of the loom employ'd,
Or doom'd to deck the bed she once enjoy'd
Hence then; to Argos shall the maid retire,
Far from her native soil and weeping sire."
[Illustration: HOMER INVOKING THE MUSE.]
HOMER INVOKING THE MUSE.
The trembling priest along the shore return'd,
And in the anguish of a father mourn'd.
Disconsolate, not daring to complain,
Silent he wander'd by the sounding main;
Till, safe at distance, to his god he prays,
The god who darts around the world his rays.
"O Smintheus! sprung from fair Latona's line,(47)
Thou guardian power of Cilla the divine,(48)
Thou source of light! whom Tenedos adores,
And whose bright presence gilds thy Chrysa's shores.
If e'er with wreaths I hung thy sacred fane,(49)
Or fed the flames with fat of oxen slain;
God of the silver bow! thy shafts employ,
Avenge thy servant, and the Greeks destroy."
Thus Chryses pray'd.--the favouring power attends,
And from Olympus' lofty tops descends.
Bent was his bow, the Grecian hearts to wound;(50)
Fierce as he moved, his silver shafts resound.
Breathing revenge, a sudden night he spread,
And gloomy darkness roll'd about his head.
The fleet in view, he twang'd his deadly bow,
And hissing fly the feather'd fates below.
On mules and dogs the infection first began;(51)
And last, the vengeful arrows fix'd in man.
For nine long nights, through all the dusky air,
The pyres, thick-flaming, shot a dismal glare.
But ere the tenth revolving day was run,
Inspired by Juno, Thetis' godlike son
Convened to council all the Grecian train;
For much the goddess mourn'd her heroes slain.(52)
The assembly seated, rising o'er the rest,
Achilles thus the king of men address'd:
"Why leave we not the fatal Trojan shore,
And measure back the seas we cross'd before?
The plague destroying whom the sword would spare,
'Tis time to save the few remains of war.
But let some prophet, or some sacred sage,
Explore the cause of great Apollo's rage;
Or learn the wasteful vengeance to remove
By mystic dreams, for dreams descend from Jove.(53)
If broken vows this heavy curse have laid,
Let altars smoke, and hecatombs be paid.
So Heaven, atoned, shall dying Greece restore,
And Phoebus dart his burning shafts no more."
He said, and sat: when Chalcas thus replied;
Chalcas the wise, the Grecian priest and guide,
That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view,
The past, the present, and the future knew:
Uprising slow, the venerable sage
Thus spoke the prudence and the fears of age:
"Beloved of Jove, Achilles! would'st thou know
Why angry Phoebus bends his fatal bow?
First give thy faith, and plight a prince's word
Of sure protection, by thy power and sword:
For I must speak what wisdom would conceal,
And truths, invidious to the great, reveal,
Bold is the task, when subjects, grown too wise,
Instruct a monarch where his error lies;
For though we deem the short-lived fury past,
'Tis sure the mighty will revenge at last."
To whom Pelides:--"From thy inmost soul
Speak what thou know'st, and speak without control.
E'en by that god I swear who rules the day,
To whom thy hands the vows of Greece convey.
And whose bless'd oracles thy lips declare;
Long as Achilles breathes this vital air,
No daring Greek, of all the numerous band,
Against his priest shall lift an impious hand;
Not e'en the chief by whom our hosts are led,
The king of kings, shall touch that sacred head."
Encouraged thus, the blameless man replies:
"Nor vows unpaid, nor slighted sacrifice,
But he, our chief, provoked the raging pest,
Apollo's vengeance for his injured priest.
Nor will the god's awaken'd fury cease,
But plagues shall spread, and funeral fires increase,
Till the great king, without a ransom paid,
To her own Chrysa send the black-eyed maid.(54)
Perhaps, with added sacrifice and prayer,
The priest may pardon, and the god may spare."
The prophet spoke: when with a gloomy frown
The monarch started from his shining throne;
Black choler fill'd his breast that boil'd with ire,
And from his eye-balls flash'd the living fire:
"Augur accursed! denouncing mischief still,
Prophet of plagues, for ever boding ill!
Still must that tongue some wounding message bring,
And still thy priestly pride provoke thy king?
For this are Phoebus' oracles explored,
To teach the Greeks to murmur at their lord?
For this with falsehood is my honour stain'd,
Is heaven offended, and a priest profaned;
Because my prize, my beauteous maid, I hold,
And heavenly charms prefer to proffer'd gold?
A maid, unmatch'd in manners as in face,
Skill'd in each art, and crown'd with every grace;
Not half so dear were Clytaemnestra's charms,
When first her blooming beauties bless'd my arms.
Yet, if the gods demand her, let her sail;
Our cares are only for the public weal:
Let me be deem'd the hateful cause of all,
And suffer, rather than my people fall.
The prize, the beauteous prize, I will resign,
So dearly valued, and so justly mine.
But since for common good I yield the fair,
My private loss let grateful Greece repair;
Nor unrewarded let your prince complain,
That he alone has fought and bled in vain."
"Insatiate king (Achilles thus replies),
Fond of the power, but fonder of the prize!
Would'st thou the Greeks their lawful prey should yield,
The due reward of many a well-fought field?
The spoils of cities razed and warriors slain,
We share with justice, as with toil we gain;
But to resume whate'er thy avarice craves
(That trick of tyrants) may be borne by slaves.
Yet if our chief for plunder only fight,
The spoils of Ilion shall thy loss requite,
Whene'er, by Jove's decree, our conquering powers
Shall humble to the dust her lofty towers."
Then thus the king: "Shall I my prize resign
With tame content, and thou possess'd of thine?
Great as thou art, and like a god in fight,
Think not to rob me of a soldier's right.
At thy demand shall I restore the maid?
First let the just equivalent be paid;
Such as a king might ask; and let it be
A treasure worthy her, and worthy me.
Or grant me this, or with a monarch's claim
This hand shall seize some other captive dame.
The mighty Ajax shall his prize resign;(55)
Ulysses' spoils, or even thy own, be mine.
The man who suffers, loudly may complain;
And rage he may, but he shall rage in vain.
But this when time requires.--It now remains
We launch a bark to plough the watery plains,
And waft the sacrifice to Chrysa's shores,
With chosen pilots, and with labouring oars.
Soon shall the fair the sable ship ascend,
And some deputed prince the charge attend:
This Creta's king, or Ajax shall fulfil,
Or wise Ulysses see perform'd our will;
Or, if our royal pleasure shall ordain,
Achilles' self conduct her o'er the main;
Let fierce Achilles, dreadful in his rage,
The god propitiate, and the pest assuage."
[Illustration: MARS.]
MARS.
At this, Pelides, frowning stern, replied:
"O tyrant, arm'd with insolence and pride!
Inglorious slave to interest, ever join'd
With fraud, unworthy of a royal mind!
What generous Greek, obedient to thy word,
Shall form an ambush, or shall lift the sword?
What cause have I to war at thy decree?
The distant Trojans never injured me;
To Phthia's realms no hostile troops they led:
Safe in her vales my warlike coursers fed;
Far hence removed, the hoarse-resounding main,
And walls of rocks, secure my native reign,
Whose fruitful soil luxuriant harvests grace,
Rich in her fruits, and in her martial race.
Hither we sail'd, a voluntary throng,
To avenge a private, not a public wrong:
What else to Troy the assembled nations draws,
But thine, ungrateful, and thy brother's cause?
Is this the pay our blood and toils deserve;
Disgraced and injured by the man we serve?
And darest thou threat to snatch my prize away,
Due to the deeds of many a dreadful day?
A prize as small, O tyrant! match'd with thine,
As thy own actions if compared to mine.
Thine in each conquest is the wealthy prey,
Though mine the sweat and danger of the day.
Some trivial present to my ships I bear:
Or barren praises pay the wounds of war.
But know, proud monarch, I'm thy slave no more;
My fleet shall waft me to Thessalia's shore:
Left by Achilles on the Trojan plain,
What spoils, what conquests, shall Atrides gain?"
To this the king: "Fly, mighty warrior! fly;
Thy aid we need not, and thy threats defy.
There want not chiefs in such a cause to fight,
And Jove himself shall guard a monarch's right.
Of all the kings (the god's distinguish'd care)
To power superior none such hatred bear:
Strife and debate thy restless soul employ,
And wars and horrors are thy savage joy,
If thou hast strength, 'twas Heaven that strength bestow'd;
For know, vain man! thy valour is from God.
Haste, launch thy vessels, fly with speed away;
Rule thy own realms with arbitrary sway;
I heed thee not, but prize at equal rate
Thy short-lived friendship, and thy groundless hate.
Go, threat thy earth-born Myrmidons:--but here(56)
'Tis mine to threaten, prince, and thine to fear.
Know, if the god the beauteous dame demand,
My bark shall waft her to her native land;
But then prepare, imperious prince! prepare,
Fierce as thou art, to yield thy captive fair:
Even in thy tent I'll seize the blooming prize,
Thy loved Briseis with the radiant eyes.
Hence shalt thou prove my might, and curse the hour
Thou stood'st a rival of imperial power;
And hence, to all our hosts it shall be known,
That kings are subject to the gods alone."
Achilles heard, with grief and rage oppress'd,
His heart swell'd high, and labour'd in his breast;
Distracting thoughts by turns his bosom ruled;
Now fired by wrath, and now by reason cool'd:
That prompts his hand to draw the deadly sword,
Force through the Greeks, and pierce their haughty lord;
This whispers soft his vengeance to control,
And calm the rising tempest of his soul.
Just as in anguish of suspense he stay'd,
While half unsheathed appear'd the glittering blade,(57)
Minerva swift descended from above,
Sent by the sister and the wife of Jove
(For both the princes claim'd her equal care);
Behind she stood, and by the golden hair
Achilles seized; to him alone confess'd;
A sable cloud conceal'd her from the rest.
He sees, and sudden to the goddess cries,
Known by the flames that sparkle from her eyes:
[Illustration: MINERVA REPRESSING THE FURY OF ACHILLES.]
MINERVA REPRESSING THE FURY OF ACHILLES.
"Descends Minerva, in her guardian care,
A heavenly witness of the wrongs I bear
From Atreus' son?--Then let those eyes that view
The daring crime, behold the vengeance too."
"Forbear (the progeny of Jove replies)
To calm thy fury I forsake the skies:
Let great Achilles, to the gods resign'd,
To reason yield the empire o'er his mind.
By awful Juno this command is given;
The king and you are both the care of heaven.
The force of keen reproaches let him feel;
But sheathe, obedient, thy revenging steel.
For I pronounce (and trust a heavenly power)
Thy injured honour has its fated hour,
When the proud monarch shall thy arms implores
And bribe thy friendship with a boundless store.
Then let revenge no longer bear the sway;
Command thy passions, and the gods obey."
To her Pelides:--"With regardful ear,
'Tis just, O goddess! I thy dictates hear.
Hard as it is, my vengeance I suppress:
Those who revere the gods the gods will bless."
He said, observant of the blue-eyed maid;
Then in the sheath return'd the shining blade.
The goddess swift to high Olympus flies,
And joins the sacred senate of the skies.
Nor yet the rage his boiling breast forsook,
Which thus redoubling on Atrides broke:
"O monster! mix'd of insolence and fear,
Thou dog in forehead, but in heart a deer!
When wert thou known in ambush'd fights to dare,
Or nobly face the horrid front of war?
'Tis ours, the chance of fighting fields to try;
Thine to look on, and bid the valiant die:
So much 'tis safer through the camp to go,
And rob a subject, than despoil a foe.
Scourge of thy people, violent and base!
Sent in Jove's anger on a slavish race;
Who, lost to sense of generous freedom past,
Are tamed to wrongs;--or this had been thy last.
Now by this sacred sceptre hear me swear,
Which never more shall leaves or blossoms bear,
Which sever'd from the trunk (as I from thee)
On the bare mountains left its parent tree;
This sceptre, form'd by temper'd steel to prove
An ensign of the delegates of Jove,
From whom the power of laws and justice springs
(Tremendous oath! inviolate to kings);
By this I swear:--when bleeding Greece again
Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain.
When, flush'd with slaughter, Hector comes to spread
The purpled shore with mountains of the dead,
Then shall thou mourn the affront thy madness gave,
Forced to deplore when impotent to save:
Then rage in bitterness of soul to know
This act has made the bravest Greek thy foe."
He spoke; and furious hurl'd against the ground
His sceptre starr'd with golden studs around:
Then sternly silent sat. With like disdain
The raging king return'd his frowns again.
To calm their passion with the words of age,
Slow from his seat arose the Pylian sage,
Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skill'd;
Words, sweet as honey, from his lips distill'd:(58)
Two generations now had pass'd away,
Wise by his rules, and happy by his sway;
Two ages o'er his native realm he reign'd,
And now the example of the third remain'd.
All view'd with awe the venerable man;
Who thus with mild benevolence began:--
"What shame, what woe is this to Greece! what joy
To Troy's proud monarch, and the friends of Troy!
That adverse gods commit to stern debate
The best, the bravest, of the Grecian state.
Young as ye are, this youthful heat restrain,
Nor think your Nestor's years and wisdom vain.
A godlike race of heroes once I knew,
Such as no more these aged eyes shall view!
Lives there a chief to match Pirithous' fame,
Dryas the bold, or Ceneus' deathless name;
Theseus, endued with more than mortal might,
Or Polyphemus, like the gods in fight?
With these of old, to toils of battle bred,
In early youth my hardy days I led;
Fired with the thirst which virtuous envy breeds,
And smit with love of honourable deeds,
Strongest of men, they pierced the mountain boar,
Ranged the wild deserts red with monsters' gore,
And from their hills the shaggy Centaurs tore:
Yet these with soft persuasive arts I sway'd;
When Nestor spoke, they listen'd and obey'd.
If in my youth, even these esteem'd me wise;
Do you, young warriors, hear my age advise.
Atrides, seize not on the beauteous slave;
That prize the Greeks by common suffrage gave:
Nor thou, Achilles, treat our prince with pride;
Let kings be just, and sovereign power preside.
Thee, the first honours of the war adorn,
Like gods in strength, and of a goddess born;
Him, awful majesty exalts above
The powers of earth, and sceptred sons of Jove.
Let both unite with well-consenting mind,
So shall authority with strength be join'd.
Leave me, O king! to calm Achilles' rage;
Rule thou thyself, as more advanced in age.
Forbid it, gods! Achilles should be lost,
The pride of Greece, and bulwark of our host."
This said, he ceased. The king of men replies:
"Thy years are awful, and thy words are wise.
But that imperious, that unconquer'd soul,
No laws can limit, no respect control.
Before his pride must his superiors fall;
His word the law, and he the lord of all?
Him must our hosts, our chiefs, ourself obey?
What king can bear a rival in his sway?
Grant that the gods his matchless force have given;
Has foul reproach a privilege from heaven?"
Here on the monarch's speech Achilles broke,
And furious, thus, and interrupting spoke:
"Tyrant, I well deserved thy galling chain,
To live thy slave, and still to serve in vain,
Should I submit to each unjust decree:--
Command thy vassals, but command not me.
Seize on Briseis, whom the Grecians doom'd
My prize of war, yet tamely see resumed;
And seize secure; no more Achilles draws
His conquering sword in any woman's cause.
The gods command me to forgive the past:
But let this first invasion be the last:
For know, thy blood, when next thou darest invade,
Shall stream in vengeance on my reeking blade."
At this they ceased: the stern debate expired:
The chiefs in sullen majesty retired.
Achilles with Patroclus took his way
Where near his tents his hollow vessels lay.
Meantime Atrides launch'd with numerous oars
A well-rigg'd ship for Chrysa's sacred shores:
High on the deck was fair Chryseis placed,
And sage Ulysses with the conduct graced:
Safe in her sides the hecatomb they stow'd,
Then swiftly sailing, cut the liquid road.
The host to expiate next the king prepares,
With pure lustrations, and with solemn prayers.
Wash'd by the briny wave, the pious train(59)
Are cleansed; and cast the ablutions in the main.
Along the shore whole hecatombs were laid,
And bulls and goats to Phoebus' altars paid;
The sable fumes in curling spires arise,
And waft their grateful odours to the skies.
The army thus in sacred rites engaged,
Atrides still with deep resentment raged.
To wait his will two sacred heralds stood,
Talthybius and Eurybates the good.
"Haste to the fierce Achilles' tent (he cries),
Thence bear Briseis as our royal prize:
Submit he must; or if they will not part,
Ourself in arms shall tear her from his heart."
The unwilling heralds act their lord's commands;
Pensive they walk along the barren sands:
Arrived, the hero in his tent they find,
With gloomy aspect on his arm reclined.
At awful distance long they silent stand,
Loth to advance, and speak their hard command;
Decent confusion! This the godlike man
Perceived, and thus with accent mild began:
"With leave and honour enter our abodes,
Ye sacred ministers of men and gods!(60)
I know your message; by constraint you came;
Not you, but your imperious lord I blame.
Patroclus, haste, the fair Briseis bring;
Conduct my captive to the haughty king.
But witness, heralds, and proclaim my vow,
Witness to gods above, and men below!
But first, and loudest, to your prince declare
(That lawless tyrant whose commands you bear),
Unmoved as death Achilles shall remain,
Though prostrate Greece shall bleed at every vein:
The raging chief in frantic passion lost,
Blind to himself, and useless to his host,
Unskill'd to judge the future by the past,
In blood and slaughter shall repent at last."
[Illustration: THE DEPARTURE OF BRISEIS FROM THE TENT OF ACHILLES.]
THE DEPARTURE OF BRISEIS FROM THE TENT OF ACHILLES.
Patroclus now the unwilling beauty brought;
She, in soft sorrows, and in pensive thought,
Pass'd silent, as the heralds held her hand,
And of look'd back, slow-moving o'er the strand.
Not so his loss the fierce Achilles bore;
But sad, retiring to the sounding shore,
O'er the wild margin of the deep he hung,
That kindred deep from whence his mother sprung:(61)
There bathed in tears of anger and disdain,
Thus loud lamented to the stormy main:
"O parent goddess! since in early bloom
Thy son must fall, by too severe a doom;
Sure to so short a race of glory born,
Great Jove in justice should this span adorn:
Honour and fame at least the thunderer owed;
And ill he pays the promise of a god,
If yon proud monarch thus thy son defies,
Obscures my glories, and resumes my prize."
Far from the deep recesses of the main,
Where aged Ocean holds his watery reign,
The goddess-mother heard. The waves divide;
And like a mist she rose above the tide;
Beheld him mourning on the naked shores,
And thus the sorrows of his soul explores.
"Why grieves my son? Thy anguish let me share;
Reveal the cause, and trust a parent's care."
He deeply sighing said: "To tell my woe
Is but to mention what too well you know.
From Thebe, sacred to Apollo's name(62)
(Aetion's realm), our conquering army came,
With treasure loaded and triumphant spoils,
Whose just division crown'd the soldier's toils;
But bright Chryseis, heavenly prize! was led,
By vote _select_ed, to the general's bed.
The priest of Phoebus sought by gifts to gain
His beauteous daughter from the victor's chain;
The fleet he reach'd, and, lowly bending down,
Held forth the sceptre and the laurel crown,
Intreating all; but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings of Atreus' royal race:
The generous Greeks their joint consent declare,
The priest to reverence, and release the fair;
Not so Atrides: he, with wonted pride,
The sire insulted, and his gifts denied:
The insulted sire (his god's peculiar care)
To Phoebus pray'd, and Phoebus heard the prayer:
A dreadful plague ensues: the avenging darts
Incessant fly, and pierce the Grecian hearts.
A prophet then, inspired by heaven, arose,
And points the crime, and thence derives the woes:
Myself the first the assembled chiefs incline
To avert the vengeance of the power divine;
Then rising in his wrath, the monarch storm'd;
Incensed he threaten'd, and his threats perform'd:
The fair Chryseis to her sire was sent,
With offer'd gifts to make the god relent;
But now he seized Briseis' heavenly charms,
And of my valour's prize defrauds my arms,
Defrauds the votes of all the Grecian train;(63)
And service, faith, and justice, plead in vain.
But, goddess! thou thy suppliant son attend.
To high Olympus' shining court ascend,
Urge all the ties to former service owed,
And sue for vengeance to the thundering god.
Oft hast thou triumph'd in the glorious boast,
That thou stood'st forth of all the ethereal host,
When bold rebellion shook the realms above,
The undaunted guard of cloud-compelling Jove:
When the bright partner of his awful reign,
The warlike maid, and monarch of the main,
The traitor-gods, by mad ambition driven,
Durst threat with chains the omnipotence of Heaven.
Then, call'd by thee, the monster Titan came
(Whom gods Briareus, men Ægeon name),
Through wondering skies enormous stalk'd along;
Not he that shakes the solid earth so strong:
With giant-pride at Jove's high throne he stands,
And brandish'd round him all his hundred hands:
The affrighted gods confess'd their awful lord,
They dropp'd the fetters, trembled, and adored.(64)
This, goddess, this to his remembrance call,
Embrace his knees, at his tribunal fall;
Conjure him far to drive the Grecian train,
To hurl them headlong to their fleet and main,
To heap the shores with copious death, and bring
The Greeks to know the curse of such a king.
Let Agamemnon lift his haughty head
O'er all his wide dominion of the dead,
And mourn in blood that e'er he durst disgrace
The boldest warrior of the Grecian race."
[Illustration: THETIS CALLING BRIAREUS TO THE ASSISTANCE OF JUPITER.]
THETIS CALLING BRIAREUS TO THE ASSISTANCE OF JUPITER.
"Unhappy son! (fair Thetis thus replies,
While tears celestial trickle from her eyes)
Why have I borne thee with a mother's throes,
To Fates averse, and nursed for future woes?(65)
So short a space the light of heaven to view!
So short a space! and fill'd with sorrow too!
O might a parent's careful wish prevail,
Far, far from Ilion should thy vessels sail,
And thou, from camps remote, the danger shun
Which now, alas! too nearly threats my son.
Yet (what I can) to move thy suit I'll go
To great Olympus crown'd with fleecy snow.
Meantime, secure within thy ships, from far
Behold the field, not mingle in the war.
The sire of gods and all the ethereal train,
On the warm limits of the farthest main,
Now mix with mortals, nor disdain to grace
The feasts of Æthiopia's blameless race,(66)
Twelve days the powers indulge the genial rite,
Returning with the twelfth revolving light.
Then will I mount the brazen dome, and move
The high tribunal of immortal Jove."
The goddess spoke: the rolling waves unclose;
Then down the steep she plunged from whence she rose,
And left him sorrowing on the lonely coast,
In wild resentment for the fair he lost.
In Chrysa's port now sage Ulysses rode;
Beneath the deck the destined victims stow'd:
The sails they furl'd, they lash the mast aside,
And dropp'd their anchors, and the pinnace tied.
Next on the shore their hecatomb they land;
Chryseis last descending on the strand.
Her, thus returning from the furrow'd main,
Ulysses led to Phoebus' sacred fane;
Where at his solemn altar, as the maid
He gave to Chryses, thus the hero said:
"Hail, reverend priest! to Phoebus' awful dome
A suppliant I from great Atrides come:
Unransom'd, here receive the spotless fair;
Accept the hecatomb the Greeks prepare;
And may thy god who scatters darts around,
Atoned by sacrifice, desist to wound."(67)
At this, the sire embraced the maid again,
So sadly lost, so lately sought in vain.
Then near the altar of the darting king,
Disposed in rank their hecatomb they bring;
With water purify their hands, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake;
While thus with arms devoutly raised in air,
And solemn voice, the priest directs his prayer:
"God of the silver bow, thy ear incline,
Whose power incircles Cilla the divine;
Whose sacred eye thy Tenedos surveys,
And gilds fair Chrysa with distinguish'd rays!
If, fired to vengeance at thy priest's request,
Thy direful darts inflict the raging pest:
Once more attend! avert the wasteful woe,
And smile propitious, and unbend thy bow."
So Chryses pray'd. Apollo heard his prayer:
And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare;
Between their horns the salted barley threw,
And, with their heads to heaven, the victims slew:(68)
The limbs they sever from the inclosing hide;
The thighs, _select_ed to the gods, divide:
On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lay from every part.
The priest himself before his altar stands,
And burns the offering with his holy hands.
Pours the black wine, and sees the flames aspire;
The youth with instruments surround the fire:
The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dress'd,
The assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest:
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare;
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
When now the rage of hunger was repress'd,
With pure libations they conclude the feast;
The youths with wine the copious goblets crown'd,
And, pleased, dispense the flowing bowls around;(69)
With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,
The paeans lengthen'd till the sun descends:
The Greeks, restored, the grateful notes prolong;
Apollo listens, and approves the song.
'Twas night; the chiefs beside their vessel lie,
Till rosy morn had purpled o'er the sky:
Then launch, and hoist the mast: indulgent gales,
Supplied by Phoebus, fill the swelling sails;
The milk-white canvas bellying as they blow,
The parted ocean foams and roars below:
Above the bounding billows swift they flew,
Till now the Grecian camp appear'd in view.
Far on the beach they haul their bark to land,
(The crooked keel divides the yellow sand,)
Then part, where stretch'd along the winding bay,
The ships and tents in mingled prospect lay.
But raging still, amidst his navy sat
The stern Achilles, stedfast in his hate;
Nor mix'd in combat, nor in council join'd;
But wasting cares lay heavy on his mind:
In his black thoughts revenge and slaughter roll,
And scenes of blood rise dreadful in his soul.
Twelve days were past, and now the dawning light
The gods had summon'd to the Olympian height:
Jove, first ascending from the watery bowers,
Leads the long order of ethereal powers.
When, like the morning-mist in early day,
Rose from the flood the daughter of the sea:
And to the seats divine her flight address'd.
There, far apart, and high above the rest,
The thunderer sat; where old Olympus shrouds
His hundred heads in heaven, and props the clouds.
Suppliant the goddess stood: one hand she placed
Beneath his beard, and one his knees embraced.
"If e'er, O father of the gods! (she said)
My words could please thee, or my actions aid,
Some marks of honour on my son bestow,
And pay in glory what in life you owe.
Fame is at least by heavenly promise due
To life so short, and now dishonour'd too.
Avenge this wrong, O ever just and wise!
Let Greece be humbled, and the Trojans rise;
Till the proud king and all the Achaian race
Shall heap with honours him they now disgrace."
[Illustration: THETIS ENTREATING JUPITER TO HONOUR ACHILLES.]
THETIS ENTREATING JUPITER TO HONOUR ACHILLES.
Thus Thetis spoke; but Jove in silence held
The sacred counsels of his breast conceal'd.
Not so repulsed, the goddess closer press'd,
Still grasp'd his knees, and urged the dear request.
"O sire of gods and men! thy suppliant hear;
Refuse, or grant; for what has Jove to fear?
Or oh! declare, of all the powers above,
Is wretched Thetis least the care of Jove?"
She said; and, sighing, thus the god replies,
Who rolls the thunder o'er the vaulted skies:
"What hast thou ask'd? ah, why should Jove engage
In foreign contests and domestic rage,
The gods' complaints, and Juno's fierce alarms,
While I, too partial, aid the Trojan arms?
Go, lest the haughty partner of my sway
With jealous eyes thy close access survey;
But part in peace, secure thy prayer is sped:
Witness the sacred honours of our head,
The nod that ratifies the will divine,
The faithful, fix'd, irrevocable sign;
This seals thy suit, and this fulfils thy vows--"
He spoke, and awful bends his sable brows,(70)
Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod,
The stamp of fate and sanction of the god:
High heaven with trembling the dread signal took,
And all Olympus to the centre shook.(71)
Swift to the seas profound the goddess flies,
Jove to his starry mansions in the skies.
The shining synod of the immortals wait
The coming god, and from their thrones of state
Arising silent, wrapp'd in holy fear,
Before the majesty of heaven appear.
Trembling they stand, while Jove assumes the throne,
All, but the god's imperious queen alone:
Late had she view'd the silver-footed dame,
And all her passions kindled into flame.
"Say, artful manager of heaven (she cries),
Who now partakes the secrets of the skies?
Thy Juno knows not the decrees of fate,
In vain the partner of imperial state.
What favourite goddess then those cares divides,
Which Jove in prudence from his consort hides?"
To this the thunderer: "Seek not thou to find
The sacred counsels of almighty mind:
Involved in darkness likes the great decree,
Nor can the depths of fate be pierced by thee.
What fits thy knowledge, thou the first shalt know;
The first of gods above, and men below;
But thou, nor they, shall search the thoughts that roll
Deep in the close recesses of my soul."
Full on the sire the goddess of the skies
Roll'd the large orbs of her majestic eyes,
And thus return'd:--"Austere Saturnius, say,
From whence this wrath, or who controls thy sway?
Thy boundless will, for me, remains in force,
And all thy counsels take the destined course.
But 'tis for Greece I fear: for late was seen,
In close consult, the silver-footed queen.
Jove to his Thetis nothing could deny,
Nor was the signal vain that shook the sky.
What fatal favour has the goddess won,
To grace her fierce, inexorable son?
Perhaps in Grecian blood to drench the plain,
And glut his vengeance with my people slain."
Then thus the god: "O restless fate of pride,
That strives to learn what heaven resolves to hide;
Vain is the search, presumptuous and abhorr'd,
Anxious to thee, and odious to thy lord.
Let this suffice: the immutable decree
No force can shake: what is, that ought to be.
Goddess, submit; nor dare our will withstand,
But dread the power of this avenging hand:
The united strength of all the gods above
In vain resists the omnipotence of Jove."
[Illustration: VULCAN.]
VULCAN.
The thunderer spoke, nor durst the queen reply;
A reverent horror silenced all the sky.
The feast disturb'd, with sorrow Vulcan saw
His mother menaced, and the gods in awe;
Peace at his heart, and pleasure his design,
Thus interposed the architect divine:
"The wretched quarrels of the mortal state
Are far unworthy, gods! of your debate:
Let men their days in senseless strife employ,
We, in eternal peace and constant joy.
Thou, goddess-mother, with our sire comply,
Nor break the sacred union of the sky:
Lest, roused to rage, he shake the bless'd abodes,
Launch the red lightning, and dethrone the gods.
If you submit, the thunderer stands appeased;
The gracious power is willing to be pleased."
Thus Vulcan spoke: and rising with a bound,
The double bowl with sparkling nectar crown'd,(72)
Which held to Juno in a cheerful way,
"Goddess (he cried), be patient and obey.
Dear as you are, if Jove his arm extend,
I can but grieve, unable to defend
What god so daring in your aid to move,
Or lift his hand against the force of Jove?
Once in your cause I felt his matchless might,
Hurl'd headlong down from the ethereal height;(73)
Toss'd all the day in rapid circles round,
Nor till the sun descended touch'd the ground.
Breathless I fell, in giddy motion lost;
The Sinthians raised me on the Lemnian coast;(74)
He said, and to her hands the goblet heaved,
Which, with a smile, the white-arm'd queen received
Then, to the rest he fill'd; and in his turn,
Each to his lips applied the nectar'd urn,
Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies,
And unextinguish'd laughter shakes the skies.
Thus the blest gods the genial day prolong,
In feasts ambrosial, and celestial song.(75)
Apollo tuned the lyre; the Muses round
With voice alternate aid the silver sound.
Meantime the radiant sun to mortal sight
Descending swift, roll'd down the rapid light:
Then to their starry domes the gods depart,
The shining monuments of Vulcan's art:
Jove on his couch reclined his awful head,
And Juno slumber'd on the golden bed.
[Illustration: JUPITER.]
JUPITER.
[Illustration: THE APOTHEOSIS OF HOMER.]
THE APOTHEOSIS OF HOMER. 所有的神和驾驭战车的凡人
都已酣睡整夜，但睡眠的香甜却不曾合上宙斯的双眼，
他在谋划如何使阿基琉斯获得
荣誉，把成群的阿开亚人杀死在海船边。
眼下，他以为最好的办法是派遣险恶的
梦幻，给阿特桑斯之子阿伽门农传送他的令言。
他对着梦幻大叫，长了翅膀的话语飞向后者的耳畔：
“去吧，险恶的梦幻，速往阿开亚人的快船，
行至阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的营棚，
把我的指令原原本本地对他告传。
命他即刻行动，把长发的阿开亚人武装，
现在，他可攻破特洛伊人路面
宽阔的城堡。家住俄林波斯的众神已不再
为此事争吵；通过恳求，赫拉已消除
他们的歧见。悲惨的结局正等待着特洛伊兵汉。”
宙斯言罢，梦幻得令而去，
迅速来到阿开亚人的快船边，
出现在阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的营棚，发现
后者正躺在床上，酣睡中吞吐着神赐的香甜。
梦幻悬站在他的头顶，化作奈琉斯之子
奈斯托耳的形象——阿伽门农敬他甚于
对其他首领。梦神开口发话，以奈斯托耳的形面：
“还在睡觉呀，聪明的驯马手阿特柔斯的儿子？
一个责在运筹帷幄，肩负着全军的重托，
有这么多事情要关心处理的人，岂可熟睡整夜？
好了，认真听我说来，因为我是宙斯的使者；他虽然置身
遥远的地方，但却十分关心你的情况，怜悯你的处境。
宙斯命你即刻行动，把长发的阿开亚人武装，
现在，你可攻破特洛伊人路面
宽阔的城堡。家住俄林波斯的众神已不再
为此事争吵；通过恳求，赫拉已消除
他们的歧见。按照宙斯的意愿，悲惨的结局正等待着
特洛伊兵汉。记住，当你从甜美的
酣睡中醒来，不要忘记此番话语，带给你的信言。”
言罢，梦幻随即离去，留下独自思忖的
阿伽门农，寄望于此番不会兑现的传话，
以为在闻讯的当天，即可攻下普里阿摩斯的城垣——
好一个笨蛋！他岂会知晓宙斯蕴谋的事愿？
他哪里知道，宙斯已潜心谋划，要让特洛伊人和达奈人
拼搏鏖战，一起承受悲痛，经受磨难。
阿伽门农从睡境中苏醒，神的声音
回响在他的耳边。他直身而坐，套上
松软、簇新的衫衣，裹上硕大的披篷，
系紧舒适的条鞋，在闪亮的脚面，
挎上柄嵌银钉的铜剑，拿起
永不败坏的王杖，祖传的宝杖。
披挂完毕，他迈步前行，沿着身披铜甲的阿开亚人的海船。
其时，黎明女神已登上高高的俄林波斯，
向宙斯和众神报告白天的到来。
阿伽门农命嘱嗓音清亮的使者，
召呼长发的阿开亚人聚会。
信使们奔走呼号，人们很快集合起来。
首先，阿伽门农会晤了心胸豪壮的首领，
聚集在出身普洛斯的王者奈斯托耳的船边。
他把首领们召到一块，开口说道，话语中包容着诡诘：
“听着，我的朋友们！在我熟睡之际，神圣的梦幻
穿过神赐的的夜晚，来到我的营棚，从容貌、体魄
和身材来看，极像卓越的奈斯托耳。
他悬站在我的头上，对我说道：
‘还在睡觉呀，聪明的驯马手阿特柔斯的儿子？
一个责在运筹帷幄，肩负着全军的重托？有这么多事情
要关心处理的人，岂可熟睡整夜？
好了，认真听我说来，因为我是宙斯的使者，他虽置身
遥远的地方，但却关心你的情况，怜悯你的处境。
宙斯命你即刻行动，把长发的阿开亚人武装——
现在，你可攻破特洛伊人路面
宽阔的城堡。家住俄林波斯的众神已不再
为此事争吵；通过恳求，赫拉已消除
他们的歧见。按宙斯的意愿，悲惨的结局正等待着
特洛伊兵汉。’此番口嘱，不可忘怀。梦幻言罢，
展翅飞去，甜蜜的睡眠就此离开了我的梦境。
干起来吧，看看我们是否能把阿开亚人的儿子们武装。
但首先——我以为此举妥当——待我先用话语
试探，命令他们踏上凳板坚固的海船，启程归返。
届时，尔等要站好位置，以便呵斥号令，把他们哄挡回来。”
他言毕下坐，首领中站起了奈斯托耳，
王者，统治着多沙的普洛斯地面。
怀着对各位首领的善意，他开口说道：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们，
倘若传告这件梦事的是别的阿开亚人，
我们或许便会把它斥为谎言，不屑一顾。
但现在，目睹此事的却是那位自称为最好的阿开亚人的王权。
干起来吧，看看我们是否能把阿开亚人的儿子们武装。”
言罢，他领头离开商议的地点：
各位起身离座，这些有资格握拿权杖的王爷，
服从了兵士的牧者。在他们身后，紧跟着熙熙攘攘的兵勇，
像大群的花蜂，一股接着一股，
没完没了地冲涌出空心的石窟，抱成
一个个圈团，飞访着春天的花丛，
四处游移漫舞，成群结队。
就像这样，来自不同部族的战士捅出营棚和海船，
一队连着一队，行进在宽阔的滩沿，走向集会的
地点；谣言像火苗似地在人群中活跃，
作为宙斯的使者，督励着人们向前。集聚的队伍
使会场为之摇撼。兵勇们集队进入自己的位置，
大地悲鸣轰响，和伴着笼罩全场的杂喧。九位使者
高声呼喊，忙着维持秩序，要人们停止
喧闹，静听宙斯钟爱的王者训告。经过
一番折腾，他们迫使兵勇们屈腿下坐，
停止了喧嚣。强有力的阿伽门农站立起来，
手握权杖，由赫法伊斯托斯艰苦铸造。
赫法伊斯托斯把权杖交给王者宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，
后者把它转交给导路的阿耳吉丰忒斯[●]，
●阿耳吉丰忒斯：ARgeiphontes，即赫耳墨斯，一说意为巨鹿“Argos的屠杀
者”。
而王者赫耳墨斯又把它给了裴洛普斯，战车上的勇士。
裴洛普斯把它给了阿特柔斯，兵士的牧者；
后者死后，权杖传到苏厄斯忒斯手中，而这位富有
羊群的领主又把它传给了阿伽门农，后者凭着王杖的
权威，统领众多的海岛和整个阿耳戈斯。其时，
倚靠着这支王杖，阿伽门农对聚会的阿耳吉维人喊道：
“朋友们，达奈人的勇士们，阿瑞斯的随从们！
宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，已把我推入狂言的陷阱，
他就是这般凶残！先前，他曾点头答应，
让我在荡劫墙垣精固的伊利昂后启程返航。
现在，我才知道，这是一场赤裸裸的欺骗。他要我
不光不彩地返回阿耳戈斯，折损了众多的兵将。
这便是力大无穷的宙斯的作为，使他心花怒放的事情；
在此之前，他已打烂许多城市的顶冠，
今后还会继续砸捣——他的神力谁能抵挡？
这种事情，既便让后代听来，也是一个耻辱：
如此雄壮，如此庞大的阿开亚联军，竟然
徒劳无益地打了一场没有收益的战争，
战事旷日持久，杏无终期。这支军队占着
兵力上的优势。如果双方愿意，阿开亚人和特洛伊兵壮，
可以牲血为证，立下庄重的停战誓约，随后计点双方人数，
特洛伊方面以家住城里者为计[●]，
●家住城里的人为计：换言之，不包括特洛伊的盟军。
而我们阿开亚人则以十人为股。然后，
让每个股组挑选一个特洛伊人斟酒，
结果，斟酒的侍者已被挑完，十人的股组却还所余甚众。
阿开亚人的儿子们，我认为，就以此般悬殊的比例，
在人数上压倒了住在城里的特洛伊人。但是，他们有
多支盟军帮衬，来自其他城市；那些投枪的战勇，
打退了我的进攻，不让我实现我的意愿，
荡劫伊利昂，这座人丁兴旺的城。
属于大神宙斯的时间，九年过去了；
海船的木板已经腐烂，缆绳已经蚀断。
在那遥远的故乡，我们的妻房和幼小的孩子
正坐身厅堂，等盼着我们，而我们的战事仍在继续——
为了它，我们离家来此——像以往一样无有穷期。
不干了，按我说的做！让我们顺从屈服，
登船上路，逃返我们热爱的故乡——
我们永远抢攻不下路面宽阔的伊利昂！”
一番话掀腾起澎湃的心浪，在全体兵勇的胸腔，
成群结队的兵勇，不曾听闻他对首领们的讲话。
会场喧嚣沸腾，就像从天父宙斯制驭的云层里
冲扫而下的东风和南风，在
伊卡里亚海面掀起了滔天巨浪。
宛如阵阵强劲的西风，扫过一大片
密沉沉的谷田，呼喊咆哮，刮垂下庄稼的穗耳
集会土崩瓦解，人们乱作一团，朝着
海船扑跑，踢卷起纷飞的
泥尘，相互间大声嘶喊，意欲
抓住海船，拖人闪亮的水道。
他们清出下水的道口，喊叫之声响彻云天；
士兵们归心似箭，动手搬开船底的挡塞。
其时，阿耳吉维人很可能冲破命运的制约，实现
回家的企愿，若不是赫拉开口发话，对雅典娜说道：
“太不像话了！你瞧瞧，阿特鲁托亲[●]，带埃吉斯的宙斯的
●阿特鲁托奈：Atrutone，出处不明，可能意为“不知疲倦的”。
女儿。
按眼下的事态，阿耳吉维人是打算跨过大海
浩森的水浪，逃回世代居住的乡园，
把阿耳戈斯的海伦[●]丢给普里阿摩斯和特洛伊兵壮，
●阿耳戈斯的海伦：海伦并非来自阿耳戈斯（城），而是来自斯巴达。关于
“阿耳戈斯”，见词汇表有关部分。
为他们增添光彩——为了她，多少阿开亚人
亡命在远离故乡的特洛伊平野！
现在，你要前往身披铜甲的阿开亚人的群队，
用和气的话语劝阻口每一位兵汉，
不要让他们拽起弯翘的木船，拖人滩外的大海！”
赫拉言罢，灰眼睛女神雅典娜谨遵不违，
急速出发，从俄林波斯山巅直冲而下，
转眼便到了阿开亚人的快船边。
她发现和宙斯一样精擅谋略的俄底修斯
此刻正呆站在那边，不曾动手拖船，那条乌黑的。
凳板坚固的海船——眼前的情景使他心灰意寒。
眼睛灰蓝的雅典娜站在他的身边，开口说道：
“莱耳忒斯之子，神的后裔，足智多谋的俄底修斯，
怎么，这是件应该发生的事情吗？你们真的要把自己扔上
凳板坚固的海船，逃回你们热爱的乡园，
把阿耳戈斯的海伦丢给普里阿摩斯和特洛伊兵壮，
为他们增添光彩——为了她，多少阿开亚人
亡命在远离故乡的特洛伊平野！
不要灰心，插入混跑的人群，
用和气的话语拖劝回每一位兵汉，
不要让他们拽起弯翘的木船，拖人滩外的大海。”
雅典娜如此一番告诫，俄底修斯听出了女神的声音，
马上蹽开腿步，甩出披篷，被跟随左右的
伊萨凯使者欧鲁巴忒斯手接。
他跑至阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的面前，
从后者手中抓过祖传的、永不败坏的权杖；
然后，王杖在手，大步向前，沿着身披铜甲的阿开亚人的海船。
每当遇见某位王者或某个有地位身份的人，
他就止步在后者身边，好言好语地劝他回返：
“我的朋友，我可不会出言威胁，把你当做贪生怕死的小人，
但你自己应该站住，并挡回溃散的人群。
你还没有真正弄懂阿特柔斯之子的用意，
他在试探你们，马上即会动怒翻脸。我们不都
听过他在辩议会上对阿开亚人的儿子们讲过的那番话吗？
但愿他不致暴怒攻心，伤损军队的元气。
王者的愤怒非同小可，他们受到神的思宠；
他们的荣誉得之于宙斯，享受多谋善断的大神的钟爱。”
然而，当见到喧叫的普通士兵，
他便会动用王杖击打，辅之以一顿臭骂：
“你这蠢货，还不给我老老实实地坐下，服从你的上司。
那些比你们杰出的人的命令。你这个逃兵，贪生怕死的家伙，
战场和议事会上一无所用的窝囊废！
阿开亚人岂能个个都是王者？
王者众多可不是件好事。这里只应有一个统治者，
一个大王——此王执掌着工于心计的克罗诺斯的儿子授予的
权杖和评审是非的标准，统治属下的子民。”
就这样，他以强有力的手段整饬着军队的秩序，
直到众人吵吵嚷嚷地涌回集会地点，从海船和
营棚那边，一如在那惊涛轰响的洋面，浪峰冲击着
漫长的滩沿，大海呼吼咆哮，翻卷沸腾。
其时，人们各就各位，会场秩序井然，例外
只有一个，多嘴快舌的塞耳西忒斯，仍在不停地骂骂咧咧。
此人满脑袋的颠词倒语，不时
语无伦次，徒劳无益地和王者们争辩，
用词不计妥适，但求能逗引众人开怀。
围攻伊利昂的军伍中，他是最丑的一个：
两腿外屈，撇着一只拐脚，双肩前耸，
弯挤在胸前，挑着一个尖翘的
脑袋，稀稀拉拉地长着几蓬茸毛。
阿基琉斯恨之最切，俄底修斯亦然，两位首领
始终是他辱骂的目标。但现在，
他把成串的脏话设向卓越的阿伽门农，由此
极大地冒犯了阿开亚人，激起了他们的共愤。
塞耳西忒斯扯开嗓门，出口辱骂，对着阿伽门农：
“阿特柔斯之子，我不知你现时还缺少什么，或还有什么
不满意的？你的那些个营棚，里面推满了青铜，成群的美女
充彻着你的棚后——每当攻陷一座城堡，
我们阿开亚人就把最好的女子向你奉献。
或许，你还需要更多的黄金？驯马好手特洛伊人的
某个儿子会把它当做赎礼送来，虽然抓住
战俘的是我，或是某个阿开亚人。
或许，我要一位年轻女子和你同床作乐，
避开众人，把她占为己有？不，作为统帅，你不能
为此把阿开亚人的儿子们推向战争的血口！
儿子们？哼，懦弱的傻瓜，恬不知耻的可怜虫！你们是女人，
不是阿开亚人的男儿！
让我们驾起海船回家，把这个家伙
离弃在特洛伊，任他纵情享受他的战礼，
这样，他才会知道我等众人的作用，在此是否帮过他的忙。
现在，他已侮辱了阿基琉斯，一个远比他
杰出的战勇，夺走了他的份礼，霸为己有。
然而，阿基琉斯没有因此怀恨在心，而是愿意任其舒缓消泻；
否则，阿特柔斯之子，这将是你最后一次霸道横行！”
就这样，塞耳西忒斯破口辱骂阿伽门农，
兵士的牧者。其时，卓越的俄底修斯急步
上前，怒目而视，大声呵叱道：
“虽说讲得畅快流利，塞耳西忒斯，你的活
简直是一派胡言！住嘴吧，不要妄想和王者们试比高低。
在跟随阿特柔斯的儿子们来到伊利昂城下的官兵中，
我相信，你是最坏的一个。所以，
你不应对着王者们信口开河，
出言不逊，也不要侈谈撤兵返航的事宜。
我们无法预测战事的结局，天知道
阿开亚人的儿子们将带着什么踏上归途，是胜利的喜悦，还是
失败的惨痛。
然而，你却坐在这边，痛骂阿特柔斯之子，兵士的牧者
阿伽门农，只因达奈人的斗士们给了他
大份的战礼。除了恶语伤人，你还会干什么？
我还有一事奉告，相信我，它将成为现实。
倘若让我再次发现你像刚才那样装疯卖傻，那么，
假如我不抓住你，剥了你的衣服，
你的披篷和遮掩光身的衣衫，
狠狠地把你打出集会，任你鬼哭狼嚎，
把你一丝不挂地赶回快船，
就让我的脑袋和双肩分家——从此以后，
尔等再也不要叫我忒勒马科斯的亲爹！”
言毕，俄底修斯扬起权杖，狠揍他的脊背
和双肩，后者佝偻起身子，豆大的泪珠顺着脸颊滴淌。
金铸的王杖打出一条带血的
隆起的条痕，在双脚之间；他畏缩着
坐下，忍着伤痛，呆呆地睁着双眼，抬手抹去滚涌的泪珠。
望着他的窘态，人们虽然心头烦恼，全都高兴得咧嘴哄笑，
目视身边的伙伴，开口说道：
“哈，真精彩！俄底修斯做过成千上百的好事，
出谋划策，编组战阵，但所有的一切
都比不上今天所做的这一件——
他封住了一张骂人的嘴巴，一条厥词乱放的舌头！
今后，这位勇士将再也不会受
激情的驱使，辱骂我们的王爷！”
众人如此一番说道，但俄底修斯，荡劫城堡的战勇，
其时手握王杖，昂首挺立，身边站着灰眼睛的雅典娜，
以使者的模样出现，命令人们保持肃静，
使坐在前排和末排的阿开亚人的儿子们
都能听到他的话语，认真考虑他的规劝。
怀着对众人的善意，俄底修斯放声说道：
“阿特桑斯之子，尊贵的王者——现在，你的士兵们
正试图使你丢脸，在所有的凡人面前。他们
不想实践当年从牧草丰肥的阿耳戈斯发兵时
所作的承诺，保证决不还家，在血洗
墙垣精固的伊利昂之前。
现在，他们哭喊着试图拖船返航，
像一群不懂事的孩子或落寡的妇人。
诚然，让人们带着沮丧的心情返家，也同样是难事一件。
任何出门在外，远离妻房的人，因受阻于冬日的
强风和汹涌的海浪而不能前行时，只消一个月，
便会在带凳板的海船上坐立不安。而我们，
我们已在此挨过了第九个年头；所以，
我不想责备海船边的阿开亚人，你们有理由
感到焦烦。但尽管如此，在此呆了这么些年头，
然后两手空空地回去，总是件丢脸的事儿。
坚持一下，朋友们，再稍待一段时间，
直到我们弄清卡尔卡斯的预卜是否灵验。
我们都还清楚地记得那段往事，而你们大家，
每一个死神尚未摄走灵魂的人，也都曾亲眼目见；
此事就像发生在昨天或是前天——当时，阿开亚舰队正集聚
在奥利斯，满载着送给普里阿摩斯和特洛伊人的灾愁。
在一泓泉流的边沿，一棵挺拔的松树下，
清湛的水面闪着烁烁的鳞光，当我们用全盛的牲品
在神圣的祭坛上奠祀众神时，一个
含意深邃的预兆出现在我们眼前。一条长蛇，俄林波斯
大神亲手丢进昼光里的生灵，背上带着血痕，可怕，
从祭坛下爬了出来，朝着松树匍匐向前。
树上坐着一窝小鸟，一窝嗷嗷待哺的麻雀，
鸟巢筑在树端的枝桠上，叶片下，雏鸟嗦嗦发抖，
一窝八只，连同生养它们的母亲，一共九只。
蛇把幼鸟尽数吞食，全然不顾后者凄惨的尖叫，
雌鸟竭声哀鸣，为了孩子们的不幸，扑门在蛇的上方。
青蛇盘起身子，迅猛出击，钳住她的翅膀，伴随着雌鸟的嘶号；
长蛇吞食了麻雀，连同她的雏鸟。其后
那位送蛇前来的大神把它化作一座碑标——
工于心计的克罗诺斯之子把蛇变成了石头。
我等震惊不已，站立观望，这发生在眼前的奇景。
当那些可怕、怪诞的预卜之物掉进祀神的牲祭后，
卡尔卡斯开口直言，卜释出神的旨意：
‘为何瞠目结舌，你们，长发的阿开亚人？
多谋善断的宙斯已对我们显示了一个惊人心魂的兆示，
此事将在以后，哪怕是久远的以后兑现；使大事业的光荣将与
日月同辉。
长蛇吞食了麻雀，连同她的雏鸟，
一窝人只，连同生养它们的母亲，一共九只，所以，
我们将在特洛伊苦战等同此数的年份，
直到第十个年头，我们将攻克这座路面宽阔的城堡。’
这便是他的卜释。现在，大家都已看到，这一切正在变成现实。
振作起来，胫甲坚固的阿开亚人，让我们全都
留在这里，直到夺取普里阿摩斯的这座宏伟的城堡！”
听罢这番话，阿耳吉维人中爆发出震天的喊声；
他们纵情欢呼，赞同俄底修斯的讲话，神一样的壮勇；
身边的船艘回扬出巨大的轰响，荡送着阿开亚人的呼吼。
其时，人群中响起了格瑞尼亚的[●]车战者奈斯托耳的声音：
●格瑞尼亚的：所指不明，可能是一个古老的饰词。
“耻辱，耻辱啊！看看你们在集会上的表现吧，
简直像一群调皮捣蛋的娃娃，对战事一窍不通的毛孩！
应该给我们的那些协议和誓言找个去处了吧？
把它们统统扔进火里，什么磋商啦，什么计划之类的东西，
连同那泼出去的不掺水的奠酒——什么紧握的右手，还不是
虚设的仪酬！
我们只能徒劳无益地争吵辱骂，找不到任何解决
问题的办法，虽然我们已在此挨过了漫长的时光。
阿特柔斯之子，不要动摇，像往常一样坚强，贯彻初时的计划，
率领阿耳吉维兵勇，冲向拼搏的战场！
到于那些人，那一两个打算离开队伍的逃兵，
让他们自取灭亡好了，他们将一无所得，
匆匆跑回阿耳戈斯，连带埃吉斯的宙斯的
允诺，连它的虚实都不曾弄明白。
我要提醒你们，早在我们踏上快船的那一天，
满载着送给特洛伊人的死亡和毁灭，
力大无比的克洛诺斯的儿子就已对我们作过允愿；
他把闪电打在我们的右上方，光亮中闪烁着吉祥的兆端。
所以，在没有和一个特洛伊人的妻子睡觉之前——
作为对海伦所经受的磨难和不让她实现回归愿望的
报复[●]——谁也不要急急忙忙地启程回返。
●作为对……的报复：这句话亦可解作：作为对我们的补偿——为了海伦，
我们承受了战争的悲愁和磨难。
但是，如果有人发疯似地想要回家，那么，
只要他把双手搭上凳板坚固的黑船，
便会在众目睽睽之下惨死暴灭。
至于你，尊贵的王者，也应谨慎行事，倾听别人的议说。
我有一番告诫，你可不要把它置之脑后。
听着，阿伽门农，把你的人按部族或宗族编阵，
使宗族和宗族相互支助，部族和部族互为帮援。
若能此般布阵，而将士又能从命，
你就能看出哪位首领贪生，哪些兵勇怕死，谁个
勇敢，哪支部队豪蛮——因为他们都以部氏为伍，投身拼斗。
由此，你亦可进一步得知，假如这座城池久攻不下，原因何在：
是天意，是兵卒的怯弱，还是他们不懂战争，一帮门外汉。”
听罢这番话，强有力的阿伽门农答道：
“说得好！争辩中，老人家，你又一次胜过了阿开亚人的
儿子们，哦，父亲宙斯，雅典娜，阿波罗，
阿开亚人中要是有十个如此杰出的谋士，
何愁普里阿摩斯王的城堡不对我们
俯首，被我们攻占，劫洗！然而，
克罗诺斯之子，带埃吉斯的宙斯反倒给了我苦难，
把我投入了有害无益的辱骂和争斗。
为了一个姑娘，我和阿基琉斯竟至于
唇枪舌剑，而我还率先动了雷霆。
倘若我俩能齐心合谋，特洛伊人
就难以继续躲避灭顶的重击，一刻也不能！
好了，回去吃饱肚子，以便重新开战。
大家要磨快枪尖，整备好盾牌，
喂饱捷蹄的快马，仔细检察
战车，加强战斗意识，以便投身
可恨的战争，打上一个整天，
没有间息，连喘气的时间都没有，
直到夜色降临，隔开怒气冲冲的兵汉。
汗水将会湿透勒在肩上的背带，
连接着护身的盾牌，紧握枪矛的双手将要忍受酸痛，
快马将跑得热汗涔涔，拖着滑亮的战车。
届时，若是让我看到有人试图逃避战斗，
藏身弯翘的海船，那么，对于他，要想躲避
饿狗和兀鹫的利爪，将比登天还难！”
言罢，阿耳吉维人中爆发出震天的呼声，犹如排空的
激浪，
受飞扫直下的南风的驱使，撞击在挺拔的峭壁上——
此般突兀的石岩，永远是海浪扑击的对象，而
各种去向不同的疾风，此时亦兴波助浪，有的刮自这片海面，
有的扫往那个方向。
众人站立起来，三五成群地走回海船，他们在
营棚边点起炊火，填饱了肚子，
每人都祀祭过一位不死的神祗，
求神保佑，躲过死的抓捕，战争的煎磨。
民众的王者阿伽门农献祭了一头肥壮的公牛，
五岁的牙口，给宙斯，克罗诺斯力大无比的儿郎。
他召来全军的精华，阿开亚人的首领，
首当其冲的是奈斯托耳，然后是王者伊多墨纽斯，
两位埃阿斯，图丢斯之子狄俄墨得斯，还有
俄底修斯，来者中的第六位，和宙斯一样精擅谋略的壮勇。
啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯不邀自来。
心中明白兄长的心事重重。
他们围着公牛站定，抓起大麦。
强有力的阿伽门农在人杰中开口诵祷：
“宙斯，光荣的典范，伟大的象征，雄居天空的乌云之神，
我们求你助佑：在我没有掀翻普里阿摩斯那四壁焦黑的
厅堂[●]，捣烂他的门户之前，
●四壁焦黑的厅堂：厅堂（megaron）的中间一般有个火炉或火塘，用时青烟
弥漫，故会熏黑四周的墙壁。
在我没有撕裂赫克托耳的衫衣，用铜矛剁碎
他的胸膛之前，还有他身边的那许多伙伴，
我要把他们打翻在地，嘴啃泥尘——在这一切没有发生之前，
宙斯，不要让太阳沉落，不要让黑暗捆住我们的手脚！”
他如此一番祈祷，但克罗诺斯之子将不会予以兑现。
他收下祭礼，却反而加剧了谁也不想取要的痛苦。
当众人作过祈祷，撒过祭麦后，他们
扳起祭中的头颅，割断喉管，剥去皮张，
然后剔下腿肉，用油脂包裹腿骨，
双层，把小块的生肉置于其上。
他们把肉包放在净过枝叶的、劈开的木块上焚烧，
用又子挑起内脏，悬置在赫法伊斯托斯的柴火上烧烤。
焚祭过牛的腿件，品尝过内脏，
他们把所剩部分切成小块，用叉子
挑起来仔细炙烤后，脱叉备用。
当一切整治完毕，盛宴已经排开，
他们张嘴咀嚼，人人都吃到足份的餐肴。
当众人满足了吃喝的欲望，
奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，开口说道：
“阿特柔斯之子，最高贵的王者，全军的统帅阿伽门农，
让我们不要吵个没完没了，也不要继续
耽搁神祗交给我们的使命。
干起来吧，让身披铜甲的阿开亚人的信使
大声招呼各支部队，聚汇在海船旁。
作为首领，我们要一起行进在阿开亚人宽阔的
营盘，以便更快地催起凶蛮的战斗狂潮。”
他如此一番诫告，民众的王者阿伽门农纳用了他的议言，
马上命令嗓音清亮的使者，召呼
长发的阿开亚人投身战斗。
信使们奔走呼号，队伍很快聚合起来。
首领们，这些宙斯哺育的王者，和阿伽门农一起
四处奔跑，整顿队伍。灰眼睛的雅典娜活跃在
他们中间，带着那面埃吉斯，贵重的、永恒的、永不败坏的
珍宝，边沿飘舞着一百条金质的流苏，
流苏织工精致，每条都抵得上一百头牛的换价[●]。
●一百头公牛的换价：当时尚无货币，贸易用“以物易物”的方式进行。牛
是估价的一个基本单位。
挟着埃吉斯的闪光，女神穿行在阿开亚人的队伍，
督促他们前进，在每一个战士的心里
激发起连续战斗的勇气和力量。
其时，在他们看来，比之驾着深旷的海船，
返回亲爱的故乡，战斗是一件更为甜美的事情。
像横扫一切的烈焰，吞噬着覆盖群峰的
森林，老远亦可跳见冲天的火光，
战勇们雄赳赳地向前迈进，气势不凡的
青铜甲械闪着耀眼的光芒，穿过气空，直指苍穹。
宛如生栖在考斯特里俄斯河边的亚细亚[●]
●亚细亚：当时仅指鲁底亚境内的沿海地区。
泽地上的不同种类的水鸟，有野鹤、鹳鹤和
脖子颀长的天鹅，展开骄傲的翅膀，
或东或西地飞翔，然后成群的停泊在
水泽里，整片草野回荡着它们的声响——
来自各个部族的兵勇，从海船和营棚里
蜂拥到斯卡曼得罗斯平原，承受着人脚
和马蹄的踩踏，大地发出可怕的震响。
他们在花团似锦的斯卡曼得罗斯平原上摆开阵势，
数千之众，人丁之多就像春天的树叶和鲜花。
军队铺开了，像不同部族的苍蝇，
成群结队地飞旋在羊圈周围，
在那春暖季节，鲜奶溢满提桶的时候——
就以此般数量，长发的阿开亚人
挺立在平原上，面对特洛伊人，渴望着捣烂他们的营阵。
军队排开战斗序列，像有经验的牧人，将大群的
山羊——其时混合在一起，牧食在草野上——得体地分成
小股，
首领们忙着分遣部队，有的调这，有的去那，作好
进击的准备。强有力的阿伽门农迈步在他们中间，
头眼宛如喜好雷霆的宙斯，
摆着阿瑞斯的胸围，挺着波塞冬的胸脯。
恰似牛群中的一头格外高大强健的雄杰，
一头硕大的公牛，以伟岸的身形独领风骚——
那一天，宙斯让阿特柔斯之子显现出雄伟的身姿，
鹤立在全军之上，突显在将勇之中。
告诉我，家住俄林波斯的缪斯，
女神，你们无处不在，无事不晓；而我们，
只能满足于道听途说，对往事一无知了。告诉我，
谁是达奈人的王者，统治着他们的军旅？
我无法谈说大群中的普通一兵，也道不出他们的名字，
即便长着十条舌头，十张嘴巴，即使有一管
不知疲倦的喉咙，一颗青铜铸就的心。
不，我做不到这一点，除非俄林波斯山上的缓斯，带埃吉斯的
宙斯的女儿，把所有来到特洛伊城下的士卒都—一下告于我。
所以，下面提及的，只是率统船队的首领和海船的数目。
雷托斯和裴奈琉斯乃波伊俄提亚人的首领，
和阿耳开西劳斯、普罗梭诺耳及克洛尼俄斯一起
统领部队。兵勇们有的家住呼里亚和山石嶙峋的奥利斯，
有的家住斯科伊诺斯、斯科洛斯和山峦起伏的厄忒俄诺斯，
以及塞斯裴亚、格拉亚和舞场宽阔的慕卡勒索斯；
有的家住哈耳马、埃勒西昂和厄鲁斯莱，
有的家居厄勒昂、呼莱、裴忒昂。
俄卡莱和墙垣坚固的城堡墨得昂，
以及科派、欧特瑞西斯和鸽群飞绕的希斯北；
还有的来自科罗奈亚和水草肥美的哈利阿耳托斯，
来自普拉塔亚和格利萨斯，
来自低地塞贝[●]，坚固的城堡，
●低地塞贝：Hupethebe，位于塞贝或“高地塞贝”（即Kadmeia）的下面。
和神圣的昂凯斯托斯，波塞冬闪光的林地；
来自米得亚和盛产葡萄的阿耳奈，
神圣的尼萨和最边端的安塞冬。
他们带来五十条海船，每船
载坐一百二十名波伊俄提亚人的儿男。
家住阿斯普勒冬和米努埃人的俄耳科墨诺斯
的兵勇们，由阿斯卡拉福斯和亚尔墨诺斯统领，
阿瑞斯的儿子——羞答答的阿丝陀开在
阿宙斯之子阿克托耳的家里生下他们；
她走进上层的阁房，偷偷地和强壮的阿瑞斯同床。
她的两个儿子率领着三十条深旷的海船。
斯凯底俄斯和厄丕斯特罗福斯，心胸豪壮的
纳乌彼洛斯之子伊菲托斯的儿子，统领来自福基斯的兵勇；
他们来自库帕里索斯、山石嶙峋的普索、神圣的
克里萨，以及道利斯和帕诺裴乌斯；
来自阿奈莫瑞亚一带和呼安波利斯近围，
来自神河开菲索斯两岸，来自
开菲索斯河泉边的利莱亚。
他们带来四十条乌黑的海船。
福克斯的首领们正忙着整编队伍，
立阵在波伊俄提亚人的左边。
俄伊琉斯之子、快捷的埃阿斯统领着洛克里斯兵勇，
小埃阿斯，和忒拉蒙高大魁伟的儿子相比，个子
矮小得多。然而，这位穿着亚麻布胸甲的小个子，
却是赫勒奈斯人中最好的枪手。
他的士兵有的家住库诺斯、俄波埃斯、卡利阿罗斯，
有的家住伯萨、斯卡耳菲和美丽的奥格埃；
还有的家居斯罗尼昂、塔耳菲和波阿格里俄斯流域。
他带来四十条乌黑的海船，满载着洛克里斯
兵勇，家乡和神圣的欧波亚隔海相望。
来自欧波亚岛的兵勇们，怒气冲冲的阿邦忒斯人，
散居在卡尔基斯、厄瑞特里亚和盛产葡萄的希斯提埃亚；
来自靠海的开林索斯和陡峭的城堡狄昂，
来自卡鲁斯托斯和斯图拉——统领
这些人的是厄勒菲诺耳，阿瑞斯的后代
卡尔科冬之子，心胸豪壮的阿邦忒斯人的首领。
腿脚迅捷的阿邦忒斯人随他前来，
长发及背，狂烈的枪手，渴望投出
粗长的(木岑)木杆枪矛，捅开敌人护身的甲衣。
他带来四十条乌黑的海船。
他们的紧邻是来自雅典的兵勇，墙垣坚固的城堡，
心志豪莽的厄瑞克修斯统治的地域。雅典娜，
宙斯的女儿，看护过丰产谷物的大地生有的厄瑞克修斯，
把他置放在雅典，她的丰足的
神庙里。年复一年，雅典的儿子们用键牛
和公羊祭盼着他的祝佑。
墨奈修斯，裴忒俄斯之子，统领着这支军旅。
他擅长布设战车和用盾牌护身的甲士，人世间
谁也没有他的本领，只有奈斯托耳
例外，因为他是老辈人物。
他带来五十条乌黑的海船。
埃阿斯从萨拉弥斯带来十二条海船，
排列在雅典人的编队旁。
来自阿耳戈斯的提金斯。
赫耳弥俄奈和深谷环抱的阿西奈，来自
特罗伊真、埃俄奈和丰产葡萄的厄丕道罗斯的兵勇们，
来自埃吉纳和马塞斯的阿开亚人的儿子们——
统领这些人的是啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯，
由塞奈洛斯辅佐，声名远扬的卡帕纽斯的儿子；
神一样的欧鲁阿洛斯排位第三，
塔劳斯之子、国王墨基丢斯的儿子。
啸吼战场的秋俄墨得斯是全军的统帅；
他们带来八十条乌黑的海船。
还有一支劲旅，兵勇们来自城垣坚固的慕凯奈，
繁荣富足的科林斯和城垣坚固的克勒俄奈；
来自俄耳内埃以及美丽的阿莱苏里亚
和西库昂——阿德瑞斯托斯曾在那里为王；
来自呼裴瑞西亚和陡峭的戈诺厄萨，
来自裴勒奈，来自埃吉昂地区以及
整个沿海地带和广阔的赫利开岬域。
他们带来一百条海船，统领全军的是强有力的阿伽门农，
阿特桑斯之子，带来了最好和最勇敢的
兵丁。营伍里，他身披闪光的铜甲，
气宇轩昂，突显在骁勇的壮士群中，
因他地位最高，统领着人数最多的军伍。
来自群山环抱、沟壑宕跌的拉凯代蒙。
法里斯、斯巴达和鸽群飞绕的墨塞的兵勇，
来自布鲁塞埃和美丽的奥格埃，
来自阿姆克莱和濒海的城堡赫洛斯，
来自拉斯和俄伊图洛斯地带的兵勇们，
由阿伽门农的兄弟、啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯率领，
统辖六十条海船，离着其他军旅群聚。
他巡视在队伍里，坚信自己的刚勇，
催督部属向前，因他渴望报仇，
比谁都心切：为了海伦，他们承受了战争的悲苦和磨难。
还有一支军旅，兵勇们有的家住普洛斯、美丽的阿瑞奈。
斯鲁昂、阿尔菲俄斯水津地区和坚固的埃普，
有的家住库帕里赛斯和安菲格内亚，家住
普忒琉斯、赫洛斯和多里昂——在那里，
缪斯姑娘们曾遐遇萨慕里斯，窒息了他的歌声。其时，
他正从俄伊卡利亚行来，别离俄伊卡利亚国王欧鲁托斯，
扬言即便是缪斯姑娘，带埃吉斯的
宙斯的女儿，倘若和他赛歌，也会败在他的手下。
愤怒的缪斯将他毒打致残，夺走了他那
不同凡响的歌喉，使他忘却了拨唱的本领。
统带这些兵勇的是奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，
率掌九十条弯翘的海船。
来自陡峭的库勒奈山脚，埃普托斯的墓旁，
来自阿耳卡底亚的善于近战杀敌的兵勇们，
家住菲纽斯和羊儿成群的俄耳科墨诺斯，
家居里培、斯特拉提亚和多风的厄尼斯培，
来自忒格亚和美丽的曼提奈亚，
来自斯屯法洛斯和家住帕耳拉西亚的兵勇们，
均由安格凯俄斯的儿子、强有力的阿伽裴诺耳统领，
带来六十条海船，满载着众多的
兵卒，能征惯战的阿耳卡底亚军勇。
民众的王者阿伽门农给了他们这些
凳板坚固的海船，供他们征服酒蓝色的大海。是的，
是阿特柔斯之子给他们配备了海船，这些不会航海的内地人。
家住布普拉西昂和杰著的厄利斯，
一整片地带，远至边城呼耳弥奈和慕耳西诺斯，
以及它们之间的俄勒尼亚石岩和阿勒西昂的
兵勇们，受制于四位首领，各带十条
快船，满载着众多的厄利斯兵勇。
安菲马科斯和萨尔丕俄斯，阿克托耳的后代，一位是
克忒阿托斯之子，另一位是欧鲁托斯之子，各率一支分队；
阿马仑丘斯之子、强健的狄俄瑞斯统领另一支兵伍；
第四支分队由神一样的波鲁克塞诺斯统领，
阿伽塞奈斯之子，墨格亚斯的后代。
来自杜利基昂和神圣的厄基奈
群岛——和厄利斯隔海相望——的兵勇，
受制于墨格斯，阿瑞斯般的骁将，
宙斯钟爱的车战者夫琉斯之子——因与
其父闹翻，愤怒的夫琉斯跑到杜里基昂落户。
他带来四十条乌黑的海船。
俄底修斯率领着心胸豪壮的开法勒尼亚人；
兵勇们有的来自伊萨卡和枝叶婆姿的奈里同，
有的家住克罗库勒亚和岩壁粗皱的埃吉利普斯，
有的来自扎昆索斯，有的家住萨摩斯，
有的来自陆架及面对海峡和岛屿的去处[●]。
●面对海峡和岛屿的地方：可能指厄利斯或阿卡耳那尼亚沿海地区。俄底修
斯在厄利斯拥有地产。
俄底修斯，像宙斯一样精擅谋略的首领，统掌这支军伍，
带来十二条海船，船首涂得鲜红。
安德莱蒙之子索阿斯统领着埃托利亚人；
兵勇们家住普琉荣、俄勒诺斯和普勒奈，
来自濒海的卡尔基斯和岩石嶙峋的卡鲁冬——在那里，
心志豪莽的俄伊纽斯的儿子们[●]已经销声匿迹：
●俄伊纽斯的儿子们：指墨勒阿格罗斯和图丢斯。
俄伊纽斯自己早已作古，金发的墨勒阿格罗斯亦已不复存在。
所以，王权落到了索阿斯手里，统治着所有的埃托利亚人。
他带来四十条乌黑的海船。
伊多墨纽斯，著名的枪手，是克里特人的统带，
率领着来自克诺索斯和墙垣高耸的戈耳图那。
鲁克托斯、米勒托斯和白垩闪亮的鲁卡斯托斯。
法伊斯托斯和鲁提昂，清一色人丁兴旺的城，以及所有
其他家住克里特的兵勇，这个拥有一百座城市的岛屿。[●]
●一百座城市的岛屿：《奥德赛》称克里特拥有九十个城镇。
善使枪矛的伊多墨纽斯统领全军，
由墨里俄奈斯辅佐，此人善能冲杀，像战神一样凶莽。
高大强壮的特勒波勒摩斯，赫拉克勒斯之子，
从罗得斯带来九条海船，满载着高傲的罗得斯兵勇。
他们家住该地，按不同的区域编成三个分队：
林多斯、亚鲁索斯和白垩闪亮的卡迈罗斯。
统领他们的是著名的枪手特洛波勒摩斯，
强有力的赫拉克勒斯的儿子，出自阿丝图陀开娅的肚腹。
赫拉克勒斯掠劫过许多城市，里面住着强健、神祗
哺育的壮勇，把她从厄芙拉和塞勒埃斯河畔带出。
特勒波勒摩斯在精固的宫殿里长大。
打死了亲爹钟爱的老舅，阿瑞斯的后代，
利昆尼俄斯，当时已是一位年迈之人。
他迅速整治好船队，招聚起随从，
匆匆亡命海外——强有力的赫拉克勒斯的其他儿子们，
连同他们的儿子们，已经放出要他偿还血债的口风。
他来到罗得斯，一个流浪者，一个落魄的不幸之人。
他们在那里落脚，按部族在三个地方安家，
受到克罗诺斯之子、神和人的王者宙斯的
钟爱，把极丰厚的财富像水一样地泼降给他们。
从苏墨，尼柔斯带来三条匀称的海船；
尼柔斯，阿革莱娅和国王卡罗波斯之子，
尼柔斯，特洛伊城下最美的男子，在所有的
达奈人中，容貌仅次于无可比及的阿基琉斯。
但是，此人体弱，只带来寥寥无几的兵丁。
来自尼苏罗斯、克拉帕索斯、卡索斯。
科斯——欧鲁普洛的城——以及那些人称卡鲁德奈群岛的
兵勇们，
概由菲底波斯和安提福斯统领，
王者赫拉克勒斯之子塞萨诺斯的两个儿子。
他们统辖三十条深旷的海船。
此外，兵勇们，有的家住裴拉斯吉亚人的阿耳戈斯，
有的家住阿洛斯、阿洛培和斯拉基斯，
还有的来自弗西亚和出美女的赫拉斯[●]，
●赫拉斯：公元前七世纪后，Hellas泛指全希腊，正如684中的赫勒奈斯人
（Hellenes）以后泛指希腊人一样。
统叫做慕耳弥冬人、赫勒奈斯人和阿开亚人，
概由阿基琉斯统领，连同五十条海船。
但是，这些人现在不想重上杀声震天的战场——
谁来把他们编成战阵，列队冲杀？
捷足的壮勇、卓越的阿基琉斯其时正盛怒不息，
躺在他的海船旁，为了美发的布里塞伊丝，
苦战得手的战礼，从鲁耳奈索斯城堡——
他曾荡劫那个地方，捣烂了塞贝的城墙，
击倒了厄丕斯特罗福斯和慕奈斯，两位凶狠的枪手，
塞勒丕俄斯之子、国王欧厄诺斯的儿郎。为了那位
姑娘，他心情悲悒，躺在船边——但他马上即会直立起身。
兵勇们还来自夫拉凯和鲜花盛开的普拉索斯，
黛墨忒耳的奉地；来自羊群的母亲伊同。
濒海的安特荣和草泽深处的普忒琉斯。
猛士普罗忒西劳斯生前曾统领他们冲杀，
但乌黑的泥土早已把他埋葬。
他的妻子，悲哭中撕破了双颊，撇留在夫拉凯，
建家之业废毁中途。阿开亚人中，他第一个，是的，
第一个跳出海船，被一个达耳达尼亚人所杀。然而，
尽管怀念首领，兵勇们却没有乱成散沙一盘。
波达耳开斯，阿瑞斯的后代，负起了统编队伍的责任。
他乃伊菲克勒斯之子，而伊菲克勒斯又是富有羊群的
夫拉科斯的儿郎。波达耳开斯是心胸豪壮的普罗忒西拉俄斯
的亲兄弟，比兄长年幼，也不如他豪猛——
普罗忒西拉俄斯，叱咤战场的壮勇。但尽管如此，
他们并不缺少首领，虽然怀念死去的英雄。
波达耳开斯带来四十条乌黑的海船。
家住波伊贝斯湖畔的菲莱，
家住波伊北、格拉夫莱和城垣坚固的伊俄尔科斯的兵勇们，
分乘十一条战船，由阿德墨托斯之子欧墨洛斯统领——
裴利阿斯的女儿中最漂亮的一位，阿尔开丝提丝，
女人中的姣杰，把他生给了阿德墨托斯。
家居墨索奈和萨乌马基亚，以及
来自墨利波亚和岩壁粗皱的俄利宗的兵勇们，
分乘七条海船，由弓法精熟的
菲洛克忒忒斯率领，每船乘坐五十名
划桨的兵丁，战阵中出色的弓手。然而，
其时，菲洛克忒忒斯正躺在神圣的莱姆诺斯，
承受着巨大的伤痛——由于遭受水蛇的侵咬，阿开亚人把他
遗留该岛，恼人的疮痛折磨着他的身心。
他正躺身海岛，受苦受难，但用不了多久，海船边的
阿耳吉维人便会想起菲洛克忒忒斯，[●]带伤的王者。
●想起菲洛克忒忒斯：据赫勒诺斯预言，倘若没有赫拉克勒斯的硬弓（在菲
氏千里），阿开亚人无法攻破特洛伊；俄底修斯于是专程前往莱姆诺斯，找回了菲
洛克忒忒斯。
尽管怀念首领，兵勇们却没有乱成散沙一盘；
墨登，俄伊琉斯的私生子，负起了统编队伍的责
任——出自荡劫城堡的俄伊琉斯的精血，曹奈的肚腹。
来自石岩梯叠的伊索墨以及特里开和俄利卡利亚的
兵勇们——那是俄利卡利亚人欧鲁托斯的城——
由阿斯克勒丕俄斯的两个儿子率领，
波达雷里俄斯和马卡昂，手段高明的医者，
统领三十条深旷的海船。
来自俄耳墨尼俄斯和呼裴瑞亚水泉，
来自阿斯忒里昂和峰壁苍白的[●]提塔诺斯的兵勇们，
●峰壁苍白的：山壁由白垩岩组成。
由欧鲁普洛斯率领，埃阿蒙卓著的儿子，
带来四十条乌黑的海船。
兵勇们，有的来自阿耳吉萨，有的家住古耳托奈。
俄耳塞、厄洛奈和灰白色的城堡俄卢松，
统领他们的是犟悍骠勇的波鲁波伊忒斯，
大神宙斯之子裴里苏斯的儿子。
光荣的希波达墨娘把他生给了裴里苏斯——
那一天，他对多毛的马人投出了复仇的枪矛，
把他们逐出裴利昂，赶至埃西开斯人栖居的地方。
波鲁波伊忒斯不是惟一的首领，还有勒昂丢斯，阿瑞斯的
后代，
心胸豪壮的科罗诺斯的儿子，开纽斯的亲孙。
他们带来四十条乌黑的海船。
从库福斯，古纽斯带来二十二条海船，
率领着厄尼奈斯人和骠勇犟悍的
裴莱比亚人；兵勇们有的家住寒酷的多多那，
有的拥有肥熟的耕地，在美丽的提塔瑞索斯河岸，
清澈的水流呼涌着注入裴内俄斯，
但却从未和后者闪着银光的漩涡合流，
而是像油层似的浮在表面，因为
它是那条可怕的水脉、用以咒发誓证的斯图克斯的支流。
普罗苏斯，藤斯瑞冬之子，是马革奈西亚人的首领，
家住裴内俄斯一带以及枝叶婆娑的
裴利昂。统领他们的是捷足的普罗苏斯，
带来了四十条乌黑的海船。
这些便是达奈人的王者和统领。
告诉我，缪斯，在跟随阿特柔斯之子进兵城下的军旅中，
哪一位壮士最出色，哪一对驭马最骁勇？
裴瑞斯的孙子欧墨洛斯的牝马最杰出——
他赶着这对驭马，撒蹄奔跑，像展翅的飞鸟。
它俩毛色一样，马口相同，背高一致，就像用水平尺量出的
一般。
银弓之神阿波罗把它俩喂大，在裴瑞亚，
好一对牝马，追风的蹄子创扬起战神的恐怖。
人群中，最好的战勇是忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯——
阿基琉斯仍在船边生气，否则，他是当之无愧的头号英雄。
论马亦然，最好的驭马效命于善战的裴琉斯之子，拉着他的
战车。
但是，阿基琉斯正远离众人，躺在弯翘的远洋
海船旁，怀着对兵士的牧者、阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的
怨怒。兵勇们嬉耍在长浪拍岸的
滩沿，或掷饼盘，或投枪矛，也有的把玩着
手中的弯弓。马儿们站在各自的战车旁，
咀嚼着泽地上的欧芹和三叶草，
悠闲舒适；主人的战车顶着遮盖，
停放在营棚里。士兵们思念着善战的首领，
在营区内四处闲逛，不再参加战斗。
但是，大部队正在向前开进——像烈焰吞噬着万物——
大地在他们脚下隆隆作响，似乎喜好作雷的宙斯
暴发了雷霆之怒，恰如他在阿里摩伊劈击
图福欧斯周围的土地时一样：那里，人们说，是图福欧斯的
睡床。
就像这样，行进中的军队把大地踩得
隆隆震响，以极快的速度前进，穿越平原。
其时，使者，追风的伊里丝急速赶到伊利昂，
捎去带埃吉斯的宙斯的口信，不祥的讯告。
特洛伊人正在集会，在普里阿摩斯的门前，
汇聚在一个地方，年轻的和上了年纪的男子。
腿脚飞快的伊里丝站在他们近旁，摹仿
普里阿摩斯之子波利忒斯的声音，开口说道。
波利忒斯自信能跑善跳，一直在为特洛伊人放哨，
呆在老埃苏厄忒斯的墓顶[●]，
●老埃苏忒斯的墓顶：仅出现这一次，显然是特洛伊平原上的一个方位标记。
等待着阿开亚人离船进攻的第一个讯号。
以此人的形象，腿脚飞快的伊墨丝说道：
“老人家，你总爱没完没了地唠叨，就像在从前
和平时期那样——要知道，我们正进行着杏无终期的战斗。
我经常出入人们拼斗的战场，
却从未见过如此庞大的军伍，人海般的阵容，
就像成堆的树叶或滩沿上的沙子，
他们正越过平原，将在我们的城下战斗。
赫克托耳，你是我第一个开口催劝的人，你要按我说的做：
普里阿摩斯的城里塞挤着许多支友军，
他们来自不同的地域，语言五花八门。
让每一位首领饬命本部族的兵勇，
整顿队伍带领他们战斗。”
听罢这番话，赫克托耳不敢怠慢——此乃女神的声音。
他当即解散集会，兵勇们全都朝着自己的枪械迅跑。
他们打开所有的大门，蜂拥着往外冲挤，
成群的步兵，熙熙攘攘的车马，喧杂之声沸沸扬扬。
在城门前方，平野的远处，孤伶伶地
耸立着一方土丘，四边平整空旷，
凡人称它“灌木之丘”，但长生不老的
神祗却叫它善跳的慕里奈的坟冢。
就在那个地方，特洛伊人和盟军排开了战斗的队阵。
高大的赫克托耳是特洛伊人的统帅，
普里阿摩斯之子，头顶闪亮的帽盔，率领着最好、最勇敢
的兵丁，盔甲齐整，渴望着一试手中的投枪。
安基塞斯高贵的儿子统领着达耳达尼亚兵勇，
埃内阿斯，女神和凡人欢爱的结晶——在伊达的岭脊，
光彩夺目的阿芙罗底忒把他生给了安基塞斯。
埃内阿斯不是谁一的首领，他有两位副手，阿耳开洛科斯
和阿卡马斯，能打各种战式，安忒诺耳的儿郎。
家住伊达山脚的泽勒亚的兵卒，
一群富有的、喝饮埃塞波斯的黑水长大的
特洛伊兵勇，由鲁卡昂英武的儿子统领，
潘达罗斯，带着他的强弓，阿波罗的馈赠。
来自阿德瑞斯忒亚和阿派索斯乡土，
来自皮推亚和险峻的忒瑞亚的兵勇们，
概由阿德瑞斯托斯以及身穿亚麻胸甲的安菲俄斯统领，
裴耳科忒的墨罗普斯的两个儿子。墨罗普斯谙熟巫卜，
常人不可比及，曾劝阻他的儿子
前往人死人亡的战场，无奈后者不听
劝告，任随幽黑的死亡和死亡精灵的驱使。
家居裴耳科忒和普拉克提俄斯一带，
来自塞斯托斯、阿布多斯和闪亮的阿里斯贝的兵勇们，
由呼耳塔科斯之子阿西俄斯率领——阿西俄斯，
呼耳塔科斯之子，统兵的首领，闪亮的高头大马
把他载到此，从阿里斯贝，塞勒埃斯河畔。
希波苏斯率领着裴拉斯吉亚部族的枪手，
家住土地肥沃的拉里萨，
希波苏斯和普莱俄斯，阿瑞斯的后代，统领着他们，
丢塔摩斯之子、裴拉斯吉亚人莱索斯的两个儿郎。
阿卡马斯和壮士裴鲁斯率领着斯拉凯兵勇，
赫勒斯庞特滚滚的水流疆限着族民们生活的地域。
欧菲摩斯率领着基科奈斯枪手，
特罗伊泽诺斯之子，而特罗伊泽诺斯又是神祗钟爱的勇士
凯阿斯的儿郎。
普莱克墨斯率领着手持弯弓的派俄尼亚人，
来自遥远的阿慕冬以及水面开阔的阿克西俄斯沿岸，
阿克西俄斯，地面上水路最美的河流。
心志粗莽的普莱墨奈斯统领着帕夫拉戈尼亚人，
来自厄奈托伊人的地域，野骡的摇篮，
来自库托罗斯，住家塞萨摩斯一带，沿着
帕耳塞尼俄斯两岸，盖起了远近驰名的房居，
在克荣纳、埃吉阿洛斯和高地厄鲁西诺伊。
俄底俄斯和厄丕斯特罗福斯率领着哈利宗奈斯人，
来自遥远的阿鲁贝，源生白银的土地。
克罗弥斯率领着慕西亚兵勇，由卜者英诺摩斯辅佐，
但识辨鸟踪的本领没有替他挡开幽黑的死亡——
腿脚迅捷的阿基琉斯结果了他的性命，
在那条河里，还杀了另一些特洛伊兵壮。
福耳库斯和神一样的阿斯卡尼俄斯统领着弗鲁吉亚人，
来自遥远的阿斯卡尼亚，渴望着投入浴血的战斗。
墨斯福斯和安提福斯乃迈俄尼亚人的首领，
塔莱墨奈斯的儿子，母亲是古伽亚湖里的女仙，
率领着家居特摩洛斯山下的迈俄尼亚人。
纳斯忒斯统领着粗俗的卡里亚人，
来自米勒托斯和林木葱郁的山地弗西荣，
陪傍着迈安得罗斯水流和慕卡勒峥嵘的石壁。
他们的首领是安菲马科斯和纳斯忒斯，
纳斯忒斯和安菲马科斯，诺米昂的一对英武的儿子。
晃摆着黄金的装饰，纳斯忒斯走上战场，像一位姑娘——
好一个傻瓜！然而，黄金没有替他挡开痛苦的死亡，
腿脚迅捷的阿基琉斯结果了他的性命，
在那条河里，骠勇的壮士剥走了金质的饰磺。
萨耳裴冬和豪勇的格劳科斯统领着鲁基亚兵勇，
来自遥远的河滩，珊索斯飞卷的漩流。
ARGUMENT.
THE TRIAL OF THE ARMY, AND CATALOGUE OF THE FORCES.
Jupiter, in pursuance of the request of Thetis, sends a deceitful vision
to Agamemnon, persuading him to lead the army to battle, in order to make
the Greeks sensible of their want of Achilles. The general, who is deluded
with the hopes of taking Troy without his assistance, but fears the army
was discouraged by his absence, and the late plague, as well as by the
length of time, contrives to make trial of their disposition by a
stratagem. He first communicates his design to the princes in council,
that he would propose a return to the soldiers, and that they should put a
stop to them if the proposal was embraced. Then he assembles the whole
host, and upon moving for a return to Greece, they unanimously agree to
it, and run to prepare the ships. They are detained by the management of
Ulysses, who chastises the insolence of Thersites. The assembly is
recalled, several speeches made on the occasion, and at length the advice
of Nestor followed, which was to make a general muster of the troops, and
to divide them into their several nations, before they proceeded to
battle. This gives occasion to the poet to enumerate all the forces of the
Greeks and Trojans, and in a large catalogue.
The time employed in this book consists not entirely of one day. The scene
lies in the Grecian camp, and upon the sea-shore; towards the end it
removes to Troy.
Now pleasing sleep had seal'd each mortal eye,
Stretch'd in the tents the Grecian leaders lie:
The immortals slumber'd on their thrones above;
All, but the ever-wakeful eyes of Jove.(76)
To honour Thetis' son he bends his care,
And plunge the Greeks in all the woes of war:
Then bids an empty phantom rise to sight,
And thus commands the vision of the night.
"Fly hence, deluding Dream! and light as air,(77)
To Agamemnon's ample tent repair.
Bid him in arms draw forth the embattled train,
Lead all his Grecians to the dusty plain.
Declare, e'en now 'tis given him to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the gods with fate contend,
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits the impending fall."
Swift as the word the vain illusion fled,
Descends, and hovers o'er Atrides' head;
Clothed in the figure of the Pylian sage,
Renown'd for wisdom, and revered for age:
Around his temples spreads his golden wing,
And thus the flattering dream deceives the king.
[Illustration: JUPITER SENDING THE EVIL DREAM TO AGAMEMNON.]
JUPITER SENDING THE EVIL DREAM TO AGAMEMNON.
"Canst thou, with all a monarch's cares oppress'd,
O Atreus' son! canst thou indulge the rest?(78)
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose.(79)
Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear;
Thou, and thy glory, claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth the embattled train,
Lead all thy Grecians to the dusty plain;
E'en now, O king! 'tis given thee to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the gods with fate contend,
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits the impending fall.
Awake, but waking this advice approve,
And trust the vision that descends from Jove."
The phantom said; then vanish'd from his sight,
Resolves to air, and mixes with the night.
A thousand schemes the monarch's mind employ;
Elate in thought he sacks untaken Troy:
Vain as he was, and to the future blind,
Nor saw what Jove and secret fate design'd,
What mighty toils to either host remain,
What scenes of grief, and numbers of the slain!
Eager he rises, and in fancy hears
The voice celestial murmuring in his ears.
First on his limbs a slender vest he drew,
Around him next the regal mantle threw,
The embroider'd sandals on his feet were tied;
The starry falchion glitter'd at his side;
And last, his arm the massy sceptre loads,
Unstain'd, immortal, and the gift of gods.
Now rosy Morn ascends the court of Jove,
Lifts up her light, and opens day above.
The king despatch'd his heralds with commands
To range the camp and summon all the bands:
The gathering hosts the monarch's word obey;
While to the fleet Atrides bends his way.
In his black ship the Pylian prince he found;
There calls a senate of the peers around:
The assembly placed, the king of men express'd
The counsels labouring in his artful breast.
"Friends and confederates! with attentive ear
Receive my words, and credit what you hear.
Late as I slumber'd in the shades of night,
A dream divine appear'd before my sight;
Whose visionary form like Nestor came,
The same in habit, and in mien the same.(80)
The heavenly phantom hover'd o'er my head,
'And, dost thou sleep, O Atreus' son? (he said)
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides;
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose.
Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear,
Thou and thy glory claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth the embattled train,
And lead the Grecians to the dusty plain;
E'en now, O king! 'tis given thee to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the gods with fate contend,
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits the impending fall.
This hear observant, and the gods obey!'
The vision spoke, and pass'd in air away.
Now, valiant chiefs! since heaven itself alarms,
Unite, and rouse the sons of Greece to arms.
But first, with caution, try what yet they dare,
Worn with nine years of unsuccessful war.
To move the troops to measure back the main,
Be mine; and yours the province to detain."
He spoke, and sat: when Nestor, rising said,
(Nestor, whom Pylos' sandy realms obey'd,)
"Princes of Greece, your faithful ears incline,
Nor doubt the vision of the powers divine;
Sent by great Jove to him who rules the host,
Forbid it, heaven! this warning should be lost!
Then let us haste, obey the god's alarms,
And join to rouse the sons of Greece to arms."
Thus spoke the sage: the kings without delay
Dissolve the council, and their chief obey:
The sceptred rulers lead; the following host,
Pour'd forth by thousands, darkens all the coast.
As from some rocky cleft the shepherd sees
Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees,
Rolling and blackening, swarms succeeding swarms,
With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms;
Dusky they spread, a close embodied crowd,
And o'er the vale descends the living cloud.(81)
So, from the tents and ships, a lengthen'd train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o'ershades the plain:
Along the region runs a deafening sound;
Beneath their footsteps groans the trembling ground.
Fame flies before the messenger of Jove,
And shining soars, and claps her wings above.
Nine sacred heralds now, proclaiming loud(82)
The monarch's will, suspend the listening crowd.
Soon as the throngs in order ranged appear,
And fainter murmurs died upon the ear,
The king of kings his awful figure raised:
High in his hand the golden sceptre blazed;
The golden sceptre, of celestial flame,
By Vulcan form'd, from Jove to Hermes came.
To Pelops he the immortal gift resign'd;
The immortal gift great Pelops left behind,
In Atreus' hand, which not with Atreus ends,
To rich Thyestes next the prize descends;
And now the mark of Agamemnon's reign,
Subjects all Argos, and controls the main.(83)
On this bright sceptre now the king reclined,
And artful thus pronounced the speech design'd:
"Ye sons of Mars, partake your leader's care,
Heroes of Greece, and brothers of the war!
Of partial Jove with justice I complain,
And heavenly oracles believed in vain
A safe return was promised to our toils,
Renown'd, triumphant, and enrich'd with spoils.
Now shameful flight alone can save the host,
Our blood, our treasure, and our glory lost.
So Jove decrees, resistless lord of all!
At whose command whole empires rise or fall:
He shakes the feeble props of human trust,
And towns and armies humbles to the dust
What shame to Greece a fruitful war to wage,
Oh, lasting shame in every future age!
Once great in arms, the common scorn we grow,
Repulsed and baffled by a feeble foe.
So small their number, that if wars were ceased,
And Greece triumphant held a general feast,
All rank'd by tens, whole decades when they dine
Must want a Trojan slave to pour the wine.(84)
But other forces have our hopes o'erthrown,
And Troy prevails by armies not her own.
Now nine long years of mighty Jove are run,
Since first the labours of this war begun:
Our cordage torn, decay'd our vessels lie,
And scarce insure the wretched power to fly.
Haste, then, for ever leave the Trojan wall!
Our weeping wives, our tender children call:
Love, duty, safety, summon us away,
'Tis nature's voice, and nature we obey,
Our shatter'd barks may yet transport us o'er,
Safe and inglorious, to our native shore.
Fly, Grecians, fly, your sails and oars employ,
And dream no more of heaven-defended Troy."
His deep design unknown, the hosts approve
Atrides' speech. The mighty numbers move.
So roll the billows to the Icarian shore,
From east and south when winds begin to roar,
Burst their dark mansions in the clouds, and sweep
The whitening surface of the ruffled deep.
And as on corn when western gusts descend,(85)
Before the blast the lofty harvests bend:
Thus o'er the field the moving host appears,
With nodding plumes and groves of waving spears.
The gathering murmur spreads, their trampling feet
Beat the loose sands, and thicken to the fleet;
With long-resounding cries they urge the train
To fit the ships, and launch into the main.
They toil, they sweat, thick clouds of dust arise,
The doubling clamours echo to the skies.
E'en then the Greeks had left the hostile plain,
And fate decreed the fall of Troy in vain;
But Jove's imperial queen their flight survey'd,
And sighing thus bespoke the blue-eyed maid:
"Shall then the Grecians fly! O dire disgrace!
And leave unpunish'd this perfidious race?
Shall Troy, shall Priam, and the adulterous spouse,
In peace enjoy the fruits of broken vows?
And bravest chiefs, in Helen's quarrel slain,
Lie unrevenged on yon detested plain?
No: let my Greeks, unmoved by vain alarms,
Once more refulgent shine in brazen arms.
Haste, goddess, haste! the flying host detain,
Nor let one sail be hoisted on the main."
Pallas obeys, and from Olympus' height
Swift to the ships precipitates her flight.
Ulysses, first in public cares, she found,
For prudent counsel like the gods renown'd:
Oppress'd with generous grief the hero stood,
Nor drew his sable vessels to the flood.
"And is it thus, divine Laertes' son,
Thus fly the Greeks (the martial maid begun),
Thus to their country bear their own disgrace,
And fame eternal leave to Priam's race?
Shall beauteous Helen still remain unfreed,
Still unrevenged, a thousand heroes bleed!
Haste, generous Ithacus! prevent the shame,
Recall your armies, and your chiefs reclaim.
Your own resistless eloquence employ,
And to the immortals trust the fall of Troy."
The voice divine confess'd the warlike maid,
Ulysses heard, nor uninspired obey'd:
Then meeting first Atrides, from his hand
Received the imperial sceptre of command.
Thus graced, attention and respect to gain,
He runs, he flies through all the Grecian train;
Each prince of name, or chief in arms approved,
He fired with praise, or with persuasion moved.
"Warriors like you, with strength and wisdom bless'd,
By brave examples should confirm the rest.
The monarch's will not yet reveal'd appears;
He tries our courage, but resents our fears.
The unwary Greeks his fury may provoke;
Not thus the king in secret council spoke.
Jove loves our chief, from Jove his honour springs,
Beware! for dreadful is the wrath of kings."
But if a clamorous vile plebeian rose,
Him with reproof he check'd or tamed with blows.
"Be still, thou slave, and to thy betters yield;
Unknown alike in council and in field!
Ye gods, what dastards would our host command!
Swept to the war, the lumber of a land.
Be silent, wretch, and think not here allow'd
That worst of tyrants, an usurping crowd.
To one sole monarch Jove commits the sway;
His are the laws, and him let all obey."(86)
With words like these the troops Ulysses ruled,
The loudest silenced, and the fiercest cool'd.
Back to the assembly roll the thronging train,
Desert the ships, and pour upon the plain.
Murmuring they move, as when old ocean roars,
And heaves huge surges to the trembling shores;
The groaning banks are burst with bellowing sound,
The rocks remurmur and the deeps rebound.
At length the tumult sinks, the noises cease,
And a still silence lulls the camp to peace.
Thersites only clamour'd in the throng,
Loquacious, loud, and turbulent of tongue:
Awed by no shame, by no respect controll'd,
In scandal busy, in reproaches bold:
With witty malice studious to defame,
Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim:--
But chief he gloried with licentious style
To lash the great, and monarchs to revile.
His figure such as might his soul proclaim;
One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame:
His mountain shoulders half his breast o'erspread,
Thin hairs bestrew'd his long misshapen head.
Spleen to mankind his envious heart possess'd,
And much he hated all, but most the best:
Ulysses or Achilles still his theme;
But royal scandal his delight supreme,
Long had he lived the scorn of every Greek,
Vex'd when he spoke, yet still they heard him speak.
Sharp was his voice; which in the shrillest tone,
Thus with injurious taunts attack'd the throne.
"Amidst the glories of so bright a reign,
What moves the great Atrides to complain?
'Tis thine whate'er the warrior's breast inflames,
The golden spoil, and thine the lovely dames.
With all the wealth our wars and blood bestow,
Thy tents are crowded and thy chests o'erflow.
Thus at full ease in heaps of riches roll'd,
What grieves the monarch? Is it thirst of gold?
Say, shall we march with our unconquer'd powers
(The Greeks and I) to Ilion's hostile towers,
And bring the race of royal bastards here,
For Troy to ransom at a price too dear?
But safer plunder thy own host supplies;
Say, wouldst thou seize some valiant leader's prize?
Or, if thy heart to generous love be led,
Some captive fair, to bless thy kingly bed?
Whate'er our master craves submit we must,
Plagued with his pride, or punish'd for his lust.
Oh women of Achaia; men no more!
Hence let us fly, and let him waste his store
In loves and pleasures on the Phrygian shore.
We may be wanted on some busy day,
When Hector comes: so great Achilles may:
From him he forced the prize we jointly gave,
From him, the fierce, the fearless, and the brave:
And durst he, as he ought, resent that wrong,
This mighty tyrant were no tyrant long."
Fierce from his seat at this Ulysses springs,(87)
In generous vengeance of the king of kings.
With indignation sparkling in his eyes,
He views the wretch, and sternly thus replies:
"Peace, factious monster, born to vex the state,
With wrangling talents form'd for foul debate:
Curb that impetuous tongue, nor rashly vain,
And singly mad, asperse the sovereign reign.
Have we not known thee, slave! of all our host,
The man who acts the least, upbraids the most?
Think not the Greeks to shameful flight to bring,
Nor let those lips profane the name of king.
For our return we trust the heavenly powers;
Be that their care; to fight like men be ours.
But grant the host with wealth the general load,
Except detraction, what hast thou bestow'd?
Suppose some hero should his spoils resign,
Art thou that hero, could those spoils be thine?
Gods! let me perish on this hateful shore,
And let these eyes behold my son no more;
If, on thy next offence, this hand forbear
To strip those arms thou ill deserv'st to wear,
Expel the council where our princes meet,
And send thee scourged and howling through the fleet."
He said, and cowering as the dastard bends,
The weighty sceptre on his bank descends.(88)
On the round bunch the bloody tumours rise:
The tears spring starting from his haggard eyes;
Trembling he sat, and shrunk in abject fears,
From his vile visage wiped the scalding tears;
While to his neighbour each express'd his thought:
"Ye gods! what wonders has Ulysses wrought!
What fruits his conduct and his courage yield!
Great in the council, glorious in the field.
Generous he rises in the crown's defence,
To curb the factious tongue of insolence,
Such just examples on offenders shown,
Sedition silence, and assert the throne."
'Twas thus the general voice the hero praised,
Who, rising, high the imperial sceptre raised:
The blue-eyed Pallas, his celestial friend,
(In form a herald,) bade the crowds attend.
The expecting crowds in still attention hung,
To hear the wisdom of his heavenly tongue.
Then deeply thoughtful, pausing ere he spoke,
His silence thus the prudent hero broke:
"Unhappy monarch! whom the Grecian race
With shame deserting, heap with vile disgrace.
Not such at Argos was their generous vow:
Once all their voice, but ah! forgotten now:
Ne'er to return, was then the common cry,
Till Troy's proud structures should in ashes lie.
Behold them weeping for their native shore;
What could their wives or helpless children more?
What heart but melts to leave the tender train,
And, one short month, endure the wintry main?
Few leagues removed, we wish our peaceful seat,
When the ship tosses, and the tempests beat:
Then well may this long stay provoke their tears,
The tedious length of nine revolving years.
Not for their grief the Grecian host I blame;
But vanquish'd! baffled! oh, eternal shame!
Expect the time to Troy's destruction given.
And try the faith of Chalcas and of heaven.
What pass'd at Aulis, Greece can witness bear,(89)
And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
Beside a fountain's sacred brink we raised
Our verdant altars, and the victims blazed:
'Twas where the plane-tree spread its shades around,
The altars heaved; and from the crumbling ground
A mighty dragon shot, of dire portent;
From Jove himself the dreadful sign was sent.
Straight to the tree his sanguine spires he roll'd,
And curl'd around in many a winding fold;
The topmost branch a mother-bird possess'd;
Eight callow infants fill'd the mossy nest;
Herself the ninth; the serpent, as he hung,
Stretch'd his black jaws and crush'd the crying young;
While hovering near, with miserable moan,
The drooping mother wail'd her children gone.
The mother last, as round the nest she flew,
Seized by the beating wing, the monster slew;
Nor long survived: to marble turn'd, he stands
A lasting prodigy on Aulis' sands.
Such was the will of Jove; and hence we dare
Trust in his omen, and support the war.
For while around we gazed with wondering eyes,
And trembling sought the powers with sacrifice,
Full of his god, the reverend Chalcas cried,(90)
'Ye Grecian warriors! lay your fears aside.
This wondrous signal Jove himself displays,
Of long, long labours, but eternal praise.
As many birds as by the snake were slain,
So many years the toils of Greece remain;
But wait the tenth, for Ilion's fall decreed:'
Thus spoke the prophet, thus the Fates succeed.
Obey, ye Grecians! with submission wait,
Nor let your flight avert the Trojan fate."
He said: the shores with loud applauses sound,
The hollow ships each deafening shout rebound.
Then Nestor thus--"These vain debates forbear,
Ye talk like children, not like heroes dare.
Where now are all your high resolves at last?
Your leagues concluded, your engagements past?
Vow'd with libations and with victims then,
Now vanish'd like their smoke: the faith of men!
While useless words consume the unactive hours,
No wonder Troy so long resists our powers.
Rise, great Atrides! and with courage sway;
We march to war, if thou direct the way.
But leave the few that dare resist thy laws,
The mean deserters of the Grecian cause,
To grudge the conquests mighty Jove prepares,
And view with envy our successful wars.
On that great day, when first the martial train,
Big with the fate of Ilion, plough'd the main,
Jove, on the right, a prosperous signal sent,
And thunder rolling shook the firmament.
Encouraged hence, maintain the glorious strife,
Till every soldier grasp a Phrygian wife,
Till Helen's woes at full revenged appear,
And Troy's proud matrons render tear for tear.
Before that day, if any Greek invite
His country's troops to base, inglorious flight,
Stand forth that Greek! and hoist his sail to fly,
And die the dastard first, who dreads to die.
But now, O monarch! all thy chiefs advise:(91)
Nor what they offer, thou thyself despise.
Among those counsels, let not mine be vain;
In tribes and nations to divide thy train:
His separate troops let every leader call,
Each strengthen each, and all encourage all.
What chief, or soldier, of the numerous band,
Or bravely fights, or ill obeys command,
When thus distinct they war, shall soon be known
And what the cause of Ilion not o'erthrown;
If fate resists, or if our arms are slow,
If gods above prevent, or men below."
To him the king: "How much thy years excel
In arts of counsel, and in speaking well!
O would the gods, in love to Greece, decree
But ten such sages as they grant in thee;
Such wisdom soon should Priam's force destroy,
And soon should fall the haughty towers of Troy!
But Jove forbids, who plunges those he hates
In fierce contention and in vain debates:
Now great Achilles from our aid withdraws,
By me provoked; a captive maid the cause:
If e'er as friends we join, the Trojan wall
Must shake, and heavy will the vengeance fall!
But now, ye warriors, take a short repast;
And, well refresh'd, to bloody conflict haste.
His sharpen'd spear let every Grecian wield,
And every Grecian fix his brazen shield,
Let all excite the fiery steeds of war,
And all for combat fit the rattling car.
This day, this dreadful day, let each contend;
No rest, no respite, till the shades descend;
Till darkness, or till death, shall cover all:
Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall;
Till bathed in sweat be every manly breast,
With the huge shield each brawny arm depress'd,
Each aching nerve refuse the lance to throw,
And each spent courser at the chariot blow.
Who dares, inglorious, in his ships to stay,
Who dares to tremble on this signal day;
That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,
The birds shall mangle, and the dogs devour."
The monarch spoke; and straight a murmur rose,
Loud as the surges when the tempest blows,
That dash'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the stony shore.
Straight to the tents the troops dispersing bend,
The fires are kindled, and the smokes ascend;
With hasty feasts they sacrifice, and pray,
To avert the dangers of the doubtful day.
A steer of five years' age, large limb'd, and fed,(92)
To Jove's high altars Agamemnon led:
There bade the noblest of the Grecian peers;
And Nestor first, as most advanced in years.
Next came Idomeneus,(93)
and Tydeus' son,(94)
Ajax the less, and Ajax Telamon;(95)
Then wise Ulysses in his rank was placed;
And Menelaus came, unbid, the last.(96)
The chiefs surround the destined beast, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake:
When thus the king prefers his solemn prayer;
"O thou! whose thunder rends the clouded air,
Who in the heaven of heavens hast fixed thy throne,
Supreme of gods! unbounded, and alone!
Hear! and before the burning sun descends,
Before the night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the dust be laid yon hostile spires,
Be Priam's palace sunk in Grecian fires.
In Hector's breast be plunged this shining sword,
And slaughter'd heroes groan around their lord!"
Thus prayed the chief: his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refused, and toss'd in empty air:
The God averse, while yet the fumes arose,
Prepared new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers perform'd the chiefs the rite pursue,
The barley sprinkled, and the victim slew.
The limbs they sever from the inclosing hide,
The thighs, _select_ed to the gods, divide.
On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lie from every part,
From the cleft wood the crackling flames aspires
While the fat victims feed the sacred fire.
The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dress'd
The assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
Soon as the rage of hunger was suppress'd,
The generous Nestor thus the prince address'd.
"Now bid thy heralds sound the loud alarms,
And call the squadrons sheathed in brazen arms;
Now seize the occasion, now the troops survey,
And lead to war when heaven directs the way."
He said; the monarch issued his commands;
Straight the loud heralds call the gathering bands
The chiefs inclose their king; the hosts divide,
In tribes and nations rank'd on either side.
High in the midst the blue-eyed virgin flies;
From rank to rank she darts her ardent eyes;
The dreadful aegis, Jove's immortal shield,
Blazed on her arm, and lighten'd all the field:
Round the vast orb a hundred serpents roll'd,
Form'd the bright fringe, and seem'd to burn in gold,
With this each Grecian's manly breast she warms,
Swells their bold hearts, and strings their nervous arms,
No more they sigh, inglorious, to return,
But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.
As on some mountain, through the lofty grove,
The crackling flames ascend, and blaze above;
The fires expanding, as the winds arise,
Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the skies:
So from the polish'd arms, and brazen shields,
A gleamy splendour flash'd along the fields.
Not less their number than the embodied cranes,
Or milk-white swans in Asius' watery plains.
That, o'er the windings of Cayster's springs,(97)
Stretch their long necks, and clap their rustling wings,
Now tower aloft, and course in airy rounds,
Now light with noise; with noise the field resounds.
Thus numerous and confused, extending wide,
The legions crowd Scamander's flowery side;(98)
With rushing troops the plains are cover'd o'er,
And thundering footsteps shake the sounding shore.
Along the river's level meads they stand,
Thick as in spring the flowers adorn the land,
Or leaves the trees; or thick as insects play,
The wandering nation of a summer's day:
That, drawn by milky steams, at evening hours,
In gather'd swarms surround the rural bowers;
From pail to pail with busy murmur run
The gilded legions, glittering in the sun.
So throng'd, so close, the Grecian squadrons stood
In radiant arms, and thirst for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his scatter'd force conjoins
In close array, and forms the deepening lines.
Not with more ease the skilful shepherd-swain
Collects his flocks from thousands on the plain.
The king of kings, majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outshines them all;
Like some proud bull, that round the pastures leads
His subject herds, the monarch of the meads,
Great as the gods, the exalted chief was seen,
His strength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien;(99)
Jove o'er his eyes celestial glories spread,
And dawning conquest played around his head.
Say, virgins, seated round the throne divine,
All-knowing goddesses! immortal nine!(100)
Since earth's wide regions, heaven's umneasur'd height,
And hell's abyss, hide nothing from your sight,
(We, wretched mortals! lost in doubts below,
But guess by rumour, and but boast we know,)
O say what heroes, fired by thirst of fame,
Or urged by wrongs, to Troy's destruction came.
To count them all, demands a thousand tongues,
A throat of brass, and adamantine lungs.
Daughters of Jove, assist! inspired by you
The mighty labour dauntless I pursue;
What crowded armies, from what climes they bring,
Their names, their numbers, and their chiefs I sing.
THE CATALOGUE OF THE SHIPS.(101)
[Illustration: NEPTUNE.]
NEPTUNE.
The hardy warriors whom Boeotia bred,
Penelius, Leitus, Prothoenor, led:
With these Arcesilaus and Clonius stand,
Equal in arms, and equal in command.
These head the troops that rocky Aulis yields,
And Eteon's hills, and Hyrie's watery fields,
And Schoenos, Scholos, Graea near the main,
And Mycalessia's ample piny plain;
Those who in Peteon or Ilesion dwell,
Or Harma where Apollo's prophet fell;
Heleon and Hyle, which the springs o'erflow;
And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low;
Or in the meads of Haliartus stray,
Or Thespia sacred to the god of day:
Onchestus, Neptune's celebrated groves;
Copae, and Thisbe, famed for silver doves;
For flocks Erythrae, Glissa for the vine;
Platea green, and Nysa the divine;
And they whom Thebe's well-built walls inclose,
Where Myde, Eutresis, Corone, rose;
And Arne rich, with purple harvests crown'd;
And Anthedon, Boeotia's utmost bound.
Full fifty ships they send, and each conveys
Twice sixty warriors through the foaming seas.(102)
To these succeed Aspledon's martial train,
Who plough the spacious Orchomenian plain.
Two valiant brothers rule the undaunted throng,
Ialmen and Ascalaphus the strong:
Sons of Astyoche, the heavenly fair,
Whose virgin charms subdued the god of war:
(In Actor's court as she retired to rest,
The strength of Mars the blushing maid compress'd)
Their troops in thirty sable vessels sweep,
With equal oars, the hoarse-resounding deep.
The Phocians next in forty barks repair;
Epistrophus and Schedius head the war:
From those rich regions where Cephisus leads
His silver current through the flowery meads;
From Panopea, Chrysa the divine,
Where Anemoria's stately turrets shine,
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cyparissus stood,
And fair Lilaea views the rising flood.
These, ranged in order on the floating tide,
Close, on the left, the bold Boeotians' side.
Fierce Ajax led the Locrian squadrons on,
Ajax the less, Oileus' valiant son;
Skill'd to direct the flying dart aright;
Swift in pursuit, and active in the fight.
Him, as their chief, the chosen troops attend,
Which Bessa, Thronus, and rich Cynos send;
Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe's bands;
And those who dwell where pleasing Augia stands,
And where Boagrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Tarphe's sylvan seats reside:
In forty vessels cut the yielding tide.
Euboea next her martial sons prepares,
And sends the brave Abantes to the wars:
Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and strong Eretria;
The Isteian fields for generous vines renown'd,
The fair Caristos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her towers o'erlooks the plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighbouring main.
Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair;
Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air;
But with protended spears in fighting fields
Pierce the tough corslets and the brazen shields.
Twice twenty ships transport the warlike bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.
Full fifty more from Athens stem the main,
Led by Menestheus through the liquid plain.
(Athens the fair, where great Erectheus sway'd,
That owed his nurture to the blue-eyed maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth.
Him Pallas placed amidst her wealthy fane,
Adored with sacrifice and oxen slain;
Where, as the years revolve, her altars blaze,
And all the tribes resound the goddess' praise.)
No chief like thee, Menestheus! Greece could yield,
To marshal armies in the dusty field,
The extended wings of battle to display,
Or close the embodied host in firm array.
Nestor alone, improved by length of days,
For martial conduct bore an equal praise.
With these appear the Salaminian bands,
Whom the gigantic Telamon commands;
In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,
And with the great Athenians join their force.
Next move to war the generous Argive train,
From high Troezene, and Maseta's plain,
And fair Ægina circled by the main:
Whom strong Tyrinthe's lofty walls surround,
And Epidaure with viny harvests crown'd:
And where fair Asinen and Hermoin show
Their cliffs above, and ample bay below.
These by the brave Euryalus were led,
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed;
But chief Tydides bore the sovereign sway:
In fourscore barks they plough the watery way.
The proud Mycene arms her martial powers,
Cleone, Corinth, with imperial towers,(103)
Fair Araethyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain,
And Ægion, and Adrastus' ancient reign;
And those who dwell along the sandy shore,
And where Pellene yields her fleecy store,
Where Helice and Hyperesia lie,
And Gonoessa's spires salute the sky.
Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band,
A hundred vessels in long order stand,
And crowded nations wait his dread command.
High on the deck the king of men appears,
And his refulgent arms in triumph wears;
Proud of his host, unrivall'd in his reign,
In silent pomp he moves along the main.
His brother follows, and to vengeance warms
The hardy Spartans, exercised in arms:
Phares and Brysia's valiant troops, and those
Whom Lacedaemon's lofty hills inclose;
Or Messe's towers for silver doves renown'd,
Amyclae, Laas, Augia's happy ground,
And those whom OEtylos' low walls contain,
And Helos, on the margin of the main:
These, o'er the bending ocean, Helen's cause,
In sixty ships with Menelaus draws:
Eager and loud from man to man he flies,
Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes;
While vainly fond, in fancy oft he hears
The fair one's grief, and sees her falling tears.
In ninety sail, from Pylos' sandy coast,
Nestor the sage conducts his chosen host:
From Amphigenia's ever-fruitful land,
Where Æpy high, and little Pteleon stand;
Where beauteous Arene her structures shows,
And Thryon's walls Alpheus' streams inclose:
And Dorion, famed for Thamyris' disgrace,
Superior once of all the tuneful race,
Till, vain of mortals' empty praise, he strove
To match the seed of cloud-compelling Jove!
Too daring bard! whose unsuccessful pride
The immortal Muses in their art defied.
The avenging Muses of the light of day
Deprived his eyes, and snatch'd his voice away;
No more his heavenly voice was heard to sing,
His hand no more awaked the silver string.
Where under high Cyllene, crown'd with wood,
The shaded tomb of old Æpytus stood;
From Ripe, Stratie, Tegea's bordering towns,
The Phenean fields, and Orchomenian downs,
Where the fat herds in plenteous pasture rove;
And Stymphelus with her surrounding grove;
Parrhasia, on her snowy cliffs reclined,
And high Enispe shook by wintry wind,
And fair Mantinea's ever-pleasing site;
In sixty sail the Arcadian bands unite.
Bold Agapenor, glorious at their head,
(Ancaeus' son) the mighty squadron led.
Their ships, supplied by Agamemnon's care,
Through roaring seas the wondering warriors bear;
The first to battle on the appointed plain,
But new to all the dangers of the main.
Those, where fair Elis and Buprasium join;
Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrsinus confine,
And bounded there, where o'er the valleys rose
The Olenian rock; and where Alisium flows;
Beneath four chiefs (a numerous army) came:
The strength and glory of the Epean name.
In separate squadrons these their train divide,
Each leads ten vessels through the yielding tide.
One was Amphimachus, and Thalpius one;
(Eurytus' this, and that Teatus' son;)
Diores sprung from Amarynceus' line;
And great Polyxenus, of force divine.
But those who view fair Elis o'er the seas
From the blest islands of the Echinades,
In forty vessels under Meges move,
Begot by Phyleus, the beloved of Jove:
To strong Dulichium from his sire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriors led.
Ulysses follow'd through the watery road,
A chief, in wisdom equal to a god.
With those whom Cephalenia's line inclosed,
Or till their fields along the coast opposed;
Or where fair Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving woods,
Where Ægilipa's rugged sides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
These in twelve galleys with vermilion prores,
Beneath his conduct sought the Phrygian shores.
Thoas came next, Andraemon's valiant son,
From Pleuron's walls, and chalky Calydon,
And rough Pylene, and the Olenian steep,
And Chalcis, beaten by the rolling deep.
He led the warriors from the Ætolian shore,
For now the sons of OEneus were no more!
The glories of the mighty race were fled!
OEneus himself, and Meleager dead!
To Thoas' care now trust the martial train,
His forty vessels follow through the main.
Next, eighty barks the Cretan king commands,
Of Gnossus, Lyctus, and Gortyna's bands;
And those who dwell where Rhytion's domes arise,
Or white Lycastus glitters to the skies,
Or where by Phaestus silver Jardan runs;
Crete's hundred cities pour forth all her sons.
These march'd, Idomeneus, beneath thy care,
And Merion, dreadful as the god of war.
Tlepolemus, the sun of Hercules,
Led nine swift vessels through the foamy seas,
From Rhodes, with everlasting sunshine bright,
Jalyssus, Lindus, and Camirus white.
His captive mother fierce Alcides bore
From Ephyr's walls and Selle's winding shore,
Where mighty towns in ruins spread the plain,
And saw their blooming warriors early slain.
The hero, when to manly years he grew,
Alcides' uncle, old Licymnius, slew;
For this, constrain'd to quit his native place,
And shun the vengeance of the Herculean race,
A fleet he built, and with a numerous train
Of willing exiles wander'd o'er the main;
Where, many seas and many sufferings past,
On happy Rhodes the chief arrived at last:
There in three tribes divides his native band,
And rules them peaceful in a foreign land;
Increased and prosper'd in their new abodes
By mighty Jove, the sire of men and gods;
With joy they saw the growing empire rise,
And showers of wealth descending from the skies.
Three ships with Nireus sought the Trojan shore,
Nireus, whom Aglae to Charopus bore,
Nireus, in faultless shape and blooming grace,
The loveliest youth of all the Grecian race;(104)
Pelides only match'd his early charms;
But few his troops, and small his strength in arms.
Next thirty galleys cleave the liquid plain,
Of those Calydnae's sea-girt isles contain;
With them the youth of Nisyrus repair,
Casus the strong, and Crapathus the fair;
Cos, where Eurypylus possess'd the sway,
Till great Alcides made the realms obey:
These Antiphus and bold Phidippus bring,
Sprung from the god by Thessalus the king.
Now, Muse, recount Pelasgic Argos' powers,
From Alos, Alope, and Trechin's towers:
From Phthia's spacious vales; and Hella, bless'd
With female beauty far beyond the rest.
Full fifty ships beneath Achilles' care,
The Achaians, Myrmidons, Hellenians bear;
Thessalians all, though various in their name;
The same their nation, and their chief the same.
But now inglorious, stretch'd along the shore,
They hear the brazen voice of war no more;
No more the foe they face in dire array:
Close in his fleet the angry leader lay;
Since fair Briseis from his arms was torn,
The noblest spoil from sack'd Lyrnessus borne,
Then, when the chief the Theban walls o'erthrew,
And the bold sons of great Evenus slew.
There mourn'd Achilles, plunged in depth of care,
But soon to rise in slaughter, blood, and war.
To these the youth of Phylace succeed,
Itona, famous for her fleecy breed,
And grassy Pteleon deck'd with cheerful greens,
The bowers of Ceres, and the sylvan scenes.
Sweet Pyrrhasus, with blooming flowerets crown'd,
And Antron's watery dens, and cavern'd ground.
These own'd, as chief, Protesilas the brave,
Who now lay silent in the gloomy grave:
The first who boldly touch'd the Trojan shore,
And dyed a Phrygian lance with Grecian gore;
There lies, far distant from his native plain;
Unfinish'd his proud palaces remain,
And his sad consort beats her breast in vain.
His troops in forty ships Podarces led,
Iphiclus' son, and brother to the dead;
Nor he unworthy to command the host;
Yet still they mourn'd their ancient leader lost.
The men who Glaphyra's fair soil partake,
Where hills incircle Boebe's lowly lake,
Where Phaere hears the neighbouring waters fall,
Or proud Iolcus lifts her airy wall,
In ten black ships embark'd for Ilion's shore,
With bold Eumelus, whom Alceste bore:
All Pelias' race Alceste far outshined,
The grace and glory of the beauteous kind,
The troops Methone or Thaumacia yields,
Olizon's rocks, or Meliboea's fields,
With Philoctetes sail'd whose matchless art
From the tough bow directs the feather'd dart.
Seven were his ships; each vessel fifty row,
Skill'd in his science of the dart and bow.
But he lay raging on the Lemnian ground,
A poisonous hydra gave the burning wound;
There groan'd the chief in agonizing pain,
Whom Greece at length shall wish, nor wish in vain.
His forces Medon led from Lemnos' shore,
Oileus' son, whom beauteous Rhena bore.
The OEchalian race, in those high towers contain'd
Where once Eurytus in proud triumph reign'd,
Or where her humbler turrets Tricca rears,
Or where Ithome, rough with rocks, appears,
In thirty sail the sparkling waves divide,
Which Podalirius and Machaon guide.
To these his skill their parent-god imparts,
Divine professors of the healing arts.
The bold Ormenian and Asterian bands
In forty barks Eurypylus commands.
Where Titan hides his hoary head in snow,
And where Hyperia's silver fountains flow.
Thy troops, Argissa, Polypoetes leads,
And Eleon, shelter'd by Olympus' shades,
Gyrtone's warriors; and where Orthe lies,
And Oloosson's chalky cliffs arise.
Sprung from Pirithous of immortal race,
The fruit of fair Hippodame's embrace,
(That day, when hurl'd from Pelion's cloudy head,
To distant dens the shaggy Centaurs fled)
With Polypoetes join'd in equal sway
Leonteus leads, and forty ships obey.
In twenty sail the bold Perrhaebians came
From Cyphus, Guneus was their leader's name.
With these the Enians join'd, and those who freeze
Where cold Dodona lifts her holy trees;
Or where the pleasing Titaresius glides,
And into Peneus rolls his easy tides;
Yet o'er the silvery surface pure they flow,
The sacred stream unmix'd with streams below,
Sacred and awful! from the dark abodes
Styx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of gods!
Last, under Prothous the Magnesians stood,
(Prothous the swift, of old Tenthredon's blood;)
Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs,
Obscures the glade, and nods his shaggy brows;
Or where through flowery Tempe Peneus stray'd:
(The region stretch'd beneath his mighty shade:)
In forty sable barks they stemm'd the main;
Such were the chiefs, and such the Grecian train.
Say next, O Muse! of all Achaia breeds,
Who bravest fought, or rein'd the noblest steeds?
Eumelus' mares were foremost in the chase,
As eagles fleet, and of Pheretian race;
Bred where Pieria's fruitful fountains flow,
And train'd by him who bears the silver bow.
Fierce in the fight their nostrils breathed a flame,
Their height, their colour, and their age the same;
O'er fields of death they whirl the rapid car,
And break the ranks, and thunder through the war.
Ajax in arms the first renown acquired,
While stern Achilles in his wrath retired:
(His was the strength that mortal might exceeds,
And his the unrivall'd race of heavenly steeds:)
But Thetis' son now shines in arms no more;
His troops, neglected on the sandy shore.
In empty air their sportive javelins throw,
Or whirl the disk, or bend an idle bow:
Unstain'd with blood his cover'd chariots stand;
The immortal coursers graze along the strand;
But the brave chiefs the inglorious life deplored,
And, wandering o'er the camp, required their lord.
Now, like a deluge, covering all around,
The shining armies sweep along the ground;
Swift as a flood of fire, when storms arise,
Floats the wild field, and blazes to the skies.
Earth groan'd beneath them; as when angry Jove
Hurls down the forky lightning from above,
On Arime when he the thunder throws,
And fires Typhoeus with redoubled blows,
Where Typhon, press'd beneath the burning load,
Still feels the fury of the avenging god.
But various Iris, Jove's commands to bear,
Speeds on the wings of winds through liquid air;
In Priam's porch the Trojan chiefs she found,
The old consulting, and the youths around.
Polites' shape, the monarch's son, she chose,
Who from Æsetes' tomb observed the foes,(105)
High on the mound; from whence in prospect lay
The fields, the tents, the navy, and the bay.
In this dissembled form, she hastes to bring
The unwelcome message to the Phrygian king.
"Cease to consult, the time for action calls;
War, horrid war, approaches to your walls!
Assembled armies oft have I beheld;
But ne'er till now such numbers charged a field:
Thick as autumnal leaves or driving sand,
The moving squadrons blacken all the strand.
Thou, godlike Hector! all thy force employ,
Assemble all the united bands of Troy;
In just array let every leader call
The foreign troops: this day demands them all!"
The voice divine the mighty chief alarms;
The council breaks, the warriors rush to arms.
The gates unfolding pour forth all their train,
Nations on nations fill the dusky plain,
Men, steeds, and chariots, shake the trembling ground:
The tumult thickens, and the skies resound.
Amidst the plain, in sight of Ilion, stands
A rising mount, the work of human hands;
(This for Myrinne's tomb the immortals know,
Though call'd Bateia in the world below;)
Beneath their chiefs in martial order here,
The auxiliar troops and Trojan hosts appear.
The godlike Hector, high above the rest,
Shakes his huge spear, and nods his plumy crest:
In throngs around his native bands repair,
And groves of lances glitter in the air.
Divine Æneas brings the Dardan race,
Anchises' son, by Venus' stolen embrace,
Born in the shades of Ida's secret grove;
(A mortal mixing with the queen of love;)
Archilochus and Acamas divide
The warrior's toils, and combat by his side.
Who fair Zeleia's wealthy valleys till,(106)
Fast by the foot of Ida's sacred hill,
Or drink, Æsepus, of thy sable flood,
Were led by Pandarus, of royal blood;
To whom his art Apollo deign'd to show,
Graced with the presents of his shafts and bow.
From rich Apaesus and Adrestia's towers,
High Teree's summits, and Pityea's bowers;
From these the congregated troops obey
Young Amphius and Adrastus' equal sway;
Old Merops' sons; whom, skill'd in fates to come,
The sire forewarn'd, and prophesied their doom:
Fate urged them on! the sire forewarn'd in vain,
They rush'd to war, and perish'd on the plain.
From Practius' stream, Percote's pasture lands,
And Sestos and Abydos' neighbouring strands,
From great Arisba's walls and Selle's coast,
Asius Hyrtacides conducts his host:
High on his car he shakes the flowing reins,
His fiery coursers thunder o'er the plains.
The fierce Pelasgi next, in war renown'd,
March from Larissa's ever-fertile ground:
In equal arms their brother leaders shine,
Hippothous bold, and Pyleus the divine.
Next Acamas and Pyrous lead their hosts,
In dread array, from Thracia's wintry coasts;
Round the bleak realms where Hellespontus roars,
And Boreas beats the hoarse-resounding shores.
With great Euphemus the Ciconians move,
Sprung from Troezenian Ceus, loved by Jove.
Pyraechmes the Paeonian troops attend,
Skill'd in the fight their crooked bows to bend;
From Axius' ample bed he leads them on,
Axius, that laves the distant Amydon,
Axius, that swells with all his neighbouring rills,
And wide around the floating region fills.
The Paphlagonians Pylaemenes rules,
Where rich Henetia breeds her savage mules,
Where Erythinus' rising cliffs are seen,
Thy groves of box, Cytorus! ever green,
And where Ægialus and Cromna lie,
And lofty Sesamus invades the sky,
And where Parthenius, roll'd through banks of flowers,
Reflects her bordering palaces and bowers.
Here march'd in arms the Halizonian band,
Whom Odius and Epistrophus command,
From those far regions where the sun refines
The ripening silver in Alybean mines.
There mighty Chromis led the Mysian train,
And augur Ennomus, inspired in vain;
For stern Achilles lopp'd his sacred head,
Roll'd down Scamander with the vulgar dead.
Phorcys and brave Ascanius here unite
The Ascanian Phrygians, eager for the fight.
Of those who round Maeonia's realms reside,
Or whom the vales in shades of Tmolus hide,
Mestles and Antiphus the charge partake,
Born on the banks of Gyges' silent lake.
There, from the fields where wild Maeander flows,
High Mycale, and Latmos' shady brows,
And proud Miletus, came the Carian throngs,
With mingled clamours and with barbarous tongues.(107)
Amphimachus and Naustes guide the train,
Naustes the bold, Amphimachus the vain,
Who, trick'd with gold, and glittering on his car,
Rode like a woman to the field of war.
Fool that he was! by fierce Achilles slain,
The river swept him to the briny main:
There whelm'd with waves the gaudy warrior lies
The valiant victor seized the golden prize.
The forces last in fair array succeed,
Which blameless Glaucus and Sarpedon lead
The warlike bands that distant Lycia yields,
Where gulfy Xanthus foams along the fields. 其时，阵势已经排开，每支队伍都有首领管带，
特洛伊人挟着喧闹走来，喊声震天，恰似一群野生的鸿雁，
疾飞的鹳鹤，发出冲天的喧喊，
试图逃避冬日的阴寒和暴泻不止的骤雨，
尖叫着展翅俄开阿诺斯洋流，
给普革迈亚人送去流血和毁灭：
它们将在黎明时分发起进攻，使后者尸横遍野。
但是，阿开亚人却在静静地行进，吞吐着腾腾的杀气，
人人狠了心肠，决心与伙伴互为帮援。
兵勇们急速行进，穿越平原，脚下
掀卷起一股股浓密的泥尘，密得
就像南风刮来弥罩峰峦的浓雾——
它不是牧人的朋友，但对小偷，却比黑夜还要宝贵——
使人的目力仅限于一块投石可及的距程。
两军相对而行，咄咄逼近；
神一样的亚历克心德罗斯从特洛伊人的队伍里跳将出来，
作为挑战者，肩上斜披着一领豹皮，
带着弯弓和利剑，手握一对顶着青铜矛尖的
投枪，对所有最好的阿耳吉维人挑战，
在痛苦的搏杀中，一对一地拼个你死我活。
嗜战的墨奈劳斯兴高采烈，眼见
帕里斯迈着大步，走在队伍的前面，
像一头狮子，碰上一具硕大的尸躯，
饥肠辘辘，扑向一头带角的公鹿
或野山羊的躯体，大口撕咬，虽然在它的前方，
奔跑的猎狗和年轻力壮的猎人正在扑击——
就像这样，墨奈劳斯高兴地看到神一样的亚历克山德罗斯
出现在他的面前，思盼着惩罚这个骗子，
从车上＿跃而下，双脚着地，全副武装。
然而，当神一样的亚历克山德罗斯看到前排战勇中
墨奈劳斯的身影，心里一阵颤嗦，
为了躲避死亡，退回己方的队阵。
像一个穿走山谷的行人，遇到一条老蛇，
赶紧收回脚步，混身发抖，
吓得连连后退，面无人色——
就像这样，在阿特桑斯之子面前，神一样的亚历克山德罗斯
拔脚逃回高傲的特洛伊人的营伍。
赫克托耳见状破口大骂，用讥辱的言语：
“可恶的帕里斯，仪表堂皇的公子哥，勾引拐骗的女人迷！
但愿你不曾生在人间，或未婚先亡！
我打心眼里愿意这是真的；这要比
让你跟着我们，丢人现眼，受人蔑视好得多。
长发的阿开亚人正在放声大笑，
以为你是我们这边最好的战勇，只因你
相貌俊美，但你生性怯弱，缺乏勇气。
难道你不是这么一个人吗？在远洋船里，
你聚起桨手，扬帆驶向深海，
和外邦人交往厮混，从遥远的地方带走
一位绝色的女子，而她的丈夫和国民都是手握枪矛的斗士。
对你的父亲，你的城市和人民，你是一场灾难；
你给敌人送去欢悦，却给自己带来耻辱！
为何不去和嗜战的墨奈劳斯对阵？只要打上一个回合，你就会
知道他的厉害；你夺走了他的妻子，一位美貌、丰腴的女流。
那时，你的竖琴可就帮不了你的忙；当你抱着泥尘打滚时，
阿芙罗底忒的馈赠——漂亮的发绺和英俊的脸蛋——都将成为
无用的废物。
是的，特洛伊人都是些胆小鬼；否则，冲着你给我们
带来的损害，你的披篷早就该兜满了横飞的石头！”
听罢这番话，神一样的亚历克山德罗斯答道：
“赫克托耳，你的指责公正合理，一点都不过分。
你的心是那样的刚烈，就像斧斤的利刃，
带着工匠的臂力，吃砍一树圆木，凭着精湛的技艺，
伐木造船，斧刃满荷着他的力量间落。
你胸腔里的那颗心啊，就像斧刃一样刚豪。
尽管如此，你却不宜嘲讽金色的阿芙罗底忒给我的赐赏；
神赐的礼物不能丢却，因为它们象征荣誉——
神们按自己的意愿送给，凡人的一厢情愿不会得到它们。
这样吧，如果你希望我去战斗，去拼杀，那么，
就让所有其他的特洛伊人坐下，阿开亚人亦然，
让我和嗜战的墨奈劳斯，在两军之间的空地，
为海伦和她的财物决斗。
让二者中的胜者，也就是更强有力的人，
理所当然地带走财物，领着那个女子回家。
其他人要订立友好协约，以牲血封证。
你们继续住在土地肥沃的特洛伊，他们则返回
马草丰美的阿耳戈斯，回到出美女的阿开亚。”
听罢此番说道，赫克托耳心里高兴，
步入两军之间的空地，手握枪矛的中端，
迫使特洛伊编队后靠，直到兵勇们全都曲腿下坐。
但是，长发的阿开亚人却仍在对他瞄准，拉响弯弓，
试图把他击倒，用箭和石头，
直到民众的王者阿伽门农亮开宽大的嗓门喊道：
“别打了，阿耳吉维人！停止投射吧，阿开亚人的儿子们！
你们看，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳有话对我们说告。”
他言罢，兵勇们停止进攻，马上安静了
下来。其时，赫克托耳站在两军之间，高声喊道：
“听我说，特洛伊人和胫甲坚固的阿开亚人！听听
亚历克山德罗斯的挑战，这个引发了这场恶战的人。
他要所有其他的特洛伊人和阿开亚人
把精制的甲械置放在丰肥的土地上。
由他自己和好战的墨奈拉俄斯一对一地
在中间格杀，为了获取海伦和她的财物。
让二者中的胜者，也就是更强有力的人，
理所当然地带走财物，领着那个女子回家，
其他人要订立友好协约，以牲血封证！”
他言罢，全场静默，肃然无声。
人群中，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯开口打破沉寂，说道：
“各位，也请听听我的意见，因为在所有的人中，我所承受的
痛苦最为直接。不过，我认为阿耳吉维人和特洛伊人
最终可以心平气和地分手——大家已经吃够了苦头，
为了我，我的争吵，和挑起争斗的亚历克山德罗斯。
我们二人中，总有一个命薄，注定了不能生还；
那就让他死去吧！但你等双方要赶快分手，越快越好！
去拿两只羊羔，一只白的，一只黑的[●]，
●一只白的，一只黑的：白的祭给俄林波斯神抵，黑的祭给地神。此外，按
照习惯，尊祭男性的神祗用公畜，祀祭女神则用母畜。
分别祭献给大地和太阳；对宙斯，我们将另备一头羊牲。
还要把强有力的普里阿摩斯请来，让他用牲血封证誓约——
要普里阿摩斯本人，他的儿子们莽荡不羁，不可信用。
谁也不能毁约，践毁我们在宙斯的监督下所发的誓咒。
年轻人幼稚轻浮，历来如此。
所以，要有一位长者置身其间，因为他能瞻前
顾后，使双方都能得获远为善好的结果。”
言罢，阿开亚人和特洛伊人全都笑逐颜开，
希望由此摆脱战争的苦难。
他们把战车排拢成行，提腿下车，
卸去甲械，置放在身边的泥地上，
拥挤在一起，中间只留下很小的隙空。
赫克托耳命嘱两位使者赶回城堡，
即刻取回羊羔，并唤请普里阿摩斯前来，
而强有力的阿伽门农也差命塔耳苏比俄斯
前往深旷的海船，提取另一头
羊牲，使者服从了高贵的阿伽门农。
其时，神使伊里丝来到白臂膀的海伦面前，
以她姑子的形象出现，安忒诺耳之子。
强有力的赫利卡昂的妻侣，名
劳迪凯，普里阿摩斯的女儿中最漂亮的一位。
伊里丝在房间里找到海伦，后者正制纺一件精美的织物，
一件双层的紫袍，上面织着驯马的特洛伊人
和身披铜甲的阿开亚人沓无终期的拼斗。
为了海伦，他们在战神的双臂下吃尽了苦头。
腿脚飞快的伊里丝站在她的身边，说道：
“走吧，亲爱的姑娘，去看一个精彩的场面，
驯马的特洛伊人和身披铜甲的阿开亚人手创的奇作。
刚才，他们还挣扎在痛苦的战斗中，格杀在
平野上，一心向往殊死的拼斗；
而现在，他们却静静地坐在那里——战斗已经结束。
他们靠躺在盾牌上，把粗长的枪矛插在身边的泥地里。
但是，阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯和亚历克山德罗斯即将开战，
为了你不惜面对粗长的枪矛。
你将归属胜者，做他心爱的妻房。”
女神的话在海伦心里勾起了甜美的思念，
对她的前夫，她的双亲和城堡。
她迅速穿上闪亮的裙袍，流着
晶亮的泪珠，匆匆走出房门，并非独坐
偶行——两位待女跟随前往，伺候照料，
埃丝拉，皮修斯的女儿，和牛眼睛的克鲁墨奈。
她们很快来到斯卡亚门耸立的城沿。
普里阿摩斯已在城上，身边围聚着潘苏斯、苏摩伊忒斯，
朗波斯、克鲁提俄斯和希开塔昂，阿瑞斯的伴从，
还有乌卡勒工和安忒诺耳，两位思路清晰的谋士。
他们端坐在斯卡亚门上方的城面，这些民众尊敬的长者，
由于上了年纪，已不再浴血疆场，但仍然
雄辩滔滔，谈吐清明透亮，犹如停栖树枝。
鼓翼绿林的夏蝉，抑扬顿挫的叫声远近传闻。
就像这样，特洛伊人老一辈的首领坐谈城楼。
他们看到海伦，正沿着城墙走来，
便压低声音，交换起长了翅膀的话语：
“好一位标致的美人！难怪，为了她，特洛伊人和胫甲坚固的
阿开亚人经年奋战，含辛茹苦——谁能责备他们呢？
她的长相就像不死的女神，简直像极了！
但是，尽管貌似天仙，还是让她登船离去吧，
不要把她留下，给我们和我们的子孙都带来痛苦！”
他们如此一番谈论，而普里阿摩斯则亮开嗓门，对海伦
喊道：
“过来吧，亲爱的孩子，坐在我的面前，
看看离别多年的前夫，还有你的乡亲和朋友。
我没有责怪你；在我看来，该受责备的是神，
是他们把我拖入了这场对抗阿开亚人的悲苦的战争。
走近些，告诉我他的名字，那个伟岸的勇士，
他是谁，那位强健、壮实的阿开亚人？
不错，队列里有些人比他还高出一头，
但我从未见过如此出类拔萃的人物，
这般高豪的气派——此人必是一位王贵！”
听罢这番话，海伦，女人中闪光的佼佼者，答道：
“亲爱的父亲，我尊敬你，但也惧怕你，一向如此；但愿
我在那个倒霉的时刻痛苦地死去——那时，我跟着你的儿子
来到此地，抛弃了我的家庭，我的亲人，
我的现已长大成人的孩子，还有那群和我同龄的姑娘——多
少欢乐的时分！
然而，死亡没有把我带走，所以，我只能借助眼泪的耗磨。
好吧，我这就回话，告答你的询问。
那个人是阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农，统治着辽阔的疆土，
既是位很好的国王，又是个强有力的枪手。他曾是
我的亲戚，我这个不要脸的女人！这一切真像是一场迷梦。”
海伦言罢，老人瞠目凝视，惊赞之情溢于言表：
“好福气呵，阿特柔斯之子；幸运的孩子，得宠的天骄！
你统领着浩浩荡荡的大军，阿开亚人的儿子。
从前，我曾访问过盛产葡萄的弗鲁吉亚，
眼见过弗鲁吉亚人和他们那蹄腿轻捷的战马；
兵勇们人多势众，俄特柔斯和神一样的慕格登统领着他们，
其时正驻扎在珊林里俄斯河的沿岸。
我，作为他们的盟友，站在他们的营伍中——那一天，
雅马宗女子正向他们逼近，那些和男儿一样善战的女人。
然而，即便是他们，也不及明眸的阿开亚人人多势众。”
接着，老人移目俄底修斯，复问道：
“亲爱的孩子，告诉我那个人，他是谁呢？
论个子，他显然矮了一头，比阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农，
但他的肩膀和胸背却长得更为宽厚。
现在，他虽已把甲械置放丰产的土地，
却仍然忙着整顿队伍，巡行穿梭，像一头公羊。
是的，我想把他比作一头毛层厚实的公羊，
穿行在一大群闪着白光的绵羊中。”
听罢这番话，海伦，宙斯的孩子，开口答道：
“这位是莱耳忒斯之子，足智多谋的俄底修斯。
他在岩面粗皱的伊萨凯长大，但却
精于应变之术，善于计谋筹划。”
听罢这番话，聪明的安忒诺耳说道：
“夫人，你的话完全正确。从前，
卓著的俄底修斯曾来过这里，由
阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯陪同，衔领着带你回返的使命。
我热情地款待了他们，在我的厅堂，
了解到二位的秉性，他们的谋才和辩力。
当他们汇聚在参加集会的特洛伊人里，肩并肩地
站在一起时，墨奈劳斯以宽厚的肩膀压过了他的朋友；
但是，当他俩挺胸端坐，俄底修斯却显得更有王者的气度。
他们对着众人讲话，连词组句，说表精湛的见解。
墨奈劳斯出言迅捷，用词虽少，
却十分明晰达练；他不喜长篇大论，
也不爱漫无边际地暗扯，虽然他是二者中较为年轻的壮勇。
但是，当足智多谋的俄底修斯站起身子，
他只是木然而立，眼睛死死地盯着脚下的泥土，
从不前后摆动权杖，而是紧握在手，
纹丝不动，像个一无所知的呆汉。
是的，你可以把他当做一个沉闷的怪人，一个不掺假的蠢货。
然而，当洪亮的声音冲出他的丹田，词句像冬天的
雪片一样纷纷扬扬的飘来时，凡人中就不会有他的对手，
谁也不能匹敌俄底修斯的口才！这时，
我们就不再会注视他的外表，带着惊异的神情。”
其时，老人看着第三位勇士，人群中的埃阿斯，问道：
“他是谁，那位阿开亚人，长得如此强壮和健美，
魁伟的身躯压倒了其他阿耳吉维人，高出一个头脸，一副宽厚
的肩胸？”
长裙飘舞的海伦，女人中闪光的佼佼者，答道：
“他是巨人埃阿斯，阿开亚人的屏障。那位是
伊多墨纽斯，在联军的那一头，像神似地
站在克里忒人里，身边拥围着克里忒人的军头。
当他从克里忒来访时，阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯
曾多次作东款待，在我们家里。现在，我已看到
他们所有的人，所有其他明眸的阿开亚人；
我熟悉他们，叫得出他们的名字。
然而，我却找不到两个人，军队的首领——
驯马者卡斯托耳和波鲁丢开斯，强有力的拳手——
我的兄弟，一母亲生的同胞。
也许，他们没有和众人一起跨出美丽的拉凯代蒙，
也许来了，乘坐破浪远洋的海船，
却不愿和勇士们一起战斗，害怕
听到对我的讥刺和羞辱。”
海伦言罢，却不知蕴育生命的泥壤已经
把他们埋葬，在拉凯代蒙，他们热爱的故土。
其时，使者穿过城区，带着对神封证誓约的牲品，
两只羊羔，还有烘暖心胸的醇酒，
装在鼓鼓囊囊的山羊皮袋里，另一位（使者伊代俄斯）
端着闪亮的兑缸和金铸的杯盅。
他站在老人身边，大声催请道：
“劳墨冬之子，起来吧，驯马和特洛伊人和
身披铜甲的阿开亚人的首领们
要你前往平原，封证他们的誓约。
亚历克山德罗斯和阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯正准备决斗，
为了海伦不惜面对粗长的枪矛。
胜者带走女人和她的财物，
其他人则订立友好协约，以牲血封证。
我们仍住在土地肥沃的特洛伊，而他们将返回
马草肥美的阿耳戈斯，回到出美女的阿开亚。”
听罢这番话，老人浑身颤嗦，吩咐随从
套车，后者谨遵不违，马上付诸行动。
普里阿摩斯抬腿登车，绷紧缰绳，
安忒诺耳亦踏上做工精致的马车，站在他的身边。
他赶起快马，冲出斯开亚门，驰向平原，
来到特洛伊人和阿开亚人陈兵的地点，
步下马车，踏上丰产的土地，
朝着两军之间的空间走去。
阿伽门农，民众的王者，见状起身相迎，
足智多谋的俄底修斯亦站立起来。高贵的使者
带来了祭神和封证誓约的牲品。他们在一个硕大的
调缸里兑酒，倒出净水，洗过各位王者的双手。
阿特桑斯之子拔出匕首——此物总是
悬挂在铜剑宽厚的剑路旁——
从羊羔的头部割下发绺，使者们把羊毛
传递给特洛伊人和阿开亚人的每一位酋首。
阿特柔斯之子双臂高扬，用宏亮的声音朗朗作诵：
“父亲宙斯，从伊达山上督视着我们的大神，光荣的典范，伟大
的象征！还有无所不见、无所不闻的赫利俄斯，
河流、大地以及你们，地府里惩治死者的尊神，
你们惩治那些发伪誓的人们，不管是谁，
请你们作证，监护我们的誓封。
倘若亚历克山德罗斯杀了墨奈劳斯，
那就让他继续拥有海伦和她的全部财物，
而我们则驾着破浪远洋的海船国家；
但是，倘若棕发的墨奈劳斯杀了亚历克山德罗斯，
那就让特洛伊人交还海伦和她的全部财物，
连同一份赔送，给阿耳吉维兵众，数量要公允得体，
使后人亦能牢记心中。
如果亚历克山德罗斯死后，普里阿摩斯
和他的儿子们拒绝支付偿酬，那么，
我将亲自出阵，为获取这份财物拼斗；
不打赢这场战争，决不回头！”
言罢，他用无情的匕首抹开羊羔的脖子，
放手让它们瘫倒在地上，痉挛着，魂息
飘离而去——锋快的铜刃夺走了它们的生命。
接着，他们倾杯兑缸，舀出醇酒，
泼洒在地，对着不死的神明祈祷。
人群中可以听到阿开亚人或特洛伊人的诵告：
“宙斯，光荣的典范，伟大的象征；还有你们，各位不死的众神！
我们双方，谁若破毁誓约，不管何人，
让他们，连同他们的儿子，脑浆涂地，就像这泼洒出去的
杯酒——让他们的妻子沦为战礼，落入敌人的手中！”
他们如此一番祈祷，但克罗诺斯之子此时无意允诺。
其时，人群中传来达耳达诺斯的后代、普里阿摩斯的声音：
“听我说，特洛伊人和胫甲坚固的阿开亚人！
我准备马上回家，回到多风的伊利昂——
我不忍心亲眼看着心爱的儿子
同阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯拼斗。
宙斯知道，毫无疑问，其他不死的神明也知道，
他们中谁个不能生还，注定了要以死告终。”
言罢，这位像神一样的凡人把羊羔装上马车，
抬腿踏上车面，绷紧了缰绳，
安忒诺耳亦踏上做工精致的马车，站在他的身边。
他们驱车回返，朝着伊利昂驰去。
其时，普里阿摩斯之子赫克托耳如卓越的俄底修斯
已丈量出决斗的场地，抓起石阄，
放入青铜的盔盖，来回摇动，
以便决定谁个先投，掷出青铜的枪矛。
兵勇们开口祈祷，对着神祗高高地举起双手。
人群中可以听到阿开亚人或特洛伊人的诵告：
“父亲宙斯，从伊达山上督视着我们的大神，光荣的典范，伟大
的象征！让那个——不管是谁——给我们带来这场灾难的人
死在枪剑之下，滚人哀地斯的冥府！
让我们大家共享誓约带来的友好和平和！”
祷毕，高大的赫克托耳，头顶闪亮的盔冠，
摇动手中的石块，双目后视——帕里斯的石阄蹦出盔面。
兵勇们按队列下坐，紧挨着自己那
蹄腿轻捷的快马和闪亮的甲械。其时，
他们中的一员，卓著的亚历克山德罗斯，
美发海伦的夫婿，开始披戴闪亮的铠甲，在自己的胸背。
首先，他用胫甲裹住小腿，
精美的制品，带着银质的踝扣，
随之系上胸甲，掩起胸背，
大小适中，尽管它的属主是本家兄弟鲁卡昂，
然后挎上柄嵌银钉的利剑，
青铜铸就，背起盾牌，盾面巨大、沉重。
其后，他把做工精致的帽盔扣上壮实的头颅，
连同马鬃做就的顶冠，摇撼出镇人的威严。
最后，他操起一杆抓握顺手、沉甸甸的枪矛。按照
同样的顺序，嗜战的墨奈拉俄斯也如此这般地武装了起来。
这样，二位壮勇在各自的军阵里披挂完毕，
大步走入特洛伊人和阿开亚人之间的空地，
射出凶狠的目光，旁观者们见状惊赞诧异，
特洛伊人，驯马的好手，和胫甲坚固的阿开亚兵众。
他们在指定的场地上站好位置，相距不远，
挥舞着手中的枪矛，怒满胸膛。
亚历克山德罗斯首先掷出投影森长的枪矛，
铜尖飞向阿特柔斯之子溜圆的战盾，
但却不曾穿透，坚实的盾面顶弯了
枪尖。接着，阿特柔斯之子墨奈劳斯
出手投枪，祈盼着父亲宙斯的助佑：
“允许我，王者宙斯，让我惩罚卓著的亚历克山德罗斯，
用我的双手把他结果——是他先伤害了我！
这样，后人中倘若有谁试图恩将仇报，对好客的主人，
畏此先鉴，定会肝胆俱破！”
言罢，他持平落影森长的枪矛，奋臂投掷，
击中普里阿摩斯之子边围溜圆的战后，
沉重的枪尖穿透闪光的盾面，
捅开精工制作的胸甲，
冲着腹肋刺捣，挑开了贴身的衫衣，
但帕里斯侧身一旁，躲过了幽黑的死亡。
阿特柔斯之子拔出柄嵌银钉的铜剑，
高举过头，奋力劈砍对手的盔脊，却被
撞顶得七零八落，脱离了手的抓握。
阿特柔斯之子长叹一声，仰面辽阔的天穹：
“父亲宙斯，你的残忍神祗中谁也不可比及！
我想惩罚亚历克山德罗斯的胡作非为，
但我的铜剑已在手中裂成碎片，而我的枪矛
也只是徒劳地作了一次扑击，不曾把他放倒！”
言罢，墨奈劳斯冲扑过去，一把抓住嵌缀马鬃的头盔，
奋力拉转，把他拖往胫甲坚固的阿开亚人的队列，
刻着图纹的盔带，系固着铜盔，绷紧在帕里斯
松软的脖圈，此时几乎把他勒得喘不过气来。
要不是宙斯之女阿芙罗底忒眼快，
墨奈劳斯大概已经把他拉走，争得了不朽的光荣。
她橹脱扣带，一段生牛皮，割自一头被宰的公牛，
使阿特桑斯之子只攥得一顶空盔，用强有力的大手。
英雄甩手一挥，帽盖朝着胫甲坚固的
阿开亚人飞走，被他信赖的伙伴们接收。
他转身再次扑向对手，决心用铜矛
结果他的性命。但阿芙罗底忒轻舒臂膀——
神力无穷——摄走帕里斯，把他藏裹在浓雾里，
送回飘散着清香的床居。然后，
她又前往招呼海伦，发现后者正置身
高高的城楼，周围簇拥着一群女子，特洛伊的民众。
她伸手拉过海伦芬芳的裙袍，摇拽着，
开口说道，以一位老妪的模样，
一位织纺羊毛的妇人——海伦栖居拉凯代蒙时，
老妇曾为他手制漂亮的羊毛织物——海伦十分喜欢她。
以这位老妇的模样，阿芙罗底忒开口说道：
“跟我来，赶快！亚历克山德罗斯让我请你回还，
正在卧房等你，在雕着围环的床上，
衣衫光亮，潇洒俊美。你不会觉得
他归自决斗的战场；不，你会以为他正打算
荡开舞步，或刚刚跳完一轮下来，息身床头。”
女神一番诱说，纷扰了海伦的心胸。
她认出了女神，那修长滑润的脖子，
丰满坚挺的乳房，闪闪发光的眼睛，
使她震惊不已。她开口说话，动情唤呼：
“疯了吗，我的女神！如此处心积虑地诱惑，用意何在？
你还打算把我引向何方？前往某个繁荣兴旺的
城堡？去弗鲁吉亚，还是迷人的迈俄尼亚？
也许，那里也有一位你所钟爱的凡人？
是不是因为墨奈劳斯已打败高贵的帕里斯，
并想把我，尽管受人憎恨，带回家门？
是否因为出于此番缘故，你来到这里，心怀狡黠的筹谋？
要去你自己去吧——坐在帕里斯身边，抛弃神的地位，
从今后再也不要落脚俄林波斯山头！
看护着他，替他吃苦受难，永远同住厮守，
直到他娶你为妻，或把你当做一名供他役使的伴仆。
至于我，我决不会回到他的怀抱；再和他同床，
将使我脸面全无。特洛伊女人，全城的妇道，
会对我奚指嘲骂，尽管悲愁已注满我的心胸。”
听罢这番话，闪光的阿芙罗底忒怒不可遏，呵斥道：
“不要挑逗我，给脸不要脸的姑娘，免得我盛怒之中把你弃置
一旁，像现在这样深深地爱你一样，咬牙切齿地恨你；也免得
我鼓动起双方对你的仇恨，让你像个受气包似地夹在中间，
夹在达奈人和特洛伊人之间，落个凄凄惨惨的结终！”
女神言罢，宙斯的女儿心里害怕，
启步回家，包裹在光灿灿的裙袍里，
默然无声。特洛伊妇女对此一无所见，女神引着她行走。
当她们抵达亚历克山德罗斯华丽的房居，
侍从们赶忙闪开，操持各自的活计，
而海伦，女人中闪光的佼佼者，此时走向顶面高耸的睡房。
爱笑的阿芙罗底忒抓过一把椅子，
提来放在亚历克山德罗斯面前，而
海伦，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿．弯身下坐，
移开眼神，嘲讽起她的丈夫：
“这么说，你是从战场上回来了。天呢，你怎么没有死在那里，
被一位强有力的勇士，我的前夫，打翻在地。
以前，你可是个吹牛的好手，自称比阿瑞斯钟爱的
墨奈劳斯出色，无论是比力气、手劲还是枪投。
何不再去试试，挑战阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯，
面对面地杀上一阵？算了，还是不去为好；我劝你
就此作罢，不要再和棕发的墨奈拉俄斯
绞斗，一对一地拼杀，像个莽撞的
蠢货——他的枪矛兴许会替你放血封喉！”
听罢这番话，帕里斯开口答道：
“够了，夫人，不要再对我嘲骂奚落。
这一次，墨奈拉俄斯击败了我，受惠于雅典娜的帮助；
下一回，我要把他打倒——我们也有神明的援佑。
来吧，让我们上床寻欢作乐，
我的心灵从来没有像现在这样屈服于情火——
是的，从来没有，包括当初把你从美丽的拉凯代蒙
带出，乘坐破浪远洋的海船离走，
在克拉奈岛上同床做爱的时候。比较
现时对你的情爱，那一次简直算不得什么；甜美的欲念已
把我征服。”
言罢，他引步睡床，妻子跟随行走。
这样，他俩欢爱在雕工精美的睡床。与此同时，
阿特柔斯之子却在人群里来回奔走，像一头野兽，
四处寻找神一样的亚历克山德罗斯的去向，
然而，无论是特洛伊人，还是他们声名遐迩的盟友，
谁也无法对嗜战的墨奈劳斯告说亚历克山德罗斯的行踪。
他们，倘若有人见过他，决然不会把他藏匿，出于对他的喜爱；
他们恨他，就像痛恨幽黑的死亡。
其时，人群中传来阿伽门农的声音，军队的统领：
“听我说，特洛伊人，达耳达尼亚人和特洛伊的盟友们！
事实表明，胜利已归属阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯。
你们必须交还阿耳戈斯的海伦和她的全部
财物，连同一份赠送，数量要公允得体，
使后人亦能牢记心中。”
阿特柔斯之子言罢，阿开亚兵勇报之以赞同的呼吼。
ARGUMENT.
THE DUEL OF MENELAUS AND PARIS.
The armies being ready to engage, a single combat is agreed upon between
Menelaus and Paris (by the intervention of Hector) for the determination
of the war. Iris is sent to call Helen to behold the fight. She leads her
to the walls of Troy, where Priam sat with his counsellers observing the
Grecian leaders on the plain below, to whom Helen gives an account of the
chief of them. The kings on either part take the solemn oath for the
conditions of the combat. The duel ensues; wherein Paris being overcome,
he is snatched away in a cloud by Venus, and transported to his apartment.
She then calls Helen from the walls, and brings the lovers together.
Agamemnon, on the part of the Grecians, demands the restoration of Helen,
and the performance of the articles.
The three-and-twentieth day still continues throughout this book. The
scene is sometimes in the fields before Troy, and sometimes in Troy
itself.
Thus by their leaders' care each martial band
Moves into ranks, and stretches o'er the land.
With shouts the Trojans, rushing from afar,
Proclaim their motions, and provoke the war
So when inclement winters vex the plain
With piercing frosts, or thick-descending rain,
To warmer seas the cranes embodied fly,(108)
With noise, and order, through the midway sky;
To pigmy nations wounds and death they bring,
And all the war descends upon the wing,
But silent, breathing rage, resolved and skill'd(109)
By mutual aids to fix a doubtful field,
Swift march the Greeks: the rapid dust around
Darkening arises from the labour'd ground.
Thus from his flaggy wings when Notus sheds
A night of vapours round the mountain heads,
Swift-gliding mists the dusky fields invade,
To thieves more grateful than the midnight shade;
While scarce the swains their feeding flocks survey,
Lost and confused amidst the thicken'd day:
So wrapp'd in gathering dust, the Grecian train,
A moving cloud, swept on, and hid the plain.
Now front to front the hostile armies stand,
Eager of fight, and only wait command;
When, to the van, before the sons of fame
Whom Troy sent forth, the beauteous Paris came:
In form a god! the panther's speckled hide
Flow'd o'er his armour with an easy pride:
His bended bow across his shoulders flung,
His sword beside him negligently hung;
Two pointed spears he shook with gallant grace,
And dared the bravest of the Grecian race.
As thus, with glorious air and proud disdain,
He boldly stalk'd, the foremost on the plain,
Him Menelaus, loved of Mars, espies,
With heart elated, and with joyful eyes:
So joys a lion, if the branching deer,
Or mountain goat, his bulky prize, appear;
Eager he seizes and devours the slain,
Press'd by bold youths and baying dogs in vain.
Thus fond of vengeance, with a furious bound,
In clanging arms he leaps upon the ground
From his high chariot: him, approaching near,
The beauteous champion views with marks of fear,
Smit with a conscious sense, retires behind,
And shuns the fate he well deserved to find.
As when some shepherd, from the rustling trees(110)
Shot forth to view, a scaly serpent sees,
Trembling and pale, he starts with wild affright
And all confused precipitates his flight:
So from the king the shining warrior flies,
And plunged amid the thickest Trojans lies.
As godlike Hector sees the prince retreat,
He thus upbraids him with a generous heat:
"Unhappy Paris! but to women brave!(111)
So fairly form'd, and only to deceive!
Oh, hadst thou died when first thou saw'st the light,
Or died at least before thy nuptial rite!
A better fate than vainly thus to boast,
And fly, the scandal of thy Trojan host.
Gods! how the scornful Greeks exult to see
Their fears of danger undeceived in thee!
Thy figure promised with a martial air,
But ill thy soul supplies a form so fair.
In former days, in all thy gallant pride,
When thy tall ships triumphant stemm'd the tide,
When Greece beheld thy painted canvas flow,
And crowds stood wondering at the passing show,
Say, was it thus, with such a baffled mien,
You met the approaches of the Spartan queen,
Thus from her realm convey'd the beauteous prize,
And both her warlike lords outshined in Helen's eyes?
This deed, thy foes' delight, thy own disgrace,
Thy father's grief, and ruin of thy race;
This deed recalls thee to the proffer'd fight;
Or hast thou injured whom thou dar'st not right?
Soon to thy cost the field would make thee know
Thou keep'st the consort of a braver foe.
Thy graceful form instilling soft desire,
Thy curling tresses, and thy silver lyre,
Beauty and youth; in vain to these you trust,
When youth and beauty shall be laid in dust:
Troy yet may wake, and one avenging blow
Crush the dire author of his country's woe."
His silence here, with blushes, Paris breaks:
"'Tis just, my brother, what your anger speaks:
But who like thee can boast a soul sedate,
So firmly proof to all the shocks of fate?
Thy force, like steel, a temper'd hardness shows,
Still edged to wound, and still untired with blows,
Like steel, uplifted by some strenuous swain,
With falling woods to strew the wasted plain.
Thy gifts I praise; nor thou despise the charms
With which a lover golden Venus arms;
Soft moving speech, and pleasing outward show,
No wish can gain them, but the gods bestow.
Yet, would'st thou have the proffer'd combat stand,
The Greeks and Trojans seat on either hand;
Then let a midway space our hosts divide,
And, on that stage of war, the cause be tried:
By Paris there the Spartan king be fought,
For beauteous Helen and the wealth she brought;
And who his rival can in arms subdue,
His be the fair, and his the treasure too.
Thus with a lasting league your toils may cease,
And Troy possess her fertile fields in peace;
Thus may the Greeks review their native shore,
Much famed for generous steeds, for beauty more."
He said. The challenge Hector heard with joy,
Then with his spear restrain'd the youth of Troy,
Held by the midst, athwart; and near the foe
Advanced with steps majestically slow:
While round his dauntless head the Grecians pour
Their stones and arrows in a mingled shower.
Then thus the monarch, great Atrides, cried:
"Forbear, ye warriors! lay the darts aside:
A parley Hector asks, a message bears;
We know him by the various plume he wears."
Awed by his high command the Greeks attend,
The tumult silence, and the fight suspend.
While from the centre Hector rolls his eyes
On either host, and thus to both applies:
"Hear, all ye Trojan, all ye Grecian bands,
What Paris, author of the war, demands.
Your shining swords within the sheath restrain,
And pitch your lances in the yielding plain.
Here in the midst, in either army's sight,
He dares the Spartan king to single fight;
And wills that Helen and the ravish'd spoil,
That caused the contest, shall reward the toil.
Let these the brave triumphant victor grace,
And different nations part in leagues of peace."
He spoke: in still suspense on either side
Each army stood: the Spartan chief replied:
"Me too, ye warriors, hear, whose fatal right
A world engages in the toils of fight.
To me the labour of the field resign;
Me Paris injured; all the war be mine.
Fall he that must, beneath his rival's arms;
And live the rest, secure of future harms.
Two lambs, devoted by your country's rite,
To earth a sable, to the sun a white,
Prepare, ye Trojans! while a third we bring
__Select__ to Jove, the inviolable king.
Let reverend Priam in the truce engage,
And add the sanction of considerate age;
His sons are faithless, headlong in debate,
And youth itself an empty wavering state;
Cool age advances, venerably wise,
Turns on all hands its deep-discerning eyes;
Sees what befell, and what may yet befall,
Concludes from both, and best provides for all.
The nations hear with rising hopes possess'd,
And peaceful prospects dawn in every breast.
Within the lines they drew their steeds around,
And from their chariots issued on the ground;
Next, all unbuckling the rich mail they wore,
Laid their bright arms along the sable shore.
On either side the meeting hosts are seen
With lances fix'd, and close the space between.
Two heralds now, despatch'd to Troy, invite
The Phrygian monarch to the peaceful rite.
Talthybius hastens to the fleet, to bring
The lamb for Jove, the inviolable king.
Meantime to beauteous Helen, from the skies
The various goddess of the rainbow flies:
(Like fair Laodice in form and face,
The loveliest nymph of Priam's royal race:)
Her in the palace, at her loom she found;
The golden web her own sad story crown'd,
The Trojan wars she weaved (herself the prize)
And the dire triumphs of her fatal eyes.
To whom the goddess of the painted bow:
"Approach, and view the wondrous scene below!(112)
Each hardy Greek, and valiant Trojan knight,
So dreadful late, and furious for the fight,
Now rest their spears, or lean upon their shields;
Ceased is the war, and silent all the fields.
Paris alone and Sparta's king advance,
In single fight to toss the beamy lance;
Each met in arms, the fate of combat tries,
Thy love the motive, and thy charms the prize."
This said, the many-coloured maid inspires
Her husband's love, and wakes her former fires;
Her country, parents, all that once were dear,
Rush to her thought, and force a tender tear,
O'er her fair face a snowy veil she threw,
And, softly sighing, from the loom withdrew.
Her handmaids, Clymene and Æthra, wait
Her silent footsteps to the Scaean gate.
There sat the seniors of the Trojan race:
(Old Priam's chiefs, and most in Priam's grace,)
The king the first; Thymoetes at his side;
Lampus and Clytius, long in council tried;
Panthus, and Hicetaon, once the strong;
And next, the wisest of the reverend throng,
Antenor grave, and sage Ucalegon,
Lean'd on the walls and bask'd before the sun:
Chiefs, who no more in bloody fights engage,
But wise through time, and narrative with age,
In summer days, like grasshoppers rejoice,
A bloodless race, that send a feeble voice.
These, when the Spartan queen approach'd the tower,
In secret own'd resistless beauty's power:
They cried, "No wonder such celestial charms(113)
For nine long years have set the world in arms;
What winning graces! what majestic mien!
She moves a goddess, and she looks a queen!
Yet hence, O Heaven, convey that fatal face,
And from destruction save the Trojan race."
The good old Priam welcomed her, and cried,
"Approach, my child, and grace thy father's side.
See on the plain thy Grecian spouse appears,
The friends and kindred of thy former years.
No crime of thine our present sufferings draws,
Not thou, but Heaven's disposing will, the cause
The gods these armies and this force employ,
The hostile gods conspire the fate of Troy.
But lift thy eyes, and say, what Greek is he
(Far as from hence these aged orbs can see)
Around whose brow such martial graces shine,
So tall, so awful, and almost divine!
Though some of larger stature tread the green,
None match his grandeur and exalted mien:
He seems a monarch, and his country's pride."
Thus ceased the king, and thus the fair replied:
"Before thy presence, father, I appear,
With conscious shame and reverential fear.
Ah! had I died, ere to these walk I fled,
False to my country, and my nuptial bed;
My brothers, friends, and daughter left behind,
False to them all, to Paris only kind!
For this I mourn, till grief or dire disease
Shall waste the form whose fault it was to please!
The king of kings, Atrides, you survey,
Great in the war, and great in arts of sway:
My brother once, before my days of shame!
And oh! that still he bore a brother's name!"
With wonder Priam view'd the godlike man,
Extoll'd the happy prince, and thus began:
"O bless'd Atrides! born to prosperous fate,
Successful monarch of a mighty state!
How vast thy empire! Of your matchless train
What numbers lost, what numbers yet remain!
In Phrygia once were gallant armies known,
In ancient time, when Otreus fill'd the throne,
When godlike Mygdon led their troops of horse,
And I, to join them, raised the Trojan force:
Against the manlike Amazons we stood,(114)
And Sangar's stream ran purple with their blood.
But far inferior those, in martial grace,
And strength of numbers, to this Grecian race."
This said, once more he view'd the warrior train;
"What's he, whose arms lie scatter'd on the plain?
Broad is his breast, his shoulders larger spread,
Though great Atrides overtops his head.
Nor yet appear his care and conduct small;
From rank to rank he moves, and orders all.
The stately ram thus measures o'er the ground,
And, master of the flock, surveys them round."
Then Helen thus: "Whom your discerning eyes
Have singled out, is Ithacus the wise;
A barren island boasts his glorious birth;
His fame for wisdom fills the spacious earth."
Antenor took the word, and thus began:(115)
"Myself, O king! have seen that wondrous man
When, trusting Jove and hospitable laws,
To Troy he came, to plead the Grecian cause;
(Great Menelaus urged the same request;)
My house was honour'd with each royal guest:
I knew their persons, and admired their parts,
Both brave in arms, and both approved in arts.
Erect, the Spartan most engaged our view;
Ulysses seated, greater reverence drew.
When Atreus' son harangued the listening train,
Just was his sense, and his expression plain,
His words succinct, yet full, without a fault;
He spoke no more than just the thing he ought.
But when Ulysses rose, in thought profound,(116)
His modest eyes he fix'd upon the ground;
As one unskill'd or dumb, he seem'd to stand,
Nor raised his head, nor stretch'd his sceptred hand;
But, when he speaks, what elocution flows!
Soft as the fleeces of descending snows,(117)
The copious accents fall, with easy art;
Melting they fall, and sink into the heart!
Wondering we hear, and fix'd in deep surprise,
Our ears refute the censure of our eyes."
The king then ask'd (as yet the camp he view'd)
"What chief is that, with giant strength endued,
Whose brawny shoulders, and whose swelling chest,
And lofty stature, far exceed the rest?
"Ajax the great, (the beauteous queen replied,)
Himself a host: the Grecian strength and pride.
See! bold Idomeneus superior towers
Amid yon circle of his Cretan powers,
Great as a god! I saw him once before,
With Menelaus on the Spartan shore.
The rest I know, and could in order name;
All valiant chiefs, and men of mighty fame.
Yet two are wanting of the numerous train,
Whom long my eyes have sought, but sought in vain:
Castor and Pollux, first in martial force,
One bold on foot, and one renown'd for horse.
My brothers these; the same our native shore,
One house contain'd us, as one mother bore.
Perhaps the chiefs, from warlike toils at ease,
For distant Troy refused to sail the seas;
Perhaps their swords some nobler quarrel draws,
Ashamed to combat in their sister's cause."
So spoke the fair, nor knew her brothers' doom;(118)
Wrapt in the cold embraces of the tomb;
Adorn'd with honours in their native shore,
Silent they slept, and heard of wars no more.
Meantime the heralds, through the crowded town.
Bring the rich wine and destined victims down.
Idaeus' arms the golden goblets press'd,(119)
Who thus the venerable king address'd:
"Arise, O father of the Trojan state!
The nations call, thy joyful people wait
To seal the truce, and end the dire debate.
Paris, thy son, and Sparta's king advance,
In measured lists to toss the weighty lance;
And who his rival shall in arms subdue,
His be the dame, and his the treasure too.
Thus with a lasting league our toils may cease,
And Troy possess her fertile fields in peace:
So shall the Greeks review their native shore,
Much famed for generous steeds, for beauty more."
With grief he heard, and bade the chiefs prepare
To join his milk-white coursers to the car;
He mounts the seat, Antenor at his side;
The gentle steeds through Scaea's gates they guide:(120)
Next from the car descending on the plain,
Amid the Grecian host and Trojan train,
Slow they proceed: the sage Ulysses then
Arose, and with him rose the king of men.
On either side a sacred herald stands,
The wine they mix, and on each monarch's hands
Pour the full urn; then draws the Grecian lord
His cutlass sheathed beside his ponderous sword;
From the sign'd victims crops the curling hair;(121)
The heralds part it, and the princes share;
Then loudly thus before the attentive bands
He calls the gods, and spreads his lifted hands:
"O first and greatest power! whom all obey,
Who high on Ida's holy mountain sway,
Eternal Jove! and you bright orb that roll
From east to west, and view from pole to pole!
Thou mother Earth! and all ye living floods!
Infernal furies, and Tartarean gods,
Who rule the dead, and horrid woes prepare
For perjured kings, and all who falsely swear!
Hear, and be witness. If, by Paris slain,
Great Menelaus press the fatal plain;
The dame and treasures let the Trojan keep,
And Greece returning plough the watery deep.
If by my brother's lance the Trojan bleed,
Be his the wealth and beauteous dame decreed:
The appointed fine let Ilion justly pay,
And every age record the signal day.
This if the Phrygians shall refuse to yield,
Arms must revenge, and Mars decide the field."
With that the chief the tender victims slew,
And in the dust their bleeding bodies threw;
The vital spirit issued at the wound,
And left the members quivering on the ground.
From the same urn they drink the mingled wine,
And add libations to the powers divine.
While thus their prayers united mount the sky,
"Hear, mighty Jove! and hear, ye gods on high!
And may their blood, who first the league confound,
Shed like this wine, disdain the thirsty ground;
May all their consorts serve promiscuous lust,
And all their lust be scatter'd as the dust!"
Thus either host their imprecations join'd,
Which Jove refused, and mingled with the wind.
The rites now finish'd, reverend Priam rose,
And thus express'd a heart o'ercharged with woes:
"Ye Greeks and Trojans, let the chiefs engage,
But spare the weakness of my feeble age:
In yonder walls that object let me shun,
Nor view the danger of so dear a son.
Whose arms shall conquer and what prince shall fall,
Heaven only knows; for heaven disposes all."
This said, the hoary king no longer stay'd,
But on his car the slaughter'd victims laid:
Then seized the reins his gentle steeds to guide,
And drove to Troy, Antenor at his side.
Bold Hector and Ulysses now dispose
The lists of combat, and the ground inclose:
Next to decide, by sacred lots prepare,
Who first shall launch his pointed spear in air.
The people pray with elevated hands,
And words like these are heard through all the bands:
"Immortal Jove, high Heaven's superior lord,
On lofty Ida's holy mount adored!
Whoe'er involved us in this dire debate,
O give that author of the war to fate
And shades eternal! let division cease,
And joyful nations join in leagues of peace."
With eyes averted Hector hastes to turn
The lots of fight and shakes the brazen urn.
Then, Paris, thine leap'd forth; by fatal chance
Ordain'd the first to whirl the weighty lance.
Both armies sat the combat to survey.
Beside each chief his azure armour lay,
And round the lists the generous coursers neigh.
The beauteous warrior now arrays for fight,
In gilded arms magnificently bright:
The purple cuishes clasp his thighs around,
With flowers adorn'd, with silver buckles bound:
Lycaon's corslet his fair body dress'd,
Braced in and fitted to his softer breast;
A radiant baldric, o'er his shoulder tied,
Sustain'd the sword that glitter'd at his side:
His youthful face a polish'd helm o'erspread;
The waving horse-hair nodded on his head:
His figured shield, a shining orb, he takes,
And in his hand a pointed javelin shakes.
With equal speed and fired by equal charms,
The Spartan hero sheathes his limbs in arms.
Now round the lists the admiring armies stand,
With javelins fix'd, the Greek and Trojan band.
Amidst the dreadful vale, the chiefs advance,
All pale with rage, and shake the threatening lance.
The Trojan first his shining javelin threw;
Full on Atrides' ringing shield it flew,
Nor pierced the brazen orb, but with a bound(122)
Leap'd from the buckler, blunted, on the ground.
Atrides then his massy lance prepares,
In act to throw, but first prefers his prayers:
"Give me, great Jove! to punish lawless lust,
And lay the Trojan gasping in the dust:
Destroy the aggressor, aid my righteous cause,
Avenge the breach of hospitable laws!
Let this example future times reclaim,
And guard from wrong fair friendship's holy name."
Be said, and poised in air the javelin sent,
Through Paris' shield the forceful weapon went,
His corslet pierces, and his garment rends,
And glancing downward, near his flank descends.
The wary Trojan, bending from the blow,
Eludes the death, and disappoints his foe:
But fierce Atrides waved his sword, and strook
Full on his casque: the crested helmet shook;
The brittle steel, unfaithful to his hand,
Broke short: the fragments glitter'd on the sand.
The raging warrior to the spacious skies
Raised his upbraiding voice and angry eyes:
"Then is it vain in Jove himself to trust?
And is it thus the gods assist the just?
When crimes provoke us, Heaven success denies;
The dart falls harmless, and the falchion flies."
Furious he said, and towards the Grecian crew
(Seized by the crest) the unhappy warrior drew;
Struggling he followed, while the embroider'd thong
That tied his helmet, dragg'd the chief along.
Then had his ruin crown'd Atrides' joy,
But Venus trembled for the prince of Troy:
Unseen she came, and burst the golden band;
And left an empty helmet in his hand.
The casque, enraged, amidst the Greeks he threw;
The Greeks with smiles the polish'd trophy view.
Then, as once more he lifts the deadly dart,
In thirst of vengeance, at his rival's heart;
The queen of love her favour'd champion shrouds
(For gods can all things) in a veil of clouds.
Raised from the field the panting youth she led,
And gently laid him on the bridal bed,
With pleasing sweets his fainting sense renews,
And all the dome perfumes with heavenly dews.
Meantime the brightest of the female kind,
The matchless Helen, o'er the walls reclined;
To her, beset with Trojan beauties, came,
In borrow'd form, the laughter-loving dame.
(She seem'd an ancient maid, well-skill'd to cull
The snowy fleece, and wind the twisted wool.)
The goddess softly shook her silken vest,
That shed perfumes, and whispering thus address'd:
[Illustration: VENUS, DISGUISED, INVITING HELEN TO THE CHAMBER OF PARIS.]
VENUS, DISGUISED, INVITING HELEN TO THE CHAMBER OF PARIS.
"Haste, happy nymph! for thee thy Paris calls,
Safe from the fight, in yonder lofty walls,
Fair as a god; with odours round him spread,
He lies, and waits thee on the well-known bed;
Not like a warrior parted from the foe,
But some gay dancer in the public show."
She spoke, and Helen's secret soul was moved;
She scorn'd the champion, but the man she loved.
Fair Venus' neck, her eyes that sparkled fire,
And breast, reveal'd the queen of soft desire.(123)
Struck with her presence, straight the lively red
Forsook her cheek; and trembling, thus she said:
"Then is it still thy pleasure to deceive?
And woman's frailty always to believe!
Say, to new nations must I cross the main,
Or carry wars to some soft Asian plain?
For whom must Helen break her second vow?
What other Paris is thy darling now?
Left to Atrides, (victor in the strife,)
An odious conquest and a captive wife,
Hence let me sail; and if thy Paris bear
My absence ill, let Venus ease his care.
A handmaid goddess at his side to wait,
Renounce the glories of thy heavenly state,
Be fix'd for ever to the Trojan shore,
His spouse, or slave; and mount the skies no more.
For me, to lawless love no longer led,
I scorn the coward, and detest his bed;
Else should I merit everlasting shame,
And keen reproach, from every Phrygian dame:
Ill suits it now the joys of love to know,
Too deep my anguish, and too wild my woe."
[Illustration: VENUS PRESENTING HELEN TO PARIS.]
VENUS PRESENTING HELEN TO PARIS.
Then thus incensed, the Paphian queen replies:
"Obey the power from whom thy glories rise:
Should Venus leave thee, every charm must fly,
Fade from thy cheek, and languish in thy eye.
Cease to provoke me, lest I make thee more
The world's aversion, than their love before;
Now the bright prize for which mankind engage,
Than, the sad victim, of the public rage."
At this, the fairest of her sex obey'd,
And veil'd her blushes in a silken shade;
Unseen, and silent, from the train she moves,
Led by the goddess of the Smiles and Loves.
Arrived, and enter'd at the palace gate,
The maids officious round their mistress wait;
Then, all dispersing, various tasks attend;
The queen and goddess to the prince ascend.
Full in her Paris' sight, the queen of love
Had placed the beauteous progeny of Jove;
Where, as he view'd her charms, she turn'd away
Her glowing eyes, and thus began to say:
"Is this the chief, who, lost to sense of shame,
Late fled the field, and yet survives his fame?
O hadst thou died beneath the righteous sword
Of that brave man whom once I call'd my lord!
The boaster Paris oft desired the day
With Sparta's king to meet in single fray:
Go now, once more thy rival's rage excite,
Provoke Atrides, and renew the fight:
Yet Helen bids thee stay, lest thou unskill'd
Shouldst fall an easy conquest on the field."
The prince replies: "Ah cease, divinely fair,
Nor add reproaches to the wounds I bear;
This day the foe prevail'd by Pallas' power:
We yet may vanquish in a happier hour:
There want not gods to favour us above;
But let the business of our life be love:
These softer moments let delights employ,
And kind embraces snatch the hasty joy.
Not thus I loved thee, when from Sparta's shore
My forced, my willing heavenly prize I bore,
When first entranced in Cranae's isle I lay,(124)
Mix'd with thy soul, and all dissolved away!"
Thus having spoke, the enamour'd Phrygian boy
Rush'd to the bed, impatient for the joy.
Him Helen follow'd slow with bashful charms,
And clasp'd the blooming hero in her arms.
While these to love's delicious rapture yield,
The stern Atrides rages round the field:
So some fell lion whom the woods obey,
Roars through the desert, and demands his prey.
Paris he seeks, impatient to destroy,
But seeks in vain along the troops of Troy;
Even those had yielded to a foe so brave
The recreant warrior, hateful as the grave.
Then speaking thus, the king of kings arose,
"Ye Trojans, Dardans, all our generous foes!
Hear and attest! from Heaven with conquest crown'd,
Our brother's arms the just success have found:
Be therefore now the Spartan wealth restor'd,
Let Argive Helen own her lawful lord;
The appointed fine let Ilion justly pay,
And age to age record this signal day."
He ceased; his army's loud applauses rise,
And the long shout runs echoing through the skies.
[Illustration: VENUS.]
VENUS.
[Illustration: Map, titled "Graeciae Antiquae".]
Map, titled "Graeciae Antiquae". 其时，众神正坐在宙斯身边商议，在那黄金
铺地的宫居。女神赫蓓正给他们
逐个斟倒奈克塔耳，众神举着金杯，
相互劝祝喝饮，俯视着特洛伊人的城。
突然，克罗诺斯之子张嘴发话，意欲
激怒赫拉，以挑衅的口吻，挖苦道：
“女神中，有两位是墨奈劳斯的助佑，
阿耳戈斯的赫拉和波伊俄提亚人的雅典娜[●]。
●波伊俄提亚人的雅典娜：直译为“阿拉尔科墨奈的雅典娜”；阿拉尔科墨
奈是波伊俄提亚境内的一个城镇，设有雅典娜的祭坛。
瞧这二位，端坐此地，极目观望，
悠。冶自得，而爱笑的阿芙罗底忒却总是
形影不离地保护她的宠人，替他挡开死的精灵——
刚才，她让自以为必死无疑的帕里斯死里逃生。
然而，胜利的硕果，毫无疑问，已归属阿瑞斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯。
现在，让我们考虑事情发展的归向，
是再次挑起惨烈的恶战和痛苦的
搏杀，还是让他们缔结和约，言归于好。
但愿这一结局能让各位满意，给每一位神祗带来愉悦，
使普里阿摩斯王的城堡人丁兴旺，
使墨奈劳斯带着阿耳戈斯的海伦返回家乡。”
宙斯如此一番说告，而雅典娜和赫拉却自管小声啼咕，
坐得很近，谋划着如何使特洛伊人遭殃。
雅典娜静坐不语，面带愠色，
对宙斯，她的父亲；狂烈的暴怒揪揉着她的心房。
但是，赫拉却忍受不了心中的愤怒，对宙斯说道：
“克罗诺斯之子，可怕的王者，你说了些什么？
试想让我的努力一无所获，付之东流？
我曾汗流浃背，把驭马赶得精疲力尽，
为了召聚起军队，给普里阿摩斯和他的儿子们送去灾愁。
做去吧，宙斯，但我等众神绝不会一致赞同。”
一番话极大地烦扰了宙斯的心境，乌云的汇聚者答道：
“不知足的赫拉！普里阿摩斯和他的儿子们
究竟给你造成了多大的痛苦，使你盛怒至此，
念念不忘捣毁伊利昂，捣毁这座坚固的城堡？
看来，你是不想平息胸中的暴怒，除非破开城门，
砸毁高大的墙垣，生吞活剥了普里阿摩斯
和他的儿子们，连同所有的特洛伊兵众。
你爱怎么做都行，但要记住，不要让这次争吵
日后给你我带来悲愁。
我还有一事奉告，你要牢记心中。
将来，无论何时，倘若我想捣毁某个城市，
只要我愿意，里面住着你所钟爱的兵民，
你可不要出面遮挡，冲着我的盛怒，而应让我放手去做，
因为我已给你这次允诺，尽管违背我的心意。
在太阳和星空之下，凡人居住的
所有城市中，神圣的特洛伊
是我最珍爱的堡楼，还有普里阿摩斯
和他的手握粗重的(木岑)木杆枪矛的兵勇。
在那里，我的祭坛从来不缺足份的供品，不缺
满杯的奠酒和甜美的熏烟——此乃我们的权益。”
听罢这番话，牛眼睛夫人、女神赫拉答道：
“好极了！天底下我最钟爱的城市有三个，
阿耳戈斯、斯巴达和路面开阔的慕凯奈——
荡平它们，无论何时，倘若它们激起你的愤怒。
我将不去保卫它们，和你对抗，也不抱怨你的作为。
事实上，即便我抱恨埋怨，不让你摧毁它们，
我的努力也不会有任何用处——你比我强健，比我有力。
尽管如此，你也不应让我辛苦一场，一无所获；
我也是神，我的宗谱也就是你的家族，
工于心计的克罗诺斯也是我的父亲，我是他最尊贵的女儿，
体现在两个方面，出生次序和同你的关系——我被
尊为你的伴侣，而你是众神之王。
所以，对于此事，你我要互谅互让，
我对你，你对我，而其他不死的神祗自会
因袭效仿。现在，你马上命令雅典娜，
前往特洛伊人和阿开亚人拼搏的战场，
设法使特洛伊人先毁誓约，
伤害获胜战场的阿开亚兵壮。”
她言罢，人和神的父亲接受了她的建议，
马上指令雅典娜，用长了翅膀的话语：
“快去，朝着持洛伊人和阿开亚人的队伍，
设法使特洛伊人先毁誓约，
伤害获胜战场的阿开亚兵壮。”
宙斯的话语催励着早已迫不及待的雅典娜，
她急速出发，从俄林波斯山巅直冲而下，
像工于心计的克罗诺斯之子抛出的一颗
流星，一个对水手或一支庞大军队的预兆，
光芒四射，迸放出密密匝匝的火花。
就像这样，帕拉丝·雅典娜朝着地面疾扫，
落脚在两军之间，把观望者惊得目瞪口呆，
驯马好手特洛伊人和胫甲坚固的阿开亚兵汉。
队伍中，人们会惊望着自己的近邻，说道：
“瞧这个势头，难道我们又将面临残酷的战争，
嚣闹的拼搏？仰或宙斯，这位调控
凡间战事的尊神，有意使我们双方言归于好？”
有人会如此嘀咕，队伍中的阿开亚人和特洛伊兵壮。
雅典娜以一位勇士的形象，劳多科斯，安忒诺耳之子，
一位强有力的枪手，出现在特洛伊人的队列，
寻觅着神一样的潘达罗斯，希望能把他找到。
她梭行人群，找到鲁卡昂的儿子，一位高贵、勇猛的斗士，
正昂首挺立，四周拥围着一队队强壮的、携握盾牌的
兵勇，随他进兵此地，来自水流湍急的埃塞波斯沿岸。
女神站在他的身边，对他说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“鲁卡昂聪明的儿子，愿意听听我的说告吗？
要是有这个胆量，你就对墨奈劳斯发射一枝飞箭，
你将因此争得荣誉，博取感激，当着全体
特洛伊人，尤其是王子亚历克山德罗斯的脸面。
若是让他亲眼看到嗜战的墨奈劳斯，阿特桑斯之子，
被你的羽箭射倒，可悲地平躺在柴堆上，
你便可先于他人，从他手中得取光荣的战礼。
来吧，摆开架势，对着高贵的墨奈劳斯拉响弓弦——要快！
但是，别忘了对光荣的射手、狼神阿波罗[●]祈祷，告诉他，
●狼神阿波罗：或许包含“牧羊人的护神”之意。根据原文，亦可作“出生
在鲁基亚的阿波罗”解。
当你踏上故乡的土地，回到神圣的城堡泽勒亚，
你将给他敬办一次隆重的牲祭，用头胎的羊羔。”
雅典娜的话语夺走了他的睿智。
他马上拿出磨得溜滑的强弓，取自一头
野山羊的权角——当岩羊从石壁上走下，
他把一枝利箭送进了它的胸膛。他身披伪装，
藏身石壁，一箭扎入山羊的胸腔，打翻在岩面上。
山羊头上的权角，长十六掌，
一位能干的弓匠把它捆扎起来，
将表面磨得精光透亮，安上金铸的弦环。
潘达罗斯把弓的一角抵在地上，弯起弓架，
上好弦线；有人把盾牌挡在前面，那些勇敢的伙伴，
以防阿开亚人善战的儿子们突然站起，在他放箭
阿特桑斯之子、嗜战的墨奈劳斯之前，向他扑来。
他打开壶盖，拈出一枝羽翎，
以前从未用过，致送痛苦的飞箭。
他动作迅速，把致命的羽箭搭上弓弦，
对光荣的射手、狼神阿波罗作过祈祷，
答应当他踏上故乡的土地，回到神圣的泽勒亚城堡。
将给神祗敬献一份丰厚的牲祭，头胎的羊羔。
他运气开弓，紧捏着箭的糟口和牛筋做就的弓弦，
弦线紧贴着胸口，铁的箭镞碰到了弓杆。
他把兵器拉成了一个拱环，借大的弯弓
鸣叫呻喊，弦线高歌作响，羽箭顶着锋快的头镞
飞射出去，挟着暴怒，呼啸着扑向前面的人群。
然而，幸福的、长生不老的神祗没有忘记你，
墨奈劳斯，尤其是宙斯的女儿，战勇的福佑，
此时站在你的面前，替你挡开咬肉的箭头。
她挪开箭矢的落点，使之偏离你的皮肉，动作轻快，
像一位撩赶苍蝇的母亲，替熟睡的孩儿——
她亲自出手，把羽箭导向金质的系带，
带扣交合措连、胸甲的两个半片衔接重叠的部位。
无情的箭头捣进坚固的带结，
穿透精工编织的条层，
破开做工精美的胸甲，直逼系在
里层的甲片——此乃壮士身上最重要的护甲，用以保护
下身和挡住枪矛的冲击，无奈飞矢余劲尤健，连它一起捅穿。
箭头长驱直入，挑开壮士的皮肉，
放出浓黑的、喷流涌注的热血。
如同一位迈俄尼亚或卡里亚妇女，用鲜红的颜料
涂漆象牙，制作驭马的颊片，尽管许多驭手
为之垂涎欲滴，它却静静地躺在
里屋，作为王者的佳宝，受到双重的
珍爱，既是马的饰物，又能为驭者增添荣光。
就像这样，墨奈劳斯，鲜血浸染了你强健的
大腿，你的小腿和线条分明的踝骨。
看着浓黑的热血从伤口里涌冒出来，
民众的王者阿伽门农心里害怕，全身颤嗦，
嗜战的墨奈劳斯自己亦吃惊不小，吓得混身发抖；
不过，当他眼见绑条和倒勾都在伤口
外面时，失去的勇气复又回返他的心头。
强有力的阿伽门农悲声哭诉，握着墨奈劳斯的手；
伙伴们围聚一旁，呜咽抽泣。阿伽门农哭道：
“亲爱的兄弟，我所封证的誓约给你带来了死亡，
让你孤身一人，奋战在我们眼前，面对特洛伊兵壮。
现在，特洛伊人已把你射倒，践踏了我们的誓约。
然而，我们的誓言不是儿戏，羔羊的热血不会白流，
泼出去的不掺水的奠酒会有报应，紧握的右手不是虚设的
仪酬！
倘若俄林波斯大神不及马上了结此事，
日后也会严惩不贷；逾规越矩者将付出惨重的代价，
用他们自己的头颅，还有他们的妻子和孩童。
我心里明白，我的灵魂知道，
这一天必将到来；那时，神圣的伊利昂将被扫灭，
连同普里阿摩斯和他的手握粗长的(木岑)木杆枪矛的兵壮。
宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，端坐在天上的房居，高高的王庭，
将亲自挥动责惩的埃吉斯，在他们头顶，
出于对这场欺诈的义愤。这一切终将发生，不可避免。
然而，我将为你承受巨大的悲痛，墨奈劳斯，
倘若你撒手人寰，中止命运限定的人生。
我将带着耻辱，回到干旱的阿耳戈斯，
因为阿开亚兵勇马上即会生发思乡的幽情，
而我们，为此，将不得不把阿耳戈斯的海伦留给普里阿摩斯和
特洛伊人，为他们增光。至于你，特洛伊的泥土将蚀烂你的
骸骨，
因为你已死在这里，撇下远征的功业，未尽的战斗。
某个特洛伊小子会高兴地跳上
墨奈劳斯的坟冢，趾高气扬地吹喊：
‘但愿阿伽门农以此种方式对所有的敌人发泄
暴怒——像这次一样，徒劳无益地统兵至此，
而后劳师还家，回到他所热爱的故乡，
海船里空空如也，撇下了勇敢的墨奈劳斯。’
此人会这般胡言，气得我恨不能裂地藏身！”
听罢这番话，棕发的墨奈劳斯宽慰道：
“勇敢些，不要吓坏了会战此地的阿开亚人。
犀利的箭镞没有击中要害，闪亮的腰带
挫去了它的锋芒，底下的束围和铜匠
精心制作的腹甲挡住了它的冲力。”
听罢这番话，强有力的阿伽门农答道：
“但愿伤情真如你说的那样，墨奈劳斯，我的兄弟。
不管怎样，医者会来治疗你的伤口，敷设
配制的枪药，止住钻心的疼痛。”言罢，
他转而命嘱塔耳苏比俄斯，他的神圣的使者：
“塔耳苏比俄斯，全速前进，把马卡昂叫来，
阿斯克勒丕俄斯之子，手段高明的医士，
察治阿特柔斯之子、嗜战的墨奈劳斯的伤情——
某个擅使弓箭的射手，某个特洛伊人或鲁基亚人射伤了他：
对射手，这是一份光荣；但对我们，它却带来了忧愁。”
听罢此番嘱告，使者谨遵不违，
穿行在身披铜甲的兵群中，
觅寻勇士马卡昂，只见后者正
挺立在那边，身旁围站着一队队携带盾牌的
兵勇，跟随马卡昂进兵此地，来自特里卡，马草丰肥的去处，
使者在他身边站定，开口说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“行动起来，阿斯克勒丕俄斯之子，强有力的阿伽门农要你
过去，
察治阿开亚人的首领墨奈劳斯的伤情——
某个擅使弓箭的射手，某个特洛伊人或鲁基亚人射伤了他：
对射手，这是一份光荣；但对我们，它却带来了忧愁。”
一番话催发了马卡昂的激情。他们
穿越人群，疾行在阿开亚人占地宽广的营伍，
来到棕发的墨奈劳斯中箭
负伤的地方——首领们围成一圈，守护在
他的身边；医者在人群中站定，一位神样的凡人。
他从腰带的扣合处拔出箭矢，下手迅捷，
锋利的倒钩顺势向后，崩裂断损。
接着，他依次松开腰带和下面的束围，
以及铜匠为他精心制作的腹甲，
找到凶狠的飞箭扎出的伤口，
吸出里面的淤血，敷上镇痛的枪药——
很久以前，出于友好的意愿，光荣将此药赠送其父。
在他们忙于照料啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯之际，
特洛伊人全副武装的队列却正在向前挺进。
阿开亚人重新武装起来，拼战的念头复又占据了他们的心灵。
这时，你不会看到卓越的阿伽门农沉睡不醒
或畏缩不前，不思进击——不！
阿伽门农渴望搏杀——人们由此争得功名。
他把驭马和战车，闪着耀眼的铜光，留在身后，
马儿喘着粗气，由他的助手欧鲁墨冬、裴莱俄斯
之子普托勒迈俄斯的儿子带往一边。
阿伽门农命他就近看管马匹，以备急用——
疲劳可能拖累他的四肢，吆喝制统偌大的一支军伍。
他迈开双腿，大步穿行在营伍中。
当看到那些紧勒着快马的头缰，求战心切的达亲驭手时，
他就站到他们身边，热切地鼓励道：
“阿耳吉维壮士们，切莫松懈，保持旺盛的战斗热情。。
父亲宙斯不会帮助说谎的特洛伊人——
他们首先践毁双方的誓约，
鹰鹫会吞食他们鲜亮的皮肉。
而我们，我们将带走他们钟爱的妻子和无助的
孩童，用我们的海船，在荡平这座城堡之后！”
但是，当他发现有人试图躲避可恨的搏杀，
便会声色俱厉，恶狠狠地破口骂道：
“嘿，阿耳吉维人，手持强弓的斗士，怎么，胆怯了？你们还要
不要脸！
为何呆呆地站在这里，迷迷惘惘，像一群雌鹿，
跑过一大片草地，累得筋疲力尽，
木然而立，丢尽了最后一分勇气？就像这样，
你们本然站立，迷迷惘惘，泯灭了战斗的意志。
你们在等盼什么呢？想等到特洛伊人把你们逼至
灰色大海的滩沿，赶回你们停放船尾坚固的海船的地方，
然后再看看克罗诺斯之子会不会伸出他的大手，把你们保护
起来？”
就这样，阿伽门农穿行在队伍里，整顿编排迎战的阵容，
挤过密集的人群，来到克里特人的队列；
兵勇们正积极备战，拥聚在骁勇的伊多墨纽斯周围。
伊多墨纽斯，像一头壮实的野猪，站立在前排之中，
而墨里俄奈斯则催督着后面的队伍。
见此情景，民众的王者阿伽门农心里高兴，
当即用欣赏的口吻，对伊多墨纽斯说道：
“伊多墨纽斯，我敬你甚于对其他达奈人，
驾驭快马的战勇，无论是在战斗，在其他任何行动，
还是在我们的盛宴中——阿耳吉维人的首领
在调缸里匀和王者的饮料，闪亮的醇酒。
即使其他长发的阿开亚头领
喝完了自己的份额，你的酒杯却总是满斟如初，
像我的一样，想喝就喝，尽情地享用。
干起来吧，准备战斗；让大家看看，你平日的自誉不是吹牛！”
听罢这番话，克里特人的王者伊多墨纽斯答道：
“阿特柔斯之子，相信我，我将成为你坚强可靠的战友，
一如当初允诺的那样——那一天，我点过我的头。
去吧，鼓动其他长发的阿开亚战勇，
以便迅速出击，特洛伊人已毁弃
誓约，此事将在日后给他们带来死亡和
悲痛——他们践踏了我们誓封的信咒。”
他言罢，阿特柔斯之子心中欢喜，迈步前行，
穿过密集的人群，见到了大小两位埃阿斯，
全副武装，四周围站着一大群步兵。
如同一位看放山羊的牧人，从山岗上瞧见一片乌云，
正从海空向岸边压来，卷着西风的威烈，
尽管悬在远处的海空，他已看到云层乌黑一团，胜似黑漆，
正穿越大洋，汇聚起一股旋风；
见此情景，牧人浑身发抖，赶起羊群，躲进山洞。
就像这样，队伍运行在两位埃阿斯周围，
一队队密密匝匝的人群，强壮、神佑的年轻兵勇，
黑魆魆的一片，携带着竖指叠错的盾牌和枪矛，迎面战争的
凶狂。见此情景，民众的王者阿伽门农心里高兴，
开口喊道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“两位埃阿斯，身披铜甲的阿耳吉维人的首领，
对你们二位，我无须发号施令——催督你们吗？
那是多余的；你们已鼓动起部属，准备喋血苦斗。哦，
哦，父亲宙斯，雅典娜，阿波罗，要是
我的部下人人都有这种精神，那么，
普里阿摩斯王的城堡就会对我们
俯首，被我们攻占，劫洗！”
言罢，他离别二位，继续巡会军队的酋首，
只见奈斯托耳，来自普洛斯的吐词清亮的演说者，
正忙着整顿队伍，催督伙伴们前进，
由各位首领分统，高大的裴拉工、阿拉斯托耳和克罗米俄斯，
连同强有力的海蒙，以及丕阿斯，兵士的牧者。
首先，他把驾车的壮勇放在前头，连同驭马和战车，
让众多勇敢的步卒跟行殿后，
作为战斗的中坚，然后再把胆小怕死的赶到中间；
这样，即便有人贪生，也只好硬着头皮战斗。
他首先命令战车的驾驭者，要他们
紧紧拉住缰绳，不要让惊马打乱兵勇的队阵：
“谁也不许自恃驭术高强或凭借自己的勇猛，
冲出队阵，独自和特洛伊人搏斗；
也不许弃战退却，这样会受到敌人的逼攻。
当车上的枪手遇到敌方的战车，
要用长枪刺击对手——这是近身、激烈的战斗。
你们的前辈就是这样攻破城堡，捣毁墙垣，
凭着这种战术，这股精神。”
老人话声朗朗，用得之于以往征战的老经验激励部属。
见此情景，民众的王者阿伽门农心里高兴，
开口喊道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“老壮士，但愿你的膝腿也像你的心胸一样
充满青春的豪气，但愿你强壮如初。
可惜啊，凡人不可避免的暮年使你变得衰弱；但愿某个
兵勇接过你的年龄，而你则变成我们队伍里的一个年轻人！”
奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，答道：
“是的，阿特柔斯之子，我也恨不得自己能像当年
一样，像我放倒卓越的厄鲁菲利昂时那般强壮。
然而，神明不会把一切好处同时赋予凡人；
如果说那时我年轻力壮；现在我已是白发老翁。
尽管如此，我仍将站在驭者的行列，催督他们战斗，
通过训诫和命令——此乃老人的权利和光荣。
年轻的枪手将用长矛战斗，这些比我远为
青壮的后生，对自己的力量充满信心。”
听罢这番话，阿特柔斯之子心中欢喜，迈步前行，
只见裴忒俄斯之子墨奈修斯，战丰的驾驭者，
闲站人群，无所事事，周围拥站着呼啸战场的雅典卒兵。
足智多谋的俄底修斯站在他们近旁，
身边排列着凯法勒尼亚人的队伍，决非不堪一击的散兵，
站候等待，还不曾听到战斗的呼声，
而赴战的序列也还只是刚刚形成，甫始展开，
准备厮杀的阿开亚兵汉和驯马的特洛伊人。所以，
他们只是站立等盼，等待着另一支阿开亚部队开赴战场，
扑向特洛伊人，开始激烈的战斗。
眼见此般情景，全军的统帅阿伽门农开口斥训，
放开嗓门，用长了翅膀的话语：
“裴忒俄斯之子，神祗助佑的王者，还有你，
心计诡诈，精明贪婪的头领，这是怎么回事？
为何站立此地，畏缩不前，左顾右盼？
你俩的位置应在队伍的最前排，
面对战火的炙烤。别忘了，
每当阿开亚人摆开赐宴首领的佳肴，
你俩总是最早接到我的邀请。
你们放开肚皮，尽情吞嚼烤肉，
开怀痛饮蜜一样香甜的酒浆。
但现在，你们却想兴高采烈地观看
十支阿开亚人的队伍，挺着无情的铜矛战斗！”
听他言罢，足智多谋的俄底修斯恶狼狠地看着他，说道：
“这是什么话，阿特柔斯之子，嘣出了你的齿隙？
你怎可说我退缩不前，当着我们
阿开亚人催激起凶险的战神，扳倒驯马能手特洛伊人
的时候？看着吧，如果你乐意并且愿意，
忒勒马科斯的父亲将和特洛伊人的一流战将，
驯马的好手，杀个你我不分！收起你的废话，你的咋咋呼呼！”
眼见俄底修斯动了肝火，强有力的阿伽门农
笑着答道，收回了他的责斥：
“莱耳忒斯之子，神的后裔，足智多谋的俄底修斯，
我不应过多地责备你，也不该命令你；
我知道你的内心充满善意。你我所见略同。
不要见怪，这一切日后自会烟消云散，
如果我们刚才说了些刺伤感情的言语。
愿神明把我们的气话抛上云头！”
言罢，他别了俄底修斯，继续巡会军队的酋首，
只见图丢斯之子，勇猛豪强的狄俄墨得斯，
站在制合坚固的战车里，驭马的后头，
身边站着卡帕纽斯之子塞奈洛斯。见着
狄俄墨得斯，全军的统帅阿伽门农开口斥训，
放开嗓门，用长了翅膀的话语：
“这是干什么，经验丰富的驯马者图丢斯的儿子？
为何退缩不前，呆视着拼战的空道？
这绝不是图丢斯的作为，羞涩地蜷缩在后头，
他总是冲在伙伴们前面，击打敌人。
此乃别人的称说，那些目睹他冲杀的战勇。我本人从未眼见，
也不曾和他聚首，但人们都说他是首屈一指的英雄。
不错，他曾来过慕凯奈，但不是前来攻战，
而是作为客人和朋友，偕同神一样的波鲁内开斯，
为了招聚一批兵勇，前往捣平塞贝神圣的墙堡。
他们好说歹说，求我们拨出一支善战的军伍。
我的乡胞倒是乐意帮忙，使来者如愿以偿，
无奈宙斯送来不祥的预兆，使他们改变了主张。
这样，征战塞贝的部队登程出发，一路走去，来到
阿索波斯河畔，岸边芳草萋萋，河床芦苇丛生。
在那里，阿开亚人要图丢斯带着讯告，捷足先行。
他匆匆上路，遇到大群的卡德墨亚人，
聚宴在强壮的厄忒俄克勒斯的厅堂。
尽管人地生疏，调驯烈马的图丢斯
面不改色，对着众多的卡德墨亚壮汉，激挑他们
使出每一分力气，和他赛比争雄。他轻而易举地击败了
所有的对手，在每一个项目里——雅典娜使他气壮如牛。
由此激怒了卡德墨亚人，鞭赶快马的车手。
他们设下埋伏，截拦在他的归途，聚起众多的壮士，
五十之众，由两位首领制统，
海蒙之子、神一样俊美的迈昂，
和奥托福诺斯之子、战斗中犟悍瞟勇的波鲁丰忒斯。
然而，图丢斯给这帮人送去了可耻的死亡，
杀了所有的伏击者，只有一个例外——
遵照神的兆示，他让迈昂一人生还。
这便是图丢斯，埃托利亚壮勇。然而，他的
儿子却不如他勇猛——倒会巧嘴争辩，使父亲莫可比及！”
阿伽门农声色俱厉，强壮的狄俄墨得斯没有还嘴，
已被尊贵的王者，被他的辱骂慑服。
但光荣的卡帕纽斯之子此时启口说话，答道：
“不要撒谎，阿特柔斯之子；对这一切，你知道得清清楚楚。
我们敢说，和我俩的父亲相比，我们远为出色。
是我门，攻破了七门的塞贝，虽然
和前次相比，我们带去的人少，而城墙却更为坚固。
我们服从神的兆示，接受宙斯的助佑，
而他们却送命于自己的莽撞和犟拗。
所以，就荣誉而言，你绝不要把我们的父亲和我们相提并论。”
听罢这番话，强壮的狄俄墨得斯恶狠狠地看着他，说道：
“朋友，不要大声喧嚷，听我的。我不
抱怨阿伽门农，我们的统帅，
他在激策胫甲坚固的阿开亚人投入战斗。
这是他的光荣，如果阿开亚兵汉击败了特洛伊人，
攻占了神圣的尹利昂。但是，
如果阿开亚人成片地倒下，他将承受巨大的苦痛。
来吧，让我们敞开自己的心房，拥抱狂烈的战斗！”
言罢，他抬腿跳下战车，双脚着地，全副武装，
随着身子的运动，胸前的铜甲发出可怕的声响。
此般赫赫威势，即便是心如磐石的战将，见了也会发抖。
正如巨浪击打涛声震响的海滩，
西风卷起峰尖，一浪接着一浪地冲刷，
先在海面上扬起水头，然后飞泻下来，
冲荡着滩沿，声如滚雷，水波拱卷，
对着突兀的岩壁击撞，迸射出四溅的浪花，
达奈人的队伍，一队接着一队，蜂拥而至，
开赴战场；各位首领统带着自己的
部属。他们静静地行进——无法想像
如此众多的战勇，慑于头领们的威严，全都
紧闭喉门，一言不发，肃然前行，浑身
铜光闪烁，穿戴精工制作的铠甲。
特洛伊人的队伍则是另一种景象：如羊群一般，成千上万，
挤在一位资产丰足的阔佬的农庄，熙熙攘攘，
等待着献出洁白的鲜奶，人手的挤压，
听到羊羔的呼唤，发出咩咩的叫声，持续不断——
就像这样，特洛伊人喊声嘈响，拥挤在宽长的队列里。
他们没有一种共通的话语，共同的语言，
故言谈杂乱无章；兵勇们应召来自许多不同的国邦。
阿瑞斯催赶着他们前进，而灰眼睛的雅典娜则督励着阿开亚
兵壮。
恐惧策赶着他们，还有骚乱和暴戾无情的争斗——
杀人狂阿瑞斯的姐妹和伙伴——
当她第一次抬头时，还只是个小不点儿，以后逐渐
长大，直到足行大地，头顶蓝天。
现在，她在两军间播下仇恨的种子，
穿走在兵流里，加剧着人们的苦痛。
其时，两军相遇，激战在屠人的沙场上，
盾牌和枪矛铿锵碰撞，身披铜甲的
武士竞相搏杀，中心突鼓的皮盾
挤来压去，战斗的喧嚣一阵阵地呼响；
痛苦的哀叫伴和着胜利的呼声，
被杀者的哀叫，杀人者的呼声，泥地上碧血殷红。
像冬日里的两条莽暴的激流，从山脊上冲涌下来，
直奔沟谷，浩荡的河水汇成一股洪流，
挟着来自源头的滚滚波涛，飞泻谷底，
声如雷鸣，传至远处山坡上牧人的耳朵——
就以这般声势，两军相搏，喊声峰起，疲苦卓绝。
安提洛科斯率先杀死一位特洛伊首领，
前排里骁勇的战将，萨鲁西阿斯之子厄开波洛斯。
他首先投枪，击中插顶马鬃的头盔，坚挺的突角，
铜尖扎进厄开波洛斯的前额，深咬进去，
捣碎头骨，浓黑的迷雾蒙住了他的眼睛。
他栽倒在地，死于激战之中，像一堵翻塌的墙基。
他猝然倒地，强有力的厄勒菲诺耳，卡尔科冬之子，
心胸豪壮的阿邦忒斯人的首领，抓起他的双脚，
把他从枪林矛雨中拖拉出来，试图以最快的速度
抢剥铠甲，无奈事与愿违，夺甲之举殊断于起始之中。
在他拖尸之际，勇猛豪强的阿格诺耳看准了
他的胁助——后者弯身弓腰，边肋脱离了战盾的防护——
送手出枪，铜尖的闪光酥软了他的肢腿，
魂息离他而去。为了争夺他的躯体，双方展开了一场
苦斗，特洛伊人和阿开亚兵壮，像饿狼一般，
互相扑击，人冲人杀，人死人亡。
鏖战中，忒勒蒙之子埃阿斯杀了安塞米昂之子
西摩埃西俄斯，一位风华正茂的未婚青年。母亲把他
生在西摩埃斯河边，其时正偕随她的父母
从伊达山上下来，前往照管他们的羊群。
所以，孩子得名西摩埃西俄斯；然而，他已不能
回报尊爱的双亲，养育的恩典；他活得短促，
被心胸豪壮的埃阿斯枪击，
打在右胸上——因他冲锋在前——
奶头边，青铜的枪矛穿透了胸肩。
他翻倒泥尘，像一棵杨树，
长在洼地里，大片的草泽上，
树干光洁，但顶部枝桠横生；
一位制车的工匠把它砍倒，用闪光的
铁斧，准备把他弯成轮轱，装上精制的战车。
杨树躺在海岸上，风干在它的滩沿。
就像这样，安塞米昂之子西摩埃西俄斯躺在地上，
送命在埃阿斯手中，其时，胸甲锃亮的安提福斯，
普里阿摩斯之子，对着埃阿斯投出一枝飞矛，隔着人群，
枪尖不曾碰上目标，但却击中琉科斯，俄底修斯
勇敢的伙伴，打在小腹上——其时正拖着一具
尸体——他松开双手，覆倒在尸躯上。
眼见朋友中枪倒地，俄底修斯怒不可遏，
从前排里跳将出来，头顶闪亮的铜盔，
跨步进逼，目光四射，挥舞着
闪亮的枪矛。特洛伊人畏缩退却，
面对投枪的壮勇。他出枪中的，
击倒了德漠科昂，普里阿摩斯的私生子，
来自阿布多斯，从迅跑的马车上。
俄底修斯出枪把他击倒，出于对伙伴之死的愤怒，
铜尖扎在太阳穴上，穿透大脑，从另一边
穴眼里钻出，浓黑的迷雾蒙住了他的双眼。
他随即倒地，轰然一声，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
特洛伊人的首领们开始退却，包括光荣的赫克托耳，
而阿耳吉维人放声吼叫，拖回尸体，
冲向敌军的纵深。其时，阿波罗怒火中烧，目睹此般
情景，从高高的裴耳伽摩斯顶面，大声激励着特洛伊兵勇：
“振作起来，调驯烈马的特洛伊人，不要在战斗中
向阿耳吉维人屈服！他们的皮肉不是石头，也不是
生铁，可以挡住咬肉的铜矛。出击吧，捅穿他们！
阿基琉斯，美发塞提丝的儿子早已罢战
不出，和海船作伴，沉迷在盛怒的苦辣中！”
城堡上，阿波罗大声疾呼，而宙斯的女儿
特里托格内娅，最光荣的女神，此时巡行在战场上，
督励着每一个临阵退却的阿开亚人。
其时，死的命运逮住了狄俄瑞斯，阿马仑丘斯之子；
一块粗莽的石头砸在右腿的
脚踝旁，出自一位斯拉凯壮勇的投掷，
裴罗斯，伊勃拉索斯之子，来自埃诺斯疆土。
无情的石块打烂了两边的筋键
和腿骨；他仰面倒在泥地里，
伸出两手，希求同伴的援救，他所钟爱的朋友，
喘吐出生命的魂息。投石者赶至他的身旁，
壮士裴罗斯，一枪扎在肚脐边，和盘捣出腹肠，
满地涂泻，浓黑的迷雾蒙住了他的眼睛。
裴罗斯匆匆回跑，埃托利亚人索阿斯
出枪击中他的胸部，奶头的上方，铜尖
扎进肺叶；索阿斯赶上前去，把沉重的
枪矛拔出他的胸脯，抽出利剑；捅开
他的肚皮，结果了他的性命，但却
不曾抢剥铠甲——裴罗斯的伙伴们围站在
朋友身边，束发头顶的斯拉凯战勇，手握粗长的枪矛，
把他捅离遗体，尽管他强劲有力，雄勃高傲。
逼得他节节后退，步履踉跄。
这样，泥尘里并排躺着两位壮勇，摊撒着肢腿，
一位是斯拉凯人的头领，另一位是身披铜甲的
厄利斯人的王贵；成群的兵勇倒死在他们周围。
其时，如果有人迈步战场，他已不能嘲讽战斗不够酷烈，
任何人，尚未被投枪击中，尚未被锋快的铜矛扎倒，
转留在战阵之中，由帕拉丝·雅典娜
牵手引导，挡开横飞的矢石和枪矛。
那一天，众多的特洛伊人和阿开亚兵壮
叉腿躺倒在泥尘里，尸身毗接，头脸朝下。
ARGUMENT.
THE BREACH OF THE TRUCE, AND THE FIRST BATTLE.
The gods deliberate in council concerning the Trojan war: they agree upon
the continuation of it, and Jupiter sends down Minerva to break the truce.
She persuades Pandarus to aim an arrow at Menelaus, who is wounded, but
cured by Machaon. In the meantime some of the Trojan troops attack the
Greeks. Agamemnon is distinguished in all the parts of a good general; he
reviews the troops, and exhorts the leaders, some by praises and others by
reproof. Nestor is particularly celebrated for his military discipline.
The battle joins, and great numbers are slain on both sides.
The same day continues through this as through the last book (as it does
also through the two following, and almost to the end of the seventh
book). The scene is wholly in the field before Troy.
And now Olympus' shining gates unfold;
The gods, with Jove, assume their thrones of gold:
Immortal Hebe, fresh with bloom divine,
The golden goblet crowns with purple wine:
While the full bowls flow round, the powers employ
Their careful eyes on long-contended Troy.
When Jove, disposed to tempt Saturnia's spleen,
Thus waked the fury of his partial queen,
"Two powers divine the son of Atreus aid,
Imperial Juno, and the martial maid;(125)
But high in heaven they sit, and gaze from far,
The tame spectators of his deeds of war.
Not thus fair Venus helps her favour'd knight,
The queen of pleasures shares the toils of fight,
Each danger wards, and constant in her care,
Saves in the moment of the last despair.
Her act has rescued Paris' forfeit life,
Though great Atrides gain'd the glorious strife.
Then say, ye powers! what signal issue waits
To crown this deed, and finish all the fates!
Shall Heaven by peace the bleeding kingdoms spare,
Or rouse the furies, and awake the war?
Yet, would the gods for human good provide,
Atrides soon might gain his beauteous bride,
Still Priam's walls in peaceful honours grow,
And through his gates the crowding nations flow."
Thus while he spoke, the queen of heaven, enraged,
And queen of war, in close consult engaged:
Apart they sit, their deep designs employ,
And meditate the future woes of Troy.
Though secret anger swell'd Minerva's breast,
The prudent goddess yet her wrath suppress'd;
But Juno, impotent of passion, broke
Her sullen silence, and with fury spoke:
[Illustration: THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS.]
THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS.
"Shall then, O tyrant of the ethereal reign!
My schemes, my labours, and my hopes be vain?
Have I, for this, shook Ilion with alarms,
Assembled nations, set two worlds in arms?
To spread the war, I flew from shore to shore;
The immortal coursers scarce the labour bore.
At length ripe vengeance o'er their heads impends,
But Jove himself the faithless race defends.
Loth as thou art to punish lawless lust,
Not all the gods are partial and unjust."
The sire whose thunder shakes the cloudy skies,
Sighs from his inmost soul, and thus replies:
"Oh lasting rancour! oh insatiate hate
To Phrygia's monarch, and the Phrygian state!
What high offence has fired the wife of Jove?
Can wretched mortals harm the powers above,
That Troy, and Troy's whole race thou wouldst confound,
And yon fair structures level with the ground!
Haste, leave the skies, fulfil thy stern desire,
Burst all her gates, and wrap her walls in fire!
Let Priam bleed! if yet you thirst for more,
Bleed all his sons, and Ilion float with gore:
To boundless vengeance the wide realm be given,
Till vast destruction glut the queen of heaven!
So let it be, and Jove his peace enjoy,(126)
When heaven no longer hears the name of Troy.
But should this arm prepare to wreak our hate
On thy loved realms, whose guilt demands their fate;
Presume not thou the lifted bolt to stay,
Remember Troy, and give the vengeance way.
For know, of all the numerous towns that rise
Beneath the rolling sun and starry skies,
Which gods have raised, or earth-born men enjoy,
None stands so dear to Jove as sacred Troy.
No mortals merit more distinguish'd grace
Than godlike Priam, or than Priam's race.
Still to our name their hecatombs expire,
And altars blaze with unextinguish'd fire."
At this the goddess rolled her radiant eyes,
Then on the Thunderer fix'd them, and replies:
"Three towns are Juno's on the Grecian plains,
More dear than all the extended earth contains,
Mycenae, Argos, and the Spartan wall;(127)
These thou mayst raze, nor I forbid their fall:
'Tis not in me the vengeance to remove;
The crime's sufficient that they share my love.
Of power superior why should I complain?
Resent I may, but must resent in vain.
Yet some distinction Juno might require,
Sprung with thyself from one celestial sire,
A goddess born, to share the realms above,
And styled the consort of the thundering Jove;
Nor thou a wife and sister's right deny;(128)
Let both consent, and both by terms comply;
So shall the gods our joint decrees obey,
And heaven shall act as we direct the way.
See ready Pallas waits thy high commands
To raise in arms the Greek and Phrygian bands;
Their sudden friendship by her arts may cease,
And the proud Trojans first infringe the peace."
The sire of men and monarch of the sky
The advice approved, and bade Minerva fly,
Dissolve the league, and all her arts employ
To make the breach the faithless act of Troy.
Fired with the charge, she headlong urged her flight,
And shot like lightning from Olympus' height.
As the red comet, from Saturnius sent
To fright the nations with a dire portent,
(A fatal sign to armies on the plain,
Or trembling sailors on the wintry main,)
With sweeping glories glides along in air,
And shakes the sparkles from its blazing hair:(129)
Between both armies thus, in open sight
Shot the bright goddess in a trail of light,
With eyes erect the gazing hosts admire
The power descending, and the heavens on fire!
"The gods (they cried), the gods this signal sent,
And fate now labours with some vast event:
Jove seals the league, or bloodier scenes prepares;
Jove, the great arbiter of peace and wars."
They said, while Pallas through the Trojan throng,
(In shape a mortal,) pass'd disguised along.
Like bold Laodocus, her course she bent,
Who from Antenor traced his high descent.
Amidst the ranks Lycaon's son she found,
The warlike Pandarus, for strength renown'd;
Whose squadrons, led from black Æsepus' flood,(130)
With flaming shields in martial circle stood.
To him the goddess: "Phrygian! canst thou hear
A well-timed counsel with a willing ear?
What praise were thine, couldst thou direct thy dart,
Amidst his triumph, to the Spartan's heart?
What gifts from Troy, from Paris wouldst thou gain,
Thy country's foe, the Grecian glory slain?
Then seize the occasion, dare the mighty deed,
Aim at his breast, and may that aim succeed!
But first, to speed the shaft, address thy vow
To Lycian Phoebus with the silver bow,
And swear the firstlings of thy flock to pay,
On Zelia's altars, to the god of day."(131)
He heard, and madly at the motion pleased,
His polish'd bow with hasty rashness seized.
'Twas form'd of horn, and smooth'd with artful toil:
A mountain goat resign'd the shining spoil.
Who pierced long since beneath his arrows bled;
The stately quarry on the cliffs lay dead,
And sixteen palms his brow's large honours spread:
The workmen join'd, and shaped the bended horns,
And beaten gold each taper point adorns.
This, by the Greeks unseen, the warrior bends,
Screen'd by the shields of his surrounding friends:
There meditates the mark; and couching low,
Fits the sharp arrow to the well-strung bow.
One from a hundred feather'd deaths he chose,
Fated to wound, and cause of future woes;
Then offers vows with hecatombs to crown
Apollo's altars in his native town.
Now with full force the yielding horn he bends,
Drawn to an arch, and joins the doubling ends;
Close to his breast he strains the nerve below,
Till the barb'd points approach the circling bow;
The impatient weapon whizzes on the wing;
Sounds the tough horn, and twangs the quivering string.
But thee, Atrides! in that dangerous hour
The gods forget not, nor thy guardian power,
Pallas assists, and (weakened in its force)
Diverts the weapon from its destined course:
So from her babe, when slumber seals his eye,
The watchful mother wafts the envenom'd fly.
Just where his belt with golden buckles join'd,
Where linen folds the double corslet lined,
She turn'd the shaft, which, hissing from above,
Pass'd the broad belt, and through the corslet drove;
The folds it pierced, the plaited linen tore,
And razed the skin, and drew the purple gore.
As when some stately trappings are decreed
To grace a monarch on his bounding steed,
A nymph in Caria or Maeonia bred,
Stains the pure ivory with a lively red;
With equal lustre various colours vie,
The shining whiteness, and the Tyrian dye:
So great Atrides! show'd thy sacred blood,
As down thy snowy thigh distill'd the streaming flood.
With horror seized, the king of men descried
The shaft infix'd, and saw the gushing tide:
Nor less the Spartan fear'd, before he found
The shining barb appear above the wound,
Then, with a sigh, that heaved his manly breast,
The royal brother thus his grief express'd,
And grasp'd his hand; while all the Greeks around
With answering sighs return'd the plaintive sound.
"Oh, dear as life! did I for this agree
The solemn truce, a fatal truce to thee!
Wert thou exposed to all the hostile train,
To fight for Greece, and conquer, to be slain!
The race of Trojans in thy ruin join,
And faith is scorn'd by all the perjured line.
Not thus our vows, confirm'd with wine and gore,
Those hands we plighted, and those oaths we swore,
Shall all be vain: when Heaven's revenge is slow,
Jove but prepares to strike the fiercer blow.
The day shall come, that great avenging day,
When Troy's proud glories in the dust shall lay,
When Priam's powers and Priam's self shall fall,
And one prodigious ruin swallow all.
I see the god, already, from the pole
Bare his red arm, and bid the thunder roll;
I see the Eternal all his fury shed,
And shake his aegis o'er their guilty head.
Such mighty woes on perjured princes wait;
But thou, alas! deserv'st a happier fate.
Still must I mourn the period of thy days,
And only mourn, without my share of praise?
Deprived of thee, the heartless Greeks no more
Shall dream of conquests on the hostile shore;
Troy seized of Helen, and our glory lost,
Thy bones shall moulder on a foreign coast;
While some proud Trojan thus insulting cries,
(And spurns the dust where Menelaus lies,)
'Such are the trophies Greece from Ilion brings,
And such the conquest of her king of kings!
Lo his proud vessels scatter'd o'er the main,
And unrevenged, his mighty brother slain.'
Oh! ere that dire disgrace shall blast my fame,
O'erwhelm me, earth! and hide a monarch's shame."
He said: a leader's and a brother's fears
Possess his soul, which thus the Spartan cheers:
"Let not thy words the warmth of Greece abate;
The feeble dart is guiltless of my fate:
Stiff with the rich embroider'd work around,
My varied belt repell'd the flying wound."
To whom the king: "My brother and my friend,
Thus, always thus, may Heaven thy life defend!
Now seek some skilful hand, whose powerful art
May stanch the effusion, and extract the dart.
Herald, be swift, and bid Machaon bring
His speedy succour to the Spartan king;
Pierced with a winged shaft (the deed of Troy),
The Grecian's sorrow, and the Dardan's joy."
With hasty zeal the swift Talthybius flies;
Through the thick files he darts his searching eyes,
And finds Machaon, where sublime he stands(132)
In arms incircled with his native bands.
Then thus: "Machaon, to the king repair,
His wounded brother claims thy timely care;
Pierced by some Lycian or Dardanian bow,
A grief to us, a triumph to the foe."
The heavy tidings grieved the godlike man
Swift to his succour through the ranks he ran.
The dauntless king yet standing firm he found,
And all the chiefs in deep concern around.
Where to the steely point the reed was join'd,
The shaft he drew, but left the head behind.
Straight the broad belt with gay embroidery graced,
He loosed; the corslet from his breast unbraced;
Then suck'd the blood, and sovereign balm infused,(133)
Which Chiron gave, and Æsculapius used.
While round the prince the Greeks employ their care,
The Trojans rush tumultuous to the war;
Once more they glitter in refulgent arms,
Once more the fields are fill'd with dire alarms.
Nor had you seen the king of men appear
Confused, unactive, or surprised with fear;
But fond of glory, with severe delight,
His beating bosom claim'd the rising fight.
No longer with his warlike steeds he stay'd,
Or press'd the car with polish'd brass inlaid
But left Eurymedon the reins to guide;
The fiery coursers snorted at his side.
On foot through all the martial ranks he moves
And these encourages, and those reproves.
"Brave men!" he cries, (to such who boldly dare
Urge their swift steeds to face the coming war),
"Your ancient valour on the foes approve;
Jove is with Greece, and let us trust in Jove.
'Tis not for us, but guilty Troy, to dread,
Whose crimes sit heavy on her perjured head;
Her sons and matrons Greece shall lead in chains,
And her dead warriors strew the mournful plains."
Thus with new ardour he the brave inspires;
Or thus the fearful with reproaches fires:
"Shame to your country, scandal of your kind;
Born to the fate ye well deserve to find!
Why stand ye gazing round the dreadful plain,
Prepared for flight, but doom'd to fly in vain?
Confused and panting thus, the hunted deer
Falls as he flies, a victim to his fear.
Still must ye wait the foes, and still retire,
Till yon tall vessels blaze with Trojan fire?
Or trust ye, Jove a valiant foe shall chase,
To save a trembling, heartless, dastard race?"
This said, he stalk'd with ample strides along,
To Crete's brave monarch and his martial throng;
High at their head he saw the chief appear,
And bold Meriones excite the rear.
At this the king his generous joy express'd,
And clasp'd the warrior to his armed breast.
"Divine Idomeneus! what thanks we owe
To worth like thine! what praise shall we bestow?
To thee the foremost honours are decreed,
First in the fight and every graceful deed.
For this, in banquets, when the generous bowls
Restore our blood, and raise the warriors' souls,
Though all the rest with stated rules we bound,
Unmix'd, unmeasured, are thy goblets crown'd.
Be still thyself, in arms a mighty name;
Maintain thy honours, and enlarge thy fame."
To whom the Cretan thus his speech address'd:
"Secure of me, O king! exhort the rest.
Fix'd to thy side, in every toil I share,
Thy firm associate in the day of war.
But let the signal be this moment given;
To mix in fight is all I ask of Heaven.
The field shall prove how perjuries succeed,
And chains or death avenge the impious deed."
Charm'd with this heat, the king his course pursues,
And next the troops of either Ajax views:
In one firm orb the bands were ranged around,
A cloud of heroes blacken'd all the ground.
Thus from the lofty promontory's brow
A swain surveys the gathering storm below;
Slow from the main the heavy vapours rise,
Spread in dim streams, and sail along the skies,
Till black as night the swelling tempest shows,
The cloud condensing as the west-wind blows:
He dreads the impending storm, and drives his flock
To the close covert of an arching rock.
Such, and so thick, the embattled squadrons stood,
With spears erect, a moving iron wood:
A shady light was shot from glimmering shields,
And their brown arms obscured the dusky fields.
"O heroes! worthy such a dauntless train,
Whose godlike virtue we but urge in vain,
(Exclaim'd the king), who raise your eager bands
With great examples, more than loud commands.
Ah! would the gods but breathe in all the rest
Such souls as burn in your exalted breast,
Soon should our arms with just success be crown'd,
And Troy's proud walls lie smoking on the ground."
Then to the next the general bends his course;
(His heart exults, and glories in his force);
There reverend Nestor ranks his Pylian bands,
And with inspiring eloquence commands;
With strictest order sets his train in arms,
The chiefs advises, and the soldiers warms.
Alastor, Chromius, Haemon, round him wait,
Bias the good, and Pelagon the great.
The horse and chariots to the front assign'd,
The foot (the strength of war) he ranged behind;
The middle space suspected troops supply,
Inclosed by both, nor left the power to fly;
He gives command to "curb the fiery steed,
Nor cause confusion, nor the ranks exceed:
Before the rest let none too rashly ride;
No strength nor skill, but just in time, be tried:
The charge once made, no warrior turn the rein,
But fight, or fall; a firm embodied train.
He whom the fortune of the field shall cast
From forth his chariot, mount the next in haste;
Nor seek unpractised to direct the car,
Content with javelins to provoke the war.
Our great forefathers held this prudent course,
Thus ruled their ardour, thus preserved their force;
By laws like these immortal conquests made,
And earth's proud tyrants low in ashes laid."
So spoke the master of the martial art,
And touch'd with transport great Atrides' heart.
"Oh! hadst thou strength to match thy brave desires,
And nerves to second what thy soul inspires!
But wasting years, that wither human race,
Exhaust thy spirits, and thy arms unbrace.
What once thou wert, oh ever mightst thou be!
And age the lot of any chief but thee."
Thus to the experienced prince Atrides cried;
He shook his hoary locks, and thus replied:
"Well might I wish, could mortal wish renew(134)
That strength which once in boiling youth I knew;
Such as I was, when Ereuthalion, slain
Beneath this arm, fell prostrate on the plain.
But heaven its gifts not all at once bestows,
These years with wisdom crowns, with action those:
The field of combat fits the young and bold,
The solemn council best becomes the old:
To you the glorious conflict I resign,
Let sage advice, the palm of age, be mine."
He said. With joy the monarch march'd before,
And found Menestheus on the dusty shore,
With whom the firm Athenian phalanx stands;
And next Ulysses, with his subject bands.
Remote their forces lay, nor knew so far
The peace infringed, nor heard the sounds of war;
The tumult late begun, they stood intent
To watch the motion, dubious of the event.
The king, who saw their squadrons yet unmoved,
With hasty ardour thus the chiefs reproved:
"Can Peleus' son forget a warrior's part.
And fears Ulysses, skill'd in every art?
Why stand you distant, and the rest expect
To mix in combat which yourselves neglect?
From you 'twas hoped among the first to dare
The shock of armies, and commence the war;
For this your names are call'd before the rest,
To share the pleasures of the genial feast:
And can you, chiefs! without a blush survey
Whole troops before you labouring in the fray?
Say, is it thus those honours you requite?
The first in banquets, but the last in fight."
Ulysses heard: the hero's warmth o'erspread
His cheek with blushes: and severe, he said:
"Take back the unjust reproach! Behold we stand
Sheathed in bright arms, and but expect command.
If glorious deeds afford thy soul delight,
Behold me plunging in the thickest fight.
Then give thy warrior-chief a warrior's due,
Who dares to act whate'er thou dar'st to view."
Struck with his generous wrath, the king replies:
"O great in action, and in council wise!
With ours, thy care and ardour are the same,
Nor need I to commend, nor aught to blame.
Sage as thou art, and learn'd in human kind,
Forgive the transport of a martial mind.
Haste to the fight, secure of just amends;
The gods that make, shall keep the worthy, friends."
He said, and pass'd where great Tydides lay,
His steeds and chariots wedged in firm array;
(The warlike Sthenelus attends his side;)(135)
To whom with stern reproach the monarch cried:
"O son of Tydeus! (he, whose strength could tame
The bounding steed, in arms a mighty name)
Canst thou, remote, the mingling hosts descry,
With hands unactive, and a careless eye?
Not thus thy sire the fierce encounter fear'd;
Still first in front the matchless prince appear'd:
What glorious toils, what wonders they recite,
Who view'd him labouring through the ranks of fight?
I saw him once, when gathering martial powers,
A peaceful guest, he sought Mycenae's towers;
Armies he ask'd, and armies had been given,
Not we denied, but Jove forbade from heaven;
While dreadful comets glaring from afar,
Forewarn'd the horrors of the Theban war.(136)
Next, sent by Greece from where Asopus flows,
A fearless envoy, he approach'd the foes;
Thebes' hostile walls unguarded and alone,
Dauntless he enters, and demands the throne.
The tyrant feasting with his chiefs he found,
And dared to combat all those chiefs around:
Dared, and subdued before their haughty lord;
For Pallas strung his arm and edged his sword.
Stung with the shame, within the winding way,
To bar his passage fifty warriors lay;
Two heroes led the secret squadron on,
Mason the fierce, and hardy Lycophon;
Those fifty slaughter'd in the gloomy vale.
He spared but one to bear the dreadful tale,
Such Tydeus was, and such his martial fire;
Gods! how the son degenerates from the sire!"
No words the godlike Diomed return'd,
But heard respectful, and in secret burn'd:
Not so fierce Capaneus' undaunted son;
Stern as his sire, the boaster thus begun:
"What needs, O monarch! this invidious praise,
Ourselves to lessen, while our sire you raise?
Dare to be just, Atrides! and confess
Our value equal, though our fury less.
With fewer troops we storm'd the Theban wall,
And happier saw the sevenfold city fall,(137)
In impious acts the guilty father died;
The sons subdued, for Heaven was on their side.
Far more than heirs of all our parents' fame,
Our glories darken their diminish'd name."
To him Tydides thus: "My friend, forbear;
Suppress thy passion, and the king revere:
His high concern may well excuse this rage,
Whose cause we follow, and whose war we wage:
His the first praise, were Ilion's towers o'erthrown,
And, if we fail, the chief disgrace his own.
Let him the Greeks to hardy toils excite,
'Tis ours to labour in the glorious fight."
He spoke, and ardent, on the trembling ground
Sprung from his car: his ringing arms resound.
Dire was the clang, and dreadful from afar,
Of arm'd Tydides rushing to the war.
As when the winds, ascending by degrees,(138)
First move the whitening surface of the seas,
The billows float in order to the shore,
The wave behind rolls on the wave before;
Till, with the growing storm, the deeps arise,
Foam o'er the rocks, and thunder to the skies.
So to the fight the thick battalions throng,
Shields urged on shields, and men drove men along
Sedate and silent move the numerous bands;
No sound, no whisper, but the chief's commands,
Those only heard; with awe the rest obey,
As if some god had snatch'd their voice away.
Not so the Trojans; from their host ascends
A general shout that all the region rends.
As when the fleecy flocks unnumber'd stand
In wealthy folds, and wait the milker's hand,
The hollow vales incessant bleating fills,
The lambs reply from all the neighbouring hills:
Such clamours rose from various nations round,
Mix'd was the murmur, and confused the sound.
Each host now joins, and each a god inspires,
These Mars incites, and those Minerva fires,
Pale flight around, and dreadful terror reign;
And discord raging bathes the purple plain;
Discord! dire sister of the slaughtering power,
Small at her birth, but rising every hour,
While scarce the skies her horrid head can bound,
She stalks on earth, and shakes the world around;(139)
The nations bleed, where'er her steps she turns,
The groan still deepens, and the combat burns.
Now shield with shield, with helmet helmet closed,
To armour armour, lance to lance opposed,
Host against host with shadowy squadrons drew,
The sounding darts in iron tempests flew,
Victors and vanquish'd join'd promiscuous cries,
And shrilling shouts and dying groans arise;
With streaming blood the slippery fields are dyed,
And slaughter'd heroes swell the dreadful tide.
As torrents roll, increased by numerous rills,
With rage impetuous, down their echoing hills
Rush to the vales, and pour'd along the plain.
Roar through a thousand channels to the main:
The distant shepherd trembling hears the sound;
So mix both hosts, and so their cries rebound.
The bold Antilochus the slaughter led,
The first who struck a valiant Trojan dead:
At great Echepolus the lance arrives,
Razed his high crest, and through his helmet drives;
Warm'd in the brain the brazen weapon lies,
And shades eternal settle o'er his eyes.
So sinks a tower, that long assaults had stood
Of force and fire, its walls besmear'd with blood.
Him, the bold leader of the Abantian throng,(140)
Seized to despoil, and dragg'd the corpse along:
But while he strove to tug the _insert_ed dart,
Agenor's javelin reach'd the hero's heart.
His flank, unguarded by his ample shield,
Admits the lance: he falls, and spurns the field;
The nerves, unbraced, support his limbs no more;
The soul comes floating in a tide of gore.
Trojans and Greeks now gather round the slain;
The war renews, the warriors bleed again:
As o'er their prey rapacious wolves engage,
Man dies on man, and all is blood and rage.
In blooming youth fair Simoisius fell,
Sent by great Ajax to the shades of hell;
Fair Simoisius, whom his mother bore
Amid the flocks on silver Simois' shore:
The nymph descending from the hills of Ide,
To seek her parents on his flowery side,
Brought forth the babe, their common care and joy,
And thence from Simois named the lovely boy.
Short was his date! by dreadful Ajax slain,
He falls, and renders all their cares in vain!
So falls a poplar, that in watery ground
Raised high the head, with stately branches crown'd,
(Fell'd by some artist with his shining steel,
To shape the circle of the bending wheel,)
Cut down it lies, tall, smooth, and largely spread,
With all its beauteous honours on its head
There, left a subject to the wind and rain,
And scorch'd by suns, it withers on the plain
Thus pierced by Ajax, Simoisius lies
Stretch'd on the shore, and thus neglected dies.
At Ajax, Antiphus his javelin threw;
The pointed lance with erring fury flew,
And Leucus, loved by wise Ulysses, slew.
He drops the corpse of Simoisius slain,
And sinks a breathless carcase on the plain.
This saw Ulysses, and with grief enraged,
Strode where the foremost of the foes engaged;
Arm'd with his spear, he meditates the wound,
In act to throw; but cautious look'd around,
Struck at his sight the Trojans backward drew,
And trembling heard the javelin as it flew.
A chief stood nigh, who from Abydos came,
Old Priam's son, Democoon was his name.
The weapon entered close above his ear,
Cold through his temples glides the whizzing spear;(141)
With piercing shrieks the youth resigns his breath,
His eye-balls darken with the shades of death;
Ponderous he falls; his clanging arms resound,
And his broad buckler rings against the ground.
Seized with affright the boldest foes appear;
E'en godlike Hector seems himself to fear;
Slow he gave way, the rest tumultuous fled;
The Greeks with shouts press on, and spoil the dead:
But Phoebus now from Ilion's towering height
Shines forth reveal'd, and animates the fight.
"Trojans, be bold, and force with force oppose;
Your foaming steeds urge headlong on the foes!
Nor are their bodies rocks, nor ribb'd with steel;
Your weapons enter, and your strokes they feel.
Have ye forgot what seem'd your dread before?
The great, the fierce Achilles fights no more."
Apollo thus from Ilion's lofty towers,
Array'd in terrors, roused the Trojan powers:
While war's fierce goddess fires the Grecian foe,
And shouts and thunders in the fields below.
Then great Diores fell, by doom divine,
In vain his valour and illustrious line.
A broken rock the force of Pyrus threw,
(Who from cold Ænus led the Thracian crew,)(142)
Full on his ankle dropp'd the ponderous stone,
Burst the strong nerves, and crash'd the solid bone.
Supine he tumbles on the crimson sands,
Before his helpless friends, and native bands,
And spreads for aid his unavailing hands.
The foe rush'd furious as he pants for breath,
And through his navel drove the pointed death:
His gushing entrails smoked upon the ground,
And the warm life came issuing from the wound.
His lance bold Thoas at the conqueror sent,
Deep in his breast above the pap it went,
Amid the lungs was fix'd the winged wood,
And quivering in his heaving bosom stood:
Till from the dying chief, approaching near,
The Ætolian warrior tugg'd his weighty spear:
Then sudden waved his flaming falchion round,
And gash'd his belly with a ghastly wound;
The corpse now breathless on the bloody plain,
To spoil his arms the victor strove in vain;
The Thracian bands against the victor press'd,
A grove of lances glitter'd at his breast.
Stern Thoas, glaring with revengeful eyes,
In sullen fury slowly quits the prize.
Thus fell two heroes; one the pride of Thrace,
And one the leader of the Epeian race;
Death's sable shade at once o'ercast their eyes,
In dust the vanquish'd and the victor lies.
With copious slaughter all the fields are red,
And heap'd with growing mountains of the dead.
Had some brave chief this martial scene beheld,
By Pallas guarded through the dreadful field;
Might darts be bid to turn their points away,
And swords around him innocently play;
The war's whole art with wonder had he seen,
And counted heroes where he counted men.
So fought each host, with thirst of glory fired,
And crowds on crowds triumphantly expired.
[Illustration: Map of the Plain of Troy.]
Map of the Plain of Troy. 其时，帕拉丝·雅典娜已把力量和勇气
注入狄俄墨得斯的身躯，使他能以显赫的威势
出现在阿耳吉维人里，为自己争得巨大的荣光。
她点燃不知疲倦的火花，在他的盾牌和帽盔上，
像那颗缀点夏末的星辰，浸浴在俄开阿诺斯河里，
冉冉升起，明光烁烁，使群星为之失色。
就像这样，雅典娜燃起了火焰；在他的头顶和胸肩，
催励他奔向战场的中间，兵勇们麇聚冲杀的热点。
特洛伊人中，有一位雍贵的富人，达瑞斯，
赫法伊斯托斯的祭司，有两个儿子，
请熟诸般战式，菲勾斯和伊代俄斯。
他俩从队列里冲将出来，撇下众人，驾着战车，
朝着狄俄墨得斯扑去，而后者早已下车，徒步进逼。
双方相对而行，咄咄逼近；
菲勾斯首先掷出投影森长的枪矛，
枪尖擦过图丢斯之子的左肩，
不曾击中他的身体。随后，狄俄墨得斯
出枪回敬，铜尖没有白耗他的臂力，
捅入对手的胸脯，奶头之间，把他从马后打翻在地。
伊代俄斯纵腿下跳，丢弃了做工精美的战车。
不敢跨护在尸体两侧，保卫死去的兄弟。
然而，尽管如此，他仍然难逃幽黑的死亡，
若不是赫法伊斯托斯把他摄走，裹在黑雾里，救他一命，
从而使老人还有一子可盼，不致陷于绝望的凄境。
心胸豪壮的图丢斯的儿子赶走驭马，
交给他的伙伴，带回深旷的海船。
心胸豪壮的特洛伊人目睹达瑞斯的
两个儿子，一个逃跑，一个被打死在车旁，
无不沮丧心寒。其时，灰眼睛的雅典娜
伸手拉住勇莽的阿瑞斯，对他说道：
“阿瑞斯，阿瑞斯，杀人的精狂，沾染鲜血的屠夫，城堡的克星！
我们应让特洛伊人和阿开亚人自行征战，
宙斯当会决定荣誉的得主，给哪一方都行，你说呢？
我俩应可撒手不管，以回避父亲的盛怒。”
言罢，她引着勇莽的阿瑞斯离开战场，
尔后又让他坐在斯卡曼得罗斯河的沙岸。
与此同时，达东人击退了特洛伊战勇，每位首领
都杀死一个敌手。首先，阿伽门农，民众的王者，
把高大的俄底俄斯，咯利宗奈斯人的首领，撂下战车，
在他转身逃跑之际，枪矛击中脊背，
双胛之间，长驱直入，穿透了胸脯。
他随即倒地，轰然一声，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
伊多墨纽斯杀了法伊斯托斯，迈俄尼亚人波罗斯的儿子，
来自土地肥沃的塔耳奈。当他试图从马后
登车时，伊多墨纽斯，著名的枪手，
奋臂出击，粗长的枪矛捣人他的右肩，
把他捅下马车，可恨的黑暗夺走了他的生命。
伊多墨纽斯的随从们剥掉了法伊斯托斯的铠甲。
与此同时，阿特柔斯之子墨奈劳斯，用锋快的枪矛，
杀了斯特罗菲俄斯之子斯卡曼得里俄斯，出色的猎手，
善能追捕野兽的踪影。阿耳忒弥丝亲自教会他
猎杀的本领，各类走兽，衍生于高山大林的哺养。
然而，箭雨纷飞的阿耳忒弥丝此时却救他不得，
他那出类拔萃的投枪之术也帮不了自己的忙。
善使枪矛的墨奈劳斯，阿特柔斯之子，击中
撒腿跑在前头的敌手，枪矛从背后扎入，
打在两胛之间，长驱直入，穿透了胸脯。
他随即倒地，头脸朝下，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
墨里俄奈斯杀了菲瑞克洛斯，哈耳摩尼得斯之子忒克同
的儿郎，长着一双灵巧的手，善能制作各种精致复杂的
东西，作为帕拉丝·雅典娜最钟爱的凡人。
正是他，为亚历克山德罗斯建造了平稳匀称的
海船，导致灾难的航舟，给特洛伊人带来了
死亡——现在，也给他自己：对神的旨意，他一无所知。
墨里俄奈斯快步追赶，渐渐逼近，
出枪击中他的右臀，枪尖长驱直入，
从盆骨下穿过，刺入膀胱。
他双膝着地，厉声惨叫，死的迷雾把他团团围罩。
墨格斯杀了裴代俄斯，安忒诺耳之子，
尽管出于私生，美丽的塞阿诺却把他当做
亲子哺养，关怀备至，似取悦她的夫婿。
现在，夫琉斯之子，著名的枪手，咄咄逼近，
犀利的枪矛打断了后脑勺下的筋腱，
枪尖深扎进去，挨着上下齿层，撬掉了舌头。
裴代俄斯倒身泥尘，嘴里咬着冰凉的青铜。
欧鲁普洛斯，欧埃蒙之子，杀了高傲的多洛丕昂
之子、卓越的呼普塞诺耳，斯卡曼得罗斯
的祭司，受到家乡人民像对神一样的崇敬。
欧鲁普洛斯，欧埃蒙光荣的儿子，
追赶逃循中的敌手，挥剑砍在他的
肩上，利刃将手臂和身子分家，
臂膀滴着鲜血，掉在地上，殷红的死亡
和强有力的命运拢合了他的眼睛。
就这样，他们在激烈的战斗中冲杀，
但你却无法告知图丢斯之子在为谁而战，
是特洛伊人或是阿开亚人中的一员——
他在平原里横冲直撞，像冬日里的一条
泛滥的河流，汹涌的水头冲垮了堤坝，
坚固的河堤已挡不住水流的冲击，那一道道
卫墙，防护着果实累累的葡萄园，亦已刹不住它的势头，
宙斯的暴雨汇成滚滚的洪流，翻涌升腾，
荡毁了一处处精耕细作的田园。
就像这样，图丢斯之子打散了多支特洛伊人的
队伍；敌方尽管人多，但却挡不住他的进攻。
然而，潘达罗斯，鲁卡昂光荣的儿子，看着他
横扫平原，打烂了己方的队阵，
马上拉开弯翘的硬弓，对准图丢斯之子发射，
羽箭离弦，击中前冲而来的勇士，打在右肩上，
胸甲的虚处，凶狠的箭头深咬进去，
长驱直入，鲜血滴溅，湿染了胸衣。
鲁卡昂光荣的儿子放开嗓门，高声喊道：
“振作起来，心胸豪壮的特洛伊人，捶鞭骏马的勇士！
瞧，阿开亚人中最好的战勇已被我击中，吃着强劲的箭力；
我想此人危在旦夕，倘若真是王者
阿波罗，宙斯之子，催我从鲁基亚赶来，参加会战。”
他朗声说道，一番炫耀，却不知飞箭并没有射倒对手，
他只是退至战车和驭马近旁。
直身站立，对卡帕纽斯之子塞奈洛斯喊道：
“快过来，帕纽斯的好儿子，赶快下车，
替我拔出这枚歹毒的羽箭，从我的肩头！”
他言罢，塞奈洛斯从车上一跃而下，
站在他的身边，从肩上拔出利箭，动作干净利索，
带出如注的血流，湿透了松软的衫衣。
其时，呼啸战场的狄俄墨得斯亮开嗓门，高声作祷：
“听我说，阿特鲁托亲，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿，
如果你过去曾经出于厚爱，站在家父一边，在那
狂烈的搏杀中，那么，雅典娜，眼下就请你帮我实现我的企愿。
答应我，让他进入我的投程，让我宰了这个家伙！
此人趁我不备，发箭伤我，眼下又在大言不惭地吹擂，
说我已没有多少眼见日照的时光。”
他如此一番祈祷，帕拉丝·雅典娜听到了他的声音。
女神轻舒着他的臂膀，他的腿脚和双手，
站在他的身边，对他说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“鼓起勇气，狄俄墨得斯，去和特洛伊人拼战；
在你的胸腔里，我已注入乃父。
操使巨盾的车战者图丢斯的勇力，一位不屈不挠的
斗士。看，我已拨开在此之前一直蒙住你
双眼的迷雾，使你能辨识神和凡人的面。
这样，倘若眼下有一位不死的神祗置身此地，打算试探
你的勇力——记住了，切莫和他面对面地拼搏，
例外只有一个：倘若阿芙罗底忒，宙斯的女儿，
前来参战，你便可举起犀利的铜矛，给她捅出一个窟窿！”
言罢，灰眼睛的雅典娜离他而去，而图丢斯
之子则快步回返前排首领的队列——他早就
怒火满腔，渴望着和特洛伊人拼战。
现在，他挟着三倍于此的愤怒，像一头狮子，
跃过羊圈的栅栏，被一位牧人击伤，后者
正看护着毛层厚密的羊群，但却不曾致命，
倒是催发了它的横蛮，牧人无法把它赶走，
藏身庄院，丢下乱作一团的羊群，
羊儿堆成了垛子，一个压着一个——
兽狮怒气冲冲，蹬腿猛扑，跃出高高的栅栏。
就像这样，强有力的狄俄墨得斯怒不可遏，扑向特洛伊壮汉。
他杀了阿斯图努斯和呼培荣，民众的牧者，
一个死在青铜的枪尖下，打在奶头的上方，
另一个死在硕大的铜剑下，砍在肩边的
颈骨上，肩臂垂离，和脖子及背项分家。
他丢下二者，扑向阿巴斯和波鲁伊多斯，
年迈的释梦者欧鲁达马斯的两个儿郎。
然而，当二位离家出征之际，老人却没有
替他们释梦——强有力的狄俄墨得斯杀了他俩。
其后，他又盯上了法伊诺普斯的两个儿子，长得高大英武，
珊索斯和索昂——二位的父亲已迈人凄惨的暮年，
已不能续生子嗣，继承他的家产。
狄俄墨得斯当即杀了他们，夺走了两条性命，
他们心爱的东西，撇下年迈的父亲，悲痛
交加：老人再也见不到自己的儿子，从战场上
生还；远亲们将瓜分他的累聚，他的财产。
接着，他又杀了达耳达尼亚人普里阿摩斯的两个儿子，
同乘一辆战车，厄开蒙和克罗米俄斯。
像一头捕杀肥牛的狮子，逮住一头食草
树林的牧牛或小母牛，咬断它的脖子——
图丢斯之子，不管他俩的意愿，把他们
打下战车，凶狠异常，剥去他们的铠甲，
带过驭马，交给身边的伙伴，赶回自己的海船。
然而，埃内阿斯目睹了此人横闯队阵的情景，
冒着纷飞的投枪，穿行在战斗的人群，
寻觅着神一样的潘达罗斯。
他找到鲁卡昂的儿子，豪勇、强健的斗士，
走上前去，站在他的面前，喊道：
“潘达罗斯，你的弯弓呢，你的羽箭呢，
你的名箭手的声誉呢？你弓法娴熟，特洛伊人中找不到对手。
鲁基亚人中亦然——谁也不敢声称比你卓杰。
振作起来，对着宙斯举起你的双手，瞄准那个强壮的汉子，
不管他是谁人，引弦开弓——此人已给我们带来
深重的灾难，折断了许多源勇壮汉的膝腿。
如此莽烈，除非他是某位神祗，震怒于我们的疏忽，忽略了
某次献祭。神的愤怒我等如何消受得起？”
听罢这番话，鲁卡昂光荣的儿子答道：
“埃内阿斯，身披铜甲的特洛伊人的训导，
从一切方面来看，此人都像是图丢斯骠勇的儿子，
瞧他那面战盾，那帽盔上的孔眼，以及那对驭马的
模样。不过，他也可能是一位神祗，就此我却不敢断言。
倘若他是一个凡人，如我想像的那样，图丢斯
骠勇的儿子，如此怒霸战场，当非孤勇无助。他一定
得到某位神明的助佑，就在他的身边，双肩笼罩着迷雾，
拨偏了飞箭的落点，使之失去预期的精度。
我曾射出一枚羽箭，打在图丢斯之子的
右肩，深咬进胸甲的虚处，以为
已经把他射倒，送他去了哀多纽斯的冥府。
然而，我却没有把他放倒；此乃神的干扰，出于内心的震怒。
现在，我手头既无驭马，又没有可供登驾的战车，
虽说在鲁卡昂的房院里，停放着十一辆漂亮的
马车，甫出工房，簇新的成品，覆顶着
织毯，每辆车旁立站着一对
驭马，咀嚼着雪白的大麦和燕麦。
离开精工建造的府居前，年迈的枪手
鲁卡昂曾三番五次地嘱告，
让我带上驭马，登上战车，领着
特洛伊兵勇，奔赴激战的沙场。
但是，我却没有听从他的嘱告——否则，该有多好！
我留下了驭马——它们早已习惯于饱食槽头——
使它们不致困挤在人群簇拥的营地，忍饥挨饿。
就这样，我把它们留在家里，徒步来到特洛伊，
寄望于手中的兵器，使我一无所获的弓弩。
我曾放箭敌酋，他们中两位最好的战勇，
图丢斯之子和阿特柔斯之子，两箭都未曾虚发，
扎出淌流的鲜血，但结果只是催发了他们的愤怒。
由此看来，那天我真是运气不佳，从挂钉上取下
弯翘的硬弓，带着我的特洛伊人，来到迷人的
伊利昂，给卓越的赫克托耳送来欢乐。
倘若我还能生还故里，重见
我的乡土、我的妻子和宽敞的、顶面高耸的房居，那么
让某个陌生人当即砍下我的脑袋，从我的肩头，
要是我不亲手拧断这把弯弓，把它丢进熊熊燃烧的
柴火——我把它带在身边，像一阵无用的清风。”
听罢这番话，埃内阿斯，特洛伊人的首领，答道。
“不要说了，在你我驾起驭马和战车，
拿着武器，面对面地和那个人比试打斗之前，
局势断难改观。来吧，
跳上我的马车，看看特洛伊的
马种，看看它们如何熟悉自己的平原，
或追进，或避退，行动自如。
这对驭马会把我们平安地带回城里，倘若
宙斯将再次把荣誉送交在图丢斯之子狄俄墨得斯的手中。
赶快，抓起马鞭和闪亮的
缰绳；我将跳下马车，投入战斗！
不然，由我掌驾马车，你去对付那个壮勇。”
听罢这番话，鲁卡昂光荣的儿子答道：
“还是由你执缰，埃内阿斯，使唤你的驭马。
万一我们打不过图丢斯之子，不得不败退时，
由熟悉的人制掌，驭马会把弯翘的战车拉得更快更稳。
我担心它们，面对心胸豪壮的图丢斯之子的进攻，
会带着惊恐撒野，在听不到你的指令的时候，
不愿把我们拉出战场；我担心此人会扑向我们，
杀了我俩，赶走风快的骏马。所以，
还是由你自己来赶，你的快马和你的车辆。
让他冲上来吧，由我来对付，用这枝犀利的投枪！”
言罢，两人上了精工制作的马车，驱赶着
捷蹄的快马，挟着狂怒，朝着图丢斯之子冲去。
塞奈洛斯，卡帕纽斯光荣的儿子，看见了他们，
当即通报图丢斯之子，用长了翅膀的话语：
“图丢斯之子，悦我心胸的朋友，看呀！
我看见两位强健的勇士，迫不及待地要和你拼斗。
他俩力大如牛，一位是弓艺精湛的
潘达罗斯，以鲁卡昂之子标榜，
另一位是埃内阿斯，自称是家勇的
安基塞斯的儿郎，而他的母亲是阿芙罗底忒。
来吧，让我们赶着马车撤离，不要拼战
前排的壮勇——否则，你会送掉自己的性命。”
听罢这番话，强壮的狄俄墨得斯恶狠狠地盯着他，答道：
“不要谈论退却，我不会听从你的劝告，
绝对不会！临阵逃脱，畏缩不前，
不是我的品行——我仍然浑身是劲！
我不想登车逃遁，我将徒步向前，
迎战敌手。帕拉斯·雅典娜不会让我逃离。
至于这两个人，捷蹄的快马绝不会把他们
”双双带走，虽然有一个会从我们枪下逃生。
我还有一事嘱告，你要牢记心中。
倘若多谋善断的雅典娜让我争得荣誉，
杀了他俩，你要勒住我们的快马，
把马缰紧系于车杆之上；然后，
别忘了，冲向埃内阿斯的驭马，
把它们赶离特洛伊兵壮，拢往胫甲坚固的阿开亚人的队阵。
沉雷远播的宙斯曾将这个马种送给特罗斯，
作为带走其子你努墨得斯的口报，
所以，这些良马是晨曦和阳光下最好的骏足。
民众的王者安基塞斯偷偷地行接过马种，
瞒着劳墨冬，将母马引入它们的胯下，
为自己的家院一气增添了三对名种。
他自留四匹，喂养在马厩里，而把
这对给了埃内阿斯，马蹄踢打出镇人的骁莽。
若能夺得这对灵驹，你我将争得莫大的荣光。”
就这样，他俩你来我往，一番说告，与此同时，
他们的两位对手业已咄咄逼近，驾着捷蹄的快马。
鲁卡昂英武的儿子率先对狄俄墨得斯嚷道：
“骠勇犟悍的斗士，高傲的图丢斯的儿子，
既然我那凶狠的快箭没有把你射倒，
现在，我倒要看看，我的投枪是否能够奏效！”
言罢，他持平落影森长的枪矛，奋臂投掷，
扎入图丢斯之子的战盾，疾飞的
枪尖穿透盾面，切入胸甲，
鲁卡昂英武的儿子放开嗓门，高声喊道：
“你被击中了，被我捅穿了肚皮！我想，
你已不久人事；你给了我巨大的荣光！”
强有力的狄俄墨得斯开口答话，面不改色：
“你打偏了，没有击中我！相反，我要告诉你们，
你俩脱身无门，将倒死战场——不是你，便是他——
用鲜血喂饱战神、从盾牌后杀砍的阿瑞斯的胃肠”
言罢，他奋臂投掷，帕拉丝·雅典娜制导着枪矛，
击中他的鼻子，眼睛的近旁，打断了雪白的牙齿，
坚硬的铜矛连根铲去舌头，
矛尖从颌骨下夺路出闯。
他翻身倒出战车，铠甲在身上铿锵作响——
锃光闪亮的甲衣——两匹迅捷的快马
扬起前蹄，闪避一旁；他的生命和勇力碎散飘荡。
其时，埃内阿斯腾身人地，带着盾牌和粗长的枪矛，
惟恐阿开亚人拖走遗体，以这种或那种方式，
跨站在尸体上，像一头高傲的狮子，坚信自己的勇力，
挺着枪矛，携着溜圆的战盾，
气势汹汹，决心放倒任何敢于近前的敌人，
发出粗野的喊叫。其时，图丢斯之子抱起
石头，一块巨大的顽石，当今之人，即便站出两个，
也动它不得，而他却仅凭一己之力，轻松地把石块高举过头。
他奋力投掷，击中埃内阿斯的腿股——髋骨
由此内伸，和盆骨相连，人称“杯子”的地方。
石块砸碎髋骨，打断了两边的筋腱，
粗砺的棱角把皮肤往后撕裂，勇士
被迫曲腿跪地，撑出粗壮的大手，单臂吃受
身体的重力，黑色的夜雾蒙住了他的双眼。
其时，他或许会死在现场，民众的王者埃内阿斯，
要不是宙斯之女阿芙罗底忒眼快——女神
是他的母亲，把他生给了牧牛草场的安基塞斯。
她伸出雪白的双臂，轻轻挽起心爱的儿子，
甩出闪亮的裙袍，只用一个折片，遮护着他的身躯，
挡住横飞的枪械，以恐某个达奈壮勇，驾着奔驰的马车，
用铜矛破开他的胸膛，夺走他的生命。
就这样，她把心爱的儿子抢出战场；
然而，卡帕纽斯之子塞奈洛斯没有忘记
啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯的命令，
在回避混战的地点勒住
风快的驭马，把缰绳系上车杆，
然后直奔埃内阿斯长鬃飘洒的骏马，
把它们赶离特洛伊兵壮，拢回胫甲坚固的阿开亚人的队阵，
交给德伊普洛斯——他的挚友，同龄人中
最受他敬重的一位，因为他俩心心相印——
由他赶往深旷的海船。与此同时，塞奈洛斯
跨上马车，抓起闪亮的缰绳，
驾着蹄腿强健的驭马，朝着图丢斯之子
飞奔，后者正奋力追赶库普里丝[●]，手提无情的铜矛，
●库普里丝：即阿芙罗底忒，在塞浦路斯（即库普罗斯，Kupros）备受尊崇。
心知此神懦弱，不同于那些
为凡人编排战阵的神祗，既不是
雅典娜，也不是厄努娥，荡劫城堡的神明。
图丢斯之子紧追不舍，穿过大队的人群，赶上了她，
猛扑上去，心胸豪壮的勇士
投出犀利的枪矛，直指女神柔软的臂腕。
铜尖穿过典雅女神精心织制的。
永不败坏的裙袍，毁裂了皮肤，
位于掌腕之间，放出涓涓滴淌的神血，
一种灵液，环流在幸福的神祗身上，他们的脉管里。
他们不吃面包，也不喝闪亮的醇酒，
故而没有血液——凡人称他们长生不老。
她尖叫一声，丢下臂中的儿子，
被福伊波斯·阿波罗伸手抱过，
裹在黑色的雾团里，以恐某个达奈壮勇，乘驾奔驰的马车，
用铜矛破开他的胸膛，夺走他的生命。
其时，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯冲着她嚷道：
“避开战争和厮杀，宙斯的女儿。
你把懦弱的女子引入歧途，如此作为，难道还不够意思？
怎么，还想留恋战场，对不？眼下，我敢说，
哪怕只要听到战争的风声。你就会吓得直打哆嗦！”
图丢斯之子一顿揶揄，女神遑遑离去，带着钻心的疼痛；
追风的伊里丝牵着她的手，将她引出
战场，伤痛阵阵，秀亮的皮肤变得昏黄惨淡。
其时，她发现勇莽的阿瑞斯，正等在战地的左前方，
枪矛靠着云端，伴随着他的快马。
她屈膝下跪，对着亲爱的兄弟，
诚恳祈求，借用系戴金笼辔的骏马：
“亲爱的兄弟，救救我，让我用你的马车，
跑回俄林波斯山脉，不死的神们居住的地方。
我已受伤，疼痛难忍，遭自一位凡人的枪矛，
图丢斯之子——这小子眼下甚至敢和父亲宙斯打斗！”
听罢这番话，阿瑞斯让出了系戴金笼辔的驭马。
忍着钻心的疼痛，女神登上马车，
伊里丝亦踏上车板，站在她的身边，抓起缰绳，
扬鞭催马，神驹飞扑向前，不带半点勉强。
她们回到峭峻的俄林波斯，神的家居，
捷足追风的伊里丝勒住奔马，
宽出轭套，拿过装着仙料的食槽，放在它们面前。
闪亮的阿基罗底忒扑倒在母亲狄娥奈的
膝腿上，后者将女儿搂进怀里，
轻轻抚摸，出声呼唤，说道：
“是谁，我的孩子，是天神中的哪一个，胡作非为，把你
弄成这个样子，仿佛你是个被抓现场的歹徒？”
爱笑的阿芙罗底忒开口答道：
“图丢斯之子狄俄墨得斯刺伤了我，一位心志高傲的勇士，
在我抱着爱子离开战场之际，
埃内阿斯，世间我最钟爱的凡人。
现在，进行这场可怕战争的已不再是特洛伊人和阿开亚兵众
——达奈人已向不死的神祗开战！”
听罢这番话，狄娥奈，天界秀美的女神，答道：
“耐心些，我的孩子，忍受着点，虽然你很悲痛。
家住俄林波斯的神祗，当我们互相以痛苦
相扰时，吃过凡人苦头的何止一二？
当强有力的厄菲阿尔忒斯和俄托斯，阿洛欧斯的两个儿子，
用锁链把阿瑞斯捆绑起来时，后者不得不忍受这种折磨，
在青铜的大锅里，带着长链，憋了十三个月，
若不是有幸获救，嗜战不厌的阿瑞斯可能熬不过那次
愁难——两位魔怪的后母、美貌的厄里波娅
给赫耳墨斯捎去口信，后者把阿瑞斯盗出铜锅，
气息奄奄；无情的铁链已把他箍损到崩溃的边缘。
安菲特鲁昂强有力的儿子曾射中赫拉的
右胸，用一枚带着三枝倒勾的利箭，
伤痛钻心，难以弥消。和别的受害者
一样，高大魁伟的哀地斯亦不得不忍受箭伤的折磨——
在普洛斯，在死人堆里，这同一个凡人，带埃吉斯的宙斯的
儿子，开弓放箭，使他饱尝了苦痛。
哀地斯跑上巍巍的俄林波斯，宙斯的家府，
带着刺骨钻心的伤痛，感觉一片凄寒——
箭头深扎进宽厚的肩膀，心中填满了哀愁。
然而，派厄昂为他敷上镇痛的药物，
治愈了箭伤：此君不是会死的凡人。
这便是勇莽的赫拉克勒斯，出手凶猛，全然不顾闯下的灾祸，
拉开手中的弯弓，射伤家居俄林波斯的仙神！
至于你说的那个人，他因受灰眼睛女神雅典娜的驱使，
前来和你作对——图丢斯之子，可怜的傻瓜，心里全然不知，
不知斗胆击打神明的凡人，不会有长久的人生。
即便能生返家园，在战争和痛苦的搏杀结束之后，
他的孩子也不会围聚膝前，把他迎进家门。
所以，尽管图丢斯之子十分强健，我要劝他小心在意：
恐怕会有某个比他更强健的战勇，前来和他交手，
免得埃吉阿蕾娅，阿德拉斯托斯聪慧的女儿，
一位壮实的妻子，梦中醒来，哭悼不已，唤过家中
亲近的伙伴，思盼阿开亚人中最好的男子，狄俄墨得斯，
她的婚合夫婿，调驯烈马的壮勇。”
言罢，她用手抹去女儿臂上的灵液，
平愈了手腕上的伤口，剧烈的伤痛顿时烟消云散。
然而，赫拉和雅典娜在一旁看得真切，
用讽刺的口吻，对克罗诺斯之子谑言。
灰眼睛女神雅典娜首先开口，说道：
“父亲宙斯，倘若我斗胆作个猜测，你不会生气吧？
事情肯定是这样的：我们的库普里丝挑引起
某个阿开亚女子的情爱，追求女神热切钟爱的特洛伊人，
于是，她抓住阿开亚女子漂亮的裙袍。
被金针的尖头划破了鲜嫩的手腕。”
雅典娜如此一番嘲讽，神和人的父亲喜笑颜开，
让金色的阿芙罗底忒走近他的身边，说道：
“我的孩子，征战沙场不是你的事情。你还是
操持你的事务，婚娶姻合的蜜甜，把战争
诸事留给别的神祗，留给雅典娜和突莽的阿瑞斯操办。”
神们如此这般地逗笑攀谈；与此同时，
地面上，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯正朝着埃内阿斯冲去，
虽说明知阿波罗已亲自手护着他的敌人，
他亦毫不退却，哪怕面对这位强有力的弓神，而是
勇往直前，试图杀了埃内阿斯，剥下光荣的铠甲。
一连三次，他发疯似地冲上前去，意欲扑杀，
一连三次，阿波罗将那面闪亮的盾牌打到一边；
但是，当他发起第四次冲锋，像一位出凡的超人，
远射手阿波罗开口呵责，发出惊人心魂的喊声：
“莫要胡来，图丢斯之子，给我乖乖地退回去！不要再
痴心妄想，试图和神明攀比高低！神人从不
同属一个族类，神们永生不灭，凡人的腿脚离不开泥尘。”
听罢这番话，图丢斯之子开始退却，但只是让出那么几步，
以避开远射手阿波罗的盛怒。于是，
射手将埃内阿斯带出鏖战的人群，
停放在裴耳伽摩斯的一个神圣的去处，他自己的神庙。
在一个巨大而神秘的房间，莱托和箭雨纷飞的
阿芙罗底忒治愈了他的伤痛，使他恢复了平时的风采。
其时，阿波罗，银弓之神，化作
埃内阿斯的形貌，身穿一模一样的铠甲。
围绕着这个形象，特洛伊人和卓越的阿开亚人
互相冲杀，击打着溜圆的、遮护前胸的
牛皮盾面，击打着穗条飘舞的护身的皮张。
福伊波斯·阿波罗对勇莽的阿瑞斯喊道：
“阿瑞斯，阿瑞斯，杀人的精狂，沾染鲜血的屠夫，城堡的克星！
能否马上冲上前去，把那个人拖出战场？
拖出图丢斯之子，这家伙眼下甚至敢和父亲宙斯打斗！
就在刚才，他还刺伤了库普里丝的手腕，
然后，像个出凡的超人，甚至对着我扑来！”
言罢，他独自坐到裴耳伽摩斯的顶面，
而粗莽的阿瑞斯则来到特洛伊人的队伍，激励他们继续战斗，
以斯拉凯王者的模样，捷足的阿卡马斯，
敦促普里阿摩斯的儿子，神祗哺育的王家子弟，奋勇向前：
“你们，神祗钟爱的王者普里阿摩斯的儿子，
阿开亚人正在屠宰你们的部属，你们还打算等待多久？
等他们打到坚固的城门口吗？埃内阿斯
已经倒下，我们敬他如同对赫克托耳一般，
是的，埃内阿斯，心志豪莽的安基塞斯的儿子。
来吧，让我们杀人纷乱的战场，搭救骁勇的伙伴！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
其时，萨耳裴冬开口发话，数落起卓越的赫克托耳：
“你过去的勇气，赫克托耳，如今何处去也？
你曾夸口，说是没有众人，没有友军，你就可以
守住城市，仅凭你的兄弟和姐妹夫们的帮衬。
现在，这此人呢？我怎么看不见他们的踪影？
他们抖嗦不前，像围着狮子的猎狗，
而我们，你的盟军，却在舍命抗争。
作为你的盟友，我从遥远的地方赶来，
从远方的鲁基亚，打着漩涡的珊索斯河畔，
撇下我的妻房和尚是婴孩的儿郎，
撇下丰广的家产，贫穷的邻人为之唾涎欲滴和富有。
然而，即便如此，我带来了鲁基亚兵勇，自己亦抖擞精神，
奋战敌手，虽然阿开亚人在此
既夺不到我的财产，也赶不走我的羊牛。
但是你，你只是站在这里，甚至连声命令都不下。
为何不让你的部下站稳脚跟，为保卫他们的妻子，奋勇拼搏？
小心，不要掉人苦斗的坑穴，广收一切的织网，
被你的敌人兜走，成为他们的俘获，他们的战礼——
用不了多久，这帮人将荡毁你的墙垣坚固的城防！
不要忘却你的责职，不管是白天，还是黑夜，
恳求声名遐迩的友军，恳求友军的首领，求他们
英勇不屈地战斗，以抵消他们对你的责辱。”
萨耳裴冬的话语刺痛了赫克托耳的心胸，
他当即行动，跳下马车，双脚着地，全副武装。
挥舞着一对锋快的枪矛，穿巡在全军的每一支队伍，
催励人们拼杀，推起恐怖的战争狂潮。
士兵们鼓起勇气，昂首面对阿开亚兵勇，
但后者以密集的编队作战，一步也不退让。
正如季风扫过神圣的麦场，吹散了
簸扬而起的壳片，而金发的黛墨忒耳
正借着风势剔分颗粒和壳袜，
皮袜堆积，漂白了地表。就像这样，
马蹄卷起纷扬的泥尘，把阿开亚人扑洒得
全身灰白，抹过他们的脸面，直上铜色的天穹——
两军再度开战，车轮转回到拼搏的轨道。
他们使出双臂的力量，勇莽的阿瑞斯
帮佑着特洛伊人，在战场上布起浓黑的夜雾，
活跃在每一个角落，执行着金剑王
福伊波斯·阿波罗的命令，后者在发现
达奈人的护神帕拉丝·雅典娜
离开战场后，命他催发特洛伊人的凶烈。
从那间神秘、库藏丰盈的房室，阿波罗送回
埃内阿斯，把勇力注入兵士牧者的心胸。
埃内阿斯站在伙伴们中间，后者高兴地见到
他的回归，仍然活着，安然无恙，
浑身焕发出拼战的英武。然而，他们没有发问，
即将来临的战斗不允许他们这么从容——神们催使他们投入
新的格战，银弓之神，屠人的阿瑞斯，还有争斗，她的愤怒没有
罢息的时候。
在战场的另一方，两位埃阿斯、俄底修斯和
狄俄墨得斯督励着达奈人战斗，
心中全然不怕特洛伊人的力量和强攻，
坚守着自己的阵地，像被克罗诺斯之子滞阻的
云朵，在一个无风的日子，凝留在高山的峰巅，
纹丝不动——强有力的北风已进入梦乡，还有他的
那帮伙伴；要是让他们呼啸着从高空
冲扫而下，强劲的风力足以推散浓黑的云层。
就像这样，达奈人死死顶住特洛伊人的进击，毫不退让。
阿特柔斯之子穿行在队伍里，不断地发出命令：
“拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们！抖擞精神，
不要让伙伴们耻笑，在这你死我活的拼搏中！
如果大家都能以此相诫，更多的人方能避死得生；
但若撒腿逃跑，那么一切都将抛空：我们的防御，我们所要的
光荣！”
言罢，他迅速投枪，击倒前排中的一位首领，
代科昂，心胸豪壮的埃内阿斯的伙伴，
裴耳伽索斯之子，特洛伊人敬他就像对普里阿摩斯
的儿子，因他总是毫不犹豫地介入前排的战斗。
强有力的阿伽门农投枪击中他的盾牌，
铜尖冲破阻挡，把面里一起透穿，
捅开腰带，深扎进他的肚腹。
他随即倒地，轰然一声，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
战场上，埃内阿斯杀了达奈人的两位首领，
狄俄克勒斯之子，俄耳西洛科斯和克瑞松，
其父居家菲莱，坚固的城堡，
资财丰足，阿尔菲俄斯河的后代，
宽阔的水面流经普利亚人的地面，
生一子，名俄耳提洛科斯，作为统领众多子民的王者。
俄耳提洛科斯生子狄俄克勒斯，心胸豪壮的统领，
后者生养了两个儿子，俄耳西洛科斯和
克瑞松，孪生双胞，精通各种战式的壮勇。
二位长大成人，随同阿耳吉维联军，
乘坐乌黑的海船，来到伊利昂地面，骏马的故乡，
为阿特柔斯的两个儿子，阿伽门农和墨奈劳斯，
争回光荣。现在，幽黑的死亡结果了他俩的人生。
像山脊上的两头尚未成年的狮子，
母狮把它们养大在昏黑的深山老林，
它们扑杀牛群和肥羊，
涂炭牧人的庄院，直至翻身倒地，
死在牧人手中，锐利的铜枪下。
就像这样，两位壮勇倒死在埃内阿斯手下，
宛如两棵被伐的巨松，撞倒在地上。
二位倒下后，嗜战的墨奈劳斯心生怜悯，
从前排首领中大步赶出，头顶锃亮的铜盔，
挥舞着枪矛，阿瑞斯的狂怒驱他向前——
阿瑞斯企望着让他倒死在埃内阿斯的枪尖。
但是，安提洛科斯，心胸豪壮的奈斯托耳之子，看着他冲出
人群，大步穿过前排的首领，替这位兵士的牧者担心，
惟恐朋友受到伤损，使众人的苦战半途而废。
所以，当埃内阿斯和墨奈劳斯举起锋快的投枪，
面对面地摆开架势，急不可待地准备厮杀时，
安提洛科斯赶至兵士牧者的身边，肩并肩地站在一起；
埃内阿斯眼见两人联手攻他，开始
移步退却，虽然他是一位迅捷的战勇。
两人趁机拖起尸体，回到阿开亚人的队阵，
把倒霉的俩兄弟交给己方的伙伴，
转身重返前排的战斗。
激战中，他们杀了普莱墨奈斯，阿瑞斯一样勇莽的斗士，
帕夫拉戈尼亚盾牌兵的首领，一群心胸豪壮的兵勇。
当他站在那里时，墨奈劳斯，阿特柔斯之子，
著名的枪手，出手捅刺，扎打在锁骨上。
与此同时，安提洛科斯击倒了墨冬，他的驭手和
随从，阿屯尼俄斯骁勇的儿子——正赶着
迅捷的马车——用一块石头，砸在手肘上，嵌着
雪白象牙的缰绳从指间滑出，掉落灰蒙蒙的泥尘；
安提洛科斯猛扑过去，将铜剑送进额边的穴眼。
慕冬喘着粗气，从精固的战车上扑倒，
头脸朝下，脖子和双肩扎入泥尘，
持续了好些时间——沙地松软，此乃他的福气，
直到自己的驭马把他往下践踏——
安提洛科斯挥动鞭子，把它们赶往阿开亚人的队阵。
看着他们穿行在队伍里，赫克托耳冲跑过去，
喊声如雷，身后跟着一队队特洛伊人强大的
战斗群伍。阿瑞斯，还有女神厄努娥，率领着他们；
女神带着凶残的混战，无情的仇杀，
阿瑞斯则挥舞硕大的枪矛，
奔走在赫克托耳身边，时而居前，时而殿后。
目睹阿瑞斯的出现，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯吓得浑身
发抖，像一个穿越大平原的路人，孤身无援，
停立在一条奔腾入海、水流湍急的大河边，
望着咆哮的河水，翻滚的白浪，吓得怯步后退。
就像这样，图丢斯之子移步退却，对着伙伴们喊道：
“朋友们，我们常常惊慕光荣的赫克托耳，
以为他是个上好的枪手，一位豪猛的战勇，
却不知他的身边总有某位神祗，替他挡开死亡；
现在，阿瑞斯正和他走在一起，以凡人的模样。
后撤吧，是时候了，但要面对特洛伊人，倒退着
回走——不要心血来潮，和神明争斗！”
言罢，特洛伊人已冲逼到他们眼前。
赫克托耳放倒了两位壮勇，同乘一辆战车，
精于搏战的安基阿洛斯和墨奈塞斯。
二者倒地后，忒拉蒙之子、高大魁伟的埃阿斯心生怜悯，
跨步近逼，投出闪亮的枪矛，击中
安菲俄斯，塞拉戈斯之子，来自派索斯，
家产丰厚，谷地广袤，但命运使他
成为普里阿摩斯和他的儿子们的盟友。
现在，忒拉蒙之子投枪捅穿他的腰带，
投影森长的枪矛扎在小肚上；
他随即倒地，轰然一声。闪光的埃阿斯赶上前去，
抢剥铠甲；特洛伊人投出雨点般密集的枪矛，
犀利的铜尖闪着烁烁的光芒，硕大的皮盾吃受了众多的投镖。
他用脚跟蹬住死者的胸膛，拔出自己的
铜枪，但却无法抢剥璀璨的铠甲，从
对手的肩头——投枪铺天而来，打得他连连后退。此外，
他亦害怕高傲的特洛伊战勇已经形成的强有力的圈围，
他们人多势众，刚勇暴烈，手握粗长的枪矛，
把他捅离遗体，尽管他强劲有力，雄勃高傲，
逼得他节节后退，步履踉跄。
就这样，勇士们煎熬在你死我活的战场上。
其时，赫拉克勒斯之子，高大、强健的特勒波勒摩斯，
在强有力的命运的驱使下，冲向神一样的萨耳裴冬。
两人迎面而行。咄咄逼近，
一位是汇聚乌云的宙斯之子，另一位是宙斯的孙辈。
特勒波勒摩斯首先开口讽偷，喊道：
“萨耳裴冬，鲁基亚人的训导，为何
缩手缩脚，像个初上战场的兵娃？
人说你是带埃吉斯的宙斯的儿子，他们不都是
骗子吗？事实上，和宙斯的其他孩子们相比——
他们都是我等的前辈——你简直算不得什么。
不是吗？想想强健的赫拉克勒斯，人们怎样把他夸耀，
那是我的父亲，骠勇刚强，有着狮子般的胆量。
他曾来过此地，为了讨得劳墨冬的骏马，
只带六条海船，少量的精壮；然而，
他们攻破城堡，荡劫了整个城区。
相比之下，你是个十足的懦夫；你的人正连死带伤。
不错，你从鲁基亚赶来，但是，告诉你，
你帮不了特洛伊人的忙，尽管也算个强健的英壮；
你将倒在我的手下，敲响通往哀地斯的大门！”
听罢这番话，鲁基亚人的王者萨耳裴冬答道：
“是的，特勒波勒摩斯，赫克托耳确曾荡平过神圣的伊利昂，
由于劳墨冬的愚蠢，这个高傲的汉子，
用恶言回报赫克托耳的善意，
拒不让他带走他打老远赶来索取的骏马。
告诉你，从我的手中，你只能得到死亡
和乌黑的毁灭；你将倒在我的枪下，你会
给我送来光荣，而把自己的灵魂交付驾驭名驹的死神！”
听罢此番回咒，特勒波勒摩斯
举起(木岑)木杆的枪矛，两人在同一个瞬间投出
粗长的飞镖。萨耳裴冬击中对手的
脖项，枪尖挟着苦痛，切断喉管，
黑沉沉的迷雾蒙住了他的眼睛。与此同时，
特勒波勒摩斯的长枪亦击中萨耳裴冬，
打在左腿上，发疯似地往里钻咬，
擦刮着腿骨，但他的父亲替他挡开了死亡。
卓著的伙伴们架着神一样的萨耳裴冬
撤出战斗，后者拖着长长的铜枪，痛得
直不起腰背——急忙中，谁也没有意识到，
亦没有想到从他的腿上拔出枪矛，
以便让他直身站立。伙伴们护持着壮士行进，举步艰难。
在战场的另一边，胫甲坚固的阿开亚人抬着特勒波勒斯
退出战斗；卓越的俄底修斯，坚忍的战勇，
眼见此番景状，心中升起搏战的激情。
他在权衡斟酌两个念头，在他的心魂里：
是先去追击炸响雷的宙斯之子，
还是继续杀死更多的鲁基亚兵壮？
然而，由于心志豪莽的俄底修斯注定
不该杀死宙斯强有力的儿子，用犀利的铜矛，所以，
雅典娜将他的狂怒引往鲁基亚英壮。
他杀了科伊拉诺耳、克罗米俄斯和阿拉斯托耳，杀了
哈利俄斯、阿尔康德罗斯以及普鲁塔尼斯和诺厄蒙。
卓越的俄底修斯一定还会杀死更多的鲁基亚人，
若不是高大的赫克托耳，头顶闪亮的战盔，很快发现了他的
行踪，大步穿行在前排壮勇的队列，铜盔闪着晶亮的寒光
给达奈人带来了恐慌。但宙斯之子萨耳裴冬
却高兴地看着他的到来，用悲凄的语调恳求道：
‘普里阿摩斯之子，不要把我丢在这里，让达奈人
活剥；保护我！我已剩时不多——我将
死在你的城里，不能回返
我的家园，我的故乡，带去回归的
愉悦，给心爱的妻子和尚是婴孩的儿郎。”
但是，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳没有回答他的恳求，
而是大步冲走，急如星火，一心想着
打退阿耳吉维人的进攻，杀死成群的战勇。
然而，萨耳裴冬卓越的伙伴们把神一样的勇士
放躺在一棵枝叶茂密的橡树下，带埃吉斯的宙斯的圣物；
强有力的裴拉工，他的亲密伴友，
用力顶出(木岑)木的枪杆，从他腿上的伤口。
命息离他而去，迷雾封住了他的眼睛，
但他复又开始呼吸，强劲的北风
吹回了他在剧痛中喘吐出去的生命。
然而，面对阿瑞斯和身披铜甲的赫克托耳的攻势，
阿耳吉维人没有掉转身子，跑回乌黑的海船，
但也没有进行拼死的抗争，而是——眼见阿瑞斯
领着特洛伊人猛冲——一步步地撤守回让。
谁个最先死在普里阿摩斯之子赫克托耳和
披裹青铜的阿瑞斯手里？谁个最后被他们送命？
神一样的丢斯拉斯第一个丧命，接着是俄瑞斯忒斯，驭马的
能手，特瑞科斯，来自埃托利亚的枪勇，还有俄伊诺毛斯。
赫勒诺斯，俄伊诺普斯之子，以及腰带闪亮的
俄瑞斯比俄斯，家住呼勒，总是惦念着自己的财富，
土地伸延在开菲西亚湖畔；在家居的邻旁，
还住着他的波伊俄提亚同胞，占据着那片肥沃的平原。
其时，白臂女神赫拉发现他们
在激战中痛杀阿耳吉维英壮，马上
指令雅典娜，用长了翅膀的话语：
“真是一场灾难，阿特鲁托奈，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿！
我们曾答应墨奈劳斯，让他在荡劫墙垣精固的
伊利昂后启程返航；所以，要是容让狠毒的阿瑞斯，
任他如此凶暴狂虐，我们的允诺不就成了无用的清风一样？
来吧，让我们敞开自己的心房，拥抱战斗的激狂！”
赫拉言罢，灰眼睛女神雅典娜谨遵不违。
其时，赫拉，神界的女王，强有力的克罗诺斯的
女儿，前往整套系戴金笼辔的骏马，
而赫蓓则出手迅捷，把滚圆的轮子装上马车，每个车轮
由八根条辐支撑，青铜铸就，一边一个，装在铁制的轴干上。
轮缘取料永不败坏的黄金，外沿镶着
青铜，一轮坚实的滚圈——看了让人惊赞不已。
银质的轮毂围转在车的两边，
车身上紧贴着一片片黄金和
白银，由两根杆条拱围，
车辕闪着纯银的光亮；在它的尽头
赫蓓绑上华丽的金轭架，
系牢了灿烂的金胸带；赫拉牵过捷蹄的骏马，套入
轭架，带着狂烈的渴望，渴望投入战斗，冲入杀声震天的疆场。
其时，雅典娜，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿，
在父亲的门槛边脱去舒适的裙袍，
织工精巧，由他亲手制作，
穿上汇聚乌云的宙斯的衫套，
扣上自己的铠甲，准备迎接惨烈的战斗。
她把埃吉斯挎上肩头，飘着穗带，
摇撼出恐怖；在它的围沿，像一个花冠，停驻着骚乱，
里面是争斗、力量和冷冻心血的攻战，
中间显现出魔怪戈耳工模样可怕的头颅，
看了让人不寒而栗——带埃吉斯的宙斯的兆物。
雅典娜戴上金铸的盔盖，顶着两支硬角，
四个突结，盔面上铸着一百座城镇的战勇。
女神踏上火红的战车，抓起一杆枪矛，
粗长、硕大、沉重，用以荡扫地面上战斗的
群伍，强力大神的女儿怒目以对的军阵。
赫拉迅速起鞭策马，时点看守的
天门自动敞开，隆隆作响——
她们把守着俄林波斯和辽阔的天空，
拨开或关合浓密的云雾。
穿过天门，她俩一路疾驰，快马加鞭，
发现克罗诺斯之子，正离着众神，
独自坐在山脊耸叠的俄林波斯的峰巅。
白臂女神赫拉勒住奔马，
对克罗诺斯之子、至高无上的宙斯问道：
“父亲宙斯，瞧这个横霸人间的阿瑞斯，杀死了这么多
骠健的阿开亚战勇，毫无理由，不顾体统，
只是为了让我伤心。对他的作为，你，你不感到愤怒吗？此外，
库普里丝和银弓手阿波罗挑起了阿瑞斯的杀性——这个疯子，
他哪里知道何为公正——此时正乐滋滋地闲坐观望。
父亲宙斯，倘若我去狠狠地揍他，
并把他赶出战场，你会生气吗？”
听罢这番话，神和人的父亲答道：
“放手干去吧，交给掠劫者的福信雅典娜操办；
惩治阿瑞斯，她比谁都在行。”
宙斯言罢，白臂女神赫拉谨遵不违，
举鞭策马，后者飞扑向前，不带半点勉强，
穿行在大地和多星的天空之间。
你可坐上高高的了望点，注视酒蓝色的
洋面，极目眺望地平线上濛濛的水雾——
如此遥远的距离，高声嘶喊的神马一个猛扑即可抵达。
转眼之间，它们来到特洛伊平原，来到汇聚此地的
两条奔腾的河水边，西摩埃斯和斯卡曼得罗斯。
白臂女神就地收住缰绳，
让神马走出轭架，四周里撒下一团雾气，由
西摩埃斯催发出满地的仙草，供它们饱食享用。
其时，女神轻快地迈着碎步，像两只晃动的鸽子，
急不可待地试图帮助阿耳戈斯战勇。
她俩落脚战场，在那聚人最多的地方，最猛的勇士集挤
拼杀在强有力的驯马者狄俄墨得斯的
身旁；像生吞活剥的狮子，
或力大无穷的野猪，白臂女神
赫拉站在那里，高声呼喊，
幻取心志高昂的斯腾托耳的形象，此人有着青铜般的嗓子，
引吭呼啸时，声音就像五十个人的喊叫：
“可耻啊，你们这些阿耳吉维人！无用的废物，白披了一身漂亮
的甲衣！以前，特洛伊人从来不敢越过达耳达尼亚
墙门，慑于卓越的阿基琉斯的战力，用那枝
粗重的枪矛，把他们杀得魂飞胆裂。
现在呢？他们已逼战在深旷的海船边，远离着城堡！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
灰眼睛女神雅典娜直奔图丢斯之子，
发现这位王者正站在他的车马旁，
凉却着潘达罗斯射出的箭伤。
宽厚的背带吃着圆盾的重压，紧勒在肩上，汗水
刺激着肩下的皮肉，酸疼苦辣，臂膀已疲乏无力。
他提起盾带，抹去迹点斑斑的黑血。
女神手握驭马的轭架，对他说道：
“图丢斯生养的儿子，和乃父一样矮挫，
但图丢斯是一位真正的斗士，尽管身材短小。
他的勇猛甚至体现在那件事上——那时，我不让他战斗，
不让他在人前自我炫耀，而他却独自前往，没有阿开亚人的
随伴，作为信使，来到塞贝，置身大群的卡德墨亚人中。
其时，我要他加入大厅里的盛宴，心平气和地吃上一顿，
然而，他却凭着自身的强健，他的勇力从来不会枯竭，
提出要和卡德墨亚人中的小伙们比试，轻而易举地
击败了所有的对手——是我给了他巨大的力量。
现在，我正站在你的身边，保护着你，
带着极大的关注，催励你同特洛伊人拼斗。而你呢？
反复的冲杀已疲软了你的肢腿，要不，
便是某种窒灭生气的恐惧，纷扰了你的心胸。倘若真是这样，
你就不是图丢斯的种子——图丢斯，聪明的俄伊纽斯的儿郎。”
听罢这番话，强有力的狄俄墨得斯答道：
“我知道你，女神，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿，
所以，我将放心地对你述说一切，决不隐瞒。我之
闲置此地，并非出于窒灭生气的恐惧，也不是为了逃避战斗，
而是因为遵从你的命嘱——
你命我不要和幸运的神祗面对面地拼搏，
例外只有一个：倘若宙斯之女阿芙罗底忒
介入战斗，我便可举起犀利的铜枪，给她捅出一个窟窿。
所以，我现在主动撤出战斗，并命令
其他阿开亚人集聚在我的身边——
我知道，阿瑞斯正率领他们战斗。”
听罢这番话，灰眼睛女神雅典娜答道：
“图丢斯之子，悦我心房的狄俄墨得斯，
不要害怕阿瑞斯，也不必惧怕其他
任何神明；我将全力以赴地帮你。
来吧，赶起你追风的快马，首先对着阿瑞斯冲击，
逼近了再打。不要害怕勇莽的战神，
这个疯子，天生的恶棍，两面派，
刚才还对着赫拉和我信誓旦旦，说是
要站在阿耳吉维人一边，打击特洛伊兵勇——
你瞧，他已把诺言抛到九霄云外，站到了特洛伊人那边！”
言罢，她一把将塞奈洛斯从车后
撂拨到地上，后者赶忙跳下战车；
女神怒不可遏，举步登车，站在
卓著的狄俄墨得斯身边；橡木的车轴承受着重压，
发出吱吱嘎嘎的声响，载着一位可怕的女神和一位骠健的
战将。帕拉丝·雅典娜抓起鞭子和缰绳，
策赶风快的驭马，首先对着阿瑞斯扑冲。
其时，战神正弯身剥夺高大的裴里法斯的铠甲，
俄开西俄斯高贵的儿子，埃托利亚人中最好的精壮。
血迹斑斑的阿瑞斯正忙着剥卸他的铠甲，而雅典娜，
为了不让粗莽的阿瑞斯看见，戴上了哀地斯的帽盔[●]。
●埃地斯的头盔：或“黑帽子”，带了可以隐形，源出古老的传说。
当阿瑞斯，杀人的精狂，看到卓著的狄俄墨得斯后，
丢下巨人裴里法斯，让他躺在原地——
战神的枪矛放倒了他，夺走了他的生命——
直奔狄俄墨得斯，调驯烈马的英壮。
他俩面对面地冲来，咄咄逼近
阿瑞斯首先投枪，铜矛飞过
轭架和马缰，凶暴狂烈，试图把对手夺杀。
但女神，眼睛灰蓝的雅典娜，伸手抓住
枪矛，将它拨离马车，使之一无所获。
接着，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯奋臂投出
铜枪，帕拉丝·雅典娜加剧着它的冲莽，
把它深深地扎进阿瑞斯的肚腹，系绑腰带的地方。
她选中这个部位，把枪矛推进深厚的肉层，
然后将它绞拔出来。披裹铜甲的阿瑞斯痛得大声喊叫，
像九千或一万个士兵的呼吼——
战斗中，两军相遇，挟着战神的狂烈。
所有的人，阿开亚人和特洛伊兵壮，全都吓得嗦嗦发抖，
惧怕嗜战不厌的阿瑞斯的吼叫。
像一股黑色的雾气，随着疾风升起，从因受
温热的蒸逼而形成的一团蕴育着风暴的云砧——
在图丢斯之子狄俄墨得斯眼里，披裹青铜的阿瑞斯
此时就是这个气势：袅驾游云，升向广阔的天空。
他迅速抵达神的城堡，险峻的俄林波斯，
在克罗诺斯身边坐下，心绪颓败，
当着宙斯的脸面，亮出淌着灵液的伤口，
满怀自怜之情，对父亲说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“目睹这些凶蛮的行为，父亲宙斯，你不生气吗？
为了帮助凡人，我等神祗总在
无休止地争斗，尝吃了最大的苦头。
我们都想和你争个明白——是你生养了这个疯女，
该受诅咒的妇道，心中只想着行凶作恶。
所有其他神明，俄林波斯山上的每一位天神，
都对你恭敬不违，我们都愿俯首听命。
然而，对这个姑娘，你却不用言行阻斥，任她
我行我素；你生养了一个挑惹灾祸的女儿！
瞧，他已怂恿图丢斯之子，不知天高地厚的
狄俄墨得斯，卷着狂怒，冲向不死的仙神。
先前，他刺伤了库普里丝的手腕；刚才，
他又冲着我——战神阿瑞斯——扑来，像个出凡的超人！
多亏我的腿快，得以脱身，否则，我就
只好忍着伤痛，长时间地躺在僵硬的死人堆里，
或者，因受难于铜矛的扑击，屈守着轻飘飘的余生[●]。”
●轻飘飘的余生：即死亡。可能是一种比喻，因为神是“不死的”。
听罢这番话，汇聚乌云的宙斯恶狠狠地看着他，训道：
“不要坐在我的身边，呜咽凄诉，你这不要脸的两面派！
所有家住俄林波斯的神明中，你是我最讨厌的一个。
争吵、战争和搏杀永远是你心驰神往的事情。
你继承了你母赫拉的那种难以容忍的
不调和的怒性；不管我怎么说道，都难以使她顺服。
由于她的挑唆，我想，才使你遭受此般折磨。
然而，我不能再无动于衷地看着你忍受伤痛，
因为你是我的儿子，你的母亲把你生给了我。
倘若你是其他神明的儿子，加之如此肆虐横暴，
我早就已经把你扔将出去，丢入比大力神[●]的位置更低的
●大力神：或“乌拉诺斯的儿子们”。大力神们站在克罗诺斯一边，被宙斯
打入塔耳塔罗斯（参见8·478—81）。
地层深处。”
言罢，宙斯命令派厄昂医治他的伤口。
神医替他敷上镇痛的药物，
治愈了伤口：此君不是会死的凡人。
犹如把无花果汁滴挤人雪白的牛奶，使之稠缪收聚，
只要动手搅拌，液体便会迅速浓结凝固一样，
派厄昂以此般神速，治愈了勇莽的阿瑞斯的枪伤。
赫蓓替他洗擦干净，穿上精美的衫袍。
阿瑞斯在宙斯身边就坐，容光焕发，喜形于色。
其时，两位女神阻止了屠夫
阿瑞斯的凶杀，回到大神宙斯的家府，
阿耳戈斯的赫拉和波伊俄提亚人的雅典娜。
ARGUMENT.
THE ACTS OF DIOMED.
Diomed, assisted by Pallas, performs wonders in this day's battle.
Pandarus wounds him with an arrow, but the goddess cures him, enables him
to discern gods from mortals, and prohibits him from contending with any
of the former, excepting Venus. Æneas joins Pandarus to oppose him;
Pandarus is killed, and Æneas in great danger but for the assistance of
Venus; who, as she is removing her son from the fight, is wounded on the
hand by Diomed. Apollo seconds her in his rescue, and at length carries
off Æneas to Troy, where he is healed in the temple of Pergamus. Mars
rallies the Trojans, and assists Hector to make a stand. In the meantime
Æneas is restored to the field, and they overthrow several of the Greeks;
among the rest Tlepolemus is slain by Sarpedon. Juno and Minerva descend
to resist Mars; the latter incites Diomed to go against that god; he
wounds him, and sends him groaning to heaven.
The first battle continues through this book. The scene is the same as in
the former.
But Pallas now Tydides' soul inspires,(143)
Fills with her force, and warms with all her fires,
Above the Greeks his deathless fame to raise,
And crown her hero with distinguish'd praise.
High on his helm celestial lightnings play,
His beamy shield emits a living ray;
The unwearied blaze incessant streams supplies,
Like the red star that fires the autumnal skies,
When fresh he rears his radiant orb to sight,
And, bathed in ocean, shoots a keener light.
Such glories Pallas on the chief bestow'd,
Such, from his arms, the fierce effulgence flow'd:
Onward she drives him, furious to engage,
Where the fight burns, and where the thickest rage.
The sons of Dares first the combat sought,
A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault;
In Vulcan's fane the father's days were led,
The sons to toils of glorious battle bred;
These singled from their troops the fight maintain,
These, from their steeds, Tydides on the plain.
Fierce for renown the brother-chiefs draw near,
And first bold Phegeus cast his sounding spear,
Which o'er the warrior's shoulder took its course,
And spent in empty air its erring force.
Not so, Tydides, flew thy lance in vain,
But pierced his breast, and stretch'd him on the plain.
Seized with unusual fear, Idaeus fled,
Left the rich chariot, and his brother dead.
And had not Vulcan lent celestial aid,
He too had sunk to death's eternal shade;
But in a smoky cloud the god of fire
Preserved the son, in pity to the sire.
The steeds and chariot, to the navy led,
Increased the spoils of gallant Diomed.
Struck with amaze and shame, the Trojan crew,
Or slain, or fled, the sons of Dares view;
When by the blood-stain'd hand Minerva press'd
The god of battles, and this speech address'd:
"Stern power of war! by whom the mighty fall,
Who bathe in blood, and shake the lofty wall!
Let the brave chiefs their glorious toils divide;
And whose the conquest, mighty Jove decide:
While we from interdicted fields retire,
Nor tempt the wrath of heaven's avenging sire."
Her words allay the impetuous warrior's heat,
The god of arms and martial maid retreat;
Removed from fight, on Xanthus' flowery bounds
They sat, and listen'd to the dying sounds.
Meantime, the Greeks the Trojan race pursue,
And some bold chieftain every leader slew:
First Odius falls, and bites the bloody sand,
His death ennobled by Atrides' hand:
As he to flight his wheeling car address'd,
The speedy javelin drove from back to breast.
In dust the mighty Halizonian lay,
His arms resound, the spirit wings its way.
Thy fate was next, O Phaestus! doom'd to feel
The great Idomeneus' protended steel;
Whom Borus sent (his son and only joy)
From fruitful Tarne to the fields of Troy.
The Cretan javelin reach'd him from afar,
And pierced his shoulder as he mounts his car;
Back from the car he tumbles to the ground,
And everlasting shades his eyes surround.
Then died Scamandrius, expert in the chase,
In woods and wilds to wound the savage race;
Diana taught him all her sylvan arts,
To bend the bow, and aim unerring darts:
But vainly here Diana's arts he tries,
The fatal lance arrests him as he flies;
From Menelaus' arm the weapon sent,
Through his broad back and heaving bosom went:
Down sinks the warrior with a thundering sound,
His brazen armour rings against the ground.
Next artful Phereclus untimely fell;
Bold Merion sent him to the realms of hell.
Thy father's skill, O Phereclus! was thine,
The graceful fabric and the fair design;
For loved by Pallas, Pallas did impart
To him the shipwright's and the builder's art.
Beneath his hand the fleet of Paris rose,
The fatal cause of all his country's woes;
But he, the mystic will of heaven unknown,
Nor saw his country's peril, nor his own.
The hapless artist, while confused he fled,
The spear of Merion mingled with the dead.
Through his right hip, with forceful fury cast,
Between the bladder and the bone it pass'd;
Prone on his knees he falls with fruitless cries,
And death in lasting slumber seals his eyes.
From Meges' force the swift Pedaeus fled,
Antenor's offspring from a foreign bed,
Whose generous spouse, Theanor, heavenly fair,
Nursed the young stranger with a mother's care.
How vain those cares! when Meges in the rear
Full in his nape infix'd the fatal spear;
Swift through his crackling jaws the weapon glides,
And the cold tongue and grinning teeth divides.
Then died Hypsenor, generous and divine,
Sprung from the brave Dolopion's mighty line,
Who near adored Scamander made abode,
Priest of the stream, and honoured as a god.
On him, amidst the flying numbers found,
Eurypylus inflicts a deadly wound;
On his broad shoulders fell the forceful brand,
Thence glancing downwards, lopp'd his holy hand,
Which stain'd with sacred blood the blushing sand.
Down sunk the priest: the purple hand of death
Closed his dim eye, and fate suppress'd his breath.
Thus toil'd the chiefs, in different parts engaged.
In every quarter fierce Tydides raged;
Amid the Greek, amid the Trojan train,
Rapt through the ranks he thunders o'er the plain;
Now here, now there, he darts from place to place,
Pours on the rear, or lightens in their face.
Thus from high hills the torrents swift and strong
Deluge whole fields, and sweep the trees along,
Through ruin'd moles the rushing wave resounds,
O'erwhelm's the bridge, and bursts the lofty bounds;
The yellow harvests of the ripen'd year,
And flatted vineyards, one sad waste appear!(144)
While Jove descends in sluicy sheets of rain,
And all the labours of mankind are vain.
So raged Tydides, boundless in his ire,
Drove armies back, and made all Troy retire.
With grief the leader of the Lycian band
Saw the wide waste of his destructive hand:
His bended bow against the chief he drew;
Swift to the mark the thirsty arrow flew,
Whose forky point the hollow breastplate tore,
Deep in his shoulder pierced, and drank the gore:
The rushing stream his brazen armour dyed,
While the proud archer thus exulting cried:
"Hither, ye Trojans, hither drive your steeds!
Lo! by our hand the bravest Grecian bleeds,
Not long the deathful dart he can sustain;
Or Phoebus urged me to these fields in vain."
So spoke he, boastful: but the winged dart
Stopp'd short of life, and mock'd the shooter's art.
The wounded chief, behind his car retired,
The helping hand of Sthenelus required;
Swift from his seat he leap'd upon the ground,
And tugg'd the weapon from the gushing wound;
When thus the king his guardian power address'd,
The purple current wandering o'er his vest:
"O progeny of Jove! unconquer'd maid!
If e'er my godlike sire deserved thy aid,
If e'er I felt thee in the fighting field;
Now, goddess, now, thy sacred succour yield.
O give my lance to reach the Trojan knight,
Whose arrow wounds the chief thou guard'st in fight;
And lay the boaster grovelling on the shore,
That vaunts these eyes shall view the light no more."
Thus pray'd Tydides, and Minerva heard,
His nerves confirm'd, his languid spirits cheer'd;
He feels each limb with wonted vigour light;
His beating bosom claim'd the promised fight.
"Be bold, (she cried), in every combat shine,
War be thy province, thy protection mine;
Rush to the fight, and every foe control;
Wake each paternal virtue in thy soul:
Strength swells thy boiling breast, infused by me,
And all thy godlike father breathes in thee;
Yet more, from mortal mists I purge thy eyes,(145)
And set to view the warring deities.
These see thou shun, through all the embattled plain;
Nor rashly strive where human force is vain.
If Venus mingle in the martial band,
Her shalt thou wound: so Pallas gives command."
With that, the blue-eyed virgin wing'd her flight;
The hero rush'd impetuous to the fight;
With tenfold ardour now invades the plain,
Wild with delay, and more enraged by pain.
As on the fleecy flocks when hunger calls,
Amidst the field a brindled lion falls;
If chance some shepherd with a distant dart
The savage wound, he rouses at the smart,
He foams, he roars; the shepherd dares not stay,
But trembling leaves the scattering flocks a prey;
Heaps fall on heaps; he bathes with blood the ground,
Then leaps victorious o'er the lofty mound.
Not with less fury stern Tydides flew;
And two brave leaders at an instant slew;
Astynous breathless fell, and by his side,
His people's pastor, good Hypenor, died;
Astynous' breast the deadly lance receives,
Hypenor's shoulder his broad falchion cleaves.
Those slain he left, and sprung with noble rage
Abas and Polyidus to engage;
Sons of Eurydamus, who, wise and old,
Could fate foresee, and mystic dreams unfold;
The youths return'd not from the doubtful plain,
And the sad father tried his arts in vain;
No mystic dream could make their fates appear,
Though now determined by Tydides' spear.
Young Xanthus next, and Thoon felt his rage;
The joy and hope of Phaenops' feeble age:
Vast was his wealth, and these the only heirs
Of all his labours and a life of cares.
Cold death o'ertakes them in their blooming years,
And leaves the father unavailing tears:
To strangers now descends his heapy store,
The race forgotten, and the name no more.
Two sons of Priam in one chariot ride,
Glittering in arms, and combat side by side.
As when the lordly lion seeks his food
Where grazing heifers range the lonely wood,
He leaps amidst them with a furious bound,
Bends their strong necks, and tears them to the ground:
So from their seats the brother chiefs are torn,
Their steeds and chariot to the navy borne.
With deep concern divine Æneas view'd
The foe prevailing, and his friends pursued;
Through the thick storm of singing spears he flies,
Exploring Pandarus with careful eyes.
At length he found Lycaon's mighty son;
To whom the chief of Venus' race begun:
"Where, Pandarus, are all thy honours now,
Thy winged arrows and unerring bow,
Thy matchless skill, thy yet unrivall'd fame,
And boasted glory of the Lycian name?
O pierce that mortal! if we mortal call
That wondrous force by which whole armies fall;
Or god incensed, who quits the distant skies
To punish Troy for slighted sacrifice;
(Which, oh avert from our unhappy state!
For what so dreadful as celestial hate)?
Whoe'er he be, propitiate Jove with prayer;
If man, destroy; if god, entreat to spare."
To him the Lycian: "Whom your eyes behold,
If right I judge, is Diomed the bold:
Such coursers whirl him o'er the dusty field,
So towers his helmet, and so flames his shield.
If 'tis a god, he wears that chief's disguise:
Or if that chief, some guardian of the skies,
Involved in clouds, protects him in the fray,
And turns unseen the frustrate dart away.
I wing'd an arrow, which not idly fell,
The stroke had fix'd him to the gates of hell;
And, but some god, some angry god withstands,
His fate was due to these unerring hands.
Skill'd in the bow, on foot I sought the war,
Nor join'd swift horses to the rapid car.
Ten polish'd chariots I possess'd at home,
And still they grace Lycaon's princely dome:
There veil'd in spacious coverlets they stand;
And twice ten coursers wait their lord's command.
The good old warrior bade me trust to these,
When first for Troy I sail'd the sacred seas;
In fields, aloft, the whirling car to guide,
And through the ranks of death triumphant ride.
But vain with youth, and yet to thrift inclined,
I heard his counsels with unheedful mind,
And thought the steeds (your large supplies unknown)
Might fail of forage in the straiten'd town;
So took my bow and pointed darts in hand
And left the chariots in my native land.
"Too late, O friend! my rashness I deplore;
These shafts, once fatal, carry death no more.
Tydeus' and Atreus' sons their points have found,
And undissembled gore pursued the wound.
In vain they bleed: this unavailing bow
Serves, not to slaughter, but provoke the foe.
In evil hour these bended horns I strung,
And seized the quiver where it idly hung.
Cursed be the fate that sent me to the field
Without a warrior's arms, the spear and shield!
If e'er with life I quit the Trojan plain,
If e'er I see my spouse and sire again,
This bow, unfaithful to my glorious aims,
Broke by my hand, shall feed the blazing flames."
To whom the leader of the Dardan race:
"Be calm, nor Phoebus' honour'd gift disgrace.
The distant dart be praised, though here we need
The rushing chariot and the bounding steed.
Against yon hero let us bend our course,
And, hand to hand, encounter force with force.
Now mount my seat, and from the chariot's height
Observe my father's steeds, renown'd in fight;
Practised alike to turn, to stop, to chase,
To dare the shock, or urge the rapid race;
Secure with these, through fighting fields we go;
Or safe to Troy, if Jove assist the foe.
Haste, seize the whip, and snatch the guiding rein;
The warrior's fury let this arm sustain;
Or, if to combat thy bold heart incline,
Take thou the spear, the chariot's care be mine."
"O prince! (Lycaon's valiant son replied)
As thine the steeds, be thine the task to guide.
The horses, practised to their lord's command,
Shall bear the rein, and answer to thy hand;
But, if, unhappy, we desert the fight,
Thy voice alone can animate their flight;
Else shall our fates be number'd with the dead,
And these, the victor's prize, in triumph led.
Thine be the guidance, then: with spear and shield
Myself will charge this terror of the field."
And now both heroes mount the glittering car;
The bounding coursers rush amidst the war;
Their fierce approach bold Sthenelus espied,
Who thus, alarm'd, to great Tydides cried:
"O friend! two chiefs of force immense I see,
Dreadful they come, and bend their rage on thee:
Lo the brave heir of old Lycaon's line,
And great Æneas, sprung from race divine!
Enough is given to fame. Ascend thy car!
And save a life, the bulwark of our war."
At this the hero cast a gloomy look,
Fix'd on the chief with scorn; and thus he spoke:
"Me dost thou bid to shun the coming fight?
Me wouldst thou move to base, inglorious flight?
Know, 'tis not honest in my soul to fear,
Nor was Tydides born to tremble here.
I hate the cumbrous chariot's slow advance,
And the long distance of the flying lance;
But while my nerves are strong, my force entire,
Thus front the foe, and emulate my sire.
Nor shall yon steeds, that fierce to fight convey
Those threatening heroes, bear them both away;
One chief at least beneath this arm shall die;
So Pallas tells me, and forbids to fly.
But if she dooms, and if no god withstand,
That both shall fall by one victorious hand,
Then heed my words: my horses here detain,
Fix'd to the chariot by the straiten'd rein;
Swift to Æneas' empty seat proceed,
And seize the coursers of ethereal breed;
The race of those, which once the thundering god(146)
For ravish'd Ganymede on Tros bestow'd,
The best that e'er on earth's broad surface run,
Beneath the rising or the setting sun.
Hence great Anchises stole a breed unknown,
By mortal mares, from fierce Laomedon:
Four of this race his ample stalls contain,
And two transport Æneas o'er the plain.
These, were the rich immortal prize our own,
Through the wide world should make our glory known."
Thus while they spoke, the foe came furious on,
And stern Lycaon's warlike race begun:
"Prince, thou art met. Though late in vain assail'd,
The spear may enter where the arrow fail'd."
He said, then shook the ponderous lance, and flung;
On his broad shield the sounding weapon rung,
Pierced the tough orb, and in his cuirass hung,
"He bleeds! the pride of Greece! (the boaster cries,)
Our triumph now, the mighty warrior lies!"
"Mistaken vaunter! (Diomed replied;)
Thy dart has erred, and now my spear be tried;
Ye 'scape not both; one, headlong from his car,
With hostile blood shall glut the god of war."
He spoke, and rising hurl'd his forceful dart,
Which, driven by Pallas, pierced a vital part;
Full in his face it enter'd, and betwixt
The nose and eye-ball the proud Lycian fix'd;
Crash'd all his jaws, and cleft the tongue within,
Till the bright point look'd out beneath the chin.
Headlong he falls, his helmet knocks the ground:
Earth groans beneath him, and his arms resound;
The starting coursers tremble with affright;
The soul indignant seeks the realms of night.
To guard his slaughter'd friend, Æneas flies,
His spear extending where the carcase lies;
Watchful he wheels, protects it every way,
As the grim lion stalks around his prey.
O'er the fall'n trunk his ample shield display'd,
He hides the hero with his mighty shade,
And threats aloud! the Greeks with longing eyes
Behold at distance, but forbear the prize.
Then fierce Tydides stoops; and from the fields
Heaved with vast force, a rocky fragment wields.
Not two strong men the enormous weight could raise,
Such men as live in these degenerate days:(147)
He swung it round; and, gathering strength to throw,
Discharged the ponderous ruin at the foe.
Where to the hip the _insert_ed thigh unites,
Full on the bone the pointed marble lights;
Through both the tendons broke the rugged stone,
And stripp'd the skin, and crack'd the solid bone.
Sunk on his knees, and staggering with his pains,
His falling bulk his bended arm sustains;
Lost in a dizzy mist the warrior lies;
A sudden cloud comes swimming o'er his eyes.
There the brave chief, who mighty numbers sway'd,
Oppress'd had sunk to death's eternal shade,
But heavenly Venus, mindful of the love
She bore Anchises in the Idaean grove,
His danger views with anguish and despair,
And guards her offspring with a mother's care.
About her much-loved son her arms she throws,
Her arms whose whiteness match the falling snows.
Screen'd from the foe behind her shining veil,
The swords wave harmless, and the javelins fail;
Safe through the rushing horse, and feather'd flight
Of sounding shafts, she bears him from the fight.
Nor Sthenelus, with unassisting hands,
Remain'd unheedful of his lord's commands:
His panting steeds, removed from out the war,
He fix'd with straiten'd traces to the car,
Next, rushing to the Dardan spoil, detains
The heavenly coursers with the flowing manes:
These in proud triumph to the fleet convey'd,
No longer now a Trojan lord obey'd.
That charge to bold Deipylus he gave,
(Whom most he loved, as brave men love the brave,)
Then mounting on his car, resumed the rein,
And follow'd where Tydides swept the plain.
Meanwhile (his conquest ravished from his eyes)
The raging chief in chase of Venus flies:
No goddess she, commission'd to the field,
Like Pallas dreadful with her sable shield,
Or fierce Bellona thundering at the wall,
While flames ascend, and mighty ruins fall;
He knew soft combats suit the tender dame,
New to the field, and still a foe to fame.
Through breaking ranks his furious course he bends,
And at the goddess his broad lance extends;
Through her bright veil the daring weapon drove,
The ambrosial veil which all the Graces wove;
Her snowy hand the razing steel profaned,
And the transparent skin with crimson stain'd,
From the clear vein a stream immortal flow'd,
Such stream as issues from a wounded god;(148)
Pure emanation! uncorrupted flood!
Unlike our gross, diseased, terrestrial blood:
(For not the bread of man their life sustains,
Nor wine's inflaming juice supplies their veins:)
With tender shrieks the goddess fill'd the place,
And dropp'd her offspring from her weak embrace.
Him Phoebus took: he casts a cloud around
The fainting chief, and wards the mortal wound.
Then with a voice that shook the vaulted skies,
The king insults the goddess as she flies:
"Ill with Jove's daughter bloody fights agree,
The field of combat is no scene for thee:
Go, let thy own soft sex employ thy care,
Go, lull the coward, or delude the fair.
Taught by this stroke renounce the war's alarms,
And learn to tremble at the name of arms."
Tydides thus. The goddess, seized with dread,
Confused, distracted, from the conflict fled.
To aid her, swift the winged Iris flew,
Wrapt in a mist above the warring crew.
The queen of love with faded charms she found.
Pale was her cheek, and livid look'd the wound.
To Mars, who sat remote, they bent their way:
Far, on the left, with clouds involved he lay;
Beside him stood his lance, distain'd with gore,
And, rein'd with gold, his foaming steeds before.
Low at his knee, she begg'd with streaming eyes
Her brother's car, to mount the distant skies,
And show'd the wound by fierce Tydides given,
A mortal man, who dares encounter heaven.
Stern Mars attentive hears the queen complain,
And to her hand commits the golden rein;
She mounts the seat, oppress'd with silent woe,
Driven by the goddess of the painted bow.
The lash resounds, the rapid chariot flies,
And in a moment scales the lofty skies:
They stopp'd the car, and there the coursers stood,
Fed by fair Iris with ambrosial food;
Before her mother, love's bright queen appears,
O'erwhelmed with anguish, and dissolved in tears:
She raised her in her arms, beheld her bleed,
And ask'd what god had wrought this guilty deed?
[Illustration: VENUS, WOUNDED IN THE HAND, CONDUCTED BY IRIS TO MARS.]
VENUS, WOUNDED IN THE HAND, CONDUCTED BY IRIS TO MARS.
Then she: "This insult from no god I found,
An impious mortal gave the daring wound!
Behold the deed of haughty Diomed!
'Twas in the son's defence the mother bled.
The war with Troy no more the Grecians wage;
But with the gods (the immortal gods) engage."
Dione then: "Thy wrongs with patience bear,
And share those griefs inferior powers must share:
Unnumber'd woes mankind from us sustain,
And men with woes afflict the gods again.
The mighty Mars in mortal fetters bound,(149)
And lodged in brazen dungeons underground,
Full thirteen moons imprison'd roar'd in vain;
Otus and Ephialtes held the chain:
Perhaps had perish'd had not Hermes' care
Restored the groaning god to upper air.
Great Juno's self has borne her weight of pain,
The imperial partner of the heavenly reign;
Amphitryon's son infix'd the deadly dart,(150)
And fill'd with anguish her immortal heart.
E'en hell's grim king Alcides' power confess'd,
The shaft found entrance in his iron breast;
To Jove's high palace for a cure he fled,
Pierced in his own dominions of the dead;
Where Paeon, sprinkling heavenly balm around,
Assuaged the glowing pangs, and closed the wound.
Rash, impious man! to stain the bless'd abodes,
And drench his arrows in the blood of gods!
[Illustration: OTUS AND EPHIALTES HOLDING MARS CAPTIVE.]
OTUS AND EPHIALTES HOLDING MARS CAPTIVE.
"But thou (though Pallas urged thy frantic deed),
Whose spear ill-fated makes a goddess bleed,
Know thou, whoe'er with heavenly power contends,
Short is his date, and soon his glory ends;
From fields of death when late he shall retire,
No infant on his knees shall call him sire.
Strong as thou art, some god may yet be found,
To stretch thee pale and gasping on the ground;
Thy distant wife, Ægiale the fair,(151)
Starting from sleep with a distracted air,
Shall rouse thy slaves, and her lost lord deplore,
The brave, the great, the glorious now no more!"
This said, she wiped from Venus' wounded palm
The sacred ichor, and infused the balm.
Juno and Pallas with a smile survey'd,
And thus to Jove began the blue-eyed maid:
"Permit thy daughter, gracious Jove! to tell
How this mischance the Cyprian queen befell,
As late she tried with passion to inflame
The tender bosom of a Grecian dame;
Allured the fair, with moving thoughts of joy,
To quit her country for some youth of Troy;
The clasping zone, with golden buckles bound,
Razed her soft hand with this lamented wound."
The sire of gods and men superior smiled,
And, calling Venus, thus address'd his child:
"Not these, O daughter are thy proper cares,
Thee milder arts befit, and softer wars;
Sweet smiles are thine, and kind endearing charms;
To Mars and Pallas leave the deeds of arms."
Thus they in heaven: while on the plain below
The fierce Tydides charged his Dardan foe,
Flush'd with celestial blood pursued his way,
And fearless dared the threatening god of day;
Already in his hopes he saw him kill'd,
Though screen'd behind Apollo's mighty shield.
Thrice rushing furious, at the chief he strook;
His blazing buckler thrice Apollo shook:
He tried the fourth: when, breaking from the cloud,
A more than mortal voice was heard aloud.
"O son of Tydeus, cease! be wise and see
How vast the difference of the gods and thee;
Distance immense! between the powers that shine
Above, eternal, deathless, and divine,
And mortal man! a wretch of humble birth,
A short-lived reptile in the dust of earth."
So spoke the god who darts celestial fires:
He dreads his fury, and some steps retires.
Then Phoebus bore the chief of Venus' race
To Troy's high fane, and to his holy place;
Latona there and Phoebe heal'd the wound,
With vigour arm'd him, and with glory crown'd.
This done, the patron of the silver bow
A phantom raised, the same in shape and show
With great Æneas; such the form he bore,
And such in fight the radiant arms he wore.
Around the spectre bloody wars are waged,
And Greece and Troy with clashing shields engaged.
Meantime on Ilion's tower Apollo stood,
And calling Mars, thus urged the raging god:
"Stern power of arms, by whom the mighty fall;
Who bathest in blood, and shakest the embattled wall,
Rise in thy wrath! to hell's abhorr'd abodes
Despatch yon Greek, and vindicate the gods.
First rosy Venus felt his brutal rage;
Me next he charged, and dares all heaven engage:
The wretch would brave high heaven's immortal sire,
His triple thunder, and his bolts of fire."
The god of battle issues on the plain,
Stirs all the ranks, and fires the Trojan train;
In form like Acamas, the Thracian guide,
Enraged to Troy's retiring chiefs he cried:
"How long, ye sons of Priam! will ye fly,
And unrevenged see Priam's people die?
Still unresisted shall the foe destroy,
And stretch the slaughter to the gates of Troy?
Lo, brave Æneas sinks beneath his wound,
Not godlike Hector more in arms renown'd:
Haste all, and take the generous warrior's part.
He said;--new courage swell'd each hero's heart.
Sarpedon first his ardent soul express'd,
And, turn'd to Hector, these bold words address'd:
"Say, chief, is all thy ancient valour lost?
Where are thy threats, and where thy glorious boast,
That propp'd alone by Priam's race should stand
Troy's sacred walls, nor need a foreign hand?
Now, now thy country calls her wonted friends,
And the proud vaunt in just derision ends.
Remote they stand while alien troops engage,
Like trembling hounds before the lion's rage.
Far distant hence I held my wide command,
Where foaming Xanthus laves the Lycian land;
With ample wealth (the wish of mortals) bless'd,
A beauteous wife, and infant at her breast;
With those I left whatever dear could be:
Greece, if she conquers, nothing wins from me;
Yet first in fight my Lycian bands I cheer,
And long to meet this mighty man ye fear;
While Hector idle stands, nor bids the brave
Their wives, their infants, and their altars save.
Haste, warrior, haste! preserve thy threaten'd state,
Or one vast burst of all-involving fate
Full o'er your towers shall fall, and sweep away
Sons, sires, and wives, an undistinguish'd prey.
Rouse all thy Trojans, urge thy aids to fight;
These claim thy thoughts by day, thy watch by night;
With force incessant the brave Greeks oppose;
Such cares thy friends deserve, and such thy foes."
Stung to the heart the generous Hector hears,
But just reproof with decent silence bears.
From his proud car the prince impetuous springs,
On earth he leaps, his brazen armour rings.
Two shining spears are brandish'd in his hands;
Thus arm'd, he animates his drooping bands,
Revives their ardour, turns their steps from flight,
And wakes anew the dying flames of fight.
They turn, they stand; the Greeks their fury dare,
Condense their powers, and wait the growing war.
As when, on Ceres' sacred floor, the swain
Spreads the wide fan to clear the golden grain,
And the light chaff, before the breezes borne,
Ascends in clouds from off the heapy corn;
The grey dust, rising with collected winds,
Drives o'er the barn, and whitens all the hinds:
So white with dust the Grecian host appears.
From trampling steeds, and thundering charioteers;
The dusky clouds from labour'd earth arise,
And roll in smoking volumes to the skies.
Mars hovers o'er them with his sable shield,
And adds new horrors to the darken'd field:
Pleased with his charge, and ardent to fulfil,
In Troy's defence, Apollo's heavenly will:
Soon as from fight the blue-eyed maid retires,
Each Trojan bosom with new warmth he fires.
And now the god, from forth his sacred fane,
Produced Æneas to the shouting train;
Alive, unharm'd, with all his peers around,
Erect he stood, and vigorous from his wound:
Inquiries none they made; the dreadful day
No pause of words admits, no dull delay;
Fierce Discord storms, Apollo loud exclaims,
Fame calls, Mars thunders, and the field's in flames.
Stern Diomed with either Ajax stood,
And great Ulysses, bathed in hostile blood.
Embodied close, the labouring Grecian train
The fiercest shock of charging hosts sustain.
Unmoved and silent, the whole war they wait
Serenely dreadful, and as fix'd as fate.
So when the embattled clouds in dark array,
Along the skies their gloomy lines display;
When now the North his boisterous rage has spent,
And peaceful sleeps the liquid element:
The low-hung vapours, motionless and still,
Rest on the summits of the shaded hill;
Till the mass scatters as the winds arise,
Dispersed and broken through the ruffled skies.
Nor was the general wanting to his train;
From troop to troop he toils through all the plain,
"Ye Greeks, be men! the charge of battle bear;
Your brave associates and yourselves revere!
Let glorious acts more glorious acts inspire,
And catch from breast to breast the noble fire!
On valour's side the odds of combat lie,
The brave live glorious, or lamented die;
The wretch who trembles in the field of fame,
Meets death, and worse than death, eternal shame!"
These words he seconds with his flying lance,
To meet whose point was strong Deicoon's chance:
Æneas' friend, and in his native place
Honour'd and loved like Priam's royal race:
Long had he fought the foremost in the field,
But now the monarch's lance transpierced his shield:
His shield too weak the furious dart to stay,
Through his broad belt the weapon forced its way:
The grisly wound dismiss'd his soul to hell,
His arms around him rattled as he fell.
Then fierce Æneas, brandishing his blade,
In dust Orsilochus and Crethon laid,
Whose sire Diocleus, wealthy, brave and great,
In well-built Pherae held his lofty seat:(152)
Sprung from Alpheus' plenteous stream, that yields
Increase of harvests to the Pylian fields.
He got Orsilochus, Diocleus he,
And these descended in the third degree.
Too early expert in the martial toil,
In sable ships they left their native soil,
To avenge Atrides: now, untimely slain,
They fell with glory on the Phrygian plain.
So two young mountain lions, nursed with blood
In deep recesses of the gloomy wood,
Rush fearless to the plains, and uncontroll'd
Depopulate the stalls and waste the fold:
Till pierced at distance from their native den,
O'erpowered they fall beneath the force of men.
Prostrate on earth their beauteous bodies lay,
Like mountain firs, as tall and straight as they.
Great Menelaus views with pitying eyes,
Lifts his bright lance, and at the victor flies;
Mars urged him on; yet, ruthless in his hate,
The god but urged him to provoke his fate.
He thus advancing, Nestor's valiant son
Shakes for his danger, and neglects his own;
Struck with the thought, should Helen's lord be slain,
And all his country's glorious labours vain.
Already met, the threatening heroes stand;
The spears already tremble in their hand:
In rush'd Antilochus, his aid to bring,
And fall or conquer by the Spartan king.
These seen, the Dardan backward turn'd his course,
Brave as he was, and shunn'd unequal force.
The breathless bodies to the Greeks they drew,
Then mix in combat, and their toils renew.
First, Pylaemenes, great in battle, bled,
Who sheathed in brass the Paphlagonians led.
Atrides mark'd him where sublime he stood;
Fix'd in his throat the javelin drank his blood.
The faithful Mydon, as he turn'd from fight
His flying coursers, sunk to endless night;
A broken rock by Nestor's son was thrown:
His bended arm received the falling stone;
From his numb'd hand the ivory-studded reins,
Dropp'd in the dust, are trail'd along the plains:
Meanwhile his temples feel a deadly wound;
He groans in death, and ponderous sinks to ground:
Deep drove his helmet in the sands, and there
The head stood fix'd, the quivering legs in air,
Till trampled flat beneath the coursers' feet:
The youthful victor mounts his empty seat,
And bears the prize in triumph to the fleet.
Great Hector saw, and, raging at the view,
Pours on the Greeks: the Trojan troops pursue:
He fires his host with animating cries,
And brings along the furies of the skies,
Mars, stern destroyer! and Bellona dread,
Flame in the front, and thunder at their head:
This swells the tumult and the rage of fight;
That shakes a spear that casts a dreadful light.
Where Hector march'd, the god of battles shined,
Now storm'd before him, and now raged behind.
Tydides paused amidst his full career;
Then first the hero's manly breast knew fear.
As when some simple swain his cot forsakes,
And wide through fens an unknown journey takes:
If chance a swelling brook his passage stay,
And foam impervious 'cross the wanderer's way,
Confused he stops, a length of country pass'd,
Eyes the rough waves, and tired, returns at last.
Amazed no less the great Tydides stands:
He stay'd, and turning thus address'd his bands:
"No wonder, Greeks! that all to Hector yield;
Secure of favouring gods, he takes the field;
His strokes they second, and avert our spears.
Behold where Mars in mortal arms appears!
Retire then, warriors, but sedate and slow;
Retire, but with your faces to the foe.
Trust not too much your unavailing might;
'Tis not with Troy, but with the gods ye fight."
Now near the Greeks the black battalions drew;
And first two leaders valiant Hector slew:
His force Anchialus and Mnesthes found,
In every art of glorious war renown'd;
In the same car the chiefs to combat ride,
And fought united, and united died.
Struck at the sight, the mighty Ajax glows
With thirst of vengeance, and assaults the foes.
His massy spear with matchless fury sent,
Through Amphius' belt and heaving belly went;
Amphius Apaesus' happy soil possess'd,
With herds abounding, and with treasure bless'd;
But fate resistless from his country led
The chief, to perish at his people's head.
Shook with his fall his brazen armour rung,
And fierce, to seize it, conquering Ajax sprung;
Around his head an iron tempest rain'd;
A wood of spears his ample shield sustain'd:
Beneath one foot the yet warm corpse he press'd,
And drew his javelin from the bleeding breast:
He could no more; the showering darts denied
To spoil his glittering arms, and plumy pride.
Now foes on foes came pouring on the fields,
With bristling lances, and compacted shields;
Till in the steely circle straiten'd round,
Forced he gives way, and sternly quits the ground.
While thus they strive, Tlepolemus the great,(153)
Urged by the force of unresisted fate,
Burns with desire Sarpedon's strength to prove;
Alcides' offspring meets the son of Jove.
Sheathed in bright arms each adverse chief came on.
Jove's great descendant, and his greater son.
Prepared for combat, ere the lance he toss'd,
The daring Rhodian vents his haughty boast:
"What brings this Lycian counsellor so far,
To tremble at our arms, not mix in war!
Know thy vain self, nor let their flattery move,
Who style thee son of cloud-compelling Jove.
How far unlike those chiefs of race divine,
How vast the difference of their deeds and thine!
Jove got such heroes as my sire, whose soul
No fear could daunt, nor earth nor hell control.
Troy felt his arm, and yon proud ramparts stand
Raised on the ruins of his vengeful hand:
With six small ships, and but a slender train,
lie left the town a wide-deserted plain.
But what art thou, who deedless look'st around,
While unrevenged thy Lycians bite the ground!
Small aid to Troy thy feeble force can be;
But wert thou greater, thou must yield to me.
Pierced by my spear, to endless darkness go!
I make this present to the shades below."
The son of Hercules, the Rhodian guide,
Thus haughty spoke. The Lycian king replied:
"Thy sire, O prince! o'erturn'd the Trojan state,
Whose perjured monarch well deserved his fate;
Those heavenly steeds the hero sought so far,
False he detain'd, the just reward of war.
Nor so content, the generous chief defied,
With base reproaches and unmanly pride.
But you, unworthy the high race you boast,
Shall raise my glory when thy own is lost:
Now meet thy fate, and by Sarpedon slain,
Add one more ghost to Pluto's gloomy reign."
He said: both javelins at an instant flew;
Both struck, both wounded, but Sarpedon's slew:
Full in the boaster's neck the weapon stood,
Transfix'd his throat, and drank the vital blood;
The soul disdainful seeks the caves of night,
And his seal'd eyes for ever lose the light.
Yet not in vain, Tlepolemus, was thrown
Thy angry lance; which piercing to the bone
Sarpedon's thigh, had robb'd the chief of breath;
But Jove was present, and forbade the death.
Borne from the conflict by his Lycian throng,
The wounded hero dragg'd the lance along.
(His friends, each busied in his several part,
Through haste, or danger, had not drawn the dart.)
The Greeks with slain Tlepolemus retired;
Whose fall Ulysses view'd, with fury fired;
Doubtful if Jove's great son he should pursue,
Or pour his vengeance on the Lycian crew.
But heaven and fate the first design withstand,
Nor this great death must grace Ulysses' hand.
Minerva drives him on the Lycian train;
Alastor, Cronius, Halius, strew'd the plain,
Alcander, Prytanis, Noemon fell:(154)
And numbers more his sword had sent to hell,
But Hector saw; and, furious at the sight,
Rush'd terrible amidst the ranks of fight.
With joy Sarpedon view'd the wish'd relief,
And, faint, lamenting, thus implored the chief:
"O suffer not the foe to bear away
My helpless corpse, an unassisted prey;
If I, unbless'd, must see my son no more,
My much-loved consort, and my native shore,
Yet let me die in Ilion's sacred wall;
Troy, in whose cause I fell, shall mourn my fall."
He said, nor Hector to the chief replies,
But shakes his plume, and fierce to combat flies;
Swift as a whirlwind, drives the scattering foes;
And dyes the ground with purple as he goes.
Beneath a beech, Jove's consecrated shade,
His mournful friends divine Sarpedon laid:
Brave Pelagon, his favourite chief, was nigh,
Who wrench'd the javelin from his sinewy thigh.
The fainting soul stood ready wing'd for flight,
And o'er his eye-balls swam the shades of night;
But Boreas rising fresh, with gentle breath,
Recall'd his spirit from the gates of death.
The generous Greeks recede with tardy pace,
Though Mars and Hector thunder in their face;
None turn their backs to mean ignoble flight,
Slow they retreat, and even retreating fight.
Who first, who last, by Mars' and Hector's hand,
Stretch'd in their blood, lay gasping on the sand?
Tenthras the great, Orestes the renown'd
For managed steeds, and Trechus press'd the ground;,
Next OEnomaus and OEnops' offspring died;
Oresbius last fell groaning at their side:
Oresbius, in his painted mitre gay,
In fat Boeotia held his wealthy sway,
Where lakes surround low Hyle's watery plain;
A prince and people studious of their gain.
The carnage Juno from the skies survey'd,
And touch'd with grief bespoke the blue-eyed maid:
"Oh, sight accursed! Shall faithless Troy prevail,
And shall our promise to our people fail?
How vain the word to Menelaus given
By Jove's great daughter and the queen of heaven,
Beneath his arms that Priam's towers should fall,
If warring gods for ever guard the wall!
Mars, red with slaughter, aids our hated foes:
Haste, let us arm, and force with force oppose!"
She spoke; Minerva burns to meet the war:
And now heaven's empress calls her blazing car.
At her command rush forth the steeds divine;
Rich with immortal gold their trappings shine.
Bright Hebe waits; by Hebe, ever young,
The whirling wheels are to the chariot hung.
On the bright axle turns the bidden wheel
Of sounding brass; the polished axle steel.
Eight brazen spokes in radiant order flame;
The circles gold, of uncorrupted frame,
Such as the heavens produce: and round the gold
Two brazen rings of work divine were roll'd.
The bossy naves of sold silver shone;
Braces of gold suspend the moving throne:
The car, behind, an arching figure bore;
The bending concave form'd an arch before.
Silver the beam, the extended yoke was gold,
And golden reins the immortal coursers hold.
Herself, impatient, to the ready car,
The coursers joins, and breathes revenge and war.
Pallas disrobes; her radiant veil untied,
With flowers adorn'd, with art diversified,
(The laboured veil her heavenly fingers wove,)
Flows on the pavement of the court of Jove.
Now heaven's dread arms her mighty limbs invest,
Jove's cuirass blazes on her ample breast;
Deck'd in sad triumph for the mournful field,
O'er her broad shoulders hangs his horrid shield,
Dire, black, tremendous! Round the margin roll'd,
A fringe of serpents hissing guards the gold:
Here all the terrors of grim War appear,
Here rages Force, here tremble Flight and Fear,
Here storm'd Contention, and here Fury frown'd,
And the dire orb portentous Gorgon crown'd.
The massy golden helm she next assumes,
That dreadful nods with four o'ershading plumes;
So vast, the broad circumference contains
A hundred armies on a hundred plains.
The goddess thus the imperial car ascends;
Shook by her arm the mighty javelin bends,
Ponderous and huge; that when her fury burns,
Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hosts o'erturns.
Swift at the scourge the ethereal coursers fly,
While the smooth chariot cuts the liquid sky.
Heaven's gates spontaneous open to the powers,(155)
Heaven's golden gates, kept by the winged Hours;(156)
Commission'd in alternate watch they stand,
The sun's bright portals and the skies command,
Involve in clouds the eternal gates of day,
Or the dark barrier roll with ease away.
The sounding hinges ring on either side
The gloomy volumes, pierced with light, divide.
The chariot mounts, where deep in ambient skies,
Confused, Olympus' hundred heads arise;
Where far apart the Thunderer fills his throne,
O'er all the gods superior and alone.
There with her snowy hand the queen restrains
The fiery steeds, and thus to Jove complains:
"O sire! can no resentment touch thy soul?
Can Mars rebel, and does no thunder roll?
What lawless rage on yon forbidden plain,
What rash destruction! and what heroes slain!
Venus, and Phoebus with the dreadful bow,
Smile on the slaughter, and enjoy my woe.
Mad, furious power! whose unrelenting mind
No god can govern, and no justice bind.
Say, mighty father! shall we scourge this pride,
And drive from fight the impetuous homicide?"
To whom assenting, thus the Thunderer said:
"Go! and the great Minerva be thy aid.
To tame the monster-god Minerva knows,
And oft afflicts his brutal breast with woes."
He said; Saturnia, ardent to obey,
Lash'd her white steeds along the aerial way
Swift down the steep of heaven the chariot rolls,
Between the expanded earth and starry poles
Far as a shepherd, from some point on high,(157)
O'er the wide main extends his boundless eye,
Through such a space of air, with thundering sound,
At every leap the immortal coursers bound
Troy now they reach'd and touch'd those banks divine,
Where silver Simois and Scamander join
There Juno stopp'd, and (her fair steeds unloosed)
Of air condensed a vapour circumfused
For these, impregnate with celestial dew,
On Simois, brink ambrosial herbage grew.
Thence to relieve the fainting Argive throng,
Smooth as the sailing doves they glide along.
The best and bravest of the Grecian band
(A warlike circle) round Tydides stand.
Such was their look as lions bathed in blood,
Or foaming boars, the terror of the wood
Heaven's empress mingles with the mortal crowd,
And shouts, in Stentor's sounding voice, aloud;
Stentor the strong, endued with brazen lungs,(158)
Whose throats surpass'd the force of fifty tongues.
"Inglorious Argives! to your race a shame,
And only men in figure and in name!
Once from the walls your timorous foes engaged,
While fierce in war divine Achilles raged;
Now issuing fearless they possess the plain,
Now win the shores, and scarce the seas remain."
Her speech new fury to their hearts convey'd;
While near Tydides stood the Athenian maid;
The king beside his panting steeds she found,
O'erspent with toil reposing on the ground;
To cool his glowing wound he sat apart,
(The wound inflicted by the Lycian dart.)
Large drops of sweat from all his limbs descend,
Beneath his ponderous shield his sinews bend,
Whose ample belt, that o'er his shoulder lay,
He eased; and wash'd the clotted gore away.
The goddess leaning o'er the bending yoke,
Beside his coursers, thus her silence broke:
"Degenerate prince! and not of Tydeus' kind,
Whose little body lodged a mighty mind;
Foremost he press'd in glorious toils to share,
And scarce refrain'd when I forbade the war.
Alone, unguarded, once he dared to go,
And feast, incircled by the Theban foe;
There braved, and vanquish'd, many a hardy knight;
Such nerves I gave him, and such force in fight.
Thou too no less hast been my constant care;
Thy hands I arm'd, and sent thee forth to war:
But thee or fear deters, or sloth detains;
No drop of all thy father warms thy veins."
The chief thus answered mild: "Immortal maid!
I own thy presence, and confess thy aid.
Not fear, thou know'st, withholds me from the plains,
Nor sloth hath seized me, but thy word restrains:
From warring gods thou bad'st me turn my spear,
And Venus only found resistance here.
Hence, goddess! heedful of thy high commands,
Loth I gave way, and warn'd our Argive bands:
For Mars, the homicide, these eyes beheld,
With slaughter red, and raging round the field."
Then thus Minerva:--"Brave Tydides, hear!
Not Mars himself, nor aught immortal, fear.
Full on the god impel thy foaming horse:
Pallas commands, and Pallas lends thee force.
Rash, furious, blind, from these to those he flies,
And every side of wavering combat tries;
Large promise makes, and breaks the promise made:
Now gives the Grecians, now the Trojans aid."(159)
She said, and to the steeds approaching near,
Drew from his seat the martial charioteer.
The vigorous power the trembling car ascends,
Fierce for revenge; and Diomed attends:
The groaning axle bent beneath the load;
So great a hero, and so great a god.
She snatch'd the reins, she lash'd with all her force,
And full on Mars impelled the foaming horse:
But first, to hide her heavenly visage, spread
Black Orcus' helmet o'er her radiant head.
[Illustration: DIOMED CASTING HIS SPEAR AT MARS.]
DIOMED CASTING HIS SPEAR AT MARS.
Just then gigantic Periphas lay slain,
The strongest warrior of the Ætolian train;
The god, who slew him, leaves his prostrate prize
Stretch'd where he fell, and at Tydides flies.
Now rushing fierce, in equal arms appear
The daring Greek, the dreadful god of war!
Full at the chief, above his courser's head,
From Mars's arm the enormous weapon fled:
Pallas opposed her hand, and caused to glance
Far from the car the strong immortal lance.
Then threw the force of Tydeus' warlike son;
The javelin hiss'd; the goddess urged it on:
Where the broad cincture girt his armour round,
It pierced the god: his groin received the wound.
From the rent skin the warrior tugs again
The smoking steel. Mars bellows with the pain:
Loud as the roar encountering armies yield,
When shouting millions shake the thundering field.
Both armies start, and trembling gaze around;
And earth and heaven re-bellow to the sound.
As vapours blown by Auster's sultry breath,
Pregnant with plagues, and shedding seeds of death,
Beneath the rage of burning Sirius rise,
Choke the parch'd earth, and blacken all the skies;
In such a cloud the god from combat driven,
High o'er the dusky whirlwind scales the heaven.
Wild with his pain, he sought the bright abodes,
There sullen sat beneath the sire of gods,
Show'd the celestial blood, and with a groan
Thus pour'd his plaints before the immortal throne:
"Can Jove, supine, flagitious facts survey,
And brook the furies of this daring day?
For mortal men celestial powers engage,
And gods on gods exert eternal rage:
From thee, O father! all these ills we bear,
And thy fell daughter with the shield and spear;
Thou gavest that fury to the realms of light,
Pernicious, wild, regardless of the right.
All heaven beside reveres thy sovereign sway,
Thy voice we hear, and thy behests obey:
'Tis hers to offend, and even offending share
Thy breast, thy counsels, thy distinguish'd care:
So boundless she, and thou so partial grown,
Well may we deem the wondrous birth thy own.
Now frantic Diomed, at her command,
Against the immortals lifts his raging hand:
The heavenly Venus first his fury found,
Me next encountering, me he dared to wound;
Vanquish'd I fled; even I, the god of fight,
From mortal madness scarce was saved by flight.
Else hadst thou seen me sink on yonder plain,
Heap'd round, and heaving under loads of slain!
Or pierced with Grecian darts, for ages lie,
Condemn'd to pain, though fated not to die."
Him thus upbraiding, with a wrathful look
The lord of thunders view'd, and stern bespoke:
"To me, perfidious! this lamenting strain?
Of lawless force shall lawless Mars complain?
Of all the gods who tread the spangled skies,
Thou most unjust, most odious in our eyes!
Inhuman discord is thy dire delight,
The waste of slaughter, and the rage of fight.
No bounds, no law, thy fiery temper quells,
And all thy mother in thy soul rebels.
In vain our threats, in vain our power we use;
She gives the example, and her son pursues.
Yet long the inflicted pangs thou shall not mourn,
Sprung since thou art from Jove, and heavenly-born.
Else, singed with lightning, hadst thou hence been thrown,
Where chain'd on burning rocks the Titans groan."
Thus he who shakes Olympus with his nod;
Then gave to Paeon's care the bleeding god.(160)
With gentle hand the balm he pour'd around,
And heal'd the immortal flesh, and closed the wound.
As when the fig's press'd juice, infused in cream,
To curds coagulates the liquid stream,
Sudden the fluids fix the parts combined;
Such, and so soon, the ethereal texture join'd.
Cleansed from the dust and gore, fair Hebe dress'd
His mighty limbs in an immortal vest.
Glorious he sat, in majesty restored,
Fast by the throne of heaven's superior lord.
Juno and Pallas mount the bless'd abodes,
Their task perform'd, and mix among the gods.
[Illustration: JUNO.]
JUNO. 神祗走后，阿开亚人和特洛伊人继续着
惨烈的拼斗；平原上，激战的人潮
此起彼落，双方互掷青铜的枪矛，
战斗在两条大河之间，伴随着珊索斯和西摩埃斯的水流。
忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯，阿开亚人的堡垒，率先
打破特洛伊人的队阵，给伙伴们带来希望，
击倒了斯拉凯人中最好的战勇，
高大魁梧的阿卡马斯，欧索罗斯的儿郎。
他抢先投矛，击中插顶马鬃的头盔，坚挺的突角，
铜尖扎在前额上，深咬进去，
捣碎头骨，浓黑的迷雾蒙住了他的眼睛。
啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯击倒了阿克苏洛斯，
丢斯拉斯之子，家住坚固的阿里斯贝，
家资丰足，客友天下，敞开
路边的屋居，接待每一位宾朋。
然而，他们中现时无人站在他的身边，替他
挡开可悲的死亡——狄俄墨得斯夺走了他俩的生命，
阿克苏洛斯和他的伴从卡勒西俄斯，
驾车的驭手；他俩双双去了冥府。
其时，欧鲁阿洛斯杀了德瑞索斯和俄菲尔提俄斯，
进而追击埃塞波斯和裴达索斯，溪泉女神
阿芭耳芭拉把他们生给了勇武的布科利昂，
布科利昂，高傲的劳墨冬的儿子，
长出，虽然他的母亲在黑暗里偷偷地生下了他。
那天，在牧羊之际，布科利昂和女仙睡躺作爱，
后者孕后生下一对男孩。现在，墨基斯提俄斯
之子欧鲁阿洛斯打散了他们的勇力，酥软了他俩
健美的肢腿，剥走了肩上的铠甲。
骠勇犟悍的波鲁波伊忒斯杀了阿斯图阿洛斯；
俄底修斯杀了来自裴耳科忒的皮杜忒斯，
用他的铜矛；丢克罗斯结果了高贵的阿瑞塔昂。
奈斯托耳之子安提洛科斯杀了阿伯勒罗斯，
用闪亮的飞矛；阿伽门农，全军的统帅，放倒了厄拉托斯，
家住萨特尼俄埃斯河畔，长长的水流，
山壁陡峭的裴达索斯。勇士雷托斯追杀了
逃跑中的夫拉科斯；欧鲁普洛斯结果了墨郎西俄斯。
其时，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯生擒了
阿德瑞斯托斯——受惊的驭马狂跑在平野上，
缠绊在一处怪柳枝丛里，崩裂了弯翘的马车，
断在车杆的根端，挣脱羁绊，朝着
城墙飞跑，惊散了那一带的驭马，四下里活蹦乱跳。
它们的主人被甩出马车，倒在轮子的边沿，
头脸朝下，嘴啃泥尘；墨奈劳斯，
阿特柔斯之子，手提投影森长的枪矛，耸立在他的身旁。
阿德瑞斯托斯一把抱住他的膝盖，哀求道：
“活捉我，阿特柔斯之子，取受足份的赎礼。
家父盈实富有，房居里财宝堆积如山，
有青铜、黄金和艰工冶铸的灰铁——
他会用难以数计的财礼欢悦你的心房，
要是听说我还活在阿开亚人的海船旁。”
一番话说动了墨奈劳斯的心肠。
正当他准备把阿德瑞斯托斯交由随从，
带回阿开亚人迅捷的海船之际，
阿伽门农快步跑来，嚷道：
“怎么，心软了，我的兄弟？为何如此
关照我们的敌人？或许，你也曾得过特洛伊人的
厚爱，在你的家里？！不，不能让一个人躲过暴烈的死亡，
逃出我们的手心——哪怕是娘肚里的男孩，
也决不放过！让特洛伊人死个
精光，无人哀悼，不留痕迹！”
英雄的斥劝理直气壮，说动了
兄弟。墨奈劳斯一把推出武士阿德瑞斯托斯，
强有力的阿伽门农一枪
刺进他的胁腹，打得他仰面倒地，
然后一脚踹住他的胸口，拧拔出自己的(木岑)木杆枪矛。
其时，奈斯托耳放开嗓门，对阿耳吉维人喊道：
“朋友们，达奈勇士们，阿瑞斯的随从们！
现在不是掠劫的时候；不要迟滞不前，
盘想着如何把尽可能多的战礼拖回船艘。
现在是杀敌的关头！战后，在休闲的时候，
你们可剥尽尸体上的属物，在平原的各个角落！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。其时，
面对嗜战的阿开亚兵壮，特洛伊人可能会再次逃进城墙，
逃回伊利昂，背着惊恐的包袱，跌跌撞撞，
要不是赫勒诺斯，普里阿摩斯之子，最灵验的卜者，
站到埃内阿斯和赫克托耳身旁，对他们说道：
“二位首领，你俩是引导特洛伊人和鲁基亚人
战斗的主将，因为在一切方面，你们都是
出类拔萃的好汉，无论是战力，还是谋划。
所以，你俩要站稳脚跟，亦宜四出巡访，把
回退的战勇聚合在城门前——要快，不要让他们
扑进女人的怀抱，让我们的敌人耻笑。
只要你们把各支部队鼓动起来，
我们就能牢牢地站住阵脚，和达奈人战斗，
虽然军队已经遭受重创，但我们只有背城一战。
然而你，赫克多耳，你要赶快回城，告诉
我们的母亲，召集所有高贵的妇人，
在城堡的高处，灰眼睛雅典娜的庙前，
用钥匙打开神圣的房室，由她择选，
拿取一件在她的厅屋里所能找到的最大。
最美的裙袍，她最喜爱的珍品，
铺展在美发的雅典娜的膝头。让她
答应在神庙里献祭十二头幼小的母牛，
从未挨过责笞的牛崽，但求女神怜悯
我们的城堡，怜悯特洛伊妇女和弱小无助的孩童。
但愿她能把图丢斯之子赶离神圣的伊利昂，
这个疯狂的枪手，令人胆寒的精壮！
此人，告诉你，已成为阿开亚人中最强健的战勇。
我们从来不曾如此怕过阿基琉斯，军队的首领，
据说还是女神的儿子。此人肯定是
杀疯了，谁也不能和他较劲，和他对打！”
他言罢，赫克托耳听从了兄弟的劝议，
马上跳下战车，双脚着地，全副武装，
挥舞着两枝犀利的枪矛，穿行在每一支队伍，
催励兵勇们拼杀，推起恐怖的战争狂潮。
特洛伊人于是行动起来，死死地顶住阿开亚壮勇。
阿耳吉维人开始退却，转过身子，停止了砍杀，
以为某位神祗，从多星的天空落降，
站在特洛伊人一边——他们集聚得如此迅速！
赫克托耳亮开嗓门，对特洛伊人高声喊道：
“心志高昂的特洛伊人，威名远扬的盟军伙伴们，
拿出男子汉的勇气，亲爱的朋友们，鼓起狂烈的战斗激情！
坚持下去，待我赶回伊利昂，告诉
年长的参事和我们的妻房，
要他们对神祈祷，许以丰盛的祀祭。”
言罢，赫克托耳，顶着闪亮的头盔，动身离去，
乌黑的牛皮磕碰着脚踝和脖子，盾围的边圈，
环绕着中心突鼓的巨盾，它的边沿。
其时，希波洛科斯之子格劳科斯和图丢斯之子
来到两军之间的空地，带着拼杀的狂烈。
他俩迎面撞来，咄咄逼近，
啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯首先发话，嚷道：
“你是凡人中的哪一位，我的朋友？我怎么
从来不曾见你，在人们争得荣誉的战场，
从来没有。现在，你却远离众人，风风火火地
冲上前来，面对投影森长的枪矛。
不幸的父亲，你们的儿子要和我对阵拼打！
但是，倘若你是某位不死的神明，来自晴亮的天空，
那么，告诉你，我将不和任何天神交手。
即便是德鲁阿斯之子，强有力的鲁库耳戈斯，
由于试图和天神交战，也落得短命的下场。
此人曾将众位女仙，狂荡的狄俄努索斯的保姆，
赶下神圣的努萨山。她们丢弃手中的
枝杖，挨着凶狠的鲁库耳戈斯的责打，
用赶牛的棍棒！狄俄努索斯吓得魂飞胆散，
一头扎进海浪，藏身塞提丝的怀抱，
惊恐万状，全身剧烈颤嗦，慑于鲁库耳戈斯的追骂。
但是，无忧无虑的神祗，震怒于他的暴行，
克罗诺斯之子打瞎了他的眼睛；不久以后，
鲁库耳戈斯一命呜呼，只因受到所有神明的痛恨。
所以，我无意和幸运的神祗对抗。
不过，如果你是一个吃食人间烟火的凡人，那就
不妨再走近些，以便尽快接受死的锤打！”
听罢这番话，希波洛科斯高贵的儿子答道：
“图丢斯心胸豪壮的儿子，为何询问我的家世？
凡人的生活，就像树叶的聚落。
凉风吹散垂挂枝头的旧叶，但一日
春风拂起，枝干便会抽发茸密的新绿。
人同此理，新的一代崛起，老的一代死去。
不过，关于我的宗谱，如果你想了解得清清楚楚，
不遗不误，那就听我道来，虽说在许多人心里，这些已是熟知
的掌故。在马草肥美的阿耳戈斯的一端，耸立着一座城堡，
名厄芙拉，埃俄洛斯之子西苏福斯的故乡，
西苏福斯，世间最精明的凡人，得子格劳科斯；
而后者又是英勇的伯勒罗丰忒斯的父亲。
神明给了伯勒罗丰忒斯俊美的容貌和
迷人的气度，但普罗伊托斯却刻意加害——
只因前者远比他强壮——把他赶出阿耳吉维人的
故乡，宙斯用王杖征服的疆土。
面对俊逸的伯勒罗丰忒斯，普罗伊托斯之妻，美丽的安忒娅
激情冲动，意欲和他做爱同床，但后者
正气凛然，意志坚强，不为所动。
于是，她来到国王普罗伊托斯身边，谎言道：
“杀了伯勒罗丰忒斯吧，普罗伊托斯，否则，你还活着干吗？
那家伙试图和我同床，被我断然拒绝！”
如此一番谎告激怒了国王。不过，
王者没有把他杀掉，忌于惊恐自己的心肠，
而是让他去了鲁基亚，带着一篇要他送命的记符[●]，刻画
●记符：提及“书划”，《伊利亚特》中仅此一例。
在一块折起的板片上，密密匝匝的符记，足以使他送命客乡。
国王要他把板片交给安忒娅的父亲，让他落个必死无疑的
下场。承蒙神的护送，伯勒罗丰忒斯一路顺风
来到鲁基亚。当他抵达水流湍急的珊索斯河边，
统领着辽阔疆土的鲁基亚国王热情地款待了他；
一连九天，祭宴不断，杀了九头肥牛。
然而，当第十个黎明显露出它那玫瑰红的手指，
国王开始对他发问，要他出示所带之物，
普罗伊托斯、他的女婿让他捎来的符码。
当他知晓了女婿险恶的用心，便对来者
发出了第一道命令：要他杀除难以征服的
怪兽基迈拉，此兽出自神族，全非人为，
长着狮子的头颅，长蛇的尾巴，山羊的身段，
喷射出炽烈的火焰，极其可怕。
然而，伯勒罗丰忒斯杀了基迈拉，遵从神的兆示。
其后，他又和光荣的索鲁摩伊人战斗；在他所经历的
同凡人的拼搏中，他说过，此役最为艰狂。
接着，他又冲破老王设下的第三个陷阱，杀了打仗不让须眉的
雅马宗女郎。凯旋后，国王又设下一条毒计，
选出疆域宽广的鲁基亚中最好的战勇，
命他们拦路伏藏——这帮人无一生还，
被英勇无畏的伯勒罗丰忒斯杀得精光。
其后，国王得知他乃神的后裔，勇猛豪强，
便把他挽留下来，招为女婿，
给了他一半的权益，属于王者的份偿。
鲁基亚人划出一片土地，比谁的份儿都大，
肥熟的耕地和果园，由他统管经掌。
妻子为刚勇的伯勒罗丰忒斯生了三个孩子：
伊桑得罗斯、希波洛科斯和劳达墨娅。
劳达墨娅曾和多谋善断的宙斯睡躺欢爱，
为他生了头戴铜盔的萨耳裴冬，神一样的英壮。以后，
伯勒罗丰忒斯——即便是像他这样的人——也受到所有神祗
的憎恨，流浪在阿雷俄斯平原，子然一身，
心力憔悴，避离了生活的艰杂。
至于他的儿子，伊桑得罗斯，在和光荣的索鲁摩伊人
拼斗时，死在嗜战不厌的阿瑞斯手下。
操用金缰的阿耳忒弥丝，出于暴怒，杀了劳达墨娅。
然而，希波洛科斯生养了我——告诉你，他是我的父亲。
他让我来到特洛伊，反复叮嘱：
要我英勇作战，比谁都顽强，以求出人头地，
不致辱没我的前辈，生长在厄芙拉
和辽阔的鲁基亚的最勇敢的英壮。
这便是我的宗谱，我的可以当众称告的血统。”
听罢这番话，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯心里高兴。
他把枪矛插进丰腴的土地，和言
悦色地对这位兵士的牧者说道：
“太好了，你是我的朋友，我的客人；我们的友谊可以追溯到祖
辈生活的时候。高贵的俄伊纽斯曾热情地接待过豪勇的
伯勒罗丰忒斯，在他的厅堂，留住了整整二十天。
他俩互赠精美的礼物，作为友谊的象征。
俄伊纽斯送给客人一条闪亮的皮带，颜色深红，
伯勒罗丰忒斯回赠了一个双把的金杯，
被我留在家中，在我动身之前。
关于图丢斯，我的父亲，我的记忆却十分淡薄——
当他离家之际，我还是个孩童；那时候，阿开亚人的壮勇
正惨死在塞贝。所以，在阿耳戈斯的腹地，我是你的朋友和
主人，而在鲁基亚，当我踏上你的国土，你又是我的主人和朋
友。
让我们避开各自的枪矛，即便是在近身的鏖战中。
供我杀戮的特洛伊人，还有他们那声名遐迩的盟友，
多如牛毛，我会宰了他们，无论是神祗拢来的猎物，还是我自
个快步追上敌手。
同样，阿开亚人的队伍浩浩荡荡——杀吧，如果你有这个本事。
现在，让我们互换铠甲，以便使众人知道，
从祖辈开始，我们已是客人和朋友。”
两人言罢，双双从马后跃下战车。
紧紧握手，互致了表示友好的誓言。
然而，宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，盗走了格劳科斯的心智，
使他用金甲换回图丢斯之子狄俄墨得斯的
铜衣，前者值得一百头肥牛，而后者只有九条牛的换价。
其时，当赫克托耳回抵斯卡亚门和橡树耸立的地方，
特洛伊人的妻子和女儿们蜂拥着跑了过来，
围在他的身边，询问起她们的儿子、兄弟、朋友
和丈夫。赫克托耳告诉所有的女子，要她们对神祈祷，
一个接着一个；然而，悲痛正等待着许多女眷，不幸的人们。
其后，赫克托耳来到普里阿摩斯雄伟的宫殿，
带着光洁的石筑柱廊，内有
五十间睡房，取料磨光的石块；
间间相连，房内睡着普里阿摩斯的
儿子，躺在各自婚娶的爱妻旁。
在内庭的另一面，对着这些房间，
是他女儿们的睡房，共十二间，取料磨光的石块，
间间相连，里面睡着普里阿摩斯的
女婿，躺在各自温柔的爱妻旁。
宫居里，赫克托耳的母亲遇见了儿子，一位
慷宏大量的妇人，带着劳迪凯，女儿中最漂亮的一个。
她紧紧拉住儿子的手，出声呼唤，说道：
‘戏的孩子，为何离开激战的沙场？为何来到此地？
瞧这些阿开亚人的儿子们把你折磨成什么样子——
该死的东西，逼在我们城下战斗！我知道，是你的心灵
驱使你回返，站到城堡的顶端，举起你的双手，
对着宙斯祈愿。不过，等一等，待我取来蜜甜的醇酒，
敬祭父亲宙斯和列位尊神，然后，
你自己亦可借酒添力，滋润焦渴的咽喉。
对一个疲乏之人，醇酒会给他增添用不完的力气，
对一个像你这样疲乏的人，奋力保卫着城里的生民。”
高大的赫克托耳，头顶闪亮的铜盔，答道：
“不要给我端来香甜的美酒，亲爱的妈妈，
你会使我行动蹒跚，丧失战斗的勇力。
我亦耻于用不干净的双手，祭酒献给宙斯的佳酿，
闪亮的醇酒——个身上沾满血污和脏秽的人，
何以能对克罗诺斯之子、乌云之神宙斯祈祷？
快去掠劫者的福佑雅典娜的神庙，
召集出生高贵的老妇，带上祭神的牲品，
拿取一件在你的厅屋里所能找到的最大。
最美的裙袍，你最喜爱的珍品，
铺展在美发的雅典娜的膝头。此外，
答应在神庙里献祭十二头幼小的母牛，
从未挨过责笞的牛崽，但求女神怜悯
我们的城堡，怜悯特洛伊妇女和弱小无助的孩童，
求她把图丢斯之子赶离神圣的伊利昂，
这个疯狂的枪手，令人胆寒的精壮！
去吧，母亲，你去掠劫者的福佑雅典娜的神庙，
我去寻找帕里斯，要他参战，如果他还愿意听从
我的训告。但愿大地把他吞噬，就在此时时刻！
俄林波斯大神让他存活生长，使之成为一个巨大的祸害，
对特洛伊人，对心志豪莽的普里阿摩斯和他的儿子们！
但愿我能眼见他坠入死神的宫殿，这样，
我就可以说，我的内心已挣脱痛苦的缠磨！”
赫克托耳言罢，母亲走入厅堂，命嘱
女仆，召聚全城的贵妇，而
她自己则走下芬芳的藏室，里面
放着精致的织袍，出自西冬
女人的手工——神一样的亚历克山德罗斯亲自把她们
从西冬带回家乡，穿越浩森的洋面，就在那一次远航，
他还抱回了出身高贵的海伦。
赫卡贝提起一件绣袍，作为献给雅典娜的礼物，
此袍精美，最大，做工最细，
像星星一样闪光，收在裙衣的最底层。
然后，她抬腿前行，带领着一大群快步行走的贵妇。
当她们来到俯视全城的雅典娜的神庙，
美貌的塞阿诺开门迎候
基修斯的女儿，驯马手阿忒诺耳的妻子，
被特洛伊人推作雅典娜的祭司。
随着一声尖利的哭叫，女人们对着雅典娜高举起双手，
美貌的塞阿诺托起织袍，展放在
长发秀美的雅典娜的膝头，面对
强有力的宙斯的女儿，言词恳切地诵道：
“女王，雅典娜，我们城市的保卫者，女神中的骄傲！
折断狄俄墨得斯的枪矛，让他
栽倒在斯卡亚门前！我们将马上
献出十二头幼小的母牛，在你的神庙，
从未挨过责笞的牛崽，但求你怜悯
我们的城堡，怜悯特洛伊妇女和弱小无助的孩童！”
她如此一番祈祷，但帕拉丝·雅典娜没有接受她的恳求。
就在他们对着强有力的宙斯的女儿作祷时，
赫克托耳举步前往亚历克山德罗斯的房居，
一处豪华的住所，由主人亲自筹划建造，汇同当时
最好的工匠，肥沃的特洛伊地面手艺最绝的高手。
他们盖了一间睡房，一个厅堂和一个院落，
在赫克托耳和普里阿摩斯家居的附近，耸立在城堡的高处。
宙斯钟爱的赫克托耳走近房居，手持枪矛，
伸挺出十一个肘尺的长度，杆顶闪耀着一枝
青铜的矛尖，由一个黄金的圈环箍固。
他在睡房里找到帕里斯，正忙着整理精美的甲械，
他的盾牌和胸甲，摆弄着弯卷的强弓。
阿耳戈斯的海伦正和女仆们坐在一起，
指导她们的活计——绚美的织工。
赫克托耳见状破口大骂，用讥辱的言词：
“你这是在胡闹什么！现在可不是潜心生气的时候！
将士们正在成片地倒下，激战在我们的围城前，
惨死在陡峭的城墙下！这一切都是为了你，这喧闹的
杀声，这场围着城堡进行的殊死的拼斗！你理应首当其冲，
挡住在可恨的搏杀中退却的兵勇，不管你在哪里看见他。
振作起来，不要让无情的烈火荡毁我们的城楼！”
听罢此番责骂，神一样的亚历克山德罗斯答道：
“赫克托耳，你的指责公正合理，一点都不过分。
既如此，我这里有话解说，请你耐着性子，听听我的说告。
我之滞留房居，并非出于对特洛伊人的愤恨
和暴怒，而是想让自己沉浸在悲痛之中。
然而，就在刚才，我的妻子用温柔的话语说服了我；
她劝我返回战场，我也觉得应该这么做。
胜无定家，这回属你，下回归他。
好吧，等我一下，让我披甲穿挂；
要不，你可先走一步，我会随后跟踪，我想可以赶上。”
听罢这番话，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳没有作答，
倒是海伦开口说道，用亲切温柔的语调：
“我是条母狗，亲爱的兄弟，可憎可恨，心术邪毒。
我真恨之不得，在我母亲生我的那天，
一股凶邪的强风把我卷人
深山峡谷，或投入奔腾呼啸的大海，让峰波吞噬
我的身躯，从而使这一切的一切，都不致在我们眼前发生。
但是，既然神明已经设下这些痛苦，预定了事情的去向，
我希望嫁随一个比他善好的男人，
知道规束节制，了解那些人们论道的耻辱。
然而，此人没有稳笃的见识，今后也永远
不会有这种本领。所以，将来，我敢说，有他吃受的苦头。
进来吧，我的兄弟，进来坐在这张椅子上；
你比谁都更多地承受着战争的苦楚，
为了我，一个不顾廉耻的女人，和无知莽撞的帕里斯。
宙斯给我俩注定了可悲的命运，以便，即使在后代
生活的年月，让我们的秽行成为诗唱的内容！”
头顶闪亮的帽盔，高大的赫克托耳答道：
“不要让我坐在你的近旁，海伦，虽然你喜欢我，但你说服
不了我。我的内心催我快步赶去，帮助特洛伊人的
兵勇；我离开后，他们急切地盼我回归。
倒是该给这个人鼓鼓士气，好吗？让他赶快行动，
以便在我离城之前赶上我。
我将先回自己的家居，看看我的
亲人，我的爱妻和出生不久的儿郎，
因我不知是否还能和他们团聚，
不知神祗是否会让我倒死在阿开亚人手中。”
言罢，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳大步离去，
急如星火，来到建造精良的府居，但却
找不到白臂膀的安德罗玛开的身影，
她已带着婴儿和一位穿着漂亮的女仆，
出现在城楼之上，悲声恸哭。
找不到贤慧的妻子，赫克托耳走回门边，
站在槛条上，对女仆们问道；
“全都过来，仆从们，老实告诉我，
白臂膀的安德罗玛开去了哪里？在我的
某个姐妹的家里，或是和我的某个兄弟的穿着漂亮裙袍的媳
妇在一起？是不是去了雅典娜的神庙——特洛伊
长发秀美的贵妇们正在那里抚慰冷酷无情的女神？”
话音刚落，一位勤勉的家女仆答道：
“赫克托耳，既然你要我们如实告说她的去处，那就请你听着：
她并没有去你的某个姐妹或某个兄弟的媳妇的家居，
也没有去雅典娜的神庙——特洛伊
长发秀美的贵妇们正在那儿抚慰冷酷无情的女神，
而是去了伊利昂宽厚的城楼，因她听说
我方已渐感不支，而阿开亚人则越战越勇。
所以，她已快步扑向城楼，像个
发疯的女人，一位保姆跟随照料，抱着你们的儿郎。”
听罢女仆的话，赫克托耳即刻离家，
沿着来时走过的平展的街路，往回赶去，
跑过宽敞的城区，来到
斯卡亚门前，打算一鼓作气，直奔平原。
其时，他的嫁资丰足的妻房疾步跑来和他会面，
安德罗玛开，心志豪莽的厄提昂的女儿，
厄提昂，家住林木森茂的普拉科斯山脚，
普拉科斯峰峦下的塞贝，统治着基利基亚民众。
正是他的女儿，嫁给了头顶铜盔的赫克托耳。
此时，她和丈夫别后重逢，同行的还有一位女仆，
贴胸抱着一个男孩，出生不久的婴儿，
赫克托耳的儿子，父亲掌上的明珠，美得像一颗闪光的星宿，
赫克托耳叫他斯卡曼得里俄斯，但旁人都叫他阿斯图阿纳克
斯[●]，
●阿斯图阿纳克斯：意为城堡的主宰。
因为赫克托耳，独自一人，保卫着特洛伊城堡。
凝望着自己的儿子，勇士喜笑颜开，静静地站着；
安德罗玛开贴靠着他的身子，泪水滴淌，
紧握着他的手，叫着他的名字，说道：
“哦，鲁莽的汉子，我的赫克托耳！你的骁勇会送掉你的性命！
你既不可怜幼小的儿子，也不可怜即将成为寡妇的倒霉的我。
阿开亚人雄兵麇集，马上就会扑打上来，
把你杀掉。要是你死了，奔向你的命数，我还有
什么话头？倒不如埋入泥土。
生活将不再给我留下温馨，只有
悲痛，因为我没有父亲，也永别了高贵的母亲。
卓越的阿基琉斯荡扫过基利基亚坚固的城堡，
城门高耸的塞贝，杀了我的父亲
厄提昂。他杀了我的父亲，却没有剥走
他的铠甲——对死者，他还有那么一点敬意——
火焚了尸体，连同那套精工制作的铠甲，
在灰堆上垒起高高的坟茔；山林女仙，
带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿，在四周栽种了榆树。
就在那一天，我的七个兄弟，生活在同一座
房居里的亲人，全部去了死神的冥府，
正在放牧毛色雪白的羊群和腿步蹒跚的肥牛——
捷足的勇士、卓越的阿基琉斯把他们尽数残杀。
他把我的母亲、林木森茂的普拉科斯山下的女王，
带到此地，连同其他所获，以后
又把她释放，收取了难以数计的财礼。母亲死在
她父亲的房居——箭雨纷飞的阿耳忒弥丝夺走了她。
所以，赫克托耳，你既是我年轻力壮的丈夫，又是
我的父亲，我的尊贵的母亲和我的兄弟。
可怜可怜我吧，请你留在护墙内，
不要让你的孩子成为孤儿，你的妻子沦为寡妇。
把你的人马带到无花果树一带，那个城段
防守最弱，城墙较矮，易于爬攀。
已出现三次险情，敌方最好的战勇，由
声名远扬的伊多墨纽斯，以及阿特柔斯的两个儿子
和骁勇的狄俄墨得斯率领，试图从那里打开缺口。
也许，某个精通卜占的高手给过他们指点；
也许，受制于激情的催恿，他们在不顾一切地猛冲。”
听罢这番话，顶着闪亮的头盔，高大的赫克托耳答道：
“我也在考虑这些事情，夫人。但是，如果我像个
懦夫似地躲避战斗，我将在特洛伊的父老兄弟
面前，在长裙飘摆的特洛伊妇女面前，无地自容。
我的心灵亦不会同意我这么做。我知道壮士的作为，勇敢
顽强。永远和前排的特洛伊壮勇一起战斗，
替自己，也为我的父亲，争得巨大的荣光。
我心里明白，我的灵魂知道，
这一天必将到来——那时，神圣的伊利昂将被扫灭，
连同普里阿摩斯和他的手握粗长的(木岑)木杆枪矛的兵壮。
然而，特洛伊人将来的结局，还不至使我难受得
痛心疾首，即便是赫卡贝或国王普里阿摩斯的不幸，
即便是兄弟们的悲惨——他们人数众多，作战勇敢——
我知道他们将死在敌人手里，和地上的泥尘作伴。
使我难以忍受的，是想到你的痛苦：某个身披铜甲的
阿开亚壮勇会拖着你离去，任你泪流满面，夺走你的自由。
在阿耳戈斯，你得劳作在别人的织机前，
汲水在墨赛斯或呼裴瑞亚的清泉边，
违心背意——必做的苦活压得你抬不起头来。
将来，有人会如此说道，看着你泪水横流的苦态：
‘这是赫克托耳的妻子，在人们浴血伊利昂的
年月，他是驯马的特洛伊人中最勇的壮汉。’
是的，有人会这么说道，而这将在你的心里引发新的悲愁，
为失去你的丈夫，一个可以使你不致沦为奴隶的男人。
但愿我一死了事，在垒起的上堆下长眠，
不致听到你的嚎啕，被人拉走时发出的尖叫。”
言罢，光荣的赫克托耳伸手接抱孩子，
后者缩回保姆的怀抱，一位束腰秀美的女子，
哭叫着，惊恐于亲爹的装束，
害怕他身上的铜甲，冠脊上的马鬃，
扎缀在盔顶，在孩子眼里，摇曳出镇人的威严。
亲爱的父亲放声大笑，而受人尊敬的母亲也抿起了嘴唇；
光荣的赫克托耳马上摘下盔冕，
放在地上，折闪着太阳的光芒。他抱起
心爱的儿子，俯首亲吻，荡臂摇晃，
放开嗓门，对宙斯和列位神祗，朗声诵道：
“宙斯，各位神祗，答应让这个孩子，我的儿子，
以后出落得像我一样，在特洛伊人中出类拔萃，
像我一样刚健，强有力地统治伊利昂。将来，人们
会这样说道：‘这是个了不起的汉子，比他的父亲还要卓越。’
当他从战场凯旋，让他带着战礼，掠自
被他杀死的敌人，宽慰母亲的心灵。”
言罢，他把儿子交给亲爱的妻子，后者
双臂接过，抱紧在芬芳的酥胸前，
微笑中眼里闪着晶亮的泪花。赫克托耳见状，心生怜悯，
抚摸着她，叫着她的名字，说道：
“可怜的安德罗玛开，为何如此伤心，如此悲愁？
除非命里注定，谁也不能把我抛下哀地斯的冥府。
至于命运，我想谁也无法挣脱，无论是
勇士，还是懦夫——它钳制着我们，起始于我们出生的时候！
回去吧，操持你自己的活计，
你的织机和纱杆，还要催督家中的女仆，
要她们手脚勤勉。至于打仗，那是男人的事情，
所有出生在伊利昂的男子，首当其冲的是我，是我赫克托耳。”
言罢，赫克托耳提起嵌缀马鬃
顶冠的头盔，而他的爱妻则朝着家居走去，
频频回首张望，泪如泉涌。
她快步回到屠人的赫克托耳的家居，
精固的房院，发现众多的女仆正聚集在
里面，看到主人回归，放声嚎哭。
就这样，她们在赫克托耳的家里为他举哀，在他还
活着的时候，坚信他再也不能生还，
躲过阿开亚人的双手，逃离他们的扑击。
与此同时，帕里斯亦不敢在高大的家居里久留；
他穿上光荣的战甲，熠熠生光的青铜，
奔跑着穿过市区，迅捷的快腿使他充满信心。
如同一匹关在棚厩里的儿马，在食槽上吃得肚饱腰圆，
挣脱缰绳，蹄声隆隆地飞跑在平原，
直奔常去的澡地，一条水流清疾的长河，
神气活现地高昂着马头，颈背上长鬃
飘洒，陶醉于自己的勇力，跑开
迅捷的腿步，扑向草场，儿马爱去的地方。
就像这样，帕里斯，普里阿摩斯之子，从帕耳伽摩斯的
顶面往下冲跑，盔甲闪亮，像发光的太阳，
笑声朗朗，快步如飞，转眼之间
便赶上了卓越的赫克托耳，他的兄弟，其时还在那里，
不曾马上离开刚才和夫人交谈的地方。
神一样的亚历克山德罗斯首先开口说道：
“兄弟，我来迟了，耽误了你的时间；
我没有及时赶来，按你的要求。”
顶着闪亮的头盔，高大的赫克托耳答道：
“真是个不可思议的怪人；一位公正的人士不会低估你的
作用，在激烈的杀斗中，因为你是个强健的壮勇。
然而，你却自动退出战场，不愿继续战斗。当听到
我们的战勇，那些为你浴血苦战的特洛伊人，对你
讥刺辱骂时，我的内心就会一阵阵地绞痛。
好了，让我们一起投入战斗；这些纠纷，日后自会解决，
倘若宙斯同意，让我们汇聚厅堂，举起
自由的酒杯，对着上天不死的众神——在我们
赶走胫甲坚固的阿开亚兵壮，把他们打离特洛伊之后！”
ARGUMENT.
THE EPISODES OF GLAUCUS AND DIOMED, AND OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.
The gods having left the field, the Grecians prevail. Helenus, the chief
augur of Troy, commands Hector to return to the city, in order to appoint
a solemn procession of the queen and the Trojan matrons to the temple of
Minerva, to entreat her to remove Diomed from the fight. The battle
relaxing during the absence of Hector, Glaucus and Diomed have an
interview between the two armies; where, coming to the knowledge, of the
friendship and hospitality passed between their ancestors, they make
exchange of their arms. Hector, having performed the orders of Helenus,
prevails upon Paris to return to the battle, and, taking a tender leave of
his wife Andromache, hastens again to the field.
The scene is first in the field of battle, between the rivers Simois and
Scamander, and then changes to Troy.
Now heaven forsakes the fight: the immortals yield
To human force and human skill the field:
Dark showers of javelins fly from foes to foes;
Now here, now there, the tide of combat flows;
While Troy's famed streams, that bound the deathful plain
On either side, run purple to the main.
Great Ajax first to conquest led the way,
Broke the thick ranks, and turn'd the doubtful day.
The Thracian Acamas his falchion found,
And hew'd the enormous giant to the ground;
His thundering arm a deadly stroke impress'd
Where the black horse-hair nodded o'er his crest;
Fix'd in his front the brazen weapon lies,
And seals in endless shades his swimming eyes.
Next Teuthras' son distain'd the sands with blood,
Axylus, hospitable, rich, and good:
In fair Arisbe's walls (his native place)(161)
He held his seat! a friend to human race.
Fast by the road, his ever-open door
Obliged the wealthy, and relieved the poor.
To stern Tydides now he falls a prey,
No friend to guard him in the dreadful day!
Breathless the good man fell, and by his side
His faithful servant, old Calesius died.
By great Euryalus was Dresus slain,
And next he laid Opheltius on the plain.
Two twins were near, bold, beautiful, and young,
From a fair naiad and Bucolion sprung:
(Laomedon's white flocks Bucolion fed,
That monarch's first-born by a foreign bed;
In secret woods he won the naiad's grace,
And two fair infants crown'd his strong embrace:)
Here dead they lay in all their youthful charms;
The ruthless victor stripp'd their shining arms.
Astyalus by Polypoetes fell;
Ulysses' spear Pidytes sent to hell;
By Teucer's shaft brave Aretaon bled,
And Nestor's son laid stern Ablerus dead;
Great Agamemnon, leader of the brave,
The mortal wound of rich Elatus gave,
Who held in Pedasus his proud abode,(162)
And till'd the banks where silver Satnio flow'd.
Melanthius by Eurypylus was slain;
And Phylacus from Leitus flies in vain.
Unbless'd Adrastus next at mercy lies
Beneath the Spartan spear, a living prize.
Scared with the din and tumult of the fight,
His headlong steeds, precipitate in flight,
Rush'd on a tamarisk's strong trunk, and broke
The shatter'd chariot from the crooked yoke;
Wide o'er the field, resistless as the wind,
For Troy they fly, and leave their lord behind.
Prone on his face he sinks beside the wheel:
Atrides o'er him shakes his vengeful steel;
The fallen chief in suppliant posture press'd
The victor's knees, and thus his prayer address'd:
"O spare my youth, and for the life I owe
Large gifts of price my father shall bestow.
When fame shall tell, that, not in battle slain,
Thy hollow ships his captive son detain:
Rich heaps of brass shall in thy tent be told,(163)
And steel well-temper'd, and persuasive gold."
He said: compassion touch'd the hero's heart
He stood, suspended with the lifted dart:
As pity pleaded for his vanquish'd prize,
Stern Agamemnon swift to vengeance flies,
And, furious, thus: "Oh impotent of mind!(164)
Shall these, shall these Atrides' mercy find?
Well hast thou known proud Troy's perfidious land,
And well her natives merit at thy hand!
Not one of all the race, nor sex, nor age,
Shall save a Trojan from our boundless rage:
Ilion shall perish whole, and bury all;
Her babes, her infants at the breast, shall fall;(165)
A dreadful lesson of exampled fate,
To warn the nations, and to curb the great!"
The monarch spoke; the words, with warmth address'd,
To rigid justice steel'd his brother's breast
Fierce from his knees the hapless chief he thrust;
The monarch's javelin stretch'd him in the dust,
Then pressing with his foot his panting heart,
Forth from the slain he tugg'd the reeking dart.
Old Nestor saw, and roused the warrior's rage;
"Thus, heroes! thus the vigorous combat wage;
No son of Mars descend, for servile gains,
To touch the booty, while a foe remains.
Behold yon glittering host, your future spoil!
First gain the conquest, then reward the toil."
And now had Greece eternal fame acquired,
And frighted Troy within her walls, retired,
Had not sage Helenus her state redress'd,
Taught by the gods that moved his sacred breast.
Where Hector stood, with great Æneas join'd,
The seer reveal'd the counsels of his mind:
"Ye generous chiefs! on whom the immortals lay
The cares and glories of this doubtful day;
On whom your aids, your country's hopes depend;
Wise to consult, and active to defend!
Here, at our gates, your brave efforts unite,
Turn back the routed, and forbid the flight,
Ere yet their wives' soft arms the cowards gain,
The sport and insult of the hostile train.
When your commands have hearten'd every band,
Ourselves, here fix'd, will make the dangerous stand;
Press'd as we are, and sore of former fight,
These straits demand our last remains of might.
Meanwhile thou, Hector, to the town retire,
And teach our mother what the gods require:
Direct the queen to lead the assembled train
Of Troy's chief matrons to Minerva's fane;(166)
Unbar the sacred gates, and seek the power,
With offer'd vows, in Ilion's topmost tower.
The largest mantle her rich wardrobes hold,
Most prized for art, and labour'd o'er with gold,
Before the goddess' honour'd knees be spread,
And twelve young heifers to her altars led:
If so the power, atoned by fervent prayer,
Our wives, our infants, and our city spare,
And far avert Tydides' wasteful ire,
That mows whole troops, and makes all Troy retire;
Not thus Achilles taught our hosts to dread,
Sprung though he was from more than mortal bed;
Not thus resistless ruled the stream of fight,
In rage unbounded, and unmatch'd in might."
Hector obedient heard: and, with a bound,
Leap'd from his trembling chariot to the ground;
Through all his host inspiring force he flies,
And bids the thunder of the battle rise.
With rage recruited the bold Trojans glow,
And turn the tide of conflict on the foe:
Fierce in the front he shakes two dazzling spears;
All Greece recedes, and 'midst her triumphs fears;
Some god, they thought, who ruled the fate of wars,
Shot down avenging from the vault of stars.
Then thus aloud: "Ye dauntless Dardans, hear!
And you whom distant nations send to war!
Be mindful of the strength your fathers bore;
Be still yourselves, and Hector asks no more.
One hour demands me in the Trojan wall,
To bid our altars flame, and victims fall:
Nor shall, I trust, the matrons' holy train,
And reverend elders, seek the gods in vain."
This said, with ample strides the hero pass'd;
The shield's large orb behind his shoulder cast,
His neck o'ershading, to his ankle hung;
And as he march'd the brazen buckler rung.
Now paused the battle (godlike Hector gone),(167)
Where daring Glaucus and great Tydeus' son
Between both armies met: the chiefs from far
Observed each other, and had mark'd for war.
Near as they drew, Tydides thus began:
"What art thou, boldest of the race of man?
Our eyes till now that aspect ne'er beheld,
Where fame is reap'd amid the embattled field;
Yet far before the troops thou dar'st appear,
And meet a lance the fiercest heroes fear.
Unhappy they, and born of luckless sires,
Who tempt our fury when Minerva fires!
But if from heaven, celestial, thou descend,
Know with immortals we no more contend.
Not long Lycurgus view'd the golden light,
That daring man who mix'd with gods in fight.
Bacchus, and Bacchus' votaries, he drove,
With brandish'd steel, from Nyssa's sacred grove:
Their consecrated spears lay scatter'd round,
With curling vines and twisted ivy bound;
While Bacchus headlong sought the briny flood,
And Thetis' arms received the trembling god.
Nor fail'd the crime the immortals' wrath to move;
(The immortals bless'd with endless ease above;)
Deprived of sight by their avenging doom,
Cheerless he breathed, and wander'd in the gloom,
Then sunk unpitied to the dire abodes,
A wretch accursed, and hated by the gods!
I brave not heaven: but if the fruits of earth
Sustain thy life, and human be thy birth,
Bold as thou art, too prodigal of breath,
Approach, and enter the dark gates of death."
"What, or from whence I am, or who my sire,
(Replied the chief,) can Tydeus' son inquire?
Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies;
They fall successive, and successive rise:
So generations in their course decay;
So flourish these, when those are pass'd away.
But if thou still persist to search my birth,
Then hear a tale that fills the spacious earth.
"A city stands on Argos' utmost bound,
(Argos the fair, for warlike steeds renown'd,)
Aeolian Sisyphus, with wisdom bless'd,
In ancient time the happy wall possess'd,
Then call'd Ephyre: Glaucus was his son;
Great Glaucus, father of Bellerophon,
Who o'er the sons of men in beauty shined,
Loved for that valour which preserves mankind.
Then mighty Praetus Argos' sceptre sway'd,
Whose hard commands Bellerophon obey'd.
With direful jealousy the monarch raged,
And the brave prince in numerous toils engaged.
For him Antaea burn'd with lawless flame,
And strove to tempt him from the paths of fame:
In vain she tempted the relentless youth,
Endued with wisdom, sacred fear, and truth.
Fired at his scorn the queen to Praetus fled,
And begg'd revenge for her insulted bed:
Incensed he heard, resolving on his fate;
But hospitable laws restrain'd his hate:
To Lycia the devoted youth he sent,
With tablets seal'd, that told his dire intent.(168)
Now bless'd by every power who guards the good,
The chief arrived at Xanthus' silver flood:
There Lycia's monarch paid him honours due,
Nine days he feasted, and nine bulls he slew.
But when the tenth bright morning orient glow'd,
The faithful youth his monarch's mandate show'd:
The fatal tablets, till that instant seal'd,
The deathful secret to the king reveal'd.
First, dire Chimaera's conquest was enjoin'd;
A mingled monster of no mortal kind!
Behind, a dragon's fiery tail was spread;
A goat's rough body bore a lion's head;
Her pitchy nostrils flaky flames expire;
Her gaping throat emits infernal fire.
"This pest he slaughter'd, (for he read the skies,
And trusted heaven's informing prodigies,)
Then met in arms the Solymaean crew,(169)
(Fiercest of men,) and those the warrior slew;
Next the bold Amazons' whole force defied;
And conquer'd still, for heaven was on his side.
"Nor ended here his toils: his Lycian foes,
At his return, a treacherous ambush rose,
With levell'd spears along the winding shore:
There fell they breathless, and return'd no more.
"At length the monarch, with repentant grief,
Confess'd the gods, and god-descended chief;
His daughter gave, the stranger to detain,
With half the honours of his ample reign:
The Lycians grant a chosen space of ground,
With woods, with vineyards, and with harvests crown'd.
There long the chief his happy lot possess'd,
With two brave sons and one fair daughter bless'd;
(Fair e'en in heavenly eyes: her fruitful love
Crown'd with Sarpedon's birth the embrace of Jove;)
But when at last, distracted in his mind,
Forsook by heaven, forsaking humankind,
Wide o'er the Aleian field he chose to stray,
A long, forlorn, uncomfortable way!(170)
Woes heap'd on woes consumed his wasted heart:
His beauteous daughter fell by Phoebe's dart;
His eldest born by raging Mars was slain,
In combat on the Solymaean plain.
Hippolochus survived: from him I came,
The honour'd author of my birth and name;
By his decree I sought the Trojan town;
By his instructions learn to win renown,
To stand the first in worth as in command,
To add new honours to my native land,
Before my eyes my mighty sires to place,
And emulate the glories of our race."
He spoke, and transport fill'd Tydides' heart;
In earth the generous warrior fix'd his dart,
Then friendly, thus the Lycian prince address'd:
"Welcome, my brave hereditary guest!
Thus ever let us meet, with kind embrace,
Nor stain the sacred friendship of our race.
Know, chief, our grandsires have been guests of old;
OEneus the strong, Bellerophon the bold:
Our ancient seat his honour'd presence graced,
Where twenty days in genial rites he pass'd.
The parting heroes mutual presents left;
A golden goblet was thy grandsire's gift;
OEneus a belt of matchless work bestowed,
That rich with Tyrian dye refulgent glow'd.
(This from his pledge I learn'd, which, safely stored
Among my treasures, still adorns my board:
For Tydeus left me young, when Thebe's wall
Beheld the sons of Greece untimely fall.)
Mindful of this, in friendship let us join;
If heaven our steps to foreign lands incline,
My guest in Argos thou, and I in Lycia thine.
Enough of Trojans to this lance shall yield,
In the full harvest of yon ample field;
Enough of Greeks shall dye thy spear with gore;
But thou and Diomed be foes no more.
Now change we arms, and prove to either host
We guard the friendship of the line we boast."
Thus having said, the gallant chiefs alight,
Their hands they join, their mutual faith they plight;
Brave Glaucus then each narrow thought resign'd,
(Jove warm'd his bosom, and enlarged his mind,)
For Diomed's brass arms, of mean device,
For which nine oxen paid, (a vulgar price,)
He gave his own, of gold divinely wrought,(171)
A hundred beeves the shining purchase bought.
Meantime the guardian of the Trojan state,
Great Hector, enter'd at the Scaean gate.(172)
Beneath the beech-tree's consecrated shades,
The Trojan matrons and the Trojan maids
Around him flock'd, all press'd with pious care
For husbands, brothers, sons, engaged in war.
He bids the train in long procession go,
And seek the gods, to avert the impending woe.
And now to Priam's stately courts he came,
Rais'd on arch'd columns of stupendous frame;
O'er these a range of marble structure runs,
The rich pavilions of his fifty sons,
In fifty chambers lodged: and rooms of state,(173)
Opposed to those, where Priam's daughters sate.
Twelve domes for them and their loved spouses shone,
Of equal beauty, and of polish'd stone.
Hither great Hector pass'd, nor pass'd unseen
Of royal Hecuba, his mother-queen.
(With her Laodice, whose beauteous face
Surpass'd the nymphs of Troy's illustrious race.)
Long in a strict embrace she held her son,
And press'd his hand, and tender thus begun:
"O Hector! say, what great occasion calls
My son from fight, when Greece surrounds our walls;
Com'st thou to supplicate the almighty power
With lifted hands, from Ilion's lofty tower?
Stay, till I bring the cup with Bacchus crown'd,
In Jove's high name, to sprinkle on the ground,
And pay due vows to all the gods around.
Then with a plenteous draught refresh thy soul,
And draw new spirits from the generous bowl;
Spent as thou art with long laborious fight,
The brave defender of thy country's right."
"Far hence be Bacchus' gifts; (the chief rejoin'd;)
Inflaming wine, pernicious to mankind,
Unnerves the limbs, and dulls the noble mind.
Let chiefs abstain, and spare the sacred juice
To sprinkle to the gods, its better use.
By me that holy office were profaned;
Ill fits it me, with human gore distain'd,
To the pure skies these horrid hands to raise,
Or offer heaven's great Sire polluted praise.
You, with your matrons, go! a spotless train,
And burn rich odours in Minerva's fane.
The largest mantle your full wardrobes hold,
Most prized for art, and labour'd o'er with gold,
Before the goddess' honour'd knees be spread,
And twelve young heifers to her altar led.
So may the power, atoned by fervent prayer,
Our wives, our infants, and our city spare;
And far avert Tydides' wasteful ire,
Who mows whole troops, and makes all Troy retire.
Be this, O mother, your religious care:
I go to rouse soft Paris to the war;
If yet not lost to all the sense of shame,
The recreant warrior hear the voice of fame.
Oh, would kind earth the hateful wretch embrace,
That pest of Troy, that ruin of our race!(174)
Deep to the dark abyss might he descend,
Troy yet should flourish, and my sorrows end."
This heard, she gave command: and summon'd came
Each noble matron and illustrious dame.
The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went,
Where treasured odours breathed a costly scent.
There lay the vestures of no vulgar art,
Sidonian maids embroider'd every part,
Whom from soft Sidon youthful Paris bore,
With Helen touching on the Tyrian shore.
Here, as the queen revolved with careful eyes
The various textures and the various dyes,
She chose a veil that shone superior far,
And glow'd refulgent as the morning star.
Herself with this the long procession leads;
The train majestically slow proceeds.
Soon as to Ilion's topmost tower they come,
And awful reach the high Palladian dome,
Antenor's consort, fair Theano, waits
As Pallas' priestess, and unbars the gates.
With hands uplifted and imploring eyes,
They fill the dome with supplicating cries.
The priestess then the shining veil displays,
Placed on Minerva's knees, and thus she prays:
"Oh awful goddess! ever-dreadful maid,
Troy's strong defence, unconquer'd Pallas, aid!
Break thou Tydides' spear, and let him fall
Prone on the dust before the Trojan wall!
So twelve young heifers, guiltless of the yoke,
Shall fill thy temple with a grateful smoke.
But thou, atoned by penitence and prayer,
Ourselves, our infants, and our city spare!"
So pray'd the priestess in her holy fane;
So vow'd the matrons, but they vow'd in vain.
While these appear before the power with prayers,
Hector to Paris' lofty dome repairs.(175)
Himself the mansion raised, from every part
Assembling architects of matchless art.
Near Priam's court and Hector's palace stands
The pompous structure, and the town commands.
A spear the hero bore of wondrous strength,
Of full ten cubits was the lance's length,
The steely point with golden ringlets join'd,
Before him brandish'd, at each motion shined
Thus entering, in the glittering rooms he found
His brother-chief, whose useless arms lay round,
His eyes delighting with their splendid show,
Brightening the shield, and polishing the bow.
Beside him Helen with her virgins stands,
Guides their rich labours, and instructs their hands.
Him thus inactive, with an ardent look
The prince beheld, and high-resenting spoke.
"Thy hate to Troy, is this the time to show?
(O wretch ill-fated, and thy country's foe!)
Paris and Greece against us both conspire,
Thy close resentment, and their vengeful ire.
For thee great Ilion's guardian heroes fall,
Till heaps of dead alone defend her wall,
For thee the soldier bleeds, the matron mourns,
And wasteful war in all its fury burns.
Ungrateful man! deserves not this thy care,
Our troops to hearten, and our toils to share?
Rise, or behold the conquering flames ascend,
And all the Phrygian glories at an end."
"Brother, 'tis just, (replied the beauteous youth,)
Thy free remonstrance proves thy worth and truth:
Yet charge my absence less, O generous chief!
On hate to Troy, than conscious shame and grief:
Here, hid from human eyes, thy brother sate,
And mourn'd, in secret, his and Ilion's fate.
'Tis now enough; now glory spreads her charms,
And beauteous Helen calls her chief to arms.
Conquest to-day my happier sword may bless,
'Tis man's to fight, but heaven's to give success.
But while I arm, contain thy ardent mind;
Or go, and Paris shall not lag behind."
[Illustration: HECTOR CHIDING PARIS.]
HECTOR CHIDING PARIS.
He said, nor answer'd Priam's warlike son;
When Helen thus with lowly grace begun:
"Oh, generous brother! (if the guilty dame
That caused these woes deserve a sister's name!)
Would heaven, ere all these dreadful deeds were done,
The day that show'd me to the golden sun
Had seen my death! why did not whirlwinds bear
The fatal infant to the fowls of air?
Why sunk I not beneath the whelming tide,
And midst the roarings of the waters died?
Heaven fill'd up all my ills, and I accursed
Bore all, and Paris of those ills the worst.
Helen at least a braver spouse might claim,
Warm'd with some virtue, some regard of fame!
Now tired with toils, thy fainting limbs recline,
With toils, sustain'd for Paris' sake and mine
The gods have link'd our miserable doom,
Our present woe, and infamy to come:
Wide shall it spread, and last through ages long,
Example sad! and theme of future song."
The chief replied: "This time forbids to rest;
The Trojan bands, by hostile fury press'd,
Demand their Hector, and his arm require;
The combat urges, and my soul's on fire.
Urge thou thy knight to march where glory calls,
And timely join me, ere I leave the walls.
Ere yet I mingle in the direful fray,
My wife, my infant, claim a moment's stay;
This day (perhaps the last that sees me here)
Demands a parting word, a tender tear:
This day, some god who hates our Trojan land
May vanquish Hector by a Grecian hand."
He said, and pass'd with sad presaging heart
To seek his spouse, his soul's far dearer part;
At home he sought her, but he sought in vain;
She, with one maid of all her menial train,
Had hence retired; and with her second joy,
The young Astyanax, the hope of Troy,
Pensive she stood on Ilion's towery height,
Beheld the war, and sicken'd at the sight;
There her sad eyes in vain her lord explore,
Or weep the wounds her bleeding country bore.
But he who found not whom his soul desired,
Whose virtue charm'd him as her beauty fired,
Stood in the gates, and ask'd "what way she bent
Her parting step? If to the fane she went,
Where late the mourning matrons made resort;
Or sought her sisters in the Trojan court?"
"Not to the court, (replied the attendant train,)
Nor mix'd with matrons to Minerva's fane:
To Ilion's steepy tower she bent her way,
To mark the fortunes of the doubtful day.
Troy fled, she heard, before the Grecian sword;
She heard, and trembled for her absent lord:
Distracted with surprise, she seem'd to fly,
Fear on her cheek, and sorrow m her eye.
The nurse attended with her infant boy,
The young Astyanax, the hope of Troy."
Hector this heard, return'd without delay;
Swift through the town he trod his former way,
Through streets of palaces, and walks of state;
And met the mourner at the Scaean gate.
With haste to meet him sprung the joyful fair.
His blameless wife, Aetion's wealthy heir:
(Cilician Thebe great Aetion sway'd,
And Hippoplacus' wide extended shade:)
The nurse stood near, in whose embraces press'd,
His only hope hung smiling at her breast,
Whom each soft charm and early grace adorn,
Fair as the new-born star that gilds the morn.
To this loved infant Hector gave the name
Scamandrius, from Scamander's honour'd stream;
Astyanax the Trojans call'd the boy,
From his great father, the defence of Troy.
Silent the warrior smiled, and pleased resign'd
To tender passions all his mighty mind;
His beauteous princess cast a mournful look,
Hung on his hand, and then dejected spoke;
Her bosom laboured with a boding sigh,
And the big tear stood trembling in her eye.
[Illustration: THE MEETING OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.]
THE MEETING OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.
"Too daring prince! ah, whither dost thou run?
Ah, too forgetful of thy wife and son!
And think'st thou not how wretched we shall be,
A widow I, a helpless orphan he?
For sure such courage length of life denies,
And thou must fall, thy virtue's sacrifice.
Greece in her single heroes strove in vain;
Now hosts oppose thee, and thou must be slain.
O grant me, gods, ere Hector meets his doom,
All I can ask of heaven, an early tomb!
So shall my days in one sad tenor run,
And end with sorrows as they first begun.
No parent now remains my griefs to share,
No father's aid, no mother's tender care.
The fierce Achilles wrapt our walls in fire,
Laid Thebe waste, and slew my warlike sire!
His fate compassion in the victor bred;
Stern as he was, he yet revered the dead,
His radiant arms preserved from hostile spoil,
And laid him decent on the funeral pile;
Then raised a mountain where his bones were burn'd,
The mountain-nymphs the rural tomb adorn'd,
Jove's sylvan daughters bade their elms bestow
A barren shade, and in his honour grow.
"By the same arm my seven brave brothers fell;
In one sad day beheld the gates of hell;
While the fat herds and snowy flocks they fed,
Amid their fields the hapless heroes bled!
My mother lived to wear the victor's bands,
The queen of Hippoplacia's sylvan lands:
Redeem'd too late, she scarce beheld again
Her pleasing empire and her native plain,
When ah! oppress'd by life-consuming woe,
She fell a victim to Diana's bow.
"Yet while my Hector still survives, I see
My father, mother, brethren, all, in thee:
Alas! my parents, brothers, kindred, all
Once more will perish, if my Hector fall,
Thy wife, thy infant, in thy danger share:
Oh, prove a husband's and a father's care!
That quarter most the skilful Greeks annoy,
Where yon wild fig-trees join the wall of Troy;
Thou, from this tower defend the important post;
There Agamemnon points his dreadful host,
That pass Tydides, Ajax, strive to gain,
And there the vengeful Spartan fires his train.
Thrice our bold foes the fierce attack have given,
Or led by hopes, or dictated from heaven.
Let others in the field their arms employ,
But stay my Hector here, and guard his Troy."
The chief replied: "That post shall be my care,
Not that alone, but all the works of war.
How would the sons of Troy, in arms renown'd,
And Troy's proud dames, whose garments sweep the ground
Attaint the lustre of my former name,
Should Hector basely quit the field of fame?
My early youth was bred to martial pains,
My soul impels me to the embattled plains!
Let me be foremost to defend the throne,
And guard my father's glories, and my own.
"Yet come it will, the day decreed by fates!
(How my heart trembles while my tongue relates!)
The day when thou, imperial Troy! must bend,
And see thy warriors fall, thy glories end.
And yet no dire presage so wounds my mind,
My mother's death, the ruin of my kind,
Not Priam's hoary hairs defiled with gore,
Not all my brothers gasping on the shore;
As thine, Andromache! Thy griefs I dread:
I see thee trembling, weeping, captive led!
In Argive looms our battles to design,
And woes, of which so large a part was thine!
To bear the victor's hard commands, or bring
The weight of waters from Hyperia's spring.
There while you groan beneath the load of life,
They cry, 'Behold the mighty Hector's wife!'
Some haughty Greek, who lives thy tears to see,
Imbitters all thy woes, by naming me.
The thoughts of glory past, and present shame,
A thousand griefs shall waken at the name!
May I lie cold before that dreadful day,
Press'd with a load of monumental clay!
Thy Hector, wrapt in everlasting sleep,
Shall neither hear thee sigh, nor see thee weep."
Thus having spoke, the illustrious chief of Troy
Stretch'd his fond arms to clasp the lovely boy.
The babe clung crying to his nurse's breast,
Scared at the dazzling helm, and nodding crest.
With secret pleasure each fond parent smiled,
And Hector hasted to relieve his child,
The glittering terrors from his brows unbound,
And placed the beaming helmet on the ground;
Then kiss'd the child, and, lifting high in air,
Thus to the gods preferr'd a father's prayer:
"O thou! whose glory fills the ethereal throne,
And all ye deathless powers! protect my son!
Grant him, like me, to purchase just renown,
To guard the Trojans, to defend the crown,
Against his country's foes the war to wage,
And rise the Hector of the future age!
So when triumphant from successful toils
Of heroes slain he bears the reeking spoils,
Whole hosts may hail him with deserved acclaim,
And say, 'This chief transcends his father's fame:'
While pleased amidst the general shouts of Troy,
His mother's conscious heart o'erflows with joy."
He spoke, and fondly gazing on her charms,
Restored the pleasing burden to her arms;
Soft on her fragrant breast the babe she laid,
Hush'd to repose, and with a smile survey'd.
The troubled pleasure soon chastised by fear,
She mingled with a smile a tender tear.
The soften'd chief with kind compassion view'd,
And dried the falling drops, and thus pursued:
"Andromache! my soul's far better part,
Why with untimely sorrows heaves thy heart?
No hostile hand can antedate my doom,
Till fate condemns me to the silent tomb.
Fix'd is the term to all the race of earth;
And such the hard condition of our birth:
No force can then resist, no flight can save,
All sink alike, the fearful and the brave.
No more--but hasten to thy tasks at home,
There guide the spindle, and direct the loom:
Me glory summons to the martial scene,
The field of combat is the sphere for men.
Where heroes war, the foremost place I claim,
The first in danger as the first in fame."
Thus having said, the glorious chief resumes
His towery helmet, black with shading plumes.
His princess parts with a prophetic sigh,
Unwilling parts, and oft reverts her eye
That stream'd at every look; then, moving slow,
Sought her own palace, and indulged her woe.
There, while her tears deplored the godlike man,
Through all her train the soft infection ran;
The pious maids their mingled sorrows shed,
And mourn the living Hector, as the dead.
But now, no longer deaf to honour's call,
Forth issues Paris from the palace wall.
In brazen arms that cast a gleamy ray,
Swift through the town the warrior bends his way.
The wanton courser thus with reins unbound(176)
Breaks from his stall, and beats the trembling ground;
Pamper'd and proud, he seeks the wonted tides,
And laves, in height of blood his shining sides;
His head now freed, he tosses to the skies;
His mane dishevell'd o'er his shoulders flies;
He snuffs the females in the distant plain,
And springs, exulting, to his fields again.
With equal triumph, sprightly, bold, and gay,
In arms refulgent as the god of day,
The son of Priam, glorying in his might,
Rush'd forth with Hector to the fields of fight.
And now, the warriors passing on the way,
The graceful Paris first excused his stay.
To whom the noble Hector thus replied:
"O chief! in blood, and now in arms, allied!
Thy power in war with justice none contest;
Known is thy courage, and thy strength confess'd.
What pity sloth should seize a soul so brave,
Or godlike Paris live a woman's slave!
My heart weeps blood at what the Trojans say,
And hopes thy deeds shall wipe the stain away.
Haste then, in all their glorious labours share,
For much they suffer, for thy sake, in war.
These ills shall cease, whene'er by Jove's decree
We crown the bowl to heaven and liberty:
While the proud foe his frustrate triumphs mourns,
And Greece indignant through her seas returns."
[Illustration: BOWS AND BOW CASE.]
BOWS AND BOW CASE.
[Illustration: IRIS.]
IRIS. 言罢，卓越的赫克托耳快步跑出城门，
带着兄弟亚历克山德罗斯，双双渴望着
投入战斗，开始拼搏。像神祗
送来的疾风，给急切盼求它的
水手，正挣扎着摆动溜滑的木桨，拍打着
汹涌的海浪，忍着双臂的疲乏和酸痛。
对急切盼望的特洛伊人，他俩的回归就像这股疾风。
两人都杀了各自的对手：帕里斯杀了
墨奈西俄斯，家住阿耳奈，善使棍棒的
阿雷苏斯和牛眼睛的芙洛墨杜莎的儿子；
而赫克托耳，用犀利的长矛，击中埃俄纽斯，打在
铜盔的边沿下，扎入脖子，酥软了他的四肢。
激战中，格劳科斯，鲁基亚人的首领，希波洛科斯
之子，一枪撂倒了伊菲努斯，
德克西俄斯之子，其时正从快马的后头跃上战车，
投枪打在肩膀上；他翻身倒地，肢腿酥软。
女神雅典娜，睁着灰蓝色的眼睛，目睹
他俩在激战中痛杀阿耳吉维英壮，
急速出发，从俄林波斯山巅直冲而下，
奔向神圣的伊利昂。阿波罗见状，急冲冲地前往拦截，
从他坐镇的裴耳伽摩斯出发——其时正谋划着特洛伊人的
胜利。两位神祗在橡树边交遇，
宙斯之子、王者阿波罗首先开口说道：
“大神宙斯的女儿，受狂傲的驱使，
这回你又从俄林波斯山上下来，到底想干什么？
无非是想让达奈人获胜，扭转被动的局面。
对倒地死去的特洛伊人，你没有丝毫的怜悯。
过来，听听我的意见，我的计划远比眼下的做法可行。
让我们暂时结束搏战和仇杀，停战一天，
行吗？明天，双方可继续战斗，一直打到
伊利昂的末日，打到末日的来临。这不好吗，不死的女神？
你俩梦寐以求的正是这座城堡的毁灭。”
听罢这番话，灰眼睛女神雅典娜说道：
“就按你说的办，远射手。我从俄林波斯下采，
前往特洛伊人和阿开亚人的军阵，途中亦有过类似的想法。
但请告诉我，你打算如何中止眼前的这场搏战？”
听罢这番活，宙斯之子、王者阿波罗答道：
“让我们，在驯马者赫克托耳的心里，唤起强烈的求战愿望，
设法使他激出某个达奈人来，开打决斗，
在可怕的搏杀中，一对一地拼个你死我活。
面对挑战，胫甲青铜的阿开亚人会热血沸腾，
推出一位勇士，和卓越的赫克托耳战斗。”
阿波罗一番说道，灰眼睛的雅典娜对此不表异议。
其时，普里阿摩斯钟爱的儿子赫勒诺斯感悟到
这一计划——两位神祗从自己的规划中体会到舒心的愉悦。
他拔腿来到赫克托耳身边，说道：
“赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，和宙斯一样精擅谋略的壮勇，
听听我的劝说，听听你兄弟的话告，好吗？
让所有的特洛伊人坐下，阿开亚人亦然，
由你自己出面挑战，让阿开亚全军最勇敢的人和你对打，
在可怕的搏杀中，一对一地拼个你死我活。
现在还不是你走向末日，向命运屈服的时候。
相信我，这是我听到的议论，不死的神明的言告。”
听罢此番说道，赫克托耳心里高兴，
步入两军之间的空地，手握枪矛的中端，
迫使特洛伊编队后靠，直到兵勇们全都屈腿下坐。与此同时，
阿伽门农亦命令部属坐下，胫甲坚固的阿开亚兵壮。
雅典娜和银弓之王阿波罗
化作食肉的兀鹫，栖立在
大树的顶端，他们的父亲、带埃吉斯的宙斯的橡树，
兴致勃勃地俯视着底下的人群，熙熙攘攘的队阵，
掺和着拥拥簇簇的盾牌、盔盖和枪矛。
像突起的西风，掠过海面，
荡散层层波澜，长浪叠起，水势深黑——
阿开亚人和特洛伊人的队阵乌黑一片，翻滚在
平原上。赫克托耳高声呼喊，在两军之间：
“听我说，特洛伊人和胫甲坚固的阿开亚兵壮！
我的话出自真情，发自内心：
克罗诺斯之子、高坐云端的宙斯将不会兑现
我们的誓约；他用心险恶，要我们互相残杀，
结果是，要么让你们攻下城楼坚固的特洛伊，
要么使你们横尸在破浪远洋的海船旁。
现在，你等军中既有阿开亚人中最勇敢的战将，
那就让其中的一位，受激情的驱使，出来和我战斗，
站在众人前面，迎战卓越的赫克托耳。
我要先提几个条件，让宙斯作个见证。
倘若迎战者结果了我的性命，用锋利的铜刃，
让他剥走我的铠甲，带回深旷的海船，
但要把遗体交还我的家人，以便使特洛伊男人
和他们的妻子，在我死后，让我享受火焚的礼仪。
但是，倘若我杀了他，如果阿波罗愿意给我光荣，
我将剥掉他的铠甲，带回神圣的伊利昂，
挂在远射手阿波罗的庙前。
至于尸体，我会把它送回你们凳板坚固的海船，
让长发的阿开亚人为他举行体面的葬礼，
堆坟筑墓，在宽阔的赫勒斯庞特岸沿。
将来，有人路经该地，驾着带坐板的海船，
破浪在酒蓝色的洋面，眺见这个土堆，便会出言感叹：
‘那里埋着一个战死疆场的古人，
一位勇敢的壮士，倒死在光荣的赫克托耳手下。’
将来，有人会如此说告，而我的荣誉将与世长存。”
他如此一番说道，镇得阿开亚人半晌说不出话来，
既羞于拒绝，又没有接战的勇气。
终于，人群里跳出了墨奈劳斯，对众人
讥责辱骂，内心里翻搅着深沉的苦痛：
“哦，我的天呢！你们这些吹牛大王——你们是女人，不是
阿开亚的男子汉！倘若无人出面，应战赫克托耳，
这将是何等的窝囊，简直是彻头彻尾的耻辱！
但愿你们统统烂掉，变成水和泥土！
瞧你们这副模样——干坐在地上，死气沉沉，丢尽了脸面！
我这就全副武装，和此人搏战拼杀，神们
高高在上，手握取胜的绳头。”
言罢，他动手披挂璀璨的铠甲。
哦，墨奈劳斯，要不是阿开亚人的王者们跳起来抓住你，
致命的打击可能已经合上了你的眼睛——
你会死在赫克托耳手下，一位远比你强健的壮勇。
阿特柔斯之子、强有力的阿伽门农
亲自抓住你的右手，叫着你的名字，说道：
“疯啦，宙斯钟爱的墨奈劳斯！不要
这般冲动——克制自己，虽然这会刺痛你的心胸！
不要只是为了决斗，同赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，
一个远比你出色的人交手。在他面前，其他战勇亦会害怕
发抖。在人们争得荣誉的战场，就连阿基琉斯
也怕他三分，是的，阿基琉斯，一个远比你强健的战勇。
回去吧，坐在你的伴群中，
阿开亚人自会推出另一位勇士，和他战斗。
虽说此人勇敢无畏，嗜战如命，
但是，我想，他会乐于屈腿睡躺在家里，
要是能逃出可怕的冲杀和殊死的拼斗。”
英雄的劝诫句句在理，说服了
兄弟。墨奈劳斯听从了他的劝导，随从们
兴高采烈地从他的肩头卸下胸衣。
其时，阿耳吉维人中站起了奈斯托耳，高声喊道：
“够了！哦，巨大的悲痛正降临到阿开亚大地！
唉，见到此番情景，年迈的裴琉斯一定会放声嚎哭，
他，战车上的勇士，慕耳弥冬人的首领，雄辩的演说者！
从前，他曾对我发问，在他的家里；
当了解到所有阿耳吉维人的家世和血统时，他是何等的高兴！
现在，要是让他获悉，面对赫克托耳，你们全部畏缩不前的
消息，他会一次次地举起双手，对着不死的神明乞求，
让生命的魂息离开他的肢体，飘人哀地斯的冥府。
哦，父亲宙斯，雅典娜，阿波罗！但愿
我能重返青春，就像当年我们普洛斯人
聚战阿耳卡底亚枪手时那样年轻力壮，在开拉冬河的
激流边，菲亚的壁墙下，亚耳达诺斯河的滩沿上。
厄柔萨利昂，他们的首领，大步走出人群，一位神一样的凡人，
肩披王者阿雷苏斯的铠甲，
卓越的阿雷苏斯，人称‘大根斗士’，
他的伙伴和束腰秀美的女子——
战场上，他既不使弓，也不弄枪，
而是挥舞一根粗大的铁棍，打垮敌方的营阵。
鲁库耳戈斯杀了他，不是凭勇力，而是靠谋诈——
两人相遇在一条狭窄的走道，铁捧施展不开，不能
为他挡开死亡。鲁库耳戈斯趁他不及举棒之时，一枪扎去，
捅穿他的中腹，将他仰面打翻在泥地上，
剥去他的铜甲，阿瑞斯的赠物。
以后，在殊死的拼搏中，鲁库耳戈斯一直穿着这套铠甲，
直到岁月磨白了他的头发，在自家的厅堂——
于是，他把甲衣交给了心爱的随从厄柔萨利昂。
其时，穿着这身铠甲，厄柔萨利昂叫嚷着要和我们中最勇敢的
人拼斗，但他们全都吓得战战兢兢，不敢和他交手。
只有我，磨炼出来的勇气其时催励我和他
拼斗，以大无畏的气概，虽说论年龄，我是最年轻的一个。
我和他绞杀扑打，帕拉丝·雅典娜把荣誉送入我的手中。
在被我杀死的人中，他是最高大、最强健的一个，
硕莽的尸躯伸躺在泥地上，占去了偌大的一片地皮。
但愿我现在年轻力壮，和当年一样，浑身有使不完的力气！
这样，顷刻之间，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳即会找到匹敌的对手！
但你们，阿开亚人中最勇敢的斗士，
却不敢迎战赫克托耳，以饱满的斗志。”
听罢老人的呵责，人群中当即站出九位勇士。
阿伽门农最先起身，民众的王者，紧接着是
图丢斯之子、强有力的狄俄墨得斯，
然后是两位埃阿斯，满怀凶暴的狂烈，
随后是伊多墨纽斯和墨里俄奈斯，
伊多墨纽斯的伙伴，杀人狂阿瑞斯一般凶莽的斗士，
以及欧鲁普洛斯，欧埃蒙光荣的儿子；
接踵而起的还有索阿斯，安德莱蒙之子，和卓越的俄底修斯。
所有这些勇士都愿拼战卓越的赫克托耳。其时，
人群中再次响起了奈斯托耳的声音，格瑞尼亚的车战者：
“让我们拈阄择取，一个接着一个，看看谁有这个运气。
此人将使胫甲坚固的阿开亚人感到自豪，
也将给自己带来荣誉，倘若他能生还回来，
从可怕的冲杀和殊死的拼搏。”
言罢，每人都在自己的石阄上刻下记号，
扔人阿特桑斯之子阿伽门农的头盔。
随后，他们举起双手，对神祈祷，
有人会开口作诵，举目辽阔的天穹：
“父亲宙斯，让埃阿斯赢得阄拈，或让狄俄墨得斯，
图丢斯之子，或让王者本人，藏金丰足的慕凯奈的君主。”
他们如此一番诵祷；奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，摇动
头盔，一块阄石蹦跳出来，一块他们寄望最切的纹阄，
刻着埃阿斯的手迹。拿着它，使者穿过
济济的人群，将它出示给所有阿开亚人的首领，
从左至右。头领们不识石上的刻纹，不予认领。
但是，当他穿行在人群里，将石阄出示给那位
在上面刻记并把它投入帽盔的首领时，光荣的埃阿斯
向他伸出手来，使者停立在他的身旁，将阄拈放入他的手心，
后者看着上面的纹刻，认出归属，心里一阵高兴。
他把石阄扔甩在脚边的泥地，嚷道：
“瞧，朋友们，阄拈属我了；我的内心充满
喜悦！我知道，我可以战胜卓越的赫克托耳。
现在，让我们这么办。我将就此披挂，
而你们则向克罗诺斯之子、王者宙斯祈祷，
不要出声，个人做个人的，不要让特洛伊人听见——
或者这样吧，干脆高声诵说——我们谁都不怕！
战场上，谁也不能仅凭他的意愿，违背我的意志，
迫使我后退，用他的力气，或凭他的狡诈。出生和生长在
萨拉弥斯，我想，战场上，我不是个嫩脸的娃娃！”
听罢这番话，人们便向克罗诺斯之子、王者宙斯祈祷；
有人会开口作诵，举目辽阔的天穹：
“父亲宙斯，从伊达山上督视着我们的大神，光荣的典范，伟大
的象征！答应让埃阿斯获得光荣，让他决胜战场。
倘若你确实关心和钟爱赫克托耳，
也得让双方打成平手，分享战斗的荣烈！”
他们诚心作祷，而埃阿斯则动手扣上闪亮的
铜甲。披挂完毕，他大步
迎上前去，恰似战神阿瑞斯，
步入激战的人流，摇晃着魁伟的身躯——克罗诺斯之子
驱使他们拼杀，以撕心裂肺的仇恨。
就像这样，伟岸的埃阿斯阔步走去，阿开亚人的堡垒，
浓眉下挤出狞笑，摆开有力的双腿，
跨出坚实的大步，挥舞着投影森长的枪矛。
看着此般雄姿，阿开亚人喜不自禁，而
特洛伊人则个个心惊胆战，双腿发抖。
赫克托耳的心房“怦怦”乱跳，然而，
他现在决然不能掉头逃跑，缩回
自己的队伍——谁让他出面挑战，催人拼斗？
其时，埃阿斯快步逼近，荷着墙面似的
盾牌，铜面下压着七层牛皮，图基俄斯艰工锤制的
铸件，在他的家乡呼莱，图基俄斯，皮匠中的俊杰，
精制了这面闪亮的战盾，垫了七层牛皮，割自
强壮的公牛，然后锤人铜层，作为盾面。
挺着这面战盾，护住自己的心胸，
忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯咄咄逼近，开口恫胁，说道：
“通过一对一的拼杀，赫克托耳，你马上即会知晓，
不带半点含糊，达奈人中有着何等善战的首领，
即使撇开狮子般的阿基琉斯，横扫千军的壮勇。
现在，他正离着众人，躺在翘嘴的远洋海船旁。
盛怒难平，对阿伽门农，兵士的牧者。
但是，这里还有我们——可以和你匹敌的战将不在少数——
足以和你拼打。甩开膀子干吧，使出吃奶的力气！”
听罢这番话，高大的赫克托耳答道，顶着闪亮的头盔：
“埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子，宙斯的后裔，军队的首领，
不要设法试探我，把我当做一个弱小无知的
孩童，一个对战事一窍不通的妇人。
我诸熟格战的门道，杀人是我精通的绝活。
我知道如何左抵右挡，用牛皮坚韧的
战盾——此乃防身的高招。
我知道如何驾着快马，杀人飞跑的车阵；
我知道如何攻战，荡开战神透着杀气的舞步。
听着！虽然你人高马大，我却不会暗枪伤人；
我要打得公公开开，看看是否可以命中——看枪！”
言罢，他持平落影森长的枪矛，奋臂投掷，
击中埃阿斯可怕的七层皮盾，
切入外层的铜面，覆盖牛皮的表层，
不倦的铜枪扎透六层牛皮，
但被第七层硬皮挡住。接着，卓著的埃阿斯
挥手出枪，拖着森长的投影，
击中普里阿摩斯之子溜圆的战盾，
沉重的枪尖穿透闪光的盾面，
捅破精工制作的胸甲，
冲着腹肋刺捣，挑开了贴身的衫衣，
但对方及时侧身，躲过了幽黑的死亡。
其时，两人都抢手抓住长长的矛杆，把枪矛
拔出盾面，迎头扑去，像生吞活剥的饿狮，
或力大无穷的野猪。普里阿摩斯之子
将枪矛刺入对手的战盾，扎在正中，
但铜枪没有穿透盾牌，后面顶弯了枪尖。
埃阿斯冲上前去，击捅盾牌，穿透
层面，把狂莽的赫克托耳顶得腿步趄趔；
枪尖擦过他的脖子，放出浓黑的鲜血。
即便如此，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳没有停止战斗，
他后返几步，伸出粗壮的大手，抱起一块
横躺平野的石头，硕大、乌黑、粗皱，对着
埃阿斯砸去，击中可怕的七层皮盾，
捣在突出的盾面，敲出震耳的响声。
接着，埃阿斯亦搬起一块更大的石头，
转了几圈，抛打出去，压上整个人的重量，势不可挡；
磨盘似的石块砸在盾牌上，捣烂了盾面，
震得赫克托耳双膝酥软，仰面倒地，
吃着盾牌的重压——紧急中，阿波罗及时助信，将他扶起。
其时，他俩会手持利剑，近身搏杀，
若不是二位使者的干预——宙斯和凡人的信使，
能谋善辩的伊代俄斯和塔尔苏比俄斯，一位
来自特洛伊方面，另一位来自身披铜甲的阿开亚人的队阵。
他们用节杖隔开二位；使者伊代俄斯，
以机警的辩才，开口说道：
“住手吧，我的孩子们，不要再打了！
二位都是乌云的汇聚者宙斯宠爱的凡人，
善战的勇士，对此，我们确信无疑。
但夜色已经降临，我们不宜和黑夜抗争。”
听罢这番话，忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯答道：
“让赫克托耳回复你的建议，伊代俄斯，
是他雄心勃勃地提出要和我们中最好的首领拼斗。
让他首先表态，我将按他的愿求从事。”
顶着闪亮的头盔，高大的赫克托耳答道：
“埃阿斯，既然神给了你勇力、体魄和清醒的头脑，
此外，在阿开亚人中，你是最好的枪手，
让我们停止今天的拼斗和残杀；
但明天，我们将重新开战，一直打到天意
在你我两军之间作出选择，把胜利赐归其中的一方。
夜色已经降临，我们不宜和黑夜抗争。
所以，你将给海船边的阿开亚人带去
愉悦，尤其是你的亲朋和伴友，
而我，在普里阿摩斯王宏伟的城里，也将给我的同胞
带回喜悦，给特洛伊男子和长裙飘摆的特洛伊妇女，
他们将步入神圣的会场，感谢神们让我脱险生还。
来吧，让我们互赠有纪念价值的礼物，
这样，阿开亚人和特洛伊人便会如此论道：
‘两位勇士先以撕心裂肺的仇恨扑杀，
然后握手言欢，在友好的气氛中分手。”’
言罢，他拿出一把柄嵌银钉的战剑，
交在对方手中，连同剑鞘和切工齐整的背带，
而埃阿斯则回赠了一条甲带，闪着紫红色的光芒。
两人分手而去，埃阿斯走向阿开亚人的队伍，
赫克托耳则回到特洛伊人中间，后者高兴地
看着他生还，脱离战斗，安然无恙。
躲过了埃阿斯的勇力和难以抵御的双手。
他们簇拥着赫克托耳回城，几乎不敢相信
他还活着。在战场的另一边，胫甲坚固的阿开亚人
引着埃阿斯，带着胜利的喜悦，前往会见卓著的阿伽门农。
当他们来到阿特柔斯之子的营棚，
民众的王者阿伽门农献祭了一头
五岁的公牛，给宙斯，克罗诺斯力大无比的儿郎。
他们剥去祭畜的皮张，收拾停当，肢解了大身，
把牛肉切成小块，动作熟练，挑上叉尖，
仔细炙烤后，脱叉备用。
当一切整治完毕，盛宴已经排开，
他们张嘴咀嚼，人人都吃到足份的餐肴。
阿特柔斯之子，统治着辽阔疆域的英难阿伽门农，
将一长条脊肉递给埃阿斯，以示对他的尊褒。
当他们满足了吃喝的欲望，
奈斯托耳首先发话，提出经过考虑的意见，
在此之前，老人的劝议从来是最合用的良方。
怀着对众人的善意，他起身说道：
“阿特柔斯之子，列位阿开亚首领，
大家知道，许多，是的，众多长发的阿开亚人已经死在这里，
凶蛮的战神已使他们的黑血遍洒在水流清澈的
斯卡曼得罗斯河岸，把他们的灵魂打入哀地斯的冥府。
所以，明天拂晓，你要传令阿开亚人
停止战斗，召集他们用牛和骡子
运回尸体，在离船不远的地方
火焚。这样，当我们返航世代居住的
故乡，每位战士都能带上一份尸骨，交给死者的孩童。
让我们铲土成堆，在柴枝上垒起一座坟冢，
为所有的死者，耸立在漫漫的平原。让我们尽快在坟前
筑起高大的护墙，作为保卫海船和我们自己的屏障。
我们将在墙面上修造大门，和护墙珠合壁联，
作为通道，使车马畅行无阻。
在墙的外沿，紧靠根基，我们要挖出一条宽深的壕沟，
绕着护墙，阻挡敌方的步兵和战车，
使高傲的特洛伊人不能荡扫我们的军伍。”
奈斯托耳一番说告，得到全体工者的赞同。
其时，特洛伊人亦围聚在伊利昂的高处，
惊惶不安，喧哗骚闹，拥挤在普里阿摩斯的门前。
人群中，头脑冷静的安忒诺耳首先开口说道：
“听我说，特洛伊人，达耳达尼亚人和盟军伙伴们，
我的话出自真情，发自内心。
行动起来吧，将阿耳戈斯的海伦还给
阿特柔斯的两个儿子，连同她的全部财物。我们破坏了
停战誓约，像一群无赖似地战斗。我不知道我们
最终可以得到什么，除非各位即刻按我的意思行动。”
安忒诺耳言毕下坐，人群中站起了
卓越的亚历克山德罗斯，美发海伦的夫婿，
开口作答，用长了翅膀的话语：
“安忒诺耳，你的话使我厌烦；
你头脑聪明，应该提出比此番唠叨更好的议言。
但是，如果这的确是你的想法，那么，
一定是神明，是的，一定是他们，弄坏了你的脑袋。
我要痛痛快快地告诉特洛伊人，驯马的
好手，我不会交还那个女人。不过，
我倒愿意如数交还从阿耳戈斯
运回的财宝，并添加一些我自己的库存。”
他言毕下坐，人群里站起了普里阿摩斯，
达耳达诺斯之子，和神一样精擅谋略的王者。
怀着对众人的善意，他启口发话，说道：
“听我说，特洛伊人，达耳达尼亚人和盟军伙伴们，
我的话出自真情，发自内心。现在，
大家可去吃用晚餐，在宽阔的城区，像往常一样，
不要忘了布置岗哨，人人都要保持警惕。
明晨拂晓，让伊代俄斯前往深旷的海船，
转告阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农和墨奈拉俄斯
亚历克山德罗斯开出的条件——为了他，我们经受着这场
战争。也让伊代俄斯捎去我的合理建议，问问他们是否
愿意辍停这场痛苦的残杀，以便掩埋
死难的兵勇。然后，我们可重新开战，直到天意
在两军之间作出选择，把胜利赐归其中的一方。”
众人认真听完他的话告，服从了他的安排。
然后，全军吃用晚饭，以编队为股。
天刚拂晓，伊代俄斯来到深旷的海船边，
发现达奈人，战神的随从们，正
聚集在阿伽门农的船尾边。使者
站身人群，以洪亮的声音说道：，
“阿特柔斯之子，列位阿开亚人的首领！
普里阿摩斯和其他高贵的特洛伊人命我
转告各位——但愿能博得你们的好感和欢心——
亚历克山德罗斯开出的条件；为了他，我们经受着这场战争。
亚历克山德罗斯愿意交还用深旷的海船
运回特洛伊的财宝——我恨不得他在那时
之前即已一命呜呼——一并添加一些自己的库存。
但是，他说不打算交还光荣的墨奈劳斯的
婚配夫人，虽然特洛伊人全都反对这么做。
他们还让我转告各位，如果你等愿意，
辍停这场痛苦的残杀，以便掩埋
死难的兵勇。然后，我们可重新开战，直到天意
在两军之间作出选择，把胜利赐归其中的一方。”
信使言罢，全场静默，肃然无声。
终于，啸吼战场的秋俄墨得斯开口打破沉寂，说道：
“谁也不许接受亚历克山德罗斯的财物，
也不许接回海伦！战局已经明朗，即便是傻瓜也可以看出；
现在，死的绳索已经勒住特洛伊人的喉咙！”
听罢这番话，阿开亚人的儿子们全都放声高呼，
赞同驯马能手狄俄墨得斯的训告。
其时，强有力的阿伽门农对伊代俄斯说道：
“伊代俄斯，你已亲耳听到阿开亚人的心声，
这便是他们的回答，也是我的意愿。
不过，关于休战焚尸，我决无半点意见；
阵亡者的躯体不宜久搁，
战士倒下后，理应尽快得到烈火的慰烤。
这便是我的誓诺，让宙斯作证，赫拉的夫婿，炸响雷的神仙。”
阿伽门农信誓旦旦，高举起王杖，接受全体神祗的监督。
伊代俄斯听罢誓言，转身返回神圣的伊利昂。
其时，特洛伊人和达耳达尼亚人正在集会，
拥聚在一个地方，久久地等待着使者的
回归。他来了，站在人群里，宣告了
带回的消息。众人马上动手准备，
分作两队，一队前往搜罗尸体，另一队负责伐集材薪。
在战场的另一边，阿耳吉维人走出凳板坚固的海船，
分头准备，一队前往搜罗尸体，另一队负责伐集村薪。
乍刚露脸的太阳将晨晖普洒在农人的田地，
从微波静漾、水流深森的俄开阿诺斯河升起，
踏上登空的阶梯。双方人员相会在战地。
他们用清水洗去尸躯上的血污，
逐一辨认死难的战友，
流着热泪．将他们搬上大车。
然而，王者普里阿摩斯不许部属放声嚎啕，后者
只得默默地将死者垒上柴堆，强忍着悲痛，
点火烧了尸体，返回神圣的伊利昂。
同样，在另一边，胫甲坚固的阿开亚人也正
把他们的死者垒上柴堆，强忍着悲痛，
点火烧了尸体，折回深旷的海船。
当晨曦还没有挣破夜的罗网，黑夜和白天混沌交织之际，
一群经过挑选的阿开亚人已经围站在柴堆边。
他们在灰烬上垒起一座坟茔，用平原上的泥土，
覆盖所有的死者。他们在坟前筑起高大的
护墙，作为保卫海船和他们自己的屏障。
并在墙面上修造了大门，和护墙珠合壁联，
作为通道，使车马畅行无阻。
在墙的外沿，紧靠根基，他们挖出一条宽深的壕沟；
一条宽阔深广的沟堑，埋设了尖桩。
就这样，长发的阿开亚人辛勤地劳作奔忙，
而天上的神祗，此时集聚在闪电之神宙斯身边，
注视着身披铜甲的阿开亚人所从事的这项巨大的工程。
裂地之神波塞冬首先发话，说道：
“父亲宙斯，在偌大的人间，如今到底还有谁
会向神明通报他的想法和筹计？
你没看见吗？这些长发的阿开亚人
已在船外筑起一道护墙，并在墙外
挖出一条深沟，却不曾对我们供献丰盛的祀祭。
高墙的盛名将像曙光一样照射，而
人们将会忘记另一堵围墙，由我和福伊波斯·阿波罗
手筑，为英雄劳墨冬的城堡。”
一番话极大地纷扰了宙斯的心境，
乌云的汇聚者答道：
“你在胡诌些什么，力镇远方的撼地之神！
若是另一位神明——他的勇力和狂怒和你
不可比拟——或许会害怕这种把戏。
不必担心，你的名声将像曙光一样普射。
等着吧，等到长发的阿开亚人
驾着海船回到他们热爱的故乡，
你便可捣烂他们的护墙，把它扔进海里，
铺出厚厚的沙层，垫平宽阔的滩面，
如此这般，荡毁阿开亚人的墙垣！”
就这样，他俩你来我往，一番说告；其时，太阳
已缓缓西沉，而阿开亚人亦已忙完手头的活计。
他们在营棚边宰了肥牛，吃过晚饭，
来自莱姆诺斯的海船给他们送来了醇酒，
一支庞大的船队，受伊阿宋之子欧纽斯差遣，
由呼浦浦普莱所生，为伊阿宋，兵士的收者。
他们运来酒浆，伊阿宋之子给阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农
和墨奈拉俄斯的礼物，一千个衡度，
长发的阿开亚人由此换得酒喝，
有的拿出青铜，有的拿出闪亮的铸铁，
有的用皮张，有的用整条活牛，还有的
用得之于战争的奴隶。他们备下一顿丰盛的佳肴；
长发的阿开亚人放开肚皮吃喝，通宵
达旦。特洛伊人和他们的盟友则在城里聚餐。
整整一夜，多谋善断的宙斯筹划着新的灾难，
对阿开亚人——滚滚的沉雷震响着恐怖；极度的恐惧笼罩着
整个军营。他们倾杯泼洒，谁也不敢造次，
在尊祭克罗诺斯力大无比的儿子之前，举杯啜饮。
宴毕，他们平身息躺，接受酣睡的祝愿。
ARGUMENT
THE SINGLE COMBAT OF HECTOR AND AJAX.
The battle renewing with double ardour upon the return of Hector, Minerva
is under apprehensions for the Greeks. Apollo, seeing her descend from
Olympus, joins her near the Scaean gate. They agree to put off the general
engagement for that day, and incite Hector to challenge the Greeks to a
single combat. Nine of the princes accepting the challenge, the lot is
cast and falls upon Ajax. These heroes, after several attacks, are parted
by the night. The Trojans calling a council, Antenor purposes the delivery
of Helen to the Greeks, to which Paris will not consent, but offers to
restore them her riches. Priam sends a herald to make this offer, and to
demand a truce for burning the dead, the last of which only is agreed to
by Agamemnon. When the funerals are performed, the Greeks, pursuant to the
advice of Nestor, erect a fortification to protect their fleet and camp,
flanked with towers, and defended by a ditch and palisades. Neptune
testifies his jealousy at this work, but is pacified by a promise from
Jupiter. Both armies pass the night in feasting but Jupiter disheartens
the Trojans with thunder, and other signs of his wrath.
The three and twentieth day ends with the duel of Hector and Ajax, the
next day the truce is agreed; another is taken up in the funeral rites of
the slain and one more in building the fortification before the ships. So
that somewhat about three days is employed in this book. The scene lies
wholly in the field.
So spoke the guardian of the Trojan state,
Then rush'd impetuous through the Scaean gate.
Him Paris follow'd to the dire alarms;
Both breathing slaughter, both resolved in arms.
As when to sailors labouring through the main,
That long have heaved the weary oar in vain,
Jove bids at length the expected gales arise;
The gales blow grateful, and the vessel flies.
So welcome these to Troy's desiring train,
The bands are cheer'd, the war awakes again.
Bold Paris first the work of death begun
On great Menestheus, Areithous' son,
Sprung from the fair Philomeda's embrace,
The pleasing Arne was his native place.
Then sunk Eioneus to the shades below,
Beneath his steely casque he felt the blow(177)
Full on his neck, from Hector's weighty hand;
And roll'd, with limbs relax'd, along the land.
By Glaucus' spear the bold Iphmous bleeds,
Fix'd in the shoulder as he mounts his steeds;
Headlong he tumbles: his slack nerves unbound,
Drop the cold useless members on the ground.
When now Minerva saw her Argives slain,
From vast Olympus to the gleaming plain
Fierce she descends: Apollo marked her flight,
Nor shot less swift from Ilion's towery height.
Radiant they met, beneath the beechen shade;
When thus Apollo to the blue-eyed maid:
"What cause, O daughter of Almighty Jove!
Thus wings thy progress from the realms above?
Once more impetuous dost thou bend thy way,
To give to Greece the long divided day?
Too much has Troy already felt thy hate,
Now breathe thy rage, and hush the stern debate;
This day, the business of the field suspend;
War soon shall kindle, and great Ilion bend;
Since vengeful goddesses confederate join
To raze her walls, though built by hands divine."
To whom the progeny of Jove replies:
"I left, for this, the council of the skies:
But who shall bid conflicting hosts forbear,
What art shall calm the furious sons of war?"
To her the god: "Great Hector's soul incite
To dare the boldest Greek to single fight,
Till Greece, provoked, from all her numbers show
A warrior worthy to be Hector's foe."
At this agreed, the heavenly powers withdrew;
Sage Helenus their secret counsels knew;
Hector, inspired, he sought: to him address'd,
Thus told the dictates of his sacred breast:
"O son of Priam! let thy faithful ear
Receive my words: thy friend and brother hear!
Go forth persuasive, and a while engage
The warring nations to suspend their rage;
Then dare the boldest of the hostile train
To mortal combat on the listed plain.
For not this day shall end thy glorious date;
The gods have spoke it, and their voice is fate."
He said: the warrior heard the word with joy;
Then with his spear restrain'd the youth of Troy,
Held by the midst athwart. On either hand
The squadrons part; the expecting Trojans stand;
Great Agamemnon bids the Greeks forbear:
They breathe, and hush the tumult of the war.
The Athenian maid, and glorious god of day,(178)
With silent joy the settling hosts survey:
In form of vultures, on the beech's height
They sit conceal'd, and wait the future fight.
The thronging troops obscure the dusky fields,
Horrid with bristling spears, and gleaming shields.
As when a general darkness veils the main,
(Soft Zephyr curling the wide wat'ry plain,)
The waves scarce heave, the face of ocean sleeps,
And a still horror saddens all the deeps;
Thus in thick orders settling wide around,
At length composed they sit, and shade the ground.
Great Hector first amidst both armies broke
The solemn silence, and their powers bespoke:
"Hear, all ye Trojan, all ye Grecian bands,
What my soul prompts, and what some god commands.
Great Jove, averse our warfare to compose,
O'erwhelms the nations with new toils and woes;
War with a fiercer tide once more returns,
Till Ilion falls, or till yon navy burns.
You then, O princes of the Greeks! appear;
'Tis Hector speaks, and calls the gods to hear:
From all your troops _select_ the boldest knight,
And him, the boldest, Hector dares to fight.
Here if I fall, by chance of battle slain,
Be his my spoil, and his these arms remain;
But let my body, to my friends return'd,
By Trojan hands and Trojan flames be burn'd.
And if Apollo, in whose aid I trust,
Shall stretch your daring champion in the dust;
If mine the glory to despoil the foe;
On Phoebus' temple I'll his arms bestow:
The breathless carcase to your navy sent,
Greece on the shore shall raise a monument;
Which when some future mariner surveys,
Wash'd by broad Hellespont's resounding seas,
Thus shall he say, 'A valiant Greek lies there,
By Hector slain, the mighty man of war,'
The stone shall tell your vanquish'd hero's name.
And distant ages learn the victor's fame."
This fierce defiance Greece astonish'd heard,
Blush'd to refuse, and to accept it fear'd.
Stern Menelaus first the silence broke,
And, inly groaning, thus opprobrious spoke:
"Women of Greece! O scandal of your race,
Whose coward souls your manly form disgrace,
How great the shame, when every age shall know
That not a Grecian met this noble foe!
Go then! resolve to earth, from whence ye grew,
A heartless, spiritless, inglorious crew!
Be what ye seem, unanimated clay,
Myself will dare the danger of the day;
'Tis man's bold task the generous strife to try,
But in the hands of God is victory."
These words scarce spoke, with generous ardour press'd,
His manly limbs in azure arms he dress'd.
That day, Atrides! a superior hand
Had stretch'd thee breathless on the hostile strand;
But all at once, thy fury to compose,
The kings of Greece, an awful band, arose;
Even he their chief, great Agamemnon, press'd
Thy daring hand, and this advice address'd:
"Whither, O Menelaus! wouldst thou run,
And tempt a fate which prudence bids thee shun?
Grieved though thou art, forbear the rash design;
Great Hectors arm is mightier far than thine:
Even fierce Achilles learn'd its force to fear,
And trembling met this dreadful son of war.
Sit thou secure, amidst thy social band;
Greece in our cause shall arm some powerful hand.
The mightiest warrior of the Achaian name,
Though bold and burning with desire of fame,
Content the doubtful honour might forego,
So great the danger, and so brave the foe."
He said, and turn'd his brother's vengeful mind;
He stoop'd to reason, and his rage resign'd,
No longer bent to rush on certain harms;
His joyful friends unbrace his azure arms.
He from whose lips divine persuasion flows,
Grave Nestor, then, in graceful act arose;
Thus to the kings he spoke: "What grief, what shame
Attend on Greece, and all the Grecian name!
How shall, alas! her hoary heroes mourn
Their sons degenerate, and their race a scorn!
What tears shall down thy silvery beard be roll'd,
O Peleus, old in arms, in wisdom old!
Once with what joy the generous prince would hear
Of every chief who fought this glorious war,
Participate their fame, and pleased inquire
Each name, each action, and each hero's sire!
Gods! should he see our warriors trembling stand,
And trembling all before one hostile hand;
How would he lift his aged arms on high,
Lament inglorious Greece, and beg to die!
Oh! would to all the immortal powers above,
Minerva, Phoebus, and almighty Jove!
Years might again roll back, my youth renew,
And give this arm the spring which once it knew
When fierce in war, where Jardan's waters fall,
I led my troops to Phea's trembling wall,
And with the Arcadian spears my prowess tried,
Where Celadon rolls down his rapid tide.(179)
There Ereuthalion braved us in the field,
Proud Areithous' dreadful arms to wield;
Great Areithous, known from shore to shore
By the huge, knotted, iron mace he bore;
No lance he shook, nor bent the twanging bow,
But broke, with this, the battle of the foe.
Him not by manly force Lycurgus slew,
Whose guileful javelin from the thicket flew,
Deep in a winding way his breast assailed,
Nor aught the warrior's thundering mace avail'd.
Supine he fell: those arms which Mars before
Had given the vanquish'd, now the victor bore:
But when old age had dimm'd Lycurgus' eyes,
To Ereuthalion he consign'd the prize.
Furious with this he crush'd our levell'd bands,
And dared the trial of the strongest hands;
Nor could the strongest hands his fury stay:
All saw, and fear'd, his huge tempestuous sway
Till I, the youngest of the host, appear'd,
And, youngest, met whom all our army fear'd.
I fought the chief: my arms Minerva crown'd:
Prone fell the giant o'er a length of ground.
What then I was, O were your Nestor now!
Not Hector's self should want an equal foe.
But, warriors, you that youthful vigour boast,
The flower of Greece, the examples of our host,
Sprung from such fathers, who such numbers sway,
Can you stand trembling, and desert the day?"
His warm reproofs the listening kings inflame;
And nine, the noblest of the Grecian name,
Up-started fierce: but far before the rest
The king of men advanced his dauntless breast:
Then bold Tydides, great in arms, appear'd;
And next his bulk gigantic Ajax rear'd;
Oileus follow'd; Idomen was there,(180)
And Merion, dreadful as the god of war:
With these Eurypylus and Thoas stand,
And wise Ulysses closed the daring band.
All these, alike inspired with noble rage,
Demand the fight. To whom the Pylian sage:
"Lest thirst of glory your brave souls divide,
What chief shall combat, let the gods decide.
Whom heaven shall choose, be his the chance to raise
His country's fame, his own immortal praise."
The lots produced, each hero signs his own:
Then in the general's helm the fates are thrown,(181)
The people pray, with lifted eyes and hands,
And vows like these ascend from all the bands:
"Grant, thou Almighty! in whose hand is fate,
A worthy champion for the Grecian state:
This task let Ajax or Tydides prove,
Or he, the king of kings, beloved by Jove."
Old Nestor shook the casque. By heaven inspired,
Leap'd forth the lot, of every Greek desired.
This from the right to left the herald bears,
Held out in order to the Grecian peers;
Each to his rival yields the mark unknown,
Till godlike Ajax finds the lot his own;
Surveys the inscription with rejoicing eyes,
Then casts before him, and with transport cries:
"Warriors! I claim the lot, and arm with joy;
Be mine the conquest of this chief of Troy.
Now while my brightest arms my limbs invest,
To Saturn's son be all your vows address'd:
But pray in secret, lest the foes should hear,
And deem your prayers the mean effect of fear.
Said I in secret? No, your vows declare
In such a voice as fills the earth and air,
Lives there a chief whom Ajax ought to dread?
Ajax, in all the toils of battle bred!
From warlike Salamis I drew my birth,
And, born to combats, fear no force on earth."
He said. The troops with elevated eyes,
Implore the god whose thunder rends the skies:
"O father of mankind, superior lord!
On lofty Ida's holy hill adored:
Who in the highest heaven hast fix'd thy throne,
Supreme of gods! unbounded and alone:
Grant thou, that Telamon may bear away
The praise and conquest of this doubtful day;
Or, if illustrious Hector be thy care,
That both may claim it, and that both may share."
Now Ajax braced his dazzling armour on;
Sheathed in bright steel the giant-warrior shone:
He moves to combat with majestic pace;
So stalks in arms the grisly god of Thrace,(182)
When Jove to punish faithless men prepares,
And gives whole nations to the waste of wars,
Thus march'd the chief, tremendous as a god;
Grimly he smiled; earth trembled as he strode:(183)
His massy javelin quivering in his hand,
He stood, the bulwark of the Grecian band.
Through every Argive heart new transport ran;
All Troy stood trembling at the mighty man:
Even Hector paused; and with new doubt oppress'd,
Felt his great heart suspended in his breast:
'Twas vain to seek retreat, and vain to fear;
Himself had challenged, and the foe drew near.
Stern Telamon behind his ample shield,
As from a brazen tower, o'erlook'd the field.
Huge was its orb, with seven thick folds o'ercast,
Of tough bull-hides; of solid brass the last,
(The work of Tychius, who in Hyle dwell'd
And in all arts of armoury excell'd,)
This Ajax bore before his manly breast,
And, threatening, thus his adverse chief address'd:
"Hector! approach my arm, and singly know
What strength thou hast, and what the Grecian foe.
Achilles shuns the fight; yet some there are,
Not void of soul, and not unskill'd in war:
Let him, unactive on the sea-beat shore,
Indulge his wrath, and aid our arms no more;
Whole troops of heroes Greece has yet to boast,
And sends thee one, a sample of her host,
Such as I am, I come to prove thy might;
No more--be sudden, and begin the fight."
"O son of Telamon, thy country's pride!
(To Ajax thus the Trojan prince replied)
Me, as a boy, or woman, wouldst thou fright,
New to the field, and trembling at the fight?
Thou meet'st a chief deserving of thy arms,
To combat born, and bred amidst alarms:
I know to shift my ground, remount the car,
Turn, charge, and answer every call of war;
To right, to left, the dexterous lance I wield,
And bear thick battle on my sounding shield
But open be our fight, and bold each blow;
I steal no conquest from a noble foe."
He said, and rising, high above the field
Whirl'd the long lance against the sevenfold shield.
Full on the brass descending from above
Through six bull-hides the furious weapon drove,
Till in the seventh it fix'd. Then Ajax threw;
Through Hector's shield the forceful javelin flew,
His corslet enters, and his garment rends,
And glancing downwards, near his flank descends.
The wary Trojan shrinks, and bending low
Beneath his buckler, disappoints the blow.
From their bored shields the chiefs their javelins drew,
Then close impetuous, and the charge renew;
Fierce as the mountain-lions bathed in blood,
Or foaming boars, the terror of the wood.
At Ajax, Hector his long lance extends;
The blunted point against the buckler bends;
But Ajax, watchful as his foe drew near,
Drove through the Trojan targe the knotty spear;
It reach'd his neck, with matchless strength impell'd!
Spouts the black gore, and dims his shining shield.
Yet ceased not Hector thus; but stooping down,
In his strong hand up-heaved a flinty stone,
Black, craggy, vast: to this his force he bends;
Full on the brazen boss the stone descends;
The hollow brass resounded with the shock:
Then Ajax seized the fragment of a rock,
Applied each nerve, and swinging round on high,
With force tempestuous, let the ruin fly;
The huge stone thundering through his buckler broke:
His slacken'd knees received the numbing stroke;
Great Hector falls extended on the field,
His bulk supporting on the shatter'd shield:
Nor wanted heavenly aid: Apollo's might
Confirm'd his sinews, and restored to fight.
And now both heroes their broad falchions drew
In flaming circles round their heads they flew;
But then by heralds' voice the word was given.
The sacred ministers of earth and heaven:
Divine Talthybius, whom the Greeks employ.
And sage Idaeus on the part of Troy,
Between the swords their peaceful sceptres rear'd;
And first Idaeus' awful voice was heard:
[Illustration: HECTOR AND AJAX SEPARATED BY THE HERALDS.]
HECTOR AND AJAX SEPARATED BY THE HERALDS.
"Forbear, my sons! your further force to prove,
Both dear to men, and both beloved of Jove.
To either host your matchless worth is known,
Each sounds your praise, and war is all your own.
But now the Night extends her awful shade;
The goddess parts you; be the night obey'd."(184)
To whom great Ajax his high soul express'd:
"O sage! to Hector be these words address'd.
Let him, who first provoked our chiefs to fight,
Let him demand the sanction of the night;
If first he ask'd it, I content obey,
And cease the strife when Hector shows the way."
"O first of Greeks! (his noble foe rejoin'd)
Whom heaven adorns, superior to thy kind,
With strength of body, and with worth of mind!
Now martial law commands us to forbear;
Hereafter we shall meet in glorious war,
Some future day shall lengthen out the strife,
And let the gods decide of death or life!
Since, then, the night extends her gloomy shade,
And heaven enjoins it, be the night obey'd.
Return, brave Ajax, to thy Grecian friends,
And joy the nations whom thy arm defends;
As I shall glad each chief, and Trojan wife,
Who wearies heaven with vows for Hector's life.
But let us, on this memorable day,
Exchange some gift: that Greece and Troy may say,
'Not hate, but glory, made these chiefs contend;
And each brave foe was in his soul a friend.'"
With that, a sword with stars of silver graced,
The baldric studded, and the sheath enchased,
He gave the Greek. The generous Greek bestow'd
A radiant belt that rich with purple glow'd.
Then with majestic grace they quit the plain;
This seeks the Grecian, that the Phrygian train.
The Trojan bands returning Hector wait,
And hail with joy the Champion of their state;
Escaped great Ajax, they survey him round,
Alive, unarm'd, and vigorous from his wound;
To Troy's high gates the godlike man they bear
Their present triumph, as their late despair.
But Ajax, glorying in his hardy deed,
The well-arm'd Greeks to Agamemnon lead.
A steer for sacrifice the king design'd,
Of full five years, and of the nobler kind.
The victim falls; they strip the smoking hide,
The beast they quarter, and the joints divide;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
The king himself (an honorary sign)
Before great Ajax placed the mighty chine.(185)
When now the rage of hunger was removed,
Nestor, in each persuasive art approved,
The sage whose counsels long had sway'd the rest,
In words like these his prudent thought express'd:
"How dear, O kings! this fatal day has cost,
What Greeks are perish'd! what a people lost!
What tides of blood have drench'd Scamander's shore!
What crowds of heroes sunk to rise no more!
Then hear me, chief! nor let the morrow's light
Awake thy squadrons to new toils of fight:
Some space at least permit the war to breathe,
While we to flames our slaughter'd friends bequeath,
From the red field their scatter'd bodies bear,
And nigh the fleet a funeral structure rear;
So decent urns their snowy bones may keep,
And pious children o'er their ashes weep.
Here, where on one promiscuous pile they blazed,
High o'er them all a general tomb be raised;
Next, to secure our camp and naval powers,
Raise an embattled wall, with lofty towers;
From space to space be ample gates around,
For passing chariots; and a trench profound.
So Greece to combat shall in safety go,
Nor fear the fierce incursions of the foe."
'Twas thus the sage his wholesome counsel moved;
The sceptred kings of Greece his words approved.
Meanwhile, convened at Priam's palace-gate,
The Trojan peers in nightly council sate;
A senate void of order, as of choice:
Their hearts were fearful, and confused their voice.
Antenor, rising, thus demands their ear:
"Ye Trojans, Dardans, and auxiliars, hear!
'Tis heaven the counsel of my breast inspires,
And I but move what every god requires:
Let Sparta's treasures be this hour restored,
And Argive Helen own her ancient lord.
The ties of faith, the sworn alliance, broke,
Our impious battles the just gods provoke.
As this advice ye practise, or reject,
So hope success, or dread the dire effect."
The senior spoke and sate. To whom replied
The graceful husband of the Spartan bride:
"Cold counsels, Trojan, may become thy years
But sound ungrateful in a warrior's ears:
Old man, if void of fallacy or art,
Thy words express the purpose of thy heart,
Thou, in thy time, more sound advice hast given;
But wisdom has its date, assign'd by heaven.
Then hear me, princes of the Trojan name!
Their treasures I'll restore, but not the dame;
My treasures too, for peace, I will resign;
But be this bright possession ever mine."
'Twas then, the growing discord to compose,
Slow from his seat the reverend Priam rose:
His godlike aspect deep attention drew:
He paused, and these pacific words ensue:
"Ye Trojans, Dardans, and auxiliar bands!
Now take refreshment as the hour demands;
Guard well the walls, relieve the watch of night.
Till the new sun restores the cheerful light.
Then shall our herald, to the Atrides sent,
Before their ships proclaim my son's intent.
Next let a truce be ask'd, that Troy may burn
Her slaughter'd heroes, and their bones inurn;
That done, once more the fate of war be tried,
And whose the conquest, mighty Jove decide!"
The monarch spoke: the warriors snatch'd with haste
(Each at his post in arms) a short repast.
Soon as the rosy morn had waked the day,
To the black ships Idaeus bent his way;
There, to the sons of Mars, in council found,
He raised his voice: the host stood listening round.
"Ye sons of Atreus, and ye Greeks, give ear!
The words of Troy, and Troy's great monarch, hear.
Pleased may ye hear (so heaven succeed my prayers)
What Paris, author of the war, declares.
The spoils and treasures he to Ilion bore
(Oh had he perish'd ere they touch'd our shore!)
He proffers injured Greece: with large increase
Of added Trojan wealth to buy the peace.
But to restore the beauteous bride again,
This Greece demands, and Troy requests in vain.
Next, O ye chiefs! we ask a truce to burn
Our slaughter'd heroes, and their bones inurn.
That done, once more the fate of war be tried,
And whose the conquest, mighty Jove decide!"
The Greeks gave ear, but none the silence broke;
At length Tydides rose, and rising spoke:
"Oh, take not, friends! defrauded of your fame,
Their proffer'd wealth, nor even the Spartan dame.
Let conquest make them ours: fate shakes their wall,
And Troy already totters to her fall."
The admiring chiefs, and all the Grecian name,
With general shouts return'd him loud acclaim.
Then thus the king of kings rejects the peace:
"Herald! in him thou hear'st the voice of Greece
For what remains; let funeral flames be fed
With heroes' corps: I war not with the dead:
Go search your slaughtered chiefs on yonder plain,
And gratify the manes of the slain.
Be witness, Jove, whose thunder rolls on high!"
He said, and rear'd his sceptre to the sky.
To sacred Troy, where all her princes lay
To wait the event, the herald bent his way.
He came, and standing in the midst, explain'd
The peace rejected, but the truce obtain'd.
Straight to their several cares the Trojans move,
Some search the plains, some fell the sounding grove:
Nor less the Greeks, descending on the shore,
Hew'd the green forests, and the bodies bore.
And now from forth the chambers of the main,
To shed his sacred light on earth again,
Arose the golden chariot of the day,
And tipp'd the mountains with a purple ray.
In mingled throngs the Greek and Trojan train
Through heaps of carnage search'd the mournful plain.
Scarce could the friend his slaughter'd friend explore,
With dust dishonour'd, and deformed with gore.
The wounds they wash'd, their pious tears they shed,
And, laid along their cars, deplored the dead.
Sage Priam check'd their grief: with silent haste
The bodies decent on the piles were placed:
With melting hearts the cold remains they burn'd,
And, sadly slow, to sacred Troy return'd.
Nor less the Greeks their pious sorrows shed,
And decent on the pile dispose the dead;
The cold remains consume with equal care;
And slowly, sadly, to their fleet repair.
Now, ere the morn had streak'd with reddening light
The doubtful confines of the day and night,
About the dying flames the Greeks appear'd,
And round the pile a general tomb they rear'd.
Then, to secure the camp and naval powers,
They raised embattled walls with lofty towers:(186)
From space to space were ample gates around,
For passing chariots, and a trench profound
Of large extent; and deep in earth below,
Strong piles infix'd stood adverse to the foe.
So toil'd the Greeks: meanwhile the gods above,
In shining circle round their father Jove,
Amazed beheld the wondrous works of man:
Then he, whose trident shakes the earth, began:
"What mortals henceforth shall our power adore,
Our fanes frequent, our oracles implore,
If the proud Grecians thus successful boast
Their rising bulwarks on the sea-beat coast?
See the long walls extending to the main,
No god consulted, and no victim slain!
Their fame shall fill the world's remotest ends,
Wide as the morn her golden beam extends;
While old Laomedon's divine abodes,
Those radiant structures raised by labouring gods,
Shall, razed and lost, in long oblivion sleep."
Thus spoke the hoary monarch of the deep.
The almighty Thunderer with a frown replies,
That clouds the world, and blackens half the skies:
"Strong god of ocean! thou, whose rage can make
The solid earth's eternal basis shake!
What cause of fear from mortal works could move(187)
The meanest subject of our realms above?
Where'er the sun's refulgent rays are cast,
Thy power is honour'd, and thy fame shall last.
But yon proud work no future age shall view,
No trace remain where once the glory grew.
The sapp'd foundations by thy force shall fall,
And, whelm'd beneath the waves, drop the huge wall:
Vast drifts of sand shall change the former shore:
The ruin vanish'd, and the name no more."
Thus they in heaven: while, o'er the Grecian train,
The rolling sun descending to the main
Beheld the finish'd work. Their bulls they slew;
Back from the tents the savoury vapour flew.
And now the fleet, arrived from Lemnos' strands,
With Bacchus' blessings cheered the generous bands.
Of fragrant wines the rich Eunaeus sent
A thousant measures to the royal tent.
(Eunaeus, whom Hypsipyle of yore
To Jason, shepherd of his people, bore,)
The rest they purchased at their proper cost,
And well the plenteous freight supplied the host:
Each, in exchange, proportion'd treasures gave;(188)
Some, brass or iron; some, an ox, or slave.
All night they feast, the Greek and Trojan powers:
Those on the fields, and these within their towers.
But Jove averse the signs of wrath display'd,
And shot red lightnings through the gloomy shade:
Humbled they stood; pale horror seized on all,
While the deep thunder shook the aerial hall.
Each pour'd to Jove before the bowl was crown'd;
And large libations drench'd the thirsty ground:
Then late, refresh'd with sleep from toils of fight,
Enjoy'd the balmy blessings of the night.
[Illustration: GREEK AMPHORA--WINE VESSELS.]
GREEK AMPHORA--WINE VESSELS. 其时，黎明抖开金红色的织袍，遍撒在大地上。
喜好炸雷的宙斯召来所有的神祗，
聚会在山脊耸叠的俄林波斯的峰巅。
他面对诸神训活，后者无不洗耳恭听：
“听着，所有的神和女神！我的活
乃有感而发，受心灵的驱使。
无论是神还是女神，谁也
不许反驳我的训示；相反，你们要
表示赞同——这样，我就能迅速了结这些事端。
要是让我发现任何一位神祗，背着我们另搞一套，
前去帮助达奈军伍或特洛伊兵众，那么，
当他回到俄林波斯，闪电的鞭击将使他脸面全无。
或许，我会把他拎起来，扔下阴森森的塔耳塔罗斯，
远在地层深处，地表下最低的深渊，
安着铁门和青铜的条槛，在哀地斯的
冥府下面，和冥府的距程就像天地间的距离一样遥远。
这样，他就会知道，和别的神明相比，我该有多么强健！
来吧，神们，不妨试上一试，领教一下我的厉害。
让我们从天上放下一条金绳，由你们，
所有的神和女神，抓住底端，然而，
即便如此，你们就是拉断了手，
也休想把宙斯，至高无上的王者，从天上拉到地面。
但是，只要我决意提拉，我就可把你们，
是的，把你们一古脑儿提溜上来，连同大地和海洋！
然后，我就把金绳挂上俄林波斯的犄角，
系紧绳结，让你们在半空中游荡！
是的，我就有这般强健，远胜过众神和凡人。”
宙斯一番斥训，把众神镇得目瞪口呆，
半晌说不出话来——宙斯的话语确实严厉非凡。
终于，灰眼睛女神雅典娜开口打破了沉寂：
“克罗诺斯之子，我们的父亲，王中之王，
我们知道你的神力，岂敢和你比试？
尽管如此，我们仍为达奈枪手们痛心，
他们不得不接受悲惨的命运，战死疆场。
是的，我们将不介入战斗，遵照你的命嘱，
只想对阿耳吉维人作些有用的劝导，
使他们不致因为你的愤怒而全军覆灭。”
听罢这番话，汇聚乌云的宙斯微笑着答道：
“不要灰心丧气，特里托格内娅，我心爱的女儿。我的话
并不表示严肃的意图；对于你，我总是心怀善意。”
言罢，他给战车套上铜蹄的骏马，
细腿追风，金鬃飘洒，穿起
金铸的衣甲，在自己身上，抓起
编工密匝的金鞭，登上战车，
扬鞭催马；神驹飞扑向前，不带半点勉强，
穿行在大地和多星的天空之间，
来到多泉的伊达，野兽的母亲，
来到你耳伽荣，那里有宙斯的圣地和烟火缭绕的祭坛。
神和人的父亲勒住奔马，把它们
宽出轭架，撒出浓浓的雾秣，弥漫在驭马的周围。
随后，宙斯端坐山巅，陶醉于自己的荣烈，
俯视着特洛伊人的城堡和阿开亚人的船队。
军营里，长发的阿开亚人匆匆
咽下食物，全副武装起来。
战场的另一边，在城里，特洛伊人也忙着披挂备战，
人数虽少，但斗志昂扬，
处于背城一战的绝境，为了保卫自己的妻儿。
他们打开所有的大门，蜂拥着往外冲挤，
成队的步兵，熙熙攘攘的车马，喧杂之声沸沸扬扬。
其时，两军相遇，激战在屠人的沙场上，
盾牌和枪矛铿锵碰撞，身披铜甲的
武士竞相搏杀，中心突鼓的皮盾
挤来压去，战斗的喧嚣一阵阵地呼响；
痛苦的哀叫伴和着胜利的呼声，
被杀者的哀叫，杀人者的呼声，泥地上碧血殷红。
伴随着清晨的中移和渐增的神圣的日光，
双方的投械频频中的，打得尸滚人亡。
但是，及至太阳升移、日当中午的时分，
父亲拿起金质的天平，放上两个表示
命运的磕码，压得凡人抬不起头来的死亡，
一个是特洛伊人的，驯马的好手，另一个是阿开亚人的，身披
铜甲的壮汉。
他提起秤杆的中端，阿开亚人的死期压垂了秤盘——
阿开亚人的命运坠向丰腴的土地
特洛伊人的命运则指向辽阔的青天。
宙斯挥手甩出一个响雷，从伊达山上，暴闪
在阿开亚人的头顶。目睹此般情景，
战勇们个个目瞪口呆，陷入了极度的恐慌。
伊多墨纽斯见状无心恋战，阿伽门农。
两位埃阿斯——阿瑞斯的随从们——也不例外。
只有格瑞厄亚的奈斯托耳，阿开亚人的监护，
呆留不走——不是不想，而是因为驭马中箭倒地，
死在卓越的亚历克山德罗斯手下，美发海伦的夫婿。
羽箭扎在马的头部，天灵盖上鬃毛
下垂的部位，一个最为致命的地方。
箭镞切入脑髓，驭马痛得前腿腾立，
辗扭着身子，带着铜箭，搅乱了整架马车。
老人迅速拔出利剑，砍断绳套。
与此同时，混战中扑来
一对驭马，载着它们的驭手，豪莽的
赫克托耳[●]。要不是啸吼战场的秋俄墨得斯
●载着……赫克托耳：不能照字面理解。赫克托耳是乘用战车的武士，他的
驭手是厄尼俄裴乌斯。
眼快，老人恐怕已人倒身亡。
狄俄墨得斯喊出可怕的吼叫，对着俄底修斯：
“你往哪里撒腿，莱耳忒斯之子，宙斯的后裔，足智多谋的
俄底修斯？难道你想做个临阵逃脱的胆小鬼？
不要在逃跑中让敌人的枪矛捅破你的脊背！
站住，让我们一起打退这个疯子，救出老人！”
然而，卓越的斗士、历经磨难的俄底修斯却
不曾听到他的呼喊，一个劲地朝着阿开亚人深旷的海船疾跑。
图丢斯之子，此时子然一人，扑向前排的首领，
站在老人——奈琉斯之子——的驭马边，
大声喊道，用长了翅膀的话语：“老人家，
说实话，这些年轻的战勇已把你折磨得筋疲力尽；
你的力气已经耗散，痛苦的老年挤压着你的腰背。
你的伴从是个无用的笨蛋，你的驭马已经腿步迟缓。
来吧，登上我的马车，看看特洛伊的
马种，看看它们如何熟悉自己的平原，
或追进，或避退，行动自如。
我从埃内阿斯手里夺得这对骏马，一位让人毛骨悚然的战将。
把驭马交给你的随从，和我一起，驾着这对
良驹，迎战驯马的特洛伊战勇，
也好让赫克托耳知道，我的枪矛也同样摇撼着嗜血的狂烈。”
图丢斯之子言罢，奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，谨遵
不违；两人跨上狄俄墨得斯的战车，把奈斯托耳的
驭马留给强壮的随从看管，交给
塞奈洛斯和刚烈的欧鲁墨冬。
奈斯托耳抓起闪亮的缰绳，挥鞭
策马，很快便接近了赫克托耳，
其时正冲着他们扑来。图丢斯之子掷出投枪，
不曾击中赫克托耳，却打翻了手握缰绳的
厄尼俄裴乌斯，他的伴从和驭手，心志高昂的
塞拜俄斯之子，打在胸脯上，奶头边。
他随之倒出战车，捷蹄的快马惊恐，
闪向一边。他躺死泥尘，生命和勇力碎散飘荡。
见此情景，赫克托耳感到一阵钻心的楚痛，
然而，尽管伤心，他撇下朋友的尸体，
驱车前进，试图再觅一位勇敢的搭挡。他很快
得以如愿，使战车又有了一位驭手，
阿耳开普托勒摩斯，伊菲托斯勇敢的儿子。赫克托耳
把马缰交在他手里，帮他登上战车，从捷蹄快马的后头。
其时，战场将陷入极度的混乱，玉石俱焚的局面在所
难免，特洛伊人将四散溃逃，像被逼人圈围的羊群，困堵在特洛
伊
城下，若不是神和人的父亲眼快，看到了山下的险情。
他炸开可怕的响雷，扔出爆光的闪电，
打在狄俄墨得斯马前的泥地，
击撞出燃烧着恐怖的硫火，熊熊的烈焰，
驭马惊恐万状，顶着战车畏退。
奈斯托耳松手滑脱闪亮的缰绳，
心里害怕，对狄俄墨得斯喊道：
“图丢斯之子，调过马头，放开追风的快马，赶快撤离！
还不知道吗？宙斯调度的胜利已不再归属于你。
眼下，至少在今天，克罗诺斯之子宙斯已把荣誉送给此人；
以后，如果他愿意，也会使我们得到
光荣。谁也不能违抗宙斯的意志，
哪怕他十分强健——宙斯的勇力凡人不可及比！”
听罢这番话，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯答道：
“是的，老人家，你的话条理分明，说得一点不错。
但是，我的心灵将难以承受此般剧痛——
将来，赫克托耳会当着特洛伊人的脸面，放胆吹喊：
‘图丢斯之子在我手下败退，被我赶回他的海船！’
他会如此吹擂；天呢，我恨不能裂地藏身！”’
听罢这番话，奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者答道：
“唉，勇敢的图丢斯的儿子，你说了些什么！
让他吹去吧；说你是懦夫，胆小鬼，随他的便！
特洛伊人和达耳达尼亚兵众决不会相信，
心胸豪壮的特洛伊勇士的妻子们也不会——谁会相信呢？
你把他们的丈夫打翻在泥地上，暴死在青春的年华里。”
言罢，他掉转马头，风快的驭马逃亡，汇入
人惶马叫的战阵。特洛伊人和赫克托耳，喊出
粗野的嚎叫，投出悲吼的枪械，雨点一般。
顶着闪亮的头盔，高大的赫克托耳厉声喊道：
“图丢斯之子，驾驭快马的达奈人尊你胜过对别的同胞，
让你荣坐体面的席位，享用肥美的肉块和满杯的醇酒。
但现在，他们会耻笑你，一个比女人强不了多少的男子。
滚蛋吧，可怜的娃娃！我将一步不让，不让你
捣毁我们的城池，抢走我们的女人，船运回
你们的家乡。相反，在此之前，我将让你和你的命运见面！”
听罢这番话，图丢斯之子心绪飘荡：
该不该掉转马头，同赫克托耳拼打？
在心魂深处，他三次决意回头再战，
但三次受阻于多谋善断的宙斯，从伊达山上甩下
炸雷，示意特洛伊兵勇，战争的主动权已经转到他们手中。
其时，赫克托耳亮开嗓门，对特洛伊人高声喊道：
“特洛伊人，鲁基亚人和达耳达尼亚人——近战杀敌的
勇士们！
拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们，鼓起狂烈的战斗激情！
我已知道，克罗诺斯之子已点头答应，
让我获胜，争得巨大的光荣，而把灾难留给
我们的敌人。这群笨蛋，筑起这么个墙坝，
脆弱的小玩艺，根本不值得忧虑。它挡不住
我的进攻；只消轻轻一跃，我的骏马即可跨过深挖的壕沟。
待我逼近他们深旷的海船，你们，
别忘了，要给我递个烈焰腾腾的火把，
让我点燃他们的木船，杀死船边的壮勇，
那些睁着惊恐的眼睛，望着黑烟的阿耳吉维人！”
言罢，他转而对着自己的驭马，喊道：
“珊索斯，还有你，波达耳戈斯，埃松和闪亮的朗波斯，
现在已是你们报效我的时候。安德罗玛开，
心志豪莽的厄提昂的女儿，精心照料着你们，让你们
美食蜜一样香甜的麦粒，当她内心愿想，
甚至匀拌醇酒，供你们饮喝，在为我
准备餐食之前，虽然我可以骄傲地声称，我是她心爱的丈夫。
紧紧咬住敌人，蹽开蹄腿飞跑！这样，我们就能缴获
奈斯托耳的盾牌——眼下，它的名声如日中天，
纯金铸就，包括盾面和把手；
亦能从驯马的狄俄墨得斯的肩上扒下
精美的胸甲，凝聚着赫法伊斯托斯的辛劳。
若能夺获这两样东西，那么，今晚，我想，我们
便可望把阿开亚人赶回迅捷的船舟！”
赫克托耳一番吹擂，激怒了天后赫拉。
她摇动自己的宝座，震撼着巍伟的俄林波斯，
对着强有力的神祗波塞冬嚷道：
“可耻呀，力镇远方的撼地之神！你的心中
不带半点怜悯，对正在死去的达奈人。
他们曾给你丰足的礼品，在赫利开和埃伽伊，
成堆的好东西，而你也曾谋划要让他们获胜。
假如我等助佑达奈人的神祗下定决心，
踢回特洛伊兵众，避开沉雷远播的宙斯的干扰，
他就只能独自坐在伊达山上，忍受烦恼的煎磨。”
一番话极大地纷扰了他的心境，
强有力的裂地之神答道：
“赫拉，你的话太过鲁莽——你都说了些什么！
我无意和克罗诺斯之子宙斯战斗，
哪怕和所有的神明一起——大神的勇力远非我等可以比及！”
就这样，他俩你来我往，一番争说。地面上。
阿开亚人正拥塞在从沟墙到海船的
战域，武装的兵丁和众多的车马，受
普里阿摩斯之子、战神般迅捷的赫克托耳
的逼挤；宙斯正使他获得光荣。
若不是天后赫拉唤起阿伽门农的战斗激情，
催他快步跑去，激励属下的兵勇，
赫克托耳可能已把熊熊的烈火引上匀称的海船。
阿伽门农蹽开双腿，沿着阿开亚人的海船和营棚，
粗壮的手中提着一领绛红色的大披篷，
站在俄底修斯那乌黑、宽大、深旷的海船边——
停驻在船队中部——以便一声呼喊，便可传及两翼，
既可及达忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯的营地，
亦可飘至阿基琉斯的兵棚——坚信自己的刚勇和
臂力，他俩把匀称的海船分别停驻在船队的两头。
他提高嗓门，用尖亮的声音对达奈人喊道：
“可耻啊，你们这些阿耳吉维人！无用的废物，白披了一身漂
亮的甲衣！
那些个豪言壮语呢？你们不是自诩为最勇敢的人吗？
在莱姆诺斯，你们曾趾高气扬地吹擂，撑饱了
长角肥牛的鲜肉，就着谱满的缸碗，
开怀痛饮，大言不惭地声称，
你们每人都可抵打一百，甚至两百个
特洛伊人。现在呢？我们全都加在一起，还打不过
一个人，一个赫克托耳；此人马上即会烧焚我们的海船！
父亲宙斯，过去，你可曾如此凶狠地打击过
一位强有力的王者，夺走他的受人仰慕的光荣？
当我乘坐带凳板的海船，开始了进兵此地的倒霉的航程，
每逢路过你的铸工精致的祭坛，说实话，我都不敢忽略，
每次都给你焚烧公牛的油脂和腿肉，
盼望着能够早日荡平墙垣精固的特洛伊。
求求你，宙斯，至少允诺我的此番祈愿：
让我的阿开亚兵勇死里逃生，即使一无所获；
不要让他们倒死在特洛伊人手中！”
他朗声求告，泪水横流；宙斯见状，心生怜悯，
点头答应，答应让他们不死，让他们存活。
他随即遣下一只苍鹰，飞禽中兆示最准的羽鸟，
爪上掐着一头小鹿，一头善跑的母鹿的幼仔，
扔放在父亲精美的祭坛旁，阿开亚人
敬祭宙斯的地方——宙斯，发送兆示的天神。
他们看到了大鹰，知道此乃宙斯差来的飞鸟，
随即重振战斗的激情，对着特洛伊人冲扑。
战场上，达奈人尽管人数众多，但谁也不敢声称，
他的快马已赶过图丢斯之子的战车，
冲过壕沟，进入手对手的杀斗。
狄俄墨得斯率先杀死一位特洛伊首领，
夫拉得豪之子阿格劳斯，其时正转车逃遁。
就在他转身之际，投枪击中脊背，
双脚之间，长驱直入，穿透了胸脯。
他扑身倒出战车，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
狄俄墨得斯身后，冲杀着阿特柔斯的两个儿子，阿伽门农和
墨奈劳斯，
随后是两位埃阿斯，带着凶蛮的战斗激情，
再后面是伊多墨纽斯和他的伙伴，
杀人狂厄努阿利俄斯[●]一般勇莽的墨里俄奈斯，
●厄努阿利俄斯：即战神阿瑞斯，比较7·166。
还有欧鲁普洛斯，欧埃蒙光荣的儿子。
丢克罗斯战斗在上述八人之后，调上着他的弯弓，
藏身在忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯的盾后，
后者挺着盾牌，挡护着他的躯身。壮士
在盾后捕捉目标，每当射中人群里的一个敌手，
使其例死在中箭之地，他就
跑回埃阿斯身边——像孩子跑回母亲的
怀抱——后者送过闪亮的盾牌，摭护他的躯身。
那么，谁是出类拔萃的丢克罗斯第一个射倒的特洛伊
战勇？
俄耳西洛科斯第一个倒地，然后是俄耳墨奈斯、俄菲勒斯忒
斯、代托耳、克罗米俄斯和神一样的鲁科丰忒斯，
还有阿莫帕昂，波鲁埃蒙之子，和墨拉尼波斯。
他把这些战勇放倒在丰腴的土地上，一个紧接着一个。
目睹他打乱了特洛伊人的队阵，用那把
强有力的弯弓，阿伽门农，民众的王者，心里高兴，
走去站在他的身边，喊道：
“打得好，忒拉蒙之子，出色的战将，军队的首领！
继续干吧，使达奈人，当然还有你的父亲，从你身上
看到希望的曙光！在你幼小之时，尽管出自私生，
忒拉蒙关心爱护，在自己的家里把你养大。
现在，虽然远隔重洋，你将为他争得荣光。
我有一事相告，老天保佑，它将成为现实：
如果带埃吉斯的宙斯和雅典娜答应让我
攻破坚固的城堡伊利昂，
继我之后，我将把丰硕的战礼最先放入
你的手中，一个三脚铜鼎，或两匹骏马，连同战车，
或一名女子，和你共寝同床。”
听罢这番话，豪勇的丢克罗斯答道：
“阿特柔斯之子，最尊贵的王者，对于我。一个渴望战斗的人，
你何需敦促？从我们试图把特洛伊人赶回
伊利昂的时候起，只要勇力尚在，我就战斗不止。
从那时起，我就一直潜行在这一带，携着弓箭，
射杀敌手。我已发出八枚倒钩尖长的利箭，
全都扎进敌人的躯体，手脚利索的年轻人。
然而，我还不曾击倒赫克托耳，宰了这条疯狗！”
言罢，他又开弓放出一枝飞箭，
直奔赫克托耳，一心盼望着击中目标，然而
箭头没有使他如愿，却放倒了普里阿摩斯另一个强壮的
儿子，勇敢的戈耳古西昂，打在胸脯上。
普里阿摩斯娶了戈耳古西昂的母亲，美丽的卡丝提娅内拉，
埃苏墨人，有着女神般的身段。
他脑袋一晃，侧倒在肩上，犹如花圃里的一枝罂粟，
垂着头，受累于果实的重压和春雨的侵打——
就像这样，他的头颅耷拉在一边，吃不住铜盔的分量。
丢克罗斯再次开弓，射出一枝飞箭，
直奔赫克托耳，一心盼望着把他击倒，然而
箭头再次偏离目标——被阿波罗拨至一边，
击中阿耳开普托勒摩斯，赫克托耳勇敢的驭手，
其时正放马冲刺，扎在胸脯上，奶头边。
他翻身倒下战车，捷蹄的快马惊恐，
闪向一边。他躺倒在地，生命和勇力碎散飘荡。
见此情景，赫克托耳感到一阵钻心的楚痛，
然而，尽管伤心，他撇下朋友的尸体，
招呼站在近旁的兄弟开勃里俄奈斯，要他
提缰驭马，后者欣然从命。但赫克托耳
自己则从闪亮的马车上一跃而下，发出一声
可怕的呼吼，搬起一块巨大的石头，
直扑丢克罗斯，恨不能即刻把他砸个稀烂。
其时，丢克罗斯已从箭壶里抽出一枚致命的羽箭，
搭上弓弦，齐胸拉开——就在此时，
对着锁骨一带，脖子和大胸相连的部位，
一个最为致命的落点，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳
挟着凶暴的狂怒，砸出粗莽的顽石，
捣烂盘腱，麻木了他的臂腕。
他身子瘫软，单腿支地，长弓脱手而去。
但是，埃阿斯没有扔下发发可危的兄弟，而是
冲跑过去，跨站在他的两边，用巨盾挡护着他的躯体。
随后，他的两位亲密伴友，厄基俄斯之子墨基斯丢斯
和卓越的阿拉斯托耳，在盾后弯下身子，架起丢克罗斯，
踏踩着伤者凄厉的吟叫，抬回深旷的海船。
其时，俄林波斯大神再次催发了特洛伊人的战斗狂烈，
使他们把阿开亚人逼回宽深的壕沟。
赫克托耳，陶醉于自己的勇力，带头冲杀，
像一条猎狗，撒开快腿，猛追着
一头野猪或狮子，赶上后咬住它的后腿
或胁腹，同时防备着猛兽的反扑——
就像这样，赫克托耳紧追不舍长发的阿开亚人，
一个接一个地杀死跑在最后的兵勇，把他们赶得遑遑奔逃。
但是，当乱军夺路溃跑，越过壕沟，绕过
尖桩，许多人死在特洛伊战勇手下，退至海船
一线后，他们收住腿步，站稳脚跟，
相互间大声喊叫，人人扬起双手，
对所有的神明高声诵说。
其时，赫克托耳，睁着戈耳工或杀人狂阿瑞斯的大眼，
驱赶着长鬃飘洒的骏马，来回奔跑在壕沟的边沿。
目睹此番情景，白臂女神赫拉心生怜悯，
马上喊出长了翅膀的话语，对帕拉丝·雅典娜说道：
“看呀，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿！达奈人正在
成堆的死去；在这紧急关头，我们岂能撒手不管？
他们正遭受厄运的折磨，被一个杀红眼的
疯子赶得七零八落，谁也抵挡不了——
赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，已杀得血流成河！”
听罢这番话，灰眼睛女神雅典娜答道：
“此人必死无疑，他的勇力将被荡毁殆尽，
死在阿耳吉维人手里，倒在自己的乡园！
然而，父亲狠毒的心肠现时正填满狂怒；
他残忍，总是强蛮横暴，处处挫毁我的计划，
从来不曾想过，我曾多次营救他的儿子，
赫拉克勒斯，欧鲁修斯派给的苦役整得他身腿疲软。
他一次次地对着苍天呼喊，而
宙斯总是差我赶去帮忙，急如星火。
倘若我的智慧能使我料知这一切——
那一日，欧鲁修斯要他去找死神，把守地府大门的王者，
从黑暗的冥界拖回一条猎狗，可怕的死神的凶獒——
他就休想冲出斯图克斯河泼泻的水流。
然而，现在宙斯恨我，顺从了塞提丝的意愿，
她亲吻宙斯的膝盖，托抚着他的下颌，恳求他
赐誉阿基琉斯，城堡的荡劫者。不过，
这一天终会到来，那时，他又会叫我他亲爱的灰眼睛姑娘。
所以，你去套马，我们那四蹄风快的骏马，
而我将折回宙斯的家居，带埃吉斯的王者，
全副武装。我倒想看看，当目睹
咱俩出现在战场的车道时，赫克托耳是否会高兴得
活蹦乱跳！不然，我亦乐意看睹此番佳景：他的某个
特洛伊兵勇，用自己的油脂和血肉
满足狗和兀鸟的食欲，倒死在阿开亚人的海船旁！”
雅典娜言罢，白臂女神赫拉听从了她的建议，
赫拉，神界的王后，强有力的克罗诺斯的
女儿，前往整套系戴金笼辔的骏马。
与此同时，雅典娜，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿，
在父亲的门槛边脱去舒适的裙袍，
织工精巧，由她亲手制作，
穿上汇卷乌云的宙斯的衫套，
扣上自己的铠甲，准备迎接惨烈的战斗。
女神踏上火红的战车，抓起一杆枪矛，
粗长、硕大、沉重，用以荡扫地面上战斗的
群伍，强力大神的女儿怒目以对的军阵。
赫拉迅速起鞭策马，时点看守的
天门自动敞开，隆隆作响——
她们把守着俄林波斯和辽阔的天空，
拨开或关合浓密的云雾。
穿过天门，她俩一路疾驰，快马加鞭。
但是，父亲宙斯勃然大怒，当他从伊达山上看到此番
情景，命催金翅膀的伊里丝动身前往，带着他的口信：
“快去，迅捷的伊里丝，去把她们挡回来，但不要出现在我的
前面——我不想和她们在这场战斗中翻脸。
我要直言相告，我的话将付诸实践。
我将打残轭架下捷蹄的快马，
把她们扔出马车，砸烂车身；
她们将熬过漫长的十年时光，
愈合我用闪电裂开的伤口。这样，才能使
灰眼睛姑娘知道，和父亲争斗意味着什么。
但是，对赫拉，我却不会如此气恼，如此烦愤；
挫阻我的命令，她已习以为常。”
宙斯言罢，驾踩风暴的伊里丝即刻出发，带着口信，
从伊达山脉直奔巍伟的俄林波斯。
在峰脊耸叠的俄林波斯的外门，
伊里丝遇阻了二位女神的去路，转告了宙斯的口信：
“为何如此匆忙？为何如此气急败坏？
克罗诺斯之子不会让你们站到阿耳吉维人一边。
听听宙斯的警告，他将把话语付诸实践。
他将打残你们轭架下捷蹄的快马，
把你俩扔出马车，砸烂车身。
你们将熬过漫长的十年时光，
愈合他用闪电裂开的伤口。这样，
你就会知道，灰眼睛姑娘，和父亲争斗意味着什么。
但是，对赫拉，他却不会如此气恼，如此烦愤；
挫阻宙斯的命令，她已习以为常。
所以，你可要小心在意，你这蛮横而不顾廉耻的东西，
倘若你真的敢对父亲动手，挥起粗重的长枪！”
言罢，快腿的伊里丝动身离去。
其时，赫拉对帕拉丝·雅典娜说道：
“算了，带埃吉斯的宙斯之女，我不能再
和你一起，对宙斯开战，为了一个凡人。
让他们该死的死，该活的话，听天
由命；让宙斯——这是他的权利——随心所欲地
决定特洛伊兵众和达奈人的命运。”
言罢，赫拉掉转马头，赶起风快的骏马。
时点将长鬃飘洒的驭马宽出轭架，
控系在填满仙料的食槽旁，
将马车停靠在滑亮的内墙边。
两位女神靠息在金铸的长椅上，
和其他神明聚首，强忍着悲愁。
其时，父亲宙斯驾着骏马和轮缘坚固的战车，
从伊达山上回到俄林波斯，来到众神议事的厅堂。
声名遐迩的裂地之神为他宽松驭马的绳套，
将马车搁置在车架上，盖上遮车的篷布。
沉雷远播的宙斯弯身他的宝座，
巍伟的俄林波斯在他脚下摇荡。
只有赫拉和雅典娜远离着他
就座，既不对他说话，也不对他发问。
但是，宙斯心里明白，开口说道：
“为何如此愁眉不展，雅典娜和赫拉？
在凡人争得荣誉的战场，你俩自然不会忙得
精疲力尽，屠杀你们痛恨的特洛伊人。
瞧瞧我的一切，我的力气，我的无坚不摧的双手！
俄林波斯山上所有的神祗，你们连手行动，也休想把我推倒。
至于你等二位，在尚未目睹战斗和痛苦的
战争时，你们那漂亮的肢体就会嗦嗦发抖。
我要直言相告，我的话语将付诸实践：
一旦让我的闪电劈碎你们的车马，你们将
再也不能回到神的家居，俄林波斯山面！”
宙斯如此一番训告，而雅典娜和赫拉却自管小声嘀咕，
坐得很近，谋划着如何使特洛伊人遭殃。
雅典娜静坐不语，面带愠色，
对宙斯，她的父亲；狂烈的暴怒揪揉着她的心房。
但是，赫拉却忍受不了心中的愤怒，对宙斯说道；
“可怕的王者，克罗诺斯之子，你说了些什么？
我们知道你的神力，岂敢和你作对？
然而，尽管如此，我们仍为达奈枪手们痛心，
他们不得不接受悲惨的命运，战死疆场。
是的，我们将不介入战斗，遵照你的命嘱，
只想对阿耳吉维人作些有用的劝导，
使他们不致因为你的愤怒而全军覆灭。”
听罢这番话，汇聚乌云的宙斯答道：
“明天拂晓，牛眼睛的赫拉王后，你将会
看到，倘若你有这个兴致，克罗诺斯最强健的儿子
将制导一场更大的浩劫，杀死成行成队的阿开亚枪手。
强壮的赫克托耳将不会停止战斗，
直到裴琉斯捷足的儿子立起在海船旁——
那天，他们将麇聚在船尾的边沿，
为争夺帕特罗克洛斯的遗体拼死苦战。
此乃注定要发生的事情；至于你和你的愤怒，
我却毫不介意——哪怕你下到大地和海洋的
深底，亚裴托斯和克罗诺斯息居的去处，
没有太阳神呼裴里昂的日光，没有沁人心胸的
和风，只有低陷的塔耳塔罗斯，围箍在他们身旁。
是的，哪怕你在游荡中去了那个地方，我也毫不
在乎你的恨怨——世上找不到比你更不要脸的无赖！”
宙斯如此一番斥训，白臂膀的赫拉沉默不语。
其时，俄开阿诺斯河已收起太阳的余辉，
让黑色的夜晚笼罩盛产谷物的田野。对特洛伊人，
日光的消逝事与愿违；而对阿开亚人，黑夜的
垂临则是一种幸运——他们何等热切地祈盼着夜色的降临！
光荣的赫克托耳召集起所有的特洛伊兵丁，
把他们带离海船，挨着那条水流湍急的大河[●]，
●那条水流湍急的大河：即斯卡曼得罗斯（或珊索斯）。
在一片干净的土地上，没有横七竖八的尸体。
他们从马后步下战车，聆听宙斯钟爱的
赫克托耳的训示。他手握枪矛，
十一个肘尺的长度，杆顶闪耀着一枝
青铜的矛尖，由一个黄金的圈环箍固。
倚靠着这杆枪矛，赫克托耳对他们喊道：
“听我说，特洛伊人，达耳达尼亚人和盟军朋友们！
我原以为，到这个时候，我们已荡灭阿开亚人，毁了
他们的海船，可以回兵多风的伊利昂。
但是，黑夜降临得如此之快，拯救了阿开亚兵壮
和他们的海船，比什么都灵验，在激浪拍岸的滩沿。
好吧，让我们接受黑夜的规劝，整备
食餐，将长鬃飘洒的驭马
宽出轭架，在它们腿前放上食槽。
让我们从城里牵出牛和肥羊，
要快，从家里搬来香甜的饮酒和
食物。我们要垒起一座座柴堆，
这样，就能整夜营火不灭，直至晨曦
初露的时候。众多的火堆熊熊燃烧，映红夜空，
使长发的阿开亚人不至趁着夜色的掩护，
启程归航，踏破洁森的水路。不，不能让他们
踏上船板，不作一番苦斗！不能让他们悠悠哉哉地离去！
让他们返家后，仍需治理带血的伤口，
羽箭和锋快的投枪给他们的馈赠，在他们踏上木船的
时候。有此教训，以后，其他人就不敢
再给特洛伊驯马的好手带来战争的愁难。
让宙斯钟爱的使者梭行全城，
要年幼的男孩和鬓发灰白的老人前往
神祗兴造的城堡，环绕全城的墙楼；
让他们的妻子燃起一堆大火，在自家的
厅堂；要布下岗哨，彻夜警戒，
以防敌人趁我军离出之际，突袭城堡。
这便是我的布署，心志豪莽的特洛伊人，按我说的去做。
但愿你们遵从我的严令，驯马的好手，
也听从我明晨的呼召！
我要对宙斯和众神祈祷，满怀希望，
让我们赶走阿开亚人，毁了他们，这帮恶狗——
死的命运把他们带到这里，用乌黑的海船！
今晚，我们要注意防范；明天一早，
拂晓时分，我们将全副武装，
在深旷的船边唤醒凶暴的战神！
我倒要看看，是图丢斯之子，强有力的狄俄墨得斯
把我打离海船，逼回城墙，还是我用铜枪
把他宰掉，带回浸染着鲜血的酬获。
明天，他就会知道自己到底有多大的能耐，是否能
顶住我的枪矛。明天，太阳升起之时，
他将，我想，倒在前排的队列，
由死去的伙伴簇拥。哦，但愿
我能确信自己永生不死，长存不灭，
如同雅典娜和阿波罗那样受人崇敬，
就像坚信明天是阿开亚人的末日一样确凿不移！”
赫克托耳言罢，特洛伊人报之以赞同的吼声。
他们把热汗涔涔的驭马宽出轭架，
拴好缰绳，在各自的战车上。
他们动作迅速，从城里牵出牛和
肥羊，从家里搬来香甜的饮酒
和食物，垒起一座座柴堆。
他们敬奉全盛的祀祭，给永生的众神，
晚风托着喷香的清烟，扶摇着从平原升向天空，
但幸福的神祗没有享用——他们不愿，只因切齿
痛恨普里阿摩斯和他的手握粗重(木岑)木杆枪矛的兵众。
就这样，他们精神饱满，整夜围坐在
进兵的空道，伴随着千百堆熊熊燃烧的营火。
宛如天空中的星宿，遍撒在闪着白光的明月周围，
放射出晶亮的光芒；其时，空气静滞、凝固，
高挺的山峰、突兀的石壁和幽深的沟壑
全都清晰可见——透亮的大气，其量不可穷限，从高天
没泻下来，突显出闪亮的群星——此情此景，使牧人开怀。
就像这样，特洛伊人点起繁星般的营火，
在伊利昂城前，珊索斯的激流和海船间。
平原上腾腾燃烧着一千堆营火，每堆火边
坐着五十名兵勇，映照在明灿灿的火光里。
驭马站在各自的战车旁，咀嚼着燕麦和
雪白的大麦，等待着黎明登上她的座椅，放出绚丽的光彩。
ARGUMENT.
THE SECOND BATTLE, AND THE DISTRESS OF THE GREEKS.
Jupiter assembles a council of the deities, and threatens them with the
pains of Tartarus if they assist either side: Minerva only obtains of him
that she may direct the Greeks by her counsels.(189) his balances the
fates of both, and affrights the Greeks with his thunders and lightnings.
Nestor alone continues in the field in great danger: Diomed relieves him;
whose exploits, and those of Hector, are excellently described. Juno
endeavours to animate Neptune to the assistance of the Greeks, but in
vain. The acts of Teucer, who is at length wounded by Hector, and carried
off. Juno and Minerva prepare to aid the Grecians, but are restrained by
Iris, sent from Jupiter. The night puts an end to the battle. Hector
continues in the field, (the Greeks being driven to their fortifications
before the ships,) and gives orders to keep the watch all night in the
camp, to prevent the enemy from re-embarking and escaping by flight. They
kindle fires through all the fields, and pass the night under arms.
The time of seven and twenty days is employed from the opening of the poem
to the end of this book. The scene here (except of the celestial machines)
lies in the field towards the seashore.
Aurora now, fair daughter of the dawn,
Sprinkled with rosy light the dewy lawn;
When Jove convened the senate of the skies,
Where high Olympus' cloudy tops arise,
The sire of gods his awful silence broke;
The heavens attentive trembled as he spoke:
"Celestial states! immortal gods! give ear,
Hear our decree, and reverence what ye hear;
The fix'd decree which not all heaven can move;
Thou, fate! fulfil it! and, ye powers, approve!
What god but enters yon forbidden field,
Who yields assistance, or but wills to yield,
Back to the skies with shame he shall be driven,
Gash'd with dishonest wounds, the scorn of heaven;
Or far, oh far, from steep Olympus thrown,
Low in the dark Tartarean gulf shall groan,
With burning chains fix'd to the brazen floors,
And lock'd by hell's inexorable doors;
As deep beneath the infernal centre hurl'd,(190)
As from that centre to the ethereal world.
Let him who tempts me, dread those dire abodes:
And know, the Almighty is the god of gods.
League all your forces, then, ye powers above,
Join all, and try the omnipotence of Jove.
Let down our golden everlasting chain(191)
Whose strong embrace holds heaven, and earth, and main
Strive all, of mortal and immortal birth,
To drag, by this, the Thunderer down to earth
Ye strive in vain! if I but stretch this hand,
I heave the gods, the ocean, and the land;
I fix the chain to great Olympus' height,
And the vast world hangs trembling in my sight!
For such I reign, unbounded and above;
And such are men, and gods, compared to Jove."
The all-mighty spoke, nor durst the powers reply:
A reverend horror silenced all the sky;
Trembling they stood before their sovereign's look;
At length his best-beloved, the power of wisdom, spoke:
"O first and greatest! God, by gods adored
We own thy might, our father and our lord!
But, ah! permit to pity human state:
If not to help, at least lament their fate.
From fields forbidden we submiss refrain,
With arms unaiding mourn our Argives slain;
Yet grant my counsels still their breasts may move,
Or all must perish in the wrath of Jove."
The cloud-compelling god her suit approved,
And smiled superior on his best beloved;
Then call'd his coursers, and his chariot took;
The stedfast firmament beneath them shook:
Rapt by the ethereal steeds the chariot roll'd;
Brass were their hoofs, their curling manes of gold:
Of heaven's undrossy gold the gods array,
Refulgent, flash'd intolerable day.
High on the throne he shines: his coursers fly
Between the extended earth and starry sky.
But when to Ida's topmost height he came,
(Fair nurse of fountains, and of savage game,)
Where o'er her pointed summits proudly raised,
His fane breathed odours, and his altar blazed:
There, from his radiant car, the sacred sire
Of gods and men released the steeds of fire:
Blue ambient mists the immortal steeds embraced;
High on the cloudy point his seat he placed;
Thence his broad eye the subject world surveys,
The town, and tents, and navigable seas.
Now had the Grecians snatch'd a short repast,
And buckled on their shining arms with haste.
Troy roused as soon; for on this dreadful day
The fate of fathers, wives, and infants lay.
The gates unfolding pour forth all their train;
Squadrons on squadrons cloud the dusky plain:
Men, steeds, and chariots shake the trembling ground,
The tumult thickens, and the skies resound;
And now with shouts the shocking armies closed,
To lances lances, shields to shields opposed,
Host against host with shadowy legends drew,
The sounding darts in iron tempests flew;
Victors and vanquish'd join promiscuous cries,
Triumphant shouts and dying groans arise;
With streaming blood the slippery fields are dyed,
And slaughter'd heroes swell the dreadful tide.
Long as the morning beams, increasing bright,
O'er heaven's clear azure spread the sacred light,
Commutual death the fate of war confounds,
Each adverse battle gored with equal wounds.
But when the sun the height of heaven ascends,
The sire of gods his golden scales suspends,(192)
With equal hand: in these explored the fate
Of Greece and Troy, and poised the mighty weight:
Press'd with its load, the Grecian balance lies
Low sunk on earth, the Trojan strikes the skies.
Then Jove from Ida's top his horrors spreads;
The clouds burst dreadful o'er the Grecian heads;
Thick lightnings flash; the muttering thunder rolls;
Their strength he withers, and unmans their souls.
Before his wrath the trembling hosts retire;
The gods in terrors, and the skies on fire.
Nor great Idomeneus that sight could bear,
Nor each stern Ajax, thunderbolts of war:
Nor he, the king of war, the alarm sustain'd
Nestor alone, amidst the storm remain'd.
Unwilling he remain'd, for Paris' dart
Had pierced his courser in a mortal part;
Fix'd in the forehead, where the springing man
Curl'd o'er the brow, it stung him to the brain;
Mad with his anguish, he begins to rear,
Paw with his hoofs aloft, and lash the air.
Scarce had his falchion cut the reins, and freed
The encumber'd chariot from the dying steed,
When dreadful Hector, thundering through the war,
Pour'd to the tumult on his whirling car.
That day had stretch'd beneath his matchless hand
The hoary monarch of the Pylian band,
But Diomed beheld; from forth the crowd
He rush'd, and on Ulysses call'd aloud:
"Whither, oh whither does Ulysses run?
Oh, flight unworthy great Laertes' son!
Mix'd with the vulgar shall thy fate be found,
Pierced in the back, a vile, dishonest wound?
Oh turn and save from Hector's direful rage
The glory of the Greeks, the Pylian sage."
His fruitless words are lost unheard in air,
Ulysses seeks the ships, and shelters there.
But bold Tydides to the rescue goes,
A single warrior midst a host of foes;
Before the coursers with a sudden spring
He leap'd, and anxious thus bespoke the king:
"Great perils, father! wait the unequal fight;
These younger champions will oppress thy might.
Thy veins no more with ancient vigour glow,
Weak is thy servant, and thy coursers slow.
Then haste, ascend my seat, and from the car
Observe the steeds of Tros, renown'd in war.
Practised alike to turn, to stop, to chase,
To dare the fight, or urge the rapid race:
These late obey'd Æneas' guiding rein;
Leave thou thy chariot to our faithful train;
With these against yon Trojans will we go,
Nor shall great Hector want an equal foe;
Fierce as he is, even he may learn to fear
The thirsty fury of my flying spear."
Thus said the chief; and Nestor, skill'd in war,
Approves his counsel, and ascends the car:
The steeds he left, their trusty servants hold;
Eurymedon, and Sthenelus the bold:
The reverend charioteer directs the course,
And strains his aged arm to lash the horse.
Hector they face; unknowing how to fear,
Fierce he drove on; Tydides whirl'd his spear.
The spear with erring haste mistook its way,
But plunged in Eniopeus' bosom lay.
His opening hand in death forsakes the rein;
The steeds fly back: he falls, and spurns the plain.
Great Hector sorrows for his servant kill'd,
Yet unrevenged permits to press the field;
Till, to supply his place and rule the car,
Rose Archeptolemus, the fierce in war.
And now had death and horror cover'd all;(193)
Like timorous flocks the Trojans in their wall
Inclosed had bled: but Jove with awful sound
Roll'd the big thunder o'er the vast profound:
Full in Tydides' face the lightning flew;
The ground before him flamed with sulphur blue;
The quivering steeds fell prostrate at the sight;
And Nestor's trembling hand confess'd his fright:
He dropp'd the reins: and, shook with sacred dread,
Thus, turning, warn'd the intrepid Diomed:
"O chief! too daring in thy friend's defence
Retire advised, and urge the chariot hence.
This day, averse, the sovereign of the skies
Assists great Hector, and our palm denies.
Some other sun may see the happier hour,
When Greece shall conquer by his heavenly power.
'Tis not in man his fix'd decree to move:
The great will glory to submit to Jove."
"O reverend prince! (Tydides thus replies)
Thy years are awful, and thy words are wise.
But ah, what grief! should haughty Hector boast
I fled inglorious to the guarded coast.
Before that dire disgrace shall blast my fame,
O'erwhelm me, earth; and hide a warrior's shame!"
To whom Gerenian Nestor thus replied:(194)
"Gods! can thy courage fear the Phrygian's pride?
Hector may vaunt, but who shall heed the boast?
Not those who felt thy arm, the Dardan host,
Nor Troy, yet bleeding in her heroes lost;
Not even a Phrygian dame, who dreads the sword
That laid in dust her loved, lamented lord."
He said, and, hasty, o'er the gasping throng
Drives the swift steeds: the chariot smokes along;
The shouts of Trojans thicken in the wind;
The storm of hissing javelins pours behind.
Then with a voice that shakes the solid skies,
Pleased, Hector braves the warrior as he flies.
"Go, mighty hero! graced above the rest
In seats of council and the sumptuous feast:
Now hope no more those honours from thy train;
Go less than woman, in the form of man!
To scale our walls, to wrap our towers in flames,
To lead in exile the fair Phrygian dames,
Thy once proud hopes, presumptuous prince! are fled;
This arm shall reach thy heart, and stretch thee dead."
Now fears dissuade him, and now hopes invite.
To stop his coursers, and to stand the fight;
Thrice turn'd the chief, and thrice imperial Jove
On Ida's summits thunder'd from above.
Great Hector heard; he saw the flashing light,
(The sign of conquest,) and thus urged the fight:
"Hear, every Trojan, Lycian, Dardan band,
All famed in war, and dreadful hand to hand.
Be mindful of the wreaths your arms have won,
Your great forefathers' glories, and your own.
Heard ye the voice of Jove? Success and fame
Await on Troy, on Greece eternal shame.
In vain they skulk behind their boasted wall,
Weak bulwarks; destined by this arm to fall.
High o'er their slighted trench our steeds shall bound,
And pass victorious o'er the levell'd mound.
Soon as before yon hollow ships we stand,
Fight each with flames, and toss the blazing brand;
Till, their proud navy wrapt in smoke and fires,
All Greece, encompass'd, in one blaze expires."
Furious he said; then bending o'er the yoke,
Encouraged his proud steeds, while thus he spoke:
"Now, Xanthus, Æthon, Lampus, urge the chase,
And thou, Podargus! prove thy generous race;
Be fleet, be fearless, this important day,
And all your master's well-spent care repay.
For this, high-fed, in plenteous stalls ye stand,
Served with pure wheat, and by a princess' hand;
For this my spouse, of great Aetion's line,
So oft has steep'd the strengthening grain in wine.
Now swift pursue, now thunder uncontroll'd:
Give me to seize rich Nestor's shield of gold;
From Tydeus' shoulders strip the costly load,
Vulcanian arms, the labour of a god:
These if we gain, then victory, ye powers!
This night, this glorious night, the fleet is ours!"
That heard, deep anguish stung Saturnia's soul;
She shook her throne, that shook the starry pole:
And thus to Neptune: "Thou, whose force can make
The stedfast earth from her foundations shake,
Seest thou the Greeks by fates unjust oppress'd,
Nor swells thy heart in that immortal breast?
Yet Ægae, Helice, thy power obey,(195)
And gifts unceasing on thine altars lay.
Would all the deities of Greece combine,
In vain the gloomy Thunderer might repine:
Sole should he sit, with scarce a god to friend,
And see his Trojans to the shades descend:
Such be the scene from his Idaean bower;
Ungrateful prospect to the sullen power!"
Neptune with wrath rejects the rash design:
"What rage, what madness, furious queen! is thine?
I war not with the highest. All above
Submit and tremble at the hand of Jove."
Now godlike Hector, to whose matchless might
Jove gave the glory of the destined fight,
Squadrons on squadrons drives, and fills the fields
With close-ranged chariots, and with thicken'd shields.
Where the deep trench in length extended lay,
Compacted troops stand wedged in firm array,
A dreadful front! they shake the brands, and threat
With long-destroying flames the hostile fleet.
The king of men, by Juno's self inspired,
Toil'd through the tents, and all his army fired.
Swift as he moved, he lifted in his hand
His purple robe, bright ensign of command.
High on the midmost bark the king appear'd:
There, from Ulysses' deck, his voice was heard:
To Ajax and Achilles reach'd the sound,
Whose distant ships the guarded navy bound.
"O Argives! shame of human race! (he cried:
The hollow vessels to his voice replied,)
Where now are all your glorious boasts of yore,
Your hasty triumphs on the Lemnian shore?
Each fearless hero dares a hundred foes,
While the feast lasts, and while the goblet flows;
But who to meet one martial man is found,
When the fight rages, and the flames surround?
O mighty Jove! O sire of the distress'd!
Was ever king like me, like me oppress'd?
With power immense, with justice arm'd in vain;
My glory ravish'd, and my people slain!
To thee my vows were breathed from every shore;
What altar smoked not with our victims' gore?
With fat of bulls I fed the constant flame,
And ask'd destruction to the Trojan name.
Now, gracious god! far humbler our demand;
Give these at least to 'scape from Hector's hand,
And save the relics of the Grecian land!"
Thus pray'd the king, and heaven's great father heard
His vows, in bitterness of soul preferr'd:
The wrath appeased, by happy signs declares,
And gives the people to their monarch's prayers.
His eagle, sacred bird of heaven! he sent,
A fawn his talons truss'd, (divine portent!)
High o'er the wondering hosts he soar'd above,
Who paid their vows to Panomphaean Jove;
Then let the prey before his altar fall;
The Greeks beheld, and transport seized on all:
Encouraged by the sign, the troops revive,
And fierce on Troy with doubled fury drive.
Tydides first, of all the Grecian force,
O'er the broad ditch impell'd his foaming horse,
Pierced the deep ranks, their strongest battle tore,
And dyed his javelin red with Trojan gore.
Young Agelaus (Phradmon was his sire)
With flying coursers shunn'd his dreadful ire;
Struck through the back, the Phrygian fell oppress'd;
The dart drove on, and issued at his breast:
Headlong he quits the car: his arms resound;
His ponderous buckler thunders on the ground.
Forth rush a tide of Greeks, the passage freed;
The Atridae first, the Ajaces next succeed:
Meriones, like Mars in arms renown'd,
And godlike Idomen, now passed the mound;
Evaemon's son next issues to the foe,
And last young Teucer with his bended bow.
Secure behind the Telamonian shield
The skilful archer wide survey'd the field,
With every shaft some hostile victim slew,
Then close beneath the sevenfold orb withdrew:
The conscious infant so, when fear alarms,
Retires for safety to the mother's arms.
Thus Ajax guards his brother in the field,
Moves as he moves, and turns the shining shield.
Who first by Teucer's mortal arrows bled?
Orsilochus; then fell Ormenus dead:
The godlike Lycophon next press'd the plain,
With Chromius, Daetor, Ophelestes slain:
Bold Hamopaon breathless sunk to ground;
The bloody pile great Melanippus crown'd.
Heaps fell on heaps, sad trophies of his art,
A Trojan ghost attending every dart.
Great Agamemnon views with joyful eye
The ranks grow thinner as his arrows fly:
"O youth forever dear! (the monarch cried)
Thus, always thus, thy early worth be tried;
Thy brave example shall retrieve our host,
Thy country's saviour, and thy father's boast!
Sprung from an alien's bed thy sire to grace,
The vigorous offspring of a stolen embrace:
Proud of his boy, he own'd the generous flame,
And the brave son repays his cares with fame.
Now hear a monarch's vow: If heaven's high powers
Give me to raze Troy's long-defended towers;
Whatever treasures Greece for me design,
The next rich honorary gift be thine:
Some golden tripod, or distinguished car,
With coursers dreadful in the ranks of war:
Or some fair captive, whom thy eyes approve,
Shall recompense the warrior's toils with love."
To this the chief: "With praise the rest inspire,
Nor urge a soul already fill'd with fire.
What strength I have, be now in battle tried,
Till every shaft in Phrygian blood be dyed.
Since rallying from our wall we forced the foe,
Still aim'd at Hector have I bent my bow:
Eight forky arrows from this hand have fled,
And eight bold heroes by their points lie dead:
But sure some god denies me to destroy
This fury of the field, this dog of Troy."
He said, and twang'd the string. The weapon flies
At Hector's breast, and sings along the skies:
He miss'd the mark; but pierced Gorgythio's heart,
And drench'd in royal blood the thirsty dart.
(Fair Castianira, nymph of form divine,
This offspring added to king Priam's line.)
As full-blown poppies, overcharged with rain,(196)
Decline the head, and drooping kiss the plain;
So sinks the youth: his beauteous head, depress'd
Beneath his helmet, drops upon his breast.
Another shaft the raging archer drew,
That other shaft with erring fury flew,
(From Hector, Phoebus turn'd the flying wound,)
Yet fell not dry or guiltless to the ground:
Thy breast, brave Archeptolemus! it tore,
And dipp'd its feathers in no vulgar gore.
Headlong he falls: his sudden fall alarms
The steeds, that startle at his sounding arms.
Hector with grief his charioteer beheld
All pale and breathless on the sanguine field:
Then bids Cebriones direct the rein,
Quits his bright car, and issues on the plain.
Dreadful he shouts: from earth a stone he took,
And rush'd on Teucer with the lifted rock.
The youth already strain'd the forceful yew;
The shaft already to his shoulder drew;
The feather in his hand, just wing'd for flight,
Touch'd where the neck and hollow chest unite;
There, where the juncture knits the channel bone,
The furious chief discharged the craggy stone:
The bow-string burst beneath the ponderous blow,
And his numb'd hand dismiss'd his useless bow.
He fell: but Ajax his broad shield display'd,
And screen'd his brother with the mighty shade;
Till great Alaster, and Mecistheus, bore
The batter'd archer groaning to the shore.
Troy yet found grace before the Olympian sire,
He arm'd their hands, and fill'd their breasts with fire.
The Greeks repulsed, retreat behind their wall,
Or in the trench on heaps confusedly fall.
First of the foe, great Hector march'd along,
With terror clothed, and more than mortal strong.
As the bold hound, that gives the lion chase,
With beating bosom, and with eager pace,
Hangs on his haunch, or fastens on his heels,
Guards as he turns, and circles as he wheels;
Thus oft the Grecians turn'd, but still they flew;
Thus following, Hector still the hindmost slew.
When flying they had pass'd the trench profound,
And many a chief lay gasping on the ground;
Before the ships a desperate stand they made,
And fired the troops, and called the gods to aid.
Fierce on his rattling chariot Hector came:
His eyes like Gorgon shot a sanguine flame
That wither'd all their host: like Mars he stood:
Dire as the monster, dreadful as the god!
Their strong distress the wife of Jove survey'd;
Then pensive thus, to war's triumphant maid:
"O daughter of that god, whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the sable shield!
Now, in this moment of her last despair,
Shall wretched Greece no more confess our care,
Condemn'd to suffer the full force of fate,
And drain the dregs of heaven's relentless hate?
Gods! shall one raging hand thus level all?
What numbers fell! what numbers yet shall fall!
What power divine shall Hector's wrath assuage?
Still swells the slaughter, and still grows the rage!"
So spake the imperial regent of the skies;
To whom the goddess with the azure eyes:
"Long since had Hector stain'd these fields with gore,
Stretch'd by some Argive on his native shore:
But he above, the sire of heaven, withstands,
Mocks our attempts, and slights our just demands;
The stubborn god, inflexible and hard,
Forgets my service and deserved reward:
Saved I, for this, his favourite son distress'd,
By stern Eurystheus with long labours press'd?
He begg'd, with tears he begg'd, in deep dismay;
I shot from heaven, and gave his arm the day.
Oh had my wisdom known this dire event,
When to grim Pluto's gloomy gates he went;
The triple dog had never felt his chain,
Nor Styx been cross'd, nor hell explored in vain.
Averse to me of all his heaven of gods,
At Thetis' suit the partial Thunderer nods;
To grace her gloomy, fierce, resenting son,
My hopes are frustrate, and my Greeks undone.
Some future day, perhaps, he may be moved
To call his blue-eyed maid his best beloved.
Haste, launch thy chariot, through yon ranks to ride;
Myself will arm, and thunder at thy side.
Then, goddess! say, shall Hector glory then?
(That terror of the Greeks, that man of men)
When Juno's self, and Pallas shall appear,
All dreadful in the crimson walks of war!
What mighty Trojan then, on yonder shore,
Expiring, pale, and terrible no more,
Shall feast the fowls, and glut the dogs with gore?"
She ceased, and Juno rein'd the steeds with care:
(Heaven's awful empress, Saturn's other heir:)
Pallas, meanwhile, her various veil unbound,
With flowers adorn'd, with art immortal crown'd;
The radiant robe her sacred fingers wove
Floats in rich waves, and spreads the court of Jove.
Her father's arms her mighty limbs invest,
His cuirass blazes on her ample breast.
The vigorous power the trembling car ascends:
Shook by her arm, the massy javelin bends:
Huge, ponderous, strong! that when her fury burns
Proud tyrants humbles, and whole hosts o'erturns.
Saturnia lends the lash; the coursers fly;
Smooth glides the chariot through the liquid sky.
Heaven's gates spontaneous open to the powers,
Heaven's golden gates, kept by the winged Hours.
Commission'd in alternate watch they stand,
The sun's bright portals and the skies command;
Close, or unfold, the eternal gates of day
Bar heaven with clouds, or roll those clouds away.
The sounding hinges ring, the clouds divide.
Prone down the steep of heaven their course they guide.
But Jove, incensed, from Ida's top survey'd,
And thus enjoin'd the many-colour'd maid.
[Illustration: JUNO AND MINERVA GOING TO ASSIST THE GREEKS.]
JUNO AND MINERVA GOING TO ASSIST THE GREEKS.
"Thaumantia! mount the winds, and stop their car;
Against the highest who shall wage the war?
If furious yet they dare the vain debate,
Thus have I spoke, and what I speak is fate:
Their coursers crush'd beneath the wheels shall lie,
Their car in fragments, scatter'd o'er the sky:
My lightning these rebellious shall confound,
And hurl them flaming, headlong, to the ground,
Condemn'd for ten revolving years to weep
The wounds impress'd by burning thunder deep.
So shall Minerva learn to fear our ire,
Nor dare to combat hers and nature's sire.
For Juno, headstrong and imperious still,
She claims some title to transgress our will."
Swift as the wind, the various-colour'd maid
From Ida's top her golden wings display'd;
To great Olympus' shining gate she flies,
There meets the chariot rushing down the skies,
Restrains their progress from the bright abodes,
And speaks the mandate of the sire of gods.
"What frenzy goddesses! what rage can move
Celestial minds to tempt the wrath of Jove?
Desist, obedient to his high command:
This is his word; and know his word shall stand:
His lightning your rebellion shall confound,
And hurl ye headlong, flaming, to the ground;
Your horses crush'd beneath the wheels shall lie,
Your car in fragments scatter'd o'er the sky;
Yourselves condemn'd ten rolling years to weep
The wounds impress'd by burning thunder deep.
So shall Minerva learn to fear his ire,
Nor dare to combat hers and nature's sire.
For Juno, headstrong and imperious still,
She claims some title to transgress his will:
But thee, what desperate insolence has driven
To lift thy lance against the king of heaven?"
Then, mounting on the pinions of the wind,
She flew; and Juno thus her rage resign'd:
"O daughter of that god, whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield
No more let beings of superior birth
Contend with Jove for this low race of earth;
Triumphant now, now miserably slain,
They breathe or perish as the fates ordain:
But Jove's high counsels full effect shall find;
And, ever constant, ever rule mankind."
She spoke, and backward turn'd her steeds of light,
Adorn'd with manes of gold, and heavenly bright.
The Hours unloosed them, panting as they stood,
And heap'd their mangers with ambrosial food.
There tied, they rest in high celestial stalls;
The chariot propp'd against the crystal walls,
The pensive goddesses, abash'd, controll'd,
Mix with the gods, and fill their seats of gold.
[Illustration: THE HOURS TAKING THE HORSES FROM JUNO'S CAR.]
THE HOURS TAKING THE HORSES FROM JUNO'S CAR.
And now the Thunderer meditates his flight
From Ida's summits to the Olympian height.
Swifter than thought, the wheels instinctive fly,
Flame through the vast of air, and reach the sky.
'Twas Neptune's charge his coursers to unbrace,
And fix the car on its immortal base;
There stood the chariot, beaming forth its rays,
Till with a snowy veil he screen'd the blaze.
He, whose all-conscious eyes the world behold,
The eternal Thunderer sat, enthroned in gold.
High heaven the footstool of his feet he makes,
And wide beneath him all Olympus shakes.
Trembling afar the offending powers appear'd,
Confused and silent, for his frown they fear'd.
He saw their soul, and thus his word imparts:
"Pallas and Juno! say, why heave your hearts?
Soon was your battle o'er: proud Troy retired
Before your face, and in your wrath expired.
But know, whoe'er almighty power withstand!
Unmatch'd our force, unconquer'd is our hand:
Who shall the sovereign of the skies control?
Not all the gods that crown the starry pole.
Your hearts shall tremble, if our arms we take,
And each immortal nerve with horror shake.
For thus I speak, and what I speak shall stand;
What power soe'er provokes our lifted hand,
On this our hill no more shall hold his place;
Cut off, and exiled from the ethereal race."
Juno and Pallas grieving hear the doom,
But feast their souls on Ilion's woes to come.
Though secret anger swell'd Minerva's breast,
The prudent goddess yet her wrath repress'd;
But Juno, impotent of rage, replies:
"What hast thou said, O tyrant of the skies!
Strength and omnipotence invest thy throne;
'Tis thine to punish; ours to grieve alone.
For Greece we grieve, abandon'd by her fate
To drink the dregs of thy unmeasured hate.
From fields forbidden we submiss refrain,
With arms unaiding see our Argives slain;
Yet grant our counsels still their breasts may move,
Lest all should perish in the rage of Jove."
The goddess thus; and thus the god replies,
Who swells the clouds, and blackens all the skies:
"The morning sun, awaked by loud alarms,
Shall see the almighty Thunderer in arms.
What heaps of Argives then shall load the plain,
Those radiant eyes shall view, and view in vain.
Nor shall great Hector cease the rage of fight,
The navy flaming, and thy Greeks in flight,
Even till the day when certain fates ordain
That stern Achilles (his Patroclus slain)
Shall rise in vengeance, and lay waste the plain.
For such is fate, nor canst thou turn its course
With all thy rage, with all thy rebel force.
Fly, if thy wilt, to earth's remotest bound,
Where on her utmost verge the seas resound;
Where cursed Iapetus and Saturn dwell,
Fast by the brink, within the streams of hell;
No sun e'er gilds the gloomy horrors there;
No cheerful gales refresh the lazy air:
There arm once more the bold Titanian band;
And arm in vain; for what I will, shall stand."
Now deep in ocean sunk the lamp of light,
And drew behind the cloudy veil of night:
The conquering Trojans mourn his beams decay'd;
The Greeks rejoicing bless the friendly shade.
The victors keep the field; and Hector calls
A martial council near the navy walls;
These to Scamander's bank apart he led,
Where thinly scatter'd lay the heaps of dead.
The assembled chiefs, descending on the ground,
Attend his order, and their prince surround.
A massy spear he bore of mighty strength,
Of full ten cubits was the lance's length;
The point was brass, refulgent to behold,
Fix'd to the wood with circling rings of gold:
The noble Hector on his lance reclined,
And, bending forward, thus reveal'd his mind:
"Ye valiant Trojans, with attention hear!
Ye Dardan bands, and generous aids, give ear!
This day, we hoped, would wrap in conquering flame
Greece with her ships, and crown our toils with fame.
But darkness now, to save the cowards, falls,
And guards them trembling in their wooden walls.
Obey the night, and use her peaceful hours
Our steeds to forage, and refresh our powers.
Straight from the town be sheep and oxen sought,
And strengthening bread and generous wine be brought
Wide o'er the field, high blazing to the sky,
Let numerous fires the absent sun supply,
The flaming piles with plenteous fuel raise,
Till the bright morn her purple beam displays;
Lest, in the silence and the shades of night,
Greece on her sable ships attempt her flight.
Not unmolested let the wretches gain
Their lofty decks, or safely cleave the main;
Some hostile wound let every dart bestow,
Some lasting token of the Phrygian foe,
Wounds, that long hence may ask their spouses' care.
And warn their children from a Trojan war.
Now through the circuit of our Ilion wall,
Let sacred heralds sound the solemn call;
To bid the sires with hoary honours crown'd,
And beardless youths, our battlements surround.
Firm be the guard, while distant lie our powers,
And let the matrons hang with lights the towers;
Lest, under covert of the midnight shade,
The insidious foe the naked town invade.
Suffice, to-night, these orders to obey;
A nobler charge shall rouse the dawning day.
The gods, I trust, shall give to Hector's hand
From these detested foes to free the land,
Who plough'd, with fates averse, the watery way:
For Trojan vultures a predestined prey.
Our common safety must be now the care;
But soon as morning paints the fields of air,
Sheathed in bright arms let every troop engage,
And the fired fleet behold the battle rage.
Then, then shall Hector and Tydides prove
Whose fates are heaviest in the scales of Jove.
To-morrow's light (O haste the glorious morn!)
Shall see his bloody spoils in triumph borne,
With this keen javelin shall his breast be gored,
And prostrate heroes bleed around their lord.
Certain as this, oh! might my days endure,
From age inglorious, and black death secure;
So might my life and glory know no bound,
Like Pallas worshipp'd, like the sun renown'd!
As the next dawn, the last they shall enjoy,
Shall crush the Greeks, and end the woes of Troy."
The leader spoke. From all his host around
Shouts of applause along the shores resound.
Each from the yoke the smoking steeds untied,
And fix'd their headstalls to his chariot-side.
Fat sheep and oxen from the town are led,
With generous wine, and all-sustaining bread,
Full hecatombs lay burning on the shore:
The winds to heaven the curling vapours bore.
Ungrateful offering to the immortal powers!(197)
Whose wrath hung heavy o'er the Trojan towers:
Nor Priam nor his sons obtain'd their grace;
Proud Troy they hated, and her guilty race.
The troops exulting sat in order round,
And beaming fires illumined all the ground.
As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night,(198)
O'er heaven's pure azure spreads her sacred light,
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene,
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole,
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
And tip with silver every mountain's head:
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies:
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight,
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays.
The long reflections of the distant fires
Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires.
A thousand piles the dusky horrors gild,
And shoot a shady lustre o'er the field.
Full fifty guards each flaming pile attend,
Whose umber'd arms, by fits, thick flashes send,
Loud neigh the coursers o'er their heaps of corn,
And ardent warriors wait the rising morn.
[Illustration: THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES.]
THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES. 就这样，特洛伊人彻夜警戒。阿开亚人呢？
神使的恐慌，冷酷无情的骚乱的伙伴，揪揉着他们的心房；
难以忍受的悲痛极大地挫伤了他们中所有最好的战将。
一如在鱼群游聚的大海，两股劲风卷起水浪，
波瑞阿斯和泽夫罗斯，从斯拉凯横扫过来，
突奔冲袭，掀起浑黑的浪头，汹涌澎湃，
冲散海草，逐波洋面——
阿开亚人心绪焦恼，胸中混糊一片。
阿特桑斯之子，带着满腹愁肠，
穿行在队伍里，命令嗓音清亮的使者
召聚众人，要直呼其名，但不要大声
喧喊，而他自己则将和领头的使者一起操办。
兵勇们在集会地点下坐，垂头丧气。
阿伽门农站起身子，泪水涌注，像一股幽黑的溪泉，
顺着不可爬攀的绝壁，泻淌着暗淡的水流。
他长叹一声，对着阿耳吉维人说道：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们！
宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，已把我推入狂盲的陷阱——
他就是这般凶残！先前，他曾点头答应，
让我在荡劫墙垣精固的伊利昂后启程返航。
现在，我才知道，这是一场赤裸裸的欺骗。他要我
不光不彩地返回阿耳戈斯，折损了众多的兵将。
这便是力大无穷的宙斯的作为，使他心火怒放的事情；
在此之前，他已打烂许多城市的顶冠，
今后还会继续砸捣——他的神力谁能抵挡？
算啦，按我说的做，让我们顺从屈服，
登船上路，逃返我们热爱的故乡——
我们永远抢攻不下路面开阔的昂利昂！”
他言罢，众人默不作声，全场肃然，
悲痛中，阿开亚人的儿子们半晌说不出话来。
终于，啸吼战场的秋俄墨得斯开口打破了沉寂：
“阿特柔斯之子，我将率先对你的愚蠢开战——
在集会上，我的王者，此乃我的权利。所以，不要对我暴跳
如雷。达奈人中，我的勇气是你嘲讽的第一个目标；
你诬我胆小，不是上战场的材料。这一切，
阿耳吉维人无不知晓，不管是年老的，还是年轻的兵壮。
工于心计的克罗诺斯之子给你的礼物，
体现在两个方面：他给了你那支王杖，使你享有别人不可企及
的尊荣；但他没有给你勇气，一种最强大的力量。
可怜的人！难道你真的以为，阿开亚人的
儿子们就如你所说的那样懦弱，那样经不起战争的摔打？
不过，如果你真的想走，那就
走你的吧！归途就在眼前，水浪边
停着你从慕凯亲带来的海船，黑压压的一片！
其他长发的阿开亚人将留在这边，
直到攻下这座城堡，攻下特洛伊！即使他们
也想驾着海船，跑回他们热爱的乡园，
我们二人，塞奈洛斯和我，也要留下，用战斗迎来
特洛伊的末日——别忘了，我们和神明一起前来！”
听罢这番话，阿开亚人的儿子们全都放声高呼，
赞同驯马能手秋俄墨得斯的回答。其时，
人群里站起了车战者奈斯托耳，说道：
“图丢斯之子，论战斗，你勇冠全军；
论谋辩，你亦是同龄人中的姣杰。
阿开亚人中，谁也不能轻视你的意见，反驳你的
言论。然而，刚才，你却没有顺着话题，道出解决问题的方案。
我知道，你还年轻；论年龄，你甚至可做我的儿子，
最小的儿子。尽管如此，你，面对阿耳吉维人的
王者，说话头头是道，条理分明。
现在，让我也说上几句，因为我自谓比你年高，
能够兼顾问题的各个方面。谁也不能
蔑视我的话语，包括强有力的阿伽门农。
谁个热衷于和自己人为敌，挑起可怕的争斗，以此沽名钓誉，
谁就将和他的部族、家庭和祖传的习规绝缘。‘
眼下，我们还是接受黑夜的规劝，准备
晚餐。各处岗哨要准时就位，
布置在护墙前，我们挖出的壕沟边。
这些是我对年轻人的劝导。接着，
应由你，阿特柔斯之子，作为最高贵的王者，行使统帅的责权。
摆开宴席，招待各位首领；这是你的义务，和你的
身份相符。你的营棚里有的是美酒，
阿开亚人的海船每天从斯拉凯运来，跨越宽阔的海面。
盛情款待是你的份事，你统治着众多的兵民。
众人聚会，我们要看谁能提出最好的建议，
以他的见解是从。眼下，阿开亚人，我们全军，亟需听到
中肯、合用的主张——敌人已迫近海船，
燃起千百堆篝火。此情此景，谁能看后心悦？
成败定于今晚，要么全军溃败，要么熬过难关。”
人们认真听完他的讲话，服从了他的安排。
哨兵迅速出动，全副武装，分别有各位头领管带。
他们是：奈斯托耳之子斯拉苏墨得斯，兵士的牧者；
阿斯卡拉福斯和伊阿耳墨诺斯，阿瑞斯的两个儿子；
墨里俄奈斯、阿法柔斯和德伊普洛斯，
还有卓越的鲁科墨得斯，克雷昂之子。
七位头领各带一百名哨兵，
手持长枪的兵勇。他们在
壕沟和土墙间就位，
点起营火，操备各自的晚餐。
与此同时，阿特柔斯之子领着各路统兵的首领
来到营棚，排开丰盛的宴席；
众首领伸出手来，抓起眼前的佳肴。
当他们满足了吃喝的欲望，
奈斯托耳首先发话，提出经过考虑的意见，
在此之前，老人的劝议从来是最合用的良方。
怀着对众人的善意，他起身说道：
阿特柔斯之子，最高贵的王者，阿伽门农，全军的统帅！
我的劝议将以你结束，也将以你开始，
因为你统领着浩荡的大军：宙斯把王杖交在
你的手里，使你有了决断的权力，得以训导麾下的兵丁。
所以，你不仅要说，而且也要听，
要善于纳用别人的建议——当他受心灵的催使，为了全军的
利益进言。这样，不管他说了什么，功劳都将记在你的名下。
现在，我将告诉你我认为最合宜的办法，
谁也提不出比这更好的劝解——
此念早已有之，已在我心里蕴酿多时。
它产生于，卓越的王者，你不顾我们的意愿，
从愤怒的阿基琉斯的营棚，强行带走
布里塞伊斯姑娘的那一天。就我而言，我曾
竭力劝阻，而你却被高傲和狂怒
蒙住了双眼，屈辱了一位了不起的战勇，一位
连神都尊敬的凡人——你夺走了他的战礼，至今占为己有。
然而，即便迟了些，让我们设法弥补过失，劝他回心转意，
用诚挚的恳求和表示善意的札愿。”
听罢这番话，军队的统帅阿伽门农说道：
“老人家，你对我的狂妄行为的评述，一分不假。
我是疯了，连我自己也不想否认。阿基琉斯
是个以一当百的壮勇，宙斯对他倾注了欢爱——
眼下，为了给他增光，宙斯正惩治着阿开亚兵汉。
但是，既然我当时瞎了眼，听任恶怒的驱使，
现在，我愿弥补过失，拿出难以估价的偿礼。
当着你等的脸面，我要—一点出这些光彩夺目的礼物：
七个从未过火的铜鼎，十塔兰同黄金，二十口
闪亮的大锅，十二匹强健的骏马，车赛中
用飞快的蹄腿为我赢得奖品的良驹。一个人，有了
它们为我争来的奖品，就不会缺财少物，
也不会短缺贵重的黄金，
倘若拥有这些风快的骏马替我争来的奖品。
我要给他七名莱斯波斯女子，姿色倾城，
女工精熟——阿基琉斯，是的，阿基琉斯攻破坚固的
斯波斯城后，我为自己挑定的战礼。
我将给他这一切，连同我从他那里带走的女子，
布里修斯的女儿。我要庄严起誓，
我从未和她睡觉，从未和她同床，
虽说男女之间，此乃人之常情。
这一切马上即将归他所有；此外，倘若
神祗允许我们荡劫普里阿摩斯丰足的城堡，
分享战礼时，我们将让他入城，
尽情攫取，用黄金和青铜填满他的船舱。
我们将任他挑选，挑选二十名特洛伊女子，
色貌仅次于阿耳戈斯的海伦。
另外，倘若我们回到阿开亚的阿耳戈斯，成片的沃土，
他可做我的女婿，受到我的尊爱，和俄瑞斯忒斯一样——
我儿现已成年，在舒奢的环境中长大。
我有三个女儿，生活在我的精固的城堡，
克鲁索塞弥丝、劳迪凯和伊菲阿娜莎，
由他选带一位，不要聘礼，
回到裴琉斯的家居。我还要陪送
一份嫁妆，分量之巨，为父者前所未及。
我将给他七座人丁兴旺的城堡，
卡耳达慕勒、厄诺培和芳草萋萋的希瑞，
神圣的菲莱，草泽丰美的安塞亚，
美丽的埃裴亚和丰产葡萄的裴达索斯，
全都去海不远，地处多沙的普洛斯的边端。
那里的人民牛羊成群，将像敬神似的敬他，
给他成堆的礼物，顺仰王杖的权威，
接受他的督令，享过美满的生活。
这一切都将成为现实，只要他平息心中的愤怒。
让他服从我的安排。哀地斯从不顺服，残忍凶暴，
因而是凡人恨之最切的神明。
让他顺从我的意志，我乃地位更高的君王。
此外，论年纪，不是吹牛，我亦是他的长者。”
听罢这番话，奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，答道：
“阿特柔斯之子，最高贵的王者，全军的统帅阿伽门农，
军营里，谁也不敢小看你给王者阿基琉斯的
礼物。好吧，让我们挑出人选，赶快出发，
前往裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯的营棚。
这样吧，谁被我看中．谁就得执行这项使命。
我打算先挑福伊尼克斯，宙斯钟爱的凡人，由他引路；
让魁伟的埃阿斯和卓越的俄底修斯同行。
至于跟行的使者，我愿推举俄底俄斯和欧鲁巴忒斯。
快端水来，让他们洗净双手。保持神圣的肃静，
使我们能对克罗诺斯之子祈祷，祈求他的怜悯。”
听罢这番话，众人无不欢欣鼓舞。
使者随即倒出净水，淋洗他们的双手；
年轻人将美酒注满兑缸，先在众人的
饮具里略倒一点祭神，然后满杯添平在各位的手中。
洒过奠酒，他们开怀痛饮，喝得心满意足，
举步离开阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的营棚。
奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，对他们谆谆告诫，
锐利的目光扫视着每一个人，尤其是俄底修斯，
要他们好生劝解，说服裴琉斯之子，英勇无敌的阿基琉斯。
于是，埃阿斯和俄底修斯抬腿走去，沿着涛声震响的
海滩，一遍遍地祈祷，对环围和震撼大地的尊神，
希望能顺顺当当地说服阿基琉斯，使他回心转意。
他们行至慕耳弥冬人的营棚和海船，
发现阿基琉斯正投琴自娱，
竖琴声脆悦耳，做工考究，外表美观，安着银质的琴桥，
得之于掳掠的战礼——他曾攻破厄提昂的城堡。
其时，他正以此琴愉悦自己的心怀，唱颂着英雄们的业绩。
帕特罗克洛斯独自坐在他的对面，静候
埃阿科斯的后代[●]唱完他的段子。
●埃阿科斯的后代：或“埃阿科斯的儿子”（不能照字面理解）。阿基琉斯
乃裴琉斯之子，埃阿科斯的孙子。
他们朝着阿基琉斯走去，由卓越的俄底修斯领头，
站在他的面前。阿基琉斯惊喜过望，跳将起来，
手中仍然握着坚琴，离开下坐的椅子；
与此同时，帕特罗克洛斯亦起身相迎。
捷足的阿基琉斯开口招呼，说道：
“欢迎，欢迎！瞧，我的朋友们来了，在我求之不得的当口；
阿开亚人中，你们是我最亲密的朋友，即便在眼下怒气冲冲的
时候！”
卓越的阿基琉斯言罢，引着他们前行，
让他们坐上铺着紫色毛毯的椅子，
随即嘱咐站在近旁的帕特罗克洛斯：
“墨诺伊提俄斯之子，准备一只硕大的兑缸，
调上浓浓的美酒，再拿一些杯子，人手一个——
今天置身营棚的客人是我最尊爱的朋伴。”
帕特罗克洛斯得令而去，遵从亲爱的伴友，
搬起一大块木段，近离燃烧的柴火，
铺上一头绵羊的和一头肥山羊的脊背，
外搭一条肥猪的脊肉，挂着厚厚的油膘。
奥忒墨冬抓住生肉，由卓越的阿基琼斯动刀肢解，
仔细地切成小块，挑上叉尖。与此同时，
墨诺伊提俄斯之子，神一样的凡人，燃起熊熊的柴火。
当木柴烧竭，火苗熄灭后，
他把余烬铺开，悬空架出烤叉，
置于支点上，遍撒出神圣的食盐。
烤熟后，他把肉块肥叉装盘。
接着，帕特罗克洛斯拿出面包，就着精美的条篮，放在
桌面上；与此同时，阿基琉斯分放着烤肉。
随后，他在对面的墙边下坐，朝对神一样的
俄底修斯，嘱告帕特罗克洛斯，他的伙伴，
献肉祭神，后者把头刀割下的熟肉扔进火里。
祭毕，他们伸手抓起眼前的佳肴。
当他们满足了吃喝的欲望，
埃阿斯对福伊尼克斯点头示意，卓越的俄底修斯见状，
满斟一盅，对着阿基琉斯举杯说道：
“祝你健康，阿基琉斯！我们不缺可口的美味，
无论是在阿特桑斯之子阿伽门农的餐桌前，
还是现在，置身于你的营棚中。我们有吃喝不完的
酒肉。但是，缠磨我们心绪的，此刻不是可口的美食，而是
一种对灾难的预感，沉重得让人无法忍受。看着这种前景，
宙斯养育的王者，我们不能不怕。我们能否保住凳板坚固的
海船，使它们免遭摧残，此事确实令人担忧，出路只有一条，
请你抖擞精神，排险杀敌。
特洛伊人气势汹汹，会同声名遐迩的盟友，
正围抵着护墙和海船驻兵，沿着营地
点起千百堆篝火，不再以为受到
围阻，而是准备杀上乌黑的海船。
克罗诺斯之子宙斯甩出闪电，打在他们的右前方，
显送了吉祥的示兆，而赫克托耳则挟着勇力，
坚信宙斯的助佑，以不可抵御的狂怒，横扫战场，
神人不让！狂烈的暴怒迷盲了他的心窍。
他企盼神圣的黎明尽快到来，
扬言要砍断船尾的耸角，
用猖莽的烈火烧毁海船，杀死
逃生烟火的阿开亚兵汉。
对这一切，我打心眼里害怕，担心
神明会兑现他们的们告，担心我等是否
命里注定要死在这里，远离阿耳戈斯，马草肥美的故乡。
振作起来，如果你还想——尽管为时已晚——
把遭受重创的阿开亚人的儿子们救出特洛伊人的屠宰。
拒绝吗？日后，你的心灵将为之楚痛；灾祸一旦造成，
便再也找不到补救的途径。行动起来，趁着
还有一点时间，好好想一想，如何挡开这个倒霉的日子，为苦
战中的达奈人！
哦，我的老朋友，还记得临行前乃父对你的嘱告吗？
那一天，他让你离开弗西亚，前往聚会阿伽门农：
‘要力气，我的儿，雅典娜和赫拉，如果愿意，
自会赐送给你；但是，你要克制自己的盛怒，
你那颗高傲的心魂。心平气和，息事宁人，
不要卷人争吵，害人的纠纷；如此，阿耳吉维兵壮
会加倍敬你，无论是年轻、还是年老的战勇。’
这便是老人的叮嘱，你已忘得一干二净。然而，尽管事至今日，
你仍可抓住最后的时机，甩掉残害身心的暴怒。
阿伽门农将给你丰厚的偿礼，只要你接受息怒的要求。
听着，听我数说他已答应给你的
礼物，堆挤在他的营棚里：
七个从未过火的铜鼎，十塔兰同黄金，二十口
光闪闪的大锅，十二匹强健的骏马，车赛中
用飞快的蹄腿为他赢得奖品的良驹。一个人，有了
它们为他争来的奖品，就不会缺财少物，
也不会短缺贵重的黄金——倘若拥有
阿伽门农那风快的骏马为他争回的奖品。
他将给你七名莱斯波斯女子，姿色倾城，
女工精熟——你，阿基琉斯，攻破坚固的
莱斯波斯后，他为自己挑定的战礼。
他将给你这一切，连同他从你这里带走的女子，
布里修斯的女儿。他还庄严起誓，
他从未和姑娘睡觉，从未和她同床，
虽说男女之间，此乃人之常情。
这一切马上就将归你所有。此外，倘若
神祗允许我们荡劫普里阿摩斯丰足的城堡，
分享战礼时，我们将让你入城，
尽情攫取，用黄金和青铜填满你的船舱。
你可挑选二十名特洛伊女子，
色貌仅次于阿耳戈斯的海伦。
再者，倘若我们回到阿开亚的阿耳戈斯，成片的沃土，
你可做他的女婿，受到他的尊爱，和俄瑞斯忒斯一样——
王子现已成年，在舒奢的环境中长大。
他有三个女儿，生活在王者精固的城堡，
克鲁索塞弥丝、劳迪凯和伊菲阿娜莎，
由你选带一位，不要聘礼，
回到裴琉斯的家居。他还要陪送
一份嫁收，分量之巨，为父者前所未及。
他将给你七座人丁兴旺的城堡，
卡耳达慕勒、厄诺培和芳草萋萋的希瑞，
神圣的菲莱，草泽丰美的安塞亚。
美丽的埃裴亚和丰产葡萄的裴达索斯。
全都去海不远，地处多沙的普洛斯的边端。
那里的人民牛羊成群，将像敬神似的敬你，
给你成堆的礼物，顺仰王杖的权威，
接从你的督令，享过美满的生活。
他将使这一切成为现实，只要你平息心中的愤怒。
但是，倘若你因此更加痛恨阿特柔斯之子，
恨他的为人和礼物，至少也应怜悯其他
阿开亚人，此时正饱受着战争的煎磨——他们会像敬神
似的敬你。在他们眼里，你将成为功业显赫的英雄。
现在，你或许可以杀了赫克托耳；他会挟着疯暴的狂怒，
冲到你的面前——他以为，在坐船来到
此地的其他达奈人中，没有他的对手。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“莱耳忒斯之子，宙斯的后裔，足智多谋的俄底修斯，
我必须直抒己见，告诉你
我的想法，以及事情的结局，使你们
不致轮番前来，坐在我的身边，唠叨个没完。
我痛恨死神的门槛，也痛恨那个家伙，
他心口不一，想的是一套，说的是另一套。
然而，我将对你真话直说——在我看来，此举最妥。
阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农不能把我说服，告诉你，
不能，其他达奈人亦然。瞧瞧我的
处境，和强敌搏杀，不停息地战斗，最后却得不到什么酬还。
命运以同样的方式对待退缩不前和勇敢战斗的人们，
同样的荣誉等待着勇士和懦夫。
死亡照降不误，哪怕你游手偷闲，哪怕你累断了骨头。
我得到了什么呢？啥也没有；只是在永无休止的
恶战中耗磨我的生命，折磨自己的身心。
像一只母鸟，衔着碎小的食物——不管找到什么——
哺喂待长羽翅的雏小，而自己却总是含辛茹苦；
就像这样，我熬过了一个个不眠之夜，
挨过了一天天碟血的苦斗，
为了抢夺敌方壮勇的妻子，和他们拼死抗争。
驾着海船，我荡劫过十二座城堡；经由陆路，
在肥沃的特洛伊大地，我记得，我还劫扫过十一座。
我掠得大量的战礼，成堆的好东西，从这些城堡，
拖拽回来，交给阿伽门农，阿特桑斯
之子。此人总是蹭守在后面的快船边，
收下战礼，一点一点地分给别人，自己却独占大头。
他把某些战礼分给首领和王者，而他们至今保留着
自己的份额。惟独从我这里——在所有阿开亚人中——
他夺走并强占了我的妻伴，心爱的女人。让他去和布里塞伊丝
睡觉，享受同床的欢乐！然而，阿耳吉维人为何对特洛伊人开
战？
阿特柔斯之子又为何把兵募马，把我们
带到这里？还不是为了夺回长发秀美的海伦？
凡人中，难道只有阿特柔斯的两个儿子才知道
钟爱自己的妻房？不！任何体面。懂事的男子都
喜欢和钟爱自己的女人，像我一样，
真心热爱我的布鲁塞伊丝，虽然她是我用枪矛掳来的女俘。
现在，阿伽门农已从我手中夺走我的战礼，欺骗了我，
难道还好意思劝我回心转意吗？我了解这个人；他休想把我．
说服！俄底修斯，让他和你及其他王者们商议，
如何将凶莽的烈火挡离他的海船。
瞧，没有我，他也完成了一项重大的工程，
筑起了一堵护墙，围着它挖出一条壕沟，
一条宽阔深广的沟堑，埋设了尖桩。不过，
即便如此，他仍然挡不住杀人狂赫克托耳的
勇力。当我和阿开亚人一起战斗时，
赫克托耳从来不敢远离城墙冲杀，
最多只能跑到斯开亚门和橡树一带。那一天，
他见我只身一人，打算和我交手，差一点没有躲过我的击杀。
但现在，我却无意和卓越的赫克托耳打斗；
明天一早，我将祀祭宙斯和各位神祗，
装满我的海船，驶向汪洋大海。
如果你愿意，如果你有这个兴趣，不妨出来看看——
曙光里，我的船队行驶在赫勒斯庞特水面，鱼群游聚的地方；
我的水手稳坐凳板，兴致勃勃地荡桨向前！
倘若光荣的裂地之神送赐一条安全的水路，
迎着第三天的昼光，我们即可踏上土地肥沃的弗西亚。
家乡有我丰足的财富，全被撇在身后，为了开始
那次倒霉的航程。从这里，我将带回更多的东西，
黄金、绛红的青铜、束腰秀美的女子和灰黑的铸铁——这一切
的一切，都是我苦战所得的份子。但是，我失去了我的战礼，
那个把它给我的人，阿特柔斯之子，强有力的阿伽门农，复又
横蛮地夺走了它。回去吧，把我说的一切全部公公开开地
告诉他，这样，如果他下次再存心蒙骗另一个
达奈人——这家伙总是这般厚颜无耻——
人们便会出于公愤，群起攻之。然而，尽管他像
狗一样勇莽，他却不敢再正视我的眼睛！
我再也不会和他议事，也不会和他一起行动。
他骗了我，也伤害了我。我绝不会再被他的
花言巧语所迷惑——一次还不够吗？！让他
滚下地狱去吧，多谋善断的宙斯已夺走他的心智。
我讨厌他的礼物。在我眼里，它就像屑末一般。
我不会改变主意，哪怕他给我十倍、甚至二十倍的东西——
就像他现在拥有的这么多——哪怕他能从其他地方挖出更多
的财物，无论是汇集在俄耳科墨诺斯的库藏，还是积聚在
塞拜的珍宝——这座埃及人的城市，拥藏着人间最丰盈的
财富，塞拜，拥有一百座大门的城！通过每个城门，冲驰出
两百名武士，驾赶着车马，杀奔战场！
我绝不会改变主意，哪怕他的礼物多得像沙粒和泥尘一样！
即便如此，阿伽门农也休想使我回心转意；
我要他彻底偿付他的横蛮给我带来的揪心裂肺的屈辱！
我也不会和阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的女儿成婚，
哪怕她姿色胜过金色的阿芙罗底忒，
女工胜过灰眼睛的雅典娜——即便如此，
我也不会要她！让他另外找个阿开亚女婿，
找个他喜欢的，比我更具王者气派的精壮！
倘若神祗让我活命，倘若我能生还家园，
裴琉斯会亲自张罗，为我选定妻房。
众多的阿开亚姑娘等候在赫拉斯和弗西亚，
各处头领的女儿，她们的父亲统守着各自的城堡。
我可任意挑选一位，做我心爱的夫人。
我的内心一次次地催促，催我在家乡
挑一位称心如意的伴侣，结婚成亲，
共享年迈的裴琉斯争聚的财富。我以为，
我的生命比财富更为可贵——即便是，按人们所说的，
在过去的日子里，阿开亚人的儿子们尚未到来的和平时期，
伊利昂，这座坚固的城堡，曾经拥有的全部金银；
即便是神射手用硬石封挡起来的珍宝，
福伊波斯·阿波罗的库藏，在石岩嶙峋的普索。
牛和肥羊可以通过劫掠获取，
三脚铜鼎和头面栗黄的战马可以通过交易获得，
但人的魂息，一旦滑出齿隙，便
无法再用暴劫追回，也不能通过易贾复归。
我的母亲、银脚塞提丝对我说过，
我带着两种命运，走向死的末日：
如果呆在这里，战斗在特洛伊人的城边，
我就返家无望，但却可赢得永久的光荣；
如果返回家园，回到我所热爱的故乡，
我的光荣和荣誉将不复存在，但却可以
信享天年，死的终期将不会匆匆临头。
此外，我还要敦劝大家返
回家，因为破城无望——沉雷远播的宙斯
正用他的巨手护盖着陡峭的城堡，
高耸的伊利昂——它的士兵正越战越勇。
所以，你等回去复见阿开亚人的首领，
带着我的口信，此乃统兵者的权益：
让他们好好想一想，找出个更好的办法，
救护自己的海船，拯救阿开亚人的军队，
此刻已被逼临深旷的海船。由于我盛怒未息，眼下的方案，
即他们设计的打法，不会改变战局。
不过，可让福伊尼克斯留下，在此过夜，
以便明晨坐船，返回我们热爱的故乡。
但此事取决于他的意愿，本人无意逼迫牵强。”
阿基琉斯言罢，众人缄默，肃然无声，
惊诧于他的话语，强厉的言词。
终于，年迈的车战者福伊尼克斯开口打破了沉寂，
他泪如雨下，担心着阿开亚人的船舟：
“真的一心想要回家吗，光荣的阿基琉斯？
真的不愿把这无情的烈火挡离我们
迅捷的海船？看来，胸中的暴怒确已迷糊了你的心智！
至于我，我又怎能和你分离，亲爱的孩子，留在此地，
孑然一身？年迈的车战者裴琉斯要我和你同行，
那一天，他让你离开弗西亚，参加阿伽门农的远征，
你，一个未经事故的孩子，既不会应付战争的险恶，
也没有辩说的经验——雄辩使人出类拔萃。
所以，他让我和你同行，教你掌握这些本领，
成为一名能说会道的辩者，敢作敢为的勇士。
为此，我不愿离开你，我的孩子，不愿
留在此地，即使神明亲口对我许愿，
替我刮去年龄的皱层，使我重返青壮，
像当年首次离开出美女的赫拉斯时那样，
为了逃离和父亲、俄耳墨洛斯之子阿门托耳的
纠葛——那时，他正大发雷霆，为了一个秀发的情妇。
他对此女思爱有加，冷辱了原配的妻子，
我的母亲；后者一次次地抱住我的膝盖，恳求我
和他的情人睡觉，使她讨厌老人的爱情。我接受
母亲的恳求，做了她要我做的事情。但是，父亲疑心顿起，
对我咒语重重，祈求残忍的复仇女神，
让我永远不得生子，出自我的精血，嬉闹在
他的膝头。神祗答应了他的请求，统管地府的
宙斯[●]和尊贵的女神裴耳塞丰奈。
●统管地府的宙斯；指哀地斯。
于是，我产生了杀他的念头，用锋快的青铜，
但一位神明阻止了我的暴怒，要我当心
纷扬的谣传，记住人言可畏，
不要让阿开亚人指着脊背咒骂：此人杀了自己的亲爹！
其时，我心绪纷乱，热血沸腾，面对
狂怒的父亲，再也无法徜行在他的房居。
然而，一群同族的亲友和堂表兄弟围着我，
把我留在家院，求我不要出走。
他们宰了众多的肥羊，腿步蹒跚的弯角
壮牛，还有成群的肥猪，挂着晶亮的油膘，
挑上叉尖，架上赫法伊斯托斯的柴火，烧去畜毛。
大家伙开怀痛饮，喝干了老人收藏的一坛坛美酒。
一连几个晚上，他们伴随在我的身旁，
轮番守候。柴火熊熊，从未熄灭，
一堆点在篱墙坚固的庭院里，门边的柱廊下，
另一堆燃烧在我睡房门外的厅廊里。
及至第十个夜晚，伸手不见五指，
我捅破制合坚固的房门，
溜之大吉，跃过院墙，
动作轻盈，瞒过了看守和女仆。
接着，我远走高飞，浪迹在辽阔的赫拉斯，
最后来到土地肥沃的弗西亚，羊群的母亲，
找到国王裴琉斯，后者热情地收留了我。
裴琉斯爱我，就像父亲疼爱自己的儿子，
承继丰广家产的独苗。他使我
成为富人，给了我众多的子民，
统治着多洛裴斯人，坐镇在弗西亚的最边端。
阿基琉斯，我培育和造就了你，使你像神一样英武；
我爱你，发自我的内心。儿时，你不愿跟别人
外出赴宴，或在自己的厅堂里用餐，
除非我让你坐在我的膝头，先割下小块的碎肉，
让你吃个痛快，再把酒杯贴近你的嘴唇。
你常常吐出酒来，精湿我的衫衣，
小孩子随心所欲，弄得我狼狈不堪。
就这样，我为你耿耿辛劳，吃够了昔头，
心里老是嘀咕，神明竟然不让我有亲生的
儿子。所以，神一样的阿基琉斯，我把你
当做自己的孩子，指望有朝一日．你能为我排解灾愁。
今天，阿基琉斯，压下你这狂暴的盛怒！你不能
如此铁石心肠。就连神明也会屈让，
尽管和我们相比，他们更刚烈，更强健，享领更多的尊荣。
倘若有人做下错事，犯了规矩，他可通过恳求
甚至使神祗姑息容让，用祭品和
虔诚的许愿，用满杯的奠酒和浓熟的香烟。
要知道，祈求是强有力的宙斯之女，她们
瘸着腿，满脸皱纹，睁着斜视的眼睛，
艰难地迈着步子，远远地跟行在毁灭的后头。
毁灭腿脚强健、迅捷，超赶过
每一位析求，抢先行至各地，使人们
失足受难。祈求跟在后面，医治她们带来的伤愁。
当宙斯的女儿走近时，有人如果尊敬她们，
她们便会给他带来莫大的好处，聆听他的求告；
但是，倘若有人离弃她们，用粗暴的言词一味拒绝，
她们就会走向宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，求他
嘱令毁灭，追拿此人，使他遭难，吃罪受惩。
息怒吧，阿基琉斯，尊敬宙斯的女儿，你不应
例外——尊敬能使别人，包括英雄，改变心念。
倘若阿特柔斯之子没有表示要给你这些礼物，并
列数了更多的承诺，倘若他还暴怒不息，
我便决然不会劝你罢息怒气，前往
助保阿耳吉维兵壮，尽管他们心急火燎的需要你。
但现在，他要给你这么多财礼，并答应日后还有更多的东西；
他派出最好的人来求你，从阿开亚
军队中挑选出来的首领，全军中
你最尊爱的朋友。不要让他们白费唇舌，
虚劳此行，虽然在此之前，谁也不能责怪你的愤怒。
从前，也有此类事情，我们听说过，
狂暴的盛怒折服过了不起的英雄。
然而，人们仍然可用礼物和劝说使他们回心转意。
我还记得一段旧事，一件不是新近发生的往事，我还记得
它的经过。你们都是我的朋友，我愿对你们旧事重提。
在卡鲁冬城下，库瑞忒斯人和壮实的埃托利亚人[●]
●埃托利亚人：此处取其狭意，指卡鲁冬人。
曾经大打出手，你杀我砍，
埃托利亚人保卫着美丽的卡鲁冬，而库瑞忒斯人
则急不可待地意欲毁掉它的城垣。
事发的起因是俄伊纽斯没有把最先摘取的鲜果
奉献给享用金座的阿耳忒弥丝，愤怒的女神于是
降下灾祸——他让众神享用丰盛的祀祭，
惟独拉下了大神宙斯的这个女儿。
他忘了，或许是疏忽了——一个致命的失误！
愤怒的羽箭女神，宙斯的孩子，
赶来一头凶猛的野猪，龇着一对白铮铮的獠牙，
横冲直撞，肆意蹂躏俄伊纽斯的果园。
掀翻一棵棵果树，横七竖八地倒躺，
根须暴露，花果落地，林国毁于一旦。
但是，墨勒阿革罗斯，俄伊纽斯之子，杀了这头野猪，
召聚起许多猎手，来自众多的城堡，带着
猎狗——须知人少了除不掉这个畜牲，
长得如此粗大，把许多活人送上了沾满泪水的柴火。
然而，女神随之又挑起一场争端，杀声震天的
战斗，为了抢夺猪头和粗糙的皮张，
库瑞忒斯人和心胸豪壮的埃托利亚人以死相争。
只要嗜战的墨勒阿革罗斯不停止战斗，
库瑞忒斯人便只有节节败退，尽管人多势众，
甚至难以在自己的城前站稳脚跟。
然而，当暴怒揪住墨勒阿革罗斯——同样的愤怒
也会袭扫其他人的心胸，虽然他们较能克制——
他，心怀对生母阿尔莎娅的愤怒，
躺倒床上，妻子的身边，克勒娥帕特拉，
长得风姿绰约，脚型秀美的玛耳裴莎的女儿，
玛耳裴莎，欧厄诺斯之女，伊达斯的妻子，当时人世间
最强健的壮勇——为了这位脚型秀美的女子，
甚至对着福伊波斯·阿波罗拿起过强弓。
在自家的厅堂里，玛耳裴莎的父亲和尊贵的母亲
总爱叫她阿尔库娥奈[●]，因为她的亲娘，
●阿尔库娥奈：Alkuone，意为“海鸟”。
悲念自己的命运，曾像海鸟似地凄叫，
痛哭嚎啕——发箭远方的福伊波斯·阿波罗夺走了她的女儿。
其时，睡躺在克勒娥帕特拉身旁，墨勒阿格罗斯心情愤懑
忧悒，痛恨母亲的诅咒——出于对兄弟之死的
哀悼，她祈求神明惩罚儿子。
她死命地击打着滋养万物的大地，
躺倒在地上，泪湿胸襟，
对着死神和尊贵的裴耳塞丰奈哭叫，
祈求神们杀死她的儿子。善行夜路的厄里努丝，
心狠手辣的复仇女神，听到了她的声音，在黑洞洞的阴府。
突然间，门外响起喧喊，库瑞忒斯人发出震天的吼声，
把城楼打得嘣嘣作响。埃托利亚人的首领们苦苦
劝求，派来了敬奉神明的最高贵的祭司，
要他出战保卫城民。他们答应拿出一份厚礼，
让他在美丽的卡鲁冬，土质最丰腴的
地段，挑选一块上好的属地，
五十顷之多，一半为葡萄园，
另一半是平原上的沃野，静候犁耕。
年迈的车战者俄伊纽斯一遍遍地求他，
站在顶面高耸的睡房的门槛前，
摇动紧拴的房门，恳求自己的儿子。
尊贵的母亲和姐妹们也来一次次地
相求，只是遭到更严厉的拒绝。前来求劝的
还有战场上的伙伴，他最尊敬和喜爱的人们。
然而，就连他们也不能使他心还，
直到石块猛击着他的睡房，库瑞忒斯人
开始爬攀城墙，放火焚烧雄伟的城堡。
终于，墨勒阿革罗斯束腰秀美的妻子也开始求劝，
泪水涌注，对他数说破城后
市民们将要遭受的种种苦难：
他们将杀尽男人，把城堡烧成灰烬；
陌生的兵丁将掳走儿童和束腰紧深的妇女。
耳听此般描述，墨勒阿革罗斯热血沸腾，
起身扣上提亮的铠甲，冲出房门。
就这样，他屈从了心灵的驱策，使埃托利亚人
避免了末日的苦痛。然而，城民们已不再会给他
丰足的礼物，成堆的好东西；尽管如此，他还是为前者挡开
一场灾愁。听着，我的朋友，不要把这种念头埋在心里，
不要让激情把你推上歧路。事情将会
难办许多，及至木船着火，再去抢救。接过可以
到手的礼物，投入战斗！阿开亚人会像敬神似的敬你。
如果拒绝偿礼，以后又介入屠人的战斗，
你的荣誉就不会如此显赫，尽管打退了敌手。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“我不需要这份荣誉，宙斯养育的福伊尼克斯，我年迈的
父亲。我以为，我已从宙斯的谕令中得到光荣，
它将伴随着我，在这弯翘的海船边，只要生命的
魂息还驻留在我的胸腔，只要我的双膝还能站挺直立。
我还有一事相告，你要牢记心中。
不要再哭哭啼啼，用悲伤来烦扰我的心灵，
讨取壮士阿伽门农的欢喜。为他争光，
于你无益；这会引来我的愤恨，虽然我很爱你。
和我一起，伤害攻击我的人，你应该由此感到舒恰。
同我一起为王，平分我的荣誉。
他们会带回劝答的结果，你就留在这里，
睡在松软的床上。明晨拂晓，我们将决定
是返航回家，还是继续逗留此地。”
言罢，他拧着双眉，对着帕特罗克洛斯默默点头，
要他为福伊尼克斯准备一张铺垫厚实的睡床，以此
告示来者，要他们赶快动身。其时，忒拉蒙之子。
神一样的埃阿斯开口说道：
“我们走吧，莱耳忒斯之子，宙斯的后裔，足智多谋的
俄底修斯。我想，此番出使，恳切的劝说，
不会得到什么结果，倒不如赶快回去，
把事情的经过，不是什么好消息，转告达奈兵壮，
他们正坐等我们的回归。阿基琉斯
已把高傲的心志推向狂暴。
他粗鲁、横蛮，漠视朋友的尊谊——
我们给他的东西比给谁的都多，在停驻的海船旁。
好一个冷酷无情的莽汉！换个人，谁都会接受偿礼，
杀亲的血价，兄弟的，孩子的；而杀人者，
只要付出赔偿，仍可安居在自己的国度。
接收偿礼后，受害者的亲人会克制自己的荣誉感
和复仇的冲动。但是，你，神明已在你心中引发了狂虐的、
不可平息的盛怒，仅仅是为了一个，是的，只是为了一个
姑娘！然而，我们答应给你七名绝色的女子，
外加成堆的财物。阿基琉斯，在你的心里注入几分仁慈，
尊敬你自己的房居。瞧，我们都在你的屋顶下，
达亲全军的代表。阿开亚人中，我们比谁都
更急切地希望，希望能做你最亲近和最喜爱的朋友。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子，宙斯的后裔，军队的首领，
你说的一切都对，几乎道出了我的心声。
然而，我的心中仍然充满愤怒，每当
想起阿特柔斯之子对我的侮辱，当着
阿耳吉维人的脸面，仿佛我是个受人鄙弃的流浪汉。
你们这就回去，给他捎去我的口信：
我将不会考虑重上浴血的战场，
直到普里阿摩斯之子、卓越的赫克托耳
一路杀来，冲至慕耳弥冬人的海船和营棚，
涂炭阿耳吉维兵勇，放火烧黑我们的海船。
然而，尽管杀红了双眼，我相信，此人
必将受到遏阻，在我的营棚边，乌黑的海船旁。”
阿基琉斯言罢，他们拿起双把的酒杯，人手一个，
洒过莫酒，由俄底修斯领头，沿着海船四行。
与此同时，帕特罗克洛斯嘱令伙伴和女仆，
赶紧为福伊尼克斯准备一张褥垫厚实的床铺。
下手们闻讯而动，按他的命嘱整备，
铺下羊皮，一条毛毯和一席松软的亚麻布床单。
老人倒身床上，等待着闪光的黎明。
阿基琉斯睡在坚固的营棚里，棚屋的深处，
身边躺着一个女人，得之于莱斯波斯的战礼，
福耳巴斯之女，美貌的秋娥墨得。
帕特罗克洛斯睡在棚屋的另一头，身边
亦躺着一位姑娘，束腰秀美的伊菲丝——卓越的阿基琉斯
曾以此女相送，在攻破陡峭的斯库罗斯；厄努欧斯的城堡后。
当俄底修斯一行回到阿伽门农的营棚，
阿开亚人的儿子们起身相迎，拥站在他们周围，
举起金铸的酒杯，连连发问；
全军的统帅阿伽门农率先问道：
“告诉我，尊贵的俄底修斯，阿开亚人的光荣和骄傲，
阿基琉斯是否愿意挡开船边凶莽的烈火，
还是拒绝出战，高傲的心胸仍然承受着盛怒的煎熬？”
针对此番问话，卓越的、历经磨难的俄底修斯答道：
“阿特桑斯之子，最高贵的王者，全军的统帅阿伽门农，
阿基琉斯不仅不打算平息怒气，相反，他比往常更加
盛怒难消。他拒绝同你和好，不要你的礼物。
他要你自己去和阿耳吉维人商议，
如何拯救海船和阿开亚兵勇。
他亲口威胁，明天一早，他将
把弯翘的、凳板坚固的海船拖人大海。
此外，他还说，他要敦劝我们返航
回家，因为破城无望——沉雷远播的宙斯
正用自己的巨手护盖着陡峭的城堡，
高耸的伊利昂——它的士兵正越战越勇。
这便是他的回答，同行者可以出言为证，
埃阿斯和两位思路清晰的使者。但是，
年迈的福伊尼克斯已留下过夜，按阿基琉斯的意思，
以便和他一起坐船，返回他们热爱的故乡。
此事取决于福伊尼克斯的意愿，阿基琉斯无意逼迫牵强。”
俄底修斯言罢，众人缄默，肃然无声，
惊诧于他的话语，强厉的言词；
悲痛中，阿开亚人的儿子们半晌说不出话来。
终于，啸吼战场的秋俄墨得斯开口打破沉寂，说道：
“阿持柔斯之子，最高贵的王者，全军的统帅阿伽门农，
但愿你没有恳求豪勇的阿基琉斯，
答应给他成堆的礼物！此人生性高傲，
而你的作为更增强了他的蛮狂，使他益发不知天高地厚。
依我之见，我们不要再去理他，愿去愿留
由他自便。他会重上战场，在将来的某个时候，
受心灵的驱使，神明的催督。
好了，按我说的做；让我们一起行动。
现在，大家都可回去睡觉，挺着沉甸甸的肚子，
填满了酒肉，战士的力气和刚勇。
但是，当绚美的黎明，垂着玫瑰红的手指，现身天际时，
阿特柔斯之子，你要即刻行动，排开我们的战车和兵勇，在搁岸
的海船前，激励人们冲杀，而你自己则要苦战在军阵的最前面。”
听罢这番话，王者们连声喝彩，
一致赞同狄俄墨得斯的议言，驯马的能手。
他们洒过奠酒，分头回返自己的营棚，
上床就寝，接受酣睡的祝愿。
ARGUMENT.
THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES.
Agamemnon, after the last day's defeat, proposes to the Greeks to quit the
siege, and return to their country. Diomed opposes this, and Nestor
seconds him, praising his wisdom and resolution. He orders the guard to be
strengthened, and a council summoned to deliberate what measures are to be
followed in this emergency. Agamemnon pursues this advice, and Nestor
further prevails upon him to send ambassadors to Achilles, in order to
move him to a reconciliation. Ulysses and Ajax are made choice of, who are
accompanied by old Phoenix. They make, each of them, very moving and
pressing speeches, but are rejected with roughness by Achilles, who
notwithstanding retains Phoenix in his tent. The ambassadors return
unsuccessfully to the camp, and the troops betake themselves to sleep.
This book, and the next following, take up the space of one night, which
is the twenty-seventh from the beginning of the poem. The scene lies on
the sea-shore, the station of the Grecian ships.
Thus joyful Troy maintain'd the watch of night;
While fear, pale comrade of inglorious flight,(199)
And heaven-bred horror, on the Grecian part,
Sat on each face, and sadden'd every heart.
As from its cloudy dungeon issuing forth,
A double tempest of the west and north
Swells o'er the sea, from Thracia's frozen shore,
Heaps waves on waves, and bids the Ægean roar:
This way and that the boiling deeps are toss'd:
Such various passions urged the troubled host,
Great Agamemnon grieved above the rest;
Superior sorrows swell'd his royal breast;
Himself his orders to the heralds bears,
To bid to council all the Grecian peers,
But bid in whispers: these surround their chief,
In solemn sadness and majestic grief.
The king amidst the mournful circle rose:
Down his wan cheek a briny torrent flows.
So silent fountains, from a rock's tall head,
In sable streams soft-trickling waters shed.
With more than vulgar grief he stood oppress'd;
Words, mix'd with sighs, thus bursting from his breast:
"Ye sons of Greece! partake your leader's care;
Fellows in arms and princes of the war!
Of partial Jove too justly we complain,
And heavenly oracles believed in vain.
A safe return was promised to our toils,
With conquest honour'd and enrich'd with spoils:
Now shameful flight alone can save the host;
Our wealth, our people, and our glory lost.
So Jove decrees, almighty lord of all!
Jove, at whose nod whole empires rise or fall,
Who shakes the feeble props of human trust,
And towers and armies humbles to the dust.
Haste then, for ever quit these fatal fields,
Haste to the joys our native country yields;
Spread all your canvas, all your oars employ,
Nor hope the fall of heaven-defended Troy."
He said: deep silence held the Grecian band;
Silent, unmov'd in dire dismay they stand;
A pensive scene! till Tydeus' warlike son
Roll'd on the king his eyes, and thus begun:
"When kings advise us to renounce our fame,
First let him speak who first has suffer'd shame.
If I oppose thee, prince! thy wrath withhold,
The laws of council bid my tongue be bold.
Thou first, and thou alone, in fields of fight,
Durst brand my courage, and defame my might:
Nor from a friend the unkind reproach appear'd,
The Greeks stood witness, all our army heard.
The gods, O chief! from whom our honours spring,
The gods have made thee but by halves a king:
They gave thee sceptres, and a wide command;
They gave dominion o'er the seas and land;
The noblest power that might the world control
They gave thee not--a brave and virtuous soul.
Is this a general's voice, that would suggest
Fears like his own to every Grecian breast?
Confiding in our want of worth, he stands;
And if we fly, 'tis what our king commands.
Go thou, inglorious! from the embattled plain;
Ships thou hast store, and nearest to the main;
A noble care the Grecians shall employ,
To combat, conquer, and extirpate Troy.
Here Greece shall stay; or, if all Greece retire,
Myself shall stay, till Troy or I expire;
Myself, and Sthenelus, will fight for fame;
God bade us fight, and 'twas with God we came."
He ceased; the Greeks loud acclamations raise,
And voice to voice resounds Tydides' praise.
Wise Nestor then his reverend figure rear'd;
He spoke: the host in still attention heard:(200)
"O truly great! in whom the gods have join'd
Such strength of body with such force of mind:
In conduct, as in courage, you excel,
Still first to act what you advise so well.
These wholesome counsels which thy wisdom moves,
Applauding Greece with common voice approves.
Kings thou canst blame; a bold but prudent youth:
And blame even kings with praise, because with truth.
And yet those years that since thy birth have run
Would hardly style thee Nestor's youngest son.
Then let me add what yet remains behind,
A thought unfinish'd in that generous mind;
Age bids me speak! nor shall the advice I bring
Distaste the people, or offend the king:
"Cursed is the man, and void of law and right,
Unworthy property, unworthy light,
Unfit for public rule, or private care,
That wretch, that monster, who delights in war;
Whose lust is murder, and whose horrid joy,
To tear his country, and his kind destroy!
This night, refresh and fortify thy train;
Between the trench and wall let guards remain:
Be that the duty of the young and bold;
But thou, O king, to council call the old;
Great is thy sway, and weighty are thy cares;
Thy high commands must spirit all our wars.
With Thracian wines recruit thy honour'd guests,
For happy counsels flow from sober feasts.
Wise, weighty counsels aid a state distress'd,
And such a monarch as can choose the best.
See what a blaze from hostile tents aspires,
How near our fleet approach the Trojan fires!
Who can, unmoved, behold the dreadful light?
What eye beholds them, and can close to-night?
This dreadful interval determines all;
To-morrow, Troy must flame, or Greece must fall."
Thus spoke the hoary sage: the rest obey;
Swift through the gates the guards direct their way.
His son was first to pass the lofty mound,
The generous Thrasymed, in arms renown'd:
Next him, Ascalaphus, Ialmen, stood,
The double offspring of the warrior-god:
Deipyrus, Aphareus, Merion join,
And Lycomed of Creon's noble line.
Seven were the leaders of the nightly bands,
And each bold chief a hundred spears commands.
The fires they light, to short repasts they fall,
Some line the trench, and others man the wall.
The king of men, on public counsels bent,
Convened the princes in his ample tent,
Each seized a portion of the kingly feast,
But stay'd his hand when thirst and hunger ceased.
Then Nestor spoke, for wisdom long approved,
And slowly rising, thus the council moved.
"Monarch of nations! whose superior sway
Assembled states, and lords of earth obey,
The laws and sceptres to thy hand are given,
And millions own the care of thee and Heaven.
O king! the counsels of my age attend;
With thee my cares begin, with thee must end.
Thee, prince! it fits alike to speak and hear,
Pronounce with judgment, with regard give ear,
To see no wholesome motion be withstood,
And ratify the best for public good.
Nor, though a meaner give advice, repine,
But follow it, and make the wisdom thine.
Hear then a thought, not now conceived in haste,
At once my present judgment and my past.
When from Pelides' tent you forced the maid,
I first opposed, and faithful, durst dissuade;
But bold of soul, when headlong fury fired,
You wronged the man, by men and gods admired:
Now seek some means his fatal wrath to end,
With prayers to move him, or with gifts to bend."
To whom the king. "With justice hast thou shown
A prince's faults, and I with reason own.
That happy man, whom Jove still honours most,
Is more than armies, and himself a host.
Bless'd in his love, this wondrous hero stands;
Heaven fights his war, and humbles all our bands.
Fain would my heart, which err'd through frantic rage,
The wrathful chief and angry gods assuage.
If gifts immense his mighty soul can bow,(201)
Hear, all ye Greeks, and witness what I vow.
Ten weighty talents of the purest gold,
And twice ten vases of refulgent mould:
Seven sacred tripods, whose unsullied frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame;
Twelve steeds unmatch'd in fleetness and in force,
And still victorious in the dusty course;
(Rich were the man whose ample stores exceed
The prizes purchased by their winged speed;)
Seven lovely captives of the Lesbian line,
Skill'd in each art, unmatch'd in form divine,
The same I chose for more than vulgar charms,
When Lesbos sank beneath the hero's arms:
All these, to buy his friendship, shall be paid,
And join'd with these the long-contested maid;
With all her charms, Briseis I resign,
And solemn swear those charms were never mine;
Untouch'd she stay'd, uninjured she removes,
Pure from my arms, and guiltless of my loves,(202)
These instant shall be his; and if the powers
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hostile towers,
Then shall he store (when Greece the spoil divides)
With gold and brass his loaded navy's sides:
Besides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious love shall crown his warm embrace,
Such as himself will choose; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Yet hear me further: when our wars are o'er,
If safe we land on Argos' fruitful shore,
There shall he live my son, our honours share,
And with Orestes' self divide my care.
Yet more--three daughters in my court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed;
Laodice and Iphigenia fair,(203)
And bright Chrysothemis with golden hair;
Her let him choose whom most his eyes approve,
I ask no presents, no reward for love:
Myself will give the dower; so vast a store
As never father gave a child before.
Seven ample cities shall confess his sway,
Him Enope, and Pherae him obey,
Cardamyle with ample turrets crown'd,
And sacred Pedasus for vines renown'd;
Æpea fair, the pastures Hira yields,
And rich Antheia with her flowery fields:(204)
The whole extent to Pylos' sandy plain,
Along the verdant margin of the main
There heifers graze, and labouring oxen toil;
Bold are the men, and generous is the soil;
There shall he reign, with power and justice crown'd,
And rule the tributary realms around.
All this I give, his vengeance to control,
And sure all this may move his mighty soul.
Pluto, the grisly god, who never spares,
Who feels no mercy, and who hears no prayers,
Lives dark and dreadful in deep hell's abodes,
And mortals hate him, as the worst of gods
Great though he be, it fits him to obey,
Since more than his my years, and more my sway."
[Illustration: PLUTO.]
PLUTO.
The monarch thus. The reverend Nestor then:
"Great Agamemnon! glorious king of men!
Such are thy offers as a prince may take,
And such as fits a generous king to make.
Let chosen delegates this hour be sent
(Myself will name them) to Pelides' tent.
Let Phoenix lead, revered for hoary age,
Great Ajax next, and Ithacus the sage.
Yet more to sanctify the word you send,
Let Hodius and Eurybates attend.
Now pray to Jove to grant what Greece demands;
Pray in deep silence,(205) and with purest hands."(206)
[Illustration: THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES.]
THE EMBASSY TO ACHILLES.
He said; and all approved. The heralds bring
The cleansing water from the living spring.
The youth with wine the sacred goblets crown'd,
And large libations drench'd the sands around.
The rite perform'd, the chiefs their thirst allay,
Then from the royal tent they take their way;
Wise Nestor turns on each his careful eye,
Forbids to offend, instructs them to apply;
Much he advised them all, Ulysses most,
To deprecate the chief, and save the host.
Through the still night they march, and hear the roar
Of murmuring billows on the sounding shore.
To Neptune, ruler of the seas profound,
Whose liquid arms the mighty globe surround,
They pour forth vows, their embassy to bless,
And calm the rage of stern Æacides.
And now, arrived, where on the sandy bay
The Myrmidonian tents and vessels lay;
Amused at ease, the godlike man they found,
Pleased with the solemn harp's harmonious sound.
(The well wrought harp from conquered Thebae came;
Of polish'd silver was its costly frame.)
With this he soothes his angry soul, and sings
The immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.
Patroclus only of the royal train,
Placed in his tent, attends the lofty strain:
Full opposite he sat, and listen'd long,
In silence waiting till he ceased the song.
Unseen the Grecian embassy proceeds
To his high tent; the great Ulysses leads.
Achilles starting, as the chiefs he spied,
Leap'd from his seat, and laid the harp aside.
With like surprise arose Menoetius' son:
Pelides grasp'd their hands, and thus begun:
"Princes, all hail! whatever brought you here.
Or strong necessity, or urgent fear;
Welcome, though Greeks! for not as foes ye came;
To me more dear than all that bear the name."
With that, the chiefs beneath his roof he led,
And placed in seats with purple carpets spread.
Then thus--"Patroclus, crown a larger bowl,
Mix purer wine, and open every soul.
Of all the warriors yonder host can send,
Thy friend most honours these, and these thy friend."
He said: Patroclus o'er the blazing fire
Heaps in a brazen vase three chines entire:
The brazen vase Automedon sustains,
Which flesh of porker, sheep, and goat contains.
Achilles at the genial feast presides,
The parts transfixes, and with skill divides.
Meanwhile Patroclus sweats, the fire to raise;
The tent is brighten'd with the rising blaze:
Then, when the languid flames at length subside,
He strows a bed of glowing embers wide,
Above the coals the smoking fragments turns
And sprinkles sacred salt from lifted urns;
With bread the glittering canisters they load,
Which round the board Menoetius' son bestow'd;
Himself, opposed to Ulysses full in sight,
Each portion parts, and orders every rite.
The first fat offering to the immortals due,
Amidst the greedy flames Patroclus threw;
Then each, indulging in the social feast,
His thirst and hunger soberly repress'd.
That done, to Phoenix Ajax gave the sign:
Not unperceived; Ulysses crown'd with wine
The foaming bowl, and instant thus began,
His speech addressing to the godlike man.
"Health to Achilles! happy are thy guests!
Not those more honour'd whom Atrides feasts:
Though generous plenty crown thy loaded boards,
That, Agamemnon's regal tent affords;
But greater cares sit heavy on our souls,
Nor eased by banquets or by flowing bowls.
What scenes of slaughter in yon fields appear!
The dead we mourn, and for the living fear;
Greece on the brink of fate all doubtful stands,
And owns no help but from thy saving hands:
Troy and her aids for ready vengeance call;
Their threatening tents already shade our wall:
Hear how with shouts their conquest they proclaim,
And point at every ship their vengeful flame!
For them the father of the gods declares,
Theirs are his omens, and his thunder theirs.
See, full of Jove, avenging Hector rise!
See! heaven and earth the raging chief defies;
What fury in his breast, what lightning in his eyes!
He waits but for the morn, to sink in flame
The ships, the Greeks, and all the Grecian name.
Heavens! how my country's woes distract my mind,
Lest Fate accomplish all his rage design'd!
And must we, gods! our heads inglorious lay
In Trojan dust, and this the fatal day?
Return, Achilles: oh return, though late,
To save thy Greeks, and stop the course of Fate;
If in that heart or grief or courage lies,
Rise to redeem; ah, yet to conquer, rise!
The day may come, when, all our warriors slain,
That heart shall melt, that courage rise in vain:
Regard in time, O prince divinely brave!
Those wholesome counsels which thy father gave.
When Peleus in his aged arms embraced
His parting son, these accents were his last:
"'My child! with strength, with glory, and success,
Thy arms may Juno and Minerva bless!
Trust that to Heaven: but thou, thy cares engage
To calm thy passions, and subdue thy rage:
From gentler manners let thy glory grow,
And shun contention, the sure source of woe;
That young and old may in thy praise combine,
The virtues of humanity be thine--'
This now-despised advice thy father gave;
Ah! check thy anger; and be truly brave.
If thou wilt yield to great Atrides' prayers,
Gifts worthy thee his royal hand prepares;
If not--but hear me, while I number o'er
The proffer'd presents, an exhaustless store.
Ten weighty talents of the purest gold,
And twice ten vases of refulgent mould;
Seven sacred tripods, whose unsullied frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame;
Twelve steeds unmatched in fleetness and in force,
And still victorious in the dusty course;
(Rich were the man, whose ample stores exceed
The prizes purchased by their winged speed;)
Seven lovely captives of the Lesbian line,
Skill'd in each art, unmatch'd in form divine,
The same he chose for more than vulgar charms,
When Lesbos sank beneath thy conquering arms.
All these, to buy thy friendship shall be paid,
And, join'd with these, the long-contested maid;
With all her charms, Briseis he'll resign,
And solemn swear those charms were only thine;
Untouch'd she stay'd, uninjured she removes,
Pure from his arms, and guiltless of his loves.
These instant shall be thine; and if the powers
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hostile towers,
Then shalt thou store (when Greece the spoil divides)
With gold and brass thy loaded navy's sides.
Besides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious love shall crown thy warm embrace;
Such as thyself shall chose; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Yet hear me further: when our wars are o'er,
If safe we land on Argos' fruitful shore,
There shalt thou live his son, his honour share,
And with Orestes' self divide his care.
Yet more--three daughters in his court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed:
Laodice and Iphigenia fair,
And bright Chrysothemis with golden hair:
Her shalt thou wed whom most thy eyes approve;
He asks no presents, no reward for love:
Himself will give the dower; so vast a store
As never father gave a child before.
Seven ample cities shall confess thy sway,
The Enope and Pherae thee obey,
Cardamyle with ample turrets crown'd,
And sacred Pedasus, for vines renown'd:
Æpea fair, the pastures Hira yields,
And rich Antheia with her flowery fields;
The whole extent to Pylos' sandy plain,
Along the verdant margin of the main.
There heifers graze, and labouring oxen toil;
Bold are the men, and generous is the soil.
There shalt thou reign, with power and justice crown'd,
And rule the tributary realms around.
Such are the proffers which this day we bring,
Such the repentance of a suppliant king.
But if all this, relentless, thou disdain,
If honour and if interest plead in vain,
Yet some redress to suppliant Greece afford,
And be, amongst her guardian gods, adored.
If no regard thy suffering country claim,
Hear thy own glory, and the voice of fame:
For now that chief, whose unresisted ire
Made nations tremble, and whole hosts retire,
Proud Hector, now, the unequal fight demands,
And only triumphs to deserve thy hands."
Then thus the goddess-born: "Ulysses, hear
A faithful speech, that knows nor art nor fear;
What in my secret soul is understood,
My tongue shall utter, and my deeds make good.
Let Greece then know, my purpose I retain:
Nor with new treaties vex my peace in vain.
Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detests him as the gates of hell.
"Then thus in short my fix'd resolves attend,
Which nor Atrides nor his Greeks can bend;
Long toils, long perils in their cause I bore,
But now the unfruitful glories charm no more.
Fight or not fight, a like reward we claim,
The wretch and hero find their prize the same.
Alike regretted in the dust he lies,
Who yields ignobly, or who bravely dies.
Of all my dangers, all my glorious pains,
A life of labours, lo! what fruit remains?
As the bold bird her helpless young attends,
From danger guards them, and from want defends;
In search of prey she wings the spacious air,
And with the untasted food supplies her care:
For thankless Greece such hardships have I braved,
Her wives, her infants, by my labours saved;
Long sleepless nights in heavy arms I stood,
And sweat laborious days in dust and blood.
I sack'd twelve ample cities on the main,(207)
And twelve lay smoking on the Trojan plain:
Then at Atrides' haughty feet were laid
The wealth I gathered, and the spoils I made.
Your mighty monarch these in peace possess'd;
Some few my soldiers had, himself the rest.
Some present, too, to every prince was paid;
And every prince enjoys the gift he made:
I only must refund, of all his train;
See what pre-eminence our merits gain!
My spoil alone his greedy soul delights:
My spouse alone must bless his lustful nights:
The woman, let him (as he may) enjoy;
But what's the quarrel, then, of Greece to Troy?
What to these shores the assembled nations draws,
What calls for vengeance but a woman's cause?
Are fair endowments and a beauteous face
Beloved by none but those of Atreus' race?
The wife whom choice and passion doth approve,
Sure every wise and worthy man will love.
Nor did my fair one less distinction claim;
Slave as she was, my soul adored the dame.
Wrong'd in my love, all proffers I disdain;
Deceived for once, I trust not kings again.
Ye have my answer--what remains to do,
Your king, Ulysses, may consult with you.
What needs he the defence this arm can make?
Has he not walls no human force can shake?
Has he not fenced his guarded navy round
With piles, with ramparts, and a trench profound?
And will not these (the wonders he has done)
Repel the rage of Priam's single son?
There was a time ('twas when for Greece I fought)
When Hector's prowess no such wonders wrought;
He kept the verge of Troy, nor dared to wait
Achilles' fury at the Scaean gate;
He tried it once, and scarce was saved by fate.
But now those ancient enmities are o'er;
To-morrow we the favouring gods implore;
Then shall you see our parting vessels crown'd,
And hear with oars the Hellespont resound.
The third day hence shall Pthia greet our sails,(208)
If mighty Neptune send propitious gales;
Pthia to her Achilles shall restore
The wealth he left for this detested shore:
Thither the spoils of this long war shall pass,
The ruddy gold, the steel, and shining brass:
My beauteous captives thither I'll convey,
And all that rests of my unravish'd prey.
One only valued gift your tyrant gave,
And that resumed--the fair Lyrnessian slave.
Then tell him: loud, that all the Greeks may hear,
And learn to scorn the wretch they basely fear;
(For arm'd in impudence, mankind he braves,
And meditates new cheats on all his slaves;
Though shameless as he is, to face these eyes
Is what he dares not: if he dares he dies;)
Tell him, all terms, all commerce I decline,
Nor share his council, nor his battle join;
For once deceiv'd, was his; but twice were mine,
No--let the stupid prince, whom Jove deprives
Of sense and justice, run where frenzy drives;
His gifts are hateful: kings of such a kind
Stand but as slaves before a noble mind,
Not though he proffer'd all himself possess'd,
And all his rapine could from others wrest:
Not all the golden tides of wealth that crown
The many-peopled Orchomenian town;(209)
Not all proud Thebes' unrivall'd walls contain,
The world's great empress on the Egyptian plain
(That spreads her conquests o'er a thousand states,
And pours her heroes through a hundred gates,
Two hundred horsemen and two hundred cars
From each wide portal issuing to the wars);(210)
Though bribes were heap'd on bribes, in number more
Than dust in fields, or sands along the shore;
Should all these offers for my friendship call,
'Tis he that offers, and I scorn them all.
Atrides' daughter never shall be led
(An ill-match'd consort) to Achilles' bed;
Like golden Venus though she charm'd the heart,
And vied with Pallas in the works of art;
Some greater Greek let those high nuptials grace,
I hate alliance with a tyrant's race.
If heaven restore me to my realms with life,
The reverend Peleus shall elect my wife;
Thessalian nymphs there are of form divine,
And kings that sue to mix their blood with mine.
Bless'd in kind love, my years shall glide away,
Content with just hereditary sway;
There, deaf for ever to the martial strife,
Enjoy the dear prerogative of life.
Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold.
Not all Apollo's Pythian treasures hold,
Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway,
Can bribe the poor possession of a day!
Lost herds and treasures we by arms regain,
And steeds unrivall'd on the dusty plain:
But from our lips the vital spirit fled,
Returns no more to wake the silent dead.
My fates long since by Thetis were disclosed,
And each alternate, life or fame, proposed;
Here, if I stay, before the Trojan town,
Short is my date, but deathless my renown:
If I return, I quit immortal praise
For years on years, and long-extended days.
Convinced, though late, I find my fond mistake,
And warn the Greeks the wiser choice to make;
To quit these shores, their native seats enjoy,
Nor hope the fall of heaven-defended Troy.
Jove's arm display'd asserts her from the skies!
Her hearts are strengthen'd, and her glories rise.
Go then to Greece, report our fix'd design;
Bid all your counsels, all your armies join,
Let all your forces, all your arts conspire,
To save the ships, the troops, the chiefs, from fire.
One stratagem has fail'd, and others will:
Ye find, Achilles is unconquer'd still.
Go then--digest my message as ye may--
But here this night let reverend Phoenix stay:
His tedious toils and hoary hairs demand
A peaceful death in Pthia's friendly land.
But whether he remain or sail with me,
His age be sacred, and his will be free."
[Illustration: GREEK GALLEY.]
GREEK GALLEY.
The son of Peleus ceased: the chiefs around
In silence wrapt, in consternation drown'd,
Attend the stern reply. Then Phoenix rose;
(Down his white beard a stream of sorrow flows;)
And while the fate of suffering Greece he mourn'd,
With accent weak these tender words return'd.
[Illustration: PROSERPINE.]
PROSERPINE.
"Divine Achilles! wilt thou then retire,
And leave our hosts in blood, our fleets on fire?
If wrath so dreadful fill thy ruthless mind,
How shall thy friend, thy Phoenix, stay behind?
The royal Peleus, when from Pthia's coast
He sent thee early to the Achaian host;
Thy youth as then in sage debates unskill'd,
And new to perils of the direful field:
He bade me teach thee all the ways of war,
To shine in councils, and in camps to dare.
Never, ah, never let me leave thy side!
No time shall part us, and no fate divide,
Not though the god, that breathed my life, restore
The bloom I boasted, and the port I bore,
When Greece of old beheld my youthful flames
(Delightful Greece, the land of lovely dames),
My father faithless to my mother's arms,
Old as he was, adored a stranger's charms.
I tried what youth could do (at her desire)
To win the damsel, and prevent my sire.
My sire with curses loads my hated head,
And cries, 'Ye furies! barren be his bed.'
Infernal Jove, the vengeful fiends below,
And ruthless Proserpine, confirm'd his vow.
Despair and grief distract my labouring mind!
Gods! what a crime my impious heart design'd!
I thought (but some kind god that thought suppress'd)
To plunge the poniard in my father's breast;
Then meditate my flight: my friends in vain
With prayers entreat me, and with force detain.
On fat of rams, black bulls, and brawny swine,
They daily feast, with draughts of fragrant wine;
Strong guards they placed, and watch'd nine nights entire;
The roofs and porches flamed with constant fire.
The tenth, I forced the gates, unseen of all:
And, favour'd by the night, o'erleap'd the wall,
My travels thence through spacious Greece extend;
In Phthia's court at last my labours end.
Your sire received me, as his son caress'd,
With gifts enrich'd, and with possessions bless'd.
The strong Dolopians thenceforth own'd my reign,
And all the coast that runs along the main.
By love to thee his bounties I repaid,
And early wisdom to thy soul convey'd:
Great as thou art, my lessons made thee brave:
A child I took thee, but a hero gave.
Thy infant breast a like affection show'd;
Still in my arms (an ever-pleasing load)
Or at my knee, by Phoenix wouldst thou stand;
No food was grateful but from Phoenix' hand.(211)
I pass my watchings o'er thy helpless years,
The tender labours, the compliant cares,
The gods (I thought) reversed their hard decree,
And Phoenix felt a father's joys in thee:
Thy growing virtues justified my cares,
And promised comfort to my silver hairs.
Now be thy rage, thy fatal rage, resign'd;
A cruel heart ill suits a manly mind:
The gods (the only great, and only wise)
Are moved by offerings, vows, and sacrifice;
Offending man their high compassion wins,
And daily prayers atone for daily sins.
Prayers are Jove's daughters, of celestial race,
Lame are their feet, and wrinkled is their face;
With humble mien, and with dejected eyes,
Constant they follow, where injustice flies.
Injustice swift, erect, and unconfined,
Sweeps the wide earth, and tramples o'er mankind,
While Prayers, to heal her wrongs, move slow behind.
Who hears these daughters of almighty Jove,
For him they mediate to the throne above
When man rejects the humble suit they make,
The sire revenges for the daughters' sake;
From Jove commission'd, fierce injustice then
Descends to punish unrelenting men.
O let not headlong passion bear the sway
These reconciling goddesses obey
Due honours to the seed of Jove belong,
Due honours calm the fierce, and bend the strong.
Were these not paid thee by the terms we bring,
Were rage still harbour'd in the haughty king;
Nor Greece nor all her fortunes should engage
Thy friend to plead against so just a rage.
But since what honour asks the general sends,
And sends by those whom most thy heart commends;
The best and noblest of the Grecian train;
Permit not these to sue, and sue in vain!
Let me (my son) an ancient fact unfold,
A great example drawn from times of old;
Hear what our fathers were, and what their praise,
Who conquer'd their revenge in former days.
"Where Calydon on rocky mountains stands(212)
Once fought the Ætolian and Curetian bands;
To guard it those; to conquer, these advance;
And mutual deaths were dealt with mutual chance.
The silver Cynthia bade contention rise,
In vengeance of neglected sacrifice;
On OEneus fields she sent a monstrous boar,
That levell'd harvests, and whole forests tore:
This beast (when many a chief his tusks had slain)
Great Meleager stretch'd along the plain,
Then, for his spoils, a new debate arose,
The neighbour nations thence commencing foes.
Strong as they were, the bold Curetes fail'd,
While Meleager's thundering arm prevail'd:
Till rage at length inflamed his lofty breast
(For rage invades the wisest and the best).
"Cursed by Althaea, to his wrath he yields,
And in his wife's embrace forgets the fields.
(She from Marpessa sprung, divinely fair,
And matchless Idas, more than man in war:
The god of day adored the mother's charms;
Against the god the father bent his arms:
The afflicted pair, their sorrows to proclaim,
From Cleopatra changed their daughter's name,
And call'd Alcyone; a name to show
The father's grief, the mourning mother's woe.)
To her the chief retired from stern debate,
But found no peace from fierce Althaea's hate:
Althaea's hate the unhappy warrior drew,
Whose luckless hand his royal uncle slew;
She beat the ground, and call'd the powers beneath
On her own son to wreak her brother's death;
Hell heard her curses from the realms profound,
And the red fiends that walk the nightly round.
In vain Ætolia her deliverer waits,
War shakes her walls, and thunders at her gates.
She sent ambassadors, a chosen band,
Priests of the gods, and elders of the land;
Besought the chief to save the sinking state:
Their prayers were urgent, and their proffers great:
(Full fifty acres of the richest ground,
Half pasture green, and half with vineyards crown'd:)
His suppliant father, aged OEneus, came;
His sisters follow'd; even the vengeful dame,
Althaea, sues; his friends before him fall:
He stands relentless, and rejects them all.
Meanwhile the victor's shouts ascend the skies;
The walls are scaled; the rolling flames arise;
At length his wife (a form divine) appears,
With piercing cries, and supplicating tears;
She paints the horrors of a conquer'd town,
The heroes slain, the palaces o'erthrown,
The matrons ravish'd, the whole race enslaved:
The warrior heard, he vanquish'd, and he saved.
The Ætolians, long disdain'd, now took their turn,
And left the chief their broken faith to mourn.
Learn hence, betimes to curb pernicious ire,
Nor stay till yonder fleets ascend in fire;
Accept the presents; draw thy conquering sword;
And be amongst our guardian gods adored."
Thus he: the stern Achilles thus replied:
"My second father, and my reverend guide:
Thy friend, believe me, no such gifts demands,
And asks no honours from a mortal's hands;
Jove honours me, and favours my designs;
His pleasure guides me, and his will confines;
And here I stay (if such his high behest)
While life's warm spirit beats within my breast.
Yet hear one word, and lodge it in thy heart:
No more molest me on Atrides' part:
Is it for him these tears are taught to flow,
For him these sorrows? for my mortal foe?
A generous friendship no cold medium knows,
Burns with one love, with one resentment glows;
One should our interests and our passions be;
My friend must hate the man that injures me.
Do this, my Phoenix, 'tis a generous part;
And share my realms, my honours, and my heart.
Let these return: our voyage, or our stay,
Rest undetermined till the dawning day."
He ceased; then order'd for the sage's bed
A warmer couch with numerous carpets spread.
With that, stern Ajax his long silence broke,
And thus, impatient, to Ulysses spoke:
"Hence let us go--why waste we time in vain?
See what effect our low submissions gain!
Liked or not liked, his words we must relate,
The Greeks expect them, and our heroes wait.
Proud as he is, that iron heart retains
Its stubborn purpose, and his friends disdains.
Stern and unpitying! if a brother bleed,
On just atonement, we remit the deed;
A sire the slaughter of his son forgives;
The price of blood discharged, the murderer lives:
The haughtiest hearts at length their rage resign,
And gifts can conquer every soul but thine.(213)
The gods that unrelenting breast have steel'd,
And cursed thee with a mind that cannot yield.
One woman-slave was ravish'd from thy arms:
Lo, seven are offer'd, and of equal charms.
Then hear, Achilles! be of better mind;
Revere thy roof, and to thy guests be kind;
And know the men of all the Grecian host,
Who honour worth, and prize thy valour most."
"O soul of battles, and thy people's guide!
(To Ajax thus the first of Greeks replied)
Well hast thou spoke; but at the tyrant's name
My rage rekindles, and my soul's on flame:
'Tis just resentment, and becomes the brave:
Disgraced, dishonour'd, like the vilest slave!
Return, then, heroes! and our answer bear,
The glorious combat is no more my care;
Not till, amidst yon sinking navy slain,
The blood of Greeks shall dye the sable main;
Not till the flames, by Hector's fury thrown,
Consume your vessels, and approach my own;
Just there, the impetuous homicide shall stand,
There cease his battle, and there feel our hand."
This said, each prince a double goblet crown'd,
And cast a large libation on the ground;
Then to their vessels, through the gloomy shades,
The chiefs return; divine Ulysses leads.
Meantime Achilles' slaves prepared a bed,
With fleeces, carpets, and soft linen spread:
There, till the sacred morn restored the day,
In slumber sweet the reverend Phoenix lay.
But in his inner tent, an ampler space,
Achilles slept; and in his warm embrace
Fair Diomede of the Lesbian race.
Last, for Patroclus was the couch prepared,
Whose nightly joys the beauteous Iphis shared;
Achilles to his friend consign'd her charms
When Scyros fell before his conquering arms.
And now the elected chiefs whom Greece had sent,
Pass'd through the hosts, and reach'd the royal tent.
Then rising all, with goblets in their hands,
The peers and leaders of the Achaian bands
Hail'd their return: Atrides first begun:
"Say what success? divine Laertes' son!
Achilles' high resolves declare to all:
"Returns the chief, or must our navy fall?"
"Great king of nations! (Ithacus replied)
Fix'd is his wrath, unconquer'd is his pride;
He slights thy friendship, thy proposals scorns,
And, thus implored, with fiercer fury burns.
To save our army, and our fleets to free,
Is not his care; but left to Greece and thee.
Your eyes shall view, when morning paints the sky,
Beneath his oars the whitening billows fly;
Us too he bids our oars and sails employ,
Nor hope the fall of heaven-protected Troy;
For Jove o'ershades her with his arm divine,
Inspires her war, and bids her glory shine.
Such was his word: what further he declared,
These sacred heralds and great Ajax heard.
But Phoenix in his tent the chief retains,
Safe to transport him to his native plains
When morning dawns; if other he decree,
His age is sacred, and his choice is free."
Ulysses ceased: the great Achaian host,
With sorrow seized, in consternation lost,
Attend the stern reply. Tydides broke
The general silence, and undaunted spoke.
"Why should we gifts to proud Achilles send,
Or strive with prayers his haughty soul to bend?
His country's woes he glories to deride,
And prayers will burst that swelling heart with pride.
Be the fierce impulse of his rage obey'd,
Our battles let him or desert or aid;
Then let him arm when Jove or he think fit:
That, to his madness, or to Heaven commit:
What for ourselves we can, is always ours;
This night, let due repast refresh our powers;
(For strength consists in spirits and in blood,
And those are owed to generous wine and food;)
But when the rosy messenger of day
Strikes the blue mountains with her golden ray,
Ranged at the ships, let all our squadrons shine
In flaming arms, a long-extended line:
In the dread front let great Atrides stand,
The first in danger, as in high command."
Shouts of acclaim the listening heroes raise,
Then each to Heaven the due libations pays;
Till sleep, descending o'er the tents, bestows
The grateful blessings of desired repose."(214)
[Illustration: ACHILLES.]
ACHILLES. 这时，海船边，其他阿开亚首领都已
熟睡整夜，吞吐着睡眠的舒甜，
但阿特桑斯之子阿伽门农，兵士的牧者，
却心事重重，难以进入香甜的梦境。
恰如美发女神赫拉的夫婿挥手甩出闪电，
降下挟着暴风的骤雨，或铺天盖地的冰雹，
或遮天蔽日的风雪，纷纷扬扬地飘洒在田野，
或在人间的某个地方，战争的利齿张开，
阿伽门农此时心绪纷乱，胸中翻腾着
奔涌的苦浪，撞击着思绪的礁岸。
当他把目光扫向特洛伊平原，遍地的火堆
使他惊诧，燃烧在特洛伊城前，伴随着
阿洛斯和苏里克斯[●]的尖啸和兵勇们低沉的吼声。
●阿洛斯和苏里克斯：为两种管乐器。
随后，他又移目阿开亚人的海船和军队，
伸手撕绞着头发的根梢，仰望着
高高在上的宙斯，傲莽的心胸经受着悲痛的煎熬。
然而，他马上想到眼下刻不容缓的事情：
前往寻会奈斯托耳，奈琉斯之子，
看看这位长者，是否能和他一起，想出个把高招，
使达奈人摆脱眼前的险境。
他站起身子，穿上衫衣，遮住胸背，
系紧舒适的条鞋，在闪亮的脚面。
披上一领硕大的狮皮，毛色黄褐，
油光滑亮，垂悬在脚跟后头，伸手抓起一杆枪矛。
其时，同样的焦虑也揪住了墨奈劳斯的心灵，
香熟的睡眠亦没有合拢他的眼睛，担心
军队可能遭受损失，为了他，阿耳吉维人远渡重洋，
来到特洛伊地面，发起了猛烈的进攻。
首先，他在宽厚的肩背上铺了一领
带斑点的豹皮，然后拎起一个圆顶的铜盔，
戴在头上，伸出大手，抓起枪矛，
迈开大步，前往唤醒兄长，统治着整个
阿耳戈斯的王者，受到人们像对神明一般的崇敬。
墨奈劳斯找到兄长，在阿伽门农的船尾边，
后者正把璀璨的铠甲套上胸背。眼见兄弟的到来，
阿伽门农心里喜欢。但啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯首先发话，说道：
“为何现时披挂，我的兄长？是否打算激励某位勇士，
前往侦探特洛伊人的军情？但是，我却
由衷的担心，怀疑谁会愿意执行这项使命，
逼近敌方的勇士，侦探他们的军情，在这
神赐的夜晚，孤身一人。此人必得有超乎寻常的胆量。”
听罢这番话，强有力的阿伽门农答道：
“眼下，高贵的墨奈劳斯，你我需要找到
一种可行的方案，以便保卫和拯救
我们的军队和海船，因为宙斯已经改变主意，
赫克托耳的祀祭比我们的更能使他心欢。
我从来不曾见过，也不曾从任何人那里听过，
一个人，在一天之内，可以像宙斯钟爱的赫克托耳重创
阿开亚人的儿子们那样，带来如此严重的损害——
赫克托耳，独自一人，既不是神，也不是女神心爱的儿子。
他所做下的事情，他给阿开亚人造成的损失，
我想，将会伴着悲痛，长期留在我们的记忆里。
去吧，沿着海船快跑，把埃阿斯
和伊多墨纽斯找来；与此同时，我要去
寻会卓越的奈斯托耳，唤他起来，看他是否愿意会见
我们的哨队——支精悍的队伍——并对哨兵发号施令。
他们定会服从他的命令；他的儿子是哨兵的
统领，由伊多墨纽斯的助手
墨里俄奈斯辅佐，警戒的任务主要由他们执行。”
听罢这番话，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯答道：
“执行你的命令，我将如何行事？
待我及时传达了你的指令，你要我在此等待，和
他们一起，等着你的回归，还是跑去找你？”
听罢这番话，全军的统帅阿伽门农说道：
“还是在此等我吧，以防在来回奔跑中失去
碰头的机会；军营里小路纵横交错。
不管到了哪里，你要放声喊叫，把他们唤醒。
呼唤时，要用体现父名的称谓，
要尊重他们，不要盛气凌人；此事由
你我自己张罗。从我们出生的那天起，
宙斯已把这填满痛苦的包袱压在我们的腰背。”
就这样，阿伽门农以内容明确的命令送走兄弟，
自己亦前往寻会奈斯托耳，兵士的牧者。
他在老人的营棚和黑船边找到他。后者正
躺在一张松软的床上，床边放着一套挣亮的甲械，
一面盾牌、两枝枪矛和一顶闪光的帽盔。
他的腰带，闪着熠熠的晶光，躺在他的身边——
临阵披挂时，老人用它束护腰围，领着兵丁，厮杀在
人死人亡的战场；奈斯托耳没有屈服于痛苦的晚年。
他撑出一条臂肘，支起上身，昂着头，
对着阿特柔斯之子发问，说道：
“你是谁，独自走过海船和军营，
在这漆黑的夜晚，其他凡人还在熟睡？
你在寻找一头丢失的骡子，或是一位失踪的伙伴？
说！不要蹑手蹑脚地靠近——你想干什么？”
黑暗中，全军的统帅阿伽门农答道：
“奈斯托耳，奈琉斯之子，阿开亚人的光荣和骄傲，
你没有认出我是阿伽门农吗？宙斯让我
承受的磨难比给谁的都多，只要
命息还驻留在我的胸腔，只要我的双腿还能站挺直立。
我夜出巡视，实因睡眠的舒适难以合拢
我的双眼；我担心战争，阿开亚人的痛苦使我心烦。
我怕，发自内心地害怕，达奈人将会有什么样的前程？！
我头脑混乱，思绪紊杂，心脏怦怦
乱跳，粗壮的双腿在身下颤抖哆嗦。但是，
如果你想有所行动——睡眠同样不会光临你的床位——
让我们一起前往哨线，察视我们的哨兵，
是否因为极度的疲劳而倒地酣睡，
把警戒的任务忘得一干二净。
敌人就在我们眼皮底下扎营，我们何以知道，
他们不会设想趁着夜色，运兵进击？”
听罢这番话，格瑞尼亚的车战者奈斯托耳答道：
“阿特柔斯之子，最高贵的王者，全军的统帅阿伽门农，
我想，多谋善断的宙斯不会让赫克托耳实现
他的全部设想和现在的企望；相反，我以为，
他将遇到更多的险阻，如果阿基琉斯
一旦改变心境，平息耗损心力的暴怒。
我将随你同去，不带半点含糊。让我们同行前往，
叫醒图丢斯之子，著名的枪手，以及俄底修斯。
快腿的埃阿斯和夫琉斯刚勇的儿子。
但愿有人愿意前往，召唤另一些首领：
高大魁伟的埃阿斯，神一样的战勇，以及王者伊多墨纽斯，
他俩的海船停驻在船队的尽头，距此路程遥远。
说到这里，我要责备墨奈劳斯——不错，他受到人们的
尊爱——哪怕这会激起你的愤怒。我有看法，不想隐瞒。
此人居然还在睡觉，让你一人彻夜操劳。
现在，他应该担起这份累人的工作，前往所有首领的住处，
恳求他们起床。情势危急，已到了不能等让的地步。”
听罢这番话，全军的统帅阿伽门农说道：
“换个时间，老人家，我甚至还会促请你来骂他；
他经常缩在后面，不愿出力苦干，
不是因为寻想躲避、偷懒或心不在焉，
而是想要依赖于我，等我挑头先干。
但是，这一次他却干在我的前头，跑来叫我。
我已嘱他前去唤醒你想要找的首领。
所以，我们走吧。我们将在墙门前遇到
他们，和哨兵在一起，在我指定的聚会地点。”
听罢这番话，格瑞尼亚的车战者奈斯托耳答道：
“这还差不多。现在，当他督促部队，发布命令时，
阿耳吉维人中谁也不会违抗和抱怨。”
言罢，他穿上遮身的杉衣，
系牢舒适的条鞋，在闪亮的脚面，
别上一领宽大的披篷，颜色深红，
双层，长垂若泻，镶缀着深卷的羊毛。
他操起一杆粗重的枪矛，顶着锋快的铜尖，
迈开大步，沿着身披铜甲的阿开亚人的海船。
奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，首先来到
俄底修斯的住处，叫醒了这位和宙斯一样精擅谋略的首领，
用宏大的嗓门，喊出震耳的声音。俄底修斯
闻迅走出营棚，高声嚷道：
“为何独自蹑行，漫游在海船和
军营之间，在这神赐的夜晚？告诉我，又有什么大事和麻烦？”
听罢这番话，格瑞尼亚的车战者奈斯托耳答道：
“莱耳忒斯之子，宙斯的后裔，足智多谋的俄底修斯，
不要发怒——巨大的悲痛已降临在阿开亚人的头顶！
和我们一起走吧，前往唤醒另一位朋友，
一位有资格谋划是撤兵还是继续战斗的首领。”
听罢这番话，足智多谋的俄底修斯返回营棚，
将做工精致的盾牌背上肩膀，和他们一起前行。
他们来到图丢斯之子狄俄墨得斯的驻地，发现
后者正睡在营棚外面，周围躺着他的伴友，
人人头枕盾牌，身傍坚指的枪杆，尾端扎入
泥地，铜尖耀射出远近可见的光彩，
像父亲宙斯扔出的闪电。勇士沉睡不醒，
身下垫着一领粗厚的皮张，取自漫步草场的壮牛，
头底枕着一条色泽鲜艳的毛毯。
奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，行至他的身边，催他
离开梦乡，用脚跟拨弄着他的身躯，开口呵责，当着他的脸面：
“快起来，图丢斯之子！瞧你睡得——迷迷糊糊，酣睡
整夜？还不知道吗？特洛伊人已逼近海船，
在平滩的高处坐等明天；敌我之间仅隔着一片狭窄的地带。”
奈斯托耳一番呵斥，狄俄墨得斯蓦地惊醒过来，
开口答道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“为何如此严酷，老人家？你还有没有罢息的时候？
阿开亚人年轻的儿子们哪里去了？
他们可以各处奔走，叫醒各位王贵。
你呀，老人家，对我们可是太过苛严！”
听罢这番话，格瑞尼亚的车战者奈斯托耳说道：
“你说得很对，我的朋友。
我有英武的儿子，也有大队的
兵丁，他们中任何一位都可担当召聚王者的使命。
但是，阿开亚人眼下面临的险情非同一般，
我们的命运正横卧在剃刀的锋口——
阿开亚人的前景，是险路逢生，还是接受死的凄寒。
去吧，快去叫醒迅捷的埃阿斯，连同夫琼斯
之子；你远比我年轻。去吧，帮帮我这可怜的老头子。”
听罢这番话，狄俄墨得斯拿起一领硕大的狮皮，搭上
肩膀，油光滑亮，垂悬在脚跟后头，伸手抓起一杆枪矛。
勇士大步走去，唤醒其他首领，引着他们疾行。
当他们和哨兵汇聚，发现
哨队的头目中无人打吨昏睡，
全都睁着警惕的双眼，带着兵器，席地而坐。
像看守羊群的牧狗，在栏边警觉地竖起耳朵，
它们听到野兽的走动，呼呼隆隆，从山林里
冲扑下来，周围响起一片纷杂的喧声，
人的喊叫，狗的吠闹，赶走了他们的睡意。
就像这样，哨兵们警惕的双眼拒挡着馨软的睡眠，
苦熬整夜，不敢松懈，双眼始终
注视平原，听察着特洛伊人进攻的讯息。
眼见他们如此尽责，老人心里高兴，
开口送去长了翅膀的话语：
“保持这个势头，我的孩子们，密切注视敌情；不要让
睡意征服你们的双眼，不要给敌人送去欢悦。”
言罢，他举步穿过壕沟，身后跟着
阿耳吉维人的王者，被召来议事的首领，
还有墨里俄奈斯和奈斯托耳英俊的儿子，
应王者们的召唤，前来参与他们的谋辩。
他们走过宽深的壕沟，在一片干净的
泥地上下坐，那里没有横七竖八的
尸体，亦是高大的赫克托耳目撤的地点，
因为天色已晚，使他只好停止杀斗。
他们屈腿下坐，聚首交谈。
奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，开口说道：
“我的朋友们，难道我们中就没有一位壮士，敢于凭仗
自己的胆量，走访心胸豪壮的特洛伊人的营地？
这样，他或许可以抓住个把掉队的敌人，
或碰巧听到特洛伊人的议论，他们
下一步的打算——是想留在原地，
紧逼着海船，还是觉得已经
重创了阿开亚人，故而可以回城休战。
如果有人能打听到这方面的消息，随后安然
回返，想一想吧，他将得到何等的殊誉，
普天之下，苍生之中！他还可得获一份绝好的礼物：
所有制统海船的首领，每人
都将给他一头母羊，纯黑的毛色，
腹哺着一只羔崽——此乃礼中的极品，
得主可藉此参加每一次宴会和狂欢。”
奈斯托耳言罢，在场者全被镇得目瞪口呆，
惟有啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯开口发话，说道：
“奈斯托耳，我的心灵和豪莽的激情催我
冲向可恨的敌人，这些挤在我们眼皮底下的
特洛伊兵汉。但是，如果有人愿意和我作伴，
我俩便都能得到较多的慰藉，也会有更多的自信。
两人同行，即使你没有，他也可能先看到周围的
险情；而一人行动，尽管小心谨慎，
总不能拥有两个人的心力，谋算也就往往不能周详缜密。”
言罢，众人争相表示，愿意偕同前往。
两位埃阿斯，阿瑞斯的伴从，愿意同行，
墨里俄奈斯请愿同往，而奈斯托耳之子更是急不可待，
还有阿特柔斯之子、著名的枪手墨奈劳斯。
坚忍的俄底修斯亦在请缨之列，决意潜入特洛伊人的
营垒，胸中总是升腾着一往无前的豪烈。
其时，全军的统帅阿伽门农开口说道：
“图丢斯之子，你使我心里充满欢悦。
你可按自己的意愿，挑选你的伙伴，
择取自愿者中最好的一位，从我们济济的人选。
不要盲敬虚名，忽略优才，
择用劣品。不要顾及地位，注重
出身，哪怕他是更有权势的王贵。”
阿伽门农口出此言，实因怕他选中棕发的墨奈劳斯。
然而，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯答道：
“如果你确实要我挑选同行的伙伴，
那么，我怎能拉下神一样的俄底修斯？
他的心胸和高昂的斗志，旁人难以企及，
帕拉丝·雅典娜钟爱此人，无论在何种艰难困苦的场境。
若是由他和我一起行动，我们双双都可穿过战火的炙烤，
平安回营——他的谋略登峰造极。”
听罢这番话，卓越的、久经磨炼的俄底修斯答道：
“无需长篇大论地赞扬我，图丢斯之子，但也不要指责我。
你在对阿耳吉维人讲话，他们全都知道你所说的一切。
我们这就动身。黑夜已走过长长的路程，黎明在一步步进逼。
星辰正熠熠远去，黑夜的大部已经逝离——
去了三分之二，只留下仅剩的三分之一。”
言罢，他俩全身披挂，穿拿起令人毛骨悚然的甲械。
骠勇犟悍的斯拉苏墨得斯给了图丢斯之子
一把双刃的利剑——他自己的铜剑还在船上——
和一面盾牌，给他戴上一顶帽盔，
牛皮做就，无角，也没有盔冠，人称
“便盔”，用以保护强壮的年轻斗士的头颅。
墨里俄奈斯给了俄底修斯一张弓、一个箭壶
和一柄铜剑，并拿出一顶帽盔，扣紧他的头圈，
取料牛皮，里层是纵横交错的坚实的
皮条，外面是一排排雪白的牙片，
取自一头獠牙闪亮的野猪，衔接齐整，
做工巧妙、精致，中间垫着一层绒毡。
奥托鲁科斯曾闯入俄耳墨奈斯之子阿门托耳
建筑精固的房居，把头盔偷出厄勒昂，
给了库塞拉人安菲达马斯，在斯康得亚，
后者把它给了摩洛斯，作为赠客的礼物，
而摩洛斯又把它给了自己的儿子，护盖着他的脑袋。
现在，皮盔出现在俄底修斯头上，紧压着他的眉沿。
就这样，二位穿带着令人毛骨悚然的甲械，
离别诸位王者，抬腿上路。
在他们的右前方，帕拉丝·雅典娜
遣下一只苍鸳，夜色迷茫，二位虽然不能
目睹，却可听见它的叫唤。
闻悉这一吉兆，俄底修斯心中欢喜，对雅典娜启口作祷：
“听我说，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿，每当我执行艰巨的任务，
你总是站在我的身边，关注我的
行迹。现在，求你再次给我最好的帮佑，
答应让我们，通过闪电般的行动，摧裂特洛伊人的
心魂，带着荣誉返回凳板坚固的海船。”
接着，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯亦开口诵告：
“也请听听我的祈祷，阿特鲁托奈，宙斯的女儿，
求你来到我的身边，就在此刻，像当年一样——那时，你伴佑
我的父亲，卓越的图丢斯，
进入塞贝，作为阿开亚人的使者，离队前行。
他把身披铜甲的阿开亚人留在阿索普斯河的滩沿，
给那里的卡德墨亚人，身披铜甲的斗士，捎去了表示友好的
信言。但是，在回来的路上，他却不惜诉诸武力，
在你的助佑下，贤明的女神，因为你总是站在他的身边。
来吧，站到我的身旁，保护我的安全！
对此，我将奉献一头一岁的小牛，额面开阔，
从未挨过责笞，从未上过轭架——
我将用金片包裹牛角，奉献在你的祭坛前！”
他们如此一番祈祷，帕拉丝，雅典娜听到了他俩的声音。
二位作罢祷告，对大神宙斯的女儿，
一头扎进漆黑的夜色，像两头雄狮，
越过尸横遍野的战场，穿过堆堆甲械，滩滩污血。
其时，赫克托耳亦不准勇莽的特洛伊人
入睡。他召来所有的头领议事，
特洛伊人的王者和首领。
他把这些人召来，提出了一个狡黠的计划：
‘你们中谁愿接受这趟差事？做好了，
可得重赏。赏礼丰厚，足以偿付他的劳力。
我将给他一辆战车和两匹颈脖粗壮的良驹，
阿开亚人的快船边最好的骏马。
谁有这个胆量，也为自己争得荣誉，
前往迅捷的海船，探明那里的
实况：是像往常一样，警戒森严，还是——
或许，由于受到我们的重创，阿开亚人正聚在一堆，
谋划遁逃之事，无心暇顾夜防的繁琐，
布岗设哨；他们已被折磨得筋疲力尽。”
赫克托耳言罢，在场者全被镇得目瞪口呆。
人群里，有个名叫多隆的，神圣的特洛伊信使欧墨得斯
之子，拥有大量的黄金和青铜，
长相丑陋，但腿脚轻捷，
独子，有五个姐妹。面对
特洛伊人和赫克托耳，此人开口发话，说道：
“赫克托耳，我的心灵和豪莽的激情催我
贴近快捷的海船，刺探军情。
这样吧，举起你的节杖，当着我的脸面，庄严起誓，
你将给我骏马，还有铜光闪烁的
马车，那辆载负裴琉斯之子的战车。我将
为你侦探，获取军情，使你不致白白期待。
我会潜行在整个军营，找到
阿伽门农的海船，那该是敌方头领聚会
谋划的去处——是决定逃离此地，还是继续会战。”
听罢这番话，赫克托耳紧握节杖，发誓道：
“让宙斯、赫拉的炸响雷的夫婿亲自
为我作证，其他特洛伊人谁也不许登乘这辆马车，
只有你，我发誓，才能使唤这对良驹；这是你终身的光荣！”
就这样，赫克托耳信誓旦旦，虽说徒劳无益，却催励着多
隆登程上路。他迅速背起弯翘的硬弓，在他的肩头，
披起一张灰色的生狼皮，拿过一顶
水獭皮帽，盖住头顶，操起一杆锋快的投枪，
冲出营区，直奔海船——他再也没有回来，
从船边带回赫克托耳所要的情报。
就这样，他离开熙攘的人群和驭马，
匆匆上路，急不可待。然而，卓越的俄底修斯
看着此人行来，对狄俄墨得斯说道：
“有情况，狄俄墨得斯，有人正从敌营过来！
我不知道他是想探视我们的海船，
还是来剥取死者的甲件。不管怎样，
先放他过去，待他进入前面的平地，稍稍跨出几步后，
我们再奋起扑去，紧追不放，抓他个
措手不及。但是，如果他跑得比我们更快，
那就把他逼向海船，以防他撒腿回营，丝毫不要
松懈，用你的投枪拦截，决不能让他回跑，跑回特洛伊。”
言罢，他俩闪到一边，伏在尸堆里，
而多隆却不知不觉，傻乎乎地跑了过去，腿脚飞快。
当他跑出一段距离，约像骡子犁拉出的一条地垄的
长短——牵着犁头，翻耕深熟的庄稼地，
骡子跑得比牛更快——他俩开始追赶。
听到噔噔的脚步声，多隆原地止步，直立不动，
以为来人是他的特洛伊伙伴
前来叫他回营——赫克托耳已打消进攻的心念。
但是，当他俩进入投枪的射程，或更近的距离时，
他才看清来者不善，随即甩开双腿，拼命
奔跑；他俩蹽开腿步，紧紧追赶。
像两条训练有素的猎狗，露出尖利的犬牙，盯上一头猎物，
一头小鹿或一只野兔，心急火燎，顺着林地的
空间，穷追猛扑；猎物撒腿江跑，发出尖利的叫声。
就像这样，图丢斯之子和俄底修斯，城堡的荡劫者，
切断了他回营的归路，紧追不舍，毫不松懈。
当他朝着海船飞跑，接近阿开亚人的
哨兵，雅典娜给图丢斯之子注入
巨大的勇力，以免让其他身披铜甲的阿开亚人
率先投枪，使秋俄墨得斯屈居第二。
强有力的狄俄墨得斯冲上前去，喊道：
“再不停步，我就投枪捅翻你这小子！我知道，你
最终逃不出我的手心，躲不过暴烈的死亡！”
言罢，他挥手投枪，但故意打偏了一点，
锋快的枪尖掠过多隆的右肩，
深扎进泥地里。多隆大惊失色，止步呆立，
结结巴巴，牙齿在嘴里嗒嗒碰响，
出于人骨的恐惧。两人追至他的身旁，喘着粗气，
压住他的双臂，后者涕泗横流，哀求道：
“活捉我，我会偿付赎金。我家里堆着
青铜、黄金和艰工冶铸的灰铁——
家父会用难以数计的财礼欢悦你们的心房，
要是听说我还活在阿开亚人的海船旁。”
听罢这番话，足智多谋的俄底修斯答道：
“不要怕，死亡还没有临头。
告诉我，老老实实地告诉我，
在这漆黑的夜晚，其他凡人都已入睡，
你为何离开军营，独自一人，朝着海船潜行？
是想抢剥死者的铠甲，还是奉赫克托耳的命令，
前往深旷的海船，逐一刺探船边的军情？
也许，是你自己的意愿促你踏上这次行程？”
多隆双腿发抖，应声答道：
“是赫克托耳把我引入歧途，诱以过量的嗜望。
他答应给我裴琉斯之子、高傲的阿基琉斯的
风快的骏马，连同他的战车，闪着耀眼的铜光。
他命我穿过匆逝、乌黑的夜雾，
接近敌营，探明阿开亚人的动静，
是像往常那样，派人守护着海船，
还是因为受过我们的重创，正聚在一堆，
谋划逃遁之事，无心暇顾夜防的繁琐，
布岗设哨；阿开亚人已被折磨得筋疲力尽。”
听罢这番话，足智多谋的俄底修斯咧嘴微笑，说道：
“不用说，这些是你梦寐以求的厚礼，
骁勇的阿基琼斯的烈马，凡人很难
控制或在马后驾驭，谁也不行，
除了阿基琉斯，因为他是女神的儿子。
好了，回答下一个问题，你要老老实实地道来：
你在何地登程，离开兵士的牧者赫克托耳？
他把甲械放在哪里？他的驭马又在何处？
其他特洛伊人的位置在哪——哨兵和呼呼入睡的战勇？
他们在一起策划了什么？打算留在
原地，紧逼着海船，还是撤回
城堡，撇下受过重创的阿开亚兵汉？”
听罢这番话，欧墨得斯之子多隆答道：
“好吧，我这就回话，把这一切准确无误地告诉你。
眼下，赫克托耳正和各路头领议会，
避离营区的芜杂，谋划在神一样的伊洛斯的
坟前。至于你所问及的哨兵，我的英雄，
那里一个也没有；我们没有挑人守卫或保护宿营的兵丁。
只有特洛伊人，出于需要，守候在他们的营火边，
一个个顺次提醒身边的战友，不要
坠入梦境，而来自远方的盟友
都已昏昏入睡，把警戒的任务让给了特洛伊兵勇，
因为他们的妻子儿女没有睡躺在那里，贴着战场的边沿。”
听罢这番话，足智多谋的俄底修斯追问道：
“他们睡在哪里？和驯马能手特洛伊人混在
一起，还是分开宿营？告诉我，我要知晓这一切。”
听罢这番话，欧墨得斯之子多隆答道：
“你放心，我这就回话，把这一切准确无误地告诉你。
卡里亚人和派俄尼亚人驻在海边，带着他们的弯弓，
还有莱勒格斯人、考科尼亚人和卓越的裴拉斯吉亚人。
在苏姆伯瑞一带，驻扎着鲁基亚人和高傲的慕西亚人，
还有驱车搏战的弗鲁吉亚人和战车上的斗士迈俄尼亚人。
不过，你为何询问这一切，问得如此详细？
如果你有意奔袭特洛伊人的营盘，
瞧，那边是斯拉凯人[●]的营地，刚来不久，离着友军，
●斯拉凯人：盟军中确有来自斯拉凯的部队（见2·844），来自赫勒斯庞特
以北。雷索斯的人马来自欧洲，靠近马其顿一带。
独自扎营，由王者雷索斯统领，埃俄纽斯之子。
他的驭马是我见过的最好、最高大的良驹，
比雪花还白，跑起来就像旋风一般。
他的战车满饰着黄金和白银，
铠甲宽敞硕大，纯金铸就，带来此地，看了让人
惊诧不已。它不像是凡人的用品，
倒像是长生不老的神祗的甲衣。
现在，你们可以把我带到迅捷的海船边，
或把我扔在这里，用无情的绳索捆得结结实实，
直到你们办完事情，用实情查证，
我的说告到底是真话，还是谎言。”
然而，强有力的狄俄墨得斯恶狠狠地瞪着他，说道：
“溜走？我说多隆，你可不要痴心妄想，
尽管你提供了绝妙的情报；你已被我们紧紧地捏在手里！
假如我们把你放掉或让你逃跑，
今后你又会出现在阿开亚人的快船旁，
不是再来刺探军情，便是和我们面对面地拼斗。
但是，如果我现在把你解决，捏死在我的手里，
以后，你就再也不会出来，烦扰我们阿耳吉维人的壮汉。”
听罢这番话，多隆伸出大手，试图托住他的
下颌，求他饶命，但狄俄墨得斯手起一剑，
砍在脖子的中段，劈断了两边的筋腱；多隆的
脑袋随即滚人泥尖，嘴巴还在唧唧呱呱地说着什么。
他们执下他的貂皮帽子，剥走
那张生狼皮，拿起了弯弓和长枪。
卓越的俄底修斯高举起夺获的战礼，对着雅典娜，
掠劫者的福佑，开口诵道：
“欢笑吧，女神；这些是属于你的东西！俄林波斯所有的
神中，我们将首先对你祭告——只是请你继续
指引我们，找到斯拉凯人的驭马和营地。”
言罢，他把战礼高举过头，放在
一棵柽柳枝丛上，抓过大把的芦苇
和繁茂的柽柳枝条，作为醒目的标记；这样，在回返的
路上，顶着匆逝、漆黑的夜雾，他们就不至于找不到这些东西。
两人继续前进，踩着满地的甲械和黑沉沉的污血，
很快便来到要找的斯拉凯人的营地。
这帮人正呼呼鼾睡，营旅生活已把他们折磨得困倦疲惫。
精良的甲械整整齐齐地堆放在身边的泥地，
分作三排，而驭马则分站在各自主人的身边，静候伫立。
雷索斯睡在中间，身边站着他的快马，
拴系在战车的高层围杆上。俄底修斯眼快，
看到此人的位置，并把他指给狄俄墨得斯：
“看，狄俄墨得斯，这便是我们要找的人，这些是他的驭马，
即多隆——那个被我们砍掉的人——给我们描述过的良驹。
来吧，使出你的全部勇力，不要只是站在这里，
闲搁着你的武器。解开马缰——
不然，让我来对付它们，由你动手杀砍。”
他言罢，灰眼睛雅典娜把勇力吹人狄俄墨得斯的躯体，
后者随即动手宰杀，一个接着一个，上下飞砍的
利剑引出凄惨的嚎叫，鲜血染红了土地。
像一头狮子，逼近一群无人牧守、看护的
绵羊或山羊群，带着贪婪的食欲，迅猛扑击，
图丢斯之子连劈带砍，一气杀了
十二个斯拉凯人。每杀一个，他都
先站在睡者身前，然后挥剑猛砍，而
足智多谋的俄底修斯则从后面上来，抓住死者的脚跟，
把他拉到一边，心想这样一来，长鬃飘洒的
骏马即可顺利通过，不致因为踩到尸体
而惊恐慌乱——尸躺的惨状，它们还没有见惯。
其时，图丢斯之子来到那位王者的身边——
他手下的第十三个死鬼——夺走了生命的香甜。
其时，他正躺着猛喘粗气——夜色里，一个恶梦
索绕在他的头顶：俄伊纽斯的儿子，出自雅典娜的安排。
与此同时，坚忍的俄底修斯解下风快的骏马，
把缰绳攥在一起，用弓杆抽打，
赶出乱糟糟的地方——他没有想到
可用马鞭，其时正躺在做工精致的战车里。
他给卓越的狄俄墨得斯送去一声口哨，以便引起他的注意。
然而，狄俄墨得斯却停留在原地，心中盘想着下一步
该做的事情：是夺取战车——里面放着那套漂亮的铠甲
——抓着车杆拖走，或把它提起来带走，
还是宰杀更多的斯拉凯兵勇？就在他
权衡斟酌之际，雅典娜
迅速站到他的身边，对这位卓越的勇士说道：
“现在，心胸豪壮的图丢斯之子，是考虑
返回深旷的海船的时候了。否则，你会受到追兵的迫胁——
我担心某位神祗会唤醒沉睡的特洛伊兵丁。”
雅典娜言罢，狄俄墨得斯心知此乃女神的声音，
赶忙登上战车；俄底修斯用弓背抽打
驭马，朝着阿开亚人的快船疾驰而去。
但是，银弓之神阿波罗亦没有闭上眼睛，
眼见雅典娜正出力帮助图丢斯之子，气得大发雷霆，
一头扎进入员庞杂的特洛伊军阵，
唤醒了一位斯拉凯头领，希波科昂，
雷索斯高贵的堂表兄弟。他一惊而起，
发现快马站立之处空空如也。
伙伴们横七竖八的躺在地上，呼喘出生命的余息，
不由得连声哀嚎，呼叫着心爱的伴友的名字。
营地里喧声四起，惊望着两位壮士创下的
浩劫，在返回深旷的海船前；
特洛伊人你推我操，乱作一团。
当他俩四至杀死侦探多隆的地方，
宙斯钟爱的俄底修斯勒住飞跑的快马，
图丢斯之子跳到地上，拿起带血的战礼
递给俄底修斯，然后重新跃上马车，
举鞭抽打；骏马撒腿飞跑，不带
半点勉强，朝着深旷的海船，它们心驰神往的地方。
奈斯托耳最先听到嗒嗒的马蹄声，说道：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们，
不知是我听错了，还是确有其事？我的心灵告诉我，
此刻，轰响在我耳畔的是迅捷的快马踏出的蹄声。
但愿俄底修斯和强健的狄俄墨得斯
正赶着风快的骏马，跑离特洛伊人的营地！
我心里十分害怕，阿开亚人中最好的战勇
可能在特洛伊人嗷嗷的杀声中惨遭不幸。”
然而，话未讲完，人已到了营前。二位
步下战车，兴高采烈的伙伴抓住
他们的双手，热情地祝贺他们的回归。
奈斯托耳，格瑞尼亚的车战者，首先问道；
“告诉我，受人称颂的俄底修斯，阿开亚人的光荣和骄傲，
你俩如何得到这对驭马，是夺之于人马众多的特洛伊
军营，还是因为遇到某位神明，接受了他的馈赠？
瞧，多好的毛色，简直就像太阳的闪光。
战场上，我曾和特洛伊人频频相遇，我敢说，
我从未躲缩在岸边的海船旁，虽然我是个上了年纪的老兵。
然而，我从未见过这样的好马，连想都没有想过。
我想，一定是某位神祗路遇二位，并以驭马相送。
你俩都受到汇聚乌云的宙斯的钟爱，
都是雅典娜，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿，喜爱的凡人。”
听罢这番话，足智多谋的俄底修斯答道：
“奈斯托耳，奈琉斯之子，阿开亚人的光荣和骄傲，
一位神祗如果愿意，可以随手牵出
比这些更好的骏马；他们远比我们强健。
你老人家问及的这对驭马，来自斯拉凯，
刚到不久，勇敢的狄俄墨得斯杀了它们的主人，
连同他的十二个伙伴，躺在他的身边，清一色善战的壮勇。
我们还宰掉一个侦探，第十三个死者，在海船附近，
受赫克托耳和其他高傲的特洛伊人派遣，
前来刺探我们的军情。”
言罢，他把蹄腿飞快的骏马赶过壕沟，
发出朗朗的笑声；其他阿开亚人跟随同行，
个个喜形于色。他们来到狄俄墨得斯坚固的
营棚，用切割齐整的缰绳拴住骏马
在食槽边——狄俄墨得斯捷蹄的驭马
早已站在那里，嚼着可口的食餐。
在船尾的边沿，俄底修斯放下取自多隆的
带血的战礼，进献给雅典娜的祭品。
然后，他们蹚进海流，搓去小腿。
大腿和颈背上粘糊糊的汗水；
海浪冲涌，卷走了皮肤上淤结的斑块，
一阵清凉的感觉滋润着他们的心田。
然后，他们跨人光滑的澡盆，
浴毕，倒出橄榄油，擦抹全身。
随后，他们坐下就餐，从谱满的兑缸里舀出
香甜的醇酒，泼洒在地，祭悦雅典娜的心怀。
ARGUMENT.
THE NIGHT-ADVENTURE OF DIOMED AND ULYSSES.
Upon the refusal of Achilles to return to the army, the distress of
Agamemnon is described in the most lively manner. He takes no rest that
night, but passes through the camp, awaking the leaders, and contriving
all possible methods for the public safety. Menelaus, Nestor, Ulysses, and
Diomed are employed in raising the rest of the captains. They call a
council of war, and determine to send scouts into the enemies' camp, to
learn their posture, and discover their intentions. Diomed undertakes this
hazardous enterprise, and makes choice of Ulysses for his companion. In
their passage they surprise Dolon, whom Hector had sent on a like design
to the camp of the Grecians. From him they are informed of the situation
of the Trojan and auxiliary forces, and particularly of Rhesus, and the
Thracians who were lately arrived. They pass on with success; kill Rhesus,
with several of his officers, and seize the famous horses of that prince,
with which they return in triumph to the camp.
The same night continues; the scene lies in the two camps.
All night the chiefs before their vessels lay,
And lost in sleep the labours of the day:
All but the king: with various thoughts oppress'd,(215)
His country's cares lay rolling in his breast.
As when by lightnings Jove's ethereal power
Foretels the rattling hail, or weighty shower,
Or sends soft snows to whiten all the shore,
Or bids the brazen throat of war to roar;
By fits one flash succeeds as one expires,
And heaven flames thick with momentary fires:
So bursting frequent from Atrides' breast,
Sighs following sighs his inward fears confess'd.
Now o'er the fields, dejected, he surveys
From thousand Trojan fires the mounting blaze;
Hears in the passing wind their music blow,
And marks distinct the voices of the foe.
Now looking backwards to the fleet and coast,
Anxious he sorrows for the endangered host.
He rends his hair, in sacrifice to Jove,
And sues to him that ever lives above:
Inly he groans; while glory and despair
Divide his heart, and wage a double war.
A thousand cares his labouring breast revolves;
To seek sage Nestor now the chief resolves,
With him, in wholesome counsels, to debate
What yet remains to save the afflicted state.
He rose, and first he cast his mantle round,
Next on his feet the shining sandals bound;
A lion's yellow spoils his back conceal'd;
His warlike hand a pointed javelin held.
Meanwhile his brother, press'd with equal woes,
Alike denied the gifts of soft repose,
Laments for Greece, that in his cause before
So much had suffer'd and must suffer more.
A leopard's spotted hide his shoulders spread:
A brazen helmet glitter'd on his head:
Thus (with a javelin in his hand) he went
To wake Atrides in the royal tent.
Already waked, Atrides he descried,
His armour buckling at his vessel's side.
Joyful they met; the Spartan thus begun:
"Why puts my brother his bright armour on?
Sends he some spy, amidst these silent hours,
To try yon camp, and watch the Trojan powers?
But say, what hero shall sustain that task?
Such bold exploits uncommon courage ask;
Guideless, alone, through night's dark shade to go,
And midst a hostile camp explore the foe."
To whom the king: "In such distress we stand,
No vulgar counsel our affairs demand;
Greece to preserve, is now no easy part,
But asks high wisdom, deep design, and art.
For Jove, averse, our humble prayer denies,
And bows his head to Hector's sacrifice.
What eye has witness'd, or what ear believed,
In one great day, by one great arm achieved,
Such wondrous deeds as Hector's hand has done,
And we beheld, the last revolving sun
What honours the beloved of Jove adorn!
Sprung from no god, and of no goddess born;
Yet such his acts, as Greeks unborn shall tell,
And curse the battle where their fathers fell.
"Now speed thy hasty course along the fleet,
There call great Ajax, and the prince of Crete;
Ourself to hoary Nestor will repair;
To keep the guards on duty be his care,
(For Nestor's influence best that quarter guides,
Whose son with Merion, o'er the watch presides.")
To whom the Spartan: "These thy orders borne,
Say, shall I stay, or with despatch return?"
"There shall thou stay, (the king of men replied,)
Else may we miss to meet, without a guide,
The paths so many, and the camp so wide.
Still, with your voice the slothful soldiers raise,
Urge by their fathers' fame their future praise.
Forget we now our state and lofty birth;
Not titles here, but works, must prove our worth.
To labour is the lot of man below;
And when Jove gave us life, he gave us woe."
This said, each parted to his several cares:
The king to Nestor's sable ship repairs;
The sage protector of the Greeks he found
Stretch'd in his bed with all his arms around
The various-colour'd scarf, the shield he rears,
The shining helmet, and the pointed spears;
The dreadful weapons of the warrior's rage,
That, old in arms, disdain'd the peace of age.
Then, leaning on his hand his watchful head,
The hoary monarch raised his eyes and said:
"What art thou, speak, that on designs unknown,
While others sleep, thus range the camp alone;
Seek'st thou some friend or nightly sentinel?
Stand off, approach not, but thy purpose tell."
"O son of Neleus, (thus the king rejoin'd,)
Pride of the Greeks, and glory of thy kind!
Lo, here the wretched Agamemnon stands,
The unhappy general of the Grecian bands,
Whom Jove decrees with daily cares to bend,
And woes, that only with his life shall end!
Scarce can my knees these trembling limbs sustain,
And scarce my heart support its load of pain.
No taste of sleep these heavy eyes have known,
Confused, and sad, I wander thus alone,
With fears distracted, with no fix'd design;
And all my people's miseries are mine.
If aught of use thy waking thoughts suggest,
(Since cares, like mine, deprive thy soul of rest,)
Impart thy counsel, and assist thy friend;
Now let us jointly to the trench descend,
At every gate the fainting guard excite,
Tired with the toils of day and watch of night;
Else may the sudden foe our works invade,
So near, and favour'd by the gloomy shade."
To him thus Nestor: "Trust the powers above,
Nor think proud Hector's hopes confirm'd by Jove:
How ill agree the views of vain mankind,
And the wise counsels of the eternal mind!
Audacious Hector, if the gods ordain
That great Achilles rise and rage again,
What toils attend thee, and what woes remain!
Lo, faithful Nestor thy command obeys;
The care is next our other chiefs to raise:
Ulysses, Diomed, we chiefly need;
Meges for strength, Oileus famed for speed.
Some other be despatch'd of nimbler feet,
To those tall ships, remotest of the fleet,
Where lie great Ajax and the king of Crete.(216)
To rouse the Spartan I myself decree;
Dear as he is to us, and dear to thee,
Yet must I tax his sloth, that claims no share
With his great brother in his martial care:
Him it behoved to every chief to sue,
Preventing every part perform'd by you;
For strong necessity our toils demands,
Claims all our hearts, and urges all our hands."
To whom the king: "With reverence we allow
Thy just rebukes, yet learn to spare them now:
My generous brother is of gentle kind,
He seems remiss, but bears a valiant mind;
Through too much deference to our sovereign sway,
Content to follow when we lead the way:
But now, our ills industrious to prevent,
Long ere the rest he rose, and sought my tent.
The chiefs you named, already at his call,
Prepare to meet us near the navy-wall;
Assembling there, between the trench and gates,
Near the night-guards, our chosen council waits."
"Then none (said Nestor) shall his rule withstand,
For great examples justify command."
With that, the venerable warrior rose;
The shining greaves his manly legs enclose;
His purple mantle golden buckles join'd,
Warm with the softest wool, and doubly lined.
Then rushing from his tent, he snatch'd in haste
His steely lance, that lighten'd as he pass'd.
The camp he traversed through the sleeping crowd,
Stopp'd at Ulysses' tent, and call'd aloud.
Ulysses, sudden as the voice was sent,
Awakes, starts up, and issues from his tent.
"What new distress, what sudden cause of fright,
Thus leads you wandering in the silent night?"
"O prudent chief! (the Pylian sage replied)
Wise as thou art, be now thy wisdom tried:
Whatever means of safety can be sought,
Whatever counsels can inspire our thought,
Whatever methods, or to fly or fight;
All, all depend on this important night!"
He heard, return'd, and took his painted shield;
Then join'd the chiefs, and follow'd through the field.
Without his tent, bold Diomed they found,
All sheathed in arms, his brave companions round:
Each sunk in sleep, extended on the field,
His head reclining on his bossy shield.
A wood of spears stood by, that, fix'd upright,
Shot from their flashing points a quivering light.
A bull's black hide composed the hero's bed;
A splendid carpet roll'd beneath his head.
Then, with his foot, old Nestor gently shakes
The slumbering chief, and in these words awakes:
"Rise, son of Tydeus! to the brave and strong
Rest seems inglorious, and the night too long.
But sleep'st thou now, when from yon hill the foe
Hangs o'er the fleet, and shades our walls below?"
At this, soft slumber from his eyelids fled;
The warrior saw the hoary chief, and said:
"Wondrous old man! whose soul no respite knows,
Though years and honours bid thee seek repose,
Let younger Greeks our sleeping warriors wake;
Ill fits thy age these toils to undertake."
"My friend, (he answered,) generous is thy care;
These toils, my subjects and my sons might bear;
Their loyal thoughts and pious love conspire
To ease a sovereign and relieve a sire:
But now the last despair surrounds our host;
No hour must pass, no moment must be lost;
Each single Greek, in this conclusive strife,
Stands on the sharpest edge of death or life:
Yet, if my years thy kind regard engage,
Employ thy youth as I employ my age;
Succeed to these my cares, and rouse the rest;
He serves me most, who serves his country best."
This said, the hero o'er his shoulders flung
A lion's spoils, that to his ankles hung;
Then seized his ponderous lance, and strode along.
Meges the bold, with Ajax famed for speed,
The warrior roused, and to the entrenchments lead.
And now the chiefs approach the nightly guard;
A wakeful squadron, each in arms prepared:
The unwearied watch their listening leaders keep,
And, couching close, repel invading sleep.
So faithful dogs their fleecy charge maintain,
With toil protected from the prowling train;
When the gaunt lioness, with hunger bold,
Springs from the mountains toward the guarded fold:
Through breaking woods her rustling course they hear;
Loud, and more loud, the clamours strike their ear
Of hounds and men: they start, they gaze around,
Watch every side, and turn to every sound.
Thus watch'd the Grecians, cautious of surprise,
Each voice, each motion, drew their ears and eyes:
Each step of passing feet increased the affright;
And hostile Troy was ever full in sight.
Nestor with joy the wakeful band survey'd,
And thus accosted through the gloomy shade.
"'Tis well, my sons! your nightly cares employ;
Else must our host become the scorn of Troy.
Watch thus, and Greece shall live." The hero said;
Then o'er the trench the following chieftains led.
His son, and godlike Merion, march'd behind
(For these the princes to their council join'd).
The trenches pass'd, the assembled kings around
In silent state the consistory crown'd.
A place there was, yet undefiled with gore,
The spot where Hector stopp'd his rage before;
When night descending, from his vengeful hand
Reprieved the relics of the Grecian band:
(The plain beside with mangled corps was spread,
And all his progress mark'd by heaps of dead:)
There sat the mournful kings: when Neleus' son,
The council opening, in these words begun:
"Is there (said he) a chief so greatly brave,
His life to hazard, and his country save?
Lives there a man, who singly dares to go
To yonder camp, or seize some straggling foe?
Or favour'd by the night approach so near,
Their speech, their counsels, and designs to hear?
If to besiege our navies they prepare,
Or Troy once more must be the seat of war?
This could he learn, and to our peers recite,
And pass unharm'd the dangers of the night;
What fame were his through all succeeding days,
While Phoebus shines, or men have tongues to praise!
What gifts his grateful country would bestow!
What must not Greece to her deliverer owe?
A sable ewe each leader should provide,
With each a sable lambkin by her side;
At every rite his share should be increased,
And his the foremost honours of the feast."
Fear held them mute: alone, untaught to fear,
Tydides spoke--"The man you seek is here.
Through yon black camps to bend my dangerous way,
Some god within commands, and I obey.
But let some other chosen warrior join,
To raise my hopes, and second my design.
By mutual confidence and mutual aid,
Great deeds are done, and great discoveries made;
The wise new prudence from the wise acquire,
And one brave hero fans another's fire."
Contending leaders at the word arose;
Each generous breast with emulation glows;
So brave a task each Ajax strove to share,
Bold Merion strove, and Nestor's valiant heir;
The Spartan wish'd the second place to gain,
And great Ulysses wish'd, nor wish'd in vain.
Then thus the king of men the contest ends:
"Thou first of warriors, and thou best of friends,
Undaunted Diomed! what chief to join
In this great enterprise, is only thine.
Just be thy choice, without affection made;
To birth, or office, no respect be paid;
Let worth determine here." The monarch spake,
And inly trembled for his brother's sake.
"Then thus (the godlike Diomed rejoin'd)
My choice declares the impulse of my mind.
How can I doubt, while great Ulysses stands
To lend his counsels and assist our hands?
A chief, whose safety is Minerva's care;
So famed, so dreadful, in the works of war:
Bless'd in his conduct, I no aid require;
Wisdom like his might pass through flames of fire."
"It fits thee not, before these chiefs of fame,
(Replied the sage,) to praise me, or to blame:
Praise from a friend, or censure from a foe,
Are lost on hearers that our merits know.
But let us haste--Night rolls the hours away,
The reddening orient shows the coming day,
The stars shine fainter on the ethereal plains,
And of night's empire but a third remains."
Thus having spoke, with generous ardour press'd,
In arms terrific their huge limbs they dress'd.
A two-edged falchion Thrasymed the brave,
And ample buckler, to Tydides gave:
Then in a leathern helm he cased his head,
Short of its crest, and with no plume o'erspread:
(Such as by youths unused to arms are worn:)
No spoils enrich it, and no studs adorn.
Next him Ulysses took a shining sword,
A bow and quiver, with bright arrows stored:
A well-proved casque, with leather braces bound,
(Thy gift, Meriones,) his temples crown'd;
Soft wool within; without, in order spread,(217)
A boar's white teeth grinn'd horrid o'er his head.
This from Amyntor, rich Ormenus' son,
Autolycus by fraudful rapine won,
And gave Amphidamas; from him the prize
Molus received, the pledge of social ties;
The helmet next by Merion was possess'd,
And now Ulysses' thoughtful temples press'd.
Thus sheathed in arms, the council they forsake,
And dark through paths oblique their progress take.
Just then, in sign she favour'd their intent,
A long-wing'd heron great Minerva sent:
This, though surrounding shades obscured their view.
By the shrill clang and whistling wings they knew.
As from the right she soar'd, Ulysses pray'd,
Hail'd the glad omen, and address'd the maid:
"O daughter of that god whose arm can wield
The avenging bolt, and shake the dreadful shield!
O thou! for ever present in my way,
Who all my motions, all my toils survey!
Safe may we pass beneath the gloomy shade,
Safe by thy succour to our ships convey'd,
And let some deed this signal night adorn,
To claim the tears of Trojans yet unborn."
Then godlike Diomed preferr'd his prayer:
"Daughter of Jove, unconquer'd Pallas! hear.
Great queen of arms, whose favour Tydeus won,
As thou defend'st the sire, defend the son.
When on Æsopus' banks the banded powers
Of Greece he left, and sought the Theban towers,
Peace was his charge; received with peaceful show,
He went a legate, but return'd a foe:
Then help'd by thee, and cover'd by thy shield,
He fought with numbers, and made numbers yield.
So now be present, O celestial maid!
So still continue to the race thine aid!
A youthful steer shall fall beneath the stroke,
Untamed, unconscious of the galling yoke,
With ample forehead, and with spreading horns,
Whose taper tops refulgent gold adorns."
The heroes pray'd, and Pallas from the skies
Accords their vow, succeeds their enterprise.
Now, like two lions panting for the prey,
With dreadful thoughts they trace the dreary way,
Through the black horrors of the ensanguined plain,
Through dust, through blood, o'er arms, and hills of slain.
Nor less bold Hector, and the sons of Troy,
On high designs the wakeful hours employ;
The assembled peers their lofty chief enclosed;
Who thus the counsels of his breast proposed:
"What glorious man, for high attempts prepared,
Dares greatly venture for a rich reward?
Of yonder fleet a bold discovery make,
What watch they keep, and what resolves they take?
If now subdued they meditate their flight,
And, spent with toil, neglect the watch of night?
His be the chariot that shall please him most,
Of all the plunder of the vanquish'd host;
His the fair steeds that all the rest excel,
And his the glory to have served so well."
A youth there was among the tribes of Troy,
Dolon his name, Eumedes' only boy,
(Five girls beside the reverend herald told.)
Rich was the son in brass, and rich in gold;
Not bless'd by nature with the charms of face,
But swift of foot, and matchless in the race.
"Hector! (he said) my courage bids me meet
This high achievement, and explore the fleet:
But first exalt thy sceptre to the skies,
And swear to grant me the demanded prize;
The immortal coursers, and the glittering car,
That bear Pelides through the ranks of war.
Encouraged thus, no idle scout I go,
Fulfil thy wish, their whole intention know,
Even to the royal tent pursue my way,
And all their counsels, all their aims betray."
The chief then heaved the golden sceptre high,
Attesting thus the monarch of the sky:
"Be witness thou! immortal lord of all!
Whose thunder shakes the dark aerial hall:
By none but Dolon shall this prize be borne,
And him alone the immortal steeds adorn."
Thus Hector swore: the gods were call'd in vain,
But the rash youth prepares to scour the plain:
Across his back the bended bow he flung,
A wolf's grey hide around his shoulders hung,
A ferret's downy fur his helmet lined,
And in his hand a pointed javelin shined.
Then (never to return) he sought the shore,
And trod the path his feet must tread no more.
Scarce had he pass'd the steeds and Trojan throng,
(Still bending forward as he coursed along,)
When, on the hollow way, the approaching tread
Ulysses mark'd, and thus to Diomed;
"O friend! I hear some step of hostile feet,
Moving this way, or hastening to the fleet;
Some spy, perhaps, to lurk beside the main;
Or nightly pillager that strips the slain.
Yet let him pass, and win a little space;
Then rush behind him, and prevent his pace.
But if too swift of foot he flies before,
Confine his course along the fleet and shore,
Betwixt the camp and him our spears employ,
And intercept his hoped return to Troy."
With that they stepp'd aside, and stoop'd their head,
(As Dolon pass'd,) behind a heap of dead:
Along the path the spy unwary flew;
Soft, at just distance, both the chiefs pursue.
So distant they, and such the space between,
As when two teams of mules divide the green,
(To whom the hind like shares of land allows,)
When now new furrows part the approaching ploughs.
Now Dolon, listening, heard them as they pass'd;
Hector (he thought) had sent, and check'd his haste,
Till scarce at distance of a javelin's throw,
No voice succeeding, he perceived the foe.
As when two skilful hounds the leveret wind;
Or chase through woods obscure the trembling hind;
Now lost, now seen, they intercept his way,
And from the herd still turn the flying prey:
So fast, and with such fears, the Trojan flew;
So close, so constant, the bold Greeks pursue.
Now almost on the fleet the dastard falls,
And mingles with the guards that watch the walls;
When brave Tydides stopp'd; a gen'rous thought
(Inspired by Pallas) in his bosom wrought,
Lest on the foe some forward Greek advance,
And snatch the glory from his lifted lance.
Then thus aloud: "Whoe'er thou art, remain;
This javelin else shall fix thee to the plain."
He said, and high in air the weapon cast,
Which wilful err'd, and o'er his shoulder pass'd;
Then fix'd in earth. Against the trembling wood
The wretch stood propp'd, and quiver'd as he stood;
A sudden palsy seized his turning head;
His loose teeth chatter'd, and his colour fled;
The panting warriors seize him as he stands,
And with unmanly tears his life demands.
"O spare my youth, and for the breath I owe,
Large gifts of price my father shall bestow:
Vast heaps of brass shall in your ships be told,
And steel well-temper'd and refulgent gold."
To whom Ulysses made this wise reply:
"Whoe'er thou art, be bold, nor fear to die.
What moves thee, say, when sleep has closed the sight,
To roam the silent fields in dead of night?
Cam'st thou the secrets of our camp to find,
By Hector prompted, or thy daring mind?
Or art some wretch by hopes of plunder led,
Through heaps of carnage, to despoil the dead?"
Then thus pale Dolon, with a fearful look:
(Still, as he spoke, his limbs with horror shook:)
"Hither I came, by Hector's words deceived;
Much did he promise, rashly I believed:
No less a bribe than great Achilles' car,
And those swift steeds that sweep the ranks of war,
Urged me, unwilling, this attempt to make;
To learn what counsels, what resolves you take:
If now subdued, you fix your hopes on flight,
And, tired with toils, neglect the watch of night."
"Bold was thy aim, and glorious was the prize,
(Ulysses, with a scornful smile, replies,)
Far other rulers those proud steeds demand,
And scorn the guidance of a vulgar hand;
Even great Achilles scarce their rage can tame,
Achilles sprung from an immortal dame.
But say, be faithful, and the truth recite!
Where lies encamp'd the Trojan chief to-night?
Where stand his coursers? in what quarter sleep
Their other princes? tell what watch they keep:
Say, since this conquest, what their counsels are;
Or here to combat, from their city far,
Or back to Ilion's walls transfer the war?"
Ulysses thus, and thus Eumedes' son:
"What Dolon knows, his faithful tongue shall own.
Hector, the peers assembling in his tent,
A council holds at Ilus' monument.
No certain guards the nightly watch partake;
Where'er yon fires ascend, the Trojans wake:
Anxious for Troy, the guard the natives keep;
Safe in their cares, the auxiliar forces sleep,
Whose wives and infants, from the danger far,
Discharge their souls of half the fears of war."
"Then sleep those aids among the Trojan train,
(Inquired the chief,) or scattered o'er the plain?"
To whom the spy: "Their powers they thus dispose
The Paeons, dreadful with their bended bows,
The Carians, Caucons, the Pelasgian host,
And Leleges, encamp along the coast.
Not distant far, lie higher on the land
The Lycian, Mysian, and Maeonian band,
And Phrygia's horse, by Thymbras' ancient wall;
The Thracians utmost, and apart from all.
These Troy but lately to her succour won,
Led on by Rhesus, great Eioneus' son:
I saw his coursers in proud triumph go,
Swift as the wind, and white as winter-snow;
Rich silver plates his shining car infold;
His solid arms, refulgent, flame with gold;
No mortal shoulders suit the glorious load,
Celestial panoply, to grace a god!
Let me, unhappy, to your fleet be borne,
Or leave me here, a captive's fate to mourn,
In cruel chains, till your return reveal
The truth or falsehood of the news I tell."
To this Tydides, with a gloomy frown:
"Think not to live, though all the truth be shown:
Shall we dismiss thee, in some future strife
To risk more bravely thy now forfeit life?
Or that again our camps thou may'st explore?
No--once a traitor, thou betray'st no more."
Sternly he spoke, and as the wretch prepared
With humble blandishment to stroke his beard,
Like lightning swift the wrathful falchion flew,
Divides the neck, and cuts the nerves in two;
One instant snatch'd his trembling soul to hell,
The head, yet speaking, mutter'd as it fell.
The furry helmet from his brow they tear,
The wolf's grey hide, the unbended bow and spear;
These great Ulysses lifting to the skies,
To favouring Pallas dedicates the prize:
"Great queen of arms, receive this hostile spoil,
And let the Thracian steeds reward our toil;
Thee, first of all the heavenly host, we praise;
O speed our labours, and direct our ways!"
This said, the spoils, with dropping gore defaced,
High on a spreading tamarisk he placed;
Then heap'd with reeds and gathered boughs the plain,
To guide their footsteps to the place again.
Through the still night they cross the devious fields,
Slippery with blood, o'er arms and heaps of shields,
Arriving where the Thracian squadrons lay,
And eased in sleep the labours of the day.
Ranged in three lines they view the prostrate band:
The horses yoked beside each warrior stand.
Their arms in order on the ground reclined,
Through the brown shade the fulgid weapons shined:
Amidst lay Rhesus, stretch'd in sleep profound,
And the white steeds behind his chariot bound.
The welcome sight Ulysses first descries,
And points to Diomed the tempting prize.
"The man, the coursers, and the car behold!
Described by Dolon, with the arms of gold.
Now, brave Tydides! now thy courage try,
Approach the chariot, and the steeds untie;
Or if thy soul aspire to fiercer deeds,
Urge thou the slaughter, while I seize the steeds."
Pallas (this said) her hero's bosom warms,
Breathed in his heart, and strung his nervous arms;
Where'er he pass'd, a purple stream pursued
His thirsty falchion, fat with hostile blood,
Bathed all his footsteps, dyed the fields with gore,
And a low groan remurmur'd through the shore.
So the grim lion, from his nightly den,
O'erleaps the fences, and invades the pen,
On sheep or goats, resistless in his way,
He falls, and foaming rends the guardless prey;
Nor stopp'd the fury of his vengeful hand,
Till twelve lay breathless of the Thracian band.
Ulysses following, as his partner slew,
Back by the foot each slaughter'd warrior drew;
The milk-white coursers studious to convey
Safe to the ships, he wisely cleared the way:
Lest the fierce steeds, not yet to battles bred,
Should start, and tremble at the heaps of dead.
Now twelve despatch'd, the monarch last they found;
Tydides' falchion fix'd him to the ground.
Just then a deathful dream Minerva sent,
A warlike form appear'd before his tent,
Whose visionary steel his bosom tore:
So dream'd the monarch, and awaked no more.(218)
Ulysses now the snowy steeds detains,
And leads them, fasten'd by the silver reins;
These, with his bow unbent, he lash'd along;
(The scourge forgot, on Rhesus' chariot hung;)
Then gave his friend the signal to retire;
But him, new dangers, new achievements fire;
Doubtful he stood, or with his reeking blade
To send more heroes to the infernal shade,
Drag off the car where Rhesus' armour lay,
Or heave with manly force, and lift away.
While unresolved the son of Tydeus stands,
Pallas appears, and thus her chief commands:
"Enough, my son; from further slaughter cease,
Regard thy safety, and depart in peace;
Haste to the ships, the gotten spoils enjoy,
Nor tempt too far the hostile gods of Troy."
The voice divine confess'd the martial maid;
In haste he mounted, and her word obey'd;
The coursers fly before Ulysses' bow,
Swift as the wind, and white as winter-snow.
Not unobserved they pass'd: the god of light
Had watch'd his Troy, and mark'd Minerva's flight,
Saw Tydeus' son with heavenly succour bless'd,
And vengeful anger fill'd his sacred breast.
Swift to the Trojan camp descends the power,
And wakes Hippocoon in the morning-hour;
(On Rhesus' side accustom'd to attend,
A faithful kinsman, and instructive friend;)
He rose, and saw the field deform'd with blood,
An empty space where late the coursers stood,
The yet-warm Thracians panting on the coast;
For each he wept, but for his Rhesus most:
Now while on Rhesus' name he calls in vain,
The gathering tumult spreads o'er all the plain;
On heaps the Trojans rush, with wild affright,
And wondering view the slaughters of the night.
Meanwhile the chiefs, arriving at the shade
Where late the spoils of Hector's spy were laid,
Ulysses stopp'd; to him Tydides bore
The trophy, dropping yet with Dolon's gore:
Then mounts again; again their nimbler feet
The coursers ply, and thunder towards the fleet.
[Illustration: DIOMED AND ULYSSES RETURNING WITH THE SPOILS OF RHESUS.]
DIOMED AND ULYSSES RETURNING WITH THE SPOILS OF RHESUS.
Old Nestor first perceived the approaching sound,
Bespeaking thus the Grecian peers around:
"Methinks the noise of trampling steeds I hear,
Thickening this way, and gathering on my ear;
Perhaps some horses of the Trojan breed
(So may, ye gods! my pious hopes succeed)
The great Tydides and Ulysses bear,
Return'd triumphant with this prize of war.
Yet much I fear (ah, may that fear be vain!)
The chiefs outnumber'd by the Trojan train;
Perhaps, even now pursued, they seek the shore;
Or, oh! perhaps those heroes are no more."
Scarce had he spoke, when, lo! the chiefs appear,
And spring to earth; the Greeks dismiss their fear:
With words of friendship and extended hands
They greet the kings; and Nestor first demands:
"Say thou, whose praises all our host proclaim,
Thou living glory of the Grecian name!
Say whence these coursers? by what chance bestow'd,
The spoil of foes, or present of a god?
Not those fair steeds, so radiant and so gay,
That draw the burning chariot of the day.
Old as I am, to age I scorn to yield,
And daily mingle in the martial field;
But sure till now no coursers struck my sight
Like these, conspicuous through the ranks of fight.
Some god, I deem, conferred the glorious prize,
Bless'd as ye are, and favourites of the skies;
The care of him who bids the thunder roar,
And her, whose fury bathes the world with gore."
"Father! not so, (sage Ithacus rejoin'd,)
The gifts of heaven are of a nobler kind.
Of Thracian lineage are the steeds ye view,
Whose hostile king the brave Tydides slew;
Sleeping he died, with all his guards around,
And twelve beside lay gasping on the ground.
These other spoils from conquer'd Dolon came,
A wretch, whose swiftness was his only fame;
By Hector sent our forces to explore,
He now lies headless on the sandy shore."
Then o'er the trench the bounding coursers flew;
The joyful Greeks with loud acclaim pursue.
Straight to Tydides' high pavilion borne,
The matchless steeds his ample stalls adorn:
The neighing coursers their new fellows greet,
And the full racks are heap'd with generous wheat.
But Dolon's armour, to his ships convey'd,
High on the painted stern Ulysses laid,
A trophy destin'd to the blue-eyed maid.
Now from nocturnal sweat and sanguine stain
They cleanse their bodies in the neighb'ring main:
Then in the polished bath, refresh'd from toil,
Their joints they supple with dissolving oil,
In due repast indulge the genial hour,
And first to Pallas the libations pour:
They sit, rejoicing in her aid divine,
And the crown'd goblet foams with floods of wine. 其时，黎明从高贵的提索诺斯身边起床，
把晨光遍洒给神和凡人。宙斯命遣
冷酷的女神争斗急速前往阿开亚人的
快船，手握战争的兆示。她
站在俄底修斯的海船上，乌黑、宽大、深旷，
停驻在船队中部，以便一声呼喊，便可传及两翼，
既可及达忒拉蒙之子埃阿蒙的营地，
亦可飘至阿基琉斯的兵棚——坚信自己的刚勇和
臂力，他俩把匀称的海船分另u停驻在船队的两头。
女神在船上站定，发出一声可怕的喊叫，
尖利、刺耳，把巨大的勇力注入每一个阿开亚人的
心胸，要他们奋勇拼杀，不屈不挠地战斗。
现在，对于他们，比之驾着深旷的海船，
返回亲爱的故乡，战争是一件更为甜美的事情。
阿特柔斯之子亮开宏大的嗓门，命令阿开亚人
穿戴武装，自己亦动手披上锃亮的铜甲。
首先，他用胫甲裹住小腿，
精美的制品，带着银质的踝扣，
然后系上胸甲，掩起胸背，
基努拉斯的馈赠，作为象征客朋之谊的礼品。
阿开亚人即将乘船征伐特洛伊的要闻
飞到了遥远的塞浦路斯，基努拉斯
遂将此物赠送王者，以愉悦他的心怀。
胸甲上满缀着箍带，十条深蓝色的珐琅
十二条黄金，二十条白锡；及至咽喉的部位，
贴爬着珐琅勾出的长蛇，
每边三条，像跨天的长虹——克罗诺斯之子
把它们划上云朵，作为对凡人的兆示。
他挎起铜剑，剑柄上铆缀着
闪亮的金钉，锋刃裹藏在银质的
剑鞘，鞘边系着馏金的背带。然后，
他拿起一面掩罩全身的盾牌，精工铸就，
坚实、壮观。盾面上环绕着十个铜围，
夹嵌着二十个闪着白光的圆形锡块；
正中是一面凸起的珐琅，颜色深蓝，
像个拱冠，突现出戈耳工的脸谱，面貌狰狞，
闪射出凶残的眼光，同近旁的骚乱和恐惧相辉映。
背带上白银闪烁，缠绕着一条
黑蓝色的盘蛇，卷蜷着身子，
一颈三头，东张西望。接着，
他戴上头盔，挺着两支硬角，四个突结，
顶着马鬃的盔冠，摇撼出镇人的威严。
最后，他抓起两校粗长的枪矛，挑着锋快的铜尖，
铜刃闪着耀眼的寒光，射向苍茫的蓝天。
见此景状，赫拉和雅典娜投出一个响雷，
嘉赏来自金宝之地的王者，慕凯奈的主宰。
其时，头领们命嘱各自的驭手
勒马沟沿，排成整齐的队列，
自己则跳下马车，全副武装，涌向
壕沟；经久不息的吼声回荡在初展的空间。
他们排开战斗队列，向壕沟挺进，远远地走在驭手的前面，
后者驾着马车，随后跟进。克罗诺斯之子在队伍里
激起芜杂和喧闹，从高空
降下一阵血雨，决意要把大群
强壮的武士投入哀地斯的府居。
在壕沟的另一边，平原的高处，兵勇们
围聚在头领们身边，特洛伊人的首领，
高大的赫克托耳、壮实的普鲁达马斯。
埃内阿斯——特洛伊人敬他，在他们的地域，如同敬神一般，
以及安忒诺耳的三个儿子，波鲁波斯、卓越的阿格诺耳
和神一样的阿卡马斯，英俊的小青年。
赫克托耳，挺着溜圆的战后，站在队伍的最前排，
像一颗不祥的星宿，在夜空的云朵里露出头脸，
闪烁着耀眼的光芒，然后又隐入云层和黑夜，
赫克托耳时而活跃在队伍的前列，
时而又敦促后面的兵勇们向前，铜盔铜甲，
闪闪发光，像父亲宙斯，带埃吉斯的天神投出的闪电。
勇士们，像两队割庄稼的好手，面对面地
步步进逼，在一个富人的农田，收割
小麦或大麦，手脚麻利地扫断一片片茎秆，
特洛伊人和阿开亚人咄咄逼近，你杀我砍，
双方争先恐后，谁也不想后退——后退意味着毁灭。
战斗的重压迫使他们针锋相对，
像狼一样疯狂。望着此般情景，喜见痛苦、乐闻惨叫的争头笑
开了眉眼。长生不老者中，只有她伴视着这场仇杀，
其他神明全都不在此地，静静地呆在遥远的
房居——在俄林波斯的脊背，
每位神祗都有一座宏伟的宫殿。
其时，他们都在抱怨克罗诺斯之子，席卷乌云的宙斯，
怪他不该把光荣赐给特洛伊兵汉。
对神们的抱怨，父亲满不在乎；他避离众神，
独自坐在高处，陶醉于自己的荣烈，
俯视着特洛伊人的城堡和阿开亚人的海船，
望着闪闪的铜光，人杀人和人被人杀的场面。
伴随着清晨的中移和渐增的神圣的日光，
双方的投械频频中的，打得尸滚人亡。
然而，及至樵夫备好食餐，在林木
繁茂的山谷——他已砍倒一棵棵大树，此时
感觉到腿脚的疲软，心中生发出厌倦之意，
渴望用香甜的食物充饱饥渴的肠胃——
就在其时，达奈人振奋斗志，打散了特洛伊人的队阵，
互相频频招呼呐喊。阿伽门农
第一个冲上前去，杀了比厄诺耳，兵士的牧者，
接着又放倒了他的伙伴俄伊琉斯，鞭赶战车的勇士。
俄伊琉斯从马后跳下，站稳脚跟，
怒气冲冲地扑向阿伽门农，后者，用锋快的枪矛，
打烂了他的脸颊，青铜的盔缘挡不住枪尖——
它穿过坚硬的缘层和颊骨，溅捣出
喷飞的脑浆。就这样，民众的王者阿伽门农
杀了怒气冲冲的俄伊琉斯，让死者躺在原地，
袒露出鲜亮的胸脯——他已剥去他们的衣衫。
接着，他又扑向伊索斯和安提福斯，杀剥了
普里阿摩斯的两个儿子，一个私生，另一个出自合法的婚娶，
两人同乘一辆战车，由私出的伊索斯执缰，
著名的安提福斯站在他的身边。在此之前，
阿基琉斯曾抓过他们——其时，他俩正牧羊在伊达的
坡面——缚之以坚韧的柳条，以后又收取赎礼，放入生还。
这一次，阿特柔斯之子，统治着辽阔疆域的阿伽门农，
击倒了伊索斯——投枪扎进胸脯，奶头的上面——
剑劈了安提福斯，砍在耳朵上，把他撂下马车。
他急不可待，剥取了两套绚丽的盔甲，他所
熟悉的精品，以前曾经见过他们，在迅捷的海船边——
捷足的阿基琉斯曾把他们带到此地，从伊达山坡。
像一头狮子，闯进鹿穴，逮住
奔鹿的幼仔，裂开它们的皮肉，用尖利的牙齿，
捣碎颈骨，抓出鲜嫩的心脏。
即便母鹿置身近旁，却也无能为力，
已被吓得一愣一愣，浑身剧烈颤嗦。
突然，它撒腿跑开，蹿行在谷地的林间，
热汗淋漓，惟恐逃不出猛兽的扑击。
就像这样，特洛伊人谁也救不了这两个伙伴；
面对阿耳吉维人的进攻，他们自身难保，遑遑逃命。
接着，他又抓住了裴桑得罗斯和犟悍的希波洛科斯，
聪明的安提马科斯的儿子——此人接受了
亚历克山德罗斯的黄金，丰厚的礼物，受惠最多，
故而反对把阿耳戈斯的海伦交还棕发的墨奈劳斯。
现在，强有力的阿伽门农抓住了这对兄弟，
在同一辆车里，一起驾驭着奔跑的快马，
眼见阿特柔斯之子像狮子似地冲到
面前，两人惊慌失措，滑落了
手中的缰绳，在车上哀声求告：
“活捉我们，阿特柔斯之子，取受足份的赎礼。
在安提马科斯家里，财宝堆积如山，
有青铜、黄金和艰工冶铸的灰铁——
家父会用难以数计的财礼欢悦你们的心房，
要是听说我俩还活在阿开亚人的海船旁。”
就这样，他俩对着王者嚎啕，悲悲戚戚，
苦求饶命，但听到的却是一番无情的回言：
“你俩真是聪明的安提马科斯的儿子？
那家伙以前曾在特洛伊人的集会中主张
就地杀了墨奈劳斯——作为使者，他和神一样的
俄底修斯前往谈判——不让他回返阿开亚人的乡园。
现在，你们将付出血的代价，为乃父的凶残。”
言罢，他一把揪出裴桑德罗斯，把他扔下马车，
一枪捅进他的胸膛，将他仰面打翻在泥地上。
希波洛科斯跳下马车，试图逃跑，被阿特柔斯之子杀死，
挥剑截断双臂，砍去头颅，
像一根旋转的木头，倒在战场上。他丢下
死者，扑向敌方溃散的军伍，人群最密集的
去处，其他胫甲坚固的阿开亚亦跟随左右，一同杀去。
一时间，步战者杀死，面对强大的攻势，撤腿逃跑的步战者，
赶车的杀死赶车的，隆隆作响的马蹄在平原上
刨起一柱柱泥尘，纷纷扬扬地翻腾在驭者的脚板下。
他们用青铜杀人，而强有力的阿伽门农
总是冲锋在前，大声催励着阿耳吉维人。
像一团荡扫一切的烈火，卷人一片昌茂的森林，
挟着风势，到处伸出腾腾的火苗，
焚烧着丛丛灌木，把它们连根端起一样，
面对阿特桑斯之子阿伽门农的奔杀，逃跑中的特洛伊人
一个接一个地倒下，一群群颈脖粗壮的驭马
拖着空车，颠簸在战场的车道，
思盼着高傲的驭者，而他们却已躺倒在地，
成为兀鹫，而不是他们的妻子，喜爱的对象。
但是，宙斯已把赫克托耳拉出纷飞的兵械和泥尘，
拉出人死人亡的地方，避离了血泊和混乱，
而阿特柔斯之子却步步追逼，催督达奈人向前。
特洛伊人全线崩溃，撤过老伊洛斯。
达耳达诺斯之子的坟茔，逃过平野的中部和无花果树一线，
试图退回城堡。阿特桑斯之子紧追不舍，声嘶
力竭地喊叫，克敌制胜的手上涂溅着泥血的斑迹。
然而，当特洛伊人退至斯卡亚门和橡树一带，
他们收住脚步，等候落后的伙伴。
尽管如此，平原中部仍有大群的逃兵，宛如在
一个漆黑的夜晚，被一头兽狮惊散的牛群，狮子
惊散了整个群队，但突至的死亡只是降扑一头牛身
——猛兽先用利齿咬断喉管，然后
大口吞咽血液，生食牛肚里的内脏。
就像这样，阿特桑斯之子、强有力的阿伽门农奋勇追击，
一个接一个地杀死掉在最后的兵勇，把他们赶得遑遑奔逃。
许多人从车上摔滚下来，有的嘴啃泥尘，有的四脚朝天，
吃不住阿特柔斯之子的重击——他手握枪矛，冲杀在队伍的
前列。但是，当他准备杀向城堡，杀向
陡峭的围墙时，神和人的父亲从天上
下来，坐在泉流众多的伊达的
脊背，紧握着他的响雷。
他要金翅膀的伊里丝动身前往，带着他的口信：
“去吧，快捷的伊里丝，把我的话语带给赫克托耳。
只要看到阿伽门农，兵士的牧者，
和前排的首领冲杀在一起，放倒成队的兵勇，
他就应回避不前，但要督促部属，
迎战杀敌，进行艰烈的拼搏。但是，
一旦此人挂彩负伤，受到投枪或羽箭的飞袭，
从马后跳上战车，我就会把勇力赐给赫克托耳，
让他杀人，一直杀到凳板坚固的海船，
杀到太阳西沉，神圣的夜晚笼罩一切。”
言罢，腿脚追风的伊里丝谨遵不违，
冲下伊达的脊背，直奔神圣的伊利昂，
找到睿智的国王普里阿摩斯的儿子，卓越的赫克托耳，
挺立在战车和驭马边。快腿的
伊里丝停降在他的身旁，说道：
“普里阿摩斯之子，和宙斯一样精擅谋略的赫克托耳，
听听父亲宙斯差我给你捎来的信言。
只要看到阿伽门农，兵士的牧者，
和前排的首领冲杀在一起，放倒成队的兵勇，
你就应回避不前，但要督促部属，
迎战杀敌，进行艰烈的拼搏。但是，
一旦阿伽门农挂彩负伤，受到投枪或羽箭的飞袭，
从马后回登战车，宙斯就会给你勇力，
让你杀人，一直杀到凳板坚固的海船，
杀到太阳西沉，神圣的夜晚笼罩一切。”
言罢，快腿的伊里丝离他而去。
赫克托耳跳下战车，全身披挂，
挥舞着两条锋快的枪矛，巡跑在全军各处，
催励兵勇们冲杀，挑起浴血的苦战。
特洛伊人转过身子，站稳脚跟，接战阿开亚兵勇，
而阿耳吉维人亦收拢队阵，针锋相对，
面对面地摆开近战的架势；阿伽门农
一马当先，试图远远地抢在别人前头，迎战敌手。
告诉我，家住俄林波斯的缪斯，
特洛伊人或他们那远近闻名的盟友中，
迎战阿伽门农，谁个最先站立出来？
伊菲达马斯首先出战，安忒诺耳之子，身材魁梧壮实，
生长在土地肥沃的斯拉凯，羊群的母亲。
当他年幼之时，基塞斯在自己家里把他养大，
基塞斯，他母亲的父亲，生女塞阿诺，一位漂亮的姑娘。
然而，当他长成一个身强力壮的小伙，
基塞斯试图把他留下，嫁出一个女儿，作为他的妻配。
婚后不久，他就离开新房，统兵出战，受到一则传闻的
激诱——
阿开亚人的队伍已在特洛伊登岸——率领十二条弯翘的
海船。他把木船留在裴耳科斯，
徒步参战伊利昂。现在，他将在此
迎战阿伽门农，阿特柔斯的儿男。
他俩相对而行，咄咄逼近，
阿特柔斯之子出手投枪，未中，枪尖擦过他的身边，
但伊菲达马斯却出枪中的，打在胸甲下，腰带的层面，
压上全身的重量，自信于强有力的臂膀。
尽管如此，他却不能穿透闪亮的腰带，
枪头顶到白银，马上卷了刃尖，像松软的铅块。
阿伽门农，统治着辽阔疆域的王者，抓住枪矛，
抵捅回去，狂烈得像一头狮子，把枪杆
攥出他的手心，然后举剑砍进脖子，松软了他的肢腿。
就这样，伊菲达马斯倒在地，像青铜一样不醒长眠。
可怜的人，前来帮助他的同胞，撇下自己的妻房，
他的新娘。妻子还不曾给他什么温暖，尽管他已付出丰厚的
财礼——先给了一百头牛，又答应下一千头
山羊或绵羊——他的羊群多得难以数计。
现在，阿伽门农，阿特柔斯之子，抢剥了他的所有，
带着璀璨的铠甲，回到阿开亚人的队伍。
科昂，勇士中出众的战将，安忒诺耳的
长子，目睹了此番情景，望着倒下的
兄弟，极度的悲痛模糊了他的眼睛。
他从一个侧面走来——强健的阿伽门农没有发现——
一枪扎中他的前臂，手肘的下面，
闪亮的枪尖挑穿了皮肉。
全军的统帅阿伽门农全身抖嗦，
但尽管如此，他也没有停止攻战，
而是扑向科昂，手握矛杆，取料疾风吹打出来的树村。
其时，科昂正拖起他父亲的儿子，他的兄弟伊菲达马斯，
抓住他的双脚，对着所有最勇敢的壮士呼喊。正当他
拉着兄弟的尸体，走入己方的队阵，阿伽门农出枪刺击，
藏身在突鼓的盾牌后面，铜尖的闪光酥软了他的肢腿。
他迈步上前，割下他的脑袋，翻滚着撞上伊菲达马斯的躯体。
此时此地，在王者阿伽门农手下，安忒诺耳的两个儿子
接受了命运的安排，坠入了死神的府居。
但是，阿伽门农仍然穿行在其他战勇的队伍，
继续奋战搏杀，用铜枪、战剑和大块的石头——
热血仍在不停地冒涌，从枪矛扎出的伤口。
然而，当血流凝止，伤口结痴愈合，
剧烈的疼痛开始削弱阿特桑斯之子的勇力，
像产妇忍受的强烈的阵痛，
掌管生产的精灵带来的苦楚——
赫拉的女儿们，主导痛苦的生育——
剧烈的疼痛削弱着阿特柔斯之子的勇力。
他跳上战车，招呼驭手，把他
送回深旷的海船，忍着钻心的疼痛。
他提高嗓门。用尖亮的声音对达奈人喊道：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们，
你等必须继续保卫我们破浪远洋的海船，
顶住特洛伊人猖狂的进攻——统掌一切的宙斯
已不让我和特洛伊人打到夜色稠浓的时候！”
言罢，驭者扬起皮鞭，催赶长鬃飘洒的骏马，
朝着深旷的海船，撒蹄飞跑，不带半点勉强。
它们拉着负伤的王者离开战场，
胸前汗水淋漓，肚下沾满纷扬的泥尘。
眼见阿伽门农撤出战斗，赫克托耳
亮开嗓门，高声呼喊，对着特洛伊人和鲁基亚战勇：
“特洛伊人，鲁基亚人和达耳达尼亚人，近战杀敌的勇士们！
拿出男子汉的气概，我的朋友们，鼓起狂烈的战斗激情！
他们中最好的战勇已被打离战场；宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，
已答应给我巨大的荣誉。驾起风快的骏马，直扑
强健的达奈人，为自己争得更大的光荣！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
恰似一位猎人，催赶犬牙闪亮的猎狗
扑向一头野兽，一头野猪或狮子，
普里阿摩斯之子赫克托耳，像杀人不眨眼的战神，
催励着心胸豪壮的特洛伊人，扑战阿开亚兵勇。
他自己更是雄心勃勃，大步迈进在队伍的最前排，
投入你死我活的拼搏，像一场突起的风暴，
从天空冲扫扑袭，掀起一层层波浪，在黑蓝色的洋面。
谁个最先死在他的手里，谁个最后被他送命——
既然宙斯已给他荣誉，他，赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯的儿子？
阿赛俄斯最先送命，接着是奥托努斯和俄丕忒斯，
然后是多洛普斯，克鲁提俄斯之子，以及俄裴尔提俄斯。
阿格劳斯埃苏姆诺斯、俄罗斯和源勇犟悍的希波努斯。
他杀了这些人，达奈人的首领，然后扑向
人马麇集的去处，像西风卷起的一阵狂飙，
击碎南风吹来的闪亮的云朵，
掀起汹涌的浪潮，兜着风力的
吹鼓，高耸的浪尖击撒出飞溅的水沫。
就像这样，兵群里，赫克托耳打落了簇挤的人头。
其时，战场将陷入极度的混乱，玉石俱焚的局面在所难免；
奔跑中的阿开亚人将匆匆忙忙地逃回海船，
怒气冲冲地杀奔在前排的军阵里，直到断送了宝贵的生命。
赫克托耳——隔着队列——看得真切，大吼一声，
对着他俩冲来，身后跟着一队队特洛伊兵丁。
目睹此番情景，啸吼战场的狄俄墨得斯吓得身腿发抖，
随即开口发话，对走来的俄底修斯嚷道：
“瞧，高大的赫克托耳，这峰该受诅咒的浊浪，正向我们扑来；
打吧，让我们顶住他的冲击，打退他的进攻！”
言罢，他持平落影森长的枪矛，奋臂投掷，
不偏不倚，正中目标，飞向他的脑袋，
头盔的顶脊。但是，铜枪击中铜盔，被顶了
回来，不曾擦着鲜亮的皮肤：盔盖抵住了枪矛——
这顶头盔，三层，带着孔眼，福伊波斯·阿波罗的赠品。
赫克托耳惊跳着跑出老远，回到己方的队阵，
曲腿跪地，撑出粗壮的大手，单臂吃受
身体的重力，黑色的夜雾蒙住了他的眼睛。
然而，当着图丢斯之子循着投枪的轨迹，
远离前排的勇士，前往枪尘扎咬泥尖的地点，
赫克托耳苏缓过来，跳上战车，
赶回大军集聚的地方，躲过了幽黑的死亡。
强健的狄俄墨得斯开口嚷道，摇晃着手中的枪矛：
“这回，又让你躲过了死亡，你这条恶狗！虽说如此，
也只是死里逃生；福伊波斯·阿波罗再一次救了你，’
这位你在投身密集的枪雨前必须对之祈诵的仙神！
但是，我们还会再战，那时，我将把你结果，
倘若我的身边也有一位助信的尊神。
眼下，我要去追杀别的战勇，任何我可以赶上的敌人！”
言罢，他动手解剥派昂善使枪矛的儿子。
其时，亚历克山德罗斯，美发海伦的夫婿，
对着图丢斯之子，兵士的牧者，拉开了强弓，
靠着石柱，人工筑成，竖立在伊洛斯时
坟陵——伊洛斯，达耳达诺斯之子，古时统领民众的长者。
其时、狄俄墨得斯正动手粗壮的阿伽斯特罗福斯的胸面，
枪剥战甲，从他的肩头卸下捏亮的盾牌，
伸手摘取沉重的头盔——帕里斯扣紧弓心，
张弦放箭。羽箭出手，不曾虚发，
中标右足的脚面，透过脚背，
扎入泥层。亚历克山德罗斯见状放声大笑，
从藏身之地跳将出来，带着胜利的喜悦，高声喊道：
“你被击中了，我的羽箭不曾虚发！要是它能
深扎进你的肚腹，夺走你的生命，那该有多绝！
这样，见了你发抖的特洛伊人——恰似咩咩叫唤的山羊
碰到狮子——便可在遭受重创之后，争得一个喘息的机会。”
听罢这番话，强健的狄俄墨得斯面无惧色，厉声答道：
“你这耍弓弄箭的蹩脚货，卑鄙的斗士，甩着秀美的发绺，
如果你敢拿起武器，和我面对面地开打，
你的弓弩和纷飘的箭矢都将帮不了你的软弱。
你只是擦破了我的脚面，却说出此番狂言。
谁会介意呢？一个没有头脑的孩子或一个妇人也可以如此
伤我。一个窝囊废，一个胆小鬼的箭头，岂会有伤人的犀利？
但是，倘若有人被我击中，哪怕只是擦个边儿，情况可就大不
一般——枪尖锐利锋快，顷刻之间即可放血封喉。
他的妻床会在悲哭中抓破脸面，
他的孩子将变成无父的孤儿，而他自己只能泼血染地，
腐损霉烂。在他周围，成群的兀鹫将多于哭尸的女辈！”
他言罢，著名的枪手俄底修斯赶至近旁，
站在他的面前，使他得以坐下，在俄底修斯身后，从脚上
拔出锋快的箭镞，剧烈的楚痛撕咬着他的皮肉。
狄俄墨得斯跳上战车，招呼驭手，
把他带回深旷的海船，忍着钻心的疼痛。
这样，那一带就只剩下俄底修斯光杆一人，身边
再也找不到一个阿耳吉维战勇——恐惧驱跑了所有的
兵汉。焦虑中，他对自己豪莽的心魂说道：
“哦，我的天！我将面临何种境况？倘若惧怕
眼前的敌群，撒腿回跑，那将是一种耻辱；但若
只身被抓，后果就更难设想；克罗诺斯之子已驱使其他达奈人
逃离。然而，为何争辩，我的心魂？
我知道，不战而退是懦夫的行径；
谁要想在战场上争得荣誉，就必须
站稳脚跟，勇敢顽强，要么击倒别人，要么被别人杀倒。”
正当他权衡斟酌之际，在他的心里和魂里，
特洛伊人全副武装的队列已在向他逼近，
把他团团围住——围出了他们自己的死亡。
像一群猎狗和精力充沛的年轻人，围住一头野猪，
猛扑上去，而野猪则冲出茂密的灌木，它的窝巢，
在弯翘的颚骨上磨快了雪白的尖牙利齿，
狗和猎人从四面冲来，围攻中可以听到獠牙
咋咋的声响——然而，尽管此曾来势凶猛，他们却毫不退让。
就像这样，特洛伊人冲扑上来，步步逼近宙斯钟爱的
俄底修斯。他首先击倒高贵的德伊俄丕忒斯，
锋快的投枪从高处落下，扎在肩膀上。
接着，他杀了索昂和厄诺摩斯，然后又
宰了正从车上下跳的开耳西达马斯，枪尖
捣在肚脐上，从鼓起的盾牌下；
后者随即倒地，手抓泥尘。
俄底修斯丢下死者，出枪断送了希帕索斯之子
卡罗普斯，富人索科斯的兄弟。索科斯
快步赶来，神一样的凡人，前往保护他的兄弟，
行至俄底修斯近旁站定，高声喊道：
“受人赞扬的俄底修斯，喜诈不疲、贪战不厌的斗士！
今天，你要么杀了希帕索斯的两个儿子，两个像
我们这样的人，剥走战甲，吹嘘一番，
要么倒死在我的枪下，送掉你的性命！”
言罢，他出枪击中俄底修斯身前溜圆的战盾，
沉重的枪尖深扎进闪亮的盾面，
挑开精工制作的胸甲，
捅裂了肋骨边的皮肉；然而，
帕拉丝·雅典娜不让枪尖触及他的要害。
俄底修斯心知此伤不会致命，
往后退了几步，对着索科斯嚷道：
“可怜的东西，可知惨暴的死亡即将砸碎你的脑袋！
不错，你挡住了我的进攻，对特洛伊人的攻杀，
但是，我要直言相告，今天，就在此时此地，死亡和乌黑的
命运将要和你见面！你将死在我的枪下，给我送来
光荣，把自己的灵魂交付驾驭名驹的死神！”
他言罢，索科斯转过身子，撒腿便跑，
然而，就在转身之际，枪矛击中脊背，
双脚之间，长驱直入，穿透了胸脯。
他随即倒地，轰然一声；神勇的俄底修斯开口吹嚷，喊道：
“索科斯，聪明的驯马者希帕索斯的儿子，
死亡追上并放倒了你；你躲不过它的追击。
可怜的东西，你的父亲和尊贵的母亲
将不能为你合上眼睛；利爪的兀鹫
会扒开你的皮肉，双翅击打着你的躯体！要是我
死了，我却可得到体面的葬礼，卓越的阿开亚人一定不会忘怀。”
言罢，他从身上拔出聪颖的索科斯扎入的
沉甸甸的枪矛，穿过突鼓的战后；枪尖高身，
带出涌注的鲜血，使他看后心寒。
然而，心胸豪壮的特洛伊人，看到俄底修斯身上的鲜血，
高兴得大叫起来，在混乱的人群中，一窝蜂似地向他扑赶。
俄底修斯开始退却，大声呼唤他的伙伴，
连叫三次，声音大到人脑可以承受的极限。
嗜战的墨奈劳斯三次听见他的喊声，
马上对离他不远的埃阿斯说道：
“忒拉蒙之子，宙斯的后裔，兵士的牧者埃阿斯，
我的耳旁震响着坚忍的俄底修斯的喊叫；
从声音来判断，他好像已只身陷入重围，而特洛伊人
正在发起强攻，打得他喘不过气来。
让我们穿过人群，最好能把他搭救出来。
我担心他会受到特洛伊人的伤损，孤身一人，
虽然他很勇敢——对达奈兵众，这将是莫大的损害。”
言罢，他领头先行，埃阿斯随后跟进，神一样的凡人。
他们看见宙斯钟爱的俄底修斯正被特洛伊人
围迫不放，如同一群黄褐色的豺狗，在那大山之上，
围杀一头带角的公鹿，新近受过
猎人的箭伤，一枝离弦的利箭，生逃出来，
急速奔跑，只因伤口还冒着热血，腿脚尚且灵捷。
但是，当迅跑的飞箭最终夺走它的活力，
贪婪的豺狗马上开始撕嚼地上的尸躯，在山上
枝叶繁茂的树林里。然而，当某位神明导来一头
凶狠的兽狮，豺狗便吓得遑遑奔逃，把佳肴留给后来者吞食。
就像这样，勇莽的特洛伊人围住聪慧的、头脑灵活的
俄底修斯。成群结队，但英雄
挥舞枪矛，左冲右突，挡开无情的死亡。
其时，埃阿斯向他跑来，携着墙面似的盾牌，
站在他的前面，吓得特洛伊人四散奔逃。
嗜战的墨奈劳斯抓住俄底修斯的手，带着他
冲出人群，而他的驭手则赶着车马，跑至他们身边。
随后，埃阿斯蹽开大步，扑向特洛伊人，击倒多鲁克洛斯，
普里阿摩斯的私生子，接着又放倒了潘多科斯，
鲁桑得罗斯、普拉索斯和普拉耳忒斯。
像一条泛滥的大河，从山上浩浩荡荡地
泻入平野，推涌着宙斯倾注的雨水，
冲走众多枯干的橡树和成片的
松林，直到激流卷着大堆的树村，闯入大海——
光荣的埃阿斯冲荡在平原上，追逐奔跑，
杀马屠人。然而，赫克托耳却还不知这边的
战况，因他搏杀在战场的左侧，
斯卡曼得罗斯河边——那里，人头成片地落地，
远非其他地方所能比及；无休止的喧嚣
围裹着高大的奈斯托耳和嗜战的伊多墨纽斯。
赫克托耳正和这些人打斗，以他的枪矛和驾车技巧
重创敌军，横扫着年轻人的军阵。
尽管如此，卓越的阿开亚人仍然不予退让，
若不是亚历克山德罗斯，美发海伦的夫婿，
击伤兵士的牧者，奋勇冲杀的马卡昂，
用一枝带着三个倒钩的羽箭，射中他的右肩。
怒气冲冲的阿开亚人此时替他担心，
担心随着战局的变化，敌人会出手杀倒马卡昂。
伊多墨纽斯当即发话，对卓越的奈斯托耳喊道：
“奈斯托耳，奈琉斯之子，阿开亚人的光荣和骄傲！
赶快行动，登上马上，让马卡昂上车呆在
你的身边，驾着风快的驭马，全速前进，赶回海船。
一位医者抵得上一队兵丁——
他能挖出箭镞，敷设愈治伤痛的药剂。”
图丢斯之子言罢，格瑞尼亚的车战者奈斯托耳谨遵不违，
即刻踏上战车；马卡昂，大医士
阿斯克勒丕俄斯之子随即登车同行。
他手起鞭落，驭马扬蹄飞跑，不带半点勉强。
直奔深旷的海船，它们心驰神往的地方。
战车上，开勃里俄奈斯，站在赫克托耳身边，
眼见特洛伊人的退败之势，对他的同伴说道：
“赫克托耳，你我置身战场的边沿，拼战达奈人，
在这场惨烈的杀斗中；别地的特洛伊兵勇
已被打得七零八落，人马拥挤，乱作一团。
忒拉蒙之子追杀着他们，我已认出他来，不会有错——
瞧他肩头的那面硕大的战盾。赶快，
让我们驾着马车赶去，去那战斗最烈
的地方，驭手和步兵们正
喋血苦战，拼斗搏杀，喊声不绝。”
言罢，他举起脆响的皮鞭，驱赶
长鬃飘洒的骏马，后者受到鞭击，迅速
拉起飞滚的战车，奔驰在两军之间，
踏过死人和盾牌，轮轴沾满
飞溅的血点，马蹄和飞旋的
轮缘压出四散的污血，喷洒在
围绕车身的条杆。赫克托耳全力以赴，准备插入
纷乱的人群，冲垮他们，打烂他们——他给
达奈人带来了混乱和灾难，全然不顾纷飞的
枪矛[●]，冲杀在其他战勇的队阵，
●全然……的枪矛：或为不停地操使着枪矛。
奋战搏杀，用铜枪、战剑和大块的石头。
不过，他仍然避不击战埃阿斯，忒拉蒙的儿子。
其时，坐镇山巅的父亲宙斯已开始催动埃阿斯回退。
他木然站立，膛目结舌，将七层牛皮制成的巨盾甩至背后，
移退几步，目光扫过人群，像一头野兽，
转过身子，一步步地回挪。
宛如一头黄褐它的狮子，被狗和猎人
从拦着牛群的庄院赶开——他们整夜
监守，不让它撕食言牛的肥膘；
俄狮贪恋牛肉的肥美，临近扑去，
但却一无所获——雨点般的枪矛迎面
砸来，投自粗壮的大手，另有那腾腾
燃烧的火把，吓得它，尽管凶狂，退缩不前；
随着黎明的降临，饿狮怏怏离去，心绪颓败。
就像这样，埃阿斯从特洛伊人面前回退，心情沮丧，
勉勉强强，违心背意，担心阿开亚人的海船，它们的安危。
像一头难以推拉的犟驴，由男孩们牵着行进，
闯入一片庄稼地里，尽管打断了一根根枝棍，
但它照旧往里躬行，咽嚼着穗头簇拥的谷粒；
男孩们挥枝抽打，但毕竟重力有限，
最后好不容易把它撵出农田，但犟驴已吃得肚饱溜圆。
就像这样，心志高昂的特洛伊人和来自遥远地带的盟友们，
紧紧追赶神勇的埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子，
不时把投枪击打在巨盾的中心。
埃阿斯，再次鼓起狂烈的战斗激情，时而
回头扑向特洛伊人，驯马的好手，打退他们的
队伍，时而又掉转身子，大步回跑。
但是，他挡住了他们，不让一个敌人冲向迅捷的海船，
子身挺立，拼杀在阿开亚兵壮和特洛伊人
之间的战阵。飞来的枪矛，出自特洛伊斗士粗壮的
大手，有的直接打在巨盾上，另有许多
落在两军之间，不曾碰着白亮的皮肤，
扎在泥地上，带着撕咬人肉的欲念。
其时，欧鲁普洛斯，埃阿蒙光荣的儿子，
眼见埃阿斯正受到投枪的追击，劈头盖脸的枪雨，
跑去站在他的身边，投出闪亮的枪矛，
击中阿丕萨昂，法乌西阿斯之子，兵士的牧者，
打在肝脏上，横隔膜下，当即酥软了他的膝腿。
欧鲁普洛斯跳上前去，抢剥铠甲，从他的肩头。
但是，当神一样的亚历克山德罗斯
发现他的作为，马上拉紧弓弦，射向
欧鲁普洛斯，箭头扎入右边的股腿，
崩断了箭杆，剧烈的疼痛钻咬进大腿的深处。
为了躲避死亡，他退回己方的伴群，
提高嗓门，用尖亮的声音对达奈人喊道：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们！
大家转过身去，站稳脚跟，为埃阿斯挡开这冷酷的
死亡之日，他已被投枪逼打得难以抬头。
我想，他恐怕逃不出这场悲苦的战斗。
站稳脚跟，面对忒拉蒙之子、大个子埃阿斯周围的敌人。”
带伤的欧鲁普洛斯言罢，伙伴们冲涌过来，
站在他的身边，把盾牌斜靠在他的肩上，挡住
投枪。其时，埃阿斯跑来和他们聚会，
转过身子，站稳脚跟，置身己方的队阵。
就这样，他们奋力搏杀，像熊熊的烈火。与此同时，
奈琉斯的驭马拉着奈斯托耳撤出战斗，
热汗淋漓；同往的还有马卡昂，兵士的牧者。
其时，捷足的斗士、卓越的阿基琉斯看到并认出了马卡昂，
站在那条巨大、深旷的海船的尾部，
了望着这场殊死的拼搏，可悲的追杀。
他随即发话，招呼伙伴帕特罗克洛斯，
从他站立的船上；后者听到呼声，跑出营棚，
像战神一般。然而，也就在这一时刻，死亡开始盯上了他。
墨诺伊提俄斯强壮的儿子首先启口，问道：
“为何叫我，阿基琉斯？有何吩咐？”
言毕。捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“墨诺伊提俄斯卓越的儿子，使我欢心的伴友，
现在，我想，阿开亚人会跑来抱住我的膝腿，
哀声求告；战局的严酷已超过他们可以忍受的程度。
去吧，宙斯钟爱的帕特罗克洛斯，找到奈斯托耳，
问他伤者是谁，那个他从战场上带回的壮勇。
从背后望去，此人极像马卡昂，
阿斯克勒丕俄斯之子，从头到脚都像，但我还不曾见着
他的脸面——驭马急驶而过，跑得飞快。”
帕特罗克洛斯得令而去，遵从亲爱的伙伴，
扯开腿步，沿着阿开亚人的营棚和海船。
其时，奈斯托耳来到自己的营房：
他俩跳下马车，踏上丰肥的土地，驭手
欧鲁墨冬从车下宽出老人的
驭马。他们吹晾着衣衫上的汗水，
站在海边的清风里，然后
走进营棚，坐在高背的木椅上。
发辫秀美的赫卡墨得为他们调制了一份饮料，
心志豪莽的阿耳西努斯的女儿，奈斯托耳的战礼，
得之于忒奈多斯——阿基琉斯攻破这座城堡后，阿开亚人
把此女挑给奈斯托耳，因为他比谁都更善谋略。
首先，她摆下一张桌子，放在他们面前，一张漂亮的
餐桌，平整光滑，安着珐琅的支腿，然后
放上一只铜篮，装着蒜头，下酒的佳品，
以及淡黄色的蜂蜜和用神圣的大麦做成的面食。
接着，她把一只做工精致的杯盏放在篮边，此杯
系老人从家里带来，用金钉铆连，有四个
把手，每一个上面停栖着两只
啄食的金鸽，垫着双层的底座。
满斟时，一般人要咬紧牙关，方能把它从桌面端起，
但奈斯托耳，虽然上了年纪，却可做得轻而易举。
用这个杯子，举止不逊女神的赫卡墨得，用普拉姆内亚美酒，
为他们调制了一份饮料，擦进用山羊奶做就的乳酪，
用一个青铜的锉板，然后撒上雪白的大麦——
调制停当，她便恭请二位喝饮。
两人喝罢，消除了喉头的焦渴，
开始享受谈话的愉悦，你来我往地道说起来。
其时，帕特罗克洛斯来到门前，止步，一位像神一样的凡人。
见到他，老人从闪亮的座椅上惊跳起来，
握住他的手，引他进来，让他人坐。
但帕特罗克洛斯却站在他的对面，拒绝道：
“现在，宙斯钟爱的老人家，可不是下坐的时候。你说服不
了我。此人可敬，但极易发怒，他差我弄清，那位由你
带回的伤者究为何人。现在，我已亲眼见到，
他是马卡昂，兵士的牧者。我将
即刻赶回，把此番信息报给阿基琉斯。
你也知道，老人家，宙斯钟爱的老战士，他是什么样的人——
刚烈、粗暴，甚至可对一个无辜之人动怒发火。”
听罢这番话，格瑞尼亚的车战者奈斯托耳答道：
“阿基琉斯才不会伤心呢，为被投枪击伤的
阿开亚人的儿子们。军中滋长的悲戚
之情，他哪里知道！全军最勇敢的战将
都已卧躺船边，带着剑伤或枪痕。
图丢斯之子、强健的秋俄墨得斯已被羽箭射伤，
俄底修斯则身带枪痕，著名的枪手阿伽门农亦然；
欧鲁普洛斯大腿中箭，还有
我刚从战场上带回的马卡昂，
已被离弦的羽箭射伤。但阿基琉斯，
虽然骁勇，却既不关心，也不怜悯达奈人。
他要等到什么时候？等到猖撅的烈火
烧掉海边的快船，冲破阿耳吉维人的阻拦？
等到我们自己都被宰杀，一个接着一个？我的四肢
已经弯曲，早先的力气已经不复存在。
但愿我能重返青壮，浑身都是力气，
就像当年一样——那时，我们和厄利斯人打了一场械斗，
为了抢夺牛群；其时，我亲手杀了伊图摩纽斯，
呼裴罗斯勇敢的儿子，家住厄利斯。
出于报复，我要抢夺他的牛群，而他却为保卫
畜群而战，被我投枪击中，倒在前排的
壮勇里，吓得那帮村民落荒而逃。
从平野上，我们夺得并赶走了何等壮观的畜群：
五十群牛，同等数量的绵羊，同样数量的
肥猪，以及同样多的成片的山羊，
还有棕黄色的骤马，总共一百五十匹，
许多还带着驹崽，哺吮在腹胯下。
夜色里，我们把畜群赶进普洛斯，
哄进奈琉斯的城堡。家父心花怒放，
见我掠得这许多牲畜，小小年纪，即已经历了一场拼搏。
翌日拂晓，信使们扯开清亮的嗓门，
招呼所有有权向富庶的厄利斯人讨还冤债的民众，统统出来。
普洛斯的首领们聚在一块，分发战礼；
需要偿还所失者，人数众多，因为
我们普洛斯人少，故而长期遭受他们的凌辱。
多年前，强有力的赫拉克勒斯曾来攻打，
击败了我们，打死了我们中最骠健的壮勇。
高贵的奈琉斯有十二个儿子，现在
只剩下我，其余的都已作古。
这些事情助长了身披铜甲的厄利斯人的凶傲，
他们肆虐狂蛮，兴兵征伐，使我们受害至深。
老人从战礼中挑了一群牛和一大群羊，
总数三百，连同牧人一起——
富足的厄利斯人欠了他一大笔冤债：
四匹争夺奖品的赛马，外带一辆马车。
那一年，马儿拉着战车，参加比赛，争夺三脚铜鼎，
不料奥格亚斯，民众的王者，扣留并占夺了车马，
遣走驭者，让他踏上归程，带着思马的烦愁。
所以，年迈的奈琉斯，出于对仇人言行的愤怒，
择取了一份极丰厚的战礼，并把其余的交给众人，
由他们分配，使每人都能得到公平的份子。
就这样，我们一边处理战礼，一边在全城
敬祭神明。到了第三天，厄利斯人大军出动，
举兵进犯，大队的兵勇和风快的战马，
全速前进，带着两个披甲的战勇，摩利俄奈斯兄弟，
小小年纪，尚不十分精擅狂烈的拼搏。多沙的
普洛斯境内有一座城堡，斯罗厄萨，矗立在陡峭的山岩，
远离阿菲俄斯河，地处边睡。他们
包围了这座石城，急不可待地试图攻破。
然而，当他们扫过整个平原，雅典娜冲破
夜色，向我们跑来，来自俄林波斯的使者，召呼我们武装
备战。在普洛斯，他所招聚的不是一支行动迟滞缓慢的军队，
而是一帮求战心切的兵勇。其时，奈琉斯
不让我披挂上阵，藏起了我的驭马，
以为我尚不精熟战争的门道。
所以，我只得徒步参战，但仍然突显在
车战者中——雅典娜安排着这场战斗。
那地方有一条河流，米努埃俄斯，在阿瑞奈附近
倒人大海。河岸边，我们等待着神圣的黎明，
我们，普洛斯车战者的营伍和蜂拥而至的步兵。
我们以最快的速度全身披挂，整队出发，
及至中午时分，行至神圣的阿尔菲俄斯河岸。
在那里，我们用肥美的牲品祀祭力大无比的宙斯，
给阿尔菲俄斯和波塞冬各祭了一头公牛；此外，
还牵过一头从未上过轭架的母牛，献给灰眼睛的雅典娜。
然后，我们吃过晚饭，以编队为股，
就着甲械，躺倒睡觉，枕着湍急的
水流。与此同时，心胸豪壮的厄利斯人
已挥师围城，心急火燎，期待着捣毁墙门。
但是，城门未破，战神却已在他们面前展现他的杰作。
当太阳在地平线上探出头脸，放出金色的光芒，
我们，祈告过宙斯和雅典娜，冲入了短兵相接的战斗。
普洛斯人和厄利斯人兵戎相见，
而我则首开杀戒，夺下一对风快的驭马，
杀了手提枪矛的慕利俄斯，奥格亚斯的女婿，
娶了他的长女，头发秀美的阿伽墨得——此女
识晓每一种药草，生长在广袤的大地——
当他迎面冲来时，我投出带着铜尖的枪矛，
将他击倒在泥尘里，尔后跳上他的战车。
和前排的壮勇们一起战斗。眼见此人倒地，
心胸豪壮的厄利斯人吓得四散奔逃，
因为他是车战者的首领，他们中最好的战勇。
我奋力追杀，像一股黑色的旋风，抢得
五十辆战车，每车二人，
在我枪下丧命，嘴啃泥尘。其时，我完全可以
杀了那两个年轻的兵勇，摩利俄奈斯兄弟，阿克托耳的
后代，要不是他俩的生身父亲，力大无穷的裂地之神，
把他们抢出战场，裹在浓浓的雾团里。
其时，宙斯给普洛斯人的双手增添了巨大的勇力，
我们紧追着敌人，在空旷的平野，
屠杀他们的战勇，捡剥精美的甲械，
车轮一直滚到盛产麦子的布普拉西昂和
俄勒尼亚石岩，以及人们称之为“阿勒西俄斯丘陵”
的高地。终于，雅典娜收住了我们的攻势，而我
也在那里放倒了我所杀死的最后一个人，弃尸而行。阿开亚人
赶着迅捷的驭马凯旋，从普拉西昂回到普洛斯。
全军上下，在神祗中，都把光荣归在宙斯名下；而在凡人中，他
们却把光荣给了奈斯托耳。
这，便是我，兵勇中的奈斯托耳——假如这不是一场梦幻。然
而，那个阿基琉斯，
他只能孤孤凄凄地享受勇力带来的好处；事实上，告诉你，
他将会痛哭流涕，只是为时已晚，在我们军队损失殆尽的
时候。
我的朋友，还记得临行前乃父对你的嘱告吗？
那一天，他让你离开弗西亚，前往聚会阿伽门农。
我们俩，卓越的俄底修斯和我，其时正在厅堂里，
耳闻了所说的一切，包括乃父对你的训告。
我们曾前往裴琉斯建筑精固的房居，
为招募壮勇，走遍了土地肥沃的阿开亚。
我们来到那里，发现英雄墨诺伊提俄斯已在屋内，还有你
和你身边的阿基琉斯。裴琉斯，年迈的车战者，
正在墙内的庭院，烧烤牛的肥腿，奉祭给
喜好炸雷的宙斯。他手拿金杯，
把闪亮的醇酒泼洒经受火焚的祭品。
其时，你俩正忙着肢解切割牛的躯体。当我们
行至门前站定，阿基琉斯惊诧地跳将起来，
抓住我们的手，引我们进屋，请我们人座，
摆出接待生客的佳肴，使来者得到应有的一切。
当我们满足了吃喝的愉悦，
我就开口说话，邀请你俩参战，
二位满口答应，聆听了两位父亲的教诲。
年迈的裴琉斯告诫阿基琉斯，他的儿子，
永远争做最好的战将，勇冠群雄。
而对你，墨诺伊提俄斯，阿克托耳之子，亦有一番嘱告：
‘我的孩子，论血统，阿基琉斯远比你高贵，
但你比他年长。他比你有力，远比你有力，
但你要给他一些忠告，有益的劝导，
为他指明方向。他会顾及自己的进益，听从你的劝告。’
这便是老人对你的嘱咐，而你却已忘得一干二净。然而，即便
是现在，
你仍可进言聪明的阿基琉斯，他或许还会听从你的劝说。
谁知道呢？凭藉神的助信，你或许可用恳切的规劝
唤起他的激情；朋友的劝说自有它的功益。
但是，倘若他心知的某个预言拉了他的后腿，
倘若他那尊贵的母亲已告诉他某个得之于宙斯的信息，
那就让他至少派你出战，率领其他慕耳弥冬人——
你的出现或许可给达亲人带来一线胜利的曙光。
让他给你那套璀璨的铠甲，他的属物，穿着它投入战斗；
这样，特洛伊人或许会把你当他，停止进攻的
步伐，使苦战中的阿开亚人的儿子们得获一次喘息的机会——
他们已精疲力尽。战场上，喘息的时间总是那样短暂。
你们，息养多时的精兵，面对久战衰惫的敌人，可以
一鼓作气，把他们赶回特洛伊，远离我们的营棚和海船。”
奈斯托耳一番说道，催发了帕特罗克洛斯胸中的战斗
激情，他沿着海船跑去，回见阿基琉斯，埃阿科斯的后代。
然而，当帕特罗克洛斯跑至高贵的俄底修斯统领的
海船——阿开亚人集会和绳法民俗习规的
地方，建竖着敬神的祭坛——
他遇到了股腿中箭的欧鲁普洛斯，
埃阿蒙卓越的儿子，正拖瘸着伤腿，
撤离战斗，肩背和脸上滚淌着
成串的汗珠，伤口血流不止，
颜色乌红。然而，他意志刚强，神色坚定。
看着这般情景，墨诺伊提俄斯强壮的儿子心生怜悯，
为他难过，用长了翅膀的话语，对他说道：
“可怜的人！达奈人的王者，我的首领们，
你们的命运真有这般凄惨？——在远离亲友和故土的
特洛伊地面，用你们闪亮的脂肪，饱喂奔走的饿狗！
现在，宙斯钟爱的壮士欧鲁普洛斯，告诉我，
阿开亚人是否还能，以某种方式，挡住高大的赫克托耳？
抑或，他们已生还无门，必将碰死在他的枪尖？”
听罢这番话，带伤的欧鲁普洛斯答道：
“告诉你，卓越的帕特罗克洛斯，阿开亚人将无力
继续自卫，他们将被撵回乌黑的海船。
所有以往作战最勇猛的壮士，此时
都已卧躺船边，带着敌人手创的
创伤或枪痕——特洛伊人的勇力一直在不停地添增！
过来吧，至少也得救救我，扶我回到乌黑的海船，
替我挖出腿肉里的箭镞，用温水洗去
黑红的污血，敷上镇痛的、疗效显著的
枪药——人们说，你从阿基琉斯那儿学得这手本领，
而阿基琉斯又受之于开荣，马人中最通情理的智者。
至于我们自己的医士，我想，马卡昂
已经受伤，躺在营棚里，
本身亦需要一位高明的医者，
而波达雷里俄斯还战斗在平原上，顶着特洛伊人的重击。”
听罢这番，墨诺伊提俄斯强壮的儿子说道：
“此事不太好办，英雄欧鲁普洛斯，我们该如何处置？
我正急着回赶，将格瑞尼亚的奈斯托耳，阿开亚人的监护，
托我的口信带给阿基琉斯，战场上的心魂。
但即便如此，我也不能撇下你，带着钻心刺骨的伤痛。”
言罢，他架起兵士的牧者，走向
营棚。一位伴从见状，席地铺出几张牛皮，
帕特罗克洛斯放下欧鲁普洛斯，用刀子，从腿肉中
剜出锋快犀利的箭镞，用温水洗去
黑红的污血，把一块苦涩的根茎放在手里拍打，
敷在伤口上，止住疼患——此物可平镇
各种伤痛。伤口随之干化，鲜血止涌断流。
ARGUMENT
THE THIRD BATTLE, AND THE ACTS OF AGAMEMNON.
Agamemnon, having armed himself, leads the Grecians to battle; Hector
prepares the Trojans to receive them, while Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva
give the signals of war. Agamemnon bears all before him and Hector is
commanded by Jupiter (who sends Iris for that purpose) to decline the
engagement, till the king shall be wounded and retire from the field. He
then makes a great slaughter of the enemy. Ulysses and Diomed put a stop
to him for a time but the latter, being wounded by Paris, is obliged to
desert his companion, who is encompassed by the Trojans, wounded, and in
the utmost danger, till Menelaus and Ajax rescue him. Hector comes against
Ajax, but that hero alone opposes multitudes, and rallies the Greeks. In
the meantime Machaon, in the other wing of the army, is pierced with an
arrow by Paris, and carried from the fight in Nestor's chariot. Achilles
(who overlooked the action from his ship) sent Patroclus to inquire which
of the Greeks was wounded in that manner; Nestor entertains him in his
tent with an account of the accidents of the day, and a long recital of
some former wars which he remembered, tending to put Patroclus upon
persuading Achilles to fight for his countrymen, or at least to permit him
to do it, clad in Achilles' armour. Patroclus, on his return, meets
Eurypylus also wounded, and assists him in that distress.
This book opens with the eight and-twentieth day of the poem, and the same
day, with its various actions and adventures is extended through the
twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and
part of the eighteenth books. The scene lies in the field near the
monument of Ilus.
The saffron morn, with early blushes spread,(219)
Now rose refulgent from Tithonus' bed;
With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,
And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light:
When baleful Eris, sent by Jove's command,
The torch of discord blazing in her hand,
Through the red skies her bloody sign extends,
And, wrapt in tempests, o'er the fleet descends.
High on Ulysses' bark her horrid stand
She took, and thunder'd through the seas and land.
Even Ajax and Achilles heard the sound,
Whose ships, remote, the guarded navy bound,
Thence the black fury through the Grecian throng
With horror sounds the loud Orthian song:
The navy shakes, and at the dire alarms
Each bosom boils, each warrior starts to arms.
No more they sigh, inglorious to return,
But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.
[Illustration: THE DESCENT OF DISCORD.]
THE DESCENT OF DISCORD.
The king of men his hardy host inspires
With loud command, with great example fires!
Himself first rose, himself before the rest
His mighty limbs in radiant armour dress'd,
And first he cased his manly legs around
In shining greaves with silver buckles bound;
The beaming cuirass next adorn'd his breast,
The same which once king Cinyras possess'd:
(The fame of Greece and her assembled host
Had reach'd that monarch on the Cyprian coast;
'Twas then, the friendship of the chief to gain,
This glorious gift he sent, nor sent in vain:)
Ten rows of azure steel the work infold,
Twice ten of tin, and twelve of ductile gold;
Three glittering dragons to the gorget rise,
Whose imitated scales against the skies
Reflected various light, and arching bow'd,
Like colour'd rainbows o'er a showery cloud
(Jove's wondrous bow, of three celestial dies,
Placed as a sign to man amidst the skies).
A radiant baldric, o'er his shoulder tied,
Sustain'd the sword that glitter'd at his side:
Gold was the hilt, a silver sheath encased
The shining blade, and golden hangers graced.
His buckler's mighty orb was next display'd,
That round the warrior cast a dreadful shade;
Ten zones of brass its ample brim surround,
And twice ten bosses the bright convex crown'd:
Tremendous Gorgon frown'd upon its field,
And circling terrors fill'd the expressive shield:
Within its concave hung a silver thong,
On which a mimic serpent creeps along,
His azure length in easy waves extends,
Till in three heads the embroider'd monster ends.
Last o'er his brows his fourfold helm he placed,
With nodding horse-hair formidably graced;
And in his hands two steely javelins wields,
That blaze to heaven, and lighten all the fields.
That instant Juno, and the martial maid,
In happy thunders promised Greece their aid;
High o'er the chief they clash'd their arms in air,
And, leaning from the clouds, expect the war.
Close to the limits of the trench and mound,
The fiery coursers to their chariots bound
The squires restrain'd: the foot, with those who wield
The lighter arms, rush forward to the field.
To second these, in close array combined,
The squadrons spread their sable wings behind.
Now shouts and tumults wake the tardy sun,
As with the light the warriors' toils begun.
Even Jove, whose thunder spoke his wrath, distill'd
Red drops of blood o'er all the fatal field;(220)
The woes of men unwilling to survey,
And all the slaughters that must stain the day.
Near Ilus' tomb, in order ranged around,
The Trojan lines possess'd the rising ground:
There wise Polydamas and Hector stood;
Æneas, honour'd as a guardian god;
Bold Polybus, Agenor the divine;
The brother-warriors of Antenor's line:
With youthful Acamas, whose beauteous face
And fair proportion match'd the ethereal race.
Great Hector, cover'd with his spacious shield,
Plies all the troops, and orders all the field.
As the red star now shows his sanguine fires
Through the dark clouds, and now in night retires,
Thus through the ranks appear'd the godlike man,
Plunged in the rear, or blazing in the van;
While streamy sparkles, restless as he flies,
Flash from his arms, as lightning from the skies.
As sweating reapers in some wealthy field,
Ranged in two bands, their crooked weapons wield,
Bear down the furrows, till their labours meet;
Thick fall the heapy harvests at their feet:
So Greece and Troy the field of war divide,
And falling ranks are strow'd on every side.
None stoop'd a thought to base inglorious flight;(221)
But horse to horse, and man to man they fight,
Not rabid wolves more fierce contest their prey;
Each wounds, each bleeds, but none resign the day.
Discord with joy the scene of death descries,
And drinks large slaughter at her sanguine eyes:
Discord alone, of all the immortal train,
Swells the red horrors of this direful plain:
The gods in peace their golden mansions fill,
Ranged in bright order on the Olympian hill:
But general murmurs told their griefs above,
And each accused the partial will of Jove.
Meanwhile apart, superior, and alone,
The eternal Monarch, on his awful throne,
Wrapt in the blaze of boundless glory sate;
And fix'd, fulfill'd the just decrees of fate.
On earth he turn'd his all-considering eyes,
And mark'd the spot where Ilion's towers arise;
The sea with ships, the fields with armies spread,
The victor's rage, the dying, and the dead.
Thus while the morning-beams, increasing bright,
O'er heaven's pure azure spread the glowing light,
Commutual death the fate of war confounds,
Each adverse battle gored with equal wounds.
But now (what time in some sequester'd vale
The weary woodman spreads his sparing meal,
When his tired arms refuse the axe to rear,
And claim a respite from the sylvan war;
But not till half the prostrate forests lay
Stretch'd in long ruin, and exposed to day)
Then, nor till then, the Greeks' impulsive might
Pierced the black phalanx, and let in the light.
Great Agamemnon then the slaughter led,
And slew Bienor at his people's head:
Whose squire Oileus, with a sudden spring,
Leap'd from the chariot to revenge his king;
But in his front he felt the fatal wound,
Which pierced his brain, and stretch'd him on the ground.
Atrides spoil'd, and left them on the plain:
Vain was their youth, their glittering armour vain:
Now soil'd with dust, and naked to the sky,
Their snowy limbs and beauteous bodies lie.
Two sons of Priam next to battle move,
The product, one of marriage, one of love:(222)
In the same car the brother-warriors ride;
This took the charge to combat, that to guide:
Far other task, than when they wont to keep,
On Ida's tops, their father's fleecy sheep.
These on the mountains once Achilles found,
And captive led, with pliant osiers bound;
Then to their sire for ample sums restored;
But now to perish by Atrides' sword:
Pierced in the breast the base-born Isus bleeds:
Cleft through the head his brother's fate succeeds,
Swift to the spoil the hasty victor falls,
And, stript, their features to his mind recalls.
The Trojans see the youths untimely die,
But helpless tremble for themselves, and fly.
So when a lion ranging o'er the lawns.
Finds, on some grassy lair, the couching fawns,
Their bones he cracks, their reeking vitals draws,
And grinds the quivering flesh with bloody jaws;
The frighted hind beholds, and dares not stay,
But swift through rustling thickets bursts her way;
All drown'd in sweat, the panting mother flies,
And the big tears roll trickling from her eyes.
Amidst the tumult of the routed train,
The sons of false Antimachus were slain;
He who for bribes his faithless counsels sold,
And voted Helen's stay for Paris' gold.
Atrides mark'd, as these their safety sought,
And slew the children for the father's fault;
Their headstrong horse unable to restrain,
They shook with fear, and dropp'd the silken rein;
Then in the chariot on their knees they fall,
And thus with lifted hands for mercy call:
"O spare our youth, and for the life we owe,
Antimachus shall copious gifts bestow:
Soon as he hears, that, not in battle slain,
The Grecian ships his captive sons detain,
Large heaps of brass in ransom shall be told,
And steel well-tempered, and persuasive gold."
These words, attended with the flood of tears,
The youths address'd to unrelenting ears:
The vengeful monarch gave this stern reply:
"If from Antimachus ye spring, ye die;
The daring wretch who once in council stood
To shed Ulysses' and my brother's blood,
For proffer'd peace! and sues his seed for grace?
No, die, and pay the forfeit of your race."
This said, Pisander from the car he cast,
And pierced his breast: supine he breathed his last.
His brother leap'd to earth; but, as he lay,
The trenchant falchion lopp'd his hands away;
His sever'd head was toss'd among the throng,
And, rolling, drew a bloody train along.
Then, where the thickest fought, the victor flew;
The king's example all his Greeks pursue.
Now by the foot the flying foot were slain,
Horse trod by horse, lay foaming on the plain.
From the dry fields thick clouds of dust arise,
Shade the black host, and intercept the skies.
The brass-hoof'd steeds tumultuous plunge and bound,
And the thick thunder beats the labouring ground,
Still slaughtering on, the king of men proceeds;
The distanced army wonders at his deeds,
As when the winds with raging flames conspire,
And o'er the forests roll the flood of fire,
In blazing heaps the grove's old honours fall,
And one refulgent ruin levels all:
Before Atrides' rage so sinks the foe,
Whole squadrons vanish, and proud heads lie low.
The steeds fly trembling from his waving sword,
And many a car, now lighted of its lord,
Wide o'er the field with guideless fury rolls,
Breaking their ranks, and crushing out their souls;
While his keen falchion drinks the warriors' lives;
More grateful, now, to vultures than their wives!
Perhaps great Hector then had found his fate,
But Jove and destiny prolong'd his date.
Safe from the darts, the care of heaven he stood,
Amidst alarms, and death, and dust, and blood.
Now past the tomb where ancient Ilus lay,
Through the mid field the routed urge their way:
Where the wild figs the adjoining summit crown,
The path they take, and speed to reach the town.
As swift, Atrides with loud shouts pursued,
Hot with his toil, and bathed in hostile blood.
Now near the beech-tree, and the Scaean gates,
The hero halts, and his associates waits.
Meanwhile on every side around the plain,
Dispersed, disorder'd, fly the Trojan train.
So flies a herd of beeves, that hear dismay'd
The lion's roaring through the midnight shade;
On heaps they tumble with successless haste;
The savage seizes, draws, and rends the last.
Not with less fury stem Atrides flew,
Still press'd the rout, and still the hindmost slew;
Hurl'd from their cars the bravest chiefs are kill'd,
And rage, and death, and carnage load the field.
Now storms the victor at the Trojan wall;
Surveys the towers, and meditates their fall.
But Jove descending shook the Idaean hills,
And down their summits pour'd a hundred rills:
The unkindled lightning in his hand he took,
And thus the many-coloured maid bespoke:
"Iris, with haste thy golden wings display,
To godlike Hector this our word convey--
While Agamemnon wastes the ranks around,
Fights in the front, and bathes with blood the ground,
Bid him give way; but issue forth commands,
And trust the war to less important hands:
But when, or wounded by the spear or dart,
That chief shall mount his chariot, and depart,
Then Jove shall string his arm, and fire his breast,
Then to her ships shall flying Greece be press'd,
Till to the main the burning sun descend,
And sacred night her awful shade extend."
He spoke, and Iris at his word obey'd;
On wings of winds descends the various maid.
The chief she found amidst the ranks of war,
Close to the bulwarks, on his glittering car.
The goddess then: "O son of Priam, hear!
From Jove I come, and his high mandate bear.
While Agamemnon wastes the ranks around,
Fights in the front, and bathes with blood the ground,
Abstain from fight; yet issue forth commands,
And trust the war to less important hands:
But when, or wounded by the spear or dart,
The chief shall mount his chariot, and depart,
Then Jove shall string thy arm, and fire thy breast,
Then to her ships shall flying Greece be press'd,
Till to the main the burning sun descend,
And sacred night her awful shade extend."
She said, and vanish'd. Hector, with a bound,
Springs from his chariot on the trembling ground,
In clanging arms: he grasps in either hand
A pointed lance, and speeds from band to band;
Revives their ardour, turns their steps from flight,
And wakes anew the dying flames of fight.
They stand to arms: the Greeks their onset dare,
Condense their powers, and wait the coming war.
New force, new spirit, to each breast returns;
The fight renew'd with fiercer fury burns:
The king leads on: all fix on him their eye,
And learn from him to conquer, or to die.
Ye sacred nine! celestial Muses! tell,
Who faced him first, and by his prowess fell?
The great Iphidamas, the bold and young,
From sage Antenor and Theano sprung;
Whom from his youth his grandsire Cisseus bred,
And nursed in Thrace where snowy flocks are fed.
Scarce did the down his rosy cheeks invest,
And early honour warm his generous breast,
When the kind sire consign'd his daughter's charms
(Theano's sister) to his youthful arms.
But call'd by glory to the wars of Troy,
He leaves untasted the first fruits of joy;
From his loved bride departs with melting eyes,
And swift to aid his dearer country flies.
With twelve black ships he reach'd Percope's strand,
Thence took the long laborious march by land.
Now fierce for fame, before the ranks he springs,
Towering in arms, and braves the king of kings.
Atrides first discharged the missive spear;
The Trojan stoop'd, the javelin pass'd in air.
Then near the corslet, at the monarch's heart,
With all his strength, the youth directs his dart:
But the broad belt, with plates of silver bound,
The point rebated, and repell'd the wound.
Encumber'd with the dart, Atrides stands,
Till, grasp'd with force, he wrench'd it from his hands;
At once his weighty sword discharged a wound
Full on his neck, that fell'd him to the ground.
Stretch'd in the dust the unhappy warrior lies,
And sleep eternal seals his swimming eyes.
Oh worthy better fate! oh early slain!
Thy country's friend; and virtuous, though in vain!
No more the youth shall join his consort's side,
At once a virgin, and at once a bride!
No more with presents her embraces meet,
Or lay the spoils of conquest at her feet,
On whom his passion, lavish of his store,
Bestow'd so much, and vainly promised more!
Unwept, uncover'd, on the plain he lay,
While the proud victor bore his arms away.
Coon, Antenor's eldest hope, was nigh:
Tears, at the sight, came starting from his eye,
While pierced with grief the much-loved youth he view'd,
And the pale features now deform'd with blood.
Then, with his spear, unseen, his time he took,
Aim'd at the king, and near his elbow strook.
The thrilling steel transpierced the brawny part,
And through his arm stood forth the barbed dart.
Surprised the monarch feels, yet void of fear
On Coon rushes with his lifted spear:
His brother's corpse the pious Trojan draws,
And calls his country to assert his cause;
Defends him breathless on the sanguine field,
And o'er the body spreads his ample shield.
Atrides, marking an unguarded part,
Transfix'd the warrior with his brazen dart;
Prone on his brother's bleeding breast he lay,
The monarch's falchion lopp'd his head away:
The social shades the same dark journey go,
And join each other in the realms below.
The vengeful victor rages round the fields,
With every weapon art or fury yields:
By the long lance, the sword, or ponderous stone,
Whole ranks are broken, and whole troops o'erthrown.
This, while yet warm distill'd the purple flood;
But when the wound grew stiff with clotted blood,
Then grinding tortures his strong bosom rend,
Less keen those darts the fierce Ilythiae send:
(The powers that cause the teeming matron's throes,
Sad mothers of unutterable woes!)
Stung with the smart, all-panting with the pain,
He mounts the car, and gives his squire the rein;
Then with a voice which fury made more strong,
And pain augmented, thus exhorts the throng:
"O friends! O Greeks! assert your honours won;
Proceed, and finish what this arm begun:
Lo! angry Jove forbids your chief to stay,
And envies half the glories of the day."
He said: the driver whirls his lengthful thong;
The horses fly; the chariot smokes along.
Clouds from their nostrils the fierce coursers blow,
And from their sides the foam descends in snow;
Shot through the battle in a moment's space,
The wounded monarch at his tent they place.
No sooner Hector saw the king retired,
But thus his Trojans and his aids he fired:
"Hear, all ye Dardan, all ye Lycian race!
Famed in close fight, and dreadful face to face:
Now call to mind your ancient trophies won,
Your great forefathers' virtues, and your own.
Behold, the general flies! deserts his powers!
Lo, Jove himself declares the conquest ours!
Now on yon ranks impel your foaming steeds;
And, sure of glory, dare immortal deeds."
Writh words like these the fiery chief alarms
His fainting host, and every bosom warms.
As the bold hunter cheers his hounds to tear
The brindled lion, or the tusky bear:
With voice and hand provokes their doubting heart,
And springs the foremost with his lifted dart:
So godlike Hector prompts his troops to dare;
Nor prompts alone, but leads himself the war.
On the black body of the foe he pours;
As from the cloud's deep bosom, swell'd with showers,
A sudden storm the purple ocean sweeps,
Drives the wild waves, and tosses all the deeps.
Say, Muse! when Jove the Trojan's glory crown'd,
Beneath his arm what heroes bit the ground?
Assaeus, Dolops, and Autonous died,
Opites next was added to their side;
Then brave Hipponous, famed in many a fight,
Opheltius, Orus, sunk to endless night;
Æsymnus, Agelaus; all chiefs of name;
The rest were vulgar deaths unknown to fame.
As when a western whirlwind, charged with storms,
Dispels the gather'd clouds that Notus forms:
The gust continued, violent and strong,
Rolls sable clouds in heaps on heaps along;
Now to the skies the foaming billows rears,
Now breaks the surge, and wide the bottom bares:
Thus, raging Hector, with resistless hands,
O'erturns, confounds, and scatters all their bands.
Now the last ruin the whole host appals;
Now Greece had trembled in her wooden walls;
But wise Ulysses call'd Tydides forth,
His soul rekindled, and awaked his worth.
"And stand we deedless, O eternal shame!
Till Hector's arm involve the ships in flame?
Haste, let us join, and combat side by side."
The warrior thus, and thus the friend replied:
"No martial toil I shun, no danger fear;
Let Hector come; I wait his fury here.
But Jove with conquest crowns the Trojan train:
And, Jove our foe, all human force is vain."
He sigh'd; but, sighing, raised his vengeful steel,
And from his car the proud Thymbraeus fell:
Molion, the charioteer, pursued his lord,
His death ennobled by Ulysses' sword.
There slain, they left them in eternal night,
Then plunged amidst the thickest ranks of fight.
So two wild boars outstrip the following hounds,
Then swift revert, and wounds return for wounds.
Stern Hector's conquests in the middle plain
Stood check'd awhile, and Greece respired again.
The sons of Merops shone amidst the war;
Towering they rode in one refulgent car:
In deep prophetic arts their father skill'd,
Had warn'd his children from the Trojan field.
Fate urged them on: the father warn'd in vain;
They rush'd to fight, and perish'd on the plain;
Their breasts no more the vital spirit warms;
The stern Tydides strips their shining arms.
Hypirochus by great Ulysses dies,
And rich Hippodamus becomes his prize.
Great Jove from Ide with slaughter fills his sight,
And level hangs the doubtful scale of fight.
By Tydeus' lance Agastrophus was slain,
The far-famed hero of Paeonian strain;
Wing'd with his fears, on foot he strove to fly,
His steeds too distant, and the foe too nigh:
Through broken orders, swifter than the wind,
He fled, but flying left his life behind.
This Hector sees, as his experienced eyes
Traverse the files, and to the rescue flies;
Shouts, as he pass'd, the crystal regions rend,
And moving armies on his march attend.
Great Diomed himself was seized with fear,
And thus bespoke his brother of the war:
"Mark how this way yon bending squadrons yield!
The storm rolls on, and Hector rules the field:
Here stand his utmost force."--The warrior said;
Swift at the word his ponderous javelin fled;
Nor miss'd its aim, but where the plumage danced
Razed the smooth cone, and thence obliquely glanced.
Safe in his helm (the gift of Phoebus' hands)
Without a wound the Trojan hero stands;
But yet so stunn'd, that, staggering on the plain.
His arm and knee his sinking bulk sustain;
O'er his dim sight the misty vapours rise,
And a short darkness shades his swimming eyes.
Tydides followed to regain his lance;
While Hector rose, recover'd from the trance,
Remounts his car, and herds amidst the crowd:
The Greek pursues him, and exults aloud:
"Once more thank Phoebus for thy forfeit breath,
Or thank that swiftness which outstrips the death.
Well by Apollo are thy prayers repaid,
And oft that partial power has lent his aid.
Thou shall not long the death deserved withstand,
If any god assist Tydides' hand.
Fly then, inglorious! but thy flight, this day,
Whole hecatombs of Trojan ghosts shall pay,"
Him, while he triumph'd, Paris eyed from far,
(The spouse of Helen, the fair cause of war;)
Around the fields his feather'd shafts he sent,
From ancient Ilus' ruin'd monument:
Behind the column placed, he bent his bow,
And wing'd an arrow at the unwary foe;
Just as he stoop'd, Agastrophus's crest
To seize, and drew the corslet from his breast,
The bowstring twang'd; nor flew the shaft in vain,
But pierced his foot, and nail'd it to the plain.
The laughing Trojan, with a joyful spring.
Leaps from his ambush, and insults the king.
"He bleeds! (he cries) some god has sped my dart!
Would the same god had fix'd it in his heart!
So Troy, relieved from that wide-wasting hand,
Should breathe from slaughter and in combat stand:
Whose sons now tremble at his darted spear,
As scatter'd lambs the rushing lion fear."
He dauntless thus: "Thou conqueror of the fair,
Thou woman-warrior with the curling hair;
Vain archer! trusting to the distant dart,
Unskill'd in arms to act a manly part!
Thou hast but done what boys or women can;
Such hands may wound, but not incense a man.
Nor boast the scratch thy feeble arrow gave,
A coward's weapon never hurts the brave.
Not so this dart, which thou may'st one day feel;
Fate wings its flight, and death is on the steel:
Where this but lights, some noble life expires;
Its touch makes orphans, bathes the cheeks of sires,
Steeps earth in purple, gluts the birds of air,
And leaves such objects as distract the fair."
Ulysses hastens with a trembling heart,
Before him steps, and bending draws the dart:
Forth flows the blood; an eager pang succeeds;
Tydides mounts, and to the navy speeds.
Now on the field Ulysses stands alone,
The Greeks all fled, the Trojans pouring on;
But stands collected in himself, and whole,
And questions thus his own unconquer'd soul:
"What further subterfuge, what hopes remain?
What shame, inglorious if I quit the plain?
What danger, singly if I stand the ground,
My friends all scatter'd, all the foes around?
Yet wherefore doubtful? let this truth suffice,
The brave meets danger, and the coward flies.
To die or conquer, proves a hero's heart;
And, knowing this, I know a soldier's part."
Such thoughts revolving in his careful breast,
Near, and more near, the shady cohorts press'd;
These, in the warrior, their own fate enclose;
And round him deep the steely circle grows.
So fares a boar whom all the troop surrounds
Of shouting huntsmen and of clamorous hounds;
He grinds his ivory tusks; he foams with ire;
His sanguine eye-balls glare with living fire;
By these, by those, on every part is plied;
And the red slaughter spreads on every side.
Pierced through the shoulder, first Deiopis fell;
Next Ennomus and Thoon sank to hell;
Chersidamas, beneath the navel thrust,
Falls prone to earth, and grasps the bloody dust.
Charops, the son of Hippasus, was near;
Ulysses reach'd him with the fatal spear;
But to his aid his brother Socus flies,
Socus the brave, the generous, and the wise.
Near as he drew, the warrior thus began:
"O great Ulysses! much-enduring man!
Not deeper skill'd in every martial sleight,
Than worn to toils, and active in the fight!
This day two brothers shall thy conquest grace,
And end at once the great Hippasian race,
Or thou beneath this lance must press the field."
He said, and forceful pierced his spacious shield:
Through the strong brass the ringing javelin thrown,
Plough'd half his side, and bared it to the bone.
By Pallas' care, the spear, though deep infix'd,
Stopp'd short of life, nor with his entrails mix'd.
The wound not mortal wise Ulysses knew,
Then furious thus (but first some steps withdrew):
"Unhappy man! whose death our hands shall grace,
Fate calls thee hence and finish'd is thy race.
Nor longer check my conquests on the foe;
But, pierced by this, to endless darkness go,
And add one spectre to the realms below!"
He spoke, while Socus, seized with sudden fright,
Trembling gave way, and turn'd his back to flight;
Between his shoulders pierced the following dart,
And held its passage through the panting heart:
Wide in his breast appear'd the grisly wound;
He falls; his armour rings against the ground.
Then thus Ulysses, gazing on the slain:
"Famed son of Hippasus! there press the plain;
There ends thy narrow span assign'd by fate,
Heaven owes Ulysses yet a longer date.
Ah, wretch! no father shall thy corpse compose;
Thy dying eyes no tender mother close;
But hungry birds shall tear those balls away,
And hovering vultures scream around their prey.
Me Greece shall honour, when I meet my doom,
With solemn funerals and a lasting tomb."
Then raging with intolerable smart,
He writhes his body, and extracts the dart.
The dart a tide of spouting gore pursued,
And gladden'd Troy with sight of hostile blood.
Now troops on troops the fainting chief invade,
Forced he recedes, and loudly calls for aid.
Thrice to its pitch his lofty voice he rears;
The well-known voice thrice Menelaus hears:
Alarm'd, to Ajax Telamon he cried,
Who shares his labours, and defends his side:
"O friend! Ulysses' shouts invade my ear;
Distressed he seems, and no assistance near;
Strong as he is, yet one opposed to all,
Oppress'd by multitudes, the best may fall.
Greece robb'd of him must bid her host despair,
And feel a loss not ages can repair."
Then, where the cry directs, his course he bends;
Great Ajax, like the god of war, attends,
The prudent chief in sore distress they found,
With bands of furious Trojans compass'd round.(223)
As when some huntsman, with a flying spear,
From the blind thicket wounds a stately deer;
Down his cleft side, while fresh the blood distils,
He bounds aloft, and scuds from hills to hills,
Till life's warm vapour issuing through the wound,
Wild mountain-wolves the fainting beast surround:
Just as their jaws his prostrate limbs invade,
The lion rushes through the woodland shade,
The wolves, though hungry, scour dispersed away;
The lordly savage vindicates his prey.
Ulysses thus, unconquer'd by his pains,
A single warrior half a host sustains:
But soon as Ajax leaves his tower-like shield,
The scattered crowds fly frighted o'er the field;
Atrides' arm the sinking hero stays,
And, saved from numbers, to his car conveys.
Victorious Ajax plies the routed crew;
And first Doryclus, Priam's son, he slew,
On strong Pandocus next inflicts a wound,
And lays Lysander bleeding on the ground.
As when a torrent, swell'd with wintry rains,
Pours from the mountains o'er the deluged plains,
And pines and oaks, from their foundations torn,
A country's ruins! to the seas are borne:
Fierce Ajax thus o'erwhelms the yielding throng;
Men, steeds, and chariots, roll in heaps along.
But Hector, from this scene of slaughter far,
Raged on the left, and ruled the tide of war:
Loud groans proclaim his progress through the plain,
And deep Scamander swells with heaps of slain.
There Nestor and Idomeneus oppose
The warrior's fury; there the battle glows;
There fierce on foot, or from the chariot's height,
His sword deforms the beauteous ranks of fight.
The spouse of Helen, dealing darts around,
Had pierced Machaon with a distant wound:
In his right shoulder the broad shaft appear'd,
And trembling Greece for her physician fear'd.
To Nestor then Idomeneus begun:
"Glory of Greece, old Neleus' valiant son!
Ascend thy chariot, haste with speed away,
And great Machaon to the ships convey;
A wise physician skill'd our wounds to heal,
Is more than armies to the public weal."
Old Nestor mounts the seat; beside him rode
The wounded offspring of the healing god.
He lends the lash; the steeds with sounding feet
Shake the dry field, and thunder toward the fleet.
But now Cebriones, from Hector's car,
Survey'd the various fortune of the war:
"While here (he cried) the flying Greeks are slain,
Trojans on Trojans yonder load the plain.
Before great Ajax see the mingled throng
Of men and chariots driven in heaps along!
I know him well, distinguish'd o'er the field
By the broad glittering of the sevenfold shield.
Thither, O Hector, thither urge thy steeds,
There danger calls, and there the combat bleeds;
There horse and foot in mingled deaths unite,
And groans of slaughter mix with shouts of fight."
Thus having spoke, the driver's lash resounds;
Swift through the ranks the rapid chariot bounds;
Stung by the stroke, the coursers scour the fields,
O'er heaps of carcases, and hills of shields.
The horses' hoofs are bathed in heroes' gore,
And, dashing, purple all the car before;
The groaning axle sable drops distils,
And mangled carnage clogs the rapid wheels.
Here Hector, plunging through the thickest fight,
Broke the dark phalanx, and let in the light:
(By the long lance, the sword, or ponderous stone.
The ranks he scatter'd and the troops o'erthrown:)
Ajax he shuns, through all the dire debate,
And fears that arm whose force he felt so late.
But partial Jove, espousing Hector's part,
Shot heaven-bred horror through the Grecian's heart;
Confused, unnerved in Hector's presence grown,
Amazed he stood, with terrors not his own.
O'er his broad back his moony shield he threw,
And, glaring round, by tardy steps withdrew.
Thus the grim lion his retreat maintains,
Beset with watchful dogs, and shouting swains;
Repulsed by numbers from the nightly stalls,
Though rage impels him, and though hunger calls,
Long stands the showering darts, and missile fires;
Then sourly slow the indignant beast retires:
So turn'd stern Ajax, by whole hosts repell'd,
While his swoln heart at every step rebell'd.
As the slow beast, with heavy strength endued,
In some wide field by troops of boys pursued,
Though round his sides a wooden tempest rain,
Crops the tall harvest, and lays waste the plain;
Thick on his hide the hollow blows resound,
The patient animal maintains his ground,
Scarce from the field with all their efforts chased,
And stirs but slowly when he stirs at last:
On Ajax thus a weight of Trojans hung,
The strokes redoubled on his buckler rung;
Confiding now in bulky strength he stands,
Now turns, and backward bears the yielding bands;
Now stiff recedes, yet hardly seems to fly,
And threats his followers with retorted eye.
Fix'd as the bar between two warring powers,
While hissing darts descend in iron showers:
In his broad buckler many a weapon stood,
Its surface bristled with a quivering wood;
And many a javelin, guiltless on the plain,
Marks the dry dust, and thirsts for blood in vain.
But bold Eurypylus his aid imparts,
And dauntless springs beneath a cloud of darts;
Whose eager javelin launch'd against the foe,
Great Apisaon felt the fatal blow;
From his torn liver the red current flow'd,
And his slack knees desert their dying load.
The victor rushing to despoil the dead,
From Paris' bow a vengeful arrow fled;
Fix'd in his nervous thigh the weapon stood,
Fix'd was the point, but broken was the wood.
Back to the lines the wounded Greek retired,
Yet thus retreating, his associates fired:
"What god, O Grecians! has your hearts dismay'd?
Oh, turn to arms; 'tis Ajax claims your aid.
This hour he stands the mark of hostile rage,
And this the last brave battle he shall wage:
Haste, join your forces; from the gloomy grave
The warrior rescue, and your country save."
Thus urged the chief: a generous troop appears,
Who spread their bucklers, and advance their spears,
To guard their wounded friend: while thus they stand
With pious care, great Ajax joins the band:
Each takes new courage at the hero's sight;
The hero rallies, and renews the fight.
Thus raged both armies like conflicting fires,
While Nestor's chariot far from fight retires:
His coursers steep'd in sweat, and stain'd with gore,
The Greeks' preserver, great Machaon, bore.
That hour Achilles, from the topmost height
Of his proud fleet, o'erlook'd the fields of fight;
His feasted eyes beheld around the plain
The Grecian rout, the slaying, and the slain.
His friend Machaon singled from the rest,
A transient pity touch'd his vengeful breast.
Straight to Menoetius' much-loved son he sent:
Graceful as Mars, Patroclus quits his tent;
In evil hour! Then fate decreed his doom,
And fix'd the date of all his woes to come.
"Why calls my friend? thy loved injunctions lay;
Whate'er thy will, Patroclus shall obey."
"O first of friends! (Pelides thus replied)
Still at my heart, and ever at my side!
The time is come, when yon despairing host
Shall learn the value of the man they lost:
Now at my knees the Greeks shall pour their moan,
And proud Atrides tremble on his throne.
Go now to Nestor, and from him be taught
What wounded warrior late his chariot brought:
For, seen at distance, and but seen behind,
His form recall'd Machaon to my mind;
Nor could I, through yon cloud, discern his face,
The coursers pass'd me with so swift a pace."
The hero said. His friend obey'd with haste,
Through intermingled ships and tents he pass'd;
The chiefs descending from their car he found:
The panting steeds Eurymedon unbound.
The warriors standing on the breezy shore,
To dry their sweat, and wash away the gore,
Here paused a moment, while the gentle gale
Convey'd that freshness the cool seas exhale;
Then to consult on farther methods went,
And took their seats beneath the shady tent.
The draught prescribed, fair Hecamede prepares,
Arsinous' daughter, graced with golden hairs:
(Whom to his aged arms, a royal slave,
Greece, as the prize of Nestor's wisdom gave:)
A table first with azure feet she placed;
Whose ample orb a brazen charger graced;
Honey new-press'd, the sacred flour of wheat,
And wholesome garlic, crown'd the savoury treat,
Next her white hand an antique goblet brings,
A goblet sacred to the Pylian kings
From eldest times: emboss'd with studs of gold,
Two feet support it, and four handles hold;
On each bright handle, bending o'er the brink,
In sculptured gold, two turtles seem to drink:
A massy weight, yet heaved with ease by him,
When the brisk nectar overlook'd the brim.
Temper'd in this, the nymph of form divine
Pours a large portion of the Pramnian wine;
With goat's-milk cheese a flavourous taste bestows,
And last with flour the smiling surface strows:
This for the wounded prince the dame prepares:
The cordial beverage reverend Nestor shares:
Salubrious draughts the warriors' thirst allay,
And pleasing conference beguiles the day.
Meantime Patroclus, by Achilles sent,
Unheard approached, and stood before the tent.
Old Nestor, rising then, the hero led
To his high seat: the chief refused and said:
"'Tis now no season for these kind delays;
The great Achilles with impatience stays.
To great Achilles this respect I owe;
Who asks, what hero, wounded by the foe,
Was borne from combat by thy foaming steeds?
With grief I see the great Machaon bleeds.
This to report, my hasty course I bend;
Thou know'st the fiery temper of my friend."
"Can then the sons of Greece (the sage rejoin'd)
Excite compassion in Achilles' mind?
Seeks he the sorrows of our host to know?
This is not half the story of our woe.
Tell him, not great Machaon bleeds alone,
Our bravest heroes in the navy groan,
Ulysses, Agamemnon, Diomed,
And stern Eurypylus, already bleed.
But, ah! what flattering hopes I entertain!
Achilles heeds not, but derides our pain:
Even till the flames consume our fleet he stays,
And waits the rising of the fatal blaze.
Chief after chief the raging foe destroys;
Calm he looks on, and every death enjoys.
Now the slow course of all-impairing time
Unstrings my nerves, and ends my manly prime;
Oh! had I still that strength my youth possess'd,
When this bold arm the Epeian powers oppress'd,
The bulls of Elis in glad triumph led,
And stretch'd the great Itymonaeus dead!
Then from my fury fled the trembling swains,
And ours was all the plunder of the plains:
Fifty white flocks, full fifty herds of swine,
As many goats, as many lowing kine:
And thrice the number of unrivall'd steeds,
All teeming females, and of generous breeds.
These, as my first essay of arms, I won;
Old Neleus gloried in his conquering son.
Thus Elis forced, her long arrears restored,
And shares were parted to each Pylian lord.
The state of Pyle was sunk to last despair,
When the proud Elians first commenced the war:
For Neleus' sons Alcides' rage had slain;
Of twelve bold brothers, I alone remain!
Oppress'd, we arm'd; and now this conquest gain'd,
My sire three hundred chosen sheep obtain'd.
(That large reprisal he might justly claim,
For prize defrauded, and insulted fame,
When Elis' monarch, at the public course,
Detain'd his chariot, and victorious horse.)
The rest the people shared; myself survey'd
The just partition, and due victims paid.
Three days were past, when Elis rose to war,
With many a courser, and with many a car;
The sons of Actor at their army's head
(Young as they were) the vengeful squadrons led.
High on the rock fair Thryoessa stands,
Our utmost frontier on the Pylian lands:
Not far the streams of famed Alphaeus flow:
The stream they pass'd, and pitch'd their tents below.
Pallas, descending in the shades of night,
Alarms the Pylians and commands the fight.
Each burns for fame, and swells with martial pride,
Myself the foremost; but my sire denied;
Fear'd for my youth, exposed to stern alarms;
And stopp'd my chariot, and detain'd my arms.
My sire denied in vain: on foot I fled
Amidst our chariots; for the goddess led.
"Along fair Arene's delightful plain
Soft Minyas rolls his waters to the main:
There, horse and foot, the Pylian troops unite,
And sheathed in arms, expect the dawning light.
Thence, ere the sun advanced his noon-day flame,
To great Alphaeus' sacred source we came.
There first to Jove our solemn rites were paid;
An untamed heifer pleased the blue-eyed maid;
A bull, Alphaeus; and a bull was slain
To the blue monarch of the watery main.
In arms we slept, beside the winding flood,
While round the town the fierce Epeians stood.
Soon as the sun, with all-revealing ray,
Flamed in the front of Heaven, and gave the day.
Bright scenes of arms, and works of war appear;
The nations meet; there Pylos, Elis here.
The first who fell, beneath my javelin bled;
King Augias' son, and spouse of Agamede:
(She that all simples' healing virtues knew,
And every herb that drinks the morning dew:)
I seized his car, the van of battle led;
The Epeians saw, they trembled, and they fled.
The foe dispersed, their bravest warrior kill'd,
Fierce as the whirlwind now I swept the field:
Full fifty captive chariots graced my train;
Two chiefs from each fell breathless to the plain.
Then Actor's sons had died, but Neptune shrouds
The youthful heroes in a veil of clouds.
O'er heapy shields, and o'er the prostrate throng,
Collecting spoils, and slaughtering all along,
Through wide Buprasian fields we forced the foes,
Where o'er the vales the Olenian rocks arose;
Till Pallas stopp'd us where Alisium flows.
Even there the hindmost of the rear I slay,
And the same arm that led concludes the day;
Then back to Pyle triumphant take my way.
There to high Jove were public thanks assign'd,
As first of gods; to Nestor, of mankind.
Such then I was, impell'd by youthful blood;
So proved my valour for my country's good.
"Achilles with unactive fury glows,
And gives to passion what to Greece he owes.
How shall he grieve, when to the eternal shade
Her hosts shall sink, nor his the power to aid!
0 friend! my memory recalls the day,
When, gathering aids along the Grecian sea,
I, and Ulysses, touch'd at Phthia's port,
And entered Peleus' hospitable court.
A bull to Jove he slew in sacrifice,
And pour'd libations on the flaming thighs.
Thyself, Achilles, and thy reverend sire
Menoetius, turn'd the fragments on the fire.
Achilles sees us, to the feast invites;
Social we sit, and share the genial rites.
We then explained the cause on which we came,
Urged you to arms, and found you fierce for fame.
Your ancient fathers generous precepts gave;
Peleus said only this:--'My son! be brave.'
Menoetius thus: 'Though great Achilles shine
In strength superior, and of race divine,
Yet cooler thoughts thy elder years attend;
Let thy just counsels aid, and rule thy friend.'
Thus spoke your father at Thessalia's court:
Words now forgot, though now of vast import.
Ah! try the utmost that a friend can say:
Such gentle force the fiercest minds obey;
Some favouring god Achilles' heart may move;
Though deaf to glory, he may yield to love.
If some dire oracle his breast alarm,
If aught from Heaven withhold his saving arm,
Some beam of comfort yet on Greece may shine,
If thou but lead the Myrmidonian line;
Clad in Achilles' arms, if thou appear,
Proud Troy may tremble, and desist from war;
Press'd by fresh forces, her o'er-labour'd train
Shall seek their walls, and Greece respire again."
This touch'd his generous heart, and from the tent
Along the shore with hasty strides he went;
Soon as he came, where, on the crowded strand,
The public mart and courts of justice stand,
Where the tall fleet of great Ulysses lies,
And altars to the guardian gods arise;
There, sad, he met the brave Euaemon's son,
Large painful drops from all his members run;
An arrow's head yet rooted in his wound,
The sable blood in circles mark'd the ground.
As faintly reeling he confess'd the smart,
Weak was his pace, but dauntless was his heart.
Divine compassion touch'd Patroclus' breast,
Who, sighing, thus his bleeding friend address'd:
"Ah, hapless leaders of the Grecian host!
Thus must ye perish on a barbarous coast?
Is this your fate, to glut the dogs with gore,
Far from your friends, and from your native shore?
Say, great Eurypylus! shall Greece yet stand?
Resists she yet the raging Hector's hand?
Or are her heroes doom'd to die with shame,
And this the period of our wars and fame?"
Eurypylus replies: "No more, my friend;
Greece is no more! this day her glories end;
Even to the ships victorious Troy pursues,
Her force increasing as her toil renews.
Those chiefs, that used her utmost rage to meet,
Lie pierced with wounds, and bleeding in the fleet.
But, thou, Patroclus! act a friendly part,
Lead to my ships, and draw this deadly dart;
With lukewarm water wash the gore away;
With healing balms the raging smart allay,
Such as sage Chiron, sire of pharmacy,
Once taught Achilles, and Achilles thee.
Of two famed surgeons, Podalirius stands
This hour surrounded by the Trojan bands;
And great Machaon, wounded in his tent,
Now wants that succour which so oft he lent."
To him the chief: "What then remains to do?
The event of things the gods alone can view.
Charged by Achilles' great command I fly,
And bear with haste the Pylian king's reply:
But thy distress this instant claims relief."
He said, and in his arms upheld the chief.
The slaves their master's slow approach survey'd,
And hides of oxen on the floor display'd:
There stretch'd at length the wounded hero lay;
Patroclus cut the forky steel away:
Then in his hands a bitter root he bruised;
The wound he wash'd, the styptic juice infused.
The closing flesh that instant ceased to glow,
The wound to torture, and the blood to flow.
[Illustration: HERCULES.]
HERCULES. 就这样，营棚里，墨诺伊提俄斯骠勇的儿子
照料着受伤的欧鲁普洛斯。与此同时，阿耳吉维人
和特洛伊人正进行着一场大规模的混战。达奈人的壕沟已
不能阻挡特洛伊战勇的进攻，沟上的那道护墙亦然——
为了保卫海船，他们筑起这堵护墙，并在外沿挖出一条深沟，
却不曾对神祗供献丰盛的祀祭，
祈求他们保护墙内迅捷的海船和成堆的
战礼。他们筑起这堵坚实的护墙，无视神的意志，
所以，它的存在不可能久远经年。
只要赫克托耳仍然活着，阿基硫斯怒气不消，
只要王者普里阿摩斯的城堡不被攻陷，
阿开亚人的高墙就能稳稳当当地站立。但是，
当所有最勇敢的特洛伊人战死疆场，
众多的阿耳吉维人长眠客乡，剩下一些人回返后，
当普里阿摩斯的城堡在第十个年头里被
阿耳吉维人捣毁，后者驾着海船回返他们热爱的故乡后，
那时，波塞冬和阿波罗议定，引来
滚滚的河水，冲袭扫荡，捣毁护墙。
河水，所有从伊达山上泻流入海的长河，
瑞索斯和赫普塔波罗斯，卡瑞索斯和罗底俄斯，
格瑞尼科斯和埃塞波斯，还有神圣的斯卡曼得罗斯
以及西摩埃斯，推涌着许多头盔和牛皮的战盾，连同一个
半是神明的凡人的种族，跌跌撞撞地磕碰在河边的泥床上。
福伊波斯·阿波罗把这些河流的出口汇聚到一块，
驱赶着滔滔的洪水，一连九天，猛冲护墙，而宙斯
则不停地降雨，加快着推墙入海的进程。
裂地之神手握三叉长戟，亲自引水
开路，将护墙的支撑，那些个材料和石块统统扔进
水浪——阿开亚人曾付出艰苦的劳动，为把它们置放到位。
他把一切冲刷干净，沿着赫勒斯庞特的水流，
用厚厚的沙层铺平宽阔的海滩。护墙既已
冲扫，他把河流引回原来的水道——以前，它们
一直在那里奔腾，翻涌着晶亮的水波。
就这样，日后，波塞冬和阿波罗会把
一切整治清楚，但眼下，修筑坚固的护墙外，
战斗激烈，杀声震天，护墙受到击撞，
发出巨大的声响。在宙斯的鞭打下，阿耳吉维人
全线崩溃，涌向深旷的海船，挣扎着回逃，慑于
赫克托耳的威势，这位强有力的战将，把对手赶得遑遑奔逃。
如前一样，赫克托耳勇猛冲杀，像一飙旋风。
如同一头置身险境的野猪或狮子，遭到一群
狗和猎手的追打，发疯似地腾转挣扎，
猎手拢成一个圈子，将它团团围住，
勇敢地面对它的扑击，甩手扔出密集的
枪矛；尽管如此，高傲的猎物毫不惧怕，
亦不掉头逃跑——它死于自己的勇莽——
而是一次次地扑击，试图冲出合围的人群，
而无论它对哪个方向发起进攻，总能逼迫猎手回跑退却。
就像这样，赫克托耳扑击在战场上，招聚着他的伙伴，
催赶着他们，杀过壕沟。然而，他自己的快马却没有
这份胆量。沟沿边，它们惊扬起前蹄，
高声嘶叫，惶恐于壕沟的宽阔，
既不能一跃而过，也不能轻松地举步穿越，
因为整条沟壁的两边到处是锋快的
垂悬，沟底坚指着一排排修长的
尖桩，密密麻麻，由阿开亚人的
儿子们手置，御阻强敌的冲扫。
拖着轮盘坚固的战车，驭马实在很难
穿越；但步战的兵勇却跃跃欲试，试图冲过壕沟。
其时，普鲁达马斯站到勇猛的赫克托耳身边，说道：
“赫克托耳，各位特洛伊首领，盟军伙伴们！
此举愚盲，试图把捷蹄的快马赶过壕沟。
沟中尖桩遍布，车马难能逾越，何况
前面还有阿开亚人筑起的墙垣。
沟墙之间地域狭窄，驭者无法下车
战斗——我敢说，我们将被堵在那里挨揍。
倘若高高在上的宙斯，炸响雷的天神，
意欲彻底荡除他们，并有意帮助特洛伊人——
我的天，但愿这个时刻快快到来，
让阿开亚人惨死此地，销声匿迹，远离着阿耳戈斯！
但是，倘若容他们掉转头来，把我们
赶离海船，背靠宽深的壕沟，
那时，我想，面对阿开亚人的攻势，我们中
谁也不能脱险生还——连个报信的都没有。
干起来吧，按我说的做；让我们就此行动。
驭手们，勒紧你们的马缰，就在这壕沟前；
而我们自己要全部就地下车，全副武装，
跟着赫克托耳，人多势众，一拥而上。阿开亚人将无法抵挡
我们的攻势，如果死亡的绳索已经掐住他们的喉咙！”
此番明智的劝议博得了赫克托耳的欢心，
他跳下战车，双脚着地，全副武装。
其他特洛伊人亦无意呆守战车，聚作一团；目睹
卓越的赫克托耳的举动，他们全都跳到地上。
接着，头领们命嘱各自的驭手，
勒马沟沿，排成整齐的队列。
战勇们分而聚之，站成紧凑的队形，
一共五支队伍，听命于各自的统领。
赫克托耳和智勇双全的普鲁达马斯领辖着一队兵勇，
人数最多，也最勇敢善战，比谁都急切，
企盼着捣毁护墙，杀向深旷的海船。
开勃里俄奈斯和他们同往，作为排位第三的统领——
赫克托耳已让另一位战勇，一个比开勃里俄奈斯逊色的驭手，
驾驭他的马车。
帕里斯统领着另一支队伍，辅之以阿尔卡苏斯和阿格诺耳，
第三支队伍由赫勒诺斯和神一样的德伊福波斯制统，
普里阿摩斯的两个儿子，辅之以阿西俄斯，排位第三的首领，
阿西俄斯，呼耳塔科斯之子，闪亮的高头大马
把他载到此地，从阿里斯贝，塞勒埃斯河畔。
统领第四支队伍的是骠勇的埃内阿斯，安基塞斯
之子，由安忒诺耳的两个儿子辅佐，精熟
各种战式的阿开洛科斯和阿卡马斯。
萨耳裴冬统率着声名遐迩的盟军，
挑选了格劳科斯和嗜战的阿斯忒罗派俄斯辅佐；
在他看来，二位勇冠全军——当然，在他之后，
他，盟军中首屈一指的战勇。
其时，他们挺着牛皮盾牌，连成密集的队形，
对着达奈人直冲，急不可待，全然不想
受阻的可能，而是一个劲地猛扑，朝着乌黑的海船。
所有特洛伊人和声名遐迩的盟军伙伴们
都愿执行智勇双全的普罗达马斯的计划，
只有阿西俄斯，呼耳塔科斯之子，军队的首领，
不愿留马沟沿，由一位驭手看管，
而是扬鞭驱怂，扑向迅捷的海船——
好一个笨蛋！他神气活现地赶着车马，
注定跑不脱死之精灵的捕杀，
再也甭想回到多风的伊利昂。
在此之前，乌黑的命运即已围罩过他，
通过伊多墨纽斯的枪矛，丢卡利昂高贵的儿子。
他将车马赶往船队的左边，正是阿开亚人，
随同他们的车马，从平原上退潮般地回撤的地方。
朝着这个方向，阿西俄斯赶着他的马车，
发现墙门没有关闭，粗长的门闩不曾插合——
阿开亚人洞开大门，以便搭救
撤离战场、逃回海船的伙伴。
他驱马直奔该地，执拗愚顽，身后跟拥着
大声喧喊的兵丁，以为阿开亚人已无力
自卫，将被赶回鸟黑的海船。
蠢货！他们在门前发现两员勇猛异常的战将，
善使枪矛的拉丕赛人的儿子，一位
是裴里苏斯之子，强健的波鲁波伊忒斯，
另一位是勒昂丢斯，杀人狂阿瑞斯般的凡人。
二位壮勇稳稳地站在高大的墙门前，
像两棵挺拔的橡树，在山脊上高耸着它们的顶冠，
日复一日地经受着风雨的淋栉，
凭着粗大的根枝，紧紧抓住深处的泥层。
就像这样，二位凭待自己的勇力和强健的臂膀，
站候着高大的、正向他们迎面扑来的阿西俄斯，毫不退让。
特洛伊人直冲而上，对着修筑坚固的护墙，”
高举着生牛皮做就的战盾，裂开嗓门呼喊，
围拥在首领阿西俄斯身边，围拥在亚墨诺斯、俄瑞斯忒斯
和阿西俄斯之子阿达马斯，以及俄伊诺毛斯和索昂的身旁。
其时，墙内的拉丕赛人正极力催促
胫甲坚固的阿开亚人保卫海船，
但是，当他们看到特洛伊人正冲向护墙，
而达奈人则惊叫着溃跑时，
二位冲将出去，拼杀在门前，
像两头野猪，在山上站等一群
步步进逼的对手，骚嚷的狗和猎人，
横冲直撞，连根掀倒一棵棵大树，
撕甩出一块块碎片，使劲磨咬着牙齿，发出吱吱嘎嘎的
声响，直到被人投枪击中，夺走它们的生命——
就像这样，挡护他们胸肩的捏亮的铜甲承受着
枪械的重击，发出铿锵的震响。他们正进行着艰烈的拼搏，
凭恃自己和墙上的伙伴们的力量。
为了自卫，为了保卫营棚和迅捷的海船，
墙上的勇士们从坚固的壁基上挖出大块的石头，
投砸下去，击打在泥地上，
像暴落的雪片——阵凛冽的寒风吹扫乌云，
洒下纷扬的鹅毛大雪，铺盖着丰腴的土地。
就像这样，石块从阿开亚人和特洛伊人手中飞出，
雨点一般，砸打在头盔和突鼓的盾面上，
发出沉重的声响——巨大的投石，大得像磨盘一般。
其时，阿西俄斯，呼耳塔科斯之子，长叹一声，抡起巴掌，
击打两边的腿股，发出痛苦的嘶喊：
“父亲宙斯，现在，连你也成了十足的
骗子！我从未想过，善战的阿开亚兵壮
能够挡住我们的勇力和无坚不摧的双手。
像腰肢细巧的黄蜂或
筑巢山岩小路边的蜜蜂，决不会
放弃自搭的空心蜂房，勇敢地面对
采蜂人的进逼，为保卫自己的后代而拼战——
他们，虽然只有两个人，却不愿离开
墙门，除非杀了我们，或被我们宰杀！”
然而，此番诉告并没有打动宙斯的心灵，
后者已属意让赫克托耳享得荣誉。
其时，在各扇门前，来自不同地域的部队在绞杀拼搏；
然而，我却不能像神明那样，叙说这里的一切。
沿着长长的石墙，暴烈的战争之火在熊熊
燃烧，阿开亚人身处劣境，为了保卫
海船，只有继续战斗。所有助战
达奈人的神祗，此时都心情沮丧。尽管如此，
两位拉丕赛勇士仍在不停地战斗，进行殊死的拼搏。
战场上，裴里苏斯之子、强健的波鲁波伊忒斯
投枪击中达马索斯，破开两边缀着铜片的帽盔，
铜盔抵挡不住，青铜的枪尖
长驱直入，砸烂头骨，溅捣出喷飞的
脑浆——就这样，波鲁波伊忒斯放倒了怒气冲冲的敌人。
接着，他又扑上前去，杀了普隆和俄耳墨诺斯。
其时，勒昂丢斯，阿瑞斯的后裔，击倒了安提马科斯
之子希波马科斯，投枪捅进他的腰带。
然后，他从鞘壳内拔出利剑，
冲过拥攘的人群，先就近一剑，击中
安提法忒斯，把他仰面打翻，随后
又一气杀了墨农、俄瑞斯忒斯和亚墨诺斯，
一个接着一个，全都挺尸在丰腴的土地上。
拉丕赛人动手抢剥死者璀璨的铠甲，
而普鲁达马斯和赫克托耳手下的兵壮，
人数最多，也最勇敢善战，比谁都急切，
企盼着捣毁护墙，放火烧船，
此时仍然站在沟沿，犹豫不决。
原来，正当他们急于过沟之际，一个由飞鸟送来的兆示出现在
他们眼前——
一只苍鹰，搏击长空，一掠而过，翱翔在他们的左前方，
爪下掐着一条巨蛇，浑身血红，
仍然活着，还在挣扎，不愿放弃搏斗，
弯翘起身子，伸出利齿，对着逮住它的鹰鸟，
一口咬在颈边的前胸，后者忍痛松爪，
丢下大蛇，落在地上的人群，然后
一声尖叫，乘着疾风，飞旋而下。
特洛伊人吓得混身发抖，望着盘曲的大蛇，
躺在他们中间——带埃吉斯的宙斯送来的兆物。
其时，普鲁达马斯，站在赫克托耳身边，说道：
“赫克托耳，集会上，你总爱驳斥我的意见，
尽管我说得头头是道。一个普通之人决然不可
和你对唱反调——无论是在议事中，
还是在战场上——我们永远只能为你的事业增彩添光。
现在，我要再次说出我以为最合用的建议：
让我们停止进攻，不要在达奈人的船边苦战。
我以为，继续战斗的结果将和预兆显示的一样，假如那个
由鹰鸟送来的兆示——当我们准备过沟之际，出现在我们眼
前——真是个含义明确的警告：
苍鹰搏击长空，一掠而过，翱翔在我们的左前方，
爪下掐着一条巨蛇，浑身血红，
仍然活着——但它突然丢下大蛇，不及把它逮回家去，
实现用蛇肉饲喂儿女的愿望。同样，
我们，即使凭靠强大的军力，冲破阿开亚人的
大门和护墙，逼退眼前的敌人，
我们仍将循着原路，从船边败返，乱作一团；
我们将丢下成堆的特洛伊伙伴，任由阿开亚人
杀宰，用青铜的兵器，为了保卫他们的海船！
这，便是一位通神者的卜释，他心知
兆示的真意，受到全军的信赖。”
听罢这番话，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳恶狠狠地盯着他，
嚷道：“普鲁达马斯，你的话使我厌烦；
你头脑聪明，应该提出比此番唠叨更好的议言。
但是，如果这的确是你的想法，那么，
一定是神明，是的，一定是他们，弄坏了你的脑袋。
你要我忘记雷电之神宙斯的
嘱告，他曾亲自对我点头允愿。
然而你，你却要我相信飞鸟，相信它们，振摇着长长的
翅膀。告诉你，我不在乎这一切，压根儿不理会这一套——
不管它们是飞向右面，迎着黎明和日出，
还是飞向左面i对着昏暗和黑夜。
不！我们要坚信大神宙斯的告示，
统治所有神明和凡人的王权。
我们只相信一种鸟迹，那就是保卫我们的家园！
你，你为何如此惧怕战争和残杀？即使
我们都死在你的周围，躺在
阿耳吉维人的船边，你也不会顶冒死的危险：
你没有持续战斗的勇气，没有战士的胆量！
但是，倘若你在惨烈的搏杀中畏缩不前，或
唆使他人逃避战斗，用你的话语，那么，
顷刻之间，你就将暴死在我的枪下，送掉你的性命！”
言罢，他率先出击，属下们随后跟进，
喊出粗野的吼叫。在他们上空，喜好炸雷的宙斯
从伊达山上送来一阵疾起的狂风，
卷起团团泥沙，扑向海船，以此迷惑
阿开亚人的心智，把光荣送给特洛伊人和赫克托耳。
受兆示的激励，还有他们的勇力，特洛伊人
勇猛冲击，试图捣毁阿开亚人宽厚的墙垣。
他们打破护墙的外沿设施，捣烂雉堞，
用杠杆松动墙边的突桩——阿开亚人把
它们打入地里，作为护墙的外层防御。
他们捣毁这些设施，期望进而拱倒阿开亚人的
墙垣。但是，达奈人此时无意退却，
而是用牛皮挡住雉堞，
居高临下，用石块猛砸跑至墙边的群敌。
两位埃阿斯，来回巡行在墙内的各个地段，
敦促兵勇们向前，催发阿开亚人的勇力，
时而对某人赞褒几句，时而又对另一个人
责斥一番——只要看到有人在战斗中退却不前：
“朋友们，你们中，有的是阿耳吉维人的俊杰，
有的来自社会的中层，还有的是一般的平头百姓。是的，
在战斗中，我们的作用不同；但眼下，我们却面临共同的拼斗
这一点，你们自己可以看得很清楚。现在，谁也不许
掉头转向海船，听凭敌人狂吼乱叫，
而要勇往直前，互相催鼓呐喊。
但愿俄林波斯山上的宙斯，闪电之神，会给我们力量，
让我们打退敌人的进攻，直逼特洛伊城垣！”
他俩的喊叫鼓起了特洛伊人拼搏的勇气。
像冬日里的一场大雪，下得纷纷扬扬，
密密匝匝——其时，统治世界的宙斯卷来飞落的
雪花，对凡人显耀攻战的声势。他
罢息风力，一个劲地猛下雪片，覆盖了
山岳中迭起的峰峦和突兀的岩壁，
覆盖了多草的低地和农人精耕的良田，
飘落在灰蓝的海波里，遍洒在港湾和滩沿上，
只有汹涌的长浪可以冲破它的封围，其余的一切
全被蒙罩在白帐下，顶着宙斯卷来的大雪的压挤。
就像这样，双方扔出的石块既多且密，
有的飞向特洛伊人，还有的出自特洛伊人之手，
扔向阿开亚人，整道护墙发出震耳欲聋的巨响。
即便如此，特洛伊人和光荣的赫克托耳
还是不能攻破墙门，冲垮粗长的门闩，若不是多谋善断的
宙斯催励他的儿子萨耳裴冬冲向阿耳吉维人，像弯角牛群里
的一头狮子。
他迅速移过溜圆的战后，挡住前身，
盾面青铜，煅砸精致，铜匠手工
锤制的佳品，里面严严实实地垫着几层
牛皮，用金钉齐齐地铆在盾沿上。
挺着这面战盾，摇晃着两枝枪矛，
他大步走上前去，像一头山地哺育的狮子，
久不食肉，受高傲的狮心怂恿，
试图闻人一个围合坚固的圈栏，撕食肥羊。
尽管发现牧人就在那边，看守着
他们的羊群，带着投枪和牧狗，
它却根本不曾想过，在扑食之前，是否会被逐离羊圈——
不是一跃而起，逮住一头肥羊，便是玩命
首次扑杀，被投枪击中，出自一条灵捷的
臂膀。同样，沸腾在心中的激情催使神一样的
萨耳裴冬冲向护墙，捣毁雉堞。
他张口喊叫，对着格劳科斯，希波洛科斯的儿郎：
“格劳科斯，在鲁基亚，人们为何特另u敬重你我，
让我们荣坐体面的席位，享用肥美的肉块，满杯的醇酒，
而所有的人们都像仰注神明似地看着我俩？
我们又何以能拥获大片的土地，在珊索斯河畔，
肥沃的葡萄园和盛产麦于的良田？
这一切表明，我们负有责任，眼下要站在鲁基亚人的
前面，经受战火的炙烤。这样，
某个身披重甲的鲁基亚战士便会如此说道：
‘他们确实非同一般，这些个统治着鲁基亚，
统治着我们的王者，没有白吃肥嫩的羊肉，
白喝醇香的美酒——他们的确勇力
过人，战斗在鲁基亚人的前列。’
我的朋友啊，要是你我能从这场战斗中生还，
得以长生不死，拒老抗衰，与天地同存，
我就再也不会站在前排里战斗，
也不会再要你冲向战场，人们争得荣誉的地方。
但现在，死的精灵正挨站在我们身边，
数千阴影，谁也逃身不得，躲不过它们的击打——
所以，让我们冲上前去，要么为自己争得荣光，要么把它拱手
让给敌人！”
听罢这番话，格劳科斯既不抗命，也不回避，
而是和他一起，带着大群的鲁基亚兵丁，直扑墙堞。
裴忒俄斯之子墨奈修斯见状，吓得浑身发抖，
因为他们正冲着他的墙垒走来，杀气腾腾。
他举目遍扫阿开亚人的护墙，希望能看到
某个能来消灾避难的首领，拯救他的伙伴。
他看到两位埃阿斯，嗜战不厌，站在
墙上，而丢克罗斯其时亦走出掩体，和
他们并肩奋战。但是，他却不能通过喊叫，
引起他们的注意——战场上喧闹芜杂，击打之声响彻云天，
投枪敲砸着盾牌、缀着马鬃的铜盔和
紧闭的大门，近逼的特洛伊人正
试图强行破网，杀人门面。
他即刻派出一位信使，奔往埃阿斯战斗的地点：
“快去，卓越的苏忒斯，把埃阿斯叫来，
若能召得两位埃阿斯，那就再好
不过——我们正面临一场灭顶之灾。
鲁基亚人的首领们已逼得我们喘不过气来，
像在以往的激战中一样致命凶残。
但是，如果狂烈的战斗和拼杀也在那里展开，那么，
你至少也得让大个子埃阿斯、忒拉蒙骁勇的儿子一人前来，
带着弓手丢克罗斯，射技精良的军汉。”
信使得令，谨遵不违，随即
快步跑去，沿着身披铜甲的阿开亚人的墙垣，
来到两位埃阿斯身边站定，急切地说道：
“两位埃阿斯，身披铜甲的阿耳吉维人的首领，
裴忒俄斯心爱的儿子、宙斯钟爱的墨奈修斯求你
前去他的防地，哪怕只有须臾时间，以平缓危急。
倘若二位都去，那就再好
不过——我们正面临一场灭顶之灾。
鲁基亚人的首领们已逼得我们喘不过气来，
像在以往的激战中一样致命凶残。
但是，如果狂烈的战斗和拼杀也在这里展开，那么；
至少也得让大个子埃阿斯、忒拉蒙骁勇的儿子一人前往。
带着弓手丢克罗斯，射技精良的军汉。”
听罢这番话，忒拉蒙之子闻风而动，马上
对另一位埃阿斯、俄伊纽斯之子喊道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“埃阿斯，现在，你们二位，你自己和强健的鲁科墨得斯，
在此坚守，督促达奈人勇敢战斗；
我要赶往那边，迎战敌手，一俟
打退他们的进攻，马上回还。”
言罢，忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯大步离去，带着
丢克罗斯，同父界母的兄弟，后面跟着
潘迪昂，提着丢克罗斯的弯弓。
他们沿着护墙的内侧行进，来到心胸豪壮的
墨奈修斯守护的墙堡，发现兵勇们正受到强敌的逼迫，处境
艰难；鲁基亚人强壮的王者和首领们正
猛攻雉堞，像一股黑色的旋风。
他们扑上前去，接战敌手，杀声四起。
忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯先开杀戒，
击倒萨耳裴冬的同伴，心胸豪壮的厄丕克勒斯，
用一块粗莽的石头，取自堞墙的内沿，
体积硕大，躺在石堆的顶部。当今之人，
即使身强力壮，动用两手，也很难
起举，但埃阿斯却把它高擎过头，
砸捣在顶着四支冠角的盔盖上，把头颅和
脑骨打得稀烂——厄丕克勒斯随之倒地，像一个
跳水者，从高高的墙垒上扑倒下来，魂息飘离了他的躯骨。
接着，丢克罗斯放箭射中格劳科斯，希波洛科斯
强健的儿子，正在爬越高墙，
发现膀子裸露，无心恋战，
从墙上跳下，偷偷摸摸，惟恐阿开亚人看出
他已身带箭伤，进而大肆吹擂。
萨耳裴冬意识到格劳科斯已从墙上回撤，
心中顿觉一阵楚痛；然而，他没有丢却嗜战的热情，
出枪击打，刺中阿尔克马昂，塞斯托耳之子，
继而又把枪矛拧拔出来，随着拉力，阿尔克马昂
一头栽倒在泥地里，精制的铜甲在身上铿锵作响。
然后，萨耳裴冬抓住雉堞，伸出强有力的大手，
用力猛拉，扳去一大片墙沿，使护墙顶部
失去摭掩，为众人的进攻打开了一个缺口。
其时，埃阿斯和丢克罗斯同时对他瞄准，丢克罗斯
发箭射中闪亮的皮带，勒在胸肩上，系连着
摭护全身的盾牌，但宙斯为他挡开死的精灵，
不愿让自己的儿子死在海船的后尾边。
埃阿斯冲上前去，击捅盾牌，虽然枪尖不曾
穿透层面，却把他顶得腿步趄趔，挟着狂莽，
从雉谍后回退几步，但没有完全
放弃战斗，心中仍然渴望争得荣誉。
他移转身子，亮开嗓门，对神一样的鲁基亚人喊道：
“为何松减你们狂烈的战斗激情，我的鲁基亚兵朋？
虽说我很强健，但由我一人破墙，打出
一条直抵海船的通道，仍属难事一件。
跟我一起干吧，人多事不难！”
萨耳裴冬言罢，兵勇们畏于首领的呵斥，
更加抖擞精神，围聚在统领和王者的身边。
护墙内，阿耳吉维人针锋相对，整饬队伍，
加强防御，一场激烈的搏斗在两军之间展开。
壮实的鲁基亚人不能捅开达奈人的
护墙，打出一条直抵海船的通道，
而达奈枪手也无力挡开
已经逼至墙根的鲁基亚兵汉，
像两个手持量杆的农人，站在公地上，
大吵大闹，为决定界石的位置，在一条
狭窄的田域，为争得一块等量的份地翻脸，
其时，雉培隔开两军，而横越墙头，
双方互相杀砍，击打着溜圆的、摭护前胸的
牛皮盾面，击打着稳条飘舞的护身的皮张。
许多人被无情的青铜破毁皮肉，
有的因为掉转身子，亮出脊背，
更多的则因盾牌遭受枪击，被彻底捅穿。
战地上到处碧紫猩红，雉堞上、壁垒上，遍洒着
特洛伊人和阿开亚兵壮的鲜血。尽管如此，
特洛伊人仍然不能打垮对手，使他们逃还；
阿开亚人死死顶住，像一位细心的妇人，
拿起校秤，提着秤杆，就着压码计量羊毛，求得
两边的均衡，用辛勤的劳动换回些须收入，供养孩子的生活。
就像这样，双方兵来将挡，打得胜负难分，
直到宙斯决定把更大的光荣赐送赫克托耳——
普里阿摩斯之子是捣人阿开亚护墙的第一人。
他提高嗓门，用尖亮的声音对特洛伊人喊道：
“鼓起劲来，调驯烈马的特洛伊人，冲破阿开亚人的
护墙，把暴虐的烈火扔上他们的海船！”
赫克托耳大声催励兵勇们前进，而后者也听从他的呼号，
以密集的队形扑向护墙，紧握
锋快的枪矛，朝着墙垒涌去。
与此同时，赫克托耳从墙门前抓起一块石头，
举着他移步向前，巨石底部粗钝硕大，但顶部
却伸出犀利的棱角。当今之人，本地最健的壮士，
即使走出两个，也不能轻而易举地把它从地面抬到
车上，但赫克托耳却反凭一己之力，搬起并摇晃着石块——
工于心计的克罗诺斯的儿子为他减轻了顽石的重量。
像一个牧羊人，轻松地拿起一头阉羊的卷毛，
一手拎着，丝毫不觉得有什么分量。
赫克托耳搬起石头，向前走去，直对着墙门，
后者紧堵着墙框，连合得结结实实——
门面高大，双层，里面安着两条横闩，
互相交迭，由一根闩杆固系插连。
他来到门前，叉开双腿，站稳脚跟，压上全身的力气，
增强冲力，扔出巨石，砸在门的中间，
打烂了两边的铰链；石块重重地捣开
门面，大门叹出长长的哀号，门闩力不
能支，板条吃不住石块的重击，
裂成纷飞的碎片。光荣的赫克托耳猛冲进去，
提着两枝枪矛，脸面乌黑，像突至的夜晚，
穿着护身的铜甲，闪射出可怕的光寒。
其时，除了神明，谁也甭想和他阵战，阻止
他的进攻——他正破门而入，双目喷闪着火焰。
他转动身子，催督战斗中的特洛伊人
爬过护墙，后者服从了他的号令。
他们动作迅捷，有的涌过护墙，还有的
冲扫过坚实的大门；达奈人惊慌失措，
奔命在深旷的海船间；喧嚣之声拔地而起，经久不息。
ARGUMENT.
THE BATTLE AT THE GRECIAN WALL.
The Greeks having retired into their intrenchments, Hector attempts to
force them; but it proving impossible to pass the ditch, Polydamas advises
to quit their chariots, and manage the attack on foot. The Trojans follow
his counsel; and having divided their army into five bodies of foot, begin
the assault. But upon the signal of an eagle with a serpent in his talons,
which appeared on the left hand of the Trojans, Polydamas endeavours to
withdraw them again. This Hector opposes, and continues the attack; in
which, after many actions, Sarpedon makes the first breach in the wall.
Hector also, casting a stone of vast size, forces open one of the gates,
and enters at the head of his troops, who victoriously pursue the Grecians
even to their ships.
While thus the hero's pious cares attend
The cure and safety of his wounded friend,
Trojans and Greeks with clashing shields engage,
And mutual deaths are dealt with mutual rage.
Nor long the trench or lofty walls oppose;
With gods averse the ill-fated works arose;
Their powers neglected, and no victim slain,
The walls were raised, the trenches sunk in vain.
Without the gods, how short a period stands
The proudest monument of mortal hands!
This stood while Hector and Achilles raged.
While sacred Troy the warring hosts engaged;
But when her sons were slain, her city burn'd,
And what survived of Greece to Greece return'd;
Then Neptune and Apollo shook the shore,
Then Ida's summits pour'd their watery store;
Rhesus and Rhodius then unite their rills,
Caresus roaring down the stony hills,
Æsepus, Granicus, with mingled force,
And Xanthus foaming from his fruitful source;
And gulfy Simois, rolling to the main(224)
Helmets, and shields, and godlike heroes slain:
These, turn'd by Phoebus from their wonted ways,
Deluged the rampire nine continual days;
The weight of waters saps the yielding wall,
And to the sea the floating bulwarks fall.
Incessant cataracts the Thunderer pours,
And half the skies descend in sluicy showers.
The god of ocean, marching stern before,
With his huge trident wounds the trembling shore,
Vast stones and piles from their foundation heaves,
And whelms the smoky ruin in the waves.
Now smooth'd with sand, and levell'd by the flood,
No fragment tells where once the wonder stood;
In their old bounds the rivers roll again,
Shine 'twixt the hills, or wander o'er the plain.(225)
But this the gods in later times perform;
As yet the bulwark stood, and braved the storm;
The strokes yet echoed of contending powers;
War thunder'd at the gates, and blood distain'd the towers.
Smote by the arm of Jove with dire dismay,
Close by their hollow ships the Grecians lay:
Hector's approach in every wind they hear,
And Hector's fury every moment fear.
He, like a whirlwind, toss'd the scattering throng,
Mingled the troops, and drove the field along.
So 'midst the dogs and hunters' daring bands,
Fierce of his might, a boar or lion stands;
Arm'd foes around a dreadful circle form,
And hissing javelins rain an iron storm:
His powers untamed, their bold assault defy,
And where he turns the rout disperse or die:
He foams, he glares, he bounds against them all,
And if he falls, his courage makes him fall.
With equal rage encompass'd Hector glows;
Exhorts his armies, and the trenches shows.
The panting steeds impatient fury breathe,
And snort and tremble at the gulf beneath;
Just at the brink they neigh, and paw the ground,
And the turf trembles, and the skies resound.
Eager they view'd the prospect dark and deep,
Vast was the leap, and headlong hung the steep;
The bottom bare, (a formidable show!)
And bristled thick with sharpen'd stakes below.
The foot alone this strong defence could force,
And try the pass impervious to the horse.
This saw Polydamas; who, wisely brave,
Restrain'd great Hector, and this counsel gave:
"O thou, bold leader of the Trojan bands!
And you, confederate chiefs from foreign lands!
What entrance here can cumbrous chariots find,
The stakes beneath, the Grecian walls behind?
No pass through those, without a thousand wounds,
No space for combat in yon narrow bounds.
Proud of the favours mighty Jove has shown,
On certain dangers we too rashly run:
If 'tis will our haughty foes to tame,
Oh may this instant end the Grecian name!
Here, far from Argos, let their heroes fall,
And one great day destroy and bury all!
But should they turn, and here oppress our train,
What hopes, what methods of retreat remain?
Wedged in the trench, by our own troops confused,
In one promiscuous carnage crush'd and bruised,
All Troy must perish, if their arms prevail,
Nor shall a Trojan live to tell the tale.
Hear then, ye warriors! and obey with speed;
Back from the trenches let your steeds be led;
Then all alighting, wedged in firm array,
Proceed on foot, and Hector lead the way.
So Greece shall stoop before our conquering power,
And this (if Jove consent) her fatal hour."
[Illustration: POLYDAMAS ADVISING HECTOR.]
POLYDAMAS ADVISING HECTOR.
This counsel pleased: the godlike Hector sprung
Swift from his seat; his clanging armour rung.
The chief's example follow'd by his train,
Each quits his car, and issues on the plain,
By orders strict the charioteers enjoin'd
Compel the coursers to their ranks behind.
The forces part in five distinguish'd bands,
And all obey their several chiefs' commands.
The best and bravest in the first conspire,
Pant for the fight, and threat the fleet with fire:
Great Hector glorious in the van of these,
Polydamas, and brave Cebriones.
Before the next the graceful Paris shines,
And bold Alcathous, and Agenor joins.
The sons of Priam with the third appear,
Deiphobus, and Helenas the seer;
In arms with these the mighty Asius stood,
Who drew from Hyrtacus his noble blood,
And whom Arisba's yellow coursers bore,
The coursers fed on Selle's winding shore.
Antenor's sons the fourth battalion guide,
And great Æneas, born on fountful Ide.
Divine Sarpedon the last band obey'd,
Whom Glaucus and Asteropaeus aid.
Next him, the bravest, at their army's head,
But he more brave than all the hosts he led.
Now with compacted shields in close array,
The moving legions speed their headlong way:
Already in their hopes they fire the fleet,
And see the Grecians gasping at their feet.
While every Trojan thus, and every aid,
The advice of wise Polydamas obey'd,
Asius alone, confiding in his car,
His vaunted coursers urged to meet the war.
Unhappy hero! and advised in vain;
Those wheels returning ne'er shall mark the plain;
No more those coursers with triumphant joy
Restore their master to the gates of Troy!
Black death attends behind the Grecian wall,
And great Idomeneus shall boast thy fall!
Fierce to the left he drives, where from the plain
The flying Grecians strove their ships to gain;
Swift through the wall their horse and chariots pass'd,
The gates half-open'd to receive the last.
Thither, exulting in his force, he flies:
His following host with clamours rend the skies:
To plunge the Grecians headlong in the main,
Such their proud hopes; but all their hopes were vain!
To guard the gates, two mighty chiefs attend,
Who from the Lapiths' warlike race descend;
This Polypoetes, great Perithous' heir,
And that Leonteus, like the god of war.
As two tall oaks, before the wall they rise;
Their roots in earth, their heads amidst the skies:
Whose spreading arms with leafy honours crown'd,
Forbid the tempest, and protect the ground;
High on the hills appears their stately form,
And their deep roots for ever brave the storm.
So graceful these, and so the shock they stand
Of raging Asius, and his furious band.
Orestes, Acamas, in front appear,
And OEnomaus and Thoon close the rear:
In vain their clamours shake the ambient fields,
In vain around them beat their hollow shields;
The fearless brothers on the Grecians call,
To guard their navies, and defend the wall.
Even when they saw Troy's sable troops impend,
And Greece tumultuous from her towers descend,
Forth from the portals rush'd the intrepid pair,
Opposed their breasts, and stood themselves the war.
So two wild boars spring furious from their den,
Roused with the cries of dogs and voice of men;
On every side the crackling trees they tear,
And root the shrubs, and lay the forest bare;
They gnash their tusks, with fire their eye-balls roll,
Till some wide wound lets out their mighty soul.
Around their heads the whistling javelins sung,
With sounding strokes their brazen targets rung;
Fierce was the fight, while yet the Grecian powers
Maintain'd the walls, and mann'd the lofty towers:
To save their fleet their last efforts they try,
And stones and darts in mingled tempests fly.
As when sharp Boreas blows abroad, and brings
The dreary winter on his frozen wings;
Beneath the low-hung clouds the sheets of snow
Descend, and whiten all the fields below:
So fast the darts on either army pour,
So down the rampires rolls the rocky shower:
Heavy, and thick, resound the batter'd shields,
And the deaf echo rattles round the fields.
With shame repulsed, with grief and fury driven,
The frantic Asius thus accuses Heaven:
"In powers immortal who shall now believe?
Can those too flatter, and can Jove deceive?
What man could doubt but Troy's victorious power
Should humble Greece, and this her fatal hour?
But like when wasps from hollow crannies drive,
To guard the entrance of their common hive,
Darkening the rock, while with unwearied wings
They strike the assailants, and infix their stings;
A race determined, that to death contend:
So fierce these Greeks their last retreats defend.
Gods! shall two warriors only guard their gates,
Repel an army, and defraud the fates?"
These empty accents mingled with the wind,
Nor moved great Jove's unalterable mind;
To godlike Hector and his matchless might
Was owed the glory of the destined fight.
Like deeds of arms through all the forts were tried,
And all the gates sustain'd an equal tide;
Through the long walls the stony showers were heard,
The blaze of flames, the flash of arms appear'd.
The spirit of a god my breast inspire,
To raise each act to life, and sing with fire!
While Greece unconquer'd kept alive the war,
Secure of death, confiding in despair;
And all her guardian gods, in deep dismay,
With unassisting arms deplored the day.
Even yet the dauntless Lapithae maintain
The dreadful pass, and round them heap the slain.
First Damasus, by Polypoetes' steel,
Pierced through his helmet's brazen visor, fell;
The weapon drank the mingled brains and gore!
The warrior sinks, tremendous now no more!
Next Ormenus and Pylon yield their breath:
Nor less Leonteus strews the field with death;
First through the belt Hippomachus he gored,
Then sudden waved his unresisted sword:
Antiphates, as through the ranks he broke,
The falchion struck, and fate pursued the stroke:
Iamenus, Orestes, Menon, bled;
And round him rose a monument of dead.
Meantime, the bravest of the Trojan crew,
Bold Hector and Polydamas, pursue;
Fierce with impatience on the works to fall,
And wrap in rolling flames the fleet and wall.
These on the farther bank now stood and gazed,
By Heaven alarm'd, by prodigies amazed:
A signal omen stopp'd the passing host,
Their martial fury in their wonder lost.
Jove's bird on sounding pinions beat the skies;
A bleeding serpent of enormous size,
His talons truss'd; alive, and curling round,
He stung the bird, whose throat received the wound:
Mad with the smart, he drops the fatal prey,
In airy circles wings his painful way,
Floats on the winds, and rends the heaven with cries:
Amidst the host the fallen serpent lies.
They, pale with terror, mark its spires unroll'd,
And Jove's portent with beating hearts behold.
Then first Polydamas the silence broke,
Long weigh'd the signal, and to Hector spoke:
"How oft, my brother, thy reproach I bear,
For words well meant, and sentiments sincere?
True to those counsels which I judge the best,
I tell the faithful dictates of my breast.
To speak his thoughts is every freeman's right,
In peace, in war, in council, and in fight;
And all I move, deferring to thy sway,
But tends to raise that power which I obey.
Then hear my words, nor may my words be vain!
Seek not this day the Grecian ships to gain;
For sure, to warn us, Jove his omen sent,
And thus my mind explains its clear event:
The victor eagle, whose sinister flight
Retards our host, and fills our hearts with fright,
Dismiss'd his conquest in the middle skies,
Allow'd to seize, but not possess the prize;
Thus, though we gird with fires the Grecian fleet,
Though these proud bulwalks tumble at our feet,
Toils unforeseen, and fiercer, are decreed;
More woes shall follow, and more heroes bleed.
So bodes my soul, and bids me thus advise;
For thus a skilful seer would read the skies."
To him then Hector with disdain return'd:
(Fierce as he spoke, his eyes with fury burn'd:)
"Are these the faithful counsels of thy tongue?
Thy will is partial, not thy reason wrong:
Or if the purpose of thy heart thou vent,
Sure heaven resumes the little sense it lent.
What coward counsels would thy madness move
Against the word, the will reveal'd of Jove?
The leading sign, the irrevocable nod,
And happy thunders of the favouring god,
These shall I slight, and guide my wavering mind
By wandering birds that flit with every wind?
Ye vagrants of the sky! your wings extend,
Or where the suns arise, or where descend;
To right, to left, unheeded take your way,
While I the dictates of high heaven obey.
Without a sign his sword the brave man draws,
And asks no omen but his country's cause.
But why should'st thou suspect the war's success?
None fears it more, as none promotes it less:
Though all our chiefs amidst yon ships expire,
Trust thy own cowardice to escape their fire.
Troy and her sons may find a general grave,
But thou canst live, for thou canst be a slave.
Yet should the fears that wary mind suggests
Spread their cold poison through our soldiers' breasts,
My javelin can revenge so base a part,
And free the soul that quivers in thy heart."
Furious he spoke, and, rushing to the wall,
Calls on his host; his host obey the call;
With ardour follow where their leader flies:
Redoubling clamours thunder in the skies.
Jove breathes a whirlwind from the hills of Ide,
And drifts of dust the clouded navy hide;
He fills the Greeks with terror and dismay,
And gives great Hector the predestined day.
Strong in themselves, but stronger in his aid,
Close to the works their rigid siege they laid.
In vain the mounds and massy beams defend,
While these they undermine, and those they rend;
Upheaved the piles that prop the solid wall;
And heaps on heaps the smoky ruins fall.
Greece on her ramparts stands the fierce alarms;
The crowded bulwarks blaze with waving arms,
Shield touching shield, a long refulgent row;
Whence hissing darts, incessant, rain below.
The bold Ajaces fly from tower to tower,
And rouse, with flame divine, the Grecian power.
The generous impulse every Greek obeys;
Threats urge the fearful; and the valiant, praise.
"Fellows in arms! whose deeds are known to fame,
And you, whose ardour hopes an equal name!
Since not alike endued with force or art;
Behold a day when each may act his part!
A day to fire the brave, and warm the cold,
To gain new glories, or augment the old.
Urge those who stand, and those who faint, excite;
Drown Hector's vaunts in loud exhorts of fight;
Conquest, not safety, fill the thoughts of all;
Seek not your fleet, but sally from the wall;
So Jove once more may drive their routed train,
And Troy lie trembling in her walls again."
Their ardour kindles all the Grecian powers;
And now the stones descend in heavier showers.
As when high Jove his sharp artillery forms,
And opes his cloudy magazine of storms;
In winter's bleak un comfortable reign,
A snowy inundation hides the plain;
He stills the winds, and bids the skies to sleep;
Then pours the silent tempest thick and deep;
And first the mountain-tops are cover'd o'er,
Then the green fields, and then the sandy shore;
Bent with the weight, the nodding woods are seen,
And one bright waste hides all the works of men:
The circling seas, alone absorbing all,
Drink the dissolving fleeces as they fall:
So from each side increased the stony rain,
And the white ruin rises o'er the plain.
Thus godlike Hector and his troops contend
To force the ramparts, and the gates to rend:
Nor Troy could conquer, nor the Greeks would yield,
Till great Sarpedon tower'd amid the field;
For mighty Jove inspired with martial flame
His matchless son, and urged him on to fame.
In arms he shines, conspicuous from afar,
And bears aloft his ample shield in air;
Within whose orb the thick bull-hides were roll'd,
Ponderous with brass, and bound with ductile gold:
And while two pointed javelins arm his hands,
Majestic moves along, and leads his Lycian bands.
So press'd with hunger, from the mountain's brow
Descends a lion on the flocks below;
So stalks the lordly savage o'er the plain,
In sullen majesty, and stern disdain:
In vain loud mastiffs bay him from afar,
And shepherds gall him with an iron war;
Regardless, furious, he pursues his way;
He foams, he roars, he rends the panting prey.
Resolved alike, divine Sarpedon glows
With generous rage that drives him on the foes.
He views the towers, and meditates their fall,
To sure destruction dooms the aspiring wall;
Then casting on his friend an ardent look,
Fired with the thirst of glory, thus he spoke:
"Why boast we, Glaucus! our extended reign,(226)
Where Xanthus' streams enrich the Lycian plain,
Our numerous herds that range the fruitful field,
And hills where vines their purple harvest yield,
Our foaming bowls with purer nectar crown'd,
Our feasts enhanced with music's sprightly sound?
Why on those shores are we with joy survey'd,
Admired as heroes, and as gods obey'd,
Unless great acts superior merit prove,
And vindicate the bounteous powers above?
'Tis ours, the dignity they give to grace;
The first in valour, as the first in place;
That when with wondering eyes our martial bands
Behold our deeds transcending our commands,
Such, they may cry, deserve the sovereign state,
Whom those that envy dare not imitate!
Could all our care elude the gloomy grave,
Which claims no less the fearful and the brave,
For lust of fame I should not vainly dare
In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war.
But since, alas! ignoble age must come,
Disease, and death's inexorable doom
The life, which others pay, let us bestow,
And give to fame what we to nature owe;
Brave though we fall, and honour'd if we live,
Or let us glory gain, or glory give!"
He said; his words the listening chief inspire
With equal warmth, and rouse the warrior's fire;
The troops pursue their leaders with delight,
Rush to the foe, and claim the promised fight.
Menestheus from on high the storm beheld
Threatening the fort, and blackening in the field:
Around the walls he gazed, to view from far
What aid appear'd to avert the approaching war,
And saw where Teucer with the Ajaces stood,
Of fight insatiate, prodigal of blood.
In vain he calls; the din of helms and shields
Rings to the skies, and echoes through the fields,
The brazen hinges fly, the walls resound,
Heaven trembles, roar the mountains, thunders all the ground
Then thus to Thoos: "Hence with speed (he said),
And urge the bold Ajaces to our aid;
Their strength, united, best may help to bear
The bloody labours of the doubtful war:
Hither the Lycian princes bend their course,
The best and bravest of the hostile force.
But if too fiercely there the foes contend,
Let Telamon, at least, our towers defend,
And Teucer haste with his unerring bow
To share the danger, and repel the foe."
Swift, at the word, the herald speeds along
The lofty ramparts, through the martial throng,
And finds the heroes bathed in sweat and gore,
Opposed in combat on the dusty shore.
"Ye valiant leaders of our warlike bands!
Your aid (said Thoos) Peteus' son demands;
Your strength, united, best may help to bear
The bloody labours of the doubtful war:
Thither the Lycian princes bend their course,
The best and bravest of the hostile force.
But if too fiercely, here, the foes contend,
At least, let Telamon those towers defend,
And Teucer haste with his unerring bow
To share the danger, and repel the foe."
Straight to the fort great Ajax turn'd his care,
And thus bespoke his brothers of the war:
"Now, valiant Lycomede! exert your might,
And, brave Oileus, prove your force in fight;
To you I trust the fortune of the field,
Till by this arm the foe shall be repell'd:
That done, expect me to complete the day
Then with his sevenfold shield he strode away.
With equal steps bold Teucer press'd the shore,
Whose fatal bow the strong Pandion bore.
High on the walls appear'd the Lycian powers,
Like some black tempest gathering round the towers:
The Greeks, oppress'd, their utmost force unite,
Prepared to labour in the unequal fight:
The war renews, mix'd shouts and groans arise;
Tumultuous clamour mounts, and thickens in the skies.
Fierce Ajax first the advancing host invades,
And sends the brave Epicles to the shades,
Sarpedon's friend. Across the warrior's way,
Rent from the walls, a rocky fragment lay;
In modern ages not the strongest swain
Could heave the unwieldy burden from the plain:
He poised, and swung it round; then toss'd on high,
It flew with force, and labour'd up the sky;
Full on the Lycian's helmet thundering down,
The ponderous ruin crush'd his batter'd crown.
As skilful divers from some airy steep
Headlong descend, and shoot into the deep,
So falls Epicles; then in groans expires,
And murmuring to the shades the soul retires.
While to the ramparts daring Glaucus drew,
From Teucer's hand a winged arrow flew;
The bearded shaft the destined passage found,
And on his naked arm inflicts a wound.
The chief, who fear'd some foe's insulting boast
Might stop the progress of his warlike host,
Conceal'd the wound, and, leaping from his height
Retired reluctant from the unfinish'd fight.
Divine Sarpedon with regret beheld
Disabled Glaucus slowly quit the field;
His beating breast with generous ardour glows,
He springs to fight, and flies upon the foes.
Alcmaon first was doom'd his force to feel;
Deep in his breast he plunged the pointed steel;
Then from the yawning wound with fury tore
The spear, pursued by gushing streams of gore:
Down sinks the warrior with a thundering sound,
His brazen armour rings against the ground.
Swift to the battlement the victor flies,
Tugs with full force, and every nerve applies:
It shakes; the ponderous stones disjointed yield;
The rolling ruins smoke along the field.
A mighty breach appears; the walls lie bare;
And, like a deluge, rushes in the war.
At once bold Teucer draws the twanging bow,
And Ajax sends his javelin at the foe;
Fix'd in his belt the feather'd weapon stood,
And through his buckler drove the trembling wood;
But Jove was present in the dire debate,
To shield his offspring, and avert his fate.
The prince gave back, not meditating flight,
But urging vengeance, and severer fight;
Then raised with hope, and fired with glory's charms,
His fainting squadrons to new fury warms.
"O where, ye Lycians, is the strength you boast?
Your former fame and ancient virtue lost!
The breach lies open, but your chief in vain
Attempts alone the guarded pass to gain:
Unite, and soon that hostile fleet shall fall:
The force of powerful union conquers all."
This just rebuke inflamed the Lycian crew;
They join, they thicken, and the assault renew:
Unmoved the embodied Greeks their fury dare,
And fix'd support the weight of all the war;
Nor could the Greeks repel the Lycian powers,
Nor the bold Lycians force the Grecian towers.
As on the confines of adjoining grounds,
Two stubborn swains with blows dispute their bounds;
They tug, they sweat; but neither gain, nor yield,
One foot, one inch, of the contended field;
Thus obstinate to death, they fight, they fall;
Nor these can keep, nor those can win the wall.
Their manly breasts are pierced with many a wound,
Loud strokes are heard, and rattling arms resound;
The copious slaughter covers all the shore,
And the high ramparts drip with human gore.
As when two scales are charged with doubtful loads,
From side to side the trembling balance nods,
(While some laborious matron, just and poor,
With nice exactness weighs her woolly store,)
Till poised aloft, the resting beam suspends
Each equal weight; nor this, nor that, descends:(227)
So stood the war, till Hector's matchless might,
With fates prevailing, turn'd the scale of fight.
Fierce as a whirlwind up the walls he flies,
And fires his host with loud repeated cries.
"Advance, ye Trojans! lend your valiant hands,
Haste to the fleet, and toss the blazing brands!"
They hear, they run; and, gathering at his call,
Raise scaling engines, and ascend the wall:
Around the works a wood of glittering spears
Shoots up, and all the rising host appears.
A ponderous stone bold Hector heaved to throw,
Pointed above, and rough and gross below:
Not two strong men the enormous weight could raise,
Such men as live in these degenerate days:
Yet this, as easy as a swain could bear
The snowy fleece, he toss'd, and shook in air;
For Jove upheld, and lighten'd of its load
The unwieldy rock, the labour of a god.
Thus arm'd, before the folded gates he came,
Of massy substance, and stupendous frame;
With iron bars and brazen hinges strong,
On lofty beams of solid timber hung:
Then thundering through the planks with forceful sway,
Drives the sharp rock; the solid beams give way,
The folds are shatter'd; from the crackling door
Leap the resounding bars, the flying hinges roar.
Now rushing in, the furious chief appears,
Gloomy as night! and shakes two shining spears:(228)
A dreadful gleam from his bright armour came,
And from his eye-balls flash'd the living flame.
He moves a god, resistless in his course,
And seems a match for more than mortal force.
Then pouring after, through the gaping space,
A tide of Trojans flows, and fills the place;
The Greeks behold, they tremble, and they fly;
The shore is heap'd with death, and tumult rends the sky.
[Illustration: GREEK ALTAR.]
GREEK ALTAR. 宙斯把特洛伊人和赫克托耳驱向海船，留下
交战的双方，由他们呆在那里，没完没了地打斗，经受残杀
和痛苦的煎熬，自己则移目远方，睁着闪亮的
眼睛，扫视着斯拉凯车战者的土地，
凝望着近战杀敌的慕西亚人，高傲的希波摩尔戈斯人，
喝马奶的勇士，以及人中最刚直的阿比俄伊人。
现在，他已不再把闪亮的目光投向特洛伊大地，
心中坚信，神祗中谁也不敢降落凡间，
助信达奈军伍或特洛伊兵众。
然而，强有力的裂地之神亦没有闭上眼睛；
他欣赏着地面上的战斗和搏杀，坐在
斯拉凯对面，林木繁茂的萨摩斯的
峰巅，从那可以看到伊达的全景，
普里阿摩斯的城堡，阿开亚人的海船，一览无遗。
他从水中出来，坐在山上，目睹阿开亚人正遭受特洛伊人
痛打，心生怜悯，怨恼和愤恨宙斯的作为。
波塞冬急速起程，从巉岩嶙峋的山脊上下来，
迈开迅捷的步伐，高高的山岭和茂密的森林
在神腿的重压下，巍巍震颤。
他迈出三个大步，第四步就到了要去的地方——
埃林伊，那里有他的宫居，坐落在水域
深处，永不败毁，闪着纯金的光芒。
他来至殿前，在车下套入铜蹄的骏马，
细腿追风，金鬃飘洒，穿起
金铸的衣甲，在自己身上，抓起
编工密匝的金鞭，跨上战车，
追波逐浪。悉知他的到来，水中的生灵从海底的各个角落
冒出洋面，嬉跃在他的身边；大海
为他分开水路，兴高采烈。骏马飞扑向前，
车身下青铜的轮轴滴水不沾——
拉着他，迅捷的快马直奔阿开亚人的海船。
在大海深处，森森的水下，有个宽敞幽邃的岩洞，
位于忒奈多斯和崖壁粗皱的英勃罗斯之间。
裂地之神波塞冬将驭马赶进水洞，
宽出轭架，取过仙料，放在蹄前，
供它们咀嚼，然后套上黄金的栓绳，在它们的小腿，
挣不断，滑不脱，使驭马稳站原地，等候主人的
回归。收拾停当，波塞冬启程上路，朝着阿开亚人的群队。
其时，特洛伊人雄兵麇集，像一团烈火，似一飙狂风，
跟着赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，一刻不停地冲来，
狂吼怒号，如同一个人一般，满怀希望，试图
拿下阿开亚人的海船，把他们中最好的壮勇，一个不剩，
车死在海船边。但是，环绕和震撼大地的波塞冬
从深海里出来，前往催励阿耳吉维兵汉，
幻取卡尔卡斯的形象，摹仿他那不知疲倦的声音，
先对两位埃阿斯发话，激励着两面急于求战的心胸：
“二位埃阿斯，你俩要用战斗拯救阿开亚军队，
鼓起你们的战斗激情，忘却恐惧和慌乱！
我不担心别地的防务，特洛伊人无敌的双手
并不可怕，尽管他们的队伍已涌入高墙——
胫甲坚固的阿开亚人可以把他们挡回。
我最不放心的是这里，惟恐险情由此发生，
赫克托耳正领着他们冲杀，这个不要命的家伙，
自称是力大无比的宙斯的儿男。
但愿某位神明会给你们送个信息，使你俩
能顶住对手的进攻，并催督别人站稳脚跟。
这样，尽管他横暴凶狂，你们仍可把他阻离迅捷的
海船，哪怕俄林波斯大神亲自催他赴战！”
言罢，环绕和震撼大地的波塞冬，
举杖拍打，给他俩输入巨大的勇力，
轻舒着他们的臂膀，他们的腿脚和双手，
然后急速离去，像一只展翅疾飞的雄鹰，
从一峰难以爬攀的绝壁上腾空而起，
俯冲下来，追捕平野上的雀鸟——
就像这样，裂地之神波塞冬奔离了两位埃阿斯。
二者中，俄伊琉斯之子、迅捷的小埃阿斯
首先看出来者的身份，对忒拉蒙之子、大埃阿斯谈道：
“埃阿斯，那是一位天神，家住俄林波斯的神明中的一位，
以卜者的模样出现，要我们战斗在海船边。
他不是卡尔卡斯，神的善辨鸟踪的卜者，
我一眼便看认出来，在他离去之时，从他的腿脚，
他的步态——是的，他是一位神祗，错不了。
现在，胸中的激情正更强烈地
催我扑击，要我奋力冲杀、拼搏；
我的腿脚在巍巍震颤，我的双手正等盼着杀战！”
听罢这番话，忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯答道：
“我也一样，握着枪矛的手，这双克敌制胜的大手，
正颤抖出内心的激动；我的力气已在增长，轻快的
双脚正催我向前！我甚至期盼着和普里阿摩斯之子
一对一地打斗——同赫克托耳，不知疲息的壮汉！”
就这样，二位互相激励，高兴地
体验着神在他们心中激起的嗜战的欢悦。
与此同时，环地之神催督着他们身后的阿开亚人，
后者正退聚船边，息凉着滚烫的心胸。
经过一场艰苦卓绝的战斗，他们双腿疲软，
心中悲酸楚痛，眼睁睁地看着
特洛伊人蜂拥而上，越过高耸的墙垣。
望着敌人的攻势，他们泪水横流，心想再也
逃不出眼前的祸难。然而，裂地之神的
督励，轻捷地穿过队伍，催使他们向前。
他首先前往催令丢克罗斯和雷托斯，继而
又对善战的裴奈琉斯、德伊普洛斯和阿索斯，
以及墨里俄奈斯和安提洛科斯，两位啸吼战场的壮勇。
用长了翅膀的言词，波寒冬高声呼喊，策励他们向前：
“可耻，你们这些阿耳吉维人，没有经过战火熬炼的新兵！就
我而言，
我相信，只要肯打，你们可以保住海船，使其免遭毁难；
但是，倘若你们自己消懈不前，躲避痛苦的战斗，
那么；今天就是你们的末日，被特洛伊人围歼！
可耻啊！我的眼前真是出现了奇迹，
一桩可怕的事情，我以为绝对不会发生的丑闻：
特洛伊人居然逼至我们的船前，这些以往
在我们面前遑遑奔逃的散兵——像林中的懦鹿，
黑豹、灰狼和花豹的珍肴，撒腿奔跑，
魂飞胆裂，没有丝毫的战斗意念。
在此之前，特洛伊人全然不敢抵斗，
阿开亚人的勇力和双手，哪怕只是一会儿；
但现在，他们已逼战在深旷的海船边，远离着城堡，
得利于我们统帅的弱点和兵士的息懈——
他们和他争斗，不愿挺身保卫迅捷的
海船，被敌人杀死在自己的船艘间，
然而，即便阿特柔斯之子，统治着辽阔
疆域的英雄阿伽门农，确实做了错事，
侮辱了裴琉斯捷足的儿子，
我们岂可在现时退离战斗？
让我们平愈伤痕[●]，壮士的心灵完全可以接受抚慰。
●让我们平愈伤痕：即：弥合我们和阿伽门农之间的隔阂。
但是，你们却不应就此下去，窒息战斗的情怀，作为全军
最好的战士，此举可真丢脸。要是一个
懦劣的孬种从战场上逃回，即便是我，
也不会予以责斥；但对你们，我心中却有一股腾烧的烈焰。
朋友们啊，由于畏缩不前，用不了多久，你们将会
承受更大的灾难。现在，你们每一个人都要重振心态，拿出
战士的勇气，记住战士的尊严。一场激战正在我们面前展开！
啸吼战场的赫克托耳正搏杀在我们的船边，凭借他的
勇力，已经捣毁我们的墙门和粗长的门闩！”
就这样，环绕大地的波塞冬催励着阿开亚人，敦促他们
向前。队伍重新聚合，气势豪壮，围绕在两位埃阿斯身边，
雄赳赳的战斗队列，人群中的战神蔑视不得，
聚赶军队的雅典娜亦不能小看。精选出来的最勇敢的兵壮，
站成几路迎战的队列，面对特洛伊人和卓越的赫克托耳，
枪矛相碰，盾沿交搭，战地上
圆盾交迭，铜盔磕碰，人挤人拥；
随着人头的攒动，闪亮的盔面上，贴着硬角，
马鬃的盔冠抵擦碰撞，队伍站得严严实实，密密匝匝。
粗壮的大手摇曳着枪矛，组成了一个威武雄壮的战斗营阵。
兵勇们意志坚定，企望着投入凶狂的拼杀。
其时，特洛伊人队形密集，迎面扑来，赫克托耳领头先行，
杀气腾腾，像石壁上崩下的一块滚动的巨岩，
被泛涌着冬雨的大河从穴孔里冲下，
凶猛的水浪击散了岩岸的抓力，
无情的坠石狂蹦乱跳，把山下的森林震得呼呼作响，
一路拼砸滚撞，势不可挡，一气
冲到平原，方才阻止不动，尽管肆虐凶狂。
就像这样，赫克托耳最初试图
一路冲杀，扫过阿开亚人的营棚和海船，
直插海边。然而，当接战对方人群密集的队伍，
他的攻势受到强有力的止阻，被硬硬地顶了回来。阿开亚人的
儿子们群起攻之，用劈剑和双刃的枪矛击打，
把他抵挡回去，逼得他连连后退，步履踉跄。
他放开嗓门，用尖亮的声音对着全军喊叫：
“特洛伊人，鲁基亚人和达耳达尼亚人，近战杀敌的勇士们！
和我站在一起！阿开亚人不能长时间地挡住我的进攻，
虽然他们阵势密集，像一堵墙似地横阻在我的前头。
我知道，他们会在我的投枪下败退，如果我真的受到
神明的驱使，一位最了不起的尊神，赫拉抛甩炸雷的夫婿。”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
人群中阔步走出雄心勃勃的德伊福波斯，
普里阿摩斯之子，携着溜圆的战盾，
凭着它的庇护，迅捷地移步向前。
其时，墨里俄奈斯举起闪亮的枪矛，瞄准投射，
不偏不倚，击中后面，打在溜圆的
牛皮上，但枪矛不曾穿透——还差得老远——
长长的枪杆从杆头上掉落下来。德伊福波斯
挺出皮盾，挡住抢击，惧怕精于搏战的
墨里俄奈斯的投枪。壮士退回自己的
伴群，己方的营阵，震怒于两件
事情：胜利的丢失和枪矛的损断。
他回身阿开亚人的营棚和海船，
前往提取粗长的枪予，置留在营棚里面。
众人继续苦战，听闻着震耳欲聋、此起彼伏的杀声。
丢克罗斯，图丢斯之子，首开杀例，击倒枪手
英勃里俄斯，拥有马群的门托耳之子，
在阿开亚人的儿子们到来之前，居家裴代俄斯，
娶妻普里阿摩斯的私生女，墨得酋卡丝忒。
但是，当达奈人乘坐弯翘的海船到来后，
他回返伊利昂，成为特洛伊人中出类拔萃的壮勇，
和普里阿摩斯同住，后者爱他，像对自己的儿男。
现在，忒拉蒙之子用粗长的枪矛击中了他，
打在耳朵底下，随后又拧拔出来，后者猝然倒地，像一棵样树，
耸立在山巅，从远处亦可眺见它的风采，被铜斧
砍倒，纷洒出鲜嫩的叶片，就像这样，
英勃里俄斯砰然倒地，精工制作的铜甲
在身上铿锵作响。丢克罗斯快步跑去，急欲抢剥铠甲。
就在他冲跑的当口，赫克托耳投出一枝闪亮的枪矛，
但丢克罗斯盯视着他的举动，躲过铜镖，
仅在毫末之间——投枪击中安菲马科斯，克忒阿托斯
之子，阿克托耳的后代，枪尖扎进胸膛，在他冲锋向前的瞬间。
壮士随即倒地，轰然一声，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
赫克托耳随即冲扑上前，试图抢夺心志豪莽的安菲马科斯的
盔盖，顶在他的头上，边沿紧压着眉梢。就在他
冲扑之对，埃阿斯投出一枝闪亮的枪矛，
但枪尖不曾扎进皮肉——他的全身遮裹着
坚硬厚实的铜甲。然而，枪矛击中战盾鼓起的层面，
强劲的冲力使他趄步后退，撇下
两具尸体。阿开亚人见状，随即拖回倒地的战友；
雅典人的两位首领，斯提基俄斯和卓越的墨奈修斯，
抬着安菲马科斯返回阿开亚人的营伍。
其时，两位埃阿斯，挟着勇力和狂热的战斗激情，
抓起了英勃里俄斯，像两头狮子，从牧狗坚牙利齿的
看守下，抢出一头山羊，叼咬在粗莽的双颚间，
悬离着地面，跑进浓密的灌木丛。
就像这样，两位埃阿斯高举起英勃里俄斯，剥去
他的铠甲。出于对他杀死安菲马科斯的愤恨，
俄伊琉斯之子砍下他的脑袋，从松软的脖项，
奋臂摔投；首节辘辘旋转，像一只圆球，滚过战斗的人群，
最后停驻在赫克托耳脚边的尘面。
其时，波塞冬怒火中烧，为了孙子的
惨死，在浴血的拼搏中。他穿行在
阿开亚人的营棚和海船间，
催励着达奈人，为特洛伊人谋备着灾亡。
这时，善使枪矛的伊多墨纽斯和他遐遇，正从
一位伙伴那里过来，后者刚刚退出战场，
被锋快的青铜击伤，打在膝盖的后头。
伙伴们抬走伤员，伊多墨纽斯对医者
作过叮嘱，走回自己的营棚，豪情不减，
期待着投入战斗。强有力的裂地之神对他发话，
摹拟安德莱蒙之子索阿斯的声音，索阿斯，
埃托利亚人的王者，统治着整个普琉荣和山势险峻的
卡鲁冬，受到国民的崇仰，像敬神一般：
“伊多墨纽斯，克里特人的首领，告诉我，阿开亚人的儿子们
发出的威胁，当着特洛伊人的脸面，现在难道全都一风了了
不成？”
听罢这番话，克里特人的首领伊多墨纽斯答道：
“索阿斯，就我所知，这不是任何人的
过错；我们中谁都知道应该如何战斗。
这里没有怯战的懦夫，谁也不曾
怕死，躲避残酷的拼斗。事情的原因
在于宙斯意图借此自悦，这位力大无比的天神，
想让阿开亚人死在此地，消声匿迹，远离着阿耳戈斯！
但是你，索阿斯，向来是一位不屈不挠的斗士，
而且一旦看到有人退缩，便当即催他向前——现在，
你也不应撤离战斗，还要敦促你所遇见的每一位战友！”
听罢这番话，裂地之神波塞冬答道：
‘伊多墨纽斯，今天，谁要是自动逃避战斗，
就让他永世不得离开特洛伊，重返家园；
让他呆留此地，成为饿狗嬉食的佳肴。
赶快，拿出你的甲械，前往战斗。我们必须马上出发，
一起行动，并肩战斗，可望以此打开局面。
即便是懦弱的战士，聚在一起，也会产生力量，
何况你我？以我们的战技，足以抵打一流的高手。”
言罢，他大步离去，一位神祗，介入凡人的争斗。
伊多墨纽斯折回构作坚固的营棚，
穿上璀璨的铠甲，操起两枝枪矛，
勿匆上路，像一个霹雳，克罗诺斯之子
抓在手里，从晶亮的俄波斯山上，
给凡人送来一道耀眼的弧光，一个闪亮的兆示。
就像这样，铜甲在他胸前闪闪发光，映照着奔跑的脚步。
其时，他在营棚边遇见墨里俄奈斯，他的刚勇的助手，
正急着赶回营地，提取一杆铜矛。
强健的伊多墨纽斯对他说道：
“捷足的墨里俄奈斯，摩洛斯之子，我最亲爱的
伴友，为何离开战斗和搏杀，回返营区？
受伤了吗？忍着枪尖送来的苦痛？
也许是有人要我，托你送来口信？就我而言，
我的愿望是战斗，而不是干坐营棚。”
听罢这番话，头脑冷静的墨里俄奈斯答道：
伊多墨纽斯，身披铜甲的克里特人的首领，
我赶来提拿一枝枪矛，不知是否可从
你的营棚觅取。我刚才打断了自己的投枪，
撞毁在高傲的德伊福波斯的盾面。”
听罢这番话，克里特人的首领伊多墨纽斯答道：
“如果要的是枪矛，你完全可以找到，不是一条，而是二十条，
在我的营棚里，紧靠着滑亮的内墙。
这些枪矛都是我的战礼，夺自被我杀死的特洛伊壮勇；
我不爱站得远远地和敌人拼斗，那不是我的打法。
所以，我夺得这些枪矛，突鼓的盾牌，
还有头盔和胸甲，晶光闪亮，光彩夺目。”
听罢这番话，头脑冷静的墨里俄奈斯答道：
“我也一样，我的营棚和乌黑的海船边堆放着
许多得之于特洛伊人的战礼，只是不在近处，一时拿取不到。
你知道，我亦没有忘弃自己的勇力，而是和
前排的壮士一起，英勇战斗——人们从中得获荣誉——
不管战火在哪里烧起，我总是牢牢地站稳脚跟。
其他身披铜甲的阿开亚人或许会忘记我的
拼杀，但你不会，我相信，你是知我最深的凡人。”
听罢这番话，克里特人的首领伊多墨纽斯答道：
“我知道，你作战勇敢、刚强，对此，你无需申说。
如果挑出我们中最好的壮勇，让他们全都汇聚在海船边，
准备一次伏击——此乃验证勇气的最好的办法，
懦夫和勇士都会由此展现本色。
贪生之人脸色青一阵，紫一阵，
无力控制心绪，安然稳坐，
而是不停地移动重心，一会儿压在这条，
一会儿又移到那条腿上，最后在双腿上重压，牙齿
上下磕碰，心脏怦怦乱跳，惧怕死亡的降临。
与之相比，勇士面不改色，进入
伏击点后，亦不会过分惊怕，
而是潜心祈祷，但愿即刻投入战斗，杀个你死我活。
那时候，谁能小看你的勇力，你那双有力的大手？
即便你被飞来的投械击中，或被近战中的枪矛捅伤，
落点都不在脖子或胸背的后头，
而是在你的前胸或腹肚上——其时，
你正向前冲打，战斗在前排的队伍。
行了，干起来吧，不要再呆站此地，像孩子似地
唠唠叨叨——有人会因此责骂，用苛厉的言词。
去吧，赶往我的营棚，选拿一枝粗长的枪矛。”
听罢这番话，墨里俄奈斯，可与迅捷的战神相匹比的
壮勇，快步跑进营棚，抓起一杆铜矛，
撒腿追赶伊多墨纽斯，急切地企望战斗。
他大步奔赴战场，像杀人不眨眼的阿瑞斯，
由心爱的儿子骚乱相随作伴，骚乱，
雄健、强悍，足以吓倒久经战场的壮勇。
二位从斯拉凯出来，全副武装，寻战厄夫罗伊人
或心志豪莽的夫勒古厄斯人，不愿听纳
双方的祈祷，而是只把光荣交送其中的一方。
就像这样，墨里俄奈斯和伊多墨纽斯，军队的统领，
疾步走向战场，顶着闪亮的铜盔。
墨里俄奈斯首先发话，对伊多墨纽斯说道：
“丢卡利昂之子，你想我们该在哪里介入战斗？
从战场的右翼、中路，还是它的
左翼切入？左边该是你我的去处，我想，我们再也找不到比
那儿更吃紧的地段，长发的阿开亚人正受到极其凶狂的逼迫。”
听罢这番话，克里特人的首领伊多墨纽斯答道：
“中路还有其他首领，防卫那里的海船，
两位埃阿斯，以及丢克罗斯，全军
最好的弓手，亦是一位善于近战的壮勇。
他们会让赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，吃够苦头，
尽管他十分强悍，急冲冲地寻求拼斗。
然而，尽管他战意狂烈，却极难取胜，
击散他们的勇力，制服他们那难以抵御的双手，
放火船舱——除非克罗诺斯之子亲手
把燃烧的木块扔进迅捷的船舟。
忒拉蒙之子、高大魁伟的埃阿斯不会对任何人让步，
只要他是凡人，吃食黛墨忒耳的谷物，
能被青铜挑破，能被横飞的巨石砸倒。
若论站着打斗，他的功力甚至不让横扫千军的阿基琉斯，
虽然在跑战中，后者是谁也无法比试的壮勇。
咱们这就走吧，按你说的，前往战场的左翼。我们
马上即会看到荣誉的拥属，是抢归自己，还是送让别人。”
听罢这番话，可与迅捷的战神相匹比的墨里俄奈斯
引路先行，来到伊多墨纽斯提及的去处。
当特洛伊人看到骠烈的伊多墨纽斯，像一团火焰，
带着特他的副手，全都穿着做工精美的战甲，一路跑来时，
开口大叫，喊声传遍队伍，招来一队队兵勇，冲围到他的身边；
一场凶莽的拼搏展开在滩沿的船尾旁。
宛如飓风呼啸，旋扫种荡，
在泥尘堆满路面的日子，
疾风卷起灰泥，形成一片巨大的尘云，
双方扑打在凶莽的激战中，心志狂烈，
决意杀个你死我活，在混战的队列里，用锋快的青铜。
人死人亡的战场上，林立着撕咬皮肉的枪矛，
紧握在兵勇们手里，柄杆修长；人们杀得眼花缭乱，
面对流移的铜光，折闪自锃亮的头盔。
精工擦拭的胸甲和闪光的
战盾。目睹此般景状，只有心如
磐石的人才不致害怕，保持愉快的情境。
克罗诺斯的两个强有力的儿子，句心斗角，
使战场上的勇士受尽了痛苦的煎熬。
宙斯意欲让特洛伊人和赫克托耳获胜，
使捷足的阿基琉斯得取荣光；但他并非
要让阿开亚全军覆灭，在伊利昂城前，
而是只想让塞提丝和她的心志莽烈的儿子
争得光荣。波塞冬呢？他稍稍地从灰蓝色的海浪里出来，
穿行在阿耳吉维人中间，督励他们向前，带着焦虑和不安，
眼看着他们被特洛伊人痛打，怨恼和愤恨宙斯的作为。
二位出自同一个家族，共有一个父亲，
但宙斯先出，并且所知更多。所以，波塞冬
不敢明目张胆地助佑，而只能用隐晦的形式，
化作凡人的模样，不停地活动在队伍里，催励人们向前。
二位神祗在两边系牢了一根敌对和
拼死争斗的绳索，同时拉紧两头；它挣不断，
解不开，已经酥软了许多人的膝腿。
战场上，伊多墨纽斯，尽管头发花白，却一边催激着
达奈人，一边对着特洛伊人猛冲，在敌营中引起一阵慌乱。
他出手杀了俄斯鲁俄纽斯，家住卡北索斯，
受怂于战争的音讯，初来乍到。
他曾对普里阿摩斯提出，意欲妻娶卡桑德拉，国王家中
最漂亮的女儿，不付聘礼，但答应拼死苦战，
从特洛伊地面赶走阿开亚人坚强不屈的儿男。
年迈的普里阿摩斯点头允诺，答应嫁出女儿，
所以，俄斯鲁俄纽斯奋勇冲杀，寄望于许下的诺言。
伊多墨纽斯举起闪亮的枪矛，瞄准投射，
击中健步杀来的俄斯鲁俄纽斯，青铜的
胸甲抵挡不住，枪尖深扎在肚腹里。
他随即倒地，轰然一声。伊多墨纽斯得意洋洋，高声炫耀：
“俄斯鲁俄纽斯，在所有活着的人中，我要向你祝贺，
如果你打算在此实践对达耳达尼亚的
普里阿摩斯的诺言，后者已答应嫁出女儿，作为交换。
听着，我们也对你许个诺愿，并将付诸实践。
我们将给你阿伽门农的女儿，最漂亮的一位，
把她从阿耳戈斯带来，做你的妻子，如果你愿意和我们
联手，帮我们荡平城垣坚固的特洛伊。
跟我走吧，前往我们那破浪远洋的海船，敲定
婚娶的条件——谈论聘礼，我们绝不会要价漫天！”
英雄伊多墨纽斯言罢，抓起他的腿脚，拖着他
走过激战的人群。其时，阿西俄斯跃下战车，趋身助援，
试图抢回伙伴，站在驭马前面，后者由驭手驱赶，紧跟在他
的后头，
喷出腾腾的热气，吹洒在他的背肩。他直冲过去，勇猛狂烈，
意欲枪击伊多墨纽斯，但后者抢先出手，投枪
扎入颏下的咽管，铜尖穿透了脖子。
阿西俄斯随即倒地，像一棵橡树或白杨，巍然倾倒，
或像一棵参天的巨松，耸立在山上，被船匠
砍倒，用锋快的斧斤，备做造船的木料。
就像这样，他躺倒在地，驭马和战车的前面，
呻吼着，双手抓起血染的泥尘。
驭者惊恐万状，丧失了思考能力，
不敢掉转马头，躲过敌人的
重击——骠勇犟悍的安提洛科斯
出枪捅穿他的中腹，青铜的胸甲
抵挡不住，枪尖深扎在肚子里；
他大口喘着粗气，一头栽出精固的战车。
安提洛科斯，心胸豪壮的奈斯托耳之子，赶起他的驭马，
从特洛伊人一边，拢回胫甲坚固的阿开亚人的队阵。
其时，德伊福波斯，怀着对阿西俄斯之死的悲痛，
逼近伊多墨纽斯，投出闪亮的铜枪，但
后者紧盯着他的举动，弯身躲过飞来的枪矛，
蹲藏在溜圆的战盾后面——此盾是他常用
之物，坚实的牛皮，箍着闪光的铜圈，
安着两道套把[●]。他蜷藏在圆盾
●两道套把：kanones，亦可作“两条支杆”解。
后面，铜枪飞过头顶，
擦着盾面，发出粗利的声响。
尽管如此，德伊福波斯的投枪不曾虚发，粗壮的大手
击中呼普塞诺耳，希帕索斯之子，兵士的牧者，
打在横隔膜下的肝脏上，即刻酥软了他的膝腿。
德伊福波斯欣喜若狂，高声炫耀：
“阿西俄斯死了，但此仇已报！告诉你，在前往
哀地斯的途中，在叩响这位强有力的神祗的门户时，他会
怀着满腔的激奋，因为我已给他送去一位随从，同行的伴当！”
听罢此番吹擂，阿开亚人无不愁满胸膛，
而聪颖的安提洛科斯更是心潮激荡。
然而，尽管伤心，他却不愿撂下自己的伴友，而是
冲跑过去，跨站在呼普塞诺耳两边，用巨盾挡护着他的躯体。
随后，他的两位亲密伴友，厄基俄斯之子墨基斯丢斯
和卓越的阿拉斯托耳，在盾后弯下身子，架起呼普塞诺耳，
抬回深旷的海船，踏踩着伤者凄厉的吟叫。
伊多墨纽斯丝毫没有减缓他的狂烈，总在
奋勇扑杀，要么把特洛伊人罩进深沉的黑夜，
要么，在为阿开亚人挡开灾难之时，献出自己的生命。
战场上有一位勇士，宙斯养育的埃苏厄忒斯钟爱的儿子，
英雄阿尔卡苏斯，安基塞斯的女婿，
娶了他的长女，希波达墨娅，
父亲和高贵的母亲爱之甚切，
在深广的家居一同龄的姑娘中，她相貌
出众，女工超群，心智最巧。所以，
她被一位力士妻娶，辽阔的特洛伊大地上最勇敢的英杰。
然而，借用伊多墨纽斯的双手，波塞冬杀倒了他——
神明迷糊了他那双明亮的眼睛，迟滞了挺直的双腿，
使他既不能逃跑，亦不能躲闪，
直挺挺地站着，像一根柱子，或一棵高耸的大树，枝叶繁茂，
纹丝不动——英雄伊多墨纽斯刺中了他，
当胸一枪，破开护身的铜甲，
在此之前，此甲一直替他挡避着死亡，
青铜嘎然崩裂，顶不住枪矛的冲撞。
他随即倒地，轰然一声，心脏夹着枪尖，
仍在跳动，颤摇着枪矛的尾端。
就这样，强有力的阿瑞斯中止了他的狂暴。
伊多墨纽斯欣喜若狂，高声炫耀：
“现在，德伊福波斯，我们可是谁也不亏谁了，你说呢？
杀了你们三个，换抵我们一个，你还有什么可吹？
过来吧，可怜的东西，过来站在我的面前，
看看我是什么样的人儿——我，宙斯的后裔，前来和你拼战！
早先，宙斯得子米诺斯，让他看护克里特的民众；
米诺斯得子丢卡利昂，一位刚勇的壮士；
而丢卡利昂生了我，王统众多的子民，
在广阔的克里特。现在，海船把我载到此地，来做你们
的克星——是的，冲着你，你的父亲和所有的特洛伊兵民！”
听罢这番话，得伊福波斯心里犹豫不决，
权衡着是先退回去，另找一位心胸豪壮的
特洛伊人作伴，还是就此动手，单身和他拼战？
斟酌比较，觉得第一种做法似乎更为可取。于是，他抬腿上路，
前往求助于埃内阿斯，找到了他，在战场的边沿，
闲站在那儿，从未平息对卓越的普里阿摩斯的愤怒[●]，只因
●从未……的愤怒：可能暗指安基塞斯和普里阿摩斯两家为争夺特洛伊王权
的争斗。
后者抵消他的荣誉，尽管他作战勇敌，在特洛伊壮士中。
德伊福波斯走去站在他的身边，说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“埃内阿斯，特洛伊人的首领，现在，我们需要你的战力，
保护你姐姐的丈夫，倘若你会为亲人之死悲痛。’
快走，为保护阿尔卡苏斯而战，你的姐夫；
在你幼小之时，他曾养育过你，在他的家里。现在，
伊多墨纽斯，著名的枪手，已经把他放倒，杀死在战场上！”
一番话在埃内阿斯胸中激起了愤怒，
他朝着伊多墨纽斯冲去，急切地企望战斗。然而，
伊多墨纽斯一点都不害怕——怕什么呢？一个黄毛孩子——
而是稳稳地站守阵地，像山上的一头野猪，自信于
它的勇力，站候着步步进逼的对手，一大伙骚嚷的
人群，在一个荒凉的地方，竖起背上的鬃毛，
双眼喷闪着火光，咋咋地磨响獠牙，
怒气冲冲，等盼着击败狗和猎人。
就像这样，伊多墨纽斯，著名的枪手，双腿稳立，面对冲扫
而来的埃内阿斯，一步不让。他招呼己方的伙伴，大声喊叫，
双眼扫视着阿斯卡拉福斯、阿法柔斯和德伊普罗斯，
以及墨里俄奈斯和安提洛科斯，两位啸吼战场的壮勇，
催励着他们，送去长了翅膀的话语，高声喊道：
“过来吧，我的朋友，帮我一把！我只身一人，打心眼里
害怕捷足的埃内阿斯，正对着我冲来，
雄浑刚健，足以杀倒战斗中的兵勇。
此人年轻力壮，正是人生最有勇力的年华；
要是我们同龄，正如我们具有同样的战斗激情一样，
那么，我们马上即可决出胜负，不是他胜，便是我赢！”
伊多墨纽斯言罢，众人蜂拥着走来，站好位置，
抱定同一个信念，用盾牌挡护着自己的肩头。
在战场的另一边，埃内阿斯亦在召唤他的伙伴，
双眼扫视着德伊福波斯、帕里斯和卓越的阿格诺耳，
和他一样，都是特洛伊人的首领。兵勇们
蜂拥在他们身后，像羊群跟着带队的公羊，
离开草地，前往水边喝饮，使收入眼见心喜——
就像这样，埃阿斯心中充满喜悦，
眼望着大群的兵丁，跟随在他的身后。
两军拥逼到阿尔卡苏斯身边，近战拼搏，
挥舞着粗长的枪矛，互相投射，撞打着系扣在
胸前的铜甲，发出可怕的响声。
激战中活跃着两员战将，刚勇异常，无人可及，
埃内阿斯和伊多墨纽斯，可与战神匹比的凡人，
手握无情的铜枪，期待着毁裂对方的皮肉。
埃内阿斯首先投枪，但伊多墨纽斯
紧盯着他的举动，躲过了青铜的枪矛——
投枪咬人泥层，杆端来回摆动，
粗壮的大手徒劳无益地白丢了一枝枪矛。
然而，伊多墨纽斯投枪击中俄伊诺毛斯，打在腹中，
捅穿胸甲的虚处，内脏从铜甲里
迸挤出来；后者随即倒地，手抓泥尘。
伊多墨纽斯从尸体上拔出投影森长的枪矛，
但已无力剥取璀璨的铠甲，从
死者的肩头——投枪迎面扑来，打得他连连退后。
他双腿疲软，过去的撑力已不复存在，
既不能在投枪后进扑，也无法躲避飞来的枪示。
就这样，他站在那里，抵挡着无情的死亡之日的进迫，
腿脚已不能快跑，驮着他撤离战斗。
正当他步步回挪之际，德伊福波斯，带着难解的
仇恨，投出一枝闪亮的枪矛，然而
又没有击中，但却撂倒了阿斯卡拉福斯，
战神的儿子，沉重的枪矛捅穿了
肩膀——他翻身倒地，手抓泥尘。
但是，身材魁伟、喊声宏亮的阿瑞斯其时一无所闻，
尚不知儿子已倒死在激烈的战斗中，
闲坐在俄林波斯山上，金色的
云朵下，受制于宙斯的意志，和其他
神祗一样，全被禁止介入战斗。；
地面上，两军拥逼到阿斯卡拉福斯身边，近战拼搏。
德伊福波斯从尸首上抢走闪亮的头盔，
但墨里俄奈斯，可与迅捷的战神相匹比的斗士，
其时扑上前去，出枪击伤他的手臂，带孔眼的
铜盔从后者手上掉下，重重地敲响在泥地上。
墨里俄奈斯再次猫腰冲击，像一只鹰兀，
从德伊福波斯肩上夺过粗重的枪矛，
回身自己的伴群。其时，波利忒斯，
双手拦腰抱起德伊福波斯，他的兄弟，
走离悲烈的战斗，来到捷蹄的驭马边
——它们站等在后面，避离战斗和搏杀，
载着驭手，荷着精工制作的战车。
驭马拉着德伊福波斯回城，伤者发出凄厉的吟叫，
忍着剧痛，鲜血从新创的伤口涌冒，沿着臂膀流淌。
然而，战勇们仍在战斗，滚打在喧腾不息的杀声里。
埃内阿斯扑向阿法柔斯，卡勒托耳之子，
投出锋快的枪矛，扎在喉脖上，其时正掉转过来，对着枪头。
他脑袋撇倒一边，盾牌压砸尸身，
连同掉落的头盔；破毁勇力的死亡蒙罩起他的躯体。
其时，安提洛科斯，双眼紧盯着索昂，见他转身逃跑，猛扑
上去，出枪击打，捅裂出整条静脉——此管
沿着脊背，直通脖端。枪矛砸捣出这一
整条脉管。他仰面倒地，四肢摊展，
伸出双手，对着亲爱的伙伴。
安提洛科斯冲上前去，试图抢剥铠甲，
从他的肩上，警惕地左右张望。特洛伊人正从
四面冲围，投枪砸打在硕大闪亮的盾牌上，但却
不能捅穿，用无情的铜枪扎开安提洛科斯
鲜亮的肌体——在他的周围，裂地之神波塞冬挡护着
奈斯托耳之子，甚至在这密集的枪雨中。
安提洛科斯从未避离敌群，
而是勇敢地面对他们，奋力挥舞着枪矛，
一刻也不停息，一心想着击倒敌人，
用他的投枪，或通过近身的拼搏。
其时，阿达马斯，阿西俄斯之子，见他在混战中
用枪瞄打，冲扑过去，就近捅出犀利的铜枪，扎在
盾牌正中，但黑发的波塞冬折毁了
枪矛，不让他夺走安提洛科斯的生命，
铜枪一半插入安提洛科斯的盾牌，
像一截烤黑了的木桩，另一半掉躺泥尘。
为了保命，他退往自己的伴群，而
就在回跑之际，墨里俄奈斯紧紧跟上，投枪出手，
打在生殖器和肚脐之间——痛苦的战争
致杀可悲的凡人，以这个部位最烈。
枪矛深扎进去，他曲身枪杆，
喘着粗气，像山上的一头公牛，被牧人用
编绞的绳索绑得结结实实，拖着行走，由它一路挣扎反抗。
就像这样，他忍着伤痛，气喘吁吁，但时间不长，仅在片刻
之中。英雄墨里俄奈斯迈步走去，从他身上
拔出枪矛，浓墨的迷雾蒙住了他的眼睛。
近战中，赫勒诺斯击中德伊普罗斯，砍在太阳穴上，
用一柄粗大的斯拉凯铜剑，把帽盔打得支离破碎，
脱出头颅，掉在地上，一路滚去，
沿着兵勇们的脚边，被一位阿开亚人捡起。
昏黑的夜色蒙住了德伊普罗斯的眼睛。
悲痛揪住了阿特柔斯之子的心灵，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯
挥舞着锋快的枪矛，勇猛进逼，向赫勒诺斯，
王者和勇士，其时拉开着弯弓的杆口，
两人同时投射，一个掷出锋利的枪矛，
飞驰的投枪，另一个引弦放箭，
普里阿摩斯之子一箭射中对手的胸口，
胸甲的弯片上，但致命的飞箭被反弹了回来。
正如在一大片打谷场上，黑皮的豆粒
和鹰嘴豆儿高弹出宽面的锹铲，
在呼吹的劲风中，随着杨荚者有力的抛甩，
致命的羽箭弹离光荣的墨奈劳斯的
胸甲，蹦出老远，硬是被顶了回去。与此同时，
阿特柔斯之子、啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯投枪
击中赫勒诺斯，青铜的枪矛打穿紧握的拳手，
握着油亮的弓杆，破毁了他的引械。
为了保命，他退回自己的伴群，
垂悬着伤手，拖着(木岑)木的枪杆。
心胸豪壮的阿格诺耳从他手里接过投枪，
用编织紧细的羊毛包住伤口——助手携带的
投石器具，为这位兵士的牧者。
其时，裴桑得罗斯对着光荣的墨奈劳斯
扑近，悲惨的命运把他引向死的终极——
他将死在你墨奈劳斯的手里，在这场殊死的拼杀中。
两人大步走来，咄咄近逼。阿特柔斯
之子投枪未中，偏离了目标，而
裴桑得罗斯出枪击中光荣的墨奈劳斯的
战盾，但铜枪不曾穿透盾牌，
宽阔的盾面挡住了它的冲刺，枪头折断在木杆的
端沿。虽然如此，他却仍然满心欢喜，企望着赢得胜利。
阿特柔斯之子拔出柄嵌银钉的铜剑，
扑向裴桑得罗斯，后者藏身盾牌下面，紧握着
一把精工煅打的斧头，铜刃锋快，安着橄揽木的
柄把，修长、滑亮。他俩同时挥手劈砍，
裴桑得罗斯一斧砍中插缀马鬃的盔冠，
顶面的脊角，而墨奈劳斯——在对手前冲之际——
一剑劈中他的额头，鼻梁上面，击碎了额骨，
眼珠双双掉落，鲜血淋淋，沾躺在脚边的泥尘里。
他佝接起身子，躺倒在地上。墨奈劳斯一脚踩住
他的胸口，抢剥铠甲，得意洋洋地嚷道：“现在，
你们总可以离去了吧——离开驾驭快马的达奈人的海船，
你们这帮高傲的特洛伊人，从来不会腻烦战场上可怕的喧喊。
你们也不久缺操做其他恶事丑事的本领，
把污泥浊水全都泼在我的头上。该死的恶狗！你们心中不怕
宙斯的狂怒，这位炸响雷的神主，监护主客之谊的
天神——将来，他会彻底捣毁你们那峭峻的城堡。
你们胡作非为，带走我婚娶的妻子和
大量的财宝，而她却盛情地款待过你们。
现在，你们又砍杀在我们远洋的海船旁，
发疯似地要用狂蛮的烈火烧船，杀死战斗的阿开亚人。
但是，你们会受到遏制，虽然已经杀红了双眼。
父亲宙斯，人们说，你的智慧至高无上，绝非凡人
和其他神明可以比及，然而你却使这一切成为现实。
看看你怎样地帮助了他们，这帮粗莽的特洛伊兵汉，
他们的战力一直在凶猛地腾升，谁也满足
不了他们嗜血的欲望，在殊死的拼战中。
对任何事情，人都有知足的时候，即使是睡觉、性娱。
甜美的歌唱和舒展的舞蹈。所有
这些，都比战争更能满足人的
情悦；然而，特洛伊人的嗜战之壑却永难充填！”
高贵的墨奈劳斯话语激昂，从尸身上剥去
带血的铠甲，交给他的伙伴，
转身复又投入前排的战斗。
其时，人群里站出了哈耳帕利昂，王者普莱墨奈斯
之子，跟随亲爹前来特洛伊
参战，再也没有回返故里。
他逼近阿特柔斯之子，出枪捅在盾牌的
中心，但铜尖没有穿透盾面。
为了躲避死亡，他退回自己的伴群，
四下张望，惟恐有人中伤，用青铜的兵器。
但是，在他回退之际，墨奈劳斯射出一枝铜头的
羽箭，打在右臂的边沿，箭头
从盆骨下穿过，扎在膀胱上。
他佝偻着身子，在亲爱的伙伴们怀里，
喘吐出他的命息，滑倒在地，像一条
虫似地伸躺，黑血涌注，泥尘尽染。
心志豪莽的帕夫拉戈尼亚人在他身边忙忙碌碌，
将他抬上马车，运回神圣的伊利昂，悲痛
满怀。他的父亲，涕泪横流，走在他们身边——
谁也不会支付血酬，赔偿被杀的儿男。
然而，此人被杀，在帕里斯心里激起了强烈的仇愤，因为
在众多帕夫拉戈尼亚人里，哈耳帕利昂是他的朋友和客人；
带着愤怒，他射出一枝铜头的羽箭。
战场上，有个名叫欧开诺耳的战勇，先知波鲁伊多斯
之子，高贵、富有，居家科林索斯。
在他步上船板之时，心里知道得清清楚楚，此行归程无望；
老父波鲁伊多斯曾多次嘱告，
他会死于一场难忍的病痛，在自己家里，
或随同阿开亚人的海船出征，被特洛伊人砍杀。
所以，欧开诺耳决意登船，既可免付阿开亚人所要的大笔
惩金，又可躲过一场可恨的病痛，使身心不致遭受长期的折磨。
帕里斯放箭射在他的耳朵和颚骨下面，魂息当即
飘离他的肢腿，可恨的黑暗蒙住了他的躯体。
就这样，他们奋力搏杀，像熊熊燃烧的烈火。
但宙斯钟爱的赫克托耳却对此一无所闻，尚不知
在海船的左边，他的兵勇正痛遭阿耳吉维人的
屠宰。光荣甚至可能投向阿开亚兵壮的
怀抱——环绕和震撼大地的波塞冬正一个劲地
催励阿耳吉维人，用自己的力量助佑帮战。
但赫克托耳一直战斗在他先前攻破大门和护墙，
荡扫密集的队阵，在全副武装的达奈兵勇激战的地方，
那里分别停靠着埃阿斯和普罗忒西劳斯的船队，
拖搁在灰蓝色大海的滩沿，对着陆地，横着一段
他们所堆筑的最低矮的护墙，一个最薄弱的
环节，承受着特洛伊人和驭马的狂烈冲击。
战地上，波伊俄提亚人和衫衣长垂的伊俄尼亚人，
还有洛克里亚人、弗西亚人和声名卓著的厄利斯人，
正试图挡住赫克托耳的进攻——后者正奋力杀向海船——
但却不能击退这位卓越的、一串火焰似的猛将。
那里，战斗着挑选出来的雅典人，由裴忒俄斯
之子墨奈修斯统领，辅之以
菲达斯、斯提基俄斯和骁勇的比阿斯。墨格斯，
夫琉斯之子，率领着厄利斯人，由安菲昂和得拉基俄斯辅佐；
统领弗西亚人的是墨冬和犟悍的波达耳开斯。
墨冬，神一样的俄伊琉斯的
私生子，埃阿斯的兄弟，但却居家
夫拉凯，远离故乡，曾杀死
俄伊琉斯之妻、庶母厄里娥丕丝的兄弟；
而波达耳开斯则是夫拉科斯之子伊菲克洛斯的儿子。
他俩全副武装，站在心胸豪壮的弗西亚人的前列，
拼杀在波伊俄提亚人的近旁，为了保卫海船。
迅捷的埃阿斯，俄伊琉斯之子，现时
一步不离忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯，
像两头酒褐色的健牛，齐心合力，
拉着制合坚固的犁具，翻着一片休耕的土地，
两对牛角的底部淌流着涔涔的汗水，
中间仅隔着油滑的轭架挡出的那么一点距离，
费力地行走，直至犁尖翻到农田的尽头——
就像这样，他俩挺立在战场上，肩并肩地战斗。
忒拉蒙之子身后跟着许多勇敢的兵壮，
他的伙伴，随时准备接过那面硕大的战盾，
每当他热汗淋漓，身疲体乏的时候。但是，
俄伊琉斯之子、心志豪莽的埃阿斯身后，却没有洛克里亚人
跟随。他们无意进行手对手的近战，
既没有青铜的头盔，耸顶着马鬃的脊冠，
又没有边圈溜圆的战盾和(木岑)木杆枪矛。
然而，他们坚信手中的弯弓和用羊毛编织的投石器的威力。
带着此般兵器，他们跟着头领来到伊利昂，
射打出密集的羽箭和石块，砸散特洛伊人的队阵。
战场上，身披重甲的兵勇奋战在前面，
拼杀特洛伊人和顶着铜盔的赫克托耳，而洛克里亚人
则留在后面，从掩体里投射——对特洛伊人，战斗
已不是一种愉悦，纷至沓来的投械打懵了他们的脑袋。
其时，特洛伊人或许已凄凄惨惨地退离营棚
和海船，回兵多风的特洛伊，要不是普鲁达马斯
前来站到勇猛的赫克托耳身边，说道：
“赫克托耳，你可真是顽固至极！到底还愿不愿听听别人的
规劝？不要以为神明给了你战斗的技能，
你就能比别人更善谋略；
事实上，你不可能掌握所有的技艺。
神把不同的本领赐给不同的个人，使有人
精于阵战，有人舞姿翩翩，有人能和着琴声高歌，
还有人心智聪慧——沉雷远播的宙斯
给了他智辨的本领；他使许多人受益，
许多人得救，他的见解常人不可比及。
现在，我要提一个我认为最合用的建议。
看看吧，在你的周围，战斗已像火环似地把你吞噬，
而我们心胸豪壮的特洛伊兵勇，在越过护墙后，
有的拿着武器溜到后面，还有的仍在战斗，
以单薄的兵力对付众多的敌人，散落在海船间。
撤兵吧，就在此刻！把我们中最好的人都召来，
齐心合力，订出个周全的计划，
是冲上带凳板的海船，如果宙斯
愿意让我们获胜，还是撤离
船边，减少伤亡——我担心
阿开亚人要我们偿付他们昨天的损失，
要知道，他们的船边还蛰伏着一员嗜战不厌的猛将，
我怀疑，此人是否还会决然回避，拒不出战。”
此番明智的劝议博得了赫克托耳的欢心；
他随即跳下战车，双脚着地，全副武装，
对普鲁达马斯说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“你留在这儿，召聚我们的首领，
我要赶往那边，面对敌阵，一俟
清楚地下达过我的命令，马上回还。”
言罢，他昂然前去，像一座积雪的山峰，
大声呼喊，穿过特洛伊人和盟军的队列。
其他人迅速围聚起来，在潘苏斯之子、温雅的
普鲁达马斯身边——他们都已听到赫克托耳的号令。
其时，赫克托耳穿行在前排的队列，寻觅着，如果
能找到的话，德伊福波斯和强健的王子赫勒诺斯，
以及阿西俄斯之子阿达马斯和阿西俄斯，呼耳塔科斯之子。
他“找到了”他们，是的，在伤创里，在死难中，
有的躺死在阿开亚海船的后尾边，
丧生在阿耳吉维人手中，还有的
息躺在城堡里，带着箭伤或枪痕。
他当即发现一个人，置身绞沥着痛苦的战场，在它的左侧，
卓越的亚历克山德罗斯，美发海伦的夫婿，
正催励他的伙伴，敦促他们战斗。
赫克托耳快步赶至他的近旁，破口大骂，用讥辱的言词：
“可恶的帕里斯，仪表堂皇的公子哥，勾引拐骗的女人迷！
告诉我，德伊福波斯在哪里？还有强健的王子赫勒诺斯，
阿西俄斯之子河达马斯和阿西俄斯，呼耳塔科斯之子？
告诉我，俄斯罗纽斯在哪里？陡峭的伊利昂完了，
彻底完了！至于你，你的前程必将是暴死无疑！”
听罢此番指责，神一样的亚历克山德罗斯答道：
“赫克托耳，你总爱指责一个不该受指责的人，你可有此嗜好？
有时，我也许会避离战斗，但不是在眼下这个
时候。我的母亲生下我来，并不是一个十足的懦汉。
自从你在船边鼓起伙伴们的战斗激情，
我们就一直拼斗在这里，面对达奈兵勇，
从未有过间息。你所问及的伙伴都已殉亡——
只有德伊福波斯和强健的王子赫勒诺斯
生还，全都伤在手上，被粗长的枪矛
击中，但克罗诺斯之子为他们挡开了死亡。现在，你就
领着我们干吧，不管你的心灵和战斗意志要把你引向何方，
我们都将跟着你，保持高度的战斗热情。我想，我们
不会缺少勇力，只要还有可用的力气；
超出这个范围，谁也无能为力，哪怕他嗜战若迷。”
英雄的答言说动了兄长的心灵。
他们一起出动，前往杀声最响、战斗最烈的去处，
那里拼战着开勃里俄奈斯和豪勇的普鲁达马斯，
法尔开斯、俄耳赛俄斯和神一样的波鲁菲忒斯，以及
帕耳慕斯和希波提昂的两个儿子，阿斯卡尼俄斯和莫鲁斯，
来自土地肥沃的阿斯卡尼亚，率领着用于替换的部队，
昨晨刚到，现在，父亲宙斯催赶着他们投入战斗。
特洛伊人奋勇进逼，像一股狂猛的风暴，
裹挟在宙斯的闪电下，直扑地面，
荡扫着海洋，发出隆隆的巨响，激起
排排长浪，推涌着咆哮的水势，
高卷起泛着白沫的峰浪，前呼后拥。
就像这样，特洛伊人队形密集，有的打在前头，其他人
蜂拥其后，闪着青铜盔甲的流光，跟随着他们的首领。
赫克托耳率领着他们，普里阿摩斯之子，像杀人不眨眼的
战神，挺着边圈溜圆的战盾，盾面
铺展着厚实的皮层，嵌缀着许多青铜的铆钉，
顶着光闪闪的头盔，摇晃在两边的太阳穴上。
他举步进击，试着攻打阿开亚防线的各个地段，
行进在盾牌后面，探察敌方是否地就此崩溃；
然而，此招没有迷糊阿开亚人的战斗意识。
其时，埃阿斯迈开大步，第一个上前，对他喊话挑战：
“过来，走近些，你这个疯子！为何浪费精力，用这种把戏
吓唬阿开亚人？我等可不是战争的门外汉，
不是——由于宙斯狠毒的鞭打，才使我们败退下来。
我猜你们正在想人非非，准备摧毁我们的
船队，别忘了，我们也有强壮的双手，可以保卫自己的海船。
我们将荡扫你们坚固的城堡，远在你们毁船
之前，把它攻占，把它劫洗！至于
你本人，我要说，这一天已近在眼前。那时，你将
撒腿奔逃，祈求宙斯和列位神明，
使你的长鬃驭马跑得比鹰鸟还快，
以便拉着你，穿过泥尘弥漫的平原，朝着城堡逃窜！”
话音未落，一只飞鸟出现在右边的空间，
一只展翅的雄鹰，翱飞在天穹。见此飞鸟，阿开亚全军
人心振奋，呼啸欢腾。其时，光荣的赫克托耳开口答话，嚷道：
“埃阿斯，你这头笨嘴拙舌的公牛，你在胡诌些什么？！
但愿今生今世，人们真的把我当做是
带埃吉斯的宙斯的儿男，而天后赫拉是我的母亲，
受到崇高的敬誉，像雅典娜和阿波罗那样——
就像今天是阿耳吉维人大难临头的日子一样确凿不移！今天，
你，将和你的同伴们一起，被杀死在这里，一个不剩，要是
你敢面对我这粗长的枪矛；它将撕裂你白亮的
肌体！然后，你将，用你的油脂和血肉，饱喂
特洛伊的狗群和兀鸟，倒死在阿开亚人的海船旁！”
言罢，他引路先行，首领们跟随其后，
发出狂蛮粗野的吼声，统引着呐喊的兵丁，战斗的队阵。
然而，阿开亚人亦没有忘却战斗的狂烈，报之以
大声的呼喊，严阵以待，迎战特洛伊人中最好的战勇。
喧腾的杀声从两军拔地而起，冲向宙斯的天宇，闪光的气空。
ARGUMENT.
THE FOURTH BATTLE CONTINUED, IN WHICH NEPTUNE ASSISTS THE GREEKS: THE ACTS
OF IDOMENEUS.
Neptune, concerned for the loss of the Grecians, upon seeing the
fortification forced by Hector, (who had entered the gate near the station
of the Ajaces,) assumes the shape of Calchas, and inspires those heroes to
oppose him: then, in the form of one of the generals, encourages the other
Greeks who had retired to their vessels. The Ajaces form their troops in a
close phalanx, and put a stop to Hector and the Trojans. Several deeds of
valour are performed; Meriones, losing his spear in the encounter, repairs
to seek another at the tent of Idomeneus: this occasions a conversation
between those two warriors, who return together to the battle. Idomeneus
signalizes his courage above the rest; he kills Othryoneus, Asius, and
Alcathous: Deiphobus and Æneas march against him, and at length Idomeneus
retires. Menelaus wounds Helenus, and kills Pisander. The Trojans are
repulsed on the left wing; Hector still keeps his ground against the
Ajaces, till, being galled by the Locrian slingers and archers, Polydamas
advises to call a council of war: Hector approves of his advice, but goes
first to rally the Trojans; upbraids Paris, rejoins Polydamas, meets Ajax
again, and renews the attack.
The eight-and-twentieth day still continues. The scene is between the
Grecian wall and the sea-shore.
When now the Thunderer on the sea-beat coast
Had fix'd great Hector and his conquering host,
He left them to the fates, in bloody fray
To toil and struggle through the well-fought day.
Then turn'd to Thracia from the field of fight
Those eyes that shed insufferable light,
To where the Mysians prove their martial force,
And hardy Thracians tame the savage horse;
And where the far-famed Hippomolgian strays,
Renown'd for justice and for length of days;(229)
Thrice happy race! that, innocent of blood,
From milk, innoxious, seek their simple food:
Jove sees delighted; and avoids the scene
Of guilty Troy, of arms, and dying men:
No aid, he deems, to either host is given,
While his high law suspends the powers of Heaven.
Meantime the monarch of the watery main
Observed the Thunderer, nor observed in vain.
In Samothracia, on a mountain's brow,
Whose waving woods o'erhung the deeps below,
He sat; and round him cast his azure eyes
Where Ida's misty tops confusedly rise;
Below, fair Ilion's glittering spires were seen;
The crowded ships and sable seas between.
There, from the crystal chambers of the main
Emerged, he sat, and mourn'd his Argives slain.
At Jove incensed, with grief and fury stung,
Prone down the rocky steep he rush'd along;
Fierce as he pass'd, the lofty mountains nod,
The forest shakes; earth trembled as he trod,
And felt the footsteps of the immortal god.
From realm to realm three ample strides he took,
And, at the fourth, the distant Ægae shook.
Far in the bay his shining palace stands,
Eternal frame! not raised by mortal hands:
This having reach'd, his brass-hoof'd steeds he reins,
Fleet as the winds, and deck'd with golden manes.
Refulgent arms his mighty limbs infold,
Immortal arms of adamant and gold.
He mounts the car, the golden scourge applies,
He sits superior, and the chariot flies:
His whirling wheels the glassy surface sweep;
The enormous monsters rolling o'er the deep
Gambol around him on the watery way,
And heavy whales in awkward measures play;
The sea subsiding spreads a level plain,
Exults, and owns the monarch of the main;
The parting waves before his coursers fly;
The wondering waters leave his axle dry.
Deep in the liquid regions lies a cave,
Between where Tenedos the surges lave,
And rocky Imbrus breaks the rolling wave:
There the great ruler of the azure round
Stopp'd his swift chariot, and his steeds unbound,
Fed with ambrosial herbage from his hand,
And link'd their fetlocks with a golden band,
Infrangible, immortal: there they stay:
The father of the floods pursues his way:
Where, like a tempest, darkening heaven around,
Or fiery deluge that devours the ground,
The impatient Trojans, in a gloomy throng,
Embattled roll'd, as Hector rush'd along:
To the loud tumult and the barbarous cry
The heavens re-echo, and the shores reply:
They vow destruction to the Grecian name,
And in their hopes the fleets already flame.
But Neptune, rising from the seas profound,
The god whose earthquakes rock the solid ground,
Now wears a mortal form; like Calchas seen,
Such his loud voice, and such his manly mien;
His shouts incessant every Greek inspire,
But most the Ajaces, adding fire to fire.
[Illustration: NEPTUNE RISING FROM THE SEA.]
NEPTUNE RISING FROM THE SEA.
"'Tis yours, O warriors, all our hopes to raise:
Oh recollect your ancient worth and praise!
'Tis yours to save us, if you cease to fear;
Flight, more than shameful, is destructive here.
On other works though Troy with fury fall,
And pour her armies o'er our batter'd wall:
There Greece has strength: but this, this part o'erthrown,
Her strength were vain; I dread for you alone:
Here Hector rages like the force of fire,
Vaunts of his gods, and calls high Jove his sire:
If yet some heavenly power your breast excite,
Breathe in your hearts, and string your arms to fight,
Greece yet may live, her threaten'd fleet maintain:
And Hector's force, and Jove's own aid, be vain."
Then with his sceptre, that the deep controls,
He touch'd the chiefs, and steel'd their manly souls:
Strength, not their own, the touch divine imparts,
Prompts their light limbs, and swells their daring hearts.
Then, as a falcon from the rocky height,
Her quarry seen, impetuous at the sight,
Forth-springing instant, darts herself from high,
Shoots on the wing, and skims along the sky:
Such, and so swift, the power of ocean flew;
The wide horizon shut him from their view.
The inspiring god Oileus' active son
Perceived the first, and thus to Telamon:
"Some god, my friend, some god in human form
Favouring descends, and wills to stand the storm.
Not Calchas this, the venerable seer;
Short as he turned, I saw the power appear:
I mark'd his parting, and the steps he trod;
His own bright evidence reveals a god.
Even now some energy divine I share,
And seem to walk on wings, and tread in air!"
"With equal ardour (Telamon returns)
My soul is kindled, and my bosom burns;
New rising spirits all my force alarm,
Lift each impatient limb, and brace my arm.
This ready arm, unthinking, shakes the dart;
The blood pours back, and fortifies my heart:
Singly, methinks, yon towering chief I meet,
And stretch the dreadful Hector at my feet."
Full of the god that urged their burning breast,
The heroes thus their mutual warmth express'd.
Neptune meanwhile the routed Greeks inspired;
Who, breathless, pale, with length of labours tired,
Pant in the ships; while Troy to conquest calls,
And swarms victorious o'er their yielding walls:
Trembling before the impending storm they lie,
While tears of rage stand burning in their eye.
Greece sunk they thought, and this their fatal hour;
But breathe new courage as they feel the power.
Teucer and Leitus first his words excite;
Then stern Peneleus rises to the fight;
Thoas, Deipyrus, in arms renown'd,
And Merion next, the impulsive fury found;
Last Nestor's son the same bold ardour takes,
While thus the god the martial fire awakes:
"Oh lasting infamy, oh dire disgrace
To chiefs of vigorous youth, and manly race!
I trusted in the gods, and you, to see
Brave Greece victorious, and her navy free:
Ah, no--the glorious combat you disclaim,
And one black day clouds all her former fame.
Heavens! what a prodigy these eyes survey,
Unseen, unthought, till this amazing day!
Fly we at length from Troy's oft-conquer'd bands?
And falls our fleet by such inglorious hands?
A rout undisciplined, a straggling train,
Not born to glories of the dusty plain;
Like frighted fawns from hill to hill pursued,
A prey to every savage of the wood:
Shall these, so late who trembled at your name,
Invade your camps, involve your ships in flame?
A change so shameful, say, what cause has wrought?
The soldiers' baseness, or the general's fault?
Fools! will ye perish for your leader's vice;
The purchase infamy, and life the price?
'Tis not your cause, Achilles' injured fame:
Another's is the crime, but yours the shame.
Grant that our chief offend through rage or lust,
Must you be cowards, if your king's unjust?
Prevent this evil, and your country save:
Small thought retrieves the spirits of the brave.
Think, and subdue! on dastards dead to fame
I waste no anger, for they feel no shame:
But you, the pride, the flower of all our host,
My heart weeps blood to see your glory lost!
Nor deem this day, this battle, all you lose;
A day more black, a fate more vile, ensues.
Let each reflect, who prizes fame or breath,
On endless infamy, on instant death:
For, lo! the fated time, the appointed shore:
Hark! the gates burst, the brazen barriers roar!
Impetuous Hector thunders at the wall;
The hour, the spot, to conquer, or to fall."
These words the Grecians' fainting hearts inspire,
And listening armies catch the godlike fire.
Fix'd at his post was each bold Ajax found,
With well-ranged squadrons strongly circled round:
So close their order, so disposed their fight,
As Pallas' self might view with fix'd delight;
Or had the god of war inclined his eyes,
The god of war had own'd a just surprise.
A chosen phalanx, firm, resolved as fate,
Descending Hector and his battle wait.
An iron scene gleams dreadful o'er the fields,
Armour in armour lock'd, and shields in shields,
Spears lean on spears, on targets targets throng,
Helms stuck to helms, and man drove man along.
The floating plumes unnumber'd wave above,
As when an earthquake stirs the nodding grove;
And levell'd at the skies with pointing rays,
Their brandish'd lances at each motion blaze.
Thus breathing death, in terrible array,
The close compacted legions urged their way:
Fierce they drove on, impatient to destroy;
Troy charged the first, and Hector first of Troy.
As from some mountain's craggy forehead torn,
A rock's round fragment flies, with fury borne,
(Which from the stubborn stone a torrent rends,)
Precipitate the ponderous mass descends:
From steep to steep the rolling ruin bounds;
At every shock the crackling wood resounds;
Still gathering force, it smokes; and urged amain,
Whirls, leaps, and thunders down, impetuous to the plain:
There stops--so Hector. Their whole force he proved,(230)
Resistless when he raged, and, when he stopp'd, unmoved.
On him the war is bent, the darts are shed,
And all their falchions wave around his head:
Repulsed he stands, nor from his stand retires;
But with repeated shouts his army fires.
"Trojans! be firm; this arm shall make your way
Through yon square body, and that black array:
Stand, and my spear shall rout their scattering power,
Strong as they seem, embattled like a tower;
For he that Juno's heavenly bosom warms,
The first of gods, this day inspires our arms."
He said; and roused the soul in every breast:
Urged with desire of fame, beyond the rest,
Forth march'd Deiphobus; but, marching, held
Before his wary steps his ample shield.
Bold Merion aim'd a stroke (nor aim'd it wide);
The glittering javelin pierced the tough bull-hide;
But pierced not through: unfaithful to his hand,
The point broke short, and sparkled in the sand.
The Trojan warrior, touch'd with timely fear,
On the raised orb to distance bore the spear.
The Greek, retreating, mourn'd his frustrate blow,
And cursed the treacherous lance that spared a foe;
Then to the ships with surly speed he went,
To seek a surer javelin in his tent.
Meanwhile with rising rage the battle glows,
The tumult thickens, and the clamour grows.
By Teucer's arm the warlike Imbrius bleeds,
The son of Mentor, rich in generous steeds.
Ere yet to Troy the sons of Greece were led,
In fair Pedaeus' verdant pastures bred,
The youth had dwelt, remote from war's alarms,
And blest in bright Medesicaste's arms:
(This nymph, the fruit of Priam's ravish'd joy,
Allied the warrior to the house of Troy:)
To Troy, when glory call'd his arms, he came,
And match'd the bravest of her chiefs in fame:
With Priam's sons, a guardian of the throne,
He lived, beloved and honour'd as his own.
Him Teucer pierced between the throat and ear:
He groans beneath the Telamonian spear.
As from some far-seen mountain's airy crown,
Subdued by steel, a tall ash tumbles down,
And soils its verdant tresses on the ground;
So falls the youth; his arms the fall resound.
Then Teucer rushing to despoil the dead,
From Hector's hand a shining javelin fled:
He saw, and shunn'd the death; the forceful dart
Sung on, and pierced Amphimachus's heart,
Cteatus' son, of Neptune's forceful line;
Vain was his courage, and his race divine!
Prostrate he falls; his clanging arms resound,
And his broad buckler thunders on the ground.
To seize his beamy helm the victor flies,
And just had fastened on the dazzling prize,
When Ajax' manly arm a javelin flung;
Full on the shield's round boss the weapon rung;
He felt the shock, nor more was doom'd to feel,
Secure in mail, and sheath'd in shining steel.
Repulsed he yields; the victor Greeks obtain
The spoils contested, and bear off the slain.
Between the leaders of the Athenian line,
(Stichius the brave, Menestheus the divine,)
Deplored Amphimachus, sad object! lies;
Imbrius remains the fierce Ajaces' prize.
As two grim lions bear across the lawn,
Snatch'd from devouring hounds, a slaughter'd fawn.
In their fell jaws high-lifting through the wood,
And sprinkling all the shrubs with drops of blood;
So these, the chief: great Ajax from the dead
Strips his bright arms; Oileus lops his head:
Toss'd like a ball, and whirl'd in air away,
At Hector's feet the gory visage lay.
The god of ocean, fired with stern disdain,
And pierced with sorrow for his grandson slain,
Inspires the Grecian hearts, confirms their hands,
And breathes destruction on the Trojan bands.
Swift as a whirlwind rushing to the fleet,
He finds the lance-famed Idomen of Crete,
His pensive brow the generous care express'd
With which a wounded soldier touch'd his breast,
Whom in the chance of war a javelin tore,
And his sad comrades from the battle bore;
Him to the surgeons of the camp he sent:
That office paid, he issued from his tent
Fierce for the fight: to whom the god begun,
In Thoas' voice, Andraemon's valiant son,
Who ruled where Calydon's white rocks arise,
And Pleuron's chalky cliffs emblaze the skies:
"Where's now the imperious vaunt, the daring boast,
Of Greece victorious, and proud Ilion lost?"
To whom the king: "On Greece no blame be thrown;
Arms are her trade, and war is all her own.
Her hardy heroes from the well-fought plains
Nor fear withholds, nor shameful sloth detains:
'Tis heaven, alas! and Jove's all-powerful doom,
That far, far distant from our native home
Wills us to fall inglorious! Oh, my friend!
Once foremost in the fight, still prone to lend
Or arms or counsels, now perform thy best,
And what thou canst not singly, urge the rest."
Thus he: and thus the god whose force can make
The solid globe's eternal basis shake:
"Ah! never may he see his native land,
But feed the vultures on this hateful strand,
Who seeks ignobly in his ships to stay,
Nor dares to combat on this signal day!
For this, behold! in horrid arms I shine,
And urge thy soul to rival acts with mine.
Together let us battle on the plain;
Two, not the worst; nor even this succour vain:
Not vain the weakest, if their force unite;
But ours, the bravest have confess'd in fight."
This said, he rushes where the combat burns;
Swift to his tent the Cretan king returns:
From thence, two javelins glittering in his hand,
And clad in arms that lighten'd all the strand,
Fierce on the foe the impetuous hero drove,
Like lightning bursting from the arm of Jove,
Which to pale man the wrath of heaven declares,
Or terrifies the offending world with wars;
In streamy sparkles, kindling all the skies,
From pole to pole the trail of glory flies:
Thus his bright armour o'er the dazzled throng
Gleam'd dreadful, as the monarch flash'd along.
Him, near his tent, Meriones attends;
Whom thus he questions: "Ever best of friends!
O say, in every art of battle skill'd,
What holds thy courage from so brave a field?
On some important message art thou bound,
Or bleeds my friend by some unhappy wound?
Inglorious here, my soul abhors to stay,
And glows with prospects of th' approaching day."
"O prince! (Meriones replies) whose care
Leads forth the embattled sons of Crete to war;
This speaks my grief: this headless lance I wield;
The rest lies rooted in a Trojan shield."
To whom the Cretan: "Enter, and receive
The wonted weapons; those my tent can give;
Spears I have store, (and Trojan lances all,)
That shed a lustre round the illumined wall,
Though I, disdainful of the distant war,
Nor trust the dart, nor aim the uncertain spear,
Yet hand to hand I fight, and spoil the slain;
And thence these trophies, and these arms I gain.
Enter, and see on heaps the helmets roll'd,
And high-hung spears, and shields that flame with gold."
"Nor vain (said Merion) are our martial toils;
We too can boast of no ignoble spoils:
But those my ship contains; whence distant far,
I fight conspicuous in the van of war,
What need I more? If any Greek there be
Who knows not Merion, I appeal to thee."
To this, Idomeneus: "The fields of fight
Have proved thy valour, and unconquer'd might:
And were some ambush for the foes design'd,
Even there thy courage would not lag behind:
In that sharp service, singled from the rest,
The fear of each, or valour, stands confess'd.
No force, no firmness, the pale coward shows;
He shifts his place: his colour comes and goes:
A dropping sweat creeps cold on every part;
Against his bosom beats his quivering heart;
Terror and death in his wild eye-balls stare;
With chattering teeth he stands, and stiffening hair,
And looks a bloodless image of despair!
Not so the brave--still dauntless, still the same,
Unchanged his colour, and unmoved his frame:
Composed his thought, determined is his eye,
And fix'd his soul, to conquer or to die:
If aught disturb the tenour of his breast,
'Tis but the wish to strike before the rest.
"In such assays thy blameless worth is known,
And every art of dangerous war thy own.
By chance of fight whatever wounds you bore,
Those wounds were glorious all, and all before;
Such as may teach, 'twas still thy brave delight
T'oppose thy bosom where thy foremost fight.
But why, like infants, cold to honour's charms,
Stand we to talk, when glory calls to arms?
Go--from my conquer'd spears the choicest take,
And to their owners send them nobly back."
Swift at the word bold Merion snatch'd a spear
And, breathing slaughter, follow'd to the war.
So Mars armipotent invades the plain,
(The wide destroyer of the race of man,)
Terror, his best-beloved son, attends his course,
Arm'd with stern boldness, and enormous force;
The pride of haughty warriors to confound,
And lay the strength of tyrants on the ground:
From Thrace they fly, call'd to the dire alarms
Of warring Phlegyans, and Ephyrian arms;
Invoked by both, relentless they dispose,
To these glad conquest, murderous rout to those.
So march'd the leaders of the Cretan train,
And their bright arms shot horror o'er the plain.
Then first spake Merion: "Shall we join the right,
Or combat in the centre of the fight?
Or to the left our wonted succour lend?
Hazard and fame all parts alike attend."
"Not in the centre (Idomen replied:)
Our ablest chieftains the main battle guide;
Each godlike Ajax makes that post his care,
And gallant Teucer deals destruction there,
Skill'd or with shafts to gall the distant field,
Or bear close battle on the sounding shield.
These can the rage of haughty Hector tame:
Safe in their arms, the navy fears no flame,
Till Jove himself descends, his bolts to shed,
And hurl the blazing ruin at our head.
Great must he be, of more than human birth,
Nor feed like mortals on the fruits of earth.
Him neither rocks can crush, nor steel can wound,
Whom Ajax fells not on the ensanguined ground.
In standing fight he mates Achilles' force,
Excell'd alone in swiftness in the course.
Then to the left our ready arms apply,
And live with glory, or with glory die."
He said: and Merion to th' appointed place,
Fierce as the god of battles, urged his pace.
Soon as the foe the shining chiefs beheld
Rush like a fiery torrent o'er the field,
Their force embodied in a tide they pour;
The rising combat sounds along the shore.
As warring winds, in Sirius' sultry reign,
From different quarters sweep the sandy plain;
On every side the dusty whirlwinds rise,
And the dry fields are lifted to the skies:
Thus by despair, hope, rage, together driven,
Met the black hosts, and, meeting, darken'd heaven.
All dreadful glared the iron face of war,
Bristled with upright spears, that flash'd afar;
Dire was the gleam of breastplates, helms, and shields,
And polish'd arms emblazed the flaming fields:
Tremendous scene! that general horror gave,
But touch'd with joy the bosoms of the brave.
Saturn's great sons in fierce contention vied,
And crowds of heroes in their anger died.
The sire of earth and heaven, by Thetis won
To crown with glory Peleus' godlike son,
Will'd not destruction to the Grecian powers,
But spared awhile the destined Trojan towers;
While Neptune, rising from his azure main,
Warr'd on the king of heaven with stern disdain,
And breathed revenge, and fired the Grecian train.
Gods of one source, of one ethereal race,
Alike divine, and heaven their native place;
But Jove the greater; first-born of the skies,
And more than men, or gods, supremely wise.
For this, of Jove's superior might afraid,
Neptune in human form conceal'd his aid.
These powers enfold the Greek and Trojan train
In war and discord's adamantine chain,
Indissolubly strong: the fatal tie
Is stretch'd on both, and close compell'd they die.
Dreadful in arms, and grown in combats grey,
The bold Idomeneus controls the day.
First by his hand Othryoneus was slain,
Swell'd with false hopes, with mad ambition vain;
Call'd by the voice of war to martial fame,
From high Cabesus' distant walls he came;
Cassandra's love he sought, with boasts of power,
And promised conquest was the proffer'd dower.
The king consented, by his vaunts abused;
The king consented, but the fates refused.
Proud of himself, and of the imagined bride,
The field he measured with a larger stride.
Him as he stalk'd, the Cretan javelin found;
Vain was his breastplate to repel the wound:
His dream of glory lost, he plunged to hell;
His arms resounded as the boaster fell.
The great Idomeneus bestrides the dead;
"And thus (he cries) behold thy promise sped!
Such is the help thy arms to Ilion bring,
And such the contract of the Phrygian king!
Our offers now, illustrious prince! receive;
For such an aid what will not Argos give?
To conquer Troy, with ours thy forces join,
And count Atrides' fairest daughter thine.
Meantime, on further methods to advise,
Come, follow to the fleet thy new allies;
There hear what Greece has on her part to say."
He spoke, and dragg'd the gory corse away.
This Asius view'd, unable to contain,
Before his chariot warring on the plain:
(His crowded coursers, to his squire consign'd,
Impatient panted on his neck behind:)
To vengeance rising with a sudden spring,
He hoped the conquest of the Cretan king.
The wary Cretan, as his foe drew near,
Full on his throat discharged the forceful spear:
Beneath the chin the point was seen to glide,
And glitter'd, extant at the further side.
As when the mountain-oak, or poplar tall,
Or pine, fit mast for some great admiral,
Groans to the oft-heaved axe, with many a wound,
Then spreads a length of ruin o'er the ground:
So sunk proud Asius in that dreadful day,
And stretch'd before his much-loved coursers lay.
He grinds the dust distain'd with streaming gore,
And, fierce in death, lies foaming on the shore.
Deprived of motion, stiff with stupid fear,
Stands all aghast his trembling charioteer,
Nor shuns the foe, nor turns the steeds away,
But falls transfix'd, an unresisting prey:
Pierced by Antilochus, he pants beneath
The stately car, and labours out his breath.
Thus Asius' steeds (their mighty master gone)
Remain the prize of Nestor's youthful son.
Stabb'd at the sight, Deiphobus drew nigh,
And made, with force, the vengeful weapon fly.
The Cretan saw; and, stooping, caused to glance
From his slope shield the disappointed lance.
Beneath the spacious targe, (a blazing round,
Thick with bull-hides and brazen orbits bound,
On his raised arm by two strong braces stay'd,)
He lay collected in defensive shade.
O'er his safe head the javelin idly sung,
And on the tinkling verge more faintly rung.
Even then the spear the vigorous arm confess'd,
And pierced, obliquely, king Hypsenor's breast:
Warm'd in his liver, to the ground it bore
The chief, his people's guardian now no more!
"Not unattended (the proud Trojan cries)
Nor unrevenged, lamented Asius lies:
For thee, through hell's black portals stand display'd,
This mate shall joy thy melancholy shade."
Heart-piercing anguish, at the haughty boast,
Touch'd every Greek, but Nestor's son the most.
Grieved as he was, his pious arms attend,
And his broad buckler shields his slaughter'd friend:
Till sad Mecistheus and Alastor bore
His honour'd body to the tented shore.
Nor yet from fight Idomeneus withdraws;
Resolved to perish in his country's cause,
Or find some foe, whom heaven and he shall doom
To wail his fate in death's eternal gloom.
He sees Alcathous in the front aspire:
Great Æsyetes was the hero's sire;
His spouse Hippodame, divinely fair,
Anchises' eldest hope, and darling care:
Who charm'd her parents' and her husband's heart
With beauty, sense, and every work of art:
He once of Ilion's youth the loveliest boy,
The fairest she of all the fair of Troy.
By Neptune now the hapless hero dies,
Who covers with a cloud those beauteous eyes,
And fetters every limb: yet bent to meet
His fate he stands; nor shuns the lance of Crete.
Fix'd as some column, or deep-rooted oak,
While the winds sleep; his breast received the stroke.
Before the ponderous stroke his corslet yields,
Long used to ward the death in fighting fields.
The riven armour sends a jarring sound;
His labouring heart heaves with so strong a bound,
The long lance shakes, and vibrates in the wound;
Fast flowing from its source, as prone he lay,
Life's purple tide impetuous gush'd away.
Then Idomen, insulting o'er the slain:
"Behold, Deiphobus! nor vaunt in vain:
See! on one Greek three Trojan ghosts attend;
This, my third victim, to the shades I send.
Approaching now thy boasted might approve,
And try the prowess of the seed of Jove.
From Jove, enamour'd of a mortal dame,
Great Minos, guardian of his country, came:
Deucalion, blameless prince, was Minos' heir;
His first-born I, the third from Jupiter:
O'er spacious Crete, and her bold sons, I reign,
And thence my ships transport me through the main:
Lord of a host, o'er all my host I shine,
A scourge to thee, thy father, and thy line."
The Trojan heard; uncertain or to meet,
Alone, with venturous arms the king of Crete,
Or seek auxiliar force; at length decreed
To call some hero to partake the deed,
Forthwith Æneas rises to his thought:
For him in Troy's remotest lines he sought,
Where he, incensed at partial Priam, stands,
And sees superior posts in meaner hands.
To him, ambitious of so great an aid,
The bold Deiphobus approach'd, and said:
"Now, Trojan prince, employ thy pious arms,
If e'er thy bosom felt fair honour's charms.
Alcathous dies, thy brother and thy friend;
Come, and the warrior's loved remains defend.
Beneath his cares thy early youth was train'd,
One table fed you, and one roof contain'd.
This deed to fierce Idomeneus we owe;
Haste, and revenge it on th' insulting foe."
Æneas heard, and for a space resign'd
To tender pity all his manly mind;
Then rising in his rage, he burns to fight:
The Greek awaits him with collected might.
As the fell boar, on some rough mountain's head,
Arm'd with wild terrors, and to slaughter bred,
When the loud rustics rise, and shout from far,
Attends the tumult, and expects the war;
O'er his bent back the bristly horrors rise;
Fires stream in lightning from his sanguine eyes,
His foaming tusks both dogs and men engage;
But most his hunters rouse his mighty rage:
So stood Idomeneus, his javelin shook,
And met the Trojan with a lowering look.
Antilochus, Deipyrus, were near,
The youthful offspring of the god of war,
Merion, and Aphareus, in field renown'd:
To these the warrior sent his voice around.
"Fellows in arms! your timely aid unite;
Lo, great Æneas rushes to the fight:
Sprung from a god, and more than mortal bold;
He fresh in youth, and I in arms grown old.
Else should this hand, this hour decide the strife,
The great dispute, of glory, or of life."
He spoke, and all, as with one soul, obey'd;
Their lifted bucklers cast a dreadful shade
Around the chief. Æneas too demands
Th' assisting forces of his native bands;
Paris, Deiphobus, Agenor, join;
(Co-aids and captains of the Trojan line;)
In order follow all th' embodied train,
Like Ida's flocks proceeding o'er the plain;
Before his fleecy care, erect and bold,
Stalks the proud ram, the father of the bold.
With joy the swain surveys them, as he leads
To the cool fountains, through the well-known meads:
So joys Æneas, as his native band
Moves on in rank, and stretches o'er the land.
Round dread Alcathous now the battle rose;
On every side the steely circle grows;
Now batter'd breast-plates and hack'd helmets ring,
And o'er their heads unheeded javelins sing.
Above the rest, two towering chiefs appear,
There great Idomeneus, Æneas here.
Like gods of war, dispensing fate, they stood,
And burn'd to drench the ground with mutual blood.
The Trojan weapon whizz'd along in air;
The Cretan saw, and shunn'd the brazen spear:
Sent from an arm so strong, the missive wood
Stuck deep in earth, and quiver'd where it stood.
But OEnomas received the Cretan's stroke;
The forceful spear his hollow corslet broke,
It ripp'd his belly with a ghastly wound,
And roll'd the smoking entrails on the ground.
Stretch'd on the plain, he sobs away his breath,
And, furious, grasps the bloody dust in death.
The victor from his breast the weapon tears;
His spoils he could not, for the shower of spears.
Though now unfit an active war to wage,
Heavy with cumbrous arms, stiff with cold age,
His listless limbs unable for the course,
In standing fight he yet maintains his force;
Till faint with labour, and by foes repell'd,
His tired slow steps he drags from off the field.
Deiphobus beheld him as he pass'd,
And, fired with hate, a parting javelin cast:
The javelin err'd, but held its course along,
And pierced Ascalaphus, the brave and young:
The son of Mars fell gasping on the ground,
And gnash'd the dust, all bloody with his wound.
Nor knew the furious father of his fall;
High-throned amidst the great Olympian hall,
On golden clouds th' immortal synod sate;
Detain'd from bloody war by Jove and Fate.
Now, where in dust the breathless hero lay,
For slain Ascalaphus commenced the fray,
Deiphobus to seize his helmet flies,
And from his temples rends the glittering prize;
Valiant as Mars, Meriones drew near,
And on his loaded arm discharged his spear:
He drops the weight, disabled with the pain;
The hollow helmet rings against the plain.
Swift as a vulture leaping on his prey,
From his torn arm the Grecian rent away
The reeking javelin, and rejoin'd his friends.
His wounded brother good Polites tends;
Around his waist his pious arms he threw,
And from the rage of battle gently drew:
Him his swift coursers, on his splendid car,
Rapt from the lessening thunder of the war;
To Troy they drove him, groaning from the shore,
And sprinkling, as he pass'd, the sands with gore.
Meanwhile fresh slaughter bathes the sanguine ground,
Heaps fall on heaps, and heaven and earth resound.
Bold Aphareus by great Æneas bled;
As toward the chief he turn'd his daring head,
He pierced his throat; the bending head, depress'd
Beneath his helmet, nods upon his breast;
His shield reversed o'er the fallen warrior lies,
And everlasting slumber seals his eyes.
Antilochus, as Thoon turn'd him round,
Transpierced his back with a dishonest wound:
The hollow vein, that to the neck extends
Along the chine, his eager javelin rends:
Supine he falls, and to his social train
Spreads his imploring arms, but spreads in vain.
Th' exulting victor, leaping where he lay,
From his broad shoulders tore the spoils away;
His time observed; for closed by foes around,
On all sides thick the peals of arms resound.
His shield emboss'd the ringing storm sustains,
But he impervious and untouch'd remains.
(Great Neptune's care preserved from hostile rage
This youth, the joy of Nestor's glorious age.)
In arms intrepid, with the first he fought,
Faced every foe, and every danger sought;
His winged lance, resistless as the wind,
Obeys each motion of the master's mind!
Restless it flies, impatient to be free,
And meditates the distant enemy.
The son of Asius, Adamas, drew near,
And struck his target with the brazen spear
Fierce in his front: but Neptune wards the blow,
And blunts the javelin of th' eluded foe:
In the broad buckler half the weapon stood,
Splinter'd on earth flew half the broken wood.
Disarm'd, he mingled in the Trojan crew;
But Merion's spear o'ertook him as he flew,
Deep in the belly's rim an entrance found,
Where sharp the pang, and mortal is the wound.
Bending he fell, and doubled to the ground,
Lay panting. Thus an ox in fetters tied,
While death's strong pangs distend his labouring side,
His bulk enormous on the field displays;
His heaving heart beats thick as ebbing life decays.
The spear the conqueror from his body drew,
And death's dim shadows swarm before his view.
Next brave Deipyrus in dust was laid:
King Helenus waved high the Thracian blade,
And smote his temples with an arm so strong,
The helm fell off, and roll'd amid the throng:
There for some luckier Greek it rests a prize;
For dark in death the godlike owner lies!
Raging with grief, great Menelaus burns,
And fraught with vengeance, to the victor turns:
That shook the ponderous lance, in act to throw;
And this stood adverse with the bended bow:
Full on his breast the Trojan arrow fell,
But harmless bounded from the plated steel.
As on some ample barn's well harden'd floor,
(The winds collected at each open door,)
While the broad fan with force is whirl'd around,
Light leaps the golden grain, resulting from the ground:
So from the steel that guards Atrides' heart,
Repell'd to distance flies the bounding dart.
Atrides, watchful of the unwary foe,
Pierced with his lance the hand that grasp'd the bow.
And nailed it to the yew: the wounded hand
Trail'd the long lance that mark'd with blood the sand:
But good Agenor gently from the wound
The spear solicits, and the bandage bound;
A sling's soft wool, snatch'd from a soldier's side,
At once the tent and ligature supplied.
Behold! Pisander, urged by fate's decree,
Springs through the ranks to fall, and fall by thee,
Great Menelaus! to enchance thy fame:
High-towering in the front, the warrior came.
First the sharp lance was by Atrides thrown;
The lance far distant by the winds was blown.
Nor pierced Pisander through Atrides' shield:
Pisander's spear fell shiver'd on the field.
Not so discouraged, to the future blind,
Vain dreams of conquest swell his haughty mind;
Dauntless he rushes where the Spartan lord
Like lightning brandish'd his far beaming sword.
His left arm high opposed the shining shield:
His right beneath, the cover'd pole-axe held;
(An olive's cloudy grain the handle made,
Distinct with studs, and brazen was the blade;)
This on the helm discharged a noble blow;
The plume dropp'd nodding to the plain below,
Shorn from the crest. Atrides waved his steel:
Deep through his front the weighty falchion fell;
The crashing bones before its force gave way;
In dust and blood the groaning hero lay:
Forced from their ghastly orbs, and spouting gore,
The clotted eye-balls tumble on the shore.
And fierce Atrides spurn'd him as he bled,
Tore off his arms, and, loud-exulting, said:
"Thus, Trojans, thus, at length be taught to fear;
O race perfidious, who delight in war!
Already noble deeds ye have perform'd;
A princess raped transcends a navy storm'd:
In such bold feats your impious might approve,
Without th' assistance, or the fear of Jove.
The violated rites, the ravish'd dame;
Our heroes slaughter'd and our ships on flame,
Crimes heap'd on crimes, shall bend your glory down,
And whelm in ruins yon flagitious town.
O thou, great father! lord of earth and skies,
Above the thought of man, supremely wise!
If from thy hand the fates of mortals flow,
From whence this favour to an impious foe?
A godless crew, abandon'd and unjust,
Still breathing rapine, violence, and lust?
The best of things, beyond their measure, cloy;
Sleep's balmy blessing, love's endearing joy;
The feast, the dance; whate'er mankind desire,
Even the sweet charms of sacred numbers tire.
But Troy for ever reaps a dire delight
In thirst of slaughter, and in lust of fight."
This said, he seized (while yet the carcase heaved)
The bloody armour, which his train received:
Then sudden mix'd among the warring crew,
And the bold son of Pylaemenes slew.
Harpalion had through Asia travell'd far,
Following his martial father to the war:
Through filial love he left his native shore,
Never, ah, never to behold it more!
His unsuccessful spear he chanced to fling
Against the target of the Spartan king;
Thus of his lance disarm'd, from death he flies,
And turns around his apprehensive eyes.
Him, through the hip transpiercing as he fled,
The shaft of Merion mingled with the dead.
Beneath the bone the glancing point descends,
And, driving down, the swelling bladder rends:
Sunk in his sad companions' arms he lay,
And in short pantings sobb'd his soul away;
(Like some vile worm extended on the ground;)
While life's red torrent gush'd from out the wound.
Him on his car the Paphlagonian train
In slow procession bore from off the plain.
The pensive father, father now no more!
Attends the mournful pomp along the shore;
And unavailing tears profusely shed;
And, unrevenged, deplored his offspring dead.
Paris from far the moving sight beheld,
With pity soften'd and with fury swell'd:
His honour'd host, a youth of matchless grace,
And loved of all the Paphlagonian race!
With his full strength he bent his angry bow,
And wing'd the feather'd vengeance at the foe.
A chief there was, the brave Euchenor named,
For riches much, and more for virtue famed.
Who held his seat in Corinth's stately town;
Polydus' son, a seer of old renown.
Oft had the father told his early doom,
By arms abroad, or slow disease at home:
He climb'd his vessel, prodigal of breath,
And chose the certain glorious path to death.
Beneath his ear the pointed arrow went;
The soul came issuing at the narrow vent:
His limbs, unnerved, drop useless on the ground,
And everlasting darkness shades him round.
Nor knew great Hector how his legions yield,
(Wrapp'd in the cloud and tumult of the field:)
Wide on the left the force of Greece commands,
And conquest hovers o'er th' Achaian bands;
With such a tide superior virtue sway'd,
And he that shakes the solid earth gave aid.
But in the centre Hector fix'd remain'd,
Where first the gates were forced, and bulwarks gain'd;
There, on the margin of the hoary deep,
(Their naval station where the Ajaces keep.
And where low walls confine the beating tides,
Whose humble barrier scarce the foe divides;
Where late in fight both foot and horse engaged,
And all the thunder of the battle raged,)
There join'd, the whole Boeotian strength remains,
The proud Iaonians with their sweeping trains,
Locrians and Phthians, and th' Epaean force;
But join'd, repel not Hector's fiery course.
The flower of Athens, Stichius, Phidas, led;
Bias and great Menestheus at their head:
Meges the strong the Epaean bands controll'd,
And Dracius prudent, and Amphion bold:
The Phthians, Medon, famed for martial might,
And brave Podarces, active in the fight.
This drew from Phylacus his noble line;
Iphiclus' son: and that (Oileus) thine:
(Young Ajax' brother, by a stolen embrace;
He dwelt far distant from his native place,
By his fierce step-dame from his father's reign
Expell'd and exiled for her brother slain:)
These rule the Phthians, and their arms employ,
Mix'd with Boeotians, on the shores of Troy.
Now side by side, with like unwearied care,
Each Ajax laboured through the field of war:
So when two lordly bulls, with equal toil,
Force the bright ploughshare through the fallow soil,
Join'd to one yoke, the stubborn earth they tear,
And trace large furrows with the shining share;
O'er their huge limbs the foam descends in snow,
And streams of sweat down their sour foreheads flow.
A train of heroes followed through the field,
Who bore by turns great Ajax' sevenfold shield;
Whene'er he breathed, remissive of his might,
Tired with the incessant slaughters of the fight.
No following troops his brave associate grace:
In close engagement an unpractised race,
The Locrian squadrons nor the javelin wield,
Nor bear the helm, nor lift the moony shield;
But skill'd from far the flying shaft to wing,
Or whirl the sounding pebble from the sling,
Dexterous with these they aim a certain wound,
Or fell the distant warrior to the ground.
Thus in the van the Telamonian train,
Throng'd in bright arms, a pressing fight maintain:
Far in the rear the Locrian archers lie,
Whose stones and arrows intercept the sky,
The mingled tempest on the foes they pour;
Troy's scattering orders open to the shower.
Now had the Greeks eternal fame acquired,
And the gall'd Ilians to their walls retired;
But sage Polydamas, discreetly brave,
Address'd great Hector, and this counsel gave:
"Though great in all, thou seem'st averse to lend
Impartial audience to a faithful friend;
To gods and men thy matchless worth is known,
And every art of glorious war thy own;
But in cool thought and counsel to excel,
How widely differs this from warring well!
Content with what the bounteous gods have given,
Seek not alone to engross the gifts of Heaven.
To some the powers of bloody war belong,
To some sweet music and the charm of song;
To few, and wondrous few, has Jove assign'd
A wise, extensive, all-considering mind;
Their guardians these, the nations round confess,
And towns and empires for their safety bless.
If Heaven have lodged this virtue in my breast,
Attend, O Hector! what I judge the best,
See, as thou mov'st, on dangers dangers spread,
And war's whole fury burns around thy head.
Behold! distress'd within yon hostile wall,
How many Trojans yield, disperse, or fall!
What troops, out-number'd, scarce the war maintain!
And what brave heroes at the ships lie slain!
Here cease thy fury: and, the chiefs and kings
Convoked to council, weigh the sum of things.
Whether (the gods succeeding our desires)
To yon tall ships to bear the Trojan fires;
Or quit the fleet, and pass unhurt away,
Contented with the conquest of the day.
I fear, I fear, lest Greece, not yet undone,
Pay the large debt of last revolving sun;
Achilles, great Achilles, yet remains
On yonder decks, and yet o'erlooks the plains!"
The counsel pleased; and Hector, with a bound,
Leap'd from his chariot on the trembling ground;
Swift as he leap'd his clanging arms resound.
"To guard this post (he cried) thy art employ,
And here detain the scatter'd youth of Troy;
Where yonder heroes faint, I bend my way,
And hasten back to end the doubtful day."
This said, the towering chief prepares to go,
Shakes his white plumes that to the breezes flow,
And seems a moving mountain topp'd with snow.
Through all his host, inspiring force, he flies,
And bids anew the martial thunder rise.
To Panthus' son, at Hector's high command
Haste the bold leaders of the Trojan band:
But round the battlements, and round the plain,
For many a chief he look'd, but look'd in vain;
Deiphobus, nor Helenus the seer,
Nor Asius' son, nor Asius' self appear:
For these were pierced with many a ghastly wound,
Some cold in death, some groaning on the ground;
Some low in dust, (a mournful object) lay;
High on the wall some breathed their souls away.
Far on the left, amid the throng he found
(Cheering the troops, and dealing deaths around)
The graceful Paris; whom, with fury moved,
Opprobrious thus, th' impatient chief reproved:
"Ill-fated Paris! slave to womankind,
As smooth of face as fraudulent of mind!
Where is Deiphobus, where Asius gone?
The godlike father, and th' intrepid son?
The force of Helenus, dispensing fate;
And great Othryoneus, so fear'd of late?
Black fate hang's o'er thee from th' avenging gods,
Imperial Troy from her foundations nods;
Whelm'd in thy country's ruin shalt thou fall,
And one devouring vengeance swallow all."
When Paris thus: "My brother and my friend,
Thy warm impatience makes thy tongue offend,
In other battles I deserved thy blame,
Though then not deedless, nor unknown to fame:
But since yon rampart by thy arms lay low,
I scatter'd slaughter from my fatal bow.
The chiefs you seek on yonder shore lie slain;
Of all those heroes, two alone remain;
Deiphobus, and Helenus the seer,
Each now disabled by a hostile spear.
Go then, successful, where thy soul inspires:
This heart and hand shall second all thy fires:
What with this arm I can, prepare to know,
Till death for death be paid, and blow for blow.
But 'tis not ours, with forces not our own
To combat: strength is of the gods alone."
These words the hero's angry mind assuage:
Then fierce they mingle where the thickest rage.
Around Polydamas, distain'd with blood,
Cebrion, Phalces, stern Orthaeus stood,
Palmus, with Polypoetes the divine,
And two bold brothers of Hippotion's line
(Who reach'd fair Ilion, from Ascania far,
The former day; the next engaged in war).
As when from gloomy clouds a whirlwind springs,
That bears Jove's thunder on its dreadful wings,
Wide o'er the blasted fields the tempest sweeps;
Then, gather'd, settles on the hoary deeps;
The afflicted deeps tumultuous mix and roar;
The waves behind impel the waves before,
Wide rolling, foaming high, and tumbling to the shore:
Thus rank on rank, the thick battalions throng,
Chief urged on chief, and man drove man along.
Far o'er the plains, in dreadful order bright,
The brazen arms reflect a beamy light:
Full in the blazing van great Hector shined,
Like Mars commission'd to confound mankind.
Before him flaming his enormous shield,
Like the broad sun, illumined all the field;
His nodding helm emits a streamy ray;
His piercing eyes through all the battle stray,
And, while beneath his targe he flash'd along,
Shot terrors round, that wither'd e'en the strong.
Thus stalk'd he, dreadful; death was in his look:
Whole nations fear'd; but not an Argive shook.
The towering Ajax, with an ample stride,
Advanced the first, and thus the chief defied:
"Hector! come on; thy empty threats forbear;
'Tis not thy arm, 'tis thundering Jove we fear:
The skill of war to us not idly given,
Lo! Greece is humbled, not by Troy, but Heaven.
Vain are the hopes that haughty mind imparts,
To force our fleet: the Greeks have hands and hearts.
Long ere in flames our lofty navy fall,
Your boasted city, and your god-built wall,
Shall sink beneath us, smoking on the ground;
And spread a long unmeasured ruin round.
The time shall come, when, chased along the plain,
Even thou shalt call on Jove, and call in vain;
Even thou shalt wish, to aid thy desperate course,
The wings of falcons for thy flying horse;
Shalt run, forgetful of a warrior's fame,
While clouds of friendly dust conceal thy shame."
As thus he spoke, behold, in open view,
On sounding wings a dexter eagle flew.
To Jove's glad omen all the Grecians rise,
And hail, with shouts, his progress through the skies:
Far-echoing clamours bound from side to side;
They ceased; and thus the chief of Troy replied:
"From whence this menace, this insulting strain?
Enormous boaster! doom'd to vaunt in vain.
So may the gods on Hector life bestow,
(Not that short life which mortals lead below,
But such as those of Jove's high lineage born,
The blue-eyed maid, or he that gilds the morn,)
As this decisive day shall end the fame
Of Greece, and Argos be no more a name.
And thou, imperious! if thy madness wait
The lance of Hector, thou shalt meet thy fate:
That giant-corse, extended on the shore,
Shall largely feast the fowls with fat and gore."
He said; and like a lion stalk'd along:
With shouts incessant earth and ocean rung,
Sent from his following host: the Grecian train
With answering thunders fill'd the echoing plain;
A shout that tore heaven's concave, and, above,
Shook the fix'd splendours of the throne of Jove.
[Illustration: GREEK EARRINGS.]
GREEK EARRINGS. 其时，正在举杯饮酒的奈斯托耳听到了战场上传来的
杀声。用长了翅膀的话语，他对阿斯克勒丕俄斯之子说道：
“想一想，卓越的马卡昂，我们可以做什么。
海船边，强壮的年轻人正越喊越烈。
我看，你就坐在这儿，饮喝闪亮的醇酒，
等着美发的赫卡墨得为你准备澡水，
滚烫的热水，洗去身上的淤血和污秽；
我将就此出门，找个登高了望的地点，看看那边的情势。”
言罢，他拿起儿子、驯马手斯拉苏墨得斯的
盾牌，精工制作，停息在营棚的一端，
闪射出青铜的流光。斯拉苏墨得斯随即拿起父亲的盾牌。
然后，奈斯托耳操起一柄粗重的枪矛，顶着锋快的铜尖，
走出营棚，当即目睹了一个羞人的场面：
伙伴们正撒腿奔逃，被心志高昂的特洛伊人赶得
惊慌失措——阿开亚人的护墙已被砸倒破毁。
像洋面上涌起的一股巨大的旋流，
无声无息，然而却预示着一场啸吼的
风暴，没有汹涌的激浪，朝着这个或那个方向奔流，
候等着宙斯卷来一阵打破平寂的风飙。
就像这样，老人思考斟酌，权衡着两种选择：
是介入驾驭快马的达奈人的队伍，还是
去找阿特柔斯之子，兵士的牧者阿伽门农？
两下比较，觉得后一种做法，前往寻会阿特柔斯
之子，似乎更为妥当。与此同时，兵勇们仍在
殊死拼搏，互相残杀，坚硬的青铜在身上铿锵碰撞，
伴随着利剑的劈砍和双刃枪矛的击打。
其时，几位宙斯养育的王者正朝着奈斯托耳走来，
曾被青铜的枪械击伤，此时沿着海船回行，
图丢斯之子、俄底修斯和阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农。
他们的海船远离战场，早被拖拽上岸，
停栖在灰蓝色的大海边。这些船舟被第一批
拖上平原，沿着它们的后尾，阿开亚人筑起了护墙。
尽管滩面开阔，却仍不足以一线排开
所有的海船；岸边人群熙攘，拥挤不堪。
所以，他们拉船上岸，一排连着一排停放，
塞满了狭长的滩沿，压挤在两个海岬之间。
王者们结队而行，倚拄着各自的枪矛，
眺望着喧嚣的战场，心中悲苦交加，
而和老人奈斯托耳的相见，又使他们平添了几分惆怅。
强有力的阿伽门农高声发话，对他说道：
“奈斯托耳，奈琉斯之子，阿开亚人的光荣和骄傲，
为何背向人死人亡的前线，朝着海边走来？
我担心强健的赫克托耳可能会兑现他的
话语，当着特洛伊兵众，对我发出的胁言：
他决不会撤离船边，回返自己的城堡，
直到放火烧毁海船，把我们斩尽杀绝！
这便是他的威胁；眼下，这一切正在变成现实。
可耻啊！眼下，其他胫甲坚固的阿开亚人，
也像阿基琉斯一样，对我心怀愤怒，
不愿苦战在我们的船尾边。”
听罢这番话，格瑞尼亚的车战者奈斯托耳答道：
“是啊，所有这一切都在变成现实。眼下，即便是
炸雷中天的宙斯也难以改变战局。
护墙已经塌倒，虽然我们曾经抱过希望，
把它当做一道攻不破的屏障，保卫着海船和战勇。
敌人正在快船边猛攻，一刻不停，
沓无间息，即使睁大眼睛，你也说不清
阿开亚人在哪里被赶得撒腿惊跑：他们
倒死在战场的各个角落，凄惶的惨叫冲破了云天！
我们必须集思广益，看看应该做些什么——
如果智谋还有它的作用。不过，我想我们不要
投入战斗，带伤之人经不起战火的熬炼。”
听罢这番话，民众的王者阿伽门农说道：
“奈斯托耳，现在，他们已杀砍在我们的船尾边，
而我们修筑的护墙，连同壕沟，根本没有挡住他们的进击，
尽管达奈人付出过辛勤的劳动，满以为
它是一道攻不破的屏障，保卫着海船和战勇。所队
这一切必是力大无穷的宙斯所为，使他心花怒放的事情，
让阿开亚人死在这里，消声匿迹，远离着阿耳戈斯地面。
以前，我就知道这一点，即使在宙斯全心全意地助信达奈人
的时候；
现在，我亦没有忘记这一切——瞧，他在为那些人增光，仿佛
他们是幸运的神祗，同时削弱我们的战力，捆绑起我们的手脚。
干起来吧，按我说的做，让我们顺从屈服，
把靠海第一排的停船，全都
拖下水去，划向闪光的洋面，
抛出锚石，泊驻在深水里，
及至神赐的黑夜降临，倘若特洛伊人因碍于
夜色而停止战斗，我们即可把所有在岸的木船拖下大海。
为了躲避灾难，逃跑并不可耻，哪怕是在夜晚。
与其被灾难获捕，不如躲避灾难。”
其时，足智多谋的俄底修斯开口答话，恶狠狠地盯着他：
“这是什么话，阿特桑斯之子，崩出了你的齿隙？
你这招灾致难的人！但愿你统领的是另一支军队，一帮畏畏
缩缩的胆小鬼；但愿你不是我们的王者——我们，按着
宙斯的意志，历经残酷的战争，从青壮
打到老年，直至死亡，谁也不能幸免。
难道你真的急于撤离这座路面开阔的城堡，
给过我们这许多凄愁的特洛伊？
闭起你的嘴，以免让其他阿开亚人
听见。一个知道如何甩得体的方式
讲话的人，一位受到全军尊服、拥握权杖的王者，
不会让此番话语爆出唇沿。王者阿伽门农，
看看阿耳吉维人的队伍，成千的壮汉，听命于你的兵勇。
我由衷地蔑视你的心智——想一想，你都说了会什么！
在这两军激战的关头，你却要
我们把凳板坚固的木船拖下大海，
让特洛伊人争得更大的光荣——他们已击败我们，
死亡的秤杆将把我们压弯。倘若我们
拖船下海，阿开亚兵勇就不会继续拼战，
而将左顾右盼，寻觅逃路，把战斗热情抛到九霄云外。
这样，全军的统帅，你的计划会把我们彻底送断！”
听罢这番话，民众的王者阿伽门农答道：
“好一顿呵责，俄底修斯，你的话刺得我
心痛。不过，我并没有要求阿开亚人的儿子
违心背意，将凳板坚固的舟船拖下大海。
现在，谁要有更好的计划，即可赶快进言，
不管是年轻，还是年老的军汉。我将高兴地倾听他的意见。”
其时，啸吼战场的秋俄墨得斯开口答话，说道：
“此人就站在你的眼前，我们无须从远处寻觅，只要你们
听我道说，谁都不要对我愤烦，因为
我是大伙中年龄最小的一位。我亦有可资
炫耀的家世，父亲是了不起的
图丢斯，葬在塞贝，隆起的土家下。
波耳修斯生养了三个豪勇的儿郎，
住在普琉荣和山势险峻的卡鲁冬。长子阿革里俄斯，
二子墨拉斯，三子俄伊纽斯，战车上的勇士，
我父亲的父亲，他们中最勇敢的豪杰。
俄伊纽斯居守老家，而我父亲却浪迹远方，
落户阿耳戈斯，按照宙斯和各位神祗的意愿。
他婚娶了阿德瑞斯托斯的女儿，居住在
一个资产丰足的家院，拥有大块的麦地，
捎带一片片缀围其间的果林，还有
遍野的羊群。他善使枪矛，其他阿开亚人
不可比及。你一定已听过这段往事，知道这一切真实无疑。
所以，如果我说话在理，你们不能讥斥
我的建议，以为我出身低贱，贪生怕死。
让我们这就回返战场，尽管身带伤痕；我们必须这么做。
但一经抵达，我们却应回避战斗，站在投枪的
射程之外，以免在旧痛之上增添新的伤痕。
不过，我们要督励兵勇们向前——他们已经
产生愤懑情绪，躲在后面，不愿拼战。”
首领们认真听完他的议言，纳用了他的主张，
抬腿上路，跟着阿伽门农，全军的统帅。
光荣的裂地之神对此看得真切，
赶至他们中间，以一位老翁的模样出现，
抓住阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的右手，
对他说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“阿特柔斯之子，我想，阿基琉斯此时正看着阿开亚人遭受
杀屠，全军溃败的惨景；他那颗遭人遗恨的心脏
一定在欢快地跳跃。此人无心无魂，不带一丝同情。
但愿他死掉烂掉，但愿神明把他击倒放平。
但对你，幸福的神祗并无不可慰息的愤恨。
这一天将会到来，那时，特洛伊的王者和首领们
会在平原上踢起滚滚的洪尘，你将亲眼看着
他们窜跑，逃离营棚和海船，朝着特洛伊。”
言罢，他冲扫过平原，发出一声响雷般的嘶吼，
像九千或一万个士兵的呐喊——
战斗中，两军相遇，挟着战神的狂烈。
强有力的裂地之神吼出一声惊天的巨响，
出自肺叶深处，把巨大的勇力注入所有阿开亚人的
心胸，要他们继续拼杀，不屈不挠地战斗。
其时，享用金座的赫拉，站在俄林波斯的
峰脊，纵目远望，当即看到波塞冬，
她的兄弟，亦是她夫婿的兄弟，正奔忙在
人们争夺荣誉的战场上，心头泛起一阵喜悦。
然而，她又眼见宙斯，坐在多泉的伊达的
峰巅——此情此景使她心烦。怎么办？
牛眼睛天后赫拉心绪纷乱：用什么
办法才能迷惘带埃吉斯的宙斯的心眼？
经过一番思考，她觉得此法妙极：
把自己打扮起来，下到伊达山上，
兴许能挑起他的情欲，贴着她的肉身，
一起同床作爱。这样，她也许能用温柔香熟的睡眠，
合拢宙斯的双眼，迷糊他的感察，他的警觉。
她走进自己的旁间，爱子赫法伊斯托斯
亲手为她营建，门扇紧贴着框沿，
装着一条秘密的门闩，其他神明休想启开。
她走进房间，关上溜光滑亮的门扇，
洗去玉体上的纤尘，用
神界的脂浆，涂上神界舒软的
橄榄油，清香扑鼻。只要略一
摇晃，虽然置身宙斯的家府，青铜铺地的房居，
醇郁的香气却由此飘飘袅袅，溢满天上人间。
她用此物擦毕娇嫩的肌肤，
梳顺长发，用灵巧的双手编织发辫，油光
滑亮，闪着仙境的丰采，垂荡在与天地同存的
头首边。接着，她穿上雅典娜精工
制作的衫袍，光洁、平展，绣织着众多的图纹，
拿一根纯金的饰针，别在胸前，然后
扎上飘悬着一百条流苏的腰带，
挂起坠饰，在钻孔规整的耳垂边，
三串沉悬的熟桑，闪着绚丽的光彩。
随后，她，天后赫拉，披上漂亮。
簇新的头巾，白亮得像太阳的闪光，
系上舒适的条鞋，在鲜亮的脚面。
现在，一切穿戴完毕，女神娇丽妩媚，
走出住房，唤来阿芙罗底忒，
从众神那边，开口说道：
“亲爱的孩子，如果我有事相求，你是打算帮助呢，
还是予以绝拒？你对我一向耿耿于怀，
因为我保护达亲人，而你却站在特洛伊人一边——对吗？”
听罢这番话，阿芙罗底忒，宙斯的女儿，答道：
“赫拉，尊贵的天后，强有力的克罗诺斯的女儿，
告诉我你的心事，我将竭诚为你效劳，
只要可能，只要此事可以做到。”
听罢这番话，高贵的赫拉编出一套谎言，答道：
“给我性爱和欲盼，你用此般
魔力征服了凡人和整个神界。
我打算跨过丰腴的大地，去往它的边缘，拜访
俄开阿诺斯，育神的长河，以及忒苏丝，我们的母亲。
他们把我从蕾娅那里带走，看养在自己家里，
关怀备至，在那混战的年头，沉雷远播的
宙斯将克罗诺斯打下地层和苍贫的大海。
我要去访晤二位，排解没完没了的争仇。
自从愤恨撕裂了他俩的情感，他们
已长期分居，不曾享受床第间的愉悦。
要是能用话语把他俩说得回心转意，
引回睡床的边沿，充满抚爱的胸怀，
我就能受到他俩永久的尊敬，成为他们喜欢的挚爱。”
听罢这番话，爱笑的阿芙罗底忒答道：
“我不会，也不能不明智地回绝你的要求；你，
你能躺在宙斯的怀里，而他是最有力的神主。”
言罢，她从酥胸前解下一个编工精致、织着
花纹的条兜，上面编着各种各样的诱惑，
有狂烈的爱情，冲发的性欲和情人的喊喊
私语——此般消魂之术，足以使最清醒的头脑疯迷。
她把东西放在赫拉手中，叫着她的名字，说道：
“拿着吧，赫拉，把它藏在你的双乳间；
此物奇特，装着五光十色的大千世界。我想，
你不会空手而回，不管你有何样的企盼。”
听罢这番话，高贵的牛眼睛赫拉笑逐颜开，
高兴地将此物收藏在双乳间。
其后，阿芙罗底忒，宙斯的女儿，返回家居，
而赫拉则离开俄林波斯山岩，快得像一道闪电，
穿过皮厄里亚和美丽的厄马西亚，
越过斯拉凯车手的家园，白雪皑皑的岭峦
和群山的峰巅，双脚从未碰擦地表的层面。
随后，她又经过阿索斯，跨越呼啸奔腾的大海，
临抵莱姆诺斯，神一样的索阿斯的城。
她见着了睡眠、死亡的兄弟，紧紧
抓住他的手，叫着他的名字，说道：
“睡眠，所有凡人和全体神明的主宰，如果说
从前你听过我的话，那么，现在我亦要你按我
说指的做；我将永远铭记你的思典。
我要你让宙斯睡觉，合上浓眉下闪亮的双眼，
待我躺卧在他的身边，情浓意蜜的刻间。我会
迭你一份礼物，一个宝座，纯金铸就，
永不败坏。赫法伊斯托斯，我的爱子，会动手制铸，
以他那强壮的臂膀，精湛的工艺。还要为你做一张
足凳，让你舒息闪亮的双脚，享受举杯痛饮的愉悦。”
听罢这番话，甜静的睡眠答道：
“赫拉，尊贵的天后，强有力的克罗诺斯之女，
如果是其他某位不死的神明，无论是谁，
我都能，在顷刻之间，把他拖入睡境，哪怕是水流
森鸿的俄开阿诺斯，育神的巨河。
但对克罗诺斯之子，我却不敢离得太近，
更不敢把他弄睡，除非他自己愿意。
从前，我曾帮你做过这种差事，从中得过教训。
那一天，宙斯之子，心志高昂的赫拉克勒斯，在
彻底荡平特洛伊后，坐船离开。那时，
我把宙斯的大脑，这位带埃吉斯的神主，引入睡境，
使他在松软和静恬的关顾下昏昏沉沉。然而，你却在
其时居心叵测地谋划，在洋面上卷起呼啸的
狂风，把赫拉克勒斯刮到人了兴旺的科斯，
远离他的朋友。其后，宙斯醒来，勃然大怒，
抓拎起众神，四下里丢甩，在他的宫居——首先要找的
自然是我；若非镇束神和凡人的黑夜相救，
他定会把我从气空扔到海底，落个无影无踪。
我惊跑到她的身边——宙斯见后姑且作罢，强憋着雷霆，
不愿造次，得罪迅捷的黑夜。可现在，
赫拉，你要我再做此类不可能的事情。”
听罢这番话，高贵的牛眼睛赫拉答道，
“为何如此多虑，睡眠，折磨自己的心怀？
你以为沉雷远播的宙斯，现时着意于帮助特洛伊人，会对此大发
雷霆，像当年那样吗？别忘了，那次是赫拉克勒斯，他的儿子！
这样吧，按我说的做，我将让你和一位年轻的
典雅女神结婚，让她做你的妻伴，
帕茜塞娅，此女你一直都在热恋。”
听罢这番话，睡眠心中欢喜，答道：
“好，就这么办！但你要对我起誓，以斯图克斯河不可侵读的
水流的名义。
一手抓握丰腴的土地，另一手掬起
闪光的海水，以便让所有的神祗作证，
他们生活在地下，汇聚在克罗诺斯身边。
发誓吧，你会给我一位年轻的典雅，
帕茜塞娅，我朝思暮想的心爱。”
白臂女神赫拉接受了他的提议，
按他的要求起誓，叫着那些神祗的名字，
他们深陷在塔耳塔罗斯深渊，人称泰坦的神仙。
她发过誓咒，许下一番旦旦信誓后，
和睡眠一起，从莱姆诺斯和英勃罗斯城堡上路，
裹在云雾里，轻捷地前行，
来到多泉的伊达，野兽的母亲，
抵及莱克托斯，方才离开水路，循着干实的
陆野疾行，森林的枝端在他们脚下颤移。
睡眠随即停身，趁着宙斯的眼睛还不曾把他扫瞄，
爬上一棵挺拔的松树，栖留在它的枝头——在当时的伊达，
此树最高，穿过低天的雾霭，直指晴亮的气空。
他在树上蹲下，遮掩在浓密的枝干里；
以一只歌鸟的模样，此鸟神们
称之为卡尔基斯，而凡人却叫它库鸣迪斯[●]。
●卡尔基斯……库鸣迪斯：大概可分别解作“铜嗓子”和“夜莺”。
与此同时，赫拉腿步轻盈，疾扫而去，朝着高高的伽耳林
罗斯，伊达的峰巅，汇聚乌云的宙斯见到了她的身影。
仅此一瞥，欲念便在他那厚买的心里呼呼地蒸腾，
一如当年他俩——瞒着亲爱的父母——
同登床第，欢情作爱时的心境。
宙斯站在她面前，叫着她的名字，说道：
“赫拉，为何从俄林波斯下到此地？
为何不见出门常用的乘具，你的驭马和轮车？”
带着欺骗的动机，高贵的赫拉答道：
“我打算跨过丰腴的大地，去往它的边缘，拜访
俄开阿诺斯，育神的长河，以及忒苏丝，我们的母亲。
在自己的家里，他们把我带大，对我关怀备至。
我要去访晤二位，排解没完没了的争仇。
自从愤恨撕裂了他俩的情感，他们
已长期分居，不曾享受床第间的愉悦。
我的驭马站在泉水淙淙的伊达
山下，将要拉着我越过坚实的陆地和海洋。
但眼下，我从俄林波斯下来，为了对你通告此事，
担心日后你会对我动怒，倘若我
悄悄地前往水势深森的俄开阿诺斯的府居。”
听罢这番话，汇聚乌云的宙斯答道：
“急什么，赫拉，那地方不妨以后再去。
现在，我要你和我睡觉，尽兴做爱。
对女神或女人的性爱，从未像现时这样炽烈，
冲荡着我的心胸，扬起不可抑止的情波。
我曾和伊克西昂的妻子同床，生子
裴里苏斯，和神一样多谋善断；
亦曾和阿克里西俄斯的女儿、脚型秀美的达娜娥作爱，
生子裴耳修斯，人中的俊杰；
我还和欧罗帕、声名远扬的福伊尼克斯的女儿调情，
生子米诺斯和神一样的拉达门苏斯；
和塞贝女子塞墨勒以及阿尔克墨奈睡觉，
后者给我生得一子，心志豪强的赫拉克勒斯，
而塞墨勒亦生子狄俄努索斯，凡人的欢悦。
我亦和黛墨忒耳，发辫秀美的神后，以及光荣的莱托，
还有你自己，寻欢作乐——所有这些欲情都赶不上
现时对你的冲动，甜蜜的欲念已经征服了我的心灵。”
听罢这番话，高贵的赫拉答道，心怀狡黠：
“可怕的众神之主，克罗诺斯之子，你说了些什么？
你现时情火中烧，迫不及待地要和我欢爱，
在这伊达的峰岭，是否想让整个世界看见？
要是让某个不死的神明看见，见我们
睡躺此间，跑去告诉所有的神祗，此事将如何
释解？我不能从这边的睡床爬起，尔后再回头
溜进你的宫居——这会让我丢尽脸面。
但是，如果你欲火烧身，一心想着此事，
那么，你有爱子赫法伊斯托斯为你
营建的睡房，门扇紧贴着框沿。
我们可去那里躺下，既然性爱可以欢悦你的心怀。”
听罢这番话，汇聚乌云的宙斯答道：
“赫拉，不要怕，此事神和人都不会
看见；我会布下一团金雾，稠匝浓密，
罩住我俩，连赫利俄斯也休想看穿，
虽然他的眼睛，那灼灼的目光，谁都无法企及。”
言罢，克罗诺斯之子伸出双臂，抱起神妻。
在他俩身下，神圣的土地催发出鲜嫩、葱绿的
芳草，有藏红花、风信子和挂着露珠的三叶草，
厚实松软，把神体托离坚实的泥面。
他俩双双躺下，四周罩起黄金的云雾，
神奇、美妙、滴洒着晶亮的露珠。
就这样，睡意和炽热的情欲把父亲送入
安闲的睡境，在伽耳伽罗斯峰巅，拥着他的妻配。
其时，甜雅的睡眠飞也似地赶往阿开亚人的海船，
捎去一条信息，带给环拥和震撼大地的波塞冬。
睡眠站在他的近旁，对他说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“波塞冬，现在，你可全力以赴，助信达奈兵勇，
使他们争得荣光——趁着宙斯还在酣睡——虽然只有那么
一点时间，我已把他蒙罩在舒甜的睡境，
赫拉已诱使他同床合欢。”
言罢，他又趋身前往凡人的那些著名的部族，
进一步催励波塞冬，为保卫达奈人出力。
裂地之神大步跃至前排，用宏亮的声音催喊：
“是这样吗，阿耳吉维人，我们正再次把胜利拱让给赫克托耳，
普里阿摩斯之子，让他夺取海船，并以此争得光荣？！
这是赫克托耳的企望，他的祷告——感谢阿基琉斯，
抱着温怒，呆滞在深旷的海船边！
但是，倘若大家都能振奋斗志，互相保护，
我们便无须那么热切地企盼他的回归。
于起来吧，按我说的做，听我的命令！
拿起军中最好最大的盾牌，挡住
身躯，用铜光锃亮的头盔盖住
脑袋，操起最长的枪矛，英勇
出击。我将亲自带队；我想，尽管凶狂，
赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，将顶不住我们的反击。
骠健犟悍的战勇要把肩上的小盾
换给懦弱的战士，操起遮身的大盾！”
战勇们认真听完他的说告，谨遵不违。
几位王者，带着伤痛之躯，亲自指挥调度，
图丢斯之子，俄底修斯和阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农。
他们巡行军阵，督令将士们交换战甲，
勇敢善战者穿挂上好的甲衣，把次孬的换给
弱者。一经穿戴完毕，通身闪耀着青铜的光芒，
众人迈步向前，由裂地之神波塞冬亲自率导，
宽厚的手中握着一柄锋快的长剑，寒光
四射，像一道闪电——痛苦的仇杀中，凡人
谁也不敢近前，出于恐惧，全都躲避迅闪。
在他们对面，光荣的赫克托耳正催令着特洛伊人。
其时，黑发的波塞冬和光荣的赫克托耳
把战斗推向血肉横飞的高潮，一个
为阿开亚人添力，另一个为特洛伊人鼓气。
这时，大海卷起汹涌的浪潮，冲刷着阿耳吉维人的
营棚和海船。两军扑击冲撞，喊出震耳欲聋的杀声。
这不是冲击陆岸的激浪发出的咆哮，
那滔天的水势，经受北风的吹怂，自深海里涌来；
也不是大火荡扫山间谷地时发出的
怒号，烈焰吞噬着整片林海；
亦不是狂风吹打枝叶森耸的橡树，奋力呼出的尖啸，
以最狂烈的势头横扫——战场上的呼声，
比这些啸响更高；特洛伊人和阿开亚兵壮
喊出可怕的狂叫，你杀我砍，打得难解难分。
光荣的赫克托耳首先投出枪矛，对着迎面
冲来的埃阿斯，枪尖不偏不倚，
击中目标，打在胸前，两条背带交叉的地方，
一条扣连战盾，另一条系提着柄嵌银钉的劈剑，
两带叠连，挡护着白亮的皮肉。赫克托耳怒火中烧，
因为出手无获，徒劳无益地白投了一枝枪矛；
他退回自己的伴群，为了躲避死亡，
但是，正当他回退之际，忒拉蒙之子、高大魁伟的埃阿斯
抓起一块石头——系固快船的石块遍地亦是，
滚动在勇士们的脚边。他举起其中的一块，
砸在胸腔上，擦过盾沿，紧挨着咽喉，
打得他扭转起身子，像一只挨打的陀螺，一圈圈地
旋转。好比一棵橡树，被父亲宙斯
击倒，连根端出，扬发出硫磺的
恶臭；若是有人近旁察看，定会胆气
消散——大神宙斯的霹雳可真够厉害。
就像这样，强有力的赫克托耳翻倒泥尘，
枪矛脱手，战盾压身，还有那顶
头盔，精制的铜甲在身上铿锵作响。
阿开亚人的儿子们大叫着冲上前去，
想要把他抢走，投出密集的
枪矛，但谁也没有击中或投中这位
兵士的牧者——特洛伊首领们迅速赶来，围护在他的身边，
埃内阿斯、普鲁达马斯和卓越的阿格诺耳，以及
萨耳裴冬，鲁基亚人的首领，和豪勇的格劳科斯。
其他战勇亦不甘落后，倾斜着边圈
溜圆的战盾，挡护着他的躯体；伙伴们
把他抬架起来，走出战地，来到捷蹄的
驭马边——它们停等在后面，避离战斗和搏杀，
载着驭手，荷着精工制作的战车。
快马拉着他返回城堡，踏着凄厉的吟叫。
然而，当来到一条清水河的边岸，
其父宙斯，不死的天神，卷着漩涡的珊索斯的滩沿，
他们把他抬出马车，放躺在地上，用凉水遍淋
全身。赫克托耳喘过气来，眼神复又变得清晰明亮，
撑起身子，单腿跪地，吐出一滩
浓血，复又躺下，漆黑的夜晚蒙住了
他的双眼。他的心魂尚未挣脱重击带来的迷幻。
其时，眼见赫克托耳撤离战斗，阿耳吉维人
振奋精神，更加勇猛地扑向特洛伊兵汉。
俄伊琉斯之子、迅捷的埃阿斯远远地冲在前头，
猛扑上去，捅出锋快的投枪，击中萨特尼俄斯，
出自一位身段轻盈的水仙的肚腹，厄诺普斯的
精血，在他放牧萨特尼俄埃斯河畔的时节。
俄伊纽斯之子，著名的枪手，逼近此人，出枪
击中胁腹，把他打了个四脚朝天。围绕着他的尸体，
特洛伊人和达奈人展开了一场激战。
普鲁达马斯挥舞枪矛，冲锋向前，站到他的身边，
潘苏斯之子，投枪击中阿雷鲁科斯之子普罗索厄诺耳
的右肩，沉重的枪尖扎穿了肩头。
他翻身倒地，手抓泥尘。
普鲁达马斯欣喜若狂，高声炫耀：
“哈哈——我，潘苏斯心胸豪壮的儿子，这双
强有力的大手，没有白投这枝枪矛！不是吗，
一个阿耳吉维人，用自己的皮肉，收下了它。我想，此人是
打算把它当做支棍，步履艰难地走入死神的宫殿！”
听罢此番吹擂，阿耳吉维人愁满胸膛，
忒拉蒙之子、经验丰富的埃阿斯更是怒不可遏，
因为死者倒在离他最近的地方。他当即
投出闪亮的枪矛，对着回退的普鲁达马斯，
但后者迅速跳到一边，躲过了。。
幽黑的死亡——枪尖吃中安忒诺耳之子
阿耳开洛科斯，永生的神祗注定他必死的命运。
枪矛扎在头颈的交接处，脊椎的
最后一节，切断了两面的筋腱；所以，
倒下时，他的头、嘴和鼻子抢先落地，远在
腿和膝盖之前。埃阿斯见状，
高声呼喊，回击悍勇的普鲁达马斯：
“好好想一想，普鲁达马斯，老老实实地告诉我，你敢说
这不是一次公平的交易，以此人的尸躯换得普罗索诺耳的
死亡？他看来不是个贪生怕死的贱种，也不是胆小鬼的
后代——他是驯马者安忒诺耳的兄弟，或是
他的儿子，从长相上可以看出他仍亲似的血缘！”
埃阿斯如此一番吹擂，深知如何回答敌人的喧叫；悲痛揪
住了特洛伊人的心灵。
其时，阿卡达马斯，跨立在兄弟的两边，出枪击倒
波伊俄提亚的普罗马科斯，后者正试图抓住双脚，抢拖尸体。
阿卡马斯欣喜若狂，高声炫耀：“阿耳吉维人，
你们这帮玩弄弓箭的男孩，吓唬起人来，没有个尽头！
莫以为苦斗和悲痛仅为我们所有，
你们亦会死亡，跟在这个人的后头！
想想普罗马科斯如何睡躺在你们脚边，被我的
枪矛击倒；为兄弟雪恨，我无须久地
等待。所以，征战的勇士都爱祈祷，希望家中
能有一位亲男存活，以便死后能替他把冤仇申报。”
听罢此番吹擂，阿耳吉维人愁满胸膛，
战技纯熟的裴奈琉斯更是怒不可遏，
扑向阿卡马斯，后者挡不住他的进击。
随后，王者裴奈琉斯出枪击中伊利俄纽斯，
福耳巴斯之子，其父拥有遍野的羊群，在特洛伊人中
最受赫耳墨斯宠爱，给了他丰足的财富。
伊利俄纽斯是他母亲生给福耳巴斯的独苗，
被裴奈琉斯出枪打在眉沿下，
深扎进眼窝里，捅挤出眼球，枪尖刺穿了
眼眶和颈背；伊利俄纽斯瘫坐在地，
双臂伸展。裴奈琉斯拔出
利剑，劈砍在脖子中间，人头落地，
连着帽盔，带着粗长的木杆，枪尖仍然
扎刺在眼窝里，裴奈琉斯高挑起人头，像一束罂粟的头穗，
展现给特洛伊人视看，放声吹擂：
“尔等特洛伊人，代我转告高傲的伊利俄纽斯
亲爱的父母，让他们开始举哀，在自家的厅堂里，
既然阿勒格诺耳之子普罗马科斯的妻房
亦不再会有眼见亲爱的夫婿回归的激奋，在我们
阿开亚人的儿子们，乘坐海船，从特洛伊返航回家的那一天！”
听罢这番话，特洛伊人无不膝腿颤抖，
个个东张西望，试图逃避凄惨的死亡。
告诉我，家住俄林波斯的缪斯，
当著名的裂地之神扭转了战局，
阿开亚人中，谁个最先夺得带血的战礼？
忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯最先击倒呼耳提俄斯，
吉耳提俄斯之子，心志刚强的慕西亚人的首领。
其后，安提洛科斯杀了法尔开斯和墨耳墨罗斯，墨里俄奈斯
杀了莫鲁斯和希波提昂，丢克罗斯放倒了
裴里菲忒斯和普罗索斯。接着，阿特柔斯之子墨奈劳斯
捅杀了呼裴瑞诺耳，兵士的牧者，
枪尖撕开腹胁，捣出内脏，
魂息匆匆飘离躯体，从那道铜枪
开出的口子，浓黑的迷雾蒙住了他的双眼。
但俄伊琉斯之子、腿脚快捷的埃阿斯杀人最多，
追赶逃敌——一旦宙斯把他们赶上
仓皇的溃程，他的快腿谁也不可比过。
ARGUMENT.(231)
JUNO DECEIVES JUPITER BY THE GIRDLE OF VENUS.
Nestor, sitting at the table with Machaon, is alarmed with the increasing
clamour of war, and hastens to Agamemnon; on his way he meets that prince
with Diomed and Ulysses, whom he informs of the extremity of the danger.
Agamemnon proposes to make their escape by night, which Ulysses
withstands; to which Diomed adds his advice, that, wounded as they were,
they should go forth and encourage the army with their presence, which
advice is pursued. Juno, seeing the partiality of Jupiter to the Trojans,
forms a design to over-reach him: she sets off her charms with the utmost
care, and (the more surely to enchant him) obtains the magic girdle of
Venus. She then applies herself to the god of sleep, and, with some
difficulty, persuades him to seal the eyes of Jupiter: this done, she goes
to mount Ida, where the god, at first sight, is ravished with her beauty,
sinks in her embraces, and is laid asleep. Neptune takes advantage of his
slumber, and succours the Greeks: Hector is struck to the ground with a
prodigious stone by Ajax, and carried off from the battle: several actions
succeed, till the Trojans, much distressed, are obliged to give way: the
lesser Ajax signalizes himself in a particular manner.
But not the genial feast, nor flowing bowl,
Could charm the cares of Nestor's watchful soul;
His startled ears the increasing cries attend;
Then thus, impatient, to his wounded friend:
"What new alarm, divine Machaon, say,
What mix'd events attend this mighty day?
Hark! how the shouts divide, and how they meet,
And now come full, and thicken to the fleet!
Here with the cordial draught dispel thy care,
Let Hecamede the strengthening bath prepare,
Refresh thy wound, and cleanse the clotted gore;
While I the adventures of the day explore."
He said: and, seizing Thrasymedes' shield,
(His valiant offspring,) hasten'd to the field;
(That day the son his father's buckler bore;)
Then snatch'd a lance, and issued from the door.
Soon as the prospect open'd to his view,
His wounded eyes the scene of sorrow knew;
Dire disarray! the tumult of the fight,
The wall in ruins, and the Greeks in flight.
As when old ocean's silent surface sleeps,
The waves just heaving on the purple deeps:
While yet the expected tempest hangs on high,
Weighs down the cloud, and blackens in the sky,
The mass of waters will no wind obey;
Jove sends one gust, and bids them roll away.
While wavering counsels thus his mind engage,
Fluctuates in doubtful thought the Pylian sage,
To join the host, or to the general haste;
Debating long, he fixes on the last:
Yet, as he moves, the sight his bosom warms,
The field rings dreadful with the clang of arms,
The gleaming falchions flash, the javelins fly;
Blows echo blows, and all or kill or die.
Him, in his march, the wounded princes meet,
By tardy steps ascending from the fleet:
The king of men, Ulysses the divine,
And who to Tydeus owes his noble line.(232)
(Their ships at distance from the battle stand,
In lines advanced along the shelving strand:
Whose bay, the fleet unable to contain
At length; beside the margin of the main,
Rank above rank, the crowded ships they moor:
Who landed first, lay highest on the shore.)
Supported on the spears, they took their way,
Unfit to fight, but anxious for the day.
Nestor's approach alarm'd each Grecian breast,
Whom thus the general of the host address'd:
"O grace and glory of the Achaian name;
What drives thee, Nestor, from the field of fame?
Shall then proud Hector see his boast fulfill'd,
Our fleets in ashes, and our heroes kill'd?
Such was his threat, ah! now too soon made good,
On many a Grecian bosom writ in blood.
Is every heart inflamed with equal rage
Against your king, nor will one chief engage?
And have I lived to see with mournful eyes
In every Greek a new Achilles rise?"
Gerenian Nestor then: "So fate has will'd;
And all-confirming time has fate fulfill'd.
Not he that thunders from the aerial bower,
Not Jove himself, upon the past has power.
The wall, our late inviolable bound,
And best defence, lies smoking on the ground:
Even to the ships their conquering arms extend,
And groans of slaughter'd Greeks to heaven ascend.
On speedy measures then employ your thought
In such distress! if counsel profit aught:
Arms cannot much: though Mars our souls incite,
These gaping wounds withhold us from the fight."
To him the monarch: "That our army bends,
That Troy triumphant our high fleet ascends,
And that the rampart, late our surest trust
And best defence, lies smoking in the dust;
All this from Jove's afflictive hand we bear,
Who, far from Argos, wills our ruin here.
Past are the days when happier Greece was blest,
And all his favour, all his aid confess'd;
Now heaven averse, our hands from battle ties,
And lifts the Trojan glory to the skies.
Cease we at length to waste our blood in vain,
And launch what ships lie nearest to the main;
Leave these at anchor, till the coming night:
Then, if impetuous Troy forbear the fight,
Bring all to sea, and hoist each sail for flight.
Better from evils, well foreseen, to run,
Than perish in the danger we may shun."
Thus he. The sage Ulysses thus replied,
While anger flash'd from his disdainful eyes:
"What shameful words (unkingly as thou art)
Fall from that trembling tongue and timorous heart?
Oh were thy sway the curse of meaner powers,
And thou the shame of any host but ours!
A host, by Jove endued with martial might,
And taught to conquer, or to fall in fight:
Adventurous combats and bold wars to wage,
Employ'd our youth, and yet employs our age.
And wilt thou thus desert the Trojan plain?
And have whole streams of blood been spilt in vain?
In such base sentence if thou couch thy fear,
Speak it in whispers, lest a Greek should hear.
Lives there a man so dead to fame, who dares
To think such meanness, or the thought declares?
And comes it even from him whose sovereign sway
The banded legions of all Greece obey?
Is this a general's voice that calls to flight,
While war hangs doubtful, while his soldiers fight?
What more could Troy? What yet their fate denies
Thou givest the foe: all Greece becomes their prize.
No more the troops (our hoisted sails in view,
Themselves abandon'd) shall the fight pursue;
But thy ships flying, with despair shall see;
And owe destruction to a prince like thee."
"Thy just reproofs (Atrides calm replies)
Like arrows pierce me, for thy words are wise.
Unwilling as I am to lose the host,
I force not Greece to quit this hateful coast;
Glad I submit, whoe'er, or young, or old,
Aught, more conducive to our weal, unfold."
Tydides cut him short, and thus began:
"Such counsel if you seek, behold the man
Who boldly gives it, and what he shall say,
Young though he be, disdain not to obey:
A youth, who from the mighty Tydeus springs,
May speak to councils and assembled kings.
Hear then in me the great OEnides' son,
Whose honoured dust (his race of glory run)
Lies whelm'd in ruins of the Theban wall;
Brave in his life, and glorious in his fall.
With three bold sons was generous Prothous bless'd,
Who Pleuron's walls and Calydon possess'd;
Melas and Agrius, but (who far surpass'd
The rest in courage) OEneus was the last.
From him, my sire. From Calydon expell'd,
He pass'd to Argos, and in exile dwell'd;
The monarch's daughter there (so Jove ordain'd)
He won, and flourish'd where Adrastus reign'd;
There, rich in fortune's gifts, his acres till'd,
Beheld his vines their liquid harvest yield,
And numerous flocks that whiten'd all the field.
Such Tydeus was, the foremost once in fame!
Nor lives in Greece a stranger to his name.
Then, what for common good my thoughts inspire,
Attend, and in the son respect the sire.
Though sore of battle, though with wounds oppress'd,
Let each go forth, and animate the rest,
Advance the glory which he cannot share,
Though not partaker, witness of the war.
But lest new wounds on wounds o'erpower us quite,
Beyond the missile javelin's sounding flight,
Safe let us stand; and, from the tumult far,
Inspire the ranks, and rule the distant war."
He added not: the listening kings obey,
Slow moving on; Atrides leads the way.
The god of ocean (to inflame their rage)
Appears a warrior furrowed o'er with age;
Press'd in his own, the general's hand he took,
And thus the venerable hero spoke:
"Atrides! lo! with what disdainful eye
Achilles sees his country's forces fly;
Blind, impious man! whose anger is his guide,
Who glories in unutterable pride.
So may he perish, so may Jove disclaim
The wretch relentless, and o'erwhelm with shame!
But Heaven forsakes not thee: o'er yonder sands
Soon shall thou view the scattered Trojan bands
Fly diverse; while proud kings, and chiefs renown'd,
Driven heaps on heaps, with clouds involved around
Of rolling dust, their winged wheels employ
To hide their ignominious heads in Troy."
He spoke, then rush'd amid the warrior crew,
And sent his voice before him as he flew,
Loud, as the shout encountering armies yield
When twice ten thousand shake the labouring field;
Such was the voice, and such the thundering sound
Of him whose trident rends the solid ground.
Each Argive bosom beats to meet the fight,
And grisly war appears a pleasing sight.
Meantime Saturnia from Olympus' brow,
High-throned in gold, beheld the fields below;
With joy the glorious conflict she survey'd,
Where her great brother gave the Grecians aid.
But placed aloft, on Ida's shady height
She sees her Jove, and trembles at the sight.
Jove to deceive, what methods shall she try,
What arts, to blind his all-beholding eye?
At length she trusts her power; resolved to prove
The old, yet still successful, cheat of love;
Against his wisdom to oppose her charms,
And lull the lord of thunders in her arms.
Swift to her bright apartment she repairs,
Sacred to dress and beauty's pleasing cares:
With skill divine had Vulcan form'd the bower,
Safe from access of each intruding power.
Touch'd with her secret key, the doors unfold:
Self-closed, behind her shut the valves of gold.
Here first she bathes; and round her body pours
Soft oils of fragrance, and ambrosial showers:
The winds, perfumed, the balmy gale convey
Through heaven, through earth, and all the aerial way:
Spirit divine! whose exhalation greets
The sense of gods with more than mortal sweets.
Thus while she breathed of heaven, with decent pride
Her artful hands the radiant tresses tied;
Part on her head in shining ringlets roll'd,
Part o'er her shoulders waved like melted gold.
Around her next a heavenly mantle flow'd,
That rich with Pallas' labour'd colours glow'd:
Large clasps of gold the foldings gather'd round,
A golden zone her swelling bosom bound.
Far-beaming pendants tremble in her ear,
Each gem illumined with a triple star.
Then o'er her head she cast a veil more white
Than new-fallen snow, and dazzling as the light.
Last her fair feet celestial sandals grace.
Thus issuing radiant with majestic pace,
Forth from the dome the imperial goddess moves,
And calls the mother of the smiles and loves.
"How long (to Venus thus apart she cried)
Shall human strife celestial minds divide?
Ah yet, will Venus aid Saturnia's joy,
And set aside the cause of Greece and Troy?"
"Let heaven's dread empress (Cytheraea said)
Speak her request, and deem her will obey'd."
"Then grant me (said the queen) those conquering charms,
That power, which mortals and immortals warms,
That love, which melts mankind in fierce desires,
And burns the sons of heaven with sacred fires!
"For lo! I haste to those remote abodes,
Where the great parents, (sacred source of gods!)
Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep,
On the last limits of the land and deep.
In their kind arms my tender years were past;
What time old Saturn, from Olympus cast,
Of upper heaven to Jove resign'd the reign,
Whelm'd under the huge mass of earth and main.
For strife, I hear, has made the union cease,
Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.
What honour, and what love, shall I obtain,
If I compose those fatal feuds again;
Once more their minds in mutual ties engage,
And, what my youth has owed, repay their age!"
She said. With awe divine, the queen of love
Obey'd the sister and the wife of Jove;
And from her fragrant breast the zone embraced,(233)
With various skill and high embroidery graced.
In this was every art, and every charm,
To win the wisest, and the coldest warm:
Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay desire,
The kind deceit, the still-reviving fire,
Persuasive speech, and the more persuasive sighs,
Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes.
This on her hand the Cyprian Goddess laid:
"Take this, and with it all thy wish;" she said.
With smiles she took the charm; and smiling press'd
The powerful cestus to her snowy breast.
Then Venus to the courts of Jove withdrew;
Whilst from Olympus pleased Saturnia flew.
O'er high Pieria thence her course she bore,
O'er fair Emathia's ever-pleasing shore,
O'er Hemus' hills with snows eternal crown'd;
Nor once her flying foot approach'd the ground.
Then taking wing from Athos' lofty steep,
She speeds to Lemnos o'er the rolling deep,
And seeks the cave of Death's half-brother, Sleep.(234)
"Sweet pleasing Sleep! (Saturnia thus began)
Who spread'st thy empire o'er each god and man;
If e'er obsequious to thy Juno's will,
O power of slumbers! hear, and favour still.
Shed thy soft dews on Jove's immortal eyes,
While sunk in love's entrancing joys he lies.
A splendid footstool, and a throne, that shine
With gold unfading, Somnus, shall be thine;
The work of Vulcan; to indulge thy ease,
When wine and feasts thy golden humours please."
"Imperial dame (the balmy power replies),
Great Saturn's heir, and empress of the skies!
O'er other gods I spread my easy chain;
The sire of all, old Ocean, owns my reign.
And his hush'd waves lie silent on the main.
But how, unbidden, shall I dare to steep
Jove's awful temples in the dew of sleep?
Long since, too venturous, at thy bold command,
On those eternal lids I laid my hand;
What time, deserting Ilion's wasted plain,
His conquering son, Alcides, plough'd the main.
When lo! the deeps arise, the tempests roar,
And drive the hero to the Coan shore:
Great Jove, awaking, shook the blest abodes
With rising wrath, and tumbled gods on gods;
Me chief he sought, and from the realms on high
Had hurl'd indignant to the nether sky,
But gentle Night, to whom I fled for aid,
(The friend of earth and heaven,) her wings display'd;
Impower'd the wrath of gods and men to tame,
Even Jove revered the venerable dame."
"Vain are thy fears (the queen of heaven replies,
And, speaking, rolls her large majestic eyes);
Think'st thou that Troy has Jove's high favour won,
Like great Alcides, his all-conquering son?
Hear, and obey the mistress of the skies,
Nor for the deed expect a vulgar prize;
For know, thy loved-one shall be ever thine,
The youngest Grace, Pasithae the divine."(235)
"Swear then (he said) by those tremendous floods
That roar through hell, and bind the invoking gods:
Let the great parent earth one hand sustain,
And stretch the other o'er the sacred main:
Call the black Titans, that with Chronos dwell,
To hear and witness from the depths of hell;
That she, my loved-one, shall be ever mine,
The youngest Grace, Pasithae the divine."
The queen assents, and from the infernal bowers
Invokes the sable subtartarean powers,
And those who rule the inviolable floods,
Whom mortals name the dread Titanian gods.
[Illustration: SLEEP ESCAPING FROM THE WRATH OF JUPITER.]
SLEEP ESCAPING FROM THE WRATH OF JUPITER.
Then swift as wind, o'er Lemnos' smoky isle
They wing their way, and Imbrus' sea-beat soil;
Through air, unseen, involved in darkness glide,
And light on Lectos, on the point of Ide:
(Mother of savages, whose echoing hills
Are heard resounding with a hundred rills:)
Fair Ida trembles underneath the god;
Hush'd are her mountains, and her forests nod.
There on a fir, whose spiry branches rise
To join its summit to the neighbouring skies;
Dark in embowering shade, conceal'd from sight,
Sat Sleep, in likeness of the bird of night.
(Chalcis his name by those of heavenly birth,
But call'd Cymindis by the race of earth.)
To Ida's top successful Juno flies;
Great Jove surveys her with desiring eyes:
The god, whose lightning sets the heavens on fire,
Through all his bosom feels the fierce desire;
Fierce as when first by stealth he seized her charms,
Mix'd with her soul, and melted in her arms:
Fix'd on her eyes he fed his eager look,
Then press'd her hand, and thus with transport spoke:
"Why comes my goddess from the ethereal sky,
And not her steeds and flaming chariot nigh?"
Then she--"I haste to those remote abodes
Where the great parents of the deathless gods,
The reverend Ocean and gray Tethys, reign,
On the last limits of the land and main.
I visit these, to whose indulgent cares
I owe the nursing of my tender years:
For strife, I hear, has made that union cease
Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.
The steeds, prepared my chariot to convey
O'er earth and seas, and through the aerial way,
Wait under Ide: of thy superior power
To ask consent, I leave the Olympian bower;
Nor seek, unknown to thee, the sacred cells
Deep under seas, where hoary Ocean dwells."
"For that (said Jove) suffice another day!
But eager love denies the least delay.
Let softer cares the present hour employ,
And be these moments sacred all to joy.
Ne'er did my soul so strong a passion prove,
Or for an earthly, or a heavenly love:
Not when I press'd Ixion's matchless dame,
Whence rose Pirithous like the gods in fame:
Not when fair Danae felt the shower of gold
Stream into life, whence Perseus brave and bold.
Not thus I burn'd for either Theban dame:
(Bacchus from this, from that Alcides came:)
Nor Phoenix' daughter, beautiful and young,
Whence godlike Rhadamanth and Minos sprung.(236)
Not thus I burn'd for fair Latona's face,
Nor comelier Ceres' more majestic grace.
Not thus even for thyself I felt desire,
As now my veins receive the pleasing fire."
He spoke; the goddess with the charming eyes
Glows with celestial red, and thus replies:
"Is this a scene for love? On Ida's height,
Exposed to mortal and immortal sight!
Our joys profaned by each familiar eye;
The sport of heaven, and fable of the sky:
How shall I e'er review the blest abodes,
Or mix among the senate of the gods?
Shall I not think, that, with disorder'd charms,
All heaven beholds me recent from thy arms?
With skill divine has Vulcan form'd thy bower,
Sacred to love and to the genial hour;
If such thy will, to that recess retire,
In secret there indulge thy soft desire."
She ceased; and, smiling with superior love,
Thus answer'd mild the cloud-compelling Jove:
"Nor god nor mortal shall our joys behold,
Shaded with clouds, and circumfused in gold;
Not even the sun, who darts through heaven his rays,
And whose broad eye the extended earth surveys."
Gazing he spoke, and, kindling at the view,
His eager arms around the goddess threw.
Glad Earth perceives, and from her bosom pours
Unbidden herbs and voluntary flowers:
Thick new-born violets a soft carpet spread,
And clustering lotos swell'd the rising bed,
And sudden hyacinths the turf bestrow,(237)
And flamy crocus made the mountain glow
There golden clouds conceal the heavenly pair,
Steep'd in soft joys and circumfused with air;
Celestial dews, descending o'er the ground,
Perfume the mount, and breathe ambrosia round:
At length, with love and sleep's soft power oppress'd,
The panting thunderer nods, and sinks to rest.
Now to the navy borne on silent wings,
To Neptune's ear soft Sleep his message brings;
Beside him sudden, unperceived, he stood,
And thus with gentle words address'd the god:
"Now, Neptune! now, the important hour employ,
To check a while the haughty hopes of Troy:
While Jove yet rests, while yet my vapours shed
The golden vision round his sacred head;
For Juno's love, and Somnus' pleasing ties,
Have closed those awful and eternal eyes."
Thus having said, the power of slumber flew,
On human lids to drop the balmy dew.
Neptune, with zeal increased, renews his care,
And towering in the foremost ranks of war,
Indignant thus--"Oh once of martial fame!
O Greeks! if yet ye can deserve the name!
This half-recover'd day shall Troy obtain?
Shall Hector thunder at your ships again?
Lo! still he vaunts, and threats the fleet with fires,
While stern Achilles in his wrath retires.
One hero's loss too tamely you deplore,
Be still yourselves, and ye shall need no more.
Oh yet, if glory any bosom warms,
Brace on your firmest helms, and stand to arms:
His strongest spear each valiant Grecian wield,
Each valiant Grecian seize his broadest shield;
Let to the weak the lighter arms belong,
The ponderous targe be wielded by the strong.
Thus arm'd, not Hector shall our presence stay;
Myself, ye Greeks! myself will lead the way."
[Illustration: GREEK SHIELD.]
GREEK SHIELD.
The troops assent; their martial arms they change:
The busy chiefs their banded legions range.
The kings, though wounded, and oppress'd with pain,
With helpful hands themselves assist the train.
The strong and cumbrous arms the valiant wield,
The weaker warrior takes a lighter shield.
Thus sheath'd in shining brass, in bright array
The legions march, and Neptune leads the way:
His brandish'd falchion flames before their eyes,
Like lightning flashing through the frighted skies.
Clad in his might, the earth-shaking power appears;
Pale mortals tremble, and confess their fears.
Troy's great defender stands alone unawed,
Arms his proud host, and dares oppose a god:
And lo! the god, and wondrous man, appear:
The sea's stern ruler there, and Hector here.
The roaring main, at her great master's call,
Rose in huge ranks, and form'd a watery wall
Around the ships: seas hanging o'er the shores,
Both armies join: earth thunders, ocean roars.
Not half so loud the bellowing deeps resound,
When stormy winds disclose the dark profound;
Less loud the winds that from the Æolian hall
Roar through the woods, and make whole forests fall;
Less loud the woods, when flames in torrents pour,
Catch the dry mountain, and its shades devour;
With such a rage the meeting hosts are driven,
And such a clamour shakes the sounding heaven.
The first bold javelin, urged by Hector's force,
Direct at Ajax' bosom winged its course;
But there no pass the crossing belts afford,
(One braced his shield, and one sustain'd his sword.)
Then back the disappointed Trojan drew,
And cursed the lance that unavailing flew:
But 'scaped not Ajax; his tempestuous hand
A ponderous stone upheaving from the sand,
(Where heaps laid loose beneath the warrior's feet,
Or served to ballast, or to prop the fleet,)
Toss'd round and round, the missive marble flings;
On the razed shield the fallen ruin rings,
Full on his breast and throat with force descends;
Nor deaden'd there its giddy fury spends,
But whirling on, with many a fiery round,
Smokes in the dust, and ploughs into the ground.
As when the bolt, red-hissing from above,
Darts on the consecrated plant of Jove,
The mountain-oak in flaming ruin lies,
Black from the blow, and smokes of sulphur rise;
Stiff with amaze the pale beholders stand,
And own the terrors of the almighty hand!
So lies great Hector prostrate on the shore;
His slacken'd hand deserts the lance it bore;
His following shield the fallen chief o'erspread;
Beneath his helmet dropp'd his fainting head;
His load of armour, sinking to the ground,
Clanks on the field, a dead and hollow sound.
Loud shouts of triumph fill the crowded plain;
Greece sees, in hope, Troy's great defender slain:
All spring to seize him; storms of arrows fly,
And thicker javelins intercept the sky.
In vain an iron tempest hisses round;
He lies protected, and without a wound.(238)
Polydamas, Agenor the divine,
The pious warrior of Anchises' line,
And each bold leader of the Lycian band,
With covering shields (a friendly circle) stand,
His mournful followers, with assistant care,
The groaning hero to his chariot bear;
His foaming coursers, swifter than the wind,
Speed to the town, and leave the war behind.
When now they touch'd the mead's enamell'd side,
Where gentle Xanthus rolls his easy tide,
With watery drops the chief they sprinkle round,
Placed on the margin of the flowery ground.
Raised on his knees, he now ejects the gore;
Now faints anew, low-sinking on the shore;
By fits he breathes, half views the fleeting skies,
And seals again, by fits, his swimming eyes.
Soon as the Greeks the chief's retreat beheld,
With double fury each invades the field.
Oilean Ajax first his javelin sped,
Pierced by whose point the son of Enops bled;
(Satnius the brave, whom beauteous Neis bore
Amidst her flocks on Satnio's silver shore;)
Struck through the belly's rim, the warrior lies
Supine, and shades eternal veil his eyes.
An arduous battle rose around the dead;
By turns the Greeks, by turns the Trojans bled.
Fired with revenge, Polydamas drew near,
And at Prothoenor shook the trembling spear;
The driving javelin through his shoulder thrust,
He sinks to earth, and grasps the bloody dust.
"Lo thus (the victor cries) we rule the field,
And thus their arms the race of Panthus wield:
From this unerring hand there flies no dart
But bathes its point within a Grecian heart.
Propp'd on that spear to which thou owest thy fall,
Go, guide thy darksome steps to Pluto's dreary hall."
He said, and sorrow touch'd each Argive breast:
The soul of Ajax burn'd above the rest.
As by his side the groaning warrior fell,
At the fierce foe he launch'd his piercing steel;
The foe, reclining, shunn'd the flying death;
But fate, Archilochus, demands thy breath:
Thy lofty birth no succour could impart,
The wings of death o'ertook thee on the dart;
Swift to perform heaven's fatal will, it fled
Full on the juncture of the neck and head,
And took the joint, and cut the nerves in twain:
The dropping head first tumbled on the plain.
So just the stroke, that yet the body stood
Erect, then roll'd along the sands in blood.
"Here, proud Polydamas, here turn thy eyes!
(The towering Ajax loud-insulting cries:)
Say, is this chief extended on the plain
A worthy vengeance for Prothoenor slain?
Mark well his port! his figure and his face
Nor speak him vulgar, nor of vulgar race;
Some lines, methinks, may make his lineage known,
Antenor's brother, or perhaps his son."
He spake, and smiled severe, for well he knew
The bleeding youth: Troy sadden'd at the view.
But furious Acamas avenged his cause;
As Promachus his slaughtered brother draws,
He pierced his heart--"Such fate attends you all,
Proud Argives! destined by our arms to fall.
Not Troy alone, but haughty Greece, shall share
The toils, the sorrows, and the wounds of war.
Behold your Promachus deprived of breath,
A victim owed to my brave brother's death.
Not unappeased he enters Pluto's gate,
Who leaves a brother to revenge his fate."
Heart-piercing anguish struck the Grecian host,
But touch'd the breast of bold Peneleus most;
At the proud boaster he directs his course;
The boaster flies, and shuns superior force.
But young Ilioneus received the spear;
Ilioneus, his father's only care:
(Phorbas the rich, of all the Trojan train
Whom Hermes loved, and taught the arts of gain:)
Full in his eye the weapon chanced to fall,
And from the fibres scoop'd the rooted ball,
Drove through the neck, and hurl'd him to the plain;
He lifts his miserable arms in vain!
Swift his broad falchion fierce Peneleus spread,
And from the spouting shoulders struck his head;
To earth at once the head and helmet fly;
The lance, yet sticking through the bleeding eye,
The victor seized; and, as aloft he shook
The gory visage, thus insulting spoke:
"Trojans! your great Ilioneus behold!
Haste, to his father let the tale be told:
Let his high roofs resound with frantic woe,
Such as the house of Promachus must know;
Let doleful tidings greet his mother's ear,
Such as to Promachus' sad spouse we bear,
When we victorious shall to Greece return,
And the pale matron in our triumphs mourn."
Dreadful he spoke, then toss'd the head on high;
The Trojans hear, they tremble, and they fly:
Aghast they gaze around the fleet and wall,
And dread the ruin that impends on all.
Daughters of Jove! that on Olympus shine,
Ye all-beholding, all-recording nine!
O say, when Neptune made proud Ilion yield,
What chief, what hero first embrued the field?
Of all the Grecians what immortal name,
And whose bless'd trophies, will ye raise to fame?
Thou first, great Ajax! on the unsanguined plain
Laid Hyrtius, leader of the Mysian train.
Phalces and Mermer, Nestor's son o'erthrew,
Bold Merion, Morys and Hippotion slew.
Strong Periphaetes and Prothoon bled,
By Teucer's arrows mingled with the dead,
Pierced in the flank by Menelaus' steel,
His people's pastor, Hyperenor fell;
Eternal darkness wrapp'd the warrior round,
And the fierce soul came rushing through the wound.
But stretch'd in heaps before Oileus' son,
Fall mighty numbers, mighty numbers run;
Ajax the less, of all the Grecian race
Skill'd in pursuit, and swiftest in the chase.
[Illustration: BACCHUS.]
BACCHUS. 其时，特洛伊人夺路奔逃，越过壕沟，绕过
尖桩，许多人死在达奈战勇手下，及至
跑到马车边，方才收住腿步，站稳脚跟，
吓得直眉瞪眼，脸色苍白。其时，宙斯一觉醒来，
在伊达山巅，享用金座的赫拉身边，
猛地站立起来，看到阿开亚人和特洛伊人，
一方正在溃败，另一方把他们赶得遑遑逃窜；
阿耳吉维人攻势猛烈，由王者波塞冬领头。
他看到赫克托耳正躺身平野——伙伴们围坐在
他的身边——痛苦地喘着粗气，心神恍惚，
口吐鲜血；击伤他的人可不是阿开亚人中的懦汉。
见着此般情景，神和人的父亲心生怜悯，
破口大骂，对着赫拉，浓眉下闪射出凶狠的目光：
“难以驾驭的赫拉，用你的诡计，狠毒的计划，
将卓越的赫克托耳逐出战斗，驱散了他的军队。
我确信，这场引来痛苦的诡计将使你
第一个受惩——我将用鞭子狠狠地抽打。
还记得吗，那一次，我把你挂在半空，在你脚上
绑吊两上铁砧，用挣不断的金链
捆住你的双手？你被悬在云层间，晴亮的
气空里。巍巍的俄林波斯山上，诸神
虽然愤怒，却不能为你松绑，干站着，束手无策。倘若
让我逮住一个，我就会紧捏住他，把他甩出门槛，摔倒在
大地上，气息奄奄。然而，即便这样，也难去我心头
不可消止的愁愤，为了神一样的赫拉克勒斯。
你，怀着险恶的用心，依借北风的助衬，
唆使风暴，把他推过荒瘠的大海，
冲操到人丁兴旺的科斯。然而，
我把他从那里救出，带回到
马草丰肥的阿耳戈斯，其时，他已历经磨难。
我要你记住这一切，以便打消欺骗我的念头，
知道床第间的欢悦会给你带来什么好处——
和我睡在一起，从众神那边过来，欺诈蒙骗！”
宙斯一顿怒骂，牛晴眼夫人赫拉心里害怕，
开口告辩，用长了翅膀的话语：
“让大地和辽阔的天空为我作证，
还有斯图克斯的泼水——幸福的神祗誓约，
以此最为庄重，最具可怕的威慑。
我还要以你的神圣的头脑作证，以我们的婚姻
和睡床——对此，至少是我，不敢信口誓言。
裂地之神波塞冬并非秉承我的意志，
加害于特洛伊人和赫克托耳，助信他们的敌人，
而是受他自己激情的催使，风风火火地干出此番事件。
他目睹阿开亚人已被逼退船边，由此心生怜悯。
真的，我没有让他这么做；相反，我愿劝他跟着
你的路子循走，按你的号令行事；你，驾驭乌云的神主。”
她言罢，神和人的父亲喜笑颜开，
欣然作答，用长了翅膀的话语：
“好极了，赫拉。今后，我的牛眼睛王后，
要是你，在神的议事会上，能和我所见略同，
那么，尽管事与愿违，波塞冬
必须马上改变主意，顺从你我的意志。
如果你刚才说的句句都是实话，不掺半点虚假，
那就前往神的部族，给我召来
伊里丝，还有著名的弓手阿波罗；
我要让伊里丝前往身披铜甲的阿开亚人的
群队，给王者波塞冬捎去口信，
让他离开战场，回到自己的家居。此外，
我要福伊波斯·阿波罗催励赫克托耳重返战斗，
再次给他吹人力量，使他忘却耗糜
心神的痛苦。要他把阿开亚人赶得
晕头转向，惊慌失措，再次回逃，
跌跌撞撞地跑上裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯的
条板众多的海船。阿基琉斯将差遣他的伴友
帕特罗克勒斯出战，而光荣的赫克托耳会出手把他击倒，
在伊利昂城前，在他杀死许多年轻的兵勇，
包括我自己的儿子、英武的萨耳裴冬之后。出于对
帕特罗克洛斯之死的暴怒，卓越的阿基琉斯将杀死赫克托耳。
从那以后，我将从船边扭转战争的潮头。
不再变更，不再退阻，直到阿开亚人
按雅典娜的意愿，攻下峻峭的伊利昂。
但在此之前，我将不会平息我的盛怒，也不会让
任何一位神祗站到达奈人一边，
直到实现裴琉斯之子的祈愿。
我早已答应此事，点过我的头，
就在那一天，永生的塞提丝抱住我的膝盖，
求我让荡劫城堡的阿基琉斯获得尊荣。”
他言罢，白臂女神赫拉谨遵不违，
从伊达山脉直奔高高的俄林波斯，
快得像一个闪念，掠过某人的心际——
他走南闯北，心头思绪万千，翻涌着
各种遐想：“但愿能去这个地方，或那个地方。”
就以此般迅捷，神后赫拉穿飞在空间，
来到峻峭的俄林波斯，永生的神祗
中间，其时全都汇聚在宙斯的宫居里。众神
见她前来，全都起身离座，围拥在她的身边，举杯相迎。
但赫拉走过诸神，接过美貌的
塞弥丝的酒杯，因她第一个跑来迎候，
对她说话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“赫拉，为何回返，神情如此沮丧黯淡？
我知道，是克罗诺斯之子，你的丈夫，吓着了你。”
听罢这番话，白臂女神赫拉答道：
“不要问我这些，女神塞弥丝。你也
知道他的脾性，该有多么固执和傲慢。
你可继续主持这次份额公平的餐会，在神的房居里。
你会听到我的叙说，你和所有的神祗，
听听宙斯如何谋示一系列凶暴的行径！告诉你们，
这一切不会带来皆大欢喜，不管是人
还是神，虽然他现时仍可享受吃喝的欢悦。”
言罢，神后赫拉弯身下坐，宙斯房居
里的众神个个心绪烦愤。赫拉嘴角
带笑，但黑眉上却扛顶着紧蹙的
额头。带着愤怒的心情，她对所有的神祗说道：
“我们都是傻瓜，试图和宙斯作对——简直是昏了头！
我们仍在想着接近他，挫阻他的行动，
通过劝议或争斗，但是，他远远地坐在那里，既不关心我们，
也不把我们放在眼里，声称他是神中
最了不起的天尊，力气最大，威势最猛。
所以，尔等各位必须接受他送来的任何苦痛。
不是吗？举例说吧，阿瑞斯就已经尝到了他所酿下的悲愁。
他的儿子已僵死战场，凡间他最钟爱的人，
阿斯卡拉福斯——粗莽的阿瑞斯声称此人出自他的神种。”
她言罢，阿瑞斯抡起手掌，击打两条
粗壮的股腿，悲愤交加，嚷道：
“现在，家居俄林波斯的众神，你们谁也不能责难于我，
倘若我前往阿开亚人的海船，为死难的儿子
报仇，即使我命该遭受宙斯的击打，
那炸顶的霹雳，仰躺在血污和泥土里，死人的身旁！”
言罢，他命嘱骚乱和恐惧
套车，自己则穿上闪亮的铠甲。其时，
此番作为可能激发一场新的暴怒，又一次痛苦，
程度更深，危害更烈，来自宙斯的狂怒，冲着此间的众神，
若不是雅典娜，担心神族中闹出更大的乱子，
跳离座椅，穿过门廊，从
他的头上摘下帽盔，从他的肩上取过战盾，
从他粗壮的手中夺过铜枪，放到
一边，出言责备，对盛怒的阿瑞斯：
“你疯啦？真是糊涂至极，想要自取灭亡？！你的耳朵
只是个摆设，你的心智已失去理解和判识的功能。
没听清白臂女神赫拉对我们讲说的那番话语？
她可是刚从俄林波斯大神宙斯那边过来。
你在嗜想得到什么？想等吃够了苦头之后，
被迫回到俄林波斯，强忍着悲痛？
你会给我们大家埋下不幸和痛苦的恶种！
宙斯将迅速丢下阿开亚人和心志高昂的
特洛伊人，回到俄林波斯，狠狠地揍打我们，
一个不饶，不管是做了错事的，还是清白无辜的神仙。
所以，我要你消泄激之于丧子的愤烦。
眼下，某个比他力气更大、手劲更足的壮勇
已被或即将被人杀倒，要想拯救所有的
凡人，每一位母亲的孩子，谈何容易！”
言罢，他把勇莽的阿瑞斯送回座椅。
其时，赫拉把阿波罗和伊里丝，
神界的信使，叫到殿外，
启口发话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“宙斯命你二位，火速赶往伊达面见。
你俩到了那里，一经见过他的脸面，
就要立刻按他的要求和命嘱行事。”
神后赫拉言罢，回身厅堂，在自己的
位子上就座。两位神祗一路腾飞，快得像一道闪电，
来到多泉的伊达，野兽的母亲，
发现沉雷远播的克罗诺斯之子静坐在你耳伽罗斯
峰巅，顶着一朵浮云，一个芬芳的霞冠。
他俩来到汇聚乌云的宙斯面前，站定
等候，后者看着二位到来，心情舒展——
瞧，服从我那夫人的旨意，他俩可真够快捷。
他先对伊里丝发话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“上路吧，快捷的伊里丝，找到王者波塞冬，
捎去我的口信，不得有误。命他
即刻脱离战斗和厮杀，回返
神的部族，或潜人闪亮的大海。
倘若他不听我的谕令，或对它置若罔闻，
那就让他好好想一想，在他的心魂里——
尽管强健，他可吃不住我的
攻打。告诉他，我的力气远比他大，
而且比他年长。然而，在内心深处，他总以为
可与我平起平坐，尽管在我面前，其他神明全都吓得畏畏缩缩。”
他言罢，快腿追风的伊里丝谨遵不违，
冲下伊达的峰脊，前往神圣的伊利昂。
像泻至云层的雪片或冷峻的冰雹，
挟着高天哺育的北风吹送的寒流，
风快的伊里丝急不可待地向前飞闯，
来到著名的裂地之神身边，站定，开口说道：
“黑发的环地之神，我给你捎来一个口信，
受带埃吉斯的宙斯命托，特来此地，转告于你。
他命你脱离战斗和厮杀，回返
神的部族，或潜人闪亮的大海。
他威胁道，倘若你不听谕令，或对它
置若罔闻，他就将亲自出手，和你打斗，
进行一场力对力的较量。但是，他警告你
不要惹他动手，声言他的力气远比你大，
而且比你年长。尽管如此，你在内心深处，总以为可以
和他平起平坐，虽然在他面前，其他神明全都吓得畏畏缩缩。”
听罢这番话，著名的裂地之神怒不可遏，嚷道：
“真是横蛮至极！虽然他很了不起，但他的话语近乎强暴！
他打算强行改变我的意志，不是吗？——我，一位和他一般尊
荣的神仙。
我们弟兄三个，克罗诺斯的儿子，全由蕾诬所生，
宙斯，我，还有三弟哀地斯，冥界的王者。
宇宙一分为三，我们兄弟各得一份。
当摇起阄拈，我抽得灰蓝色的海洋，作为
永久的家居；哀地斯抽得幽浑、黑暗的冥府，
而宙斯得获广阔的天穹、云朵和透亮的气空。
大地和高耸的俄林波斯归我们三神共有。
所以，我没有理由惟宙斯的意志是从！让他满足于
自己的份子，在平和的气氛里，虽然他力大无穷！
让他不要再来吓唬我，用那双强有力的大手，仿佛
我是个弱汉懦夫。把这些狂暴和恐吓留给
他们，留给他的那些儿女们去吧——
他是老子，不管训说什么，他们必须服从！”
听罢这番话，快腿追风的伊里丝答道：
“且慢，黑发的环地之神。你真的要我给宙斯
捎去此番口信，此番严厉、顶撞的话语？
想不想略作修改？所有高贵的心智都可接受通变；
你知道复仇女神，她们总是站在长兄一边。”
听罢这番话，裂地之神波塞冬答道：
“说得好，女神伊里丝，说得好哇！
信使知晓办事的分寸，这可真是件好事。
但宙斯的作为深深地伤痛了我的心魂，
居然用横蛮的话语责骂一位和他
地位相似、命赋相同的天神。
尽管如此，这一次我就让了他，强压住心头的烦愤。
但是，我要告诉你，我的威胁中带着愤怒：
如果他打算撇开我和掠劫者的助信雅典娜，
撇开赫拉、赫耳墨斯和火神赫法伊斯托斯，
救下陡峭的伊利昂，不让它遭诸
荡劫，不让阿耳吉维人获取辉煌的胜利，
那么，让他牢牢记住，我们之间的愤隙将永远不会有平填！”
裂地之神言罢，离开阿开亚军队，
潜人大海，给阿开亚勇士留下了深切的盼念。
其时，汇聚乌云的宙斯对阿波罗说道：
“去吧，亲爱的阿波罗，前往头顶铜盔的赫克托耳身边，
环绕和震撼大地的波塞冬已在此时
潜人闪光的大海，避免了我们的
暴怒。要是我们动起手来，神们就会听到打斗的
轰响，就连地下的神祗，汇聚在克罗诺斯身边，也不例外。
如此处理，对我有利，对他亦好——
他躲离了我的双手，尽管心中愤恼；
否则，办妥此事，我们总得忙出一身热汗。
现在，你可拿起流苏飘荡的埃吉斯，
奋力摇晃，吓返阿开亚壮勇。
然后，我的远射手，你要亲自关心光荣的赫克托耳，
给他注入巨大的勇力，直到阿开亚人
撒腿逃跑，及至他们的海船和赫勒斯庞特的水流。
从那以后，我会用我的计划，我的行动，
使阿开亚人，在经受了一次重创之后，卷土重来。”
他言罢，阿波罗谨遵父命，
从伊达的岭脊上下来，化作一只疾冲的
鹞鹰，飞禽中最快的羽鸟，鸽子的克星。
他发现卓越的赫克托耳，聪慧的普里阿摩斯之子，
已经坐立起来，不再叉腿躺地，重新收聚起失去的勇力，
认出了身边的伙伴。他汗水停流，粗气
不喘，带埃吉斯的宙斯的意志焕发了他的活力。
远射手阿波罗站在他的身边，对他说道：
“赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，为何离开众人，
虚虚弱弱的坐在这里？遇到了什么麻烦？”
体弱的赫克托耳挣扎着回答，顶着锃亮的帽盔：
“你是谁，高高在上的神祗中的哪一位，和我面对面地
说话？你不知道吗？在阿开亚人的海船边，
正当我奋力砍杀他的伙伴之际，啸吼战场的埃阿斯
搬起一块巨石，砸在我的胸口，刹住了我的狂烈。
我刚才还在想着，一旦命息离我而去，就在今天，那么，
我就该奔人埃地斯的冥府，和死人作伴。”
听罢这番话，王者、远射手阿波罗说道：
“鼓起勇气！看看克罗诺斯之子给你送来了多大的帮助，
从伊达山上，让我站在你的身边，保护你的安全。
我乃提金剑的福伊波斯·阿波罗，过去曾经
救护过你和你的陡峭的城堡。
干起来吧，命令众多的驭手，
赶起快马，杀向深旷的海船。
我将冲在你们前头，为车马
清道，逼退强健的阿开亚壮汉！”
言罢，他给兵士的牧者吹入巨大的勇力。
如同一匹关在棚厩里的儿马，在食槽上吃得肚饱腰圆，
挣脱绳索，蹄声隆隆地飞跑在平原，
直奔常去的澡地，一条水流清疾的长河，
神气活现地高昂着马头，颈背上长鬃
飘洒，陶醉于自己的勇力，跑开
迅捷的腿步，扑向草场，儿马爱去的地方。
就像这样，赫克托耳一听到神的声音，马上飞快地
摆动起双腿和膝盖，催令驭者们向前。
见过这样的情景吗？山里的猎人，带着猎狗，
追捕一头带角的公鹿或野山羊，
但因猎物被陡峻的岩壁或投影森森的树林遮掩，
使他们由此意识到自己没有捕获的运气——不仅如此，
他们的喊叫还引出一头硕大的、虬须满面的
狮子，突起追赶，把他们吓得四散奔逃。
就像这样，达奈人队形密集，穷追不舍，
奋力砍杀，用剑和双刃的枪矛；然而，
当他们看到赫克托耳重返战场，穿行在队伍里时，
全都吓得惊慌失措，酥软的腿脚涣解了战斗的勇力。
其时，索阿斯出面喊话，安德莱蒙之子，
埃托利亚人中最杰出的战将，精熟投枪技巧，
善于近战杀敌。集会上，年轻人
雄争漫辩，但却很少有人赶超他的口才。
他心怀善意，开口对众人说道：
“这可能吗？我的眼前真是出现了奇迹！
赫克托耳居然又能站立起来，躲过
死的精灵。我们，每一个人都在由衷地企盼，
希望他已倒死在忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯手下。
现在，某位神明前往相助，救活了
赫克托耳；此人已酥软了许多达奈人的膝腿。
眼下，我知道，他又有了宰杀的机会。若是没有雷声隆隆的
宙斯扶持，他绝然不能站在队伍的前列，卷着腾腾的杀气。
来吧，按我说的做，谁也不要执拗。
让一般兵众后撤，退回海船，而
我们自己，我们这些声称全军中最好的战勇，
要坚守原地，以便率先和他接战，把他挡离众人，
用端举在手的枪矛。我相信，尽管凶狠狂暴，
他会感到心虚胆怯，不敢杀人我们达奈人的队阵间！”
众人认真听完他的议言，欣然从命。
兵勇们迅速集聚，围绕在挨阿斯和王者伊多墨纽斯身边，
围绕在丢克罗斯、墨里俄奈斯和战神般的墨格斯身边，
编成密集的队形，准备厮杀，召呼着最善战的壮勇，
迎战赫克托耳和特洛伊人。在他们身后，
一般兵众正移步后撤，退回阿开亚人的海船。
特洛伊人队形密集，迎面扑来，赫克托耳迈着大步
领头进击；福伊波斯·阿波罗走在队列的前面，
肩上笼罩着云雾，握着可怕的埃吉斯，
光彩烁烁，流苏飞扬，挟风卷暴，由神匠
赫法伊斯托斯手铸，供宙斯携用，惊散凡人的营阵。
双手紧握这面神盾，阿波罗率导着特洛伊兵众。
然而，阿耳吉维人编队紧凑，严阵以待；尖啸的杀声
拔地而起，从交战的队阵；羽箭跳出
弓弦，枪矛飞出粗壮的大手，雨点
一般，有的扎入迅捷的年轻战勇，
还有许多落在两军之间，不曾碰着白亮的皮肤，
扎在泥地上，带着撕咬人肉的欲念。
只要福伊波斯·阿波罗紧握着埃吉斯，不予摇动，
双方的投械便能频频击中对手，打得尸滚人亡。
但是，当阿波罗凝目驾驭快马的达奈人的脸面，
摇动埃吉斯，发出一声惊天动地的呼吼时，他们
全都吓得膛目结舌，忘弃了杀敌的狂烈。
像两头猛兽，仗着漆黑的夜色，
惊跑了一群牛或一大群羊，突击
扑袭，趁着牧人不在之际——阿开亚人
惊慌失措，心疲手软，拔腿奔逃，全线崩溃；阿波罗
给他们注入惊恐，把光荣送给了特洛伊人和赫克托耳。
战场上混乱不堪，到处人杀人砍。
赫克托耳首先杀死斯提基俄斯和阿耳开西劳斯，
一位是身披铜用的波伊俄提亚人的首领，
另一位是心胸豪壮的墨奈修斯信赖的伙伴。
埃内阿斯杀了墨冬和亚索斯，其中，
墨冬是神一样的俄伊纽斯的
私生子，埃阿斯的兄弟，但却居家
夫拉凯，远离故乡，因他杀过一个亲戚，
俄伊纽斯之妻、庶母厄里娥丕丝的兄弟。
亚索斯是雅典人的首领，人称
斯菲洛斯之子，而斯菲洛斯又是布科洛斯的儿男。
普鲁达马斯杀了墨基斯丢斯；波利忒斯，首当其冲，
杀了厄基俄斯；卓越的阿格诺耳放倒了克洛尼俄斯。
帕里斯击中代俄科斯，在他从前排逃遁之际，
从后面打在肩座上，铜尖穿透了胸背。
他们动手抢剥铠甲；与此同时，阿开亚人
跌跌撞撞地挤塞在深沟的尖桩之间，
东奔西跑，惊恐万状，拥攘着退人墙垣。
其时，赫克托耳放开喉咙，对着特洛伊人喊叫：
“全力以赴，冲向海船，扔下这些带血的战礼！
要是让我发现有人畏缩不前，远离着海船，
我将就地把他处死，并不让他的亲人，
无论男女，火焚他的尸体——
暴躺在我们城前，让俄狗把他撕裂！”
言罢，他手起一鞭，策马向前，
张嘴呼喊，响声传遍特洛伊人的队列，后者群起呼应，
狂蛮粗野，催赶拉着战车的驭马。
福伊波斯·阿波罗居前开路，
抬腿轻轻松松地踢蹋深沟的
壁沿，垫平沟底，铺出一条通道，
既长且宽，横面约等于枪矛的“次投程——
投者挥手抛掷，试察自己的臂力。
队伍浩浩荡荡，潮水般地涌来，由阿波罗率领，
握着那面了不得的埃吉斯，轻松地平扫着阿开亚人的
墙垣。像个玩沙海边的小男孩，
聚沙成堆，以此雏儿勾当，聊以自娱，
然后手忙脚乱，破毁自垒的沙堆，仅此儿戏一场——
就像这样，你远射手阿波罗，把阿耳吉维人的护墙，辛劳和悲伤的
结晶，捣了个稀里哗拉，把兵勇们赶得遑遑奔逃。
他们跑回船边，收住腿步，站稳脚跟，
相互间大声喊叫，人人扬起双手，
高声诵说，对所有的神明，而
格瑞尼亚的奈斯托耳，阿开亚人的监护，更是首当其冲，
举手过头，对着多星的天空，朗声作祷：
“还记得吗，父亲宙斯，我们中有人，在麦穗金黄的阿耳戈斯，
给你烧祭过牛羊的腿肉，多脂的肉片，
求盼能够重返家园，而你曾点头允诺。
记住这一切，俄林波斯大神，把我们救出这残酷无情的一天！
不要让特洛伊人打趴阿开亚兵勇，像如此这般！”
老人涌毕，多谋善断的宙斯听到了
奈琉斯之子的声音，炸开一声动地的响雷。
然而，特洛伊人，耳闻带埃吉斯的宙斯甩出的炸雷，
振奋狂烈的战斗激情，更加凶猛地扑向阿耳吉维兵汉。
像汹涌的巨浪，翻腾在水势浩瀚的大洋，
受劲风的推送——此君极善兴波
作浪——冲打着海船的壳面，
特洛伊人高声呼喊，冲过护墙，
赶着马车，战斗在船尾的边沿。近战中，
特洛伊人投出双刃的枪矛，从驾乘的马车上，
阿开亚人则爬上乌黑的海船，居高临下，
投出海战用的长杆的标枪，堆放在仓板上，
杆段相连，顶着青铜的矛尖。
阿开亚人和特洛伊人远离海船，在护墙边
拼死相搏，苦战良久，而在此期间，帕特罗克洛斯
一直坐在雍雅的欧鲁普洛斯的营棚，
用话语欢悦他的心胸，为他敷抹枪药，
在红肿的伤口，减缓黑沉沉的疼痛。
但是，当眼见特洛伊人已扫过护墙，
耳闻达奈人在溃逃中发出的喧叫，
帕特罗克洛斯哀声长叹，抡起手掌，
击打两边的股腿，痛苦地说道：
“欧鲁普洛斯，我不能再呆留此地，
虽然你很需要——那边已爆发了一场恶战！
现在，让你的一位随从负责照料，而我将
即刻赶回营地，催劝阿基琉斯参战。兴许，
谁知道，凭借神的助佑，我或许可用恳切的规劝，
唤起他的激情；朋友的劝说自有它的功效。”
言罢，他抬腿上路。战地上，阿开亚人
仍在顽强抵御特洛伊人的进攻，但尽管后者
人少，他们却不能把敌人打离船队，
而特洛伊人亦没有足够的勇力，冲垮达奈人的
队伍，把他们逼回营棚和海船。
像一条紧绷的粉线，划过制作海船的木料，
捏在一位有经验的木匠手里，受雅典娜的，
启示，工匠精熟本行的门道——就像这样，
拼战的双方势均力敌，进退相恃。其时，
沿着海船，战勇们搏杀在不同的地段，
但赫克托耳却对着光荣的埃阿斯直冲，
为争夺一条海船，他俩拼命苦战，谁也不能如愿。
赫克托耳不能赶跑埃阿斯，然后放火烧船；
埃阿斯亦无法打退赫克托耳，因为对手凭仗着
神的催励。英武的埃阿斯出枪击倒卡勒托耳，
克鲁提俄斯之子，打在胸脯上，在他举着火把，跑向海船之际。
他挺身倒下，轰然一声，火把脱手落地。
赫克托耳，眼见堂兄弟倒身
泥尘，在乌黑的海船前，提高嗓门，
大声呼喊，对着特洛伊人和鲁基亚战勇：
“特洛伊人，鲁基亚人和达耳达尼亚人，近战杀敌的勇士们！
狭路相逢，尔等不得后退半步；
救出克鲁提俄斯之子，不要让阿开亚人
抢剥他的铠甲；他已倒死在海船搁聚的滩沿！”
言罢，他投出闪亮的枪矛，对着
埃阿斯，但枪尖偏离，击中马斯托耳之子鲁科弗荣，
埃阿斯的伴友，来自神圣的库塞拉——因在
家乡欠下一条人命——一直和他住在一起。
赫克托耳锋快的铜枪劈人头骨，耳朵上边，
其时他正站在埃阿斯身边。鲁科弗荣从船尾
倒下，四脚朝天，死亡酥软了他的肢腿。
埃阿斯见状，浑身颤嗦，对他的兄弟喊道：
“丢克罗斯，我的朋友，我们信赖的伙伴已被杀死，
马斯托耳之子，从库塞拉来找我们；在家里，
我们敬他像对亲爱的父母。
现在，心胸豪壮的赫克托耳杀了他。老朋友，你的家伙呢，
那见血封喉的利箭，还有福伊波斯·阿波罗赐送的强弓？”
听闻此番说告，丢罗斯跑来站在他的身边，
手握向后开拉的弓弯和装着羽箭的
袋壶，对着特洛伊人射出了飞箭。
首先，他射倒了克雷托斯，裴塞诺耳光荣的儿子，
潘苏斯之子、高贵的普鲁达马斯的驭手。
其时，克雷托斯正手握缰绳，忙着调驭战马，
赶向队群最多、人们惶乱奔跑的地方，
以博取赫克托耳和特洛伊人的欢心。然而，突至的死亡
夺走了他的生命，谁也救挡不得，虽然他们都很愿意——
锋快的箭矢从后面扎进脖子；
他倒出战车，捷蹄的快马惊得前腿
腾立，把空车颠得蹦嘎作响。普鲁达马斯，
驭马的主人，即刻注意到这边发生的事情，第一个跑来，站挡
在马头前。
他把驭马交给阿斯图努斯，普罗提昂的儿子，
严令他关注战斗的情势，将马车停勒在
战地的近旁，自己则返身前排首领的队列。
其时，丢克罗斯复又抽出一枝利箭，对着头顶铜盔的
赫克托耳。倘若击中他，在他杀得正起劲的时候，捅碎
他的心魂，丢克罗斯便能中止他的拼杀，在阿开亚人的海船边；
然而，他躲不过宙斯的算计，后者正保护着
赫克托耳，不让忒拉蒙之子争得荣光。
在丢克罗斯开弓发箭之际，他扯断紧拧的弓弦，
在漂亮的弓杆上——带着铜镞的箭矢
斜飞出去，漫无目标，弯弓脱手落地。
图丢斯之子见状，浑身颤嗦，对兄弟说道：
“真是背透了——瞧，神明阻挠春我们战斗，粉碎了
我们的计划！他打落我的弓弩，扯断了
新近编拧的弦线，今晨方才按上
弓杆，以便承受连续绷放的羽箭。”
听罢这番话，忒拉蒙之子、高大的埃阿斯答道：
“算了，我的朋友，放下你的弓弩和雨点般的
快箭，既然某位神祗怨懑达奈人，意欲把他们搅乱。
去吧，去拿一枝粗长的枪矛，背上一面战盾，
逼近特洛伊兵勇，催赶你的部属向前。
不要让敌人，虽然他们已打乱我们的阵脚，轻而易举地
夺获我们凳板坚固的海船。让我们欣享战斗的狂烈！”
他言罢，丢克罗斯将弯弓放回营硼，
挎起一面战盾，厚厚的四层牛皮，
在硕大的脑袋上戴好制作精美的头盔，
顶着马鬃的盔冠，摇曳出镇人的威严。
然后，他抓起一杆粗重的枪矛，按着犀利的铜尖，
拔腿回程，一路快跑，赶至埃阿斯身边。
赫克托耳目睹丢克罗斯的箭矢歪飞斜舞，
提高嗓门，大声呼喊，对着特洛伊人和鲁基亚战勇：
“特洛伊人，鲁基亚人和达耳达尼亚人，近战杀敌的勇士们！
拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们，鼓起狂烈的战斗激情，
冲杀在深旷的海船边！我已亲眼目睹，
宙斯歪阻了离弦的羽箭，出自他们中最好的弓手。
宙斯给凡人的助佑显而易见——
要么把胜利的荣光赠送一方，
要么削弱另一方的力量，不予保护，就像
现在一样，他削弱着阿耳吉维人的力量，为我们助佑。
勇敢战斗吧，一起拼杀在海船旁！若是有人
被死和命运俘获，被投来或捅来的枪矛击倒，
那就让他死去吧——为保卫故土捐躯，他
死得光荣！他的妻儿将因此得救，
他的家居和财产将不致毁于兵火，只要阿开亚人
乘坐海船，回返他们热爱的故园！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
在战场的另一边，埃阿斯亦在大声喊叫，对着他的伙伴：
“可耻，你们这些阿耳吉维人！眼下，成败在此一搏，
要么死去，要么存活，将毁灭打离我们的船边！
你们想让头盔锃亮的赫克托耳夺走海船，
然后踏着海浪，徒步走回故乡吗？
没听见他正对着属下大喊大叫，怒不可遏，
打算烧毁我们的海船吗？他不是
邀请他们去跳舞；他在命促他们去拼杀！
现在，我们手头没有更好的出路，更好的办法，
只有鼓足勇气，和他们手对手地拼斗。
不是死，便是活，一战定下输赢——
这比我们目前的处境要好：被挤在血腥的战场上，
受辱于那些比我们低劣的战勇，一筹莫展地困缩在海船边！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
战地上，赫克托耳杀了裴里墨得斯之子斯凯底俄斯，
福基斯人的首领，而埃阿斯则杀了劳达马斯，
步卒的首领，安忒诺耳英武的儿子。
普鲁达马斯放倒了库勒奈人俄托斯，夫琉斯
之子墨格斯的伙伴，心胸豪壮的厄利斯人的
首领。墨格斯见状投出枪矛，但普鲁达马斯
弯身闪避，投枪不曾击中——阿波罗
不会让潘苏斯之子倒下，在前排的壮勇里。
但墨格斯的枪矛击中克罗伊斯摩斯的胸口，
后者随即倒地，轰然一声；墨格斯剥下铠甲，
从他的肩头，就在此刻，多洛普斯朝着墨格斯扑来，
多洛普斯，朗波斯之子，枪技精熟，劳墨冬的
孙子，朗波斯的儿子中最强健的一个，善打恶仗的壮勇。
他迫近出枪，捅在夫琉斯之子的盾心，
但却不能穿透胸甲——此甲坚固，
金属的块片紧密衔连，昔日夫琉斯把它
带回家里，从塞勒埃斯河畔的厄芙拉，
得之于一位友好的客主，民众的王者欧菲忒斯，
让他穿着这副胸甲，临阵出战，抵挡敌人的进攻。
现在，胸甲救了他的儿子，使他免于死亡。
然而，墨格斯出枪击中多洛斯铜盔
的顶冠，厚厚的马鬃上，将冠饰
捣离头盔，打落在地，
躺倒泥尘，闪着簇新的紫蓝；
多洛普斯不为所动，坚持战斗，仍然怀抱获胜的希愿。
其时，嗜战的墨奈劳斯赶来助阵，
手握枪矛，从一个不为察觉的死角进逼，从后面甩手
出枪，击中多洛普斯的肩背；铜枪挟着狂烈，往里钻咬，
穿透了胸腔。多洛普斯轻摇着身子，砰然倒地，头脸朝下。
他俩猛扑上前，抢剥铜甲，从他的
肩上。其时，赫克托耳开口发话，对着亲属们呼喊，
是的，对所有的亲属，但首先是对希开塔昂之子，
强健的墨拉尼波斯。他曾在裴耳科忒放牧腿步
蹒跚的肥牛，在很久以前，敌人仍在遥远的地方；
但是，当达奈人乘坐弯翘的海船抵岸后，
他回返伊利昂，成为特洛伊人中出类拔萃的壮勇，
和普里阿摩斯同住，后者爱他，像对自己的儿男。
但现在，赫克托耳对他出言训骂，叫着他的名字：
“墨拉尼波斯，难道我们就这样认输了不成？你的堂表
兄弟已被杀死，对此，你难道无动于衷？
你没看见，他们正忙着剥卸多洛普斯的铠甲？
来吧，跟我走！我们不能再呆留后面，远远地和
阿耳吉维人战斗。我们必须逼近杀敌，要快；否则，
他们就会彻底荡毁陡峭的伊利昂，杀尽我们的城民！”
言罢，他领头先行，后者随后跟进，一位神一样的凡人。
其时，忒拉蒙之子、高大的埃阿斯正催励着阿耳吉维兵壮：
“拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们！要知道廉耻，
畏惧伙伴们的耻笑，在这你死我活的拼搏中！
如果大家都能以此相诫；更多的人方能避死得生；但若
撒腿逃跑，那么一切都将抛空：我们的防御，我们所要的光荣！”
其时，阿开亚人心怀狂烈，准备杀退敌手，
牢记他的话语，围着船队筑起一道
青铜的墙防。然而，宙斯催使着特洛伊人向他们扑来。
其时，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯对着安提洛科斯喊道：
“安提洛科斯，阿开亚人中你最年轻，
腿脚最快，作战最勇——
为何不猛冲上去，撂倒个把特洛伊壮汉？”
言罢，他匆匆回返，但却鼓起了安提洛科斯向前的激情。
他跳出前排的队阵，目光四射，挥舞着
闪亮的枪矛；特洛伊人畏缩退却，
面对投枪的壮勇。他出枪中的，
击中希开塔昂之子，心志高昂的墨拉尼波斯，
打在胸脯上，奶头边，在他冲扑上来的瞬间。
他随即倒地，轰然一声，弥漫的黑雾蒙住了他的双眼。
安提洛科斯跳将过去，像一条猎狗，扑向
受伤的小鹿——从窝巢里出来，
被猎人投枪击中，酥软了它的肢腿。
就像这样，犟悍的安提洛科斯向你，墨拉尼波斯，
扑击，抢剥你的铠甲。但是，卓越的赫克托耳
目睹此景，跑过战斗的人群，扑向安提洛科斯，
而后者，虽然腿脚敏捷，却也抵挡不住他的进攻，
只有拔腿奔逃。像一头闯下穷祸的野兽，
在咬死一条猎狗或一个牧牛人之后，
趁着人群尚未汇聚，对他围攻之前，撒腿逃脱。
奈斯托耳之子急步逃离，而特洛伊人和赫克托耳紧追不舍，
发出粗野的嚎叫，投出悲吼的枪械，雨点一般。
他跑回自己的伴群，转过身子，站稳脚跟。
其时，特洛伊人蜂拥着冲向海船，宛如一头
吃人的狮子，试图实现宙斯的谕令，后者
一直在催发他们狂暴的勇力，挫阻阿耳吉维人的
力量，不让他们争得荣誉，催励着特洛伊人向前。
宙斯的意愿，是把光荣送交普里阿摩斯之子
赫克托耳，让他把狂獗、暴虐的烈火投上
弯翘的海船，从而彻底兑现
塞提丝的祈愿。所以，多谋善断的宙斯等待着
火光照映在他的眼前，来自第一艘被烧的海船。
从那时起，他将让特洛伊人，迫于强有力的反击，
涌离海船，把光荣送交达奈兵众。
带着这个意图，他催励普里阿摩斯之子
冲向深旷的海船，虽然赫克托耳自己已在狂烈地拼杀，
凶猛得就像挥舞枪矛的阿瑞斯——或像肆虐无情的山火，
烧腾在岭脊上，枝叶繁茂的森林里。
他唾沫横流，浓杂的眉毛下，
双眼炯炯生光，头盔摇摇晃晃，在太阳
穴上，发出可怕的声响——赫克托耳正在冲杀！
透亮的天宇上，宙斯亲自助佑——
成群的战勇里，大神只是垂青于他，
为他一人增彩添光，因为赫克托耳来日不多，
已经受到死的迫挤：帕拉丝·雅典娜
正把他推向末日，届时让他倒死在阿基琉斯手下。
但现在，他正试图击溃敌人的队伍，试探着进攻，
找那人数最多、壮勇们披挂最好的地段。
然而，尽管狂烈，他却无法打破敌阵；
他们站成严密的人墙，挡住他的进攻，像一峰
高耸的巉壁，挺立在灰蓝色的海边，
面对呼啸的劲风，兀起的狂飙，
面对翻腾的骇浪，拍岸的惊涛。
就像这样，达奈人死死顶住特洛伊人的进击，毫不退让。
其时，赫克托耳，通身闪射出熠熠的火光，冲向人群密匝的地
方，猛扑上去，像飞起的长浪，击落在快船上，
由疾风推进，泻扫下云头，浪沫罩掩了
整个船面；凶险的旋风，挟着呼响的
怒号，扫向桅杆，水手们吓得浑身发抖，心脏
怦怦乱跳；距离死亡，现在只有半步之遥。
就像这样，赫克托耳的进攻碎散了每一个阿开亚人的心房。
他攻势逼人，像一头凶狂的狮子，扑向牛群，
数百之众，牧食在一片洼地里，广袤的
草泽上，由一位缺乏经验的牧人看守一此人不知
如何驱赶一头咬杀弯角壮牛的
猛兽，只是一个劲地跟着最前或最后面的
畜牛奔跑，让那狮子从中段进扑，
生食一头，把牛群赶得撒腿惊跑。就像这样，在父亲
宙斯和赫克托耳面前，阿开亚人吓得不要命似地奔跑，
全军溃散，虽然赫克托耳只杀死一个，慕凯奈的裴里菲忒斯。
科普柔斯心爱的儿子——科普柔斯曾多次替
欧鲁修斯送信，捎给强有力的赫拉克勒斯。
这位懦劣的父亲，却生了一个好儿子，一个在一切方面
都很出色的人杰，无论是奔跑的速度，还是战场上的表现；
就智力而言，慕凯奈地方无人可以比及。
然而，所有这一切现在都为赫克托耳增添着荣光。
其时，裴里菲忒斯掉转身子，准备回撤，却被自己
携带的盾牌，被它的外沿绊倒，此盾长及脚面，为他挡避枪矛
他受绊盾沿，背贴泥尘，帽盔紧压着头穴，
随着身子的倒地，发出可怕的震响。
赫克托耳看得真切，跑上前去，站在他的身边，
一枪扎进胸膛，当即把他杀死，在他
亲爱的朋友们的眼前，后者尽管伤心，却一无所为，
帮助倒地的伙伴——他们自己也害怕强健的赫克托耳。
现在，阿开亚人已散退在他们最先拖上海岸的
木船间，船头船尾的边沿。特洛伊人蜂拥
进逼，阿开亚人迫于强力，从第一排船边
国撤，但在营棚一线站住脚跟，
收拢队伍，不再散跑在营区内。耻辱和恐惧
揪住了他们的心。他们不停地互相嘶喊，而
奈斯托耳，阿开亚人的监护，更是首当其冲，
苦苦地求告每一个人，要他们看在各自双亲的脸面：
“拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们！要知道廉耻，
顾及自己的尊严，在伙伴们面前！要记住——你们每一个
人——记住你的孩子和妻房，你的财产和双亲，
不管你的父母是否还活在人间。现在，
我要苦苦地恳求你们，为了那些不在这里的人，
英勇顽强，顶住敌人的进攻，不要惊慌失措，遑遑奔逃！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
其时，从他们眼前，雅典娜清除了弥漫的
雾瘴，神为的黑夜；强烈的光亮照射进来，从两个方向，
从他们的海船边和激烈搏杀的战场上。
现在，他们可以看见啸吼战场的赫克托耳，看见他的部属，
有的呆在后面，不曾投入战斗，
还有的正效命战场，拼杀在迅捷的海船旁。
其时，心志豪莽的埃阿斯走出人群——他岂肯继续
忍受殿后的烦躁，在这其他阿开亚人的儿子们回撤的地方？
他跨出大步，梭行在海船的舱板上，
挥舞着一条海战用的修长的标枪，
杆段衔接，二十二个肘尺的总长。
像一位马术高明的骑手，从
马群里挑出四匹良驹，轭连起来，
冲向平野，沿着车路，朝着一座宏伟的城堡
飞跑；众人夹道观望，惊赞不已，
有男人，亦有女子；他腿脚稳健，不带偏滑，
在奔马上一匹挨着一匹地跳跃——就像这样，
埃阿斯穿行在快船上，大步跨跃，
一条紧接着一条，发出狂蛮的嚎叫，冲指透亮的气空，
一声声粗野的咆哮，催励着达奈兵勇，
保卫自己的营棚和海船。与此同时，赫克托耳
也同样不愿呆在后头，呆在大群身披重甲的特洛伊人中。
他冲将出去，像一只发光的鹰鸟，扑向
别的飞禽，后者正啄食河边，成群结队——
野鹅、鹳鹤或脖子修长的天鹅。
就像这样，赫克托耳一个劲地猛冲，扑向一条海船，
翘着黑红色的船头；在他身后，宙斯挥起巨手，
奋力推送，同时催励着他身边的战勇。
海船边，双方展开了一场殊死的拼搏。
他们打得如此狂烈，你或许以为两军
甫使开战，不疲不倦，无伤无痕。
此时此刻，兵勇们在想些什么？阿开亚人
以为，他们无法逃避灾难，必死无疑；而
特洛伊人则怀抱希望，个个如此，
以为能放火烧船，杀死阿开亚战勇。
带着此般思绪，两军对阵，厮杀劈砍。
赫克托耳一把抓住船尾，外形美观、迅捷。
破浪远洋的海船，曾把普罗忒西劳斯
载到此地，但却没有把他送还故乡。
其时，围绕着他的海船，阿开亚人和特洛伊人
展开了激战，你杀我砍；双方已不满足于
远距离的投射，弓箭和枪矛，
而是面对面地近战，狂烈地厮杀，
用战斧和锋快的短柄小斧挥砍，用沉重的
利剑和双刃的枪矛劈杀，地上掉满了
铜剑，铸工精皇，握柄粗重，绑条漆黑，
有的落自手中，有的掉自战斗中的
勇士的肩膀；地面上黑血涌注。
赫克托耳把住已经到手的船尾，
紧紧抱住尾柱，死死不放，对特洛伊人喊道：
“拿火来！全军一致，喊出战斗的呼叫！
现在，宙斯给了我这一天，足以弥补所有的一切：
今天，我们要夺下这些海船；它们来到这里，违背神的意愿，
给我们带来经年的痛苦——都怪他们胆小，那些年老的议事：
每当我试图战斗在敌人的船尾边，他们就
出面劝阻，阻止我们军队的进击。
然而，尽管沉雷远播的宙斯曾经迷幻过我们的心智，
今天，他却亲自出马，鼓舞我们的斗志，催励我们向前！”
听罢这番话，兵勇们加剧了对阿开亚人的攻势，打得更加
顽强。面对纷至沓来的投械，埃阿斯已无法稳站船面，
只得略作退让，以为死难临头，
撒离线条匀称的海船的舱板，退至中部七尺高的
船桥，站稳脚跟，持枪以待，挑落每一个
试图烧船的特洛伊战勇，连同他的熊熊燃烧的火把，
不停地发出粗野可怕的吼叫，催励着达奈人：
‘朋友们！战斗中的达奈人！阿瑞斯的随从们！
拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们，鼓起狂烈的战斗激情！
你们以为，后边还有等着支援我们的预备队吗？
我们还有一堵更坚实的护墙，可为我们消灾避难吗？
不！我们周围没有带塔楼的城堡，得以
退守防卫和驻存防御的力量。
我们置身在身披重甲的特洛伊人的平原，
背靠大海，远离我们的家乡。我们
要用战斗迎来自救的曙光，松懈拖怠意味着死亡！”
他一边喊叫，一边不停地出枪，凶猛异常。
只要有特洛伊人冲向深旷的海船，
举着燃烧的火把，试图欢悦赫克托耳的心肠，
埃阿斯总是站等在船上，捅之以长杆的枪矛——
近战中，他撂倒了十二个，在搁岸的海船旁。
ARGUMENT.
THE FIFTH BATTLE AT THE SHIPS; AND THE ACTS OF AJAX.
Jupiter, awaking, sees the Trojans repulsed from the trenches, Hector in a
swoon, and Neptune at the head of the Greeks: he is highly incensed at the
artifice of Juno, who appeases him by her submissions; she is then sent to
Iris and Apollo. Juno, repairing to the assembly of the gods, attempts,
with extraordinary address, to incense them against Jupiter; in particular
she touches Mars with a violent resentment; he is ready to take arms, but
is prevented by Minerva. Iris and Apollo obey the orders of Jupiter; Iris
commands Neptune to leave the battle, to which, after much reluctance and
passion, he consents. Apollo reinspires Hector with vigour, brings him
back to the battle, marches before him with his aegis, and turns the
fortune of the fight. He breaks down great part of the Grecian wall: the
Trojans rush in, and attempt to fire the first line of the fleet, but are,
as yet, repelled by the greater Ajax with a prodigious slaughter.
Now in swift flight they pass the trench profound,
And many a chief lay gasping on the ground:
Then stopp'd and panted, where the chariots lie
Fear on their cheek, and horror in their eye.
Meanwhile, awaken'd from his dream of love,
On Ida's summit sat imperial Jove:
Round the wide fields he cast a careful view,
There saw the Trojans fly, the Greeks pursue;
These proud in arms, those scatter'd o'er the plain
And, 'midst the war, the monarch of the main.
Not far, great Hector on the dust he spies,
(His sad associates round with weeping eyes,)
Ejecting blood, and panting yet for breath,
His senses wandering to the verge of death.
The god beheld him with a pitying look,
And thus, incensed, to fraudful Juno spoke:
"O thou, still adverse to the eternal will,
For ever studious in promoting ill!
Thy arts have made the godlike Hector yield,
And driven his conquering squadrons from the field.
Canst thou, unhappy in thy wiles, withstand
Our power immense, and brave the almighty hand?
Hast thou forgot, when, bound and fix'd on high,
From the vast concave of the spangled sky,
I hung thee trembling in a golden chain,
And all the raging gods opposed in vain?
Headlong I hurl'd them from the Olympian hall,
Stunn'd in the whirl, and breathless with the fall.
For godlike Hercules these deeds were done,
Nor seem'd the vengeance worthy such a son:
When, by thy wiles induced, fierce Boreas toss'd
The shipwreck'd hero on the Coan coast,
Him through a thousand forms of death I bore,
And sent to Argos, and his native shore.
Hear this, remember, and our fury dread,
Nor pull the unwilling vengeance on thy head;
Lest arts and blandishments successless prove,
Thy soft deceits, and well-dissembled love."
The Thunderer spoke: imperial Juno mourn'd,
And, trembling, these submissive words return'd:
"By every oath that powers immortal ties,
The foodful earth and all-infolding skies;
By thy black waves, tremendous Styx! that flow
Through the drear realms of gliding ghosts below;
By the dread honours of thy sacred head,
And that unbroken vow, our virgin bed!
Not by my arts the ruler of the main
Steeps Troy in blood, and ranges round the plain:
By his own ardour, his own pity sway'd,
To help his Greeks, he fought and disobey'd:
Else had thy Juno better counsels given,
And taught submission to the sire of heaven."
"Think'st thou with me? fair empress of the skies!
(The immortal father with a smile replies;)
Then soon the haughty sea-god shall obey,
Nor dare to act but when we point the way.
If truth inspires thy tongue, proclaim our will
To yon bright synod on the Olympian hill;
Our high decree let various Iris know,
And call the god that bears the silver bow.
Let her descend, and from the embattled plain
Command the sea-god to his watery reign:
While Phoebus hastes great Hector to prepare
To rise afresh, and once more wake the war:
His labouring bosom re-inspires with breath,
And calls his senses from the verge of death.
Greece chased by Troy, even to Achilles' fleet,
Shall fall by thousands at the hero's feet.
He, not untouch'd with pity, to the plain
Shall send Patroclus, but shall send in vain.
What youths he slaughters under Ilion's walls!
Even my loved son, divine Sarpedon, falls!
Vanquish'd at last by Hector's lance he lies.
Then, nor till then, shall great Achilles rise:
And lo! that instant, godlike Hector dies.
From that great hour the war's whole fortune turns,
Pallas assists, and lofty Ilion burns.
Not till that day shall Jove relax his rage,
Nor one of all the heavenly host engage
In aid of Greece. The promise of a god
I gave, and seal'd it with the almighty nod,
Achilles' glory to the stars to raise;
Such was our word, and fate the word obeys."
The trembling queen (the almighty order given)
Swift from the Idaean summit shot to heaven.
As some wayfaring man, who wanders o'er
In thought a length of lands he trod before,
Sends forth his active mind from place to place,
Joins hill to dale, and measures space with space:
So swift flew Juno to the bless'd abodes,
If thought of man can match the speed of gods.
There sat the powers in awful synod placed;
They bow'd, and made obeisance as she pass'd
Through all the brazen dome: with goblets crown'd(239)
They hail her queen; the nectar streams around.
Fair Themis first presents the golden bowl,
And anxious asks what cares disturb her soul?
To whom the white-arm'd goddess thus replies:
"Enough thou know'st the tyrant of the skies,
Severely bent his purpose to fulfil,
Unmoved his mind, and unrestrain'd his will.
Go thou, the feasts of heaven attend thy call;
Bid the crown'd nectar circle round the hall:
But Jove shall thunder through the ethereal dome
Such stern decrees, such threaten'd woes to come,
As soon shall freeze mankind with dire surprise,
And damp the eternal banquets of the skies."
The goddess said, and sullen took her place;
Black horror sadden'd each celestial face.
To see the gathering grudge in every breast,
Smiles on her lips a spleenful joy express'd;
While on her wrinkled front, and eyebrow bent,
Sat stedfast care, and lowering discontent.
Thus she proceeds--"Attend, ye powers above!
But know, 'tis madness to contest with Jove:
Supreme he sits; and sees, in pride of sway.
Your vassal godheads grudgingly obey:
Fierce in the majesty of power controls;
Shakes all the thrones of heaven, and bends the poles.
Submiss, immortals! all he wills, obey:
And thou, great Mars, begin and show the way.
Behold Ascalaphus! behold him die,
But dare not murmur, dare not vent a sigh;
Thy own loved boasted offspring lies o'erthrown,
If that loved boasted offspring be thy own."
Stern Mars, with anguish for his slaughter'd son,
Smote his rebelling breast, and fierce begun:
"Thus then, immortals! thus shall Mars obey;
Forgive me, gods, and yield my vengeance way:
Descending first to yon forbidden plain,
The god of battles dares avenge the slain;
Dares, though the thunder bursting o'er my head
Should hurl me blazing on those heaps of dead."
With that he gives command to Fear and Flight
To join his rapid coursers for the fight:
Then grim in arms, with hasty vengeance flies;
Arms that reflect a radiance through the skies.
And now had Jove, by bold rebellion driven,
Discharged his wrath on half the host of heaven;
But Pallas, springing through the bright abode,
Starts from her azure throne to calm the god.
Struck for the immortal race with timely fear,
From frantic Mars she snatch'd the shield and spear;
Then the huge helmet lifting from his head,
Thus to the impetuous homicide she said:
"By what wild passion, furious! art thou toss'd?
Striv'st thou with Jove? thou art already lost.
Shall not the Thunderer's dread command restrain,
And was imperial Juno heard in vain?
Back to the skies wouldst thou with shame be driven,
And in thy guilt involve the host of heaven?
Ilion and Greece no more should Jove engage,
The skies would yield an ampler scene of rage;
Guilty and guiltless find an equal fate
And one vast ruin whelm the Olympian state.
Cease then thy offspring's death unjust to call;
Heroes as great have died, and yet shall fall.
Why should heaven's law with foolish man comply
Exempted from the race ordain'd to die?"
This menace fix'd the warrior to his throne;
Sullen he sat, and curb'd the rising groan.
Then Juno call'd (Jove's orders to obey)
The winged Iris, and the god of day.
"Go wait the Thunderer's will (Saturnia cried)
On yon tall summit of the fountful Ide:
There in the father's awful presence stand,
Receive, and execute his dread command."
She said, and sat; the god that gilds the day,
And various Iris, wing their airy way.
Swift as the wind, to Ida's hills they came,
(Fair nurse of fountains, and of savage game)
There sat the eternal; he whose nod controls
The trembling world, and shakes the steady poles.
Veil'd in a mist of fragrance him they found,
With clouds of gold and purple circled round.
Well-pleased the Thunderer saw their earnest care,
And prompt obedience to the queen of air;
Then (while a smile serenes his awful brow)
Commands the goddess of the showery bow:
"Iris! descend, and what we here ordain,
Report to yon mad tyrant of the main.
Bid him from fight to his own deeps repair,
Or breathe from slaughter in the fields of air.
If he refuse, then let him timely weigh
Our elder birthright, and superior sway.
How shall his rashness stand the dire alarms,
If heaven's omnipotence descend in arms?
Strives he with me, by whom his power was given,
And is there equal to the lord of heaven?"
The all-mighty spoke; the goddess wing'd her flight
To sacred Ilion from the Idaean height.
Swift as the rattling hail, or fleecy snows,
Drive through the skies, when Boreas fiercely blows;
So from the clouds descending Iris falls,
And to blue Neptune thus the goddess calls:
"Attend the mandate of the sire above!
In me behold the messenger of Jove:
He bids thee from forbidden wars repair
To thine own deeps, or to the fields of air.
This if refused, he bids thee timely weigh
His elder birthright, and superior sway.
How shall thy rashness stand the dire alarms
If heaven's omnipotence descend in arms?
Striv'st thou with him by whom all power is given?
And art thou equal to the lord of heaven?"
"What means the haughty sovereign of the skies?
(The king of ocean thus, incensed, replies;)
Rule as he will his portion'd realms on high;
No vassal god, nor of his train, am I.
Three brother deities from Saturn came,
And ancient Rhea, earth's immortal dame:
Assign'd by lot, our triple rule we know;
Infernal Pluto sways the shades below;
O'er the wide clouds, and o'er the starry plain,
Ethereal Jove extends his high domain;
My court beneath the hoary waves I keep,
And hush the roarings of the sacred deep;
Olympus, and this earth, in common lie:
What claim has here the tyrant of the sky?
Far in the distant clouds let him control,
And awe the younger brothers of the pole;
There to his children his commands be given,
The trembling, servile, second race of heaven."
"And must I then (said she), O sire of floods!
Bear this fierce answer to the king of gods?
Correct it yet, and change thy rash intent;
A noble mind disdains not to repent.
To elder brothers guardian fiends are given,
To scourge the wretch insulting them and heaven."
"Great is the profit (thus the god rejoin'd)
When ministers are blest with prudent mind:
Warn'd by thy words, to powerful Jove I yield,
And quit, though angry, the contended field:
Not but his threats with justice I disclaim,
The same our honours, and our birth the same.
If yet, forgetful of his promise given
To Hermes, Pallas, and the queen of heaven,
To favour Ilion, that perfidious place,
He breaks his faith with half the ethereal race;
Give him to know, unless the Grecian train
Lay yon proud structures level with the plain,
Howe'er the offence by other gods be pass'd,
The wrath of Neptune shall for ever last."
Thus speaking, furious from the field he strode,
And plunged into the bosom of the flood.
The lord of thunders, from his lofty height
Beheld, and thus bespoke the source of light:
"Behold! the god whose liquid arms are hurl'd
Around the globe, whose earthquakes rock the world,
Desists at length his rebel-war to wage,
Seeks his own seas, and trembles at our rage;
Else had my wrath, heaven's thrones all shaking round,
Burn'd to the bottom of his seas profound;
And all the gods that round old Saturn dwell
Had heard the thunders to the deeps of hell.
Well was the crime, and well the vengeance spared;
Even power immense had found such battle hard.
Go thou, my son! the trembling Greeks alarm,
Shake my broad aegis on thy active arm,
Be godlike Hector thy peculiar care,
Swell his bold heart, and urge his strength to war:
Let Ilion conquer, till the Achaian train
Fly to their ships and Hellespont again:
Then Greece shall breathe from toils." The godhead said;
His will divine the son of Jove obey'd.
Not half so swift the sailing falcon flies,
That drives a turtle through the liquid skies,
As Phoebus, shooting from the Idaean brow,
Glides down the mountain to the plain below.
There Hector seated by the stream he sees,
His sense returning with the coming breeze;
Again his pulses beat, his spirits rise;
Again his loved companions meet his eyes;
Jove thinking of his pains, they pass'd away,
To whom the god who gives the golden day:
"Why sits great Hector from the field so far?
What grief, what wound, withholds thee from the war?"
The fainting hero, as the vision bright
Stood shining o'er him, half unseal'd his sight:
"What blest immortal, with commanding breath,
Thus wakens Hector from the sleep of death?
Has fame not told, how, while my trusty sword
Bathed Greece in slaughter, and her battle gored,
The mighty Ajax with a deadly blow
Had almost sunk me to the shades below?
Even yet, methinks, the gliding ghosts I spy,
And hell's black horrors swim before my eye."
To him Apollo: "Be no more dismay'd;
See, and be strong! the Thunderer sends thee aid.
Behold! thy Phoebus shall his arms employ,
Phoebus, propitious still to thee and Troy.
Inspire thy warriors then with manly force,
And to the ships impel thy rapid horse:
Even I will make thy fiery coursers way,
And drive the Grecians headlong to the sea."
Thus to bold Hector spoke the son of Jove,
And breathed immortal ardour from above.
As when the pamper'd steed, with reins unbound,
Breaks from his stall, and pours along the ground;
With ample strokes he rushes to the flood,
To bathe his sides, and cool his fiery blood;
His head, now freed, he tosses to the skies;
His mane dishevell'd o'er his shoulders flies:
He snuffs the females in the well-known plain,
And springs, exulting, to his fields again:
Urged by the voice divine, thus Hector flew,
Full of the god; and all his hosts pursue.
As when the force of men and dogs combined
Invade the mountain goat, or branching hind;
Far from the hunter's rage secure they lie
Close in the rock, (not fated yet to die)
When lo! a lion shoots across the way!
They fly: at once the chasers and the prey.
So Greece, that late in conquering troops pursued,
And mark'd their progress through the ranks in blood,
Soon as they see the furious chief appear,
Forget to vanquish, and consent to fear.
Thoas with grief observed his dreadful course,
Thoas, the bravest of the Ætolian force;
Skill'd to direct the javelin's distant flight,
And bold to combat in the standing fight,
Not more in councils famed for solid sense,
Than winning words and heavenly eloquence.
"Gods! what portent (he cried) these eyes invades?
Lo! Hector rises from the Stygian shades!
We saw him, late, by thundering Ajax kill'd:
What god restores him to the frighted field;
And not content that half of Greece lie slain,
Pours new destruction on her sons again?
He comes not, Jove! without thy powerful will;
Lo! still he lives, pursues, and conquers still!
Yet hear my counsel, and his worst withstand:
The Greeks' main body to the fleet command;
But let the few whom brisker spirits warm,
Stand the first onset, and provoke the storm.
Thus point your arms; and when such foes appear,
Fierce as he is, let Hector learn to fear."
The warrior spoke; the listening Greeks obey,
Thickening their ranks, and form a deep array.
Each Ajax, Teucer, Merion gave command,
The valiant leader of the Cretan band;
And Mars-like Meges: these the chiefs excite,
Approach the foe, and meet the coming fight.
Behind, unnumber'd multitudes attend,
To flank the navy, and the shores defend.
Full on the front the pressing Trojans bear,
And Hector first came towering to the war.
Phoebus himself the rushing battle led;
A veil of clouds involved his radiant head:
High held before him, Jove's enormous shield
Portentous shone, and shaded all the field;
Vulcan to Jove the immortal gift consign'd,
To scatter hosts and terrify mankind,
The Greeks expect the shock, the clamours rise
From different parts, and mingle in the skies.
Dire was the hiss of darts, by heroes flung,
And arrows leaping from the bow-string sung;
These drink the life of generous warriors slain:
Those guiltless fall, and thirst for blood in vain.
As long as Phoebus bore unmoved the shield,
Sat doubtful conquest hovering o'er the field;
But when aloft he shakes it in the skies,
Shouts in their ears, and lightens in their eyes,
Deep horror seizes every Grecian breast,
Their force is humbled, and their fear confess'd.
So flies a herd of oxen, scatter'd wide,
No swain to guard them, and no day to guide,
When two fell lions from the mountain come,
And spread the carnage through the shady gloom.
Impending Phoebus pours around them fear,
And Troy and Hector thunder in the rear.
Heaps fall on heaps: the slaughter Hector leads,
First great Arcesilas, then Stichius bleeds;
One to the bold Boeotians ever dear,
And one Menestheus' friend and famed compeer.
Medon and Iasus, Æneas sped;
This sprang from Phelus, and the Athenians led;
But hapless Medon from Oileus came;
Him Ajax honour'd with a brother's name,
Though born of lawless love: from home expell'd,
A banish'd man, in Phylace he dwell'd,
Press'd by the vengeance of an angry wife;
Troy ends at last his labours and his life.
Mecystes next Polydamas o'erthrew;
And thee, brave Clonius, great Agenor slew.
By Paris, Deiochus inglorious dies,
Pierced through the shoulder as he basely flies.
Polites' arm laid Echius on the plain;
Stretch'd on one heap, the victors spoil the slain.
The Greeks dismay'd, confused, disperse or fall,
Some seek the trench, some skulk behind the wall.
While these fly trembling, others pant for breath,
And o'er the slaughter stalks gigantic death.
On rush'd bold Hector, gloomy as the night;
Forbids to plunder, animates the fight,
Points to the fleet: "For, by the gods! who flies,(240)
Who dares but linger, by this hand he dies;
No weeping sister his cold eye shall close,
No friendly hand his funeral pyre compose.
Who stops to plunder at this signal hour,
The birds shall tear him, and the dogs devour."
Furious he said; the smarting scourge resounds;
The coursers fly; the smoking chariot bounds;
The hosts rush on; loud clamours shake the shore;
The horses thunder, earth and ocean roar!
Apollo, planted at the trench's bound,
Push'd at the bank: down sank the enormous mound:
Roll'd in the ditch the heapy ruin lay;
A sudden road! a long and ample way.
O'er the dread fosse (a late impervious space)
Now steeds, and men, and cars tumultuous pass.
The wondering crowds the downward level trod;
Before them flamed the shield, and march'd the god.
Then with his hand he shook the mighty wall;
And lo! the turrets nod, the bulwarks fall:
Easy as when ashore an infant stands,
And draws imagined houses in the sands;
The sportive wanton, pleased with some new play,
Sweeps the slight works and fashion'd domes away:
Thus vanish'd at thy touch, the towers and walls;
The toil of thousands in a moment falls.
The Grecians gaze around with wild despair,
Confused, and weary all the powers with prayer:
Exhort their men, with praises, threats, commands;
And urge the gods, with voices, eyes, and hands.
Experienced Nestor chief obtests the skies,
And weeps his country with a father's eyes.
"O Jove! if ever, on his native shore,
One Greek enrich'd thy shrine with offer'd gore;
If e'er, in hope our country to behold,
We paid the fattest firstlings of the fold;
If e'er thou sign'st our wishes with thy nod:
Perform the promise of a gracious god!
This day preserve our navies from the flame,
And save the relics of the Grecian name."
Thus prayed the sage: the eternal gave consent,
And peals of thunder shook the firmament.
Presumptuous Troy mistook the accepting sign,
And catch'd new fury at the voice divine.
As, when black tempests mix the seas and skies,
The roaring deeps in watery mountains rise,
Above the sides of some tall ship ascend,
Its womb they deluge, and its ribs they rend:
Thus loudly roaring, and o'erpowering all,
Mount the thick Trojans up the Grecian wall;
Legions on legions from each side arise:
Thick sound the keels; the storm of arrows flies.
Fierce on the ships above, the cars below,
These wield the mace, and those the javelin throw.
While thus the thunder of the battle raged,
And labouring armies round the works engaged,
Still in the tent Patroclus sat to tend
The good Eurypylus, his wounded friend.
He sprinkles healing balms, to anguish kind,
And adds discourse, the medicine of the mind.
But when he saw, ascending up the fleet,
Victorious Troy; then, starting from his seat,
With bitter groans his sorrows he express'd,
He wrings his hands, he beats his manly breast.
"Though yet thy state require redress (he cries)
Depart I must: what horrors strike my eyes!
Charged with Achilles' high command I go,
A mournful witness of this scene of woe;
I haste to urge him by his country's care
To rise in arms, and shine again in war.
Perhaps some favouring god his soul may bend;
The voice is powerful of a faithful friend."
He spoke; and, speaking, swifter than the wind
Sprung from the tent, and left the war behind.
The embodied Greeks the fierce attack sustain,
But strive, though numerous, to repulse in vain:
Nor could the Trojans, through that firm array,
Force to the fleet and tents the impervious way.
As when a shipwright, with Palladian art,
Smooths the rough wood, and levels every part;
With equal hand he guides his whole design,
By the just rule, and the directing line:
The martial leaders, with like skill and care,
Preserved their line, and equal kept the war.
Brave deeds of arms through all the ranks were tried,
And every ship sustained an equal tide.
At one proud bark, high-towering o'er the fleet,
Ajax the great, and godlike Hector meet;
For one bright prize the matchless chiefs contend,
Nor this the ships can fire, nor that defend:
One kept the shore, and one the vessel trod;
That fix'd as fate, this acted by a god.
The son of Clytius in his daring hand,
The deck approaching, shakes a flaming brand;
But, pierced by Telamon's huge lance, expires:
Thundering he falls, and drops the extinguish'd fires.
Great Hector view'd him with a sad survey,
As stretch'd in dust before the stern he lay.
"Oh! all of Trojan, all of Lycian race!
Stand to your arms, maintain this arduous space:
Lo! where the son of royal Clytius lies;
Ah, save his arms, secure his obsequies!"
This said, his eager javelin sought the foe:
But Ajax shunn'd the meditated blow.
Not vainly yet the forceful lance was thrown;
It stretch'd in dust unhappy Lycophron:
An exile long, sustain'd at Ajax' board,
A faithful servant to a foreign lord;
In peace, and war, for ever at his side,
Near his loved master, as he lived, he died.
From the high poop he tumbles on the sand,
And lies a lifeless load along the land.
With anguish Ajax views the piercing sight,
And thus inflames his brother to the fight:
"Teucer, behold! extended on the shore
Our friend, our loved companion! now no more!
Dear as a parent, with a parent's care
To fight our wars he left his native air.
This death deplored, to Hector's rage we owe;
Revenge, revenge it on the cruel foe.
Where are those darts on which the fates attend?
And where the bow which Phoebus taught to bend?"
Impatient Teucer, hastening to his aid,
Before the chief his ample bow display'd;
The well-stored quiver on his shoulders hung:
Then hiss'd his arrow, and the bowstring sung.
Clytus, Pisenor's son, renown'd in fame,
(To thee, Polydamas! an honour'd name)
Drove through the thickest of the embattled plains
The startling steeds, and shook his eager reins.
As all on glory ran his ardent mind,
The pointed death arrests him from behind:
Through his fair neck the thrilling arrow flies;
In youth's first bloom reluctantly he dies.
Hurl'd from the lofty seat, at distance far,
The headlong coursers spurn his empty car;
Till sad Polydamas the steeds restrain'd,
And gave, Astynous, to thy careful hand;
Then, fired to vengeance, rush'd amidst the foe:
Rage edged his sword, and strengthen'd every blow.
Once more bold Teucer, in his country's cause,
At Hector's breast a chosen arrow draws:
And had the weapon found the destined way,
Thy fall, great Trojan! had renown'd that day.
But Hector was not doom'd to perish then:
The all-wise disposer of the fates of men
(Imperial Jove) his present death withstands;
Nor was such glory due to Teucer's hands.
At its full stretch as the tough string he drew,
Struck by an arm unseen, it burst in two;
Down dropp'd the bow: the shaft with brazen head
Fell innocent, and on the dust lay dead.
The astonish'd archer to great Ajax cries;
"Some god prevents our destined enterprise:
Some god, propitious to the Trojan foe,
Has, from my arm unfailing, struck the bow,
And broke the nerve my hands had twined with art,
Strong to impel the flight of many a dart."
"Since heaven commands it (Ajax made reply)
Dismiss the bow, and lay thy arrows by:
Thy arms no less suffice the lance to wield,
And quit the quiver for the ponderous shield.
In the first ranks indulge thy thirst of fame,
Thy brave example shall the rest inflame.
Fierce as they are, by long successes vain;
To force our fleet, or even a ship to gain,
Asks toil, and sweat, and blood: their utmost might
Shall find its match--No more: 'tis ours to fight."
Then Teucer laid his faithless bow aside;
The fourfold buckler o'er his shoulder tied;
On his brave head a crested helm he placed,
With nodding horse-hair formidably graced;
A dart, whose point with brass refulgent shines,
The warrior wields; and his great brother joins.
This Hector saw, and thus express'd his joy:
"Ye troops of Lycia, Dardanus, and Troy!
Be mindful of yourselves, your ancient fame,
And spread your glory with the navy's flame.
Jove is with us; I saw his hand, but now,
From the proud archer strike his vaunted bow:
Indulgent Jove! how plain thy favours shine,
When happy nations bear the marks divine!
How easy then, to see the sinking state
Of realms accursed, deserted, reprobate!
Such is the fate of Greece, and such is ours:
Behold, ye warriors, and exert your powers.
Death is the worst; a fate which all must try;
And for our country, 'tis a bliss to die.
The gallant man, though slain in fight he be,
Yet leaves his nation safe, his children free;
Entails a debt on all the grateful state;
His own brave friends shall glory in his fate;
His wife live honour'd, all his race succeed,
And late posterity enjoy the deed!"
This roused the soul in every Trojan breast:
The godlike Ajax next his Greeks address'd:
"How long, ye warriors of the Argive race,
(To generous Argos what a dire disgrace!)
How long on these cursed confines will ye lie,
Yet undetermined, or to live or die?
What hopes remain, what methods to retire,
If once your vessels catch the Trojan fire?
Make how the flames approach, how near they fall,
How Hector calls, and Troy obeys his call!
Not to the dance that dreadful voice invites,
It calls to death, and all the rage of fights.
'Tis now no time for wisdom or debates;
To your own hands are trusted all your fates;
And better far in one decisive strife,
One day should end our labour or our life,
Than keep this hard-got inch of barren sands,
Still press'd, and press'd by such inglorious hands."
The listening Grecians feel their leader's flame,
And every kindling bosom pants for fame.
Then mutual slaughters spread on either side;
By Hector here the Phocian Schedius died;
There, pierced by Ajax, sunk Laodamas,
Chief of the foot, of old Antenor's race.
Polydamas laid Otus on the sand,
The fierce commander of the Epeian band.
His lance bold Meges at the victor threw;
The victor, stooping, from the death withdrew;
(That valued life, O Phoebus! was thy care)
But Croesmus' bosom took the flying spear:
His corpse fell bleeding on the slippery shore;
His radiant arms triumphant Meges bore.
Dolops, the son of Lampus, rushes on,
Sprung from the race of old Laomedon,
And famed for prowess in a well-fought field,
He pierced the centre of his sounding shield:
But Meges, Phyleus' ample breastplate wore,
(Well-known in fight on Selle's winding shore;
For king Euphetes gave the golden mail,
Compact, and firm with many a jointed scale)
Which oft, in cities storm'd, and battles won,
Had saved the father, and now saves the son.
Full at the Trojan's head he urged his lance,
Where the high plumes above the helmet dance,
New ting'd with Tyrian dye: in dust below,
Shorn from the crest, the purple honours glow.
Meantime their fight the Spartan king survey'd,
And stood by Meges' side a sudden aid.
Through Dolops' shoulder urged his forceful dart,
Which held its passage through the panting heart,
And issued at his breast. With thundering sound
The warrior falls, extended on the ground.
In rush the conquering Greeks to spoil the slain:
But Hector's voice excites his kindred train;
The hero most, from Hicetaon sprung,
Fierce Melanippus, gallant, brave, and young.
He (ere to Troy the Grecians cross'd the main)
Fed his large oxen on Percote's plain;
But when oppress'd, his country claim'd his care,
Return'd to Ilion, and excell'd in war;
For this, in Priam's court, he held his place,
Beloved no less than Priam's royal race.
Him Hector singled, as his troops he led,
And thus inflamed him, pointing to the dead.
"Lo, Melanippus! lo, where Dolops lies;
And is it thus our royal kinsman dies?
O'ermatch'd he falls; to two at once a prey,
And lo! they bear the bloody arms away!
Come on--a distant war no longer wage,
But hand to hand thy country's foes engage:
Till Greece at once, and all her glory end;
Or Ilion from her towery height descend,
Heaved from the lowest stone; and bury all
In one sad sepulchre, one common fall."
Hector (this said) rush'd forward on the foes:
With equal ardour Melanippus glows:
Then Ajax thus--"O Greeks! respect your fame,
Respect yourselves, and learn an honest shame:
Let mutual reverence mutual warmth inspire,
And catch from breast to breast the noble fire,
On valour's side the odds of combat lie;
The brave live glorious, or lamented die;
The wretch that trembles in the field of fame,
Meets death, and worse than death, eternal shame."
His generous sense he not in vain imparts;
It sunk, and rooted in the Grecian hearts:
They join, they throng, they thicken at his call,
And flank the navy with a brazen wall;
Shields touching shields, in order blaze above,
And stop the Trojans, though impell'd by Jove.
The fiery Spartan first, with loud applause.
Warms the bold son of Nestor in his cause.
"Is there (he said) in arms a youth like you,
So strong to fight, so active to pursue?
Why stand you distant, nor attempt a deed?
Lift the bold lance, and make some Trojan bleed."
He said; and backward to the lines retired;
Forth rush'd the youth with martial fury fired,
Beyond the foremost ranks; his lance he threw,
And round the black battalions cast his view.
The troops of Troy recede with sudden fear,
While the swift javelin hiss'd along in air.
Advancing Melanippus met the dart
With his bold breast, and felt it in his heart:
Thundering he falls; his falling arms resound,
And his broad buckler rings against the ground.
The victor leaps upon his prostrate prize:
Thus on a roe the well-breath'd beagle flies,
And rends his side, fresh-bleeding with the dart
The distant hunter sent into his heart.
Observing Hector to the rescue flew;
Bold as he was, Antilochus withdrew.
So when a savage, ranging o'er the plain,
Has torn the shepherd's dog, or shepherd's swain,
While conscious of the deed, he glares around,
And hears the gathering multitude resound,
Timely he flies the yet-untasted food,
And gains the friendly shelter of the wood:
So fears the youth; all Troy with shouts pursue,
While stones and darts in mingled tempest flew;
But enter'd in the Grecian ranks, he turns
His manly breast, and with new fury burns.
Now on the fleet the tides of Trojans drove,
Fierce to fulfil the stern decrees of Jove:
The sire of gods, confirming Thetis' prayer,
The Grecian ardour quench'd in deep despair;
But lifts to glory Troy's prevailing bands,
Swells all their hearts, and strengthens all their hands.
On Ida's top he waits with longing eyes,
To view the navy blazing to the skies;
Then, nor till then, the scale of war shall turn,
The Trojans fly, and conquer'd Ilion burn.
These fates revolved in his almighty mind,
He raises Hector to the work design'd,
Bids him with more than mortal fury glow,
And drives him, like a lightning, on the foe.
So Mars, when human crimes for vengeance call,
Shakes his huge javelin, and whole armies fall.
Not with more rage a conflagration rolls,
Wraps the vast mountains, and involves the poles.
He foams with wrath; beneath his gloomy brow
Like fiery meteors his red eye-balls glow:
The radiant helmet on his temple burns,
Waves when he nods, and lightens as he turns:
For Jove his splendour round the chief had thrown,
And cast the blaze of both the hosts on one.
Unhappy glories! for his fate was near,
Due to stern Pallas, and Pelides' spear:
Yet Jove deferr'd the death he was to pay,
And gave what fate allow'd, the honours of a day!
Now all on fire for fame, his breast, his eyes
Burn at each foe, and single every prize;
Still at the closest ranks, the thickest fight,
He points his ardour, and exerts his might.
The Grecian phalanx, moveless as a tower,
On all sides batter'd, yet resists his power:
So some tall rock o'erhangs the hoary main,(241)
By winds assail'd, by billows beat in vain,
Unmoved it hears, above, the tempest blow,
And sees the watery mountains break below.
Girt in surrounding flames, he seems to fall
Like fire from Jove, and bursts upon them all:
Bursts as a wave that from the cloud impends,
And, swell'd with tempests, on the ship descends;
White are the decks with foam; the winds aloud
Howl o'er the masts, and sing through every shroud:
Pale, trembling, tired, the sailors freeze with fears;
And instant death on every wave appears.
So pale the Greeks the eyes of Hector meet,
The chief so thunders, and so shakes the fleet.
As when a lion, rushing from his den,
Amidst the plain of some wide-water'd fen,
(Where numerous oxen, as at ease they feed,
At large expatiate o'er the ranker mead)
Leaps on the herds before the herdsman's eyes;
The trembling herdsman far to distance flies;
Some lordly bull (the rest dispersed and fled)
He singles out; arrests, and lays him dead.
Thus from the rage of Jove-like Hector flew
All Greece in heaps; but one he seized, and slew:
Mycenian Periphes, a mighty name,
In wisdom great, in arms well known to fame;
The minister of stern Eurystheus' ire
Against Alcides, Copreus was his sire:
The son redeem'd the honours of the race,
A son as generous as the sire was base;
O'er all his country's youth conspicuous far
In every virtue, or of peace or war:
But doom'd to Hector's stronger force to yield!
Against the margin of his ample shield
He struck his hasty foot: his heels up-sprung;
Supine he fell; his brazen helmet rung.
On the fallen chief the invading Trojan press'd,
And plunged the pointed javelin in his breast.
His circling friends, who strove to guard too late
The unhappy hero, fled, or shared his fate.
Chased from the foremost line, the Grecian train
Now man the next, receding toward the main:
Wedged in one body at the tents they stand,
Wall'd round with sterns, a gloomy, desperate band.
Now manly shame forbids the inglorious flight;
Now fear itself confines them to the fight:
Man courage breathes in man; but Nestor most
(The sage preserver of the Grecian host)
Exhorts, adjures, to guard these utmost shores;
And by their parents, by themselves implores.
"Oh friends! be men: your generous breasts inflame
With mutual honour, and with mutual shame!
Think of your hopes, your fortunes; all the care
Your wives, your infants, and your parents share:
Think of each living father's reverend head;
Think of each ancestor with glory dead;
Absent, by me they speak, by me they sue,
They ask their safety, and their fame, from you:
The gods their fates on this one action lay,
And all are lost, if you desert the day."
He spoke, and round him breathed heroic fires;
Minerva seconds what the sage inspires.
The mist of darkness Jove around them threw
She clear'd, restoring all the war to view;
A sudden ray shot beaming o'er the plain,
And show'd the shores, the navy, and the main:
Hector they saw, and all who fly, or fight,
The scene wide-opening to the blaze of light,
First of the field great Ajax strikes their eyes,
His port majestic, and his ample size:
A ponderous mace with studs of iron crown'd,
Full twenty cubits long, he swings around;
Nor fights, like others, fix'd to certain stands
But looks a moving tower above the bands;
High on the decks with vast gigantic stride,
The godlike hero stalks from side to side.
So when a horseman from the watery mead
(Skill'd in the manage of the bounding steed)
Drives four fair coursers, practised to obey,
To some great city through the public way;
Safe in his art, as side by side they run,
He shifts his seat, and vaults from one to one;
And now to this, and now to that he flies;
Admiring numbers follow with their eyes.
From ship to ship thus Ajax swiftly flew,
No less the wonder of the warring crew.
As furious, Hector thunder'd threats aloud,
And rush'd enraged before the Trojan crowd;
Then swift invades the ships, whose beaky prores
Lay rank'd contiguous on the bending shores;
So the strong eagle from his airy height,
Who marks the swans' or cranes' embodied flight,
Stoops down impetuous, while they light for food,
And, stooping, darkens with his wings the flood.
Jove leads him on with his almighty hand,
And breathes fierce spirits in his following band.
The warring nations meet, the battle roars,
Thick beats the combat on the sounding prores.
Thou wouldst have thought, so furious was their fire,
No force could tame them, and no toil could tire;
As if new vigour from new fights they won,
And the long battle was but then begun.
Greece, yet unconquer'd, kept alive the war,
Secure of death, confiding in despair:
Troy in proud hopes already view'd the main
Bright with the blaze, and red with heroes slain:
Like strength is felt from hope, and from despair,
And each contends, as his were all the war.
"Twas thou, bold Hector! whose resistless hand
First seized a ship on that contested strand;
The same which dead Protesilaus bore,(242)
The first that touch'd the unhappy Trojan shore:
For this in arms the warring nations stood,
And bathed their generous breasts with mutual blood.
No room to poise the lance or bend the bow;
But hand to hand, and man to man, they grow:
Wounded, they wound; and seek each other's hearts
With falchions, axes, swords, and shorten'd darts.
The falchions ring, shields rattle, axes sound,
Swords flash in air, or glitter on the ground;
With streaming blood the slippery shores are dyed,
And slaughter'd heroes swell the dreadful tide.
Still raging, Hector with his ample hand
Grasps the high stern, and gives this loud command:
[Illustration: AJAX DEFENDING THE GREEK SHIPS.]
AJAX DEFENDING THE GREEK SHIPS.
"Haste, bring the flames! that toil of ten long years
Is finished; and the day desired appears!
This happy day with acclamations greet,
Bright with destruction of yon hostile fleet.
The coward-counsels of a timorous throng
Of reverend dotards check'd our glory long:
Too long Jove lull'd us with lethargic charms,
But now in peals of thunder calls to arms:
In this great day he crowns our full desires,
Wakes all our force, and seconds all our fires."
He spoke--the warriors at his fierce command
Pour a new deluge on the Grecian band.
Even Ajax paused, (so thick the javelins fly,)
Stepp'd back, and doubted or to live or die.
Yet, where the oars are placed, he stands to wait
What chief approaching dares attempt his fate:
Even to the last his naval charge defends,
Now shakes his spear, now lifts, and now protends;
Even yet, the Greeks with piercing shouts inspires,
Amidst attacks, and deaths, and darts, and fires.
"O friends! O heroes! names for ever dear,
Once sons of Mars, and thunderbolts of war!
Ah! yet be mindful of your old renown,
Your great forefathers' virtues and your own.
What aids expect you in this utmost strait?
What bulwarks rising between you and fate?
No aids, no bulwarks your retreat attend,
No friends to help, no city to defend.
This spot is all you have, to lose or keep;
There stand the Trojans, and here rolls the deep.
'Tis hostile ground you tread; your native lands
Far, far from hence: your fates are in your hands."
Raging he spoke; nor further wastes his breath,
But turns his javelin to the work of death.
Whate'er bold Trojan arm'd his daring hands,
Against the sable ships, with flaming brands,
So well the chief his naval weapon sped,
The luckless warrior at his stern lay dead:
Full twelve, the boldest, in a moment fell,
Sent by great Ajax to the shades of hell.
[Illustration: CASTOR AND POLLUX.]
CASTOR AND POLLUX. 就这样，他们奋战在那条凳板坚固的海船旁。
与此同时，帕特罗克洛斯回到兵士的牧者阿基琉斯
身边，站着，热泪涌注，像一股幽黑的溪泉，
顺着不可爬攀的绝壁，泻淌着暗淡的水流。
看着此般情景，捷足的勇士、卓越的阿基琉斯心生怜悯，
开口说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“帕特罗克洛斯，为何哭泣——像个可怜的小姑娘，
跑在母亲后面，哭求着要她提抱，
抓住她的衣衫，将那急于前行的亲娘往后拽拉，
睁着泪眼，望着她的脸面，直到后者将她抱起一样？
你就像这么个小姑娘，帕特罗克洛斯，淌着一串串滚圆的泪珠。
有什么消息吗？想要告诉慕耳弥冬人，还是打算对我诉说？
是不是，仅你一人，接到了来自弗西亚的消息？
然而，他们告诉我，阿克托耳之子墨诺伊提俄斯仍然健在，
埃阿科斯之子裴琉斯依然生活在慕耳弥冬人中。
倘若他俩亡故，我们确有悲悼的理由。也许，
你是在内阿耳吉维人恸哭，不忍心看着他们
倒死在深旷的海船旁——由于他们的狂傲？
告诉我、不要把事情埋在心里，让你我都知道。”
听罢这番话，你，车手帕特罗克洛斯，发出一声凄楚的哀
号，答道：
“阿基琉斯，裴琉斯之子，阿开亚人中首屈一指的英雄——
不要发怒。知道吗，巨大的悲痛已降临在阿开亚人的头顶！
他们中以前作战最勇敢的人，现在
都已卧躺船边，带着箭伤或枪痕。
图丢斯之子、强健的狄俄墨得斯已被羽箭射伤，
俄底修斯则身带枪痕，著名的枪手阿伽门农亦然；
欧鲁普洛斯伤在大腿，受之于一枚羽箭，
熟知药性的医者们正忙着为他们
治伤去痛。但是你，阿基琉斯，谁也劝慰不了！
但愿盛怒，如你所发的这场暴怒，不要揪揉我的心房！
你的勇气，该受诅咒的粗莽！后代的子孙能从你这儿得到什
么好处，倘若你不为阿耳吉维人挡开可耻的死亡？
你没有半点怜悯之心！车手裴琉斯不是你的父亲，
不是，塞提丝也不是你的母亲；灰蓝色的大海生养了你，
还有那高耸的岩壁——你，何时才能回心转意？
但是，倘若你心知的某个预言拉了你的后腿，
倘若你那尊贵的母亲已告诉你某个得之于宙斯的信息，
那你至少也得派我出战，带领其他慕耳弥冬人。
或许，我能给达奈人带去一线胜利的曙光。
让我肩披你的铠甲，投入战斗，这样，
特洛伊人或许会把我误当是你，停止进攻的步伐，
使苦战中的阿开亚人的儿子们得获一次喘息的机会——
他们己筋疲力尽。战场上，喘息的时间总是那么短暂。
我们这支息养多时的精兵，面对久战衰惫的敌人，可以
一鼓作气，把他们赶回特洛伊，远离我们的营棚和海船！”
帕特罗克洛斯一番恳求，天真得像个孩子，却不知
他所祈求的正是自己的死亡和悲惨的终极。
其时，怀着满腔怒火，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“不，帕特罗克洛斯，我的王子——你都说了些什么？
预言？我什么也不知道，什么也不在乎。
我那尊贵的母亲并没有从宙斯那儿给我带来什么信息；
倒是此事深深地伤痛了我的心魂：
有人试图羞辱一个和他一样高贵的壮勇，
仗借e己的权威，夺走别人的战获。
此事令我痛心疾首，使我蒙受了屈辱。
阿开亚人的儿子们挑出那位姑娘，作为我的战礼——我曾
攻破那座壁垒坚固的城堡，凭靠手中的枪矛，掠得这位女子。
但是，阿特柔斯之子，强有力的阿伽门农，从我
手中夺走了她，仿佛我是个受人鄙弃的流浪汉o’
算了，过去的事就让它过去吧，我也不会
永远盛怒不息。但是，我已说过，
我不会平息心中的愤怒，直到
嚣声和战火腾起在我的海船边。
去吧，披上我那副璀璨的铠甲，在你的肩头，
率领嗜喜搏杀的慕耳弥冬人赴战疆场，
倘若特洛伊人的乌云确已罩住海船，
黑沉沉的一片，而另一边的战勇——阿耳吉维人——
已被逼挤到狭长的滩头，背靠着
海浪。全城的特洛伊人都在向他们压去，
勇猛顽强，只因他们没有见着我的战盔，让
他们头昏眼花！如果强有力的阿伽门农
能够善待于我，他们顷刻之间就会拔腿窜逃，尸体塞住平原
上的水道！然而，现在，阿耳吉维人已退战到自己的营区旁。
枪矛已不再横飞在图丢斯之子
狄俄墨得斯手中，为达亲人挡避死亡。
我也不曾听见阿特桑斯之子的呼喊，崩出
那颗让人厌恨的头颅——只有杀人狂赫克托耳
对特洛伊人的嘶叫，响彻在我的耳旁。他们发出狂蛮的
呼吼，占据着整个平原，击垮了阿开亚兵壮。然而，
即便如此，帕特罗克洛斯，你要解除船边的危难，
全力以赴，勇猛出击，不要让他们抛出熊熊的火把，
烧毁我们的海船，夺走我们回家的启望。
但是，你要记住我的命嘱，要切记不忘，
如此方能为我争得巨大的尊誉和荣光，在
所有达奈人面前，使他们送回我那位
漂亮的姑娘，辅之以闪光的报偿。
一旦把特洛伊人从船边打跑，你要马上回返；尽管
赫拉的炸响雷的夫婿可能会让你争得荣光，
你不能，在没有我的情况下，留恋和特洛伊人的拼斗，
这帮嗜战如命的家伙——这么做，会削减我的荣光。
你不能沉湎于血战引发的激狂，放手
痛杀特洛伊人，领着兵勇们冲向伊利昂——
小心啊，俄林波斯上的某个不死的神祗
可能会下山干预。远射手阿波罗打心眼里钟爱着
特洛伊兵壮。记住，要马上回返，一旦给海船送去
得救的曙光。让其他人继续打下去吧，在那平展的旷野上！
哦，父亲宙斯，雅典娜，阿波罗！——但愿
特洛伊人全都死个精光，阿耳吉维人中谁也
不得生还，只有你我走出屠杀的疆场——是的
只有你我二人，砸碎他们神圣的楼冠，在特洛伊城头！”
就这样，他俩你来我往，一番告说；与此同时，
面对纷至沓来的投械，埃阿斯已无法稳站舱板。
宙斯的意志，还有高傲的特洛伊人和他们的枪矛，
逼得他步步回跑。太阳穴上，那顶闪亮的头盔，
在雨点般的重击下发出可怕的声响——制铸坚固的
颊片不时遭到枪械的击打；左肩已疲乏无力，由于一直扛着
那面硕大、滑亮的盾牌，无有片刻缓息。然而，尽管对他投出
纷飞的枪械，他们却不能把盾牌打离他的胸前。
他呼息困难、粗急，泪如雨下，
顺着四肢流淌。这里，没有他息脚
喘气的地方，到处是险情，到处潜伏着危机和灾亡。
告诉我，家居俄林波斯的缪斯——
告诉我，第一个火把点燃阿开亚海船的情景！
赫克托耳站离在埃阿斯近旁，挥起粗重的利剑，
猛砍安着(木岑)木杆的枪矛，劈中杆头的插端，
齐刷刷地撸去枪尖——忒拉蒙之于埃阿斯
挥舞着秃头的枪杆，青铜的枪尖蹦响在
老远的泥地上。埃阿斯浑身颤嗦，
知晓此事的因由，在那颗高贵的心里：
此乃神的作为，雷鸣高空的宙斯挫毁了
他的作战意图，决意让特洛伊人赢得荣光。
他退出阵地，跑出枪械的投程。特洛伊人抛出熊熊燃烧的
火把，顷刻之间，海船上烈焰腾腾，凶蛮狂虐。
就这样，大火吞噬着船尾——其时，阿基琉斯抡起巴掌，
击打两边的腿股，对着帕特罗克洛斯喊道：
“赶快行动，高贵的帕特罗克洛斯，出色的车手！
我已望见凶莽的火焰腾起在海船上；
决不能让他们毁了木船，断了我们的退路！
快去，穿上我的铠甲；我这就行动，召聚我们的兵壮！”
帕特罗克洛斯闻讯披挂，浑身闪烁着青铜的光芒。
首先，他用胫甲裹住小腿，
精美的制品，带着银质的踝扣，
随之系上胸甲，掩起胸背——
捷足的阿基琉斯的护甲，甲上繁星闪烁，精工铸打，
然后挎上柄嵌银钉的利剑，
青铜铸就，背起盾牌，盾面巨大、沉重。
其后，他把做工精致的头盔扣上壮实的头颅，
连同马鬃做就的顶冠，摇撼出镇人的威严。
最后，他操起两条抓握顺手、沉甸甸的枪矛。
诸般甲械中，他只是撇下了骁勇的阿基琉斯的枪矛，
那玩艺硕大、粗长、沉重，阿开亚人中谁也
提拿不起，只有阿基琉斯可以得心应手的使用。
这条裴利昂(木岑)木杆枪矛，是开荣送给他父亲的赠礼，
取材裴利昂的峰巅，作为克杀英雄的利器。
帕特罗克洛斯命嘱奥抡墨冬赶快套车，
除了横扫千军的阿基琉斯，这是他最尊爱的朋友，
激战中比谁都坚强，有令必行。
奥托墨冬把迅捷的快马牵到轭下，
珊索斯和巴利俄斯，可与疾风赛跑的
良驹，蹄腿风快的波达耳格的腹孕，得之于西风的吹拂——
其时，她正牧食在草泽上，俄开阿诺斯的激流边。
他让追风的裴达索斯拉起边套，
阿基琉斯的骏马，攻破厄提昂的城堡后劫获的战礼。
此马，尽管一介凡胎，却奔跑在神马的边沿。
与此同时，阿基琉斯来到慕耳弥冬人的营地，让他们
全副武装，沿着营棚排列。像一群生吞活剥的恶狼，胸中腾溢
着永不消惬的狂烈，
在山野上扑倒一头顶大的长角公鹿，争抢
撕食，颚下滴淌着殷红的鲜血，
成群结队地跑去，啜钦在一条水色昏黑的泉流，
伸出溜尖的狼舌，舐碰着黑水的表层，
翻嗝着带血的肉块，心中仍然念念不忘
捕食的贪婪，虽然已吃得肚饱腰圆——
就像这样，慕耳弥冬人的首领和军头们
涌聚在捷足的阿基琉斯的助手、勇敢的帕特罗克洛斯
身旁。阿基琉斯挺立在人群中，凛然战神一般，
催励着驭马和肩背盾牌的战勇。
宙斯钟爱的阿基琉斯，带着他的人马
来到特洛伊，分乘五十条战船，每船
五十名伙伴，荡摇船桨的兵壮。
他任命了五位头领，各带一支
分队，而他自己，以他的强健，则是全军的统帅。
率领第一支分队的是胸甲闪亮的墨奈西俄斯，
斯裴耳开俄斯阿的儿子，翻涌着宙斯倾注的水浪，
裴琉斯的女儿、美丽的波鲁多拉把他生给了
奔腾不息的斯裴耳开俄斯，凡女和神河欢爱的结晶。
但在名义上，他却是裴里厄瑞斯之子波罗斯的儿子；波罗斯
已婚娶波鲁多拉，给了难以数计的聘礼。
嗜战的欧多罗斯率领着另一支分队，出自一位未婚
少女的肚腹，舞姿翩翩的波鲁墨莱，
夫拉斯的女儿。强有力的阿耳吉丰忒斯
爱她貌美——舞女中，神的眼睛盯上了她的丰韵，
她们正颂唱着发放金箭的阿耳忒弥丝，呼喊猎捕的神明。
医者赫耳墨斯即刻爬上她的睡房，
秘密地和她共寝，后者为他生下一个儿子，英武的
欧多罗斯，腿脚快捷，作战骠勇。
然而，当埃蕾苏娅，从阵痛中，把小生命
接到白昼的日光里，孩子睁眼看到太阳的光芒后，
阿克托耳之子，坚实、强壮的厄开克勒斯
把姑娘带到自己家里，给了难以数计的财礼。
年迈的夫拉斯抚养着男孩，关怀
备至，疼爱得像是对自己的儿子。
第三支分队的首领是嗜战的裴桑得罗斯，
迈马洛斯之子，极善枪战，慕耳弥冬人中，
除了裴琉斯之子的助手外，无人可及。
第四支分队由年迈的车战者福伊尼克斯率领；
阿耳基墨冬，莱耳开斯豪勇的儿子，带领着第五支分队。
阿基琉斯把队伍集合完毕，齐刷刷地站候在
头领们身边，对他们发出严厉的训令：
“墨耳弥冬人！还记得吗？在快捷的海船边，
在我怒满胸膛的日子里，。你们对特洛伊人
发出的威胁？你们牢骚满腹，开口抱怨：
‘裴琉斯残忍的儿子，你的母亲用胆汁养大了你！你没有
半点怜悯之心，把伙伴们困留在海船边，违背他们的心意！
真不如让我们返航回家，乘坐破浪远洋的海船，
既然该死的暴怒已经缠住了你的心怀。’
你们常常议论我的不是，喁语嘁嘁，三五成群。
现在，眼前摆着你们盼望已久的战斗，一场激烈的鏖战。
使出你们的勇力，接战特洛伊兵汉！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
听罢王者的将令，各支分队靠得更加紧密，
像泥水匠垒筑高耸的房居，它的沿墙，
石头一块紧挨着一块，挡御疾风的吹扫——
战场上，头盔和突鼓的战盾连成一片，
圆盾交迭，铜盔磕碰，人挤人拥。
随着人头的攒动，闪亮的盔面上，贴着硬角，
马鬃的盔冠抵擦碰撞；队伍站得严严实实，密密匝匝。
帕特罗克洛斯和奥托墨冬全副武装，
同仇敌忾，站在队伍的前列，
率领慕耳弥冬人冲杀。其时，阿基琉斯
走进自己的营棚，打开一只漂亮、精工
制作的箱子的顶盖——银脚的塞提丝把它
放在海船里，运到此间，满装着衫衣。
挡御凤寒的披篷和厚实的毛毯。
箱子里躺着一只精美的酒杯，其他人谁也
不得用它啜饮闪亮的醇酒，阿基琉斯自己亦不
用它奠祭别的神明——只有父亲宙斯独享这份荣誉。
他取出酒杯，先用硫磺净涤，
然后用清亮的溪水漂洗，
冲净双手，把闪亮的酒浆注入盅杯，
站在庭院中间，对神祈祷，洒出醇酒，
仰望青天；喜好炸雷的宙斯听见了他的祈愿：
“王者宙斯，裴拉斯吉亚的宙斯，多多那的主宰，住在遥远的
地方，俯视着寒冷的多多那；你的祭司生活在你的
身边，那些睡躺在地上、不洗脚的塞洛伊——
如果说你上回听了我的祈祷，
给了我光荣，重创了阿开亚军队，
那么，今天，求你再次兑现我的告愿。
现在，我自己仍然呆留在海船搁聚的滩沿，
但已命造我的伙伴参战，带着众多的慕耳弥冬
兵勇。沉雷远播的宙斯，求你让他得到光荣！
让他的胸中充满勇气；这样，就连赫克托耳亦会
知晓，帕特罗克洛斯是否具有独自拼战的
能耐——还是只有当我亦现身浴血的
战场，他的臂膀才能发挥无坚不摧的战力。
但是，当他一经打退船边喧嚣的攻势，
就让他安然无恙地回到迅捷的海船边，
连同我的铠甲以及和他并肩战斗的伙伴。”
他如此一番祈祷，多谋善断的宙斯听到了他的声音。
天父允诺了他的一项祈求，但同时否定了另一项，
他答应让帕特罗克洛斯打退船边的
攻势，但拒绝让他活着回返。
阿基琉斯洒过奠酒，作罢祷告，
回身营棚，将酒杯放入箱子，复出
站在门前，仍在急切地盼想，想盼着
眺望阿开亚人和特洛伊人拼死的苦战。
其时，身披铠甲的战勇和心志豪莽的帕特罗克洛斯
一起前进，精神抖擞，成群结队地
扑向特洛伊人，像路边的蜂群，
忍受着男孩们经常性的挑逗，
日复一日地惹扰，在路旁的蜂窝边——
真是一帮傻孩子！他们给许多人招来了麻烦。
倘若行人经过路边的窝巢，
无意中激扰了蜂群，它们就勃然大怒，
倾巢出动，各显身手，为保卫自己的后代而拼战。
就像这样，慕耳弥冬人群情激奋，怒满胸膛，
从船边蜂拥而出，喊出经久不息的杀声。
帕特罗克洛斯放开嗓门，大声呼叫，对着他的兵朋：
“慕耳弥冬人，裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯的伙伴们！
拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们，鼓起狂烈的战斗激情！
我们必须为裴琉斯之子争得荣誉；海船边，他是阿耳吉维人中
最善战的壮勇——我们是他的部属，和他并肩拼杀的战友！
这样，阿特柔斯之子，统治着辽阔疆域的阿伽门农，才会认识
到自己的骄狂，知道屈辱了阿开亚全军最好的英壮！”
一番话使大家鼓起了勇气，增添了力量。
他们成群结队地扑向特洛伊人，身边的
船艘回扬出巨大的轰响，荡送出阿开亚人的呼吼。
看到墨诺伊提俄斯强有力的儿子，目睹
他和他的驭手，身披光彩夺目的铠甲，特洛伊人
个个心凉胆战，队伍即刻瓦解，
以为海船边，捷足的阿基琉斯
已抛却愤怒，选择了友谊。其时，
每个人都在东张西望，寻觅逃避惨死的生路。
帕特罗克洛斯第一个投出闪亮的枪矛，
直扑敌阵的中路，大群慌乱的兵勇，麇集最密的去处，
拥塞在心胸豪壮的普罗忒西劳斯的船尾边，
击中普莱克墨斯，派俄尼亚车战者的首领，
来自阿慕冬，阿克西俄斯河宽阔的水流边。
他右肩中枪，仰面倒地，吟叫在
泥尘里；他的派俄尼亚伴友四散
奔逃——帕特罗克洛斯放倒了他们的头领，
他们中作战最勇敢的人，把他们吓得魂飞胆裂。
他把敌人赶离海船，扑灭熊熊燃烧的大火，
海船已被烧得半焦不黑，但仍然挺驻在滩沿上。特洛伊人
吓得遑遑奔逃，发出歇斯底里的喊叫；达奈人
群起进攻，杀回深旷的海船；喧嚣之声拔地而起，经久不息。
宛如汇聚闪电的宙斯拨开
大山之巅、峰顶上的一片浓厚的云层，
透亮的大气，其量不可穷限，从高空泼泻下来，使高挺的山峰、
突兀的崖壁和幽深的沟壑全都显现在白炽的光亮里
——达奈人将横蔓的烈火扑离海船，
略微舒松了片刻，但战斗没有止息。
尽管受到嗜战的阿开亚人的进攻，特洛伊人
并没有掉过头去，死命跑离乌黑的海船；
他们在强压下放弃船边的战斗，但仍在苦苦支撑，奋力抵抗。
战场上混乱不堪，到处人杀人砍——首领们。
正在拼战。墨诺伊提俄斯强壮的儿子首先
投枪，击中阿雷鲁科斯的腿股，在他
转身之际，犀利的铜枪穿透肉层，
砸碎了腿骨；后者头脸扑地，嘴啃
泥尘。与此同时，嗜战的黑奈劳斯出枪索阿斯，
捅在胸胁上，战盾不及遮掩的部位，酥软了他的肢腿。
眼见安菲克洛斯跑上前来，夫琉斯之子墨格斯
先发制人，出枪扎在体腿相连的地方，人体上
肌肉最结实的部位，枪尖挑断
筋腱，浓黑的迷雾蒙住了他的双眼。
至于奈斯托耳的儿子们，安提洛科斯刺中阿屯尼俄斯，
用锋快的枪矛，铜尖扎穿胁腹，
后者随即扑倒，头脸朝下。其时，马里斯手握铜矛，大步
进逼，对着安提洛科斯——兄弟的遭遇使他怒满胸膛，
站护在尸体前面——然而，神一样的斯拉苏墨得斯
手脚迅捷，先他出枪，正中目标，捅入
肩膀，枪尖切断臂膀的根部，
撕裂肌肉，截断骨头，不带半点含糊。
他随即倒地，轰然一声，黑暗蒙住了他的双眼。
就这样，兄弟俩倒死在另外两个兄弟手下，
掉入乌黑的去处——萨耳裴冬高贵的伴友，
阿米索达罗斯手握枪矛的儿子，阿米索达罗斯，养育过
狂暴的基迈拉，裂送过众多的人命。其时，
埃阿斯，俄伊琉斯之子，阔步猛冲，生擒
克勒俄布洛斯，其时正拥塞在慌乱奔逃的人流里，
抹了他的脖子，用带柄的利剑，
热血烫红了整条剑刃，殷红的死亡
和强有力的命运合上了他的眼睛。其时，
裴奈琉斯和鲁孔迎面扑进——已互相
投过一枝枪矛，全都偏离目标——所以
现时绞杀在一起，挥舞着铜剑。鲁孔
起剑砍中头盔，插缀着马鬃盔冠的脊角；手柄以下，
剑刃震得四分五裂。裴奈琉斯挥剑砍人
耳朵下面的脖子，铜剑切砍至深，剑出之处仅剩一点
沾挂的皮层；对手的脑袋耷拉在一边，四肢酥软。
墨里俄奈斯腿脚轻快，赶上阿卡马斯，
出枪捅在右肩上，在他从马后上车之际，
后者翻身落地，黑暗蒙住了他的双眼。
伊多墨纽斯出手刺中厄鲁马斯，无情的铜枪插入
他的嘴里，铜尖捅扎进去，
从脑下往上穿挤，捣碎白骨，
打落牙齿，后者双眼溢血，
大口地喘着粗气，嘴和鼻孔
喷出血流，死的黑雾裹起了他的躯体。
就这样，这些达奈人的首领杀死了各自的对手，
像狼群扑杀在羔羊或小山羊中间，气势汹汹，
在羊群中咬住它们，趁着牧羊人粗心大意，
将羊群散放在山坡之际；饿狼抓住空子，
猛扑上前，叼起小羊，后者绝无半点反抗之力——
就这样，达奈人冲杀在特洛伊人中间，后者听着
恐怖的杀声，抛却了奋勇进击的狂烈。
然而，高大魁伟的埃阿斯总在试图枪击
头顶铜盔的赫克托耳，但后者凭着丰富的战斗经验，
把那宽阔的肩膀缩掩在牛皮战后的后面，睁大
眼睛，盯视着呼啸的飞箭和轰鸣而至的枪矛。
他清楚地知道，战局已发生了不利的变化，但
尽管如此，他仍然毫不退让，保护他的倔犟的伙伴。
像宙斯卷来一阵风暴，怂托起一片乌云，从俄林波斯
山上升腾而起，飘出透亮的气空，逼向天际，
海船边喧声四起，特洛伊人惊慌失措，
溃不成军。其时，捷蹄的快马拉着全副武装的
赫克托耳回跑，撇下特洛伊兵众，
由他们违心背意，陷滞在宽深的壕沟里。
深壁间，一对对拖拉战车的快马，
挣断车杆的终端，丢弃主人的车辆。其时，
帕特罗克洛斯朝着他们冲去，对达亲人发出严厉的吼叫，
一心想着屠杀特洛伊兵壮，后者高声惊呼，
堵塞了每一条退路；队伍早已乱作一团。风快的骏马
挣扎着撒开四蹄，跑离海船和营棚，夺路回城，
蹄腿踢起纷飞的灰末，扶摇着汇入云层。
其时，只要看见大片慌乱的人群，帕特罗克洛斯就
策马向前，高声呼喊；战勇们一个接一个地倒出马车，
头面磕地，落在车轴下——战车压过身躯，疾驰而去。
面对眼前的壕沟，帕特罗克洛斯的驭马一跃而过，这对迅捷。
得享永年的灵驹，乃神祗送给裴琉斯的一份光灿灿的赠礼，
此时奋蹄向前——帕特罗克洛斯的狂怒驱使他扑向赫克托耳，
急于给他一枪送终，但后者的快马把他拉出了射程。
恰如在一个昏暗的秋日，狂风吹扫着
乌黑的大地，宙斯降下滂沦的暴雨，来势凶猛，
痛恨凡人的作为，使他勃然震怒——
在喧嚷的集会上，他们作出歪逆的决断，
把公正抛到九霄云外，全然不忌神的惩治——
在他们生活的地域，所有的河床洪水泛滥，
谷地里激流汹涌，冲荡着一道道山坡，
水势滔滔，发出震天的巨响，奔出山林，直扫而下，
泻入灰濛濛的大海，劫毁农人精耕的田园。
就像这样，特洛伊人的驭马撒蹄惊跑，呼呼隆隆。
其时，帕特罗克洛斯，在打烂了前面的几支队伍后，
转过身子，将敌人逼向海船，不让逃向城堡，
虽然他们挣扎着试图如愿。他冲杀
在海船、河流和高墙之间，
杀敌甚众，为死难的伙伴讨还血债。
闪亮的枪矛下，普罗努斯第一个送命，
扎在胸胁上，不被战盾摭掩的部位，酥软了他的肢腿。
他随即倒地，轰然一声。接着，帕特罗克洛斯扑向
塞斯托耳，厄诺普斯之子，缩蜷在滑亮的
战车里，吓得不知所措，松手脱落
缰绳——帕特罗克洛斯逼近出枪，捅入
下颚的右边，穿过上下齿之间的空隙。接着，他用
枪矛把塞斯托耳挑勾起来，提过马车的边杆，像一个渔人，
坐在突兀的岩壁上，用渔线和闪亮的
铜钩，从水里钓起一条海鲜；就像这样，
帕特罗克洛斯把他——大张着嘴，衍塞着闪亮的枪尖——拉
出战车，扔甩出去，嘴脸朝下，扑倒在地，命息离他而去。
接着，他又出手厄鲁劳斯，在他前冲之际，用一块巨大的石头，
捣在脑门正中，把头颅砸成两半，
在粗重的盔盖里；后者头脸朝下，扑进
泥尘，破毁勇力的死亡蒙罩起他的躯体。
其后，他又杀了厄鲁马斯、安福忒罗斯和厄帕尔忒斯，
达马斯托耳之子特勒波勒摩斯、厄基俄斯和普里斯，
伊菲乌斯和欧伊波斯，以及阿耳格阿斯之子波鲁墨洛斯，
一个接着一个，全都挺尸在丰腴的土地上。
其时，萨耳裴冬，眼看着他的不系腰带的伙伴们
倒死在墨诺伊提俄斯之子帕特罗克洛斯手下，
放声呵责，对着神一样的鲁基亚兵众：
“可耻啊，你们这些鲁基亚人；你们在往哪里奔跑？还不奋起
反击，赶快！
我，是的，我将面对面地会会这个人，看看他
到底是谁，那个强壮的汉子，已给我们带来
深重的灾难，折断了许多镖勇壮汉的膝腿。”
言罢，他跳下战车，双脚着地，全副武装；
对面的帕特罗克洛斯见状，也马上
跳离战车。像两只硬爪曲卷、尖嘴弯勾的秃鹫，
搏战在一块高耸的岩面上，发出一声声尖叫，
两位壮士面对面地冲扑，高声呼吼。
望着此般情景，工于心计的克罗诺斯的儿子
心生怜悯，对赫拉、他的妻子和姐妹说道：
“唉，痛心呢！萨耳裴冬，世间我最钟爱的凡人，将服从命运的
安排，倒死在墨诺伊提俄斯之子帕特罗克洛斯手中！
我斟酌思考，在我的心间，平扯着两种选择：
是把他抢出充满痛苦的战斗，
活着送回富足的国度鲁基亚，还是
把他击倒，在墨诺伊提俄斯之子的手下。”
听罢这番话，牛眼睛天后赫拉答道：
“可怕的王者，克罗诺斯之子，你说了些什么？
你打算把他救出悲惨的死亡，一个凡人，
一个命里早就住定要死的凡人？
做去吧，宙斯，但我等众神绝不会一致赞同。
我还有一事相告，并劝你记在心中：
如果你把萨耳裴冬带回他的家园，仍然活着，
那么，其他某位神明亦可能心怀希望，
把自己的儿子带出激烈拼搏的战场——
要知道，许多神祗的儿子战斗在普里阿摩斯
雄伟的城堡前；你的作为将引起极大的愤恨。
不行，虽然你很爱他，为他的不幸悲悼，
也得让他果在那里，倒死在激战中，
墨诺伊提俄斯之子帕特罗克洛斯的手下。
然而，当灵魂和生命离他而去，你可差遣，
死亡，亦同舒怡的睡眠，把他带走，
送往他的家乡，辽阔的鲁基亚，
由他的兄弟和乡亲为他举行隆重的葬礼，
筑坟树碑，接受死者应该享受的尊仪。”
她言罢，神和人的父亲不予驳违，
但他洒下铺地的泪雨，殷红的血珠，为了
』0爱的儿子——帕特罗克洛斯即将
把他杀死，在远离故乡的地方，土地肥沃的特洛伊。
他俩相对而行，咄咄逼近；
帕特罗克洛斯首先投枪，击中光荣的斯拉苏墨洛斯，
王者萨耳裴冬强健的驭手，打在
小腹上，酥软了他的肢腿。
萨耳裴冬紧接着掷出投枪，闪亮的枪矛
偏离目标，击中驭马裴达索斯的
胸肩，后者惊叫着呼喘出命息，在尖利的
嘶声中躺倒泥尘；生命的魂息离他而去。
另两匹驭马于争离中飞扬起前蹄，轭架吱嘎作响，缰绳
混绞错叠——套马躺死在旁边的泥尘里。
见此情景，善使枪矛的奥托墨冬急中生智，
抽出长锋的利剑，从壮实的股腿边，
冲上前去，起手劈砍，斩断套马的绳索；
另两匹驭马随之调正位置，绷紧了缰绳，
两位英雄咄咄进逼，复又卷人撕心裂肺的杀斗。
萨耳裴冬再次投偏了闪亮的枪矛，
枪尖从帕特罗克洛斯的左肩上
穿过，不曾擦着皮肉。帕特罗克洛斯紧接着掷出
铜矛，出手的投枪不曾虚发，击中
包卷的横隔膜，缠贴着跳动的心脏；
他随即倒地，像一棵橡树或白杨，巍然倾倒，
或像一棵参天的巨松，直立在山上，被船匠
用飞快的斧斤砍倒，备做造船的木料。
就像这样，他躺倒在地，驭马和战车的前面，
呻吼着，双手抓起血染的泥尘。
又像一头键牛，毛色黄褐，心胸豪壮，挤身在腿步蹒跚的
牛群，被一头冲闯进来的狮子扑倒，
啸吼在弯蟋的狮爪里。其时，在
帕特罗克洛斯面前，鲁基亚盾战者的首领
狂烈地抗拒着死的降临，对他亲爱的伙伴高声喊叫：
“格劳科斯，我的好伙伴，兵勇中的壮汉！现在，是你
大显身手的时候——做个勇敢的枪手，无畏的勇士！
如果你是条血性的汉子，你要把凶险的拼杀当做是一桩绞竭
心魂的乐事！
首先，你要跑遍各处队列，找来鲁基亚人的
首领，催励他们为保卫萨耳裴冬而战，
而你自己亦要手握铜矛，为我挡开进扑的敌人。
你将面对众人的责骂和羞辱，天天
如此，脸面全无，倘若让阿开亚战勇
剥走我的铠甲，在我躺倒的战场，海船云聚的地方。
全力以赴，死死顶住，催励所有的人战斗！”
萨耳裴冬气短话长，死亡封住了他的眼睛
和鼻孔。帕特罗克洛斯一脚蹬住他的胸口，把枪矛
拔出尸躯，拽带出体内的横隔膜——
就这样，他拔出枪矛，也带出了萨耳裴冬的魂脉。
慕耳弥冬人逼上前去，抓住喘着粗气的驭马，其时
正试图溜蹄跑开，已经挣脱主人的战车。
然而，听着伙伴的喊叫，格劳科斯心头一阵楚痛；
他心情激奋，但却不能帮助萨耳裴冬。
他抬手紧紧压住臂膀，只因伤痛钻咬着他的心胸，
此乃丢克罗斯射出的箭伤——其时正在
救助阿开亚伙伴——在他冲入高墙的时候。
他张嘴说话，对远射手阿波罗祈祷：
“听我说，王者阿波罗！无论你现在何地，是在丰足的鲁基亚，
还是在我们眼前的特洛伊；不管在哪里，你都可听到
一位伤者，像我一样的伤痛者的话告。
看看我这肿胀的伤口，我的整条手臂剧痛
钻心，血流不止，始终不曾
凝结，肩臂酸楚沉重。现在，
我既不能紧握枪矛，也不能跨步向前，
和敌人拼斗。我们中最勇敢的人已经死去，
萨耳裴冬，宙斯之子——大神没有助佑亲生的儿男！
求求你，王者阿波罗。为我治愈这钻心的伤痛，
解除我的苦楚，给我力量，使我能召聚起
鲁基亚伙伴，催励他们战斗。
我自己亦可参战，保护死去的萨耳裴冬！”
格劳科斯祷毕，福伊波斯·阿波罗听到了他的声音。
转瞬之间，阿波罗为他止住伤痛，封住黑红的流血，
在剧痛的伤口，送出勇力，注入他的心中。
格劳科斯心知发生的一切，十分高兴：
强有力的神明听见了他的告愿。首先，他
穿行在各处队列，催唤着鲁基亚人的首领，
要他们向前，救护萨耳裴冬；随后，
他蹽开大步，跑向特洛伊人的队伍。
他找到潘苏斯之子普鲁达马斯和卓越的阿格诺耳，
继而又跑向埃内阿斯和头顶铜盔的赫克托耳，
站在他们近旁，高声喊叫，用长了翅膀的话语：
“赫克托耳，还记得你的盟友吗？——你已把他们忘得一干
二净！为了你，他们打老远过来，离别乡土和亲友，
在此流血牺牲，而你却不愿伸一伸臂膀，帮一帮他们！
萨耳裴冬已经倒下，鲁基亚盾战者的首领，
曾以勇力和公正的律令卫护属下的民众。
现在，披裹铜甲的阿瑞斯击倒了他，通过帕特罗克洛斯的枪矛。
赶快，我的朋友，站到我的身边！要知道，这是一种耻辱，
倘若让敌人剥走他的铠甲，蹂躏他的躯身——
这些慕耳弥冬战勇，为了所有被杀的达奈人，那些被我们
鲁基亚人用枪矛宰杀在快船边的壮勇，欲对我们泼仇泄恨！”
听罢这番话，难以忍受、无可消弥的悲痛
撕裂了特洛伊人的心胸。萨耳裴冬始终是城堡的
墙柱，虽然来自外邦，身后跟着许多
兵勇，但他们中谁也不能和他比拟，在战场上，向来
如此。其时，特洛伊人挟着狂怒，冲向达奈战勇，由赫克托耳
率领，出于对萨耳裴冬之死的愤怒。但墨诺伊提俄斯之子
帕特罗克洛斯粗野的战斗激情，也掀起了阿开亚人拼战的心潮。
他先对两位埃阿斯喊话，激励着两面急于求战的心胸：
“干起来吧，两位埃阿斯，勇敢战斗，
像以前拼战在人群中那样——现在，要比以往更英勇！
萨耳裴冬已经倒下，扳捣阿开亚护墙的
第一人。但愿我能抢得他的尸体，加以凌辱，
剥掉铠甲，从他的肩头，用无情的
铜矛击杀他的伙伴，任何敢于战护尸体的敌人！”
其时，阿开亚人心怀狂烈，准备杀退敌手。
两军相逢，聚拢起战斗的编队，
特洛伊人和鲁基亚人，慕耳弥冬人和阿开亚兵众，
面对面地近战搏杀，围绕着萨耳裴冬的尸首，
喊出粗野的呼嚎，身披铜甲的战勇顶抵冲撞——
在战地的上空，宙斯降下可怕的黑夜，
使双方在混沌中，围绕着他的爱子，展开了一场拼死的苦斗。
在第一回合的格杀中，特洛伊人顶回了明眸的阿开亚人，
杀倒了一个慕耳弥冬壮士，绝非他们中最劣的战勇，
心胸豪壮的阿伽克勒斯之子，卓越的阿培勾斯。
过去，他曾王统布代昂，人丁兴旺的城堡；
其后，他杀了一个血统高贵的堂表兄弟，
跑离家乡，找到裴琉斯和银脚的塞提丝，恳求帮助；
他俩让他跟着横扫千军的阿基琉斯，
前往出骏马的伊利昂，和特洛伊人拼斗。
然而，他刚刚抓起尸体，就吃了光荣的赫克托耳扔出的
顽石，捣在脑门上，把头颅砸成两半，
在粗重的盔盖里；阿裴勾斯头脸朝下，扑倒
尸身，破毁勇力的死亡蒙罩起他的躯体。
伙伴的倒地使帕特罗克洛斯心痛，
他冲入前排的战勇，快得像一只疾飞的
鹞鹰，把成群的鸦雀和欧椋吓得扑翅飞逃。
就像这样，哦，车手帕特罗克洛斯，你迅猛
冲击，扑向鲁基亚人和特洛伊人，满怀怨恨，为了死去的伴友。
他扔出一块石头，对着塞奈劳斯，
伊赛墨奈斯的爱子，砸在脖子上，捣出了里面的筋腱。
特洛伊首领们开始退却，包括光荣的赫克托耳，
回退了长枪一次投射的距程——
有人甩手出枪，意欲试看自己的臂力，在赛场上，
或在战斗中，面对仇敌凶狂的进扑——
特洛伊人回退了这么一段距离，迫于阿开亚人的进攻。
但是，格劳科斯，鲁基亚盾战者的首领，首先
转过身子，杀了心胸豪壮的巴苏克勒斯，
卡尔工的爱子，家住赫拉斯，
以财富和幸运显耀在慕耳弥冬人中。
格劳科斯突然回身，在巴苏克勒斯
即将赶上他的时候，出枪击中来者的心胸，
后者随即倒地，轰然一声。阿开亚人悲痛万分，
为失去一位善战的壮勇；而特洛伊人则欢欣鼓舞，
成群结队地涌向他的躯身，但阿开亚人并没有
消懈自己的战斗激情，奋勇地杀向敌人。
战地上，墨里俄奈斯杀了一位特洛伊首领，
劳戈诺斯，俄奈托耳勇莽的儿子，伊达亚的
宙斯的祭司，受到家乡人民像对神一样的崇敬。
墨里俄奈斯的枪矛扎在他的耳朵和颚骨下面，魂息当即
飘离他的肢腿，可恨的黑暗蒙住了他的躯身。
其后，埃内阿斯对着墨里俄奈斯投出铜枪，企望
出枪中的，击倒藏身盾牌后面、向他冲来的对手，
但墨里俄奈斯盯视着他的举动，躲过铜矛，
向前佝屈起身子；长枪扎入后面的
泥地，杆尾来回摆动，
直到强健的阿瑞斯平止了它的狂暴。
埃内阿斯的投枪咬人泥层，杆端来回摆动，
粗壮的大手徒劳无益地白丢了一枝枪矛。
勇士怒不可遏，大声喊叫，嚷道：
“墨里俄奈斯，跳舞的行家！但愿那一枪
不曾虚发，一劳永逸地断阻你的舞步！”
听罢这番话，著名的枪手墨里俄奈斯答道：
“埃内阿斯，虽然你是个刚烈的汉子，但也很难
放倒每一个和你交手、借以自卫的
战勇。我知道，你也是一个凡人。
要是我能击中你的肚腹，用锋快的铜枪，
那么，哪怕你身强力壮，自信于你那双坚实的大手，
你会给我送来光荣，而把自己的灵魂交付驾驭名驹的死神！”
他言罢，墨诺伊提俄斯饶勇的儿子呵斥道：
“墨里俄奈斯，你是个勇敢的人，何须如此大肆吹擂？
相信我，我的朋友，特洛伊人不会因为几句辱骂
而从尸躯边回退——在此之前，平原上将垛起成堆的尸首！
我们通过行动战斗，通过话语商筹。现在
不是说辩的时候——战场上，我们要战斗！”
言罢，他举步先行，墨里俄奈斯紧跟其后，一位
像神一样的凡人。恰似有人伐木幽深的
山谷，斧斤砍出巨大的声响，传至很远的地方，
战场上滚动着沉闷的撞击声，发自广袤的大地，
发自护身的皮革、青铜的战盾和厚实的牛皮，
承受着剑和双刃枪矛的击打。即便是
认识他的熟人，这时也找不到神一样的
萨耳裴冬，他已被从头到脚，压埋在成堆的
枪械下，血污和泥尘里。但人们仍在
朝着他冲涌，像羊圈里的苍蝇，
围着奶桶旋飞，发出嗡嗡的嘈响，
在那春暖季节，鲜奶溢满提桶的时候——
就像这样，他们蜂拥在尸体周围。与此同时，宙斯
闪亮的目光一刻也不曾移开激战的场面。
他注目凝视战斗的人群，思绪纷纭，
盘划着各种方法，处死帕特罗克洛斯。
是让他死在此时，在这纷乱的激战中，
让光荣的赫克托耳，用铜枪把他杀死在神一样的
萨耳裴冬的遗体旁，然后剥掉铠甲，从他的肩上，
还是增强战斗的狂烈，让更多的人遭受煎磨？
两下比较，他认定此举最妙：
让裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯强健的伴友
把特洛伊人和头顶铜盔的赫克托耳
再次逼口城下，杀死众多的兵勇。他从
赫克托耳人手，使他产生怯战的心念，
后者跳上战车，转身逃遁，同时招呼其他
特洛伊人回跑，心知宙斯已压低天秤的一头。
目睹王者胸上挨了枪矛，躺在死人堆里，
强健的鲁基亚人亦无心恋战，四散
惊跑——自从宙斯强化了战斗的烈度，
众多的战勇已卧躺在尸体的上头。
阿开亚人剥下萨耳裴冬光灿灿的铜甲，
从他的肩上；墨诺伊提俄斯嗜战的儿子
把它交给自己的伙伴，送回深旷的船舟。
其时，汇聚乌云的宙斯对阿波罗说道：
“去吧，亲爱的阿波罗，从枪械下救出
萨耳裴冬，擦去他身上浓黑的污血，
带到远离战场的去处，用清亮的河水净洗，
抹上神界的膏脂，穿上永不败坏的衣裳。
把他交给迅捷的陪送，两位同胞
兄弟，睡眠和死亡，带往
富足的乡区，放躺在宽阔的鲁基亚。
他的兄弟和乡亲会替他举行隆重的葬礼，
筑坟树碑，接受死者应该享受的尊仪。”
听罢这番话，阿波罗谨遵父命，
从伊达的岭脊上下来，进入浴血的战场，
抱起卓越的萨耳裴冬，从枪械下面，
来到远离战场的地方，用清亮的河水净洗，
抹上神界的膏脂，穿上永不败坏的衣裳，
交给迅捷的陪送，两位同胞
兄弟，睡眠和死亡，带往
富足的乡区，放躺在宽阔的鲁基亚。
其时，帕特罗克洛斯，对着奥托墨冬和驭马大喝一声，
杀向特洛伊和鲁基亚人的队伍，心智已变得迷迷糊糊。
好一个糊涂的人——倘若听从裴琉斯之子的命告，
便可能逃脱这次险恶的悲难，幽黑的死亡。
然而，宙斯的意志总是强过凡人的心智，
他能吓倒嗜战的勇士，轻而易举地夺走
他的胜利，虽然他亦会亲自督励某人战斗，
像现在一样，催鼓起帕特罗克洛斯的狂烈。
在神明把你召向死亡的时候，帕特罗克洛斯，
谁个最先倒在你的枪下，谁个最后被你宰杀？
阿得瑞斯托斯最先送命，接着是奥托努斯和厄开克洛斯，
墨伽斯之子裴里摩斯，以及厄丕斯托耳和墨拉尼波斯，
然后是厄拉索斯，慕利俄斯和普拉耳忒斯。
他杀死这些壮勇，余下的全都吓得惶惶奔逃。
其时，要不是福伊波斯·阿波罗出现在筑造坚固的
壁墙上，盘划着把他置于死地，助佑溃败的特洛伊人，
阿开亚战勇或许已经攻克城门高耸的伊利昂，
凭借帕特罗克洛斯的勇力，后者提着枪矛，冲杀在队伍的前头。
一连三次，帕特罗克洛斯试图爬上高墙的
突沿，一连三次，福伊波斯·阿波罗把他抵打回去，
用他那蓄满神力的双手击挡闪光的盾面。当帕特罗克洛斯
发起第四次冲锋，像一位出凡的超人，
阿波罗高声喝叫，喊出长了翅膀的话语，令人不寒而栗：
“退回去，显贵的帕特罗克洛斯！这不是命运的意志，
让高傲的特洛伊人的城堡毁在你的手里，用你的枪矛；
就连阿基琉斯也创不了这份功业，一位远比你杰出的战勇！”
他言罢，帕特罗克洛斯退出一大段距离，
以避开远射手阿波罗的震怒。
其时，斯卡亚门边，赫克托耳勒住风快的驭马，
纷理着忐忑的思绪：是驾车重返沙场，继续战斗，
还是招呼他的人马，集聚在墙内？就在他
权衡斟酌之际，福伊波斯·阿波罗前来站在他的身边，
以凡人的模样，一位年轻、强健的壮士，
阿西俄斯，驯马者赫克托耳的亲舅，
赫卡贝的兄弟，杜马斯的儿子，
家住弗鲁吉亚，伴着桑伽里俄斯的激流。
以此人的模样，宙斯之子阿波罗对他说道：
“赫克托耳，为何停止战斗？你忽略了自己的责职！
但愿我能比你优秀，就像实际上比你低劣一样！
如果这是事实，我就会让你知道，狼狈不堪地逃离战斗，会受
到何样的罚惩！
振作起来！赶起蹄腿坚实的驭马，直奔帕特罗克洛斯的近旁！
你或许可以杀了他——阿波罗或许会给你这份光荣。”
言罢，他阔步离去，一位神祗，介入凡人的争斗。
与此同时，光荣的赫克托耳招呼聪慧的开勃里俄奈斯，
扬鞭催马，投入战斗。其时，阿波罗
蹚入人群，把阿耳吉维人搅得七零
八落，把光荣交人特洛伊人和赫克托耳手中。
赫克托耳丢下其他达奈人，一个不杀，但却
赶起蹄腿坚实的驭马，直扑帕特罗克洛斯。
在他对面，帕特罗克洛斯跳下战车，双脚着地，
左手握枪，右手抓起一块石头，
粗莽、闪光的顽石，恰好扣握在指掌中，猛投出去，
压上全身的力量。石块不曾虚投，没有偏离
预期的目标，击中赫克托耳的驭手，
开勃里俄奈斯，光荣的普里阿摩斯的私生子，
其时正紧握着驭马的缰绳。棱角犀利的石头击中前额，
砸挤进两条眉毛；额骨挡不住硕石的
重击，眼珠爆落在地上，脚前的
泥尘里——他扑身倒地，像个跳水者，
从做工精致的战车上；魂息飘离了他的躯骨。
其时，你，车手帕特罗克洛斯，出言讥讽，喊道：
“好一个耍杂的高手，瞧他多么轻捷、灵巧！
想一想吧，要是在鱼群拥聚的海面上，
这家伙可以潜水捕摸海蛎，喂饱整船的人。
他可从船上跳到海里，即便气候阴沉险恶，
就像现在这样，一个筋斗，轻巧地从车上翻到地下！
毫无疑问，特洛伊人中也有翻筋斗的好手！”
言罢，他大步跃向壮士开勃里俄奈斯的躯体，
像一头扑跳的狮子，在牛栏里横冲直撞，
被人击中前胸，被自己的勇莽所葬送。就像这样，
帕特罗克洛斯，你挟着狂烈，扑向开勃里俄奈斯。
对面，赫克托耳亦从车上跳下；两人
展开激战，围绕着开勃里俄奈斯的躯体；
像山脊上的两头狮子，凶暴悍烈。
饥肠辘辘，为争夺一头被杀的公鹿拼死搏斗。
就像这样，两位勇士急于交手，为争夺开勃里俄奈斯的遗体，
帕特罗克洛斯，墨诺伊提俄斯之子，和光荣的赫克托耳，
迫不及待地想要撕裂对手，用无情的铜矛。
赫克托耳抓住死者的脑袋，紧攥不放，
而帕特罗克洛斯则抓住他的双脚，站在另一头；
战场上，特洛伊人和达奈人杀得难解难分。
正如东风和南风较劲对抗，
在幽深的谷底，摇撼着茂密的森林，
橡树、样树和皮面绷紧光洁的山茱萸，
修长的枝桠相互鞭打抽击，发出
呼呼隆隆的吼声，断枝残干僻啪作响一样，
特洛伊人和阿开亚兵壮互相扑击，
你杀我砍；两军中谁也不想逃退；溃败意味着死亡。
众多犀利的枪矛投扎在开勃里俄奈斯身边，
许多缀着羽尾的利箭飞出硬弓的弦线，
一块块巨大的石头砸打着盾面，一场鏖战，
围绕着倒地的躯体。开勃里俄奈斯躺在
飞旋的泥尘里，偌大的身躯，沉甸甸的
一片——还有什么车战之术？早被忘得一干二净。
战场上，双方的投械频频中的，打得尸滚人亡，直到太阳
爬过中天的时分。
然而，当太阳西行，到了替耕牛卸除轭具的时候，
阿开亚人居然超越命运，在战斗中占了上风，
从特洛伊人的枪械和喧嚣声下拖出壮士
开勃里俄奈斯的遗体，剥下铠甲，从他的肩头。
帕特罗克洛斯杀气腾腾，扑向特洛伊人，
一连冲了三次，以阿瑞斯的迅捷，
发出粗野的呼嚎，每次都杀死九名战勇。
现在，他第四次扑进荡击，似乎已超出人的凡俗；
其时，帕特罗克洛斯，死亡已迫挤在你的眉头：
激战中，福伊波斯行至你的身边，
带着灭顶的灾愁！帕特罗克洛斯不曾见他
前来，后者潜隐在浓雾里，向他逼进，
站在他的后面，伸出手掌，拍击他的脊背
和宽阔的肩头，打得他晕头转向。
随后，福伊波斯·阿波罗捣落他的帽盔，
带着四条冠脊，成排的洞孔，滚动在马蹄下面，
碰撞出卿卿嘎嘎的声响；鲜血和泥尘
玷污了鬃冠。在此之前，谁也不能用泥秽
脏浊这顶铜盔，缀扎着马鬃的顶冠，
保护着神一样的阿基琉斯，保护着他的头颅
和俊俏的眉毛。但现在，宙斯把盔冠给了赫克托耳，
让他戴在头上——赫克托耳，他自己的死期亦已近在眼前。
那枝粗长、深重、硕大的枪矛，铜尖闪亮，投影修长，
在帕特罗克洛斯手中断成几截，盾牌从肩头
掉到地上，连同护片和德带——
王者阿波罗，宙斯之子，撕剥了他的衣甲。
灾难揪住了他的心智，挺直的双腿已撑不住他的躯体。
他呆呆地站在那里，受到一个达耳达尼亚人的袭击，
从他背后，就近出手，锋快的枪矛扎在双胛之间——
欧福耳波斯，潘苏斯之子，同龄人中
枪技最佳，驭术最好，腿脚最快。
虽然初次车战，甫学搏杀的技巧，
他已击倒二十个敌人，从他们的战车上。
他第一个投枪击中了你，哦，车手帕特罗克洛斯，
但没有把你放倒，只是抢走(木岑)木杆的枪矛，
快步回跑，钻人自己的营伍，不敢面对
帕特罗克洛斯，其时已赤身露体，近战拼搏。
其时，帕特罗克洛斯已被枪矛和神的手掌打得半死不活，
朝着己方的伴群回移，试图逃避死的追捕。
然而，赫克托耳眼见心胸豪壮的帕特罗克洛斯
试图回逃，带着被尖利的铜枪挑开的豁口，
迈步穿过队伍，逼近他的身边，出枪捅入
他的肚腹，铜尖从背后穿出。帕特罗克洛斯
随即倒地，轰然一声，惊呆了所有的阿开亚人。
像一头狮子，击倒一头不知疲倦的野猪，鏖战在
山岭的峰脊，凶猛暴烈，打得你死我活，
为了争饮一条水流细小的山泉，湿润焦渴的喉头；
兽狮奋勇扑击，放倒野猪，后者呼呼地喘着粗气——
就像这样，赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，通过一次进击，结果了
墨诺伊提俄斯的儿郎，一位勇敢的战士，已经杀死众多的敌人。
带着胜利的喜悦，赫克托耳喊出长了翅膀的话语，高声炫耀：
“帕特罗克洛斯，你以为可以荡平我们的城堡，
夺走特洛伊妇女的自由，把
她们塞进海船，带往你们热爱的故土！
好一个笨蛋！要知道，在她们面前，奔跑着赫克托耳的快马，
蹄腿飞扬，奋起出击；而我；赫克托耳，握着这杆枪矛，
闪烁在嗜喜恶战的特洛伊人中，替他们挡开
临头的灾亡！至于你，你的血肉将饲喂这里的骛鸟！”
可怜的家伙，就连阿基琉斯，以他全身的勇力，也救不了
你的死亡！
他必定对你下过严令，在你行将出战，而他却呆留营地的时候：
帕特罗克洛斯，战车上的勇士，记住，在没有撕裂
杀人狂赫克托耳胸前的衫衣，使之浸透鲜血之前，
不要回来见我，不要回到深旷的海船旁！他一定
给过你此类指令——你这个疯子，居然听信了他的唆告！”
其时，哦，车手帕特罗克洛斯，你已奄奄一息，答道：
“现在，赫克托耳，你可尽情吹擂。你胜了，但这是
克罗诺斯之子和阿波罗的赐予，他们轻而易举地
整倒了我——亲自从我的肩头剥去了甲衣！
否则，就是有二十个赫克托耳，跑来和我攻战，
也会被我一个不剩地击倒，死在我的枪头。
你没有那个能耐——是凶狠的命运和莱托之子杀死了我。
若论凡人，首先是欧福耳波斯，然后才是你——杀手中，你只
是第三个。我还有一事奉告，你要牢记心头：
你自己亦已来日不多，死亡和
强有力的命运已恭候在你的身旁；
你将死在埃阿科斯骁勇的孙子阿基琉斯手中！”
话音刚落，死的终极已蒙罩起他的躯体，
心魂飘离他的肢腿，坠入死神的府居，
悲悼自己的命运，抛却青春的年华，刚勇的人生。
其时，虽然他已死去，光荣的赫克托耳仍然对他嚷道：
“为何预言我的暴死，帕特罗克洛斯？
谁知道？阿基琉斯，长发秀美的塞提丝的儿子，
或许会先吃上我的枪矛，送掉他的性命！”
言罢，他出脚踩住尸体，从伤口里拧拔出
青铜的投枪，抵住他的脊背，一脚把他蹬离枪矛。
然后，他手握枪杆，扑向奥托墨冬，
捷足的阿基琉斯的助手，神一样的勇士，
投枪心切，无奈迅捷的驭马已把他带出一段路程，
不死的天马，神祗送给裴琉斯的一份闪光的礼物。
ARGUMENT
THE SIXTH BATTLE, THE ACTS AND DEATH OF PATROCLUS
Patroclus (in pursuance of the request of Nestor in the eleventh book)
entreats Achilles to suffer him to go to the assistance of the Greeks with
Achilles' troops and armour. He agrees to it, but at the same time charges
him to content himself with rescuing the fleet, without further pursuit of
the enemy. The armour, horses, soldiers, and officers are described.
Achilles offers a libation for the success of his friend, after which
Patroclus leads the Myrmidons to battle. The Trojans, at the sight of
Patroclus in Achilles' armour, taking him for that hero, are cast into the
uttermost consternation; he beats them off from the vessels, Hector
himself flies, Sarpedon is killed, though Jupiter was averse to his fate.
Several other particulars of the battle are described; in the heat of
which, Patroclus, neglecting the orders of Achilles, pursues the foe to
the walls of Troy, where Apollo repulses and disarms him, Euphorbus wounds
him, and Hector kills him, which concludes the book.
So warr'd both armies on the ensanguined shore,
While the black vessels smoked with human gore.
Meantime Patroclus to Achilles flies;
The streaming tears fall copious from his eyes
Not faster, trickling to the plains below,
From the tall rock the sable waters flow.
Divine Pelides, with compassion moved.
Thus spoke, indulgent, to his best beloved:(243)
"Patroclus, say, what grief thy bosom bears,
That flows so fast in these unmanly tears?
No girl, no infant whom the mother keeps
From her loved breast, with fonder passion weeps;
Not more the mother's soul, that infant warms,
Clung to her knees, and reaching at her arms,
Than thou hast mine! Oh tell me, to what end
Thy melting sorrows thus pursue thy friend?
"Griev'st thou for me, or for, my martial band?
Or come sad tidings from our native land?
Our fathers live (our first, most tender care),
Thy good Menoetius breathes the vital air,
And hoary Peleus yet extends his days;
Pleased in their age to hear their children's praise.
Or may some meaner cause thy pity claim?
Perhaps yon relics of the Grecian name,
Doom'd in their ships to sink by fire and sword,
And pay the forfeit of their haughty lord?
Whate'er the cause, reveal thy secret care,
And speak those sorrows which a friend would share."
A sigh that instant from his bosom broke,
Another follow'd, and Patroclus spoke:
"Let Greece at length with pity touch thy breast,
Thyself a Greek; and, once, of Greeks the best!
Lo! every chief that might her fate prevent,
Lies pierced with wounds, and bleeding in his tent:
Eurypylus, Tydides, Atreus' son,
And wise Ulysses, at the navy groan,
More for their country's wounds than for their own.
Their pain soft arts of pharmacy can ease,
Thy breast alone no lenitives appease.
May never rage like thine my soul enslave,
O great in vain! unprofitably brave!
Thy country slighted in her last distress,
What friend, what man, from thee shall hope redress?
No--men unborn, and ages yet behind,
Shall curse that fierce, that unforgiving mind.
"O man unpitying! if of man thy race;
But sure thou spring'st not from a soft embrace,
Nor ever amorous hero caused thy birth,
Nor ever tender goddess brought thee forth:
Some rugged rock's hard entrails gave thee form,
And raging seas produced thee in a storm,
A soul well suiting that tempestuous kind,
So rough thy manners, so untamed thy mind.
"If some dire oracle thy breast alarm,
If aught from Jove, or Thetis, stop thy arm,
Some beam of comfort yet on Greece may shine,
If I but lead the Myrmidonian line:
Clad in thy dreadful arms if I appear,
Proud Troy shall tremble, and desert the war;
Without thy person Greece shall win the day,
And thy mere image chase her foes away.
Press'd by fresh forces, her o'erlabour'd train
Shall quit the ships, and Greece respire again."
Thus, blind to fate! with supplicating breath,
Thou begg'st his arms, and in his arms thy death.
Unfortunately good! a boding sigh
Thy friend return'd; and with it, this reply:
"Patroclus! thy Achilles knows no fears;
Nor words from Jove nor oracles he hears;
Nor aught a mother's caution can suggest;
The tyrant's pride lies rooted in my breast.
My wrongs, my wrongs, my constant thought engage,
Those, my sole oracles, inspire my rage:
I made him tyrant: gave him power to wrong
Even my: I felt it; and shall feel it long.
The maid, my black-eyed maid, he forced away,
Due to the toils of many a well-fought day;
Due to my conquest of her father's reign;
Due to the votes of all the Grecian train.
From me he forced her; me, the bold and brave,
Disgraced, dishonour'd, like the meanest slave.
But bear we this--the wrongs I grieve are past;
'Tis time our fury should relent at last:
I fix'd its date; the day I wish'd appears:
How Hector to my ships his battle bears,
The flames my eyes, the shouts invade my ears.
Go then, Patroclus! court fair honour's charms
In Troy's famed fields, and in Achilles' arms:
Lead forth my martial Myrmidons to fight,
Go save the fleets, and conquer in my right.
See the thin relics of their baffled band
At the last edge of yon deserted land!
Behold all Ilion on their ships descends;
How the cloud blackens, how the storm impends!
It was not thus, when, at my sight amazed,
Troy saw and trembled, as this helmet blazed:
Had not the injurious king our friendship lost,
Yon ample trench had buried half her host.
No camps, no bulwarks now the Trojans fear,
Those are not dreadful, no Achilles there;
No longer flames the lance of Tydeus' son;
No more your general calls his heroes on:
Hector, alone, I hear; his dreadful breath
Commands your slaughter, or proclaims your death.
Yet now, Patroclus, issue to the plain:
Now save the ships, the rising fires restrain,
And give the Greeks to visit Greece again.
But heed my words, and mark a friend's command,
Who trusts his fame and honours in thy hand,
And from thy deeds expects the Achaian host
Shall render back the beauteous maid he lost:
Rage uncontroll'd through all the hostile crew,
But touch not Hector, Hector is my due.
Though Jove in thunder should command the war,
Be just, consult my glory, and forbear.
The fleet once saved, desist from further chase,
Nor lead to Ilion's walls the Grecian race;
Some adverse god thy rashness may destroy;
Some god, like Phoebus, ever kind to Troy.
Let Greece, redeem'd from this destructive strait,
Do her own work; and leave the rest to fate.
O! would to all the immortal powers above,
Apollo, Pallas, and almighty Jove!
That not one Trojan might be left alive,
And not a Greek of all the race survive:
Might only we the vast destruction shun,
And only we destroy the accursed town!"
Such conference held the chiefs; while on the strand
Great Jove with conquest crown'd the Trojan band.
Ajax no more the sounding storm sustain'd,
So thick the darts an iron tempest rain'd:
On his tired arm the weighty buckler hung;
His hollow helm with falling javelins rung;
His breath, in quick short pantings, comes and goes;
And painful sweat from all his members flows.
Spent and o'erpower'd, he barely breathes at most;
Yet scarce an army stirs him from his post;
Dangers on dangers all around him glow,
And toil to toil, and woe succeeds to woe.
Say, Muses, throned above the starry frame,
How first the navy blazed with Trojan flame?
Stern Hector waved his sword, and standing near,
Where furious Ajax plied his ashen spear,
Full on the lance a stroke so justly sped,
That the broad falchion lopp'd its brazen head;
His pointless spear the warrior shakes in vain;
The brazen head falls sounding on the plain.
Great Ajax saw, and own'd the hand divine;
Confessing Jove, and trembling at the sign,
Warn'd he retreats. Then swift from all sides pour
The hissing brands; thick streams the fiery shower;
O'er the high stern the curling volumes rise,
And sheets of rolling smoke involve the skies.
Divine Achilles view'd the rising flames,
And smote his thigh, and thus aloud exclaims:
"Arm, arm, Patroclus! Lo, the blaze aspires!
The glowing ocean reddens with the fires.
Arm, ere our vessels catch the spreading flame;
Arm, ere the Grecians be no more a name;
I haste to bring the troops."--The hero said;
The friend with ardour and with joy obey'd.
He cased his limbs in brass; and first around
His manly legs, with silver buckles bound
The clasping greaves; then to his breast applies
The flaming cuirass of a thousand dyes;
Emblazed with studs of gold his falchion shone
In the rich belt, as in a starry zone:
Achilles' shield his ample shoulders spread,
Achilles' helmet nodded o'er his head:
Adorn'd in all his terrible array,
He flash'd around intolerable day.
Alone untouch'd, Pelides' javelin stands,
Not to be poised but by Pelides' hands:
From Pelion's shady brow the plant entire
Old Chiron rent, and shaped it for his sire;
Whose son's great arm alone the weapon wields,
The death of heroes, and the dread of fields.
[Illustration: Buckles.]
Buckles.
The brave Automedon (an honour'd name,
The second to his lord in love and fame,
In peace his friend, and partner of the war)
The winged coursers harness'd to the car;
Xanthus and Balius, of immortal breed,
Sprung from the wind, and like the wind in speed.
Whom the wing'd harpy, swift Podarge, bore,
By Zephyr pregnant on the breezy shore:
Swift Pedasus was added to their side,
(Once great Aetion's, now Achilles' pride)
Who, like in strength, in swiftness, and in grace,
A mortal courser match'd the immortal race.
Achilles speeds from tent to tent, and warms
His hardy Myrmidons to blood and arms.
All breathing death, around the chief they stand,
A grim, terrific, formidable band:
Grim as voracious wolves, that seek the springs(244)
When scalding thirst their burning bowels wrings;
When some tall stag, fresh-slaughtered in the wood,
Has drench'd their wide insatiate throats with blood,
To the black fount they rush, a hideous throng,
With paunch distended, and with lolling tongue,
Fire fills their eye, their black jaws belch the gore,
And gorged with slaughter still they thirst for more.
Like furious, rush'd the Myrmidonian crew,
Such their dread strength, and such their deathful view.
High in the midst the great Achilles stands,
Directs their order, and the war commands.
He, loved of Jove, had launch'd for Ilion's shores
Full fifty vessels, mann'd with fifty oars:
Five chosen leaders the fierce bands obey,
Himself supreme in valour, as in sway.
First march'd Menestheus, of celestial birth,
Derived from thee, whose waters wash the earth,
Divine Sperchius! Jove-descended flood!
A mortal mother mixing with a god.
Such was Menestheus, but miscall'd by fame
The son of Borus, that espoused the dame.
Eudorus next; whom Polymele the gay,
Famed in the graceful dance, produced to-day.
Her, sly Cellenius loved: on her would gaze,
As with swift step she form'd the running maze:
To her high chamber from Diana's quire,
The god pursued her, urged, and crown'd his fire.
The son confess'd his father's heavenly race,
And heir'd his mother's swiftness in the chase.
Strong Echecleus, bless'd in all those charms
That pleased a god, succeeded to her arms;
Not conscious of those loves, long hid from fame,
With gifts of price he sought and won the dame;
Her secret offspring to her sire she bare;
Her sire caress'd him with a parent's care.
Pisander follow'd; matchless in his art
To wing the spear, or aim the distant dart;
No hand so sure of all the Emathian line,
Or if a surer, great Patroclus! thine.
The fourth by Phoenix' grave command was graced,
Laerces' valiant offspring led the last.
Soon as Achilles with superior care
Had call'd the chiefs, and order'd all the war,
This stern remembrance to his troops he gave:
"Ye far-famed Myrmidons, ye fierce and brave!
Think with what threats you dared the Trojan throng,
Think what reproach these ears endured so long;
'Stern son of Peleus, (thus ye used to say,
While restless, raging, in your ships you lay)
Oh nursed with gall, unknowing how to yield;
Whose rage defrauds us of so famed a field:
If that dire fury must for ever burn,
What make we here? Return, ye chiefs, return!'
Such were your words--Now, warriors! grieve no more,
Lo there the Trojans; bathe your swords in gore!
This day shall give you all your soul demands,
Glut all your hearts, and weary all your hands!"
[Illustration: DIANA.]
DIANA.
Thus while he roused the fire in every breast,
Close and more close the listening cohorts press'd;
Ranks wedged in ranks; of arms a steely ring
Still grows, and spreads, and thickens round the king.
As when a circling wall the builder forms,
Of strength defensive against wind and storms,
Compacted stones the thickening work compose,
And round him wide the rising structure grows:
So helm to helm, and crest to crest they throng,
Shield urged on shield, and man drove man along;
Thick, undistinguish'd plumes, together join'd,
Float in one sea, and wave before the wind.
Far o'er the rest in glittering pomp appear,
There bold Automedon, Patroclus here;
Brothers in arms, with equal fury fired;
Two friends, two bodies with one soul inspired.
But mindful of the gods, Achilles went
To the rich coffer in his shady tent;
There lay on heaps his various garments roll'd,
And costly furs, and carpets stiff with gold,
(The presents of the silver-footed dame)
From thence he took a bowl, of antique frame,
Which never man had stained with ruddy wine,
Nor raised in offerings to the power divine,
But Peleus' son; and Peleus' son to none
Had raised in offerings, but to Jove alone.
This tinged with sulphur, sacred first to flame,
He purged; and wash'd it in the running stream.
Then cleansed his hands; and fixing for a space
His eyes on heaven, his feet upon the place
Of sacrifice, the purple draught he pour'd
Forth in the midst; and thus the god implored:
"O thou supreme! high-throned all height above!
O great Pelasgic, Dodonaean Jove!
Who 'midst surrounding frosts, and vapours chill,
Presid'st on bleak Dodona's vocal hill:
(Whose groves the Selli, race austere! surround,
Their feet unwash'd, their slumbers on the ground;
Who hear, from rustling oaks, thy dark decrees;
And catch the fates, low-whispered in the breeze;)
Hear, as of old! Thou gav'st, at Thetis' prayer,
Glory to me, and to the Greeks despair.
Lo, to the dangers of the fighting field
The best, the dearest of my friends, I yield,
Though still determined, to my ships confined;
Patroclus gone, I stay but half behind.
Oh! be his guard thy providential care,
Confirm his heart, and string his arm to war:
Press'd by his single force let Hector see
His fame in arms not owing all to me.
But when the fleets are saved from foes and fire,
Let him with conquest and renown retire;
Preserve his arms, preserve his social train,
And safe return him to these eyes again!"
Great Jove consents to half the chief's request,
But heaven's eternal doom denies the rest;
To free the fleet was granted to his prayer;
His safe return, the winds dispersed in air.
Back to his tent the stern Achilles flies,
And waits the combat with impatient eyes.
Meanwhile the troops beneath Patroclus' care,
Invade the Trojans, and commence the war.
As wasps, provoked by children in their play,
Pour from their mansions by the broad highway,
In swarms the guiltless traveller engage,
Whet all their stings, and call forth all their rage:
All rise in arms, and, with a general cry,
Assert their waxen domes, and buzzing progeny.
Thus from the tents the fervent legion swarms,
So loud their clamours, and so keen their arms:
Their rising rage Patroclus' breath inspires,
Who thus inflames them with heroic fires:
"O warriors, partners of Achilles' praise!
Be mindful of your deeds in ancient days;
Your godlike master let your acts proclaim,
And add new glories to his mighty name.
Think your Achilles sees you fight: be brave,
And humble the proud monarch whom you save."
Joyful they heard, and kindling as he spoke,
Flew to the fleet, involved in fire and smoke.
From shore to shore the doubling shouts resound,
The hollow ships return a deeper sound.
The war stood still, and all around them gazed,
When great Achilles' shining armour blazed:
Troy saw, and thought the dread Achilles nigh,
At once they see, they tremble, and they fly.
Then first thy spear, divine Patroclus! flew,
Where the war raged, and where the tumult grew.
Close to the stern of that famed ship which bore
Unbless'd Protesilaus to Ilion's shore,
The great Paeonian, bold Pyrechmes stood;
(Who led his bands from Axius' winding flood;)
His shoulder-blade receives the fatal wound;
The groaning warrior pants upon the ground.
His troops, that see their country's glory slain,
Fly diverse, scatter'd o'er the distant plain.
Patroclus' arm forbids the spreading fires,
And from the half-burn'd ship proud Troy retires;
Clear'd from the smoke the joyful navy lies;
In heaps on heaps the foe tumultuous flies;
Triumphant Greece her rescued decks ascends,
And loud acclaim the starry region rends.
So when thick clouds enwrap the mountain's head,
O'er heaven's expanse like one black ceiling spread;
Sudden the Thunderer, with a flashing ray,
Bursts through the darkness, and lets down the day:
The hills shine out, the rocks in prospect rise,
And streams, and vales, and forests, strike the eyes;
The smiling scene wide opens to the sight,
And all the unmeasured ether flames with light.
But Troy repulsed, and scatter'd o'er the plains,
Forced from the navy, yet the fight maintains.
Now every Greek some hostile hero slew,
But still the foremost, bold Patroclus flew:
As Areilycus had turn'd him round,
Sharp in his thigh he felt the piercing wound;
The brazen-pointed spear, with vigour thrown,
The thigh transfix'd, and broke the brittle bone:
Headlong he fell. Next, Thoas was thy chance;
Thy breast, unarm'd, received the Spartan lance.
Phylides' dart (as Amphidus drew nigh)
His blow prevented, and transpierced his thigh,
Tore all the brawn, and rent the nerves away;
In darkness, and in death, the warrior lay.
In equal arms two sons of Nestor stand,
And two bold brothers of the Lycian band:
By great Antilochus, Atymnius dies,
Pierced in the flank, lamented youth! he lies,
Kind Maris, bleeding in his brother's wound,
Defends the breathless carcase on the ground;
Furious he flies, his murderer to engage:
But godlike Thrasimed prevents his rage,
Between his arm and shoulder aims a blow;
His arm falls spouting on the dust below:
He sinks, with endless darkness cover'd o'er:
And vents his soul, effused with gushing gore.
Slain by two brothers, thus two brothers bleed,
Sarpedon's friends, Amisodarus' seed;
Amisodarus, who, by Furies led,
The bane of men, abhorr'd Chimaera bred;
Skill'd in the dart in vain, his sons expire,
And pay the forfeit of their guilty sire.
Stopp'd in the tumult Cleobulus lies,
Beneath Oileus' arm, a living prize;
A living prize not long the Trojan stood;
The thirsty falchion drank his reeking blood:
Plunged in his throat the smoking weapon lies;
Black death, and fate unpitying, seal his eyes.
Amid the ranks, with mutual thirst of fame,
Lycon the brave, and fierce Peneleus came;
In vain their javelins at each other flew,
Now, met in arms, their eager swords they drew.
On the plumed crest of his Boeotian foe
The daring Lycon aim'd a noble blow;
The sword broke short; but his, Peneleus sped
Full on the juncture of the neck and head:
The head, divided by a stroke so just,
Hung by the skin; the body sunk to dust.
O'ertaken Neamas by Merion bleeds,
Pierced through the shoulder as he mounts his steeds;
Back from the car he tumbles to the ground:
His swimming eyes eternal shades surround.
Next Erymas was doom'd his fate to feel,
His open'd mouth received the Cretan steel:
Beneath the brain the point a passage tore,
Crash'd the thin bones, and drown'd the teeth in gore:
His mouth, his eyes, his nostrils, pour a flood;
He sobs his soul out in the gush of blood.
As when the flocks neglected by the swain,
Or kids, or lambs, lie scatter'd o'er the plain,
A troop of wolves the unguarded charge survey,
And rend the trembling, unresisting prey:
Thus on the foe the Greeks impetuous came;
Troy fled, unmindful of her former fame.
But still at Hector godlike Ajax aim'd,
Still, pointed at his breast, his javelin flamed.
The Trojan chief, experienced in the field,
O'er his broad shoulders spread the massy shield,
Observed the storm of darts the Grecians pour,
And on his buckler caught the ringing shower:
He sees for Greece the scale of conquest rise,
Yet stops, and turns, and saves his loved allies.
As when the hand of Jove a tempest forms,
And rolls the cloud to blacken heaven with storms,
Dark o'er the fields the ascending vapour flies,
And shades the sun, and blots the golden skies:
So from the ships, along the dusky plain,
Dire Flight and Terror drove the Trojan train.
Even Hector fled; through heads of disarray
The fiery coursers forced their lord away:
While far behind his Trojans fall confused;
Wedged in the trench, in one vast carnage bruised:
Chariots on chariots roll: the clashing spokes
Shock; while the madding steeds break short their yokes.
In vain they labour up the steepy mound;
Their charioteers lie foaming on the ground.
Fierce on the rear, with shouts Patroclus flies;
Tumultuous clamour fills the fields and skies;
Thick drifts of dust involve their rapid flight;
Clouds rise on clouds, and heaven is snatch'd from sight.
The affrighted steeds their dying lords cast down,
Scour o'er the fields, and stretch to reach the town.
Loud o'er the rout was heard the victor's cry,
Where the war bleeds, and where the thickest die,
Where horse and arms, and chariots he o'erthrown,
And bleeding heroes under axles groan.
No stop, no check, the steeds of Peleus knew:
From bank to bank the immortal coursers flew.
High-bounding o'er the fosse, the whirling car
Smokes through the ranks, o'ertakes the flying war,
And thunders after Hector; Hector flies,
Patroclus shakes his lance; but fate denies.
Not with less noise, with less impetuous force,
The tide of Trojans urge their desperate course,
Than when in autumn Jove his fury pours,
And earth is loaden with incessant showers;
(When guilty mortals break the eternal laws,
Or judges, bribed, betray the righteous cause;)
From their deep beds he bids the rivers rise,
And opens all the flood-gates of the skies:
The impetuous torrents from their hills obey,
Whole fields are drown'd, and mountains swept away;
Loud roars the deluge till it meets the main;
And trembling man sees all his labours vain!
And now the chief (the foremost troops repell'd)
Back to the ships his destined progress held,
Bore down half Troy in his resistless way,
And forced the routed ranks to stand the day.
Between the space where silver Simois flows,
Where lay the fleets, and where the rampires rose,
All grim in dust and blood Patroclus stands,
And turns the slaughter on the conquering bands.
First Pronous died beneath his fiery dart,
Which pierced below the shield his valiant heart.
Thestor was next, who saw the chief appear,
And fell the victim of his coward fear;
Shrunk up he sat, with wild and haggard eye,
Nor stood to combat, nor had force to fly;
Patroclus mark'd him as he shunn'd the war,
And with unmanly tremblings shook the car,
And dropp'd the flowing reins. Him 'twixt the jaws,
The javelin sticks, and from the chariot draws.
As on a rock that overhangs the main,
An angler, studious of the line and cane,
Some mighty fish draws panting to the shore:
Not with less ease the barbed javelin bore
The gaping dastard; as the spear was shook,
He fell, and life his heartless breast forsook.
Next on Eryalus he flies; a stone,
Large as a rock, was by his fury thrown:
Full on his crown the ponderous fragment flew,
And burst the helm, and cleft the head in two:
Prone to the ground the breathless warrior fell,
And death involved him with the shades of hell.
Then low in dust Epaltes, Echius, lie;
Ipheas, Evippus, Polymelus, die;
Amphoterus and Erymas succeed;
And last Tlepolemus and Pyres bleed.
Where'er he moves, the growing slaughters spread
In heaps on heaps a monument of dead.
When now Sarpedon his brave friends beheld
Grovelling in dust, and gasping on the field,
With this reproach his flying host he warms:
"Oh stain to honour! oh disgrace to arms!
Forsake, inglorious, the contended plain;
This hand unaided shall the war sustain:
The task be mine this hero's strength to try,
Who mows whole troops, and makes an army fly."
He spake: and, speaking, leaps from off the car:
Patroclus lights, and sternly waits the war.
As when two vultures on the mountain's height
Stoop with resounding pinions to the fight;
They cuff, they tear, they raise a screaming cry;
The desert echoes, and the rocks reply:
The warriors thus opposed in arms, engage
With equal clamours, and with equal rage.
Jove view'd the combat: whose event foreseen,
He thus bespoke his sister and his queen:
"The hour draws on; the destinies ordain,(245)
My godlike son shall press the Phrygian plain:
Already on the verge of death he stands,
His life is owed to fierce Patroclus' hands,
What passions in a parent's breast debate!
Say, shall I snatch him from impending fate,
And send him safe to Lycia, distant far
From all the dangers and the toils of war;
Or to his doom my bravest offspring yield,
And fatten, with celestial blood, the field?"
Then thus the goddess with the radiant eyes:
"What words are these, O sovereign of the skies!
Short is the date prescribed to mortal man;
Shall Jove for one extend the narrow span,
Whose bounds were fix'd before his race began?
How many sons of gods, foredoom'd to death,
Before proud Ilion must resign their breath!
Were thine exempt, debate would rise above,
And murmuring powers condemn their partial Jove.
Give the bold chief a glorious fate in fight;
And when the ascending soul has wing'd her flight,
Let Sleep and Death convey, by thy command,
The breathless body to his native land.
His friends and people, to his future praise,
A marble tomb and pyramid shall raise,
And lasting honours to his ashes give;
His fame ('tis all the dead can have) shall live."
She said: the cloud-compeller, overcome,
Assents to fate, and ratifies the doom.
Then touch'd with grief, the weeping heavens distill'd
A shower of blood o'er all the fatal field:
The god, his eyes averting from the plain,
Laments his son, predestined to be slain,
Far from the Lycian shores, his happy native reign.
Now met in arms, the combatants appear;
Each heaved the shield, and poised the lifted spear;
From strong Patroclus' hand the javelin fled,
And pass'd the groin of valiant Thrasymed;
The nerves unbraced no more his bulk sustain,
He falls, and falling bites the bloody plain.
Two sounding darts the Lycian leader threw:
The first aloof with erring fury flew,
The next transpierced Achilles' mortal steed,
The generous Pedasus of Theban breed:
Fix'd in the shoulder's joint, he reel'd around,
Roll'd in the bloody dust, and paw'd the slippery ground.
His sudden fall the entangled harness broke;
Each axle crackled, and the chariot shook:
When bold Automedon, to disengage
The starting coursers, and restrain their rage,
Divides the traces with his sword, and freed
The encumbered chariot from the dying steed:
The rest move on, obedient to the rein:
The car rolls slowly o'er the dusty plain.
The towering chiefs to fiercer fight advance:
And first Sarpedon whirl'd his weighty lance,
Which o'er the warrior's shoulder took its course,
And spent in empty air its dying force.
Not so Patroclus' never-erring dart;
Aim'd at his breast it pierced a mortal part,
Where the strong fibres bind the solid heart.
Then as the mountain oak, or poplar tall,
Or pine (fit mast for some great admiral)
Nods to the axe, till with a groaning sound
It sinks, and spreads its honours on the ground,
Thus fell the king; and laid on earth supine,
Before his chariot stretch'd his form divine:
He grasp'd the dust distain'd with streaming gore,
And, pale in death, lay groaning on the shore.
So lies a bull beneath the lion's paws,
While the grim savage grinds with foamy jaws
The trembling limbs, and sucks the smoking blood;
Deep groans, and hollow roars, rebellow through the wood.
Then to the leader of the Lycian band
The dying chief address'd his last command;
"Glaucus, be bold; thy task be first to dare
The glorious dangers of destructive war,
To lead my troops, to combat at their head,
Incite the living, and supply the dead.
Tell them, I charged them with my latest breath
Not unrevenged to bear Sarpedon's death.
What grief, what shame, must Glaucus undergo,
If these spoil'd arms adorn a Grecian foe!
Then as a friend, and as a warrior fight;
Defend my body, conquer in my right:
That, taught by great examples, all may try
Like thee to vanquish, or like me to die."
He ceased; the Fates suppress'd his labouring breath,
And his eyes darken'd with the shades of death.
The insulting victor with disdain bestrode
The prostrate prince, and on his bosom trod;
Then drew the weapon from his panting heart,
The reeking fibres clinging to the dart;
From the wide wound gush'd out a stream of blood,
And the soul issued in the purple flood.
His flying steeds the Myrmidons detain,
Unguided now, their mighty master slain.
All-impotent of aid, transfix'd with grief,
Unhappy Glaucus heard the dying chief:
His painful arm, yet useless with the smart
Inflicted late by Teucer's deadly dart,
Supported on his better hand he stay'd:
To Phoebus then ('twas all he could) he pray'd:
"All-seeing monarch! whether Lycia's coast,
Or sacred Ilion, thy bright presence boast,
Powerful alike to ease the wretch's smart;
O hear me! god of every healing art!
Lo! stiff with clotted blood, and pierced with pain,
That thrills my arm, and shoots through every vein,
I stand unable to sustain the spear,
And sigh, at distance from the glorious war.
Low in the dust is great Sarpedon laid,
Nor Jove vouchsafed his hapless offspring aid;
But thou, O god of health! thy succour lend,
To guard the relics of my slaughter'd friend:
For thou, though distant, canst restore my might,
To head my Lycians, and support the fight."
Apollo heard; and, suppliant as he stood,
His heavenly hand restrain'd the flux of blood;
He drew the dolours from the wounded part,
And breathed a spirit in his rising heart.
Renew'd by art divine, the hero stands,
And owns the assistance of immortal hands.
First to the fight his native troops he warms,
Then loudly calls on Troy's vindictive arms;
With ample strides he stalks from place to place;
Now fires Agenor, now Polydamas:
Æneas next, and Hector he accosts;
Inflaming thus the rage of all their hosts.
"What thoughts, regardless chief! thy breast employ?
Oh too forgetful of the friends of Troy!
Those generous friends, who, from their country far,
Breathe their brave souls out in another's war.
See! where in dust the great Sarpedon lies,
In action valiant, and in council wise,
Who guarded right, and kept his people free;
To all his Lycians lost, and lost to thee!
Stretch'd by Patroclus' arm on yonder plains,
O save from hostile rage his loved remains!
Ah let not Greece his conquer'd trophies boast,
Nor on his corse revenge her heroes lost!"
He spoke: each leader in his grief partook:
Troy, at the loss, through all her legions shook.
Transfix'd with deep regret, they view o'erthrown
At once his country's pillar, and their own;
A chief, who led to Troy's beleaguer'd wall
A host of heroes, and outshined them all.
Fired, they rush on; first Hector seeks the foes,
And with superior vengeance greatly glows.
But o'er the dead the fierce Patroclus stands,
And rousing Ajax, roused the listening bands:
"Heroes, be men; be what you were before;
Or weigh the great occasion, and be more.
The chief who taught our lofty walls to yield,
Lies pale in death, extended on the field.
To guard his body Troy in numbers flies;
Tis half the glory to maintain our prize.
Haste, strip his arms, the slaughter round him spread,
And send the living Lycians to the dead."
The heroes kindle at his fierce command;
The martial squadrons close on either hand:
Here Troy and Lycia charge with loud alarms,
Thessalia there, and Greece, oppose their arms.
With horrid shouts they circle round the slain;
The clash of armour rings o'er all the plain.
Great Jove, to swell the horrors of the fight,
O'er the fierce armies pours pernicious night,
And round his son confounds the warring hosts,
His fate ennobling with a crowd of ghosts.
Now Greece gives way, and great Epigeus falls;
Agacleus' son, from Budium's lofty walls;
Who chased for murder thence a suppliant came
To Peleus, and the silver-footed dame;
Now sent to Troy, Achilles' arms to aid,
He pays due vengeance to his kinsman's shade.
Soon as his luckless hand had touch'd the dead,
A rock's large fragment thunder'd on his head;
Hurl'd by Hectorean force it cleft in twain
His shatter'd helm, and stretch'd him o'er the slain.
Fierce to the van of fight Patroclus came,
And, like an eagle darting at his game,
Sprung on the Trojan and the Lycian band.
What grief thy heart, what fury urged thy hand,
O generous Greek! when with full vigour thrown,
At Sthenelaus flew the weighty stone,
Which sunk him to the dead: when Troy, too near
That arm, drew back; and Hector learn'd to fear.
Far as an able hand a lance can throw,
Or at the lists, or at the fighting foe;
So far the Trojans from their lines retired;
Till Glaucus, turning, all the rest inspired.
Then Bathyclaeus fell beneath his rage,
The only hope of Chalcon's trembling age;
Wide o'er the land was stretch'd his large domain,
With stately seats, and riches blest in vain:
Him, bold with youth, and eager to pursue
The flying Lycians, Glaucus met and slew;
Pierced through the bosom with a sudden wound,
He fell, and falling made the fields resound.
The Achaians sorrow for their heroes slain;
With conquering shouts the Trojans shake the plain,
And crowd to spoil the dead: the Greeks oppose;
An iron circle round the carcase grows.
Then brave Laogonus resign'd his breath,
Despatch'd by Merion to the shades of death:
On Ida's holy hill he made abode,
The priest of Jove, and honour'd like his god.
Between the jaw and ear the javelin went;
The soul, exhaling, issued at the vent.
His spear Aeneas at the victor threw,
Who stooping forward from the death withdrew;
The lance hiss'd harmless o'er his covering shield,
And trembling struck, and rooted in the field;
There yet scarce spent, it quivers on the plain,
Sent by the great Aeneas' arm in vain.
"Swift as thou art (the raging hero cries)
And skill'd in dancing to dispute the prize,
My spear, the destined passage had it found,
Had fix'd thy active vigour to the ground."
"O valiant leader of the Dardan host!
(Insulted Merion thus retorts the boast)
Strong as you are, 'tis mortal force you trust,
An arm as strong may stretch thee in the dust.
And if to this my lance thy fate be given,
Vain are thy vaunts; success is still from heaven:
This, instant, sends thee down to Pluto's coast;
Mine is the glory, his thy parting ghost."
"O friend (Menoetius' son this answer gave)
With words to combat, ill befits the brave;
Not empty boasts the sons of Troy repel,
Your swords must plunge them to the shades of hell.
To speak, beseems the council; but to dare
In glorious action, is the task of war."
This said, Patroclus to the battle flies;
Great Merion follows, and new shouts arise:
Shields, helmets rattle, as the warriors close;
And thick and heavy sounds the storm of blows.
As through the shrilling vale, or mountain ground,
The labours of the woodman's axe resound;
Blows following blows are heard re-echoing wide,
While crackling forests fall on every side:
Thus echoed all the fields with loud alarms,
So fell the warriors, and so rung their arms.
Now great Sarpedon on the sandy shore,
His heavenly form defaced with dust and gore,
And stuck with darts by warring heroes shed,
Lies undistinguish'd from the vulgar dead.
His long-disputed corse the chiefs enclose,
On every side the busy combat grows;
Thick as beneath some shepherd's thatch'd abode
(The pails high foaming with a milky flood)
The buzzing flies, a persevering train,
Incessant swarm, and chased return again.
Jove view'd the combat with a stern survey,
And eyes that flash'd intolerable day.
Fix'd on the field his sight, his breast debates
The vengeance due, and meditates the fates:
Whether to urge their prompt effect, and call
The force of Hector to Patroclus' fall,
This instant see his short-lived trophies won,
And stretch him breathless on his slaughter'd son;
Or yet, with many a soul's untimely flight,
Augment the fame and horror of the fight.
To crown Achilles' valiant friend with praise
At length he dooms; and, that his last of days
Shall set in glory, bids him drive the foe;
Nor unattended see the shades below.
Then Hector's mind he fills with dire dismay;
He mounts his car, and calls his hosts away;
Sunk with Troy's heavy fates, he sees decline
The scales of Jove, and pants with awe divine.
Then, nor before, the hardy Lycians fled,
And left their monarch with the common dead:
Around, in heaps on heaps, a dreadful wall
Of carnage rises, as the heroes fall.
(So Jove decreed!) At length the Greeks obtain
The prize contested, and despoil the slain.
The radiant arms are by Patroclus borne;
Patroclus' ships the glorious spoils adorn.
Then thus to Phoebus, in the realms above,
Spoke from his throne the cloud-compelling Jove:
"Descend, my Phoebus! on the Phrygian plain,
And from the fight convey Sarpedon slain;
Then bathe his body in the crystal flood,
With dust dishonour'd, and deform'd with blood;
O'er all his limbs ambrosial odours shed,
And with celestial robes adorn the dead.
Those rites discharged, his sacred corse bequeath
To the soft arms of silent Sleep and Death.
They to his friends the immortal charge shall bear;
His friends a tomb and pyramid shall rear:
What honour mortals after death receive,
Those unavailing honours we may give!"
[Illustration: SLEEP AND DEATH CONVEYING THE BODY OF SARPEDON TO LYCIA.]
SLEEP AND DEATH CONVEYING THE BODY OF SARPEDON TO LYCIA.
Apollo bows, and from mount Ida's height,
Swift to the field precipitates his flight;
Thence from the war the breathless hero bore,
Veil'd in a cloud, to silver Simois' shore;
There bathed his honourable wounds, and dress'd
His manly members in the immortal vest;
And with perfumes of sweet ambrosial dews
Restores his freshness, and his form renews.
Then Sleep and Death, two twins of winged race,
Of matchless swiftness, but of silent pace,
Received Sarpedon, at the god's command,
And in a moment reach'd the Lycian land;
The corse amidst his weeping friends they laid,
Where endless honours wait the sacred shade.
Meanwhile Patroclus pours along the plains,
With foaming coursers, and with loosen'd reins.
Fierce on the Trojan and the Lycian crew,
Ah blind to fate! thy headlong fury flew
Against what fate and powerful Jove ordain,
Vain was thy friend's command, thy courage vain.
For he, the god, whose counsels uncontroll'd
Dismay the mighty, and confound the bold;
The god who gives, resumes, and orders all,
He urged thee on, and urged thee on to fall.
Who first, brave hero! by that arm was slain,
Who last beneath thy vengeance press'd the plain;
When heaven itself thy fatal fury led,
And call'd to fill the number of the dead?
Adrestus first; Autonous then succeeds;
Echeclus follows; next young Megas bleeds,
Epistor, Melanippus, bite the ground;
The slaughter, Elasus and Mulius crown'd:
Then sunk Pylartes to eternal night;
The rest, dispersing, trust their fates to flight.
Now Troy had stoop'd beneath his matchless power,
But flaming Phoebus kept the sacred tower
Thrice at the battlements Patroclus strook;(246)
His blazing aegis thrice Apollo shook;
He tried the fourth; when, bursting from the cloud,
A more than mortal voice was heard aloud.
"Patroclus! cease; this heaven-defended wall
Defies thy lance; not fated yet to fall;
Thy friend, thy greater far, it shall withstand,
Troy shall not stoop even to Achilles' hand."
So spoke the god who darts celestial fires;
The Greek obeys him, and with awe retires.
While Hector, checking at the Scaean gates
His panting coursers, in his breast debates,
Or in the field his forces to employ,
Or draw the troops within the walls of Troy.
Thus while he thought, beside him Phoebus stood,
In Asius' shape, who reigned by Sangar's flood;
(Thy brother, Hecuba! from Dymas sprung,
A valiant warrior, haughty, bold, and young;)
Thus he accosts him. "What a shameful sight!
God! is it Hector that forbears the fight?
Were thine my vigour this successful spear
Should soon convince thee of so false a fear.
Turn thee, ah turn thee to the field of fame,
And in Patroclus' blood efface thy shame.
Perhaps Apollo shall thy arms succeed,
And heaven ordains him by thy lance to bleed."
So spoke the inspiring god; then took his flight,
And plunged amidst the tumult of the fight.
He bids Cebrion drive the rapid car;
The lash resounds, the coursers rush to war.
The god the Grecians' sinking souls depress'd,
And pour'd swift spirits through each Trojan breast.
Patroclus lights, impatient for the fight;
A spear his left, a stone employs his right:
With all his nerves he drives it at the foe.
Pointed above, and rough and gross below:
The falling ruin crush'd Cebrion's head,
The lawless offspring of king Priam's bed;
His front, brows, eyes, one undistinguish'd wound:
The bursting balls drop sightless to the ground.
The charioteer, while yet he held the rein,
Struck from the car, falls headlong on the plain.
To the dark shades the soul unwilling glides,
While the proud victor thus his fall derides.
"Good heaven! what active feats yon artist shows!
What skilful divers are our Phrygian foes!
Mark with what ease they sink into the sand!
Pity that all their practice is by land!"
Then rushing sudden on his prostrate prize,
To spoil the carcase fierce Patroclus flies:
Swift as a lion, terrible and bold,
That sweeps the field, depopulates the fold;
Pierced through the dauntless heart, then tumbles slain,
And from his fatal courage finds his bane.
At once bold Hector leaping from his car,
Defends the body, and provokes the war.
Thus for some slaughter'd hind, with equal rage,
Two lordly rulers of the wood engage;
Stung with fierce hunger, each the prey invades,
And echoing roars rebellow through the shades.
Stern Hector fastens on the warrior's head,
And by the foot Patroclus drags the dead:
While all around, confusion, rage, and fright,
Mix the contending hosts in mortal fight.
So pent by hills, the wild winds roar aloud
In the deep bosom of some gloomy wood;
Leaves, arms, and trees, aloft in air are blown,
The broad oaks crackle, and the Sylvans groan;
This way and that, the rattling thicket bends,
And the whole forest in one crash descends.
Not with less noise, with less tumultuous rage,
In dreadful shock the mingled hosts engage.
Darts shower'd on darts, now round the carcase ring;
Now flights of arrows bounding from the string:
Stones follow stones; some clatter on the fields,
Some hard, and heavy, shake the sounding shields.
But where the rising whirlwind clouds the plains,
Sunk in soft dust the mighty chief remains,
And, stretch'd in death, forgets the guiding reins!
Now flaming from the zenith, Sol had driven
His fervid orb through half the vault of heaven;
While on each host with equal tempests fell
The showering darts, and numbers sank to hell.
But when his evening wheels o'erhung the main,
Glad conquest rested on the Grecian train.
Then from amidst the tumult and alarms,
They draw the conquer'd corse and radiant arms.
Then rash Patroclus with new fury glows,
And breathing slaughter, pours amid the foes.
Thrice on the press like Mars himself he flew,
And thrice three heroes at each onset slew.
There ends thy glory! there the Fates untwine
The last, black remnant of so bright a line:
Apollo dreadful stops thy middle way;
Death calls, and heaven allows no longer day!
For lo! the god in dusky clouds enshrined,
Approaching dealt a staggering blow behind.
The weighty shock his neck and shoulders feel;
His eyes flash sparkles, his stunn'd senses reel
In giddy darkness; far to distance flung,
His bounding helmet on the champaign rung.
Achilles' plume is stain'd with dust and gore;
That plume which never stoop'd to earth before;
Long used, untouch'd, in fighting fields to shine,
And shade the temples of the mad divine.
Jove dooms it now on Hector's helm to nod;
Not long--for fate pursues him, and the god.
His spear in shivers falls; his ample shield
Drops from his arm: his baldric strows the field:
The corslet his astonish'd breast forsakes:
Loose is each joint; each nerve with horror shakes;
Stupid he stares, and all-assistless stands:
Such is the force of more than mortal hands!
A Dardan youth there was, well known to fame,
From Panthus sprung, Euphorbus was his name;
Famed for the manage of the foaming horse,
Skill'd in the dart, and matchless in the course:
Full twenty knights he tumbled from the car,
While yet he learn'd his rudiments of war.
His venturous spear first drew the hero's gore;
He struck, he wounded, but he durst no more.
Nor, though disarm'd, Patroclus' fury stood:
But swift withdrew the long-protended wood.
And turn'd him short, and herded in the crowd.
Thus, by an arm divine, and mortal spear,
Wounded, at once, Patroclus yields to fear,
Retires for succour to his social train,
And flies the fate, which heaven decreed, in vain.
Stern Hector, as the bleeding chief he views,
Breaks through the ranks, and his retreat pursues:
The lance arrests him with a mortal wound;
He falls, earth thunders, and his arms resound.
With him all Greece was sunk; that moment all
Her yet-surviving heroes seem'd to fall.
So, scorch'd with heat, along the desert score,
The roaming lion meets a bristly boar,
Fast by the spring; they both dispute the flood,
With flaming eyes, and jaws besmear'd with blood;
At length the sovereign savage wins the strife;
And the torn boar resigns his thirst and life.
Patroclus thus, so many chiefs o'erthrown,
So many lives effused, expires his own.
As dying now at Hector's feet he lies,
He sternly views him, and triumphant cries:
"Lie there, Patroclus! and with thee, the joy
Thy pride once promised, of subverting Troy;
The fancied scenes of Ilion wrapt in flames,
And thy soft pleasures served with captive dames.
Unthinking man! I fought those towers to free,
And guard that beauteous race from lords like thee:
But thou a prey to vultures shalt be made;
Thy own Achilles cannot lend thee aid;
Though much at parting that great chief might say,
And much enjoin thee, this important day.
'Return not, my brave friend (perhaps he said),
Without the bloody arms of Hector dead.'
He spoke, Patroclus march'd, and thus he sped."
Supine, and wildly gazing on the skies,
With faint, expiring breath, the chief replies:
"Vain boaster! cease, and know the powers divine!
Jove's and Apollo's is this deed, not thine;
To heaven is owed whate'er your own you call,
And heaven itself disarm'd me ere my fall.
Had twenty mortals, each thy match in might,
Opposed me fairly, they had sunk in fight:
By fate and Phoebus was I first o'erthrown,
Euphorbus next; the third mean part thy own.
But thou, imperious! hear my latest breath;
The gods inspire it, and it sounds thy death:
Insulting man, thou shalt be soon as I;
Black fate o'erhangs thee, and thy hour draws nigh;
Even now on life's last verge I see thee stand,
I see thee fall, and by Achilles' hand."
He faints: the soul unwilling wings her way,
(The beauteous body left a load of clay)
Flits to the lone, uncomfortable coast;
A naked, wandering, melancholy ghost!
Then Hector pausing, as his eyes he fed
On the pale carcase, thus address'd the dead:
"From whence this boding speech, the stern decree
Of death denounced, or why denounced to me?
Why not as well Achilles' fate be given
To Hector's lance? Who knows the will of heaven?"
Pensive he said; then pressing as he lay
His breathless bosom, tore the lance away;
And upwards cast the corse: the reeking spear
He shakes, and charges the bold charioteer.
But swift Automedon with loosen'd reins
Rapt in the chariot o'er the distant plains,
Far from his rage the immortal coursers drove;
The immortal coursers were the gift of Jove.
[Illustration: ÆSCULAPIUS.]
ÆSCULAPIUS. 其时，阿特柔斯之子、嗜战的墨奈劳斯
眼见帕特罗克洛斯倒在特洛伊人面前，在艰烈的拼搏中，
大步挤出前排的战勇，头顶闪亮的头盔，
横跨尸躯，像一头母牛，曲腿保护
头生的牛犊，今生第一胎幼仔，
棕发的墨奈劳斯跨尸而立，挺着枪矛，
携着溜圆的战盾，护卫着帕特罗克洛斯，
气势汹汹，决心放倒任何敢于近前的敌人。
但潘苏斯之子，手握粗长的(木岑)木杆枪矛的
欧福耳波斯，也看到健美的帕特罗克洛斯倒地的情景，
迎上前去，对嗜战的墨奈劳斯喊道：
“退回去，阿特柔斯之子，高贵的墨奈劳斯，军队的首领，
不要靠近他的身躯，跑离带血的战礼！
特洛伊人和声名遐迩的盟军伙伴中，我第一个击中
帕特罗克洛斯，置身激烈的战斗，用我的枪矛。
所以，让我获得这份殊誉，在特洛伊人中；
否则，我就连你一起放倒，夺走你甜美的生活！”
听罢这番话，棕发的墨奈劳斯心头暴烈烦愤，厉声答道：
“父亲宙斯，听听此番吹擂，此番粗虐不忌的狂言！
如此猖撅，压过了山豹和兽狮的凶猛，
就连横蛮的野猪，它的凶暴——此兽生性
高傲，心地最为狂烈——也有所不及。这一切
都比不上潘苏斯的两个儿子，凶蛮狂野，操使粗长的(木岑)木杆
枪矛！
然而，即便是驯马的好手，强有力的呼裴瑞诺耳，
青春的年华也没有给他带去欢悦——他曾和我对阵，出言
讥辱，骂我是达奈人中最无能的懦汉。现在，
他总算回到家园，但不是用自己的双腿，
不曾给亲爱的妻子和尊敬的父母带回愉悦。
至于你，我也会松放你的勇力，倘若你敢
和我对阵。退回去吧，告诉你，回到
你的群队，不要和我交手，省得自找
麻烦！即便是个傻瓜，也知道前车之鉴！”
对于此番警告，欧福耳波斯置若罔闻，张嘴答道：
“如此说来，高贵的墨奈劳斯，你必须为我兄弟偿付
血债——你杀了他，并且还就此口出狂言！
你使他的妻子落寡，幽居在新房的深处，
给他的双亲带去了难以言喻的痛苦和悲愁。
不过，我或许可以抚慰这些不幸的人们，休止他们的悲痛，
要是我能带回你的头颅和用械，
放入潘苏斯和美貌的芙荣提丝手中。
好了，不要再虚耗时间——让我们就此开战，
分个高低，看看谁能站住阵脚，谁会撒腿遁逃！”
言罢，他出手击中墨奈劳斯溜回的战盾，
但铜枪不曾穿透，被坚实的盾面
顶弯了枪尖。接着，阿特柔斯之子墨奈劳斯
启口诵祷，对父亲宙斯，掷出铜矛，
在对手回撤之时，倾身前趋，
压上全身的力量，自信于强有力的臂膀；
枪尖扎入脖子，穿透松软的颈肉，欧福耳波斯
随即倒地，轰然一声，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
他的头发，美得如同典雅姑娘的发束，其时沾满血污，
辫条上仍然别着黄金和纯银的发夹。
像农人种下的一棵枝干坚实的橄榄树苗，
在一处僻静的山地，浇上足够的淡水，
使之茁壮成长；劲风吹自各个方向，
摇曳着它的枝头，催发出银灰色的芽苞。然而，
天空突起一阵狂飙，强劲的风势把它
连根端出土坑，平躺在泥地上——就像这样，
阿特柔斯之子墨奈劳斯杀了潘苏斯之子，手握粗长的
(木岑)木杆枪矛的欧福耳波斯，开始抢剥他的铠甲。
像一头山地哺育的狮子，坚信自己的勇力，
从食草的牛群里抢出一头最肥的犊仔，
先用尖利的牙齿咬断喉管，然后
大口吞咽热血，野蛮地生食牛肚里的内脏；
在它的周围，狗和牧人噪声四起，
但只是呆离在远处，不敢近前
拼杀，切骨的惧怕揪揉着他们的心房——
就像这样，特洛伊人中谁也没有这个胆量，
上前拼战光荣的墨奈劳斯。其时，
阿特柔斯之子本可轻轻松松地得手，从潘苏斯之子身上＿
剥下光荣的铠甲，如果福伊波斯·阿波罗不怨怪他的作为，
催怂赫克托耳——可与迅捷的战神相匹比的壮勇——和他
拼搏，以一个凡人的形象，门忒斯，基科奈斯人的首领，
对赫克托耳发话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“赫克托耳，你在追赶永远抓逮不着的东西，
骁勇的阿基琉斯的良驹！凡人很难
控制或在马后驾驭，谁也不行，
除了阿基琉斯，因为他是女神的儿子。
与此同时，阿特柔斯之子、嗜战的墨奈劳斯跨护着
帕特罗克洛斯的遗体，已经杀死特洛伊军中最好的战勇，
欧福耳波斯，潘苏斯之子，休止了此人狂烈的战斗激情！”
言罢，阿波罗抽身回行，一位神祗，介入凡人的争斗。
剧烈的悲痛折磨着赫克托耳，黑罩着他的心胸。
他目光四射，扫过人群，当即看到两位
壮勇，一个正在抢剥光荣的铠甲，另一个
叉腿躺在地上，血浆从伤口汩汩地流淌。
他穿行在前排的战勇里，头顶闪亮的铜盔，
厉声高叫，看来就像赫法伊斯托斯的一团
不知疲倦的炉火。阿特柔斯之子耳闻他的尖叫，
备党烦恼，对自己那豪莽的心魂说道：
“哦，我该怎么办？丢下豪皇的铠甲和
为了我的荣誉而倒死在这里的帕特罗克洛斯？
如此，若是让伙伴们看见，难免不受指责；
然而，要是继续战斗，对特洛伊人和赫克托耳，孤身一人——
为了顾全面子——他们岂不就会冲上前来，把我团团围住？
赫克托耳，头顶锃亮的帽盔，是此间所有特洛伊人的统帅。
嘿，为何如此争辩，我的心魂？倘若
有人违背神的意愿。和另一个人，一个神明决意
要让他获得光荣的人战斗，那么，灭顶的灾难马上即会临头！
所以，达奈人不会怪罪于我，要是眼见我从
赫克托耳面前退却，因为他在凭藉神的力量战斗！
但愿我能在什么地方找到啸吼战场的埃阿斯，
我俩或许即可重返搏杀，以我们的狂烈，
即便和神明对抗，也在所不惜，夺回遗体，送交
裴琉斯之子阿苦基琉斯。情势险恶，这是无奈中最好的选择。”
就在他权衡斟酌之际，在他的心魂里，
特洛伊人的队伍已经冲涌上来，由赫克托耳率领。
墨奈劳斯拔腿后撤，离开死者，但
不时转过身子，像一头虬须满面的狮子，
被狗和人群赶离圈栏，用投枪和
呐喊，冰息了猛狮心头的骄烈，
不甘不愿地走离牲畜的栏棚，
棕发的墨奈劳斯离开帕特罗克洛斯，但一经回到
自己的伴群，马上转过身子，站稳脚跟，
四处张望，寻觅高大魁伟的埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子，
很快发现他的位置，在战场的左边，正
鼓励他的伙伴，催督他们战斗——
福伊波斯·阿波罗已在他们胸中注入摄胆惊心的恐慌。
他快步跑去，在朋友身边站定，开口说道：
“去那边吧，埃阿斯，我们必须救护死去的帕特罗克洛斯，
以便把他的遗体，披挂全无，交送
阿基琉斯——头盔闪亮的赫克托耳已剥占他的甲套！”
一番话激怒了骠勇的埃阿斯，
他大步穿走在前排的首领中，棕发的墨奈劳斯和他同行。
那边，赫克托耳已剥去帕特罗克洛斯闪光的铠甲，
拖拉着尸体，意欲从肩上砍下他的脑袋，用锋快的铜剑，
然后拖走尸躯，丢给特洛伊的饿狗。其时，
埃阿斯冲至他的近前，挺着墙面般的巨盾，
赫克托耳见状，退回自己的伴群，
跳上马车，把那套漂亮的铠甲交给
特洛伊人，送回城堡，显示辉煌的战功。
埃阿斯用巨盾挡护着墨诺伊提俄斯之子，
稳稳地站着，像一头狮子，保护着它的儿女，
正带着幼仔行路，在森林里面，不期
碰遇猎人，凭持巨大的勇力，凶蛮高傲，
压下额眉上的皮肉遮罩眼睛。
就像这样，埃阿斯跨护着英雄帕特罗克洛斯；
在他的身边，稳稳地站着阿特柔斯之子、嗜战的
墨奈劳斯，心中酿聚着增涌的悲愁。
其时，格劳科斯，希波洛科斯之子，鲁基亚人的首领，
眼盯着赫克托耳，紧皱着眉头，高声呵斥：
“赫克托耳，你外表富丽堂皇，战场上却让人大失所望！
你的荣誉，看来显赫，却只是一个逃兵的虚名！
好好计划一下，如何救护你的家园，你的城堡，
凭你自己的匹夫之勇和出生本地的伊利昂兵勇的帮忙。
鲁基亚人中，谁也不会再和达奈人战斗，
为了你的城堡。我们在同你们的敌人战斗，
年复一年，却不曾得过什么报慰。在
你的队伍里，狠心的赫克托耳，一般兵勇休想得到你的
救援——你连萨耳裴冬都可丢弃不管，使他成了阿耳吉维人
手中的战礼和猎物：萨耳裴冬，你的客友和伙伴，
身前立下过许多汗马功劳，为你和你的城堡！
现在，你却没有这个勇气，为他打开身边的犬狗！
所以，倘若鲁基亚人愿意听命于我，我们这就
动身回家，特洛伊的败亡将紧接着我们离去的脚步！
要是特洛伊人还有无所畏惧、一往无前的
勇气——人们藉此保卫自己的家国，
和敌人进行英勇不屈的拼搏，那么，
我们马上即可把帕特罗克洛斯拖进城堡。
倘若我们能把他拉出战场，把他，虽然
已经死了，拖进王者普里阿摩斯宏伟的城堡，
阿耳吉维人马上即会交还萨耳裴冬漂亮的
铠甲，而我们亦可把他的遗体运回伊利昂。
被杀者是阿基琉斯的伴友，阿基琉斯，海船边的
阿耳吉维人中最善战的壮勇，统领着近战杀敌的精兵。
但是你，你没有这个勇气，接战心志豪莽的
埃阿斯，不敢在喧嚣的人群中看着他的
眼睛，奋起进击——他是个比你好得多的英壮！”
顶着闪亮的头盔，高大的赫克托耳恶狠狠地盯着他，嚷道：
“格劳科斯，一个像你这样有身份的人，居然说出此番不知轻
重的话语，这是什么缘故？以前，我以为，生活在土地肥沃的
鲁基亚的兵民中，你最聪明；现在，
我由衷地蔑视你的心智，不要听你的废话——
你说我不敢面对面地和高大魁伟的埃阿斯拼斗？
告诉你，我从来不怕战火的烧烤，不怕马蹄的轰响！
但是，宙斯的意志总是压倒凡人的心愿；
他能吓倒嗜战的勇士，轻而易举地夺走他的
胜利，虽然有时他又亲自催励一个人战斗。
来吧，我的朋友，看看我如何战斗！站在我的身边，
看看我是否每天像个懦夫似地混着，如你说的那样；
看看我能否息止某个达那人的拼斗，碎毁他的
意愿：保卫死去的帕特罗克洛斯——哪怕他使出每一分狂暴！”
言罢，他亮开嗓门，对特洛伊人高声喊道：
“特洛伊人，鲁基亚人和达耳达尼亚人，近战杀敌的勇士们！
拿出男子汉的勇气，我的朋友们，鼓起征死的战斗激情！
我将穿上勇敢的阿基琉斯的铠甲，绚美的
精品，剥之于强健的帕特罗克洛斯的胸肩，此人已被我宰杀！”
喊罢，赫克托耳，顶着闪亮的头盔，脱离
惨烈的战斗，疾步回跑，很快赶上了
他的伙伴——他跑得飞快，而他们亦没有走出太远，
朝着城堡的方向，带着裴琉斯之于光彩夺目的铠甲。
离着痛苦的战斗，赫克托耳动手换穿甲衣，
把自己的那付交给嗜战的特洛伊人，带回
神圣的伊利昂，换上裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯的
铠甲，永恒的珍品；天神把它赐给
阿基琉斯尊爱的父亲，后者年迈后，把它传给自己
的儿子；然而，儿子却不能活到白发之年，在父亲的甲衣里。
其时，从远离地面的天空，汇聚乌云的宙斯看到他的作为：
正忙着武装自己，用神一样的阿基琉斯的甲衣，
于是摇动脑袋，对自己的心灵说道：
“唉，可怜的赫克托耳，全然不知死期已至——当你穿上
这副永不败坏的铠甲，死亡即已挨近你的躯体：此物
属于一位了不起的斗士；在他面前，其他战勇亦会害怕发抖。
现在，你杀了此人钟爱的朋友，强健、温厚的伙伴，
做了不该做的事情，剥了他的盔甲，从他的
肩膀和头颅。尽管如此，眼下，我还是要给你巨大的力量，
作为一种补偿：你将不能活着离开战场，回返家园，而
安德罗玛开也休想接过阿基琉斯光荣的铠甲，从你的手中。”
克罗诺斯之子言罢，弯颈点动浓黑的眉毛。
他使铠甲恰好贴吻赫克托耳的胸背，而凶狠的战神
阿瑞斯给他注入狂暴，使他的肢体充满
朝气和战斗的力量。赫克托耳行进在声名遐迩的盟军
队伍里，高声喊叫，穿着心胸豪壮的阿基琉斯的甲衣，
出现在他们面前，放射出绚丽的光芒。
他穿行在队伍里，鼓励着每一位首领，
墨斯勒斯、格劳科斯、墨冬和塞耳西洛科斯，
阿斯忒罗派俄斯、得伊塞诺耳和希波苏斯，
还有福耳库斯、克罗米俄斯和释卜鸟踪的恩诺摩斯，
激励他们向前，放声呼喊，用长了翅膀的话语：
“听我说，生活在我们疆界周围的数不清的部族，盟军朋友们！
我把你们一个个地从自己的城堡请来，
不是出于集聚大群人马的需要和愿望，
我请你们来，是想借各位的勇力，保护特洛伊的
妇女和弱小无助的儿童，使他们免遭阿开亚人的蹂躏。
为此目的，我榨干了我的人民，给你们礼品和
食物，以此鼓起你们每一个人的战斗激情。
所以，你们各位必须面对敌人，要么一死，
要么存活——这便是战争快慰人心的取予！
谁要是能把帕特罗克洛斯，虽然已经死去，
拖回驯马手特洛伊人的队列，逼退埃阿斯，
我将从战礼中取出一半给他，另一半
归我所有——他的荣誉将和我的等同！”
赫克托耳言罢，他们举起枪矛，扑向达奈人，
以全部战力；人人心环希望，从
忒拉蒙之子埃阿斯那里抢过躯体。
蠢货！在尸体周围，他已放倒成群的战勇！
但眼下，埃阿斯却对啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯说道：
“高贵的墨奈劳斯，我的朋友，我已失去希望，
仅凭你我的力量，我们难以杀出这片人群。
我担心帕特罗克洛斯的遗体，它将
马上沦为特洛伊的犬狗和兀鸟吞食的对象，
但我更担心自己的脑袋，自己的生命，恐怕险遭不测。
我也同样担心你的安危——赫克托耳，这片战争的
乌云笼罩着地面上的一切；暴死的阴影正朝着我们扑袭！
赶快，召呼达奈人的首领，倘若现在有人可以听见你的话音。”
他言罢，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯谨遵不违，
提高嗓门，用尖亮的声音对达奈人喊道：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们！
所有偕同阿伽门农和墨奈劳斯，阿特柔斯的
两个儿子，饮喝公库里的醇酒，对自己的兵众
发号施令，收受宙斯赐予的地位和荣誉的人们！
眼下，我不可能—一提点各位的大名，
我的首领们——战斗打得如此惨烈，像腾烧的火焰！
冲吧，各位主动出战！我们不要这份耻辱，
不要让特洛伊的犬狗嬉耍帕特罗克洛斯的遗身！”
他言罢，俄伊纽斯之子、迅捷的埃阿斯听得真切，
第一个跑过战斗的人群，和他聚首；
紧接着跑来伊多墨纽斯和墨里俄奈斯，
伊多墨纽斯的伙伴，杀人狂阿瑞斯一般凶莽的武夫。
其后，战勇们接踵而来，唤起阿开亚人的战斗激情——
谁有这个能耐，—一道数出他们的大名？
其时，赫克托耳带领队形密集的特洛伊兵众，冲扫而来，
宛如在雨水暴涨的洞口，咆哮的
海浪击打着河道里泻出的激流，突出的
滩头发出隆隆的巨响，回荡着惊浪扑岸的吼声——
就像这样，特洛伊人呼啸着冲上前来。但是，阿开亚人以
坚强的阵势，集聚在墨诺伊提俄斯之子周围，抱定同一个信念，
战斗在盾面相连的铜墙后。与此同时，克罗诺斯之子
布起浓厚的迷雾，掩罩着闪亮的头盔。
过去，宙斯从未怨过墨诺伊提俄斯之子，
在他活着的时候，作为阿基琉斯的伴友；
所以，他现在催励阿开亚人保护他的遗体，不忍心
让死者变成一摊人肉，喂饱可恨的特洛伊饿狗。
初始，特洛伊人硬是顶住了明眸的阿开亚兵勇，
后者丢下遗体，撒腿惊跑。心志高昂的
特洛伊人枪矛在握，全力以赴，不曾杀死一个敌人，
倒是开始拽拉地上的尸体。然而，阿开亚人不会长时间地
把它丢弃；以极快的速度，埃阿斯重新召聚起队伍，
埃阿斯，除了逊让于刚勇的阿基琉斯外，
他的健美和战力超越所有的达奈人。
他闯入前排的战勇，凶猛得像一头
野猪，窘困在林间的谷地，频频转动身子，
一举冲散狗和年轻力壮的猎人，在那莽莽的山野，
高贵的忒拉蒙之子、光荣的埃阿斯
凶猛地冲进敌阵，一举击溃了一队队特洛伊战勇，
后者跨立在帕特罗克洛斯遗体的两边，热切
希望把他拖入城堡，争得此项光荣。
其时，希波苏斯，裴拉斯吉亚人莱索斯光荣的儿子，
抓起盾牌的背带，绑住脚踝的筋腱，试图
拉着死者的双脚，把他拖出激烈的战斗，
取悦赫克托耳和特洛伊人。无奈突来的死亡
夺走了他的生命，谁也救挡不得，虽然他们都很愿意。
忒拉蒙之子，冲扫过成群的战勇，
逼近出枪，捅穿帽盔上的青铜颊片；
枪尖带着粗长的铜矛和臂膀的
重力，打裂了缀扎着马鬃脊冠的盔盖，
脑浆从豁口喷涌而出．顺着枪杆的插口，
掺和着浓血。他的勇力消散殆尽，双手一松，
放掉缥勇的帕特罗克洛斯的腿脚——
死者横倒泥尘，他自己亦头脸朝下，扑倒尸身，
远离富饶的拉里萨，不得回报
敬爱的双亲，养育的思典；他活得短促，
被心胸豪壮的埃阿斯出枪击杀。
赫克托耳挥手投出闪亮的枪矛，对着埃阿斯，
但后者盯视着他的举动，躲过铜镖，
仅在毫末之间；枪尖击中斯凯底俄斯，心胸豪壮的
伊菲托斯的儿子，福基斯人中最勇敢的斗士，家住
著名的帕诺裴乌斯，统治着众多的子民。
投枪扎在锁骨下，犀利的铜尖
穿筋破骨，从肩膀的根座里捅出；
他随即倒地，轰然一声，铠甲在身上铿锵作响。
接着，埃阿斯击倒了福耳库斯，法伊诺普斯聪慧的儿子，
其时正跨护着希波苏斯，打在肚腹正中，
捅穿胸甲的虚处，内脏从铜甲里
迸挤出来；福耳库斯随即倒地，手抓泥尘。
特洛伊人的首领们开始退却，包括光荣的赫克托耳；
阿开亚人放声吼叫，拖走希波苏斯和
福耳库斯的遗体，从他们肩上剥下铠甲。
其时，面对嗜战的阿开亚兵壮，特洛伊人可能会再次爬过
城墙，逃回伊利昂，背着惊恐的包袱，跌跌撞撞，而
阿耳吉维人却可能冲破宙斯定下的规限，以自己的
勇武和力量，争得荣光，要不是阿波罗亲自
催励起埃内阿斯的战力，以信使裴里法斯的形象，
厄普托斯之子，在埃内阿斯的老父面前，守着
此份职务，迈入苍黄的暮年——一位心地善良的好人。
以此人的模样，宙斯之子阿波罗对他说道：
“埃内阿斯，你和你的部属何以能够保卫陡峭的伊利昂，
违背神的意愿？从前，我曾见过一些凡人，
坚信自己的勇武和力量，凭藉他们的骠健和军队的
战力——虽然在数量上处于劣势——保卫自己的城邦。
但是，宙斯现正站在我们一边，打算让我们，而不是
达奈人获取胜利。问题在于你，你已被吓得躲躲闪闪，竟然不
敢战斗！”
他言罢，埃内阿斯看着他的脸面，听出此乃
远射手阿波罗的声音，于是对着赫克托耳喊话，声音宏亮：
“赫克托耳，各位特洛伊首领，盟军朋友们！
可耻啊！我们正跌跌撞撞地爬回
特洛伊，背着惊恐的包袱，嗜战的阿开亚人的追杀！
没看见吗？一位神明站在我的身边，告诉我
宙斯，至高无上的神主，仍在助信我们战斗。
所以，我们必须冲向达奈人，不要让他们
把帕特罗克洛斯的尸体抬回海船，干得轻轻松松！”
言罢，埃内阿斯跳出队伍，远远地站在头排壮勇的前面，
其他人则转过身子，站住脚跟，迎战阿开亚人。
其时，埃内阿斯出枪杀了雷俄克里托斯，
阿里斯巴斯之子，鲁科墨得斯高贵的伴友。
眼见伙伴倒地，嗜战的鲁科墨得斯心生怜悯，
跨步进逼，投出闪亮的枪矛，击中
阿丕萨昂，希帕索斯之子，兵士的牧者，
打在横隔膜下的肝脏上，当即酥软了他的膝腿。
此人来自土地肥沃的派俄尼亚，除了
阿斯忒罗派俄斯外，他是本部最好的战勇。
他随即倒地，勾发了嗜战的阿斯忒罗派俄斯的怜悯，
猛扑上去，寻战达奈人，心急似火，
但却不能如愿；他们围拥着帕特罗克洛斯的躯体，
用盾牌把它挡得严严实实，伸挺着枪矛。
埃阿斯穿行在人群里，发出严厉的命令，
既不让任何人退离尸体，也不让谁个
冲出队阵，离开其他阿开亚人，孤身对敌；
他要人们紧紧围聚在尸躯边，手对手地战斗。
这便是巨人埃阿斯的命令。其时，大地上碧血
殷红，勇士们一个接一个地倒下，
从特洛伊人和豪壮的盟军队列，
也从达奈人的队阵——流血牺牲，阿开亚人岂能幸免？
但相比之下，后者的伤亡要轻得多．因为他们从未忘记
排成紧密的队阵，互相防卫，避离凶暴的死亡。
就这样，双方激烈拼搏，如同燃烧的烈火。
你或许以为太阳和月亮已不在天空存耀：浓雾
弥漫在整个战区，最勇敢的人们拼搏的地方，
围绕着帕特罗克洛斯的躯体，墨诺伊提俄斯阵亡的儿郎。
这时，在其他地方，特洛伊人和胫甲坚固的阿开亚人
仍在常态下战斗，在晴朗的天空下，
透亮的日光里，大地和山脊上没有一丝
游云。他们打一阵，息一阵，中间隔开
一大段距离，避闪着此来彼往的羽箭，
飞响着痛苦的呻吟。但那些搏战在中军的战勇，却
饱受着迷雾和战火的煎熬，被无情的铜械打得七零八落。
他们是战斗中最勇敢的人。然而，战场上还有两位著名的
勇士，斯拉苏墨得斯和安提洛科斯，其时还不曾得知
豪勇的帕特罗克洛斯已死的消息，满以为
他还活着，在前排的队列里，奋战特洛伊人。
但此二位，望着伙伴们倒地死亡或撒腿奔逃，
战斗在战场的边翼，按照奈斯托耳的吩咐，
在催励他俩离开乌黑的海船，投身战斗的前夕。
整整一天，勇士们冒死拼杀，浴血
苦战，没有片刻的停息，他们全身疲软，汗如泉涌，
透湿了膝盖、小腿和支撑每一位战勇的腿足，
淋湿了双手和眼睛——两军相搏，
为了争夺捷足的阿基琉斯勇敢的伴友。
像一位制皮的工匠，把一领大公牛的皮张交给
伙计们拉扯，透浸着油脂；
他们接过牛皮，站成一个圈围，用力
张拉，直到挤出皮里的水分，吸进表层上的
油脂，人多手杂，把牛皮拉成一块绷紧的平片。
就像这样，双方勇士争扯着尸体，在一片壅塞的地面上，
朝着己方猛拉，寄怀着希望——特洛伊人企望
把它拖进伊利昂，而阿开亚人则希冀着
把它抬回深旷的海船。围绕着倒地的躯体，
双方展开了一场凶蛮的拼杀。即便是阿瑞斯，勇士的催聚者，
即便是雅典娜，目睹这场
战斗，也不会讥刺嘲讽——哪怕在他俩怒气最盛的时候。
这一天，宙斯绷紧了战争的弦线，双方打得疯疯
烈烈，成群的兵勇和驭马，为争夺帕特罗克洛斯的遗躯。然而，
卓越的阿基琉斯其时还不知帕特罗克洛斯已死的消息，
因为人们在远离快船的地方，在特洛伊
城墙下战斗。阿基琉斯亦不会想到
帕特罗克洛斯已经死去，以为他还活着，一旦逼至
城下，便会返身营房。他不曾想过，帕特罗克洛斯
会攻破城堡，没有他的参与——就是和他一起，也不曾想过。
他经常听到母亲的告嘱，通过私下的秘密渠道，
告知大神宙斯的意志，但这次，
母亲却没有告诉他这条
噩耗：他最亲爱的伴友已经阵亡。
围绕着帕特罗克洛斯的遗体，勇士们手握锋快的枪矛，
咄咄近逼，互相不停地杀砍，打得英勇壮烈。
其时，某个身披铜甲的阿开亚人会这么说道：
“朋友们，倘若现在退回深旷的海船，我们还有
什么光荣？让乌黑的大地裂开一道口子，此时
此地，把我们尽数吞咬！这是个好得多的结局，
较之把尸体让给特洛伊人，调驯烈马的壮勇，
由他们带回自己的城堡，争得荣光！”
而某个心胸豪壮的特洛伊人，此时亦会这般喊道：
“朋友们，即使命运要我们全都死在此人的
身边，即便如此，也不许任何人逃离战斗！”
他们会如此说道，催励起每一位伙伴的
战斗激情。战斗打得如此狂烈，灰铁的喧嚣
穿过荒袤的气空，冲上铜色的天穹。
然而，阿基琉斯的驭马其时离着战场伫立，
自从得知它们的驭手已经阵亡，死在
杀人不眨眼的赫克托耳手里，就一直泪流不止。
奥托墨冬，狄俄瑞斯强有力的儿子，竭己所能，
扬起舒展的皮条，一鞭又一鞭地抽打，
时而低声恳劝，时而恶语胁迫，然而，
它俩既不愿回返海船停驻的地方，赫勒斯庞特
宽阔的海岸，也不愿跑回战场，战斗在阿开亚人身旁。
它们纹丝不动地站着，像一块石碑，
矗立在坟堆上，厮守着一个死去的男人或女子，
静静地架着做工精美的战车，
低重的头脸贴着地面，热泪涌注，
夺眶而出，湿点着尘土——
它们悲悼自己的驭者，闪亮的长鬃铺泻在
轭垫的边沿，垂洒在轭架两边，沾满了污尘。
眼见它们流泪悲悼，克罗诺斯之子心生怜悯，
摇着头，对自己的心魂说道：
“可怜的东西，我们为何把你们给了王者裴琉斯，
一个凡人，而你们是长生不死、永恒不灭的天马？
为了让你们置身不幸的凡人，和他们一起忍受痛苦吗？
一切生聚和爬行在地面上的生灵，
凡人最是多灾多难。不过，
至少赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，不会
登上做工精致的战车，从你们后面；我绝不会允许他这么做。
他已得获那副战甲，并因此大肆炫耀——这一切难道还不够吗？
现在，我将在你们的膝腿和心里注入力量，
让你们把奥托墨冬带出战场，回返
深旷的海船，因我仍将赐予特洛伊人
杀戳的荣耀，一直杀到凳板坚固的海船，
杀到太阳西下，神圣的黑夜把大地蒙罩。”
言罢，宙斯给驭马吹入蓬勃的活力，
后者抖落鬃发上的泥尘，轻松地
拉起飞滚的战车，奔驰在两军之间。
奥托墨冬一边驾车，一边战斗，尽管怀着对伙伴之死的伤愁——
他赶着马车，冲入战阵，像扑击鹅群的兀鹫，
轻而易举地闪出特洛伊混乱的人群，
继而又轻松地冲扑进去，追赶大队的散兵。
然而，尽管造得很紧，他却不能出手杀敌——
孤身一人，驾着颠簸的战车，既要驭控
飞跑的骏马，又要投枪杀敌，让他如何对付得了？
终于，伙伴中有人发现他的踪迹，
阿尔基墨冬，莱耳开斯之子，海蒙的后代，
站在车后，对着奥托墨冬喊道：
“奥托墨冬，是哪位神祗把这个没有用益的主意
塞进你的心胸，夺走了你的睿智？你在试图
以单身之躯，和特洛伊人战斗，在这前排的
队阵中！你的伙伴已经死去；赫克托耳正
穿着阿基琉斯的甲衣，显耀他的光荣！”
听罢这番话，狄俄瑞斯之子奥托墨冬答道：
“阿尔基墨冬，阿开亚人中，还有谁比你更能调驯
这对长生不老的骏马，制驭它们的狂暴？
只有帕特罗克洛斯，和神一样精擅谋略的凡人，
在他活着的时候——可惜死和命运已经结束了他的一生。
上来吧，从我手中接过马鞭和闪亮的
缰绳；我将跳下马车，投入战斗！”
他言罢，阿尔基墨冬跃上冲跑的马车，
出手迅捷，接过皮鞭和缰绳，而
奥托墨冬则抬腿跳下战车。然而，光荣的赫克托耳看到了
他们，当即对站在近旁的埃内阿斯说道：
“埃内阿斯，身披铜甲的特洛伊人的训导，
我已望见捷足的阿基琉斯的驭马，
迅猛地冲向战斗，听命于懦弱的驭手。看来，
我有希望逮住它们，如果你愿意
和我一起行动。倘若我俩协同作战，
他俩就不敢和我们交手，面对面地战斗！”
言罢，安基塞斯骁勇的儿子欣然遵从。
他俩大步向前，挺着战盾，挡护着肩膀，厚实。
坚韧的牛皮，锻铆着大片的铜层。
克罗米俄斯和神一样的阿瑞托斯跟随冲击，
两位壮勇，带着热切的企盼，意欲
杀死阿开亚人，赶走颈脖粗壮的驭马。
可怜的蠢货！奥托墨冬将放出他们的热血，
不会让他们活着口头！他祷过宙斯，
黑心中注满了勇气和力量，对
阿尔基墨冬、他所信赖的伴友喊道：
“阿尔基墨冬，让驭马侍候在我的身旁，
让他们对着我的脊背呼息。眼下，我认为，
谁也顶不住普里阿摩斯之子赫克托耳的蛮狂，
他会跃上战车，从阿基琉斯长鬃飘洒的骏马
后面，杀了我俩，打散阿开亚人战斗的
群伍；对于他，要么这样，要么死去，战死在前排的队列中！
言罢，他对着两位埃阿斯和墨奈劳斯喊道：
“两位埃阿斯，阿耳吉维人的首领！墨奈劳斯！
把帕特罗克洛斯留给你们认为最合适的人，
他们会跨护他的遗体，打退特洛伊人的队伍。你等
这就过来，帮助我们仍然活着的战勇，打开这要命的时分！
敌人正向这边冲来，赫克托耳和埃内阿斯，特洛伊
最善战的壮勇，逼压在我们前头——这场掺和着泪水的苦斗！
但是，所有这一切都躺卧在神的膝头，
我将甩手枪矛，其余的听凭宙斯定夺。”
言罢，他持平落影森长的枪矛，奋臂投掷，
击中阿瑞托斯边圈溜圆的战盾，
铜尖冲破阻挡，把面里一起穿透，
捅开腰带，深扎进他的肚腹。
像一个身强力壮的汉子，手提利斧，
杀砍一头漫步草场的壮牛，劈在牛角后面，
砍穿厚实的隆肉；牧牛腾扑向前，塌倒在地——
就像这样，阿瑞托斯先是向前扑跳，接着仰面翻倒，
锋快的枪矛深扎进去，摇摇晃晃，酥软了他的肢腿。
其时，赫克托耳投出闪亮的枪矛，对着奥托墨冬，
但后者盯视着他的举动，躲过铜矛，
向前佝屈起身子；长枪扎入后面的
泥地，杆尾来回摆动，
直到强健的阿瑞斯平止了它的狂暴。
其时，他们会手持利剑，近战搏杀，
要不是两位埃阿斯，听到伙伴的召唤，
奋力挤过战斗的人群，隔现在他俩之中。
出于恐惧，赫克托耳和埃内阿斯，以及神一样的
克罗米俄斯再次退却，撇下阿瑞托斯的
躯体，躺在原地——投枪夺走了他的生命。
其时，奥托墨冬，可与迅捷的战神相匹比的战勇，
剥去他的铠甲，得意洋洋地吹擂：
“这下，多少减轻了帕特罗克洛斯之死带给我的愁憾，
虽然和他相比，被我宰杀的此人远不是同等的英豪。”
言罢，他拿起带血的战礼，放在
车上，然后抬腿登车，手脚鲜血
滴淌，像一头狮子，刚刚撕吞了一头公牛。
其时，围绕着帕特罗克洛斯的遗体，双方重新开战，
场面惨烈，泪水横流。雅典娜从天上下来，
挑发殊死的拼搏，受宙斯派遣，催励达奈人
战斗；沉雷远播的天神已改变心潮的流程。
宛如宙斯在天上划出的一道闪光的长虹，兆现给
凡人，预示着战争或卷来阴寒的风暴，
它将驱走温热，辍止凡人的劳作，
在广袤的地面，给畜群带来骚恼，
雅典娜行裹在闪光的云朵里，
出现在大群的达奈人中，催励着每一个战勇。
首先，她对阿特柔斯之子、强健的墨奈劳斯发话，
催他向前——他正站在女神身边——幻取
福伊尼克斯的形象，模仿他那不知疲倦的声音：
“这将是你的耻辱，墨奈劳斯，你将为此低垂脑袋，
倘若在特洛伊城下，疯狂的饿狗
撕裂高傲的阿基琉斯忠勇的伴友。
坚持下去，奋勇向前，催励所有的人战斗！”
听罢这番话，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯答道：
“福伊尼克斯，我的父亲，老一辈的斗士！但愿雅典娜
能给我力量，替我挡开飞射而来的枪矛！
这样，我就能下定决心，站在帕特罗克洛斯身边，
保护他的遗体；他的死亡深深地刺痛了我的心房。
但是，赫克托耳仍然拥有火一样暴虐的勇力，挺着
铜枪冲杀，不曾有一刻阐息；宙斯正使他获得光荣。”
听罢这番话，灰眼睛女神雅典娜心里高兴，
诸神中，此人首先对她祈愿。
女神把力气输人他的肩膀和双膝，
又在他心里激起虹蝇的凶勇——
把它赶开，它却偏要回返，执意叮咬
人的皮肉，迷恋于血液的甜美——
女神用血蝇的勇莽饱注着他那乌黑的心胸。
他跨站在帕特罗克洛斯身边，投出闪亮的
枪矛。特洛伊人中，有一位名叫波得斯的战勇，厄提昂
之子，出身高贵，家资充盈，在整个地域，最得赫克托耳
尊爱——一位亲近的朋友，餐桌上的食客。
现在，棕发的墨奈劳斯击中了他，打在护带上，
在他跳步逃跑之际，铜矛穿透了腹腔——
他随即倒地，轰然一声。阿特柔斯之子墨奈劳斯
从特洛伊人那里拉走尸体，拖回己方的营阵。
其时，阿波罗来到赫克托耳身边，出言催励，
以阿西俄斯之子法诺普斯的形象，在全部
客友中，此人最受赫克托耳尊爱，居家阿布多斯。
以此人的模样，远射手阿波罗说道：
“现在，赫克托耳，有哪个阿开亚人还会怕畏于你？
瞧瞧你自己，居然在墨奈劳斯面前缩退；过去，
此人一直是个懦弱的枪手。眼下，他竟然独自一人，
从我们鼻子底下拖走尸体，并且杀了你所信赖的伴友，
首领中骁勇的斗士，厄提昂之子波得斯。”
他言罢，一团悲痛的乌云罩住了赫克托耳的心灵。
他穿行在前排的壮勇里，头顶锃亮的头盔。
其时，克罗诺斯之子拿起穗带飘摇的埃吉斯，
光彩夺目，将伊达山笼罩在弥漫的云雾里。
他扔出一道闪电，一声炸响的霹雳，摇撼着埃吉斯，
使特洛伊战勇获胜，把阿开亚人吓得惶惶奔逃。
波伊俄提亚人裴奈琉斯第一个撒腿；
他总是冲跑在前面，而普鲁达马斯从近处
投枪，击中他的肩膀，伤势轻微，
但枪尖已擦碰肩骨。接着，
赫克托耳扎伤了雷托斯的手腕，
心胸豪壮的阿勒克特鲁昂的儿子，使他丧失了战斗能力。
雷托斯左右扫瞄，拔腿回逃，
心知已不能继续手提枪矛，和特洛伊人战斗。
赫克托耳奋起追赶，被伊多墨纽斯投枪
击中护胸的铠甲，奶头旁边，但
长枪在铜尖后面折断——特洛伊人发出一阵
呼啸。赫克托耳甩手投掷，对着伊多墨纽斯，丢克里昂之子，
其时正站在车上；枪尖擦身而过，差离仅在毫末之间，
击中墨里俄奈斯的助手和驭者，
科伊拉诺斯，随同前者一起来自城垣坚固的鲁克托斯。
清晨，伊多墨纽斯徒步离开弯翘的海船；
现在，他将让特洛伊人赢得一项辉煌的胜利，
要不是科伊拉诺斯赶着快马前来，
像一道闪光，在伊多墨纽斯眼里，为他挡开无情的死亡。
然而，驭手自己却因此送命，死在杀人狂赫克托耳手下，
打在颚骨和耳朵下面，枪矛连根捣出
牙齿，把舌头截成两半——
他从车上翻身倒地，马缰散落泥尘。
墨里俄奈斯弯腰捡起缰绳，从
平原的泥地上，对伊多墨纽斯喊道：
“扬鞭催马，回返迅捷的海船！
你已亲眼看到，阿开亚人的勇力已被彻底荡扫！”
他言罢，伊多墨纽斯催打着长鬃飘洒的驭马，
心怀恐惧，跑回深旷的海船。
心志豪莽的埃阿斯和墨奈劳斯亦已看出，
宙斯已把改变战局的勇力给了特洛伊战勇。
两人中，忒拉蒙之子、巨人埃阿斯首先说道：
“唉，够了，够了！现在，即便是无知的孩子，
也能看出父亲宙斯正如何起劲地帮助特洛伊人！
他们的枪械全都击中目标，不管投者是谁，
是勇敢的战士，还是懦弱的散兵——宙斯替他们制导着每
一枝枪矛。相比之下，我们的投械全都落在地上，一无所获！
所以，我们自己必须想出个两全齐美的高招，
既要抢回遗体，又要保存自己，
给我们钟爱的伙伴带回欢乐；
他们一定在翘首观望，心情沮丧，以为我们
不能止住杀人不眨眼的赫克托耳的狂暴，挡不住他那双
难以抵御的大手，以为他一定会打入我们乌黑的船舟。
但愿能有一位帮手，把信息尽快带给
裴琉斯的儿郎；我相信，他还没有听到这条
噩耗：他所钟爱的伴友已经倒地身亡。
然而，我却看不到一个人选，在阿开亚人中——
他们全被罩没在浓雾里，所有的驭马和兵勇。
哦，父亲宙斯，把阿开亚人的儿子们拉出迷雾吧！
让阳光照泻，使我们重见天日！把我们杀死吧，
杀死在灿烂的日光里，如果此时此刻，毁灭我们能使你欢悦
他朗声求告，泪水横流；宙斯见状，心生怜悯，
随即驱散浓雾，推走黑暗，重现
普射的阳光，使战场上的一切明晰地展现在他们眼前。
其时，埃阿斯对啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯说道：
“仔细寻觅，高贵的墨奈劳斯，但愿你能发现
安提洛科斯仍然活着，心胸豪壮的奈斯托耳之子，
要他快步跑去，面见聪颖的阿基琉斯，传告
他最尊爱的伴友已经战死疆场的噩耗。”
他言罢，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯递遵不违，
动身离去，拖着沉重的双腿，像一头狮子，走离圈栏，
由于忙着骚扰狗和农人，业已累得筋疲力尽；
对手们不让它撕剥牛的肥膘，整夜
监守，饿狮贪恋牛肉的肥美，临近扑击，
但却一无所获——雨点般的枪矛迎面
砸来，投自粗壮的大手，另有那腾腾
燃烧的火把，吓得它——尽管凶狂——退缩不前；
随着黎明的降临，饿狮快快离去，心绪颓败。
就像这样，啸吼战场的墨奈劳斯离开帕特罗克洛斯，
走得很不甘愿，担心阿开亚人会群起，
惊逃，丢下遗体，惨遭敌人的欺捣。所以，
他有许多话语要对墨里俄奈斯和两位埃阿斯嘱告：
“两位埃阿斯，阿耳吉维人的首领，还有你，墨里俄奈斯，
记住，不要忘了不幸的帕特罗克洛斯，
一个敦厚的好人，生前曾善待所有的
相识。现在，死和命运结束了他的一生。”
言罢，头发棕黄的墨奈劳斯举步前行，
四下里举目索望，像一只雄鹰——人们说，
在展翅天空的鸟类中，鹰的眼睛最亮，
虽然盘翔高空，却能看见撒腿林中的野兔，
吓得蜷缩起身子，躲在枝蔓横牛的树从里；
鹰隼俯冲直下，逮住野兔，碎毁了它的生命。
就像这样，高贵的墨奈劳斯，你目光烁烁，
扫视着每一个角落，成群结队的军友，寄望于有人
能觅得奈斯托耳之子的下落，此人是否还能行走存活？
他放眼索望，很快便盯上了要找的目标，在战场的左边，
正激励着他的伙伴，催督他们战斗。
棕发的墨奈劳斯站到他的身边，喊道：
“过来吧，高贵的安提洛科斯，听我告说
一个噩耗，一件但愿绝对不曾发生的事情。
我想，你自己亦已看出，宙斯
如何让达奈人遭难，让特洛伊人
获胜。帕特罗克洛斯，阿开亚人中最好的战勇，
已经倒下——达奈人的损失巨烈惨重。
赶快跑向阿开亚人的海船，寻见阿基琉斯，将此事
相告。他人也许会即刻行动，夺回遗体——已被剥得精光——
运往他的海船；头盔闪亮的赫克托耳已夺占他的甲衣！”
他如此一番说告，安提洛科斯潘心听闻，痛恨入耳的每一
个字眼。
他默立许久，一言不发，眼里噙着
泪水，悲痛噎塞了宽宏的嗓门。
但即便如此，他也没有玩忽墨奈劳斯的嘱告，
留下甲械，给豪勇的伙伴，劳多科斯，后者已把
风快的驭马赶至他的近旁，然后撩开双腿，快步奔跑。
他快步跑离战斗，痛哭流涕，
带着噩耗，跑向裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯。
其时，高贵的墨奈劳斯，你不愿保护
这里的普洛斯人——安提洛科斯走后，他的
伙伴失去主将，勉强撑挡着敌人的进攻。
他让卓越的斯拉苏墨得斯指挥队伍，
自己则快步回跑，跨护英雄帕特罗克洛斯的
遗体，置身两位埃阿斯身旁，对他们喊道：
“我已送出你们提及的那位，让他
寻见捷足的阿基琉斯；但对他能否出战，
我却不抱什么希望，虽然对卓越的赫克托耳，他已怒满胸膛。
没有铠甲，他将如何拼战特洛伊战勇？
我们自己必须想出个两全齐美的高招，
既要抢回遗体，又要保存自己，
顶着特洛伊人的喧嚣，躲避厄运和死亡。”
听罢这番话，忒拉蒙之子高大的埃阿斯答道：
“你的话句句在理，卓著的墨奈劳斯，说得一点不错。
来吧，你和墨里俄奈斯弯腰扛起遗体，
要快，撤离激烈的战斗。我俩殿后
掩护，为你们挡开特洛伊人和赫克托耳——
我们，怀着同样的战斗激情，享用同一个名字，经常
战防在一起，在过去的日子里，面对战神的凶暴。”
听罢这番活，他俩伸出双臂，运足力气，
抱起地上的尸体，高举过头。特洛伊人见状，
急起直追，大声喊叫，像一群
猎狗，迅猛出击，追赶一头
受伤的野猪，跑在追杀猎物的年轻人前面，
撒腿猛赶了一阵，恨不能把它撕成碎片，
直到后者于困境中转过身子，自信地进行反扑，
猎狗追犹不及，惊恐万状，四散奔逃——
就像这样，特洛伊人队形密集，穷追不舍，
奋力砍杀，用剑和双刃的枪矛。
但是，每当两位埃阿斯转过身子，腿脚稳健，
举枪迎战，他们就全都吓得面无人色，不敢
继续冲杀，为抢夺遗体拼搏。
就这样，他们竭尽全力，抬着死者，一撤离战斗，
回返深旷的海船——身后，战斗打得激烈异常，
狂暴得就像燃烧的火焰，突起腾发，吞噬着
人居人住的城堡，冲天的火舌摧毁了成片的房屋——
狂风疾扫，火海里爆发出巨烈的响声。
就像这样，战地上，车马喧腾，人声鼎沸；达奈人
退兵回撤，在不绝于耳的嘈声中。
像骡子那样，忍受着苦役的辛劳，
沿着崎岖的岩路，从山壁上一步一滑地走下，
拉着一根梁材，或一方造船的木料，艰辛的劳动
和着流淌的汗水，几乎搅碎了它们的心房。
就像这样，他俩咬紧牙关，抬着死者行走，由两位埃阿斯
殿后，阻击追兵，像一面林木昌茂的山脊，
横隔着整个平原，截住水流，巍然
屹立，挡回大河的奔涌，把湍急的
水浪推送回去，倾洒在坡下的
平野，无论哪一股激流都不能把它冲倒——
两位埃阿斯一次又一次地堵击
特洛伊人，但后者仍然穷追不舍，由两位壮士领头，
埃内阿斯，安基塞斯之子，和光荣的赫克托耳。
像一大群寒鸦或欧椋，眼见
奔袭的鹰隼，发出可怕的尖叫——对这些较小的
鸟类，鹰鹞的扑击意味着死亡——就像这样，
在埃阿斯和赫克托耳面前，年轻的阿开亚武士
决步回跑，嘶喊出可怕的惊叫，把战斗的愉悦全抛。
达奈人撒腿奔逃，丢下满地精美的甲械，
散落在壕沟两边；战斗打得无有片刻息止的时候。
ARGUMENT.
THE SEVENTH BATTLE, FOR THE BODY OF PATROCLUS.--THE ACTS OF MENELAUS.
Menelaus, upon the death of Patroclus, defends his body from the enemy:
Euphorbus, who attempts it, is slain. Hector advancing, Menelaus retires;
but soon returns with Ajax, and drives him off. This, Glaucus objects to
Hector as a flight, who thereupon puts on the armour he had won from
Patroclus, and renews the battle. The Greeks give way, till Ajax rallies
them: Aeneas sustains the Trojans. Aeneas and Hector Attempt the chariot
of Achilles, which is borne off by Automedon. The horses of Achilles
deplore the loss of Patroclus: Jupiter covers his body with a thick
darkness: the noble prayer of Ajax on that occasion. Menelaus sends
Antilochus to Achilles, with the news of Patroclus' death: then returns to
the fight, where, though attacked with the utmost fury, he and Meriones,
assisted by the Ajaces, bear off the body to the ships.
The time is the evening of the eight-and-twentieth day. The scene lies in
the fields before Troy.
On the cold earth divine Patroclus spread,
Lies pierced with wounds among the vulgar dead.
Great Menelaus, touch'd with generous woe,
Springs to the front, and guards him from the foe.
Thus round her new-fallen young the heifer moves,
Fruit of her throes, and first-born of her loves;
And anxious (helpless as he lies, and bare)
Turns, and re-turns her, with a mother's care,
Opposed to each that near the carcase came,
His broad shield glimmers, and his lances flame.
The son of Panthus, skill'd the dart to send,
Eyes the dead hero, and insults the friend.
"This hand, Atrides, laid Patroclus low;
Warrior! desist, nor tempt an equal blow:
To me the spoils my prowess won, resign:
Depart with life, and leave the glory mine"
The Trojan thus: the Spartan monarch burn'd
With generous anguish, and in scorn return'd:
"Laugh'st thou not, Jove! from thy superior throne,
When mortals boast of prowess not their own?
Not thus the lion glories in his might,
Nor panther braves his spotted foe in fight,
Nor thus the boar (those terrors of the plain;)
Man only vaunts his force, and vaunts in vain.
But far the vainest of the boastful kind,
These sons of Panthus vent their haughty mind.
Yet 'twas but late, beneath my conquering steel
This boaster's brother, Hyperenor, fell;
Against our arm which rashly he defied,
Vain was his vigour, and as vain his pride.
These eyes beheld him on the dust expire,
No more to cheer his spouse, or glad his sire.
Presumptuous youth! like his shall be thy doom,
Go, wait thy brother to the Stygian gloom;
Or, while thou may'st, avoid the threaten'd fate;
Fools stay to feel it, and are wise too late."
Unmoved, Euphorbus thus: "That action known,
Come, for my brother's blood repay thy own.
His weeping father claims thy destined head,
And spouse, a widow in her bridal bed.
On these thy conquer'd spoils I shall bestow,
To soothe a consort's and a parent's woe.
No longer then defer the glorious strife,
Let heaven decide our fortune, fame, and life."
Swift as the word the missile lance he flings;
The well-aim'd weapon on the buckler rings,
But blunted by the brass, innoxious falls.
On Jove the father great Atrides calls,
Nor flies the javelin from his arm in vain,
It pierced his throat, and bent him to the plain;
Wide through the neck appears the grisly wound,
Prone sinks the warrior, and his arms resound.
The shining circlets of his golden hair,
Which even the Graces might be proud to wear,
Instarr'd with gems and gold, bestrow the shore,
With dust dishonour'd, and deform'd with gore.
As the young olive, in some sylvan scene,
Crown'd by fresh fountains with eternal green,
Lifts the gay head, in snowy flowerets fair,
And plays and dances to the gentle air;
When lo! a whirlwind from high heaven invades
The tender plant, and withers all its shades;
It lies uprooted from its genial bed,
A lovely ruin now defaced and dead:
Thus young, thus beautiful, Euphorbus lay,
While the fierce Spartan tore his arms away.
Proud of his deed, and glorious in the prize,
Affrighted Troy the towering victor flies:
Flies, as before some mountain lion's ire
The village curs and trembling swains retire,
When o'er the slaughter'd bull they hear him roar,
And see his jaws distil with smoking gore:
All pale with fear, at distance scatter'd round,
They shout incessant, and the vales resound.
Meanwhile Apollo view'd with envious eyes,
And urged great Hector to dispute the prize;
(In Mentes' shape, beneath whose martial care
The rough Ciconians learn'd the trade of war;)(247)
"Forbear (he cried) with fruitless speed to chase
Achilles' coursers, of ethereal race;
They stoop not, these, to mortal man's command,
Or stoop to none but great Achilles' hand.
Too long amused with a pursuit so vain,
Turn, and behold the brave Euphorbus slain;
By Sparta slain! for ever now suppress'd
The fire which burn'd in that undaunted breast!"
Thus having spoke, Apollo wing'd his flight,
And mix'd with mortals in the toils of fight:
His words infix'd unutterable care
Deep in great Hector's soul: through all the war
He darts his anxious eye; and, instant, view'd
The breathless hero in his blood imbued,
(Forth welling from the wound, as prone he lay)
And in the victor's hands the shining prey.
Sheath'd in bright arms, through cleaving ranks he flies,
And sends his voice in thunder to the skies:
Fierce as a flood of flame by Vulcan sent,
It flew, and fired the nations as it went.
Atrides from the voice the storm divined,
And thus explored his own unconquer'd mind:
"Then shall I quit Patroclus on the plain,
Slain in my cause, and for my honour slain!
Desert the arms, the relics, of my friend?
Or singly, Hector and his troops attend?
Sure where such partial favour heaven bestow'd,
To brave the hero were to brave the god:
Forgive me, Greece, if once I quit the field;
'Tis not to Hector, but to heaven I yield.
Yet, nor the god, nor heaven, should give me fear,
Did but the voice of Ajax reach my ear:
Still would we turn, still battle on the plains,
And give Achilles all that yet remains
Of his and our Patroclus--" This, no more
The time allow'd: Troy thicken'd on the shore.
A sable scene! The terrors Hector led.
Slow he recedes, and sighing quits the dead.
So from the fold the unwilling lion parts,
Forced by loud clamours, and a storm of darts;
He flies indeed, but threatens as he flies,
With heart indignant and retorted eyes.
Now enter'd in the Spartan ranks, he turn'd
His manly breast, and with new fury burn'd;
O'er all the black battalions sent his view,
And through the cloud the godlike Ajax knew;
Where labouring on the left the warrior stood,
All grim in arms, and cover'd o'er with blood;
There breathing courage, where the god of day
Had sunk each heart with terror and dismay.
To him the king: "Oh Ajax, oh my friend!
Haste, and Patroclus' loved remains defend:
The body to Achilles to restore
Demands our care; alas, we can no more!
For naked now, despoiled of arms, he lies;
And Hector glories in the dazzling prize."
He said, and touch'd his heart. The raging pair
Pierced the thick battle, and provoke the war.
Already had stern Hector seized his head,
And doom'd to Trojan gods the unhappy dead;
But soon as Ajax rear'd his tower-like shield,
Sprung to his car, and measured back the field,
His train to Troy the radiant armour bear,
To stand a trophy of his fame in war.
Meanwhile great Ajax (his broad shield display'd)
Guards the dead hero with the dreadful shade;
And now before, and now behind he stood:
Thus in the centre of some gloomy wood,
With many a step, the lioness surrounds
Her tawny young, beset by men and hounds;
Elate her heart, and rousing all her powers,
Dark o'er the fiery balls each hanging eyebrow lours.
Fast by his side the generous Spartan glows
With great revenge, and feeds his inward woes.
But Glaucus, leader of the Lycian aids,
On Hector frowning, thus his flight upbraids:
"Where now in Hector shall we Hector find?
A manly form, without a manly mind.
Is this, O chief! a hero's boasted fame?
How vain, without the merit, is the name!
Since battle is renounced, thy thoughts employ
What other methods may preserve thy Troy:
'Tis time to try if Ilion's state can stand
By thee alone, nor ask a foreign hand:
Mean, empty boast! but shall the Lycians stake
Their lives for you? those Lycians you forsake?
What from thy thankless arms can we expect?
Thy friend Sarpedon proves thy base neglect;
Say, shall our slaughter'd bodies guard your walls,
While unreveng'd the great Sarpedon falls?
Even where he died for Troy, you left him there,
A feast for dogs, and all the fowls of air.
On my command if any Lycian wait,
Hence let him march, and give up Troy to fate.
Did such a spirit as the gods impart
Impel one Trojan hand or Trojan heart,
(Such as should burn in every soul that draws
The sword for glory, and his country's cause)
Even yet our mutual arms we might employ,
And drag yon carcase to the walls of Troy.
Oh! were Patroclus ours, we might obtain
Sarpedon's arms and honour'd corse again!
Greece with Achilles' friend should be repaid,
And thus due honours purchased to his shade.
But words are vain--Let Ajax once appear,
And Hector trembles and recedes with fear;
Thou dar'st not meet the terrors of his eye;
And lo! already thou prepar'st to fly."
The Trojan chief with fix'd resentment eyed
The Lycian leader, and sedate replied:
"Say, is it just, my friend, that Hector's ear
From such a warrior such a speech should hear?
I deem'd thee once the wisest of thy kind,
But ill this insult suits a prudent mind.
I shun great Ajax? I desert my train?
'Tis mine to prove the rash assertion vain;
I joy to mingle where the battle bleeds,
And hear the thunder of the sounding steeds.
But Jove's high will is ever uncontroll'd,
The strong he withers, and confounds the bold;
Now crowns with fame the mighty man, and now
Strikes the fresh garland from the victor's brow!
Come, through yon squadrons let us hew the way,
And thou be witness, if I fear to-day;
If yet a Greek the sight of Hector dread,
Or yet their hero dare defend the dead."
Then turning to the martial hosts, he cries:
"Ye Trojans, Dardans, Lycians, and allies!
Be men, my friends, in action as in name,
And yet be mindful of your ancient fame.
Hector in proud Achilles' arms shall shine,
Torn from his friend, by right of conquest mine."
He strode along the field, as thus he said:
(The sable plumage nodded o'er his head:)
Swift through the spacious plain he sent a look;
One instant saw, one instant overtook
The distant band, that on the sandy shore
The radiant spoils to sacred Ilion bore.
There his own mail unbraced the field bestrow'd;
His train to Troy convey'd the massy load.
Now blazing in the immortal arms he stands;
The work and present of celestial hands;
By aged Peleus to Achilles given,
As first to Peleus by the court of heaven:
His father's arms not long Achilles wears,
Forbid by fate to reach his father's years.
Him, proud in triumph, glittering from afar,
The god whose thunder rends the troubled air
Beheld with pity; as apart he sat,
And, conscious, look'd through all the scene of fate.
He shook the sacred honours of his head;
Olympus trembled, and the godhead said;
"Ah, wretched man! unmindful of thy end!
A moment's glory; and what fates attend!
In heavenly panoply divinely bright
Thou stand'st, and armies tremble at thy sight,
As at Achilles' self! beneath thy dart
Lies slain the great Achilles' dearer part.
Thou from the mighty dead those arms hast torn,
Which once the greatest of mankind had worn.
Yet live! I give thee one illustrious day,
A blaze of glory ere thou fad'st away.
For ah! no more Andromache shall come
With joyful tears to welcome Hector home;
No more officious, with endearing charms,
From thy tired limbs unbrace Pelides' arms!"
Then with his sable brow he gave the nod
That seals his word; the sanction of the god.
The stubborn arms (by Jove's command disposed)
Conform'd spontaneous, and around him closed:
Fill'd with the god, enlarged his members grew,
Through all his veins a sudden vigour flew,
The blood in brisker tides began to roll,
And Mars himself came rushing on his soul.
Exhorting loud through all the field he strode,
And look'd, and moved, Achilles, or a god.
Now Mesthles, Glaucus, Medon, he inspires,
Now Phorcys, Chromius, and Hippothous fires;
The great Thersilochus like fury found,
Asteropaeus kindled at the sound,
And Ennomus, in augury renown'd.
"Hear, all ye hosts, and hear, unnumber'd bands
Of neighbouring nations, or of distant lands!
'Twas not for state we summon'd you so far,
To boast our numbers, and the pomp of war:
Ye came to fight; a valiant foe to chase,
To save our present, and our future race.
Tor this, our wealth, our products, you enjoy,
And glean the relics of exhausted Troy.
Now then, to conquer or to die prepare;
To die or conquer are the terms of war.
Whatever hand shall win Patroclus slain,
Whoe'er shall drag him to the Trojan train,
With Hector's self shall equal honours claim;
With Hector part the spoil, and share the fame."
Fired by his words, the troops dismiss their fears,
They join, they thicken, they protend their spears;
Full on the Greeks they drive in firm array,
And each from Ajax hopes the glorious prey:
Vain hope! what numbers shall the field o'erspread,
What victims perish round the mighty dead!
Great Ajax mark'd the growing storm from far,
And thus bespoke his brother of the war:
"Our fatal day, alas! is come, my friend;
And all our wars and glories at an end!
'Tis not this corse alone we guard in vain,
Condemn'd to vultures on the Trojan plain;
We too must yield: the same sad fate must fall
On thee, on me, perhaps, my friend, on all.
See what a tempest direful Hector spreads,
And lo! it bursts, it thunders on our heads!
Call on our Greeks, if any hear the call,
The bravest Greeks: this hour demands them all."
The warrior raised his voice, and wide around
The field re-echoed the distressful sound.
"O chiefs! O princes, to whose hand is given
The rule of men; whose glory is from heaven!
Whom with due honours both Atrides grace:
Ye guides and guardians of our Argive race!
All, whom this well-known voice shall reach from far,
All, whom I see not through this cloud of war;
Come all! let generous rage your arms employ,
And save Patroclus from the dogs of Troy."
Oilean Ajax first the voice obey'd,
Swift was his pace, and ready was his aid:
Next him Idomeneus, more slow with age,
And Merion, burning with a hero's rage.
The long-succeeding numbers who can name?
But all were Greeks, and eager all for fame.
Fierce to the charge great Hector led the throng;
Whole Troy embodied rush'd with shouts along.
Thus, when a mountain billow foams and raves,
Where some swoln river disembogues his waves,
Full in the mouth is stopp'd the rushing tide,
The boiling ocean works from side to side,
The river trembles to his utmost shore,
And distant rocks re-bellow to the roar.
Nor less resolved, the firm Achaian band
With brazen shields in horrid circle stand.
Jove, pouring darkness o'er the mingled fight,
Conceals the warriors' shining helms in night:
To him, the chief for whom the hosts contend
Had lived not hateful, for he lived a friend:
Dead he protects him with superior care.
Nor dooms his carcase to the birds of air.
[Illustration: FIGHT FOR THE BODY OF PATROCLUS.]
FIGHT FOR THE BODY OF PATROCLUS.
The first attack the Grecians scarce sustain,
Repulsed, they yield; the Trojans seize the slain.
Then fierce they rally, to revenge led on
By the swift rage of Ajax Telamon.
(Ajax to Peleus' son the second name,
In graceful stature next, and next in fame)
With headlong force the foremost ranks he tore;
So through the thicket bursts the mountain boar,
And rudely scatters, for a distance round,
The frighted hunter and the baying hound.
The son of Lethus, brave Pelasgus' heir,
Hippothous, dragg'd the carcase through the war;
The sinewy ankles bored, the feet he bound
With thongs _insert_ed through the double wound:
Inevitable fate o'ertakes the deed;
Doom'd by great Ajax' vengeful lance to bleed:
It cleft the helmet's brazen cheeks in twain;
The shatter'd crest and horse-hair strow the plain:
With nerves relax'd he tumbles to the ground:
The brain comes gushing through the ghastly wound:
He drops Patroclus' foot, and o'er him spread,
Now lies a sad companion of the dead:
Far from Larissa lies, his native air,
And ill requites his parents' tender care.
Lamented youth! in life's first bloom he fell,
Sent by great Ajax to the shades of hell.
Once more at Ajax Hector's javelin flies;
The Grecian marking, as it cut the skies,
Shunn'd the descending death; which hissing on,
Stretch'd in the dust the great Iphytus' son,
Schedius the brave, of all the Phocian kind
The boldest warrior and the noblest mind:
In little Panope, for strength renown'd,
He held his seat, and ruled the realms around.
Plunged in his throat, the weapon drank his blood,
And deep transpiercing through the shoulder stood;
In clanging arms the hero fell and all
The fields resounded with his weighty fall.
Phorcys, as slain Hippothous he defends,
The Telamonian lance his belly rends;
The hollow armour burst before the stroke,
And through the wound the rushing entrails broke:
In strong convulsions panting on the sands
He lies, and grasps the dust with dying hands.
Struck at the sight, recede the Trojan train:
The shouting Argives strip the heroes slain.
And now had Troy, by Greece compell'd to yield,
Fled to her ramparts, and resign'd the field;
Greece, in her native fortitude elate,
With Jove averse, had turn'd the scale of fate:
But Phoebus urged Æneas to the fight;
He seem'd like aged Periphas to sight:
(A herald in Anchises' love grown old,
Revered for prudence, and with prudence bold.)
Thus he--"What methods yet, O chief! remain,
To save your Troy, though heaven its fall ordain?
There have been heroes, who, by virtuous care,
By valour, numbers, and by arts of war,
Have forced the powers to spare a sinking state,
And gain'd at length the glorious odds of fate:
But you, when fortune smiles, when Jove declares
His partial favour, and assists your wars,
Your shameful efforts 'gainst yourselves employ,
And force the unwilling god to ruin Troy."
Æneas through the form assumed descries
The power conceal'd, and thus to Hector cries:
"Oh lasting shame! to our own fears a prey,
We seek our ramparts, and desert the day.
A god, nor is he less, my bosom warms,
And tells me, Jove asserts the Trojan arms."
He spoke, and foremost to the combat flew:
The bold example all his hosts pursue.
Then, first, Leocritus beneath him bled,
In vain beloved by valiant Lycomede;
Who view'd his fall, and, grieving at the chance,
Swift to revenge it sent his angry lance;
The whirling lance, with vigorous force address'd,
Descends, and pants in Apisaon's breast;
From rich Paeonia's vales the warrior came,
Next thee, Asteropeus! in place and fame.
Asteropeus with grief beheld the slain,
And rush'd to combat, but he rush'd in vain:
Indissolubly firm, around the dead,
Rank within rank, on buckler buckler spread,
And hemm'd with bristled spears, the Grecians stood,
A brazen bulwark, and an iron wood.
Great Ajax eyes them with incessant care,
And in an orb contracts the crowded war,
Close in their ranks commands to fight or fall,
And stands the centre and the soul of all:
Fix'd on the spot they war, and wounded, wound
A sanguine torrent steeps the reeking ground:
On heaps the Greeks, on heaps the Trojans bled,
And, thickening round them, rise the hills of dead.
Greece, in close order, and collected might,
Yet suffers least, and sways the wavering fight;
Fierce as conflicting fires the combat burns,
And now it rises, now it sinks by turns.
In one thick darkness all the fight was lost;
The sun, the moon, and all the ethereal host
Seem'd as extinct: day ravish'd from their eyes,
And all heaven's splendours blotted from the skies.
Such o'er Patroclus' body hung the night,
The rest in sunshine fought, and open light;
Unclouded there, the aerial azure spread,
No vapour rested on the mountain's head,
The golden sun pour'd forth a stronger ray,
And all the broad expansion flamed with day.
Dispersed around the plain, by fits they fight,
And here and there their scatter'd arrows light:
But death and darkness o'er the carcase spread,
There burn'd the war, and there the mighty bled.
Meanwhile the sons of Nestor, in the rear,
(Their fellows routed,) toss the distant spear,
And skirmish wide: so Nestor gave command,
When from the ships he sent the Pylian band.
The youthful brothers thus for fame contend,
Nor knew the fortune of Achilles' friend;
In thought they view'd him still, with martial joy,
Glorious in arms, and dealing death to Troy.
But round the corse the heroes pant for breath,
And thick and heavy grows the work of death:
O'erlabour'd now, with dust, and sweat, and gore,
Their knees, their legs, their feet, are covered o'er;
Drops follow drops, the clouds on clouds arise,
And carnage clogs their hands, and darkness fills their eyes.
As when a slaughter'd bull's yet reeking hide,
Strain'd with full force, and tugg'd from side to side,
The brawny curriers stretch; and labour o'er
The extended surface, drunk with fat and gore:
So tugging round the corse both armies stood;
The mangled body bathed in sweat and blood;
While Greeks and Ilians equal strength employ,
Now to the ships to force it, now to Troy.
Not Pallas' self, her breast when fury warms,
Nor he whose anger sets the world in arms,
Could blame this scene; such rage, such horror reign'd;
Such, Jove to honour the great dead ordain'd.
Achilles in his ships at distance lay,
Nor knew the fatal fortune of the day;
He, yet unconscious of Patroclus' fall,
In dust extended under Ilion's wall,
Expects him glorious from the conquered plain,
And for his wish'd return prepares in vain;
Though well he knew, to make proud Ilion bend
Was more than heaven had destined to his friend.
Perhaps to him: this Thetis had reveal'd;
The rest, in pity to her son, conceal'd.
Still raged the conflict round the hero dead,
And heaps on heaps by mutual wounds they bled.
"Cursed be the man (even private Greeks would say)
Who dares desert this well-disputed day!
First may the cleaving earth before our eyes
Gape wide, and drink our blood for sacrifice;
First perish all, ere haughty Troy shall boast
We lost Patroclus, and our glory lost!"
Thus they: while with one voice the Trojans said,
"Grant this day, Jove! or heap us on the dead!"
Then clash their sounding arms; the clangours rise,
And shake the brazen concave of the skies.
Meantime, at distance from the scene of blood,
The pensive steeds of great Achilles stood:
Their godlike master slain before their eyes,
They wept, and shared in human miseries.(248)
In vain Automedon now shakes the rein,
Now plies the lash, and soothes and threats in vain;
Nor to the fight nor Hellespont they go,
Restive they stood, and obstinate in woe:
Still as a tombstone, never to be moved,
On some good man or woman unreproved
Lays its eternal weight; or fix'd, as stands
A marble courser by the sculptor's hands,
Placed on the hero's grave. Along their face
The big round drops coursed down with silent pace,
Conglobing on the dust. Their manes, that late
Circled their arched necks, and waved in state,
Trail'd on the dust beneath the yoke were spread,
And prone to earth was hung their languid head:
Nor Jove disdain'd to cast a pitying look,
While thus relenting to the steeds he spoke:
"Unhappy coursers of immortal strain,
Exempt from age, and deathless, now in vain;
Did we your race on mortal man bestow,
Only, alas! to share in mortal woe?
For ah! what is there of inferior birth,
That breathes or creeps upon the dust of earth;
What wretched creature of what wretched kind,
Than man more weak, calamitous, and blind?
A miserable race! but cease to mourn:
For not by you shall Priam's son be borne
High on the splendid car: one glorious prize
He rashly boasts: the rest our will denies.
Ourself will swiftness to your nerves impart,
Ourself with rising spirits swell your heart.
Automedon your rapid flight shall bear
Safe to the navy through the storm of war.
For yet 'tis given to Troy to ravage o'er
The field, and spread her slaughters to the shore;
The sun shall see her conquer, till his fall
With sacred darkness shades the face of all."
He said; and breathing in the immortal horse
Excessive spirit, urged them to the course;
From their high manes they shake the dust, and bear
The kindling chariot through the parted war:
So flies a vulture through the clamorous train
Of geese, that scream, and scatter round the plain.
From danger now with swiftest speed they flew,
And now to conquest with like speed pursue;
Sole in the seat the charioteer remains,
Now plies the javelin, now directs the reins:
Him brave Alcimedon beheld distress'd,
Approach'd the chariot, and the chief address'd:
"What god provokes thee rashly thus to dare,
Alone, unaided, in the thickest war?
Alas! thy friend is slain, and Hector wields
Achilles' arms triumphant in the fields."
"In happy time (the charioteer replies)
The bold Alcimedon now greets my eyes;
No Greek like him the heavenly steeds restrains,
Or holds their fury in suspended reins:
Patroclus, while he lived, their rage could tame,
But now Patroclus is an empty name!
To thee I yield the seat, to thee resign
The ruling charge: the task of fight be mine."
He said. Alcimedon, with active heat,
Snatches the reins, and vaults into the seat.
His friend descends. The chief of Troy descried,
And call'd Æneas fighting near his side.
"Lo, to my sight, beyond our hope restored,
Achilles' car, deserted of its lord!
The glorious steeds our ready arms invite,
Scarce their weak drivers guide them through the fight.
Can such opponents stand when we assail?
Unite thy force, my friend, and we prevail."
The son of Venus to the counsel yields;
Then o'er their backs they spread their solid shields:
With brass refulgent the broad surface shined,
And thick bull-hides the spacious concave lined.
Them Chromius follows, Aretus succeeds;
Each hopes the conquest of the lofty steeds:
In vain, brave youths, with glorious hopes ye burn,
In vain advance! not fated to return.
Unmov'd, Automedon attends the fight,
Implores the Eternal, and collects his might.
Then turning to his friend, with dauntless mind:
"Oh keep the foaming coursers close behind!
Full on my shoulders let their nostrils blow,
For hard the fight, determined is the foe;
'Tis Hector comes: and when he seeks the prize,
War knows no mean; he wins it or he dies."
Then through the field he sends his voice aloud,
And calls the Ajaces from the warring crowd,
With great Atrides. "Hither turn, (he said,)
Turn where distress demands immediate aid;
The dead, encircled by his friends, forego,
And save the living from a fiercer foe.
Unhelp'd we stand, unequal to engage
The force of Hector, and Æneas' rage:
Yet mighty as they are, my force to prove
Is only mine: the event belongs to Jove."
He spoke, and high the sounding javelin flung,
Which pass'd the shield of Aretus the young:
It pierced his belt, emboss'd with curious art,
Then in the lower belly struck the dart.
As when a ponderous axe, descending full,
Cleaves the broad forehead of some brawny bull:(249)
Struck 'twixt the horns, he springs with many a bound,
Then tumbling rolls enormous on the ground:
Thus fell the youth; the air his soul received,
And the spear trembled as his entrails heaved.
Now at Automedon the Trojan foe
Discharged his lance; the meditated blow,
Stooping, he shunn'd; the javelin idly fled,
And hiss'd innoxious o'er the hero's head;
Deep rooted in the ground, the forceful spear
In long vibrations spent its fury there.
With clashing falchions now the chiefs had closed,
But each brave Ajax heard, and interposed;
Nor longer Hector with his Trojans stood,
But left their slain companion in his blood:
His arms Automedon divests, and cries,
"Accept, Patroclus, this mean sacrifice:
Thus have I soothed my griefs, and thus have paid,
Poor as it is, some offering to thy shade."
So looks the lion o'er a mangled boar,
All grim with rage, and horrible with gore;
High on the chariot at one bound he sprung,
And o'er his seat the bloody trophies hung.
And now Minerva from the realms of air
Descends impetuous, and renews the war;
For, pleased at length the Grecian arms to aid,
The lord of thunders sent the blue-eyed maid.
As when high Jove denouncing future woe,
O'er the dark clouds extends his purple bow,
(In sign of tempests from the troubled air,
Or from the rage of man, destructive war,)
The drooping cattle dread the impending skies,
And from his half-till'd field the labourer flies:
In such a form the goddess round her drew
A livid cloud, and to the battle flew.
Assuming Phoenix' shape on earth she falls,
And in his well-known voice to Sparta calls:
"And lies Achilles' friend, beloved by all,
A prey to dogs beneath the Trojan wall?
What shame 'o Greece for future times to tell,
To thee the greatest in whose cause he fell!"
"O chief, O father! (Atreus' son replies)
O full of days! by long experience wise!
What more desires my soul, than here unmoved
To guard the body of the man I loved?
Ah, would Minerva send me strength to rear
This wearied arm, and ward the storm of war!
But Hector, like the rage of fire, we dread,
And Jove's own glories blaze around his head!"
Pleased to be first of all the powers address'd,
She breathes new vigour in her hero's breast,
And fills with keen revenge, with fell despite,
Desire of blood, and rage, and lust of fight.
So burns the vengeful hornet (soul all o'er),
Repulsed in vain, and thirsty still of gore;
(Bold son of air and heat) on angry wings
Untamed, untired, he turns, attacks, and stings.
Fired with like ardour fierce Atrides flew,
And sent his soul with every lance he threw.
There stood a Trojan, not unknown to fame,
Aetion's son, and Podes was his name:
With riches honour'd, and with courage bless'd,
By Hector loved, his comrade, and his guest;
Through his broad belt the spear a passage found,
And, ponderous as he falls, his arms resound.
Sudden at Hector's side Apollo stood,
Like Phaenops, Asius' son, appear'd the god;
(Asius the great, who held his wealthy reign
In fair Abydos, by the rolling main.)
"Oh prince! (he cried) Oh foremost once in fame!
What Grecian now shall tremble at thy name?
Dost thou at length to Menelaus yield,
A chief once thought no terror of the field?
Yet singly, now, the long-disputed prize
He bears victorious, while our army flies:
By the same arm illustrious Podes bled;
The friend of Hector, unrevenged, is dead!"
This heard, o'er Hector spreads a cloud of woe,
Rage lifts his lance, and drives him on the foe.
But now the Eternal shook his sable shield,
That shaded Ide and all the subject field
Beneath its ample verge. A rolling cloud
Involved the mount; the thunder roar'd aloud;
The affrighted hills from their foundations nod,
And blaze beneath the lightnings of the god:
At one regard of his all-seeing eye
The vanquish'd triumph, and the victors fly.
Then trembled Greece: the flight Peneleus led;
For as the brave Boeotian turn'd his head
To face the foe, Polydamas drew near,
And razed his shoulder with a shorten'd spear:
By Hector wounded, Leitus quits the plain,
Pierced through the wrist; and raging with the pain,
Grasps his once formidable lance in vain.
As Hector follow'd, Idomen address'd
The flaming javelin to his manly breast;
The brittle point before his corslet yields;
Exulting Troy with clamour fills the fields:
High on his chariots the Cretan stood,
The son of Priam whirl'd the massive wood.
But erring from its aim, the impetuous spear
Struck to the dust the squire and charioteer
Of martial Merion: Coeranus his name,
Who left fair Lyctus for the fields of fame.
On foot bold Merion fought; and now laid low,
Had graced the triumphs of his Trojan foe,
But the brave squire the ready coursers brought,
And with his life his master's safety bought.
Between his cheek and ear the weapon went,
The teeth it shatter'd, and the tongue it rent.
Prone from the seat he tumbles to the plain;
His dying hand forgets the falling rein:
This Merion reaches, bending from the car,
And urges to desert the hopeless war:
Idomeneus consents; the lash applies;
And the swift chariot to the navy flies.
Not Ajax less the will of heaven descried,
And conquest shifting to the Trojan side,
Turn'd by the hand of Jove. Then thus begun,
To Atreus's seed, the godlike Telamon:
"Alas! who sees not Jove's almighty hand
Transfers the glory to the Trojan band?
Whether the weak or strong discharge the dart,
He guides each arrow to a Grecian heart:
Not so our spears; incessant though they rain,
He suffers every lance to fall in vain.
Deserted of the god, yet let us try
What human strength and prudence can supply;
If yet this honour'd corse, in triumph borne,
May glad the fleets that hope not our return,
Who tremble yet, scarce rescued from their fates,
And still hear Hector thundering at their gates.
Some hero too must be despatch'd to bear
The mournful message to Pelides' ear;
For sure he knows not, distant on the shore,
His friend, his loved Patroclus, is no more.
But such a chief I spy not through the host:
The men, the steeds, the armies, all are lost
In general darkness--Lord of earth and air!
Oh king! Oh father! hear my humble prayer:
Dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore;
Give me to see, and Ajax asks no more:
If Greece must perish, we thy will obey,
But let us perish in the face of day!"
With tears the hero spoke, and at his prayer
The god relenting clear'd the clouded air;
Forth burst the sun with all-enlightening ray;
The blaze of armour flash'd against the day.
"Now, now, Atrides! cast around thy sight;
If yet Antilochus survives the fight,
Let him to great Achilles' ear convey
The fatal news"--Atrides hastes away.
So turns the lion from the nightly fold,
Though high in courage, and with hunger bold,
Long gall'd by herdsmen, and long vex'd by hounds,
Stiff with fatigue, and fretted sore with wounds;
The darts fly round him from a hundred hands,
And the red terrors of the blazing brands:
Till late, reluctant, at the dawn of day
Sour he departs, and quits the untasted prey,
So moved Atrides from his dangerous place
With weary limbs, but with unwilling pace;
The foe, he fear'd, might yet Patroclus gain,
And much admonish'd, much adjured his train:
"O guard these relics to your charge consign'd,
And bear the merits of the dead in mind;
How skill'd he was in each obliging art;
The mildest manners, and the gentlest heart:
He was, alas! but fate decreed his end,
In death a hero, as in life a friend!"
So parts the chief; from rank to rank he flew,
And round on all sides sent his piercing view.
As the bold bird, endued with sharpest eye
Of all that wings the mid aerial sky,
The sacred eagle, from his walks above
Looks down, and sees the distant thicket move;
Then stoops, and sousing on the quivering hare,
Snatches his life amid the clouds of air.
Not with less quickness, his exerted sight
Pass'd this and that way, through the ranks of fight:
Till on the left the chief he sought, he found,
Cheering his men, and spreading deaths around:
To him the king: "Beloved of Jove! draw near,
For sadder tidings never touch'd thy ear;
Thy eyes have witness'd what a fatal turn!
How Ilion triumphs, and the Achaians mourn.
This is not all: Patroclus, on the shore
Now pale and dead, shall succour Greece no more.
Fly to the fleet, this instant fly, and tell
The sad Achilles, how his loved-one fell:
He too may haste the naked corse to gain:
The arms are Hector's, who despoil'd the slain."
The youthful warrior heard with silent woe,
From his fair eyes the tears began to flow:
Big with the mighty grief, he strove to say
What sorrow dictates, but no word found way.
To brave Laodocus his arms he flung,
Who, near him wheeling, drove his steeds along;
Then ran the mournful message to impart,
With tearful eyes, and with dejected heart.
Swift fled the youth: nor Menelaus stands
(Though sore distress'd) to aid the Pylian bands;
But bids bold Thrasymede those troops sustain;
Himself returns to his Patroclus slain.
"Gone is Antilochus (the hero said);
But hope not, warriors, for Achilles' aid:
Though fierce his rage, unbounded be his woe,
Unarm'd, he fights not with the Trojan foe.
'Tis in our hands alone our hopes remain,
'Tis our own vigour must the dead regain,
And save ourselves, while with impetuous hate
Troy pours along, and this way rolls our fate."
"'Tis well (said Ajax), be it then thy care,
With Merion's aid, the weighty corse to rear;
Myself, and my bold brother will sustain
The shock of Hector and his charging train:
Nor fear we armies, fighting side by side;
What Troy can dare, we have already tried,
Have tried it, and have stood." The hero said.
High from the ground the warriors heave the dead.
A general clamour rises at the sight:
Loud shout the Trojans, and renew the fight.
Not fiercer rush along the gloomy wood,
With rage insatiate, and with thirst of blood,
Voracious hounds, that many a length before
Their furious hunters, drive the wounded boar;
But if the savage turns his glaring eye,
They howl aloof, and round the forest fly.
Thus on retreating Greece the Trojans pour,
Wave their thick falchions, and their javelins shower:
But Ajax turning, to their fears they yield,
All pale they tremble and forsake the field.
While thus aloft the hero's corse they bear,
Behind them rages all the storm of war:
Confusion, tumult, horror, o'er the throng
Of men, steeds, chariots, urged the rout along:
Less fierce the winds with rising flames conspire
To whelm some city under waves of fire;
Now sink in gloomy clouds the proud abodes,
Now crack the blazing temples of the gods;
The rumbling torrent through the ruin rolls,
And sheets of smoke mount heavy to the poles.
The heroes sweat beneath their honour'd load:
As when two mules, along the rugged road,
From the steep mountain with exerted strength
Drag some vast beam, or mast's unwieldy length;
Inly they groan, big drops of sweat distil,
The enormous timber lumbering down the hill:
So these--Behind, the bulk of Ajax stands,
And breaks the torrent of the rushing bands.
Thus when a river swell'd with sudden rains
Spreads his broad waters o'er the level plains,
Some interposing hill the stream divides.
And breaks its force, and turns the winding tides.
Still close they follow, close the rear engage;
Aeneas storms, and Hector foams with rage:
While Greece a heavy, thick retreat maintains,
Wedged in one body, like a flight of cranes,
That shriek incessant, while the falcon, hung
High on poised pinions, threats their callow young.
So from the Trojan chiefs the Grecians fly,
Such the wild terror, and the mingled cry:
Within, without the trench, and all the way,
Strow'd in bright heaps, their arms and armour lay;
Such horror Jove impress'd! yet still proceeds
The work of death, and still the battle bleeds.
[Illustration: VULCAN FROM AN ANTIQUE GEM.]
VULCAN FROM AN ANTIQUE GEM. 就这样，双方奋力搏杀，像熊熊燃烧的烈火。与此同时，
安提洛科斯快步跑到阿基琉斯的营地，作为信使，
发现他正坐在头尾翘耸的海船前，冥思
苦想着那些已经成为现实的事情。
他焦躁烦恼，对自己那豪莽的心灵说道：
“唉，这又是怎么回事？长发的阿开亚人再次被
赶出平原，退回海船，惊恐万状，溃不成军？
但愿神明不会把扰我心胸的愁事变成现实。
母亲曾对我说过，说是在我还
活着的时候，慕耳弥冬人中最勇敢的壮士
将倒死在特洛伊人手下，别离明媚的阳光。
我敢断言，现在，墨诺伊提俄斯骁勇的儿子已经死去，
我那固执犟拗的朋友！然而，我曾明言嘱告，要他一旦扫灭
凶狂的烈火，马上回返海船，不要同赫克托耳拼斗。”
正当他思考着此事，在他的心里和魂里的时候，
高贵的奈斯托耳之子跑至他的近旁，
滴着滚烫的眼泪，开口传出送来的噩耗：
“哦，骠勇的裴琉斯的儿子，我不得不对你转告
这条噩耗，一件但愿绝对不曾发生的事情——
帕特罗克洛斯已战死疆场，他们正围绕着遗体战斗，
已被剥得精光——头盔闪亮的赫克托耳已夺占他的甲衣！”
他言罢，一团悲愤的乌云罩住了阿基琉斯的心灵。
他十指勾屈，抓起地上的污秽，洒抹在
自己的头脸，脏浊了俊美的相貌，
灰黑的尘末纷落在洁净的衫衣上。
他横躺在地，借大的身躯，卧盖着一片泥尘，
抓纹和污损着自己的头发。
带着揪心的悲痛，他和帕特罗克洛斯
俘获的女仆们，哭叫着冲出
营棚，围绕在骁勇的阿基琉斯身边，全都
扬起双手，击打自己的胸脯，腿脚酥软。
安提洛科斯和他一齐悲悼，泪水倾注，
握着他的双手，悲痛绞扰着高贵的心房，
担心勇士会用铁的锋刃刎脖自尽。阿基琉斯
发出一声可怕的叹吼，高贵的母亲听到了他的声音——
其时正坐在深深的海底，年迈的父亲身边——
报之以尖利的嘶叫。女神们涌聚到她的身边，
所有生活在海底的女仙，奈柔斯的女儿，有
格劳凯、库莫多凯和莎勒娅、
奈赛娥、斯裴娥、索娥和牛眼睛的哈莉娅，
有库库索娥、阿克泰娅和莉诺瑞娅。
墨莉忒、伊埃拉、安菲索娥和阿伽维、
多托、普罗托、杜娜墨奈和菲鲁莎。
德克莎墨奈、安菲诺墨和卡莉娅内拉、
多里丝、帕诺裴和光荣的伽拉苔娅、
奈墨耳忒丝、阿普修得丝和卡莉娅娜莎，
还有克鲁墨奈、亚内拉和亚娜莎。
迈拉、俄蕾苏娅和长发秀美的阿玛塞娅，
以及其他生活在海底的奈柔斯的女儿们。
女儿们挤满了银光闪烁的洞府，全都击打着
自己的胸脯；女仙中，塞提丝领头唱起了挽歌：
“姐妹们，奈柔斯的女儿们，听我说，
听我唱，了解我心中深切的悲痛。
唉，我的苦痛和烦恼！了不起的生育，吃尽苦头的母亲！
我生养了一个完美无缺、强健骠悍的儿子，
英雄中的俊杰，像一棵树苗似地茁壮成长；
我把他养大成人，好似一棵果树，为园林增彩添光。
然而，我却把他送上弯翘的海船，前往伊利昂地面，
和特洛伊人战斗！我再也见不到他的身影，
见不到他回返自己的家居，裴琉斯的门户！
只要他还活着，能见到白昼的日光，他就无法摆脱
烦愁，即便我亲往探视，也帮不了他的忙。
然而，我还是要去，看看我心爱的儿子，听听他的诉说，
在这脱离战斗的时候，他经历着何种愁伤。”
言罢，她离开洞府，女仙们含泪
相随；在她们周围，海浪掀分出一条
水路。一经踏上富饶的特洛伊大地，
她们一个跟着一个，在滩沿上鱼贯而行，依傍着
已被拖上海岸的慕耳弥冬人的海船，密集地排列在捷足的阿
基琉斯身边。
正当他长嘘短叹之时，高贵的母亲出现在他的面前，
发出一声尖叫，伸出双臂，抱住儿子的头脸，
悲声哭泣，开口说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“我的儿，为何哭泣？是什么悲愁揪住了你的心房？
说出来，不要藏匿。宙斯已兑现你所
希求的一切，按你扬臂析告的那样，
阿开亚人的儿子们已被如数赶回船尾——
由于你不在场——已经受到惨重的击打。”
捷足的阿基琉斯长叹一声，答道：
“不错，我的母亲，俄林波斯大神确已兑现我的祈愿，
但现在，这一切于我又有什么欢乐可言？我亲爱的伴友已不在
人间。帕特罗克洛斯死了，我爱他甚于对其他所有的伙伴，
就像爱我自己的生命一样！我失去了他；赫克托耳杀了他，
剥走那套硕大、绚丽的铠甲，闪光的珍品，让人眼花缭乱的
战衣，神祗馈送裴琉斯的一份厚重的赠礼——
那一天，他们把你推上和凡人婚配的睡床。
但愿你当时仍和其她海中的仙女生活，
而裴琉斯则婚娶了一位凡女。
现在，你的内心必须承受杏无穷期的悲痛，
为你儿子的死亡——你将再也不能和他重逢，
相聚在自己的家居。我的心魂已催我放弃
眼下的生活，中止和凡人为伍，除非我先杀了
赫克托耳，用我的枪矛，以他的鲜血偿付
杀剥墨诺伊提俄斯儿子帕特罗克洛斯的豪强！”
其时，塞提丝泪如泉涌，说道：
“既如此，我的儿，你的死期已近在眼前。
赫克托耳去后，紧接着便是你自己的死亡！”
带着满腔愤恼，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“那就让我马上死去，既然在伴友被杀之时，
我没有出力帮忙！如今，他已死在远离故土的
异乡——他需要我的护卫，我的力量。
现在，既然我已不打算回返亲爱的故乡，
既然我已不是帕特罗克洛斯和其他伙伴们的
救护之光——他们已成群结队地倒在强有力的赫克托耳
手下——
只是干坐在自己的船边，使沃野徒劳无益地承托着我的重压：
我，战场上的骄子，身披铜甲的阿开亚人中无人
可以及旁，虽然在议事会上，有人比我舌巧话长。
但愿争斗从神和人的生活里消失，
连同驱使哪怕是最明智的人撤野的暴怒，
这苦味的胆汁，比垂滴的蜂蜜还要香甜，
涌聚在人的胸间，犹如一团烟雾，迷惘着我们的心窍——
就像民众的王者阿伽门农的作为，在我心里激起的愤怒一样。
够了，过去的事就让它过去吧！尽管痛楚，
我要逼迫自己，压下此番盛怒。
现在，我要出战赫克托耳，这个凶手夺走了一条
我所珍爱的生命。然后，我将接受自己的死亡，在宙斯
和列位神祗愿意把它付诸实现的任何时光！
就连力上赫拉克勒斯也不曾躲过死亡，
虽然他是克罗诺斯之子、王者宙斯最心爱的凡人——
命运和赫拉粗野的狂暴葬送了他。
我也一样，如果同样的命运等待着我的领受，
一旦死后，我将安闲地舒躺。但现在，我必须争得显耀的荣光，
使某个特洛伊妇女或某个束腰紧深的
达耳达尼亚女子抬举双手，擦抹鲜嫩的
脸颊，一串串悲悼的泪珠——她们将
由此得知，我已有多长时间没有拼斗搏杀！
不要阻止我冲打，虽然你很爱我。你的劝说不会使我改变主
听罢这番，银脚女神塞提丝答道：
“是的，我的儿，救护疲乏的伙伴，使他们
避免突至的死亡，绝非懦夫弱汉的作为。
但是，你那身璀璨的铠甲已落入特洛伊人手中，
青铜铸就，闪着烁烁的光芒；头盔闪亮的赫克托耳，
已把它套在肩上，炫耀他的荣光。不过，料他
风光不久，穿着这身铠甲——他的末日已在向他逼压！
再等等，在没有亲眼见我回返之前，
不要急于投身战争的磨轧！
我将带着王者赫法伊斯托斯铸打的铠甲，神制的
精品，于明晨拂晓，太阳初升的时候，回到你的身旁。”
言罢，塞提丝转身离开儿子，
对着她的海神姐妹，开口说道：
“‘你等即可回返水波浩森的大洋，
回到水底的房屋，谒见海之长老，我们的父亲，
把一切禀告于他。我要去高耸的俄林波斯，
寻见著名的神匠赫法伊斯托斯，但愿他能
给我儿一套绝好的铠甲，闪着四射的光芒！”
她言罢，姐妹们随即跳入追涌的海浪，
而她自己，银脚女神塞提丝，则扶摇直上，
前往俄林波斯，为儿子求取光灿灿的铠甲。
就这样，快腿把她带往俄林波斯的峰峦，与此同时，
面对杀人狂赫克托耳的进攻，阿开亚人发出可怕的惨叫，
撒腿奔逃，退至海船一线，漫长的赫勒斯庞特沿岸。
战地上，胫甲紧固的阿开亚人无法从漫天飞舞的枪械里拖＠
帕特罗克洛斯的遗体，阿基琉斯的伴从；
特洛伊兵勇和车马再次骚拥到帕特罗克洛斯身边，
赫克托耳，普里阿摩斯之子，凶狂得像一团火焰。
一连三次，光荣的赫克托耳从后面抓起他的
双脚，试图把他拖走，高声呼喊着特洛伊人，
一连三次，两位骠悍狂烈的埃阿斯
将他打离尸躯。但赫克托耳坚信自己的
勇力，继续冲扑，时而杀人人群，时而
挺腿直立，大声疾呼，一步也不退让。
正如野地里的牧人，不能吓跑一头毛色
黄褐的狮子，使它丢下嘴边的肉食，
两位埃阿斯，善战的勇士，赶不走赫克托耳，
普里阿摩斯之子，从倒地的尸躯旁。
其时，赫克托耳已可下手拖走尸体，争得永久的荣光，
若非腿脚风快的伊里丝从俄林波斯山上冲扫而下，
带来要裴琉斯之子武装出击的口信。赫拉
悄悄地遣她下凡，宙斯和众神对此全然不知。
她在阿基琉斯身边站定，启口说话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“行动起来，裴琉斯之子，人世间最可怕的壮勇！
保卫帕特罗克洛斯的遗体；为了他，海船的前面
已打得人血飞扬！双方互相残杀，
阿开亚人为保卫倒地的伙伴，
而特洛伊人则冲闯着要把尸体拖人
多风的城堡，尤以光荣的赫克托耳为甚，
发疯似地拖枪，凶暴狂虐，意欲挥剑
松软的脖子，割下他的脑袋，挑挂在墙头的尖桩上！
快起来，不要躺倒在地！想想此般羞辱——
不要让特洛伊的大狗嬉耍帕特罗克洛斯的遗躯！这是
你的耻辱，倘若伙伴的尸体离此而去，带着遭受蹂躏的伤迹！
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯问道：
“永生的伊里丝，是哪位神祗差你前来，捎给我此番口信？”
听他言罢，腿脚风快的伊里丝答道：
“是赫拉，宙斯尊贵的妻后，遣我下凡，但高坐
云端的克罗诺斯之子，以及其他家住白雪封盖的
俄林波斯的众神，却不知此事。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯说道：
“特洛伊人夺走了我的铠甲，我将如何战斗？
心爱的母亲对我说过，在没有亲眼
见她回返之前，绝不要武装出阵——
她答应带回一套闪光的铠甲，从赫法伊斯托斯的工房。
我不知谁的甲械可以合我携用，
除了忒拉蒙之子的那面硕大的战盾。
但我确信，此刻，他自己正战斗在队伍的前头，
挥使着枪矛，保卫帕特罗克洛斯的遗体。”
听罢这番话，腿脚风快的伊里丝说道：
“是的，我们知道，你那套光荣的铠甲已被他们夺占，
但是，你仍可前往壕沟，以无甲之身——目睹你的出现，
特洛伊人会吓得神魂颠倒，停止进攻，
使苦战中的阿开亚人的儿子们得获一次喘息的机会——
他们已筋疲力尽。战斗中，喘息的时间总是那样短暂。”
言罢，快腿的伊里丝离他而去。
宙斯钟爱的阿基琉斯挺身直立——雅典娜，
女神中的姣杰，把穗带飘摇的埃吉斯甩上他那宽厚的肩膀，
随后布起一朵金色的浮云，在他的头顶，
从中燃出一片熊熊的火焰，光照四方。
仿佛烟火腾升，冲指气空，远处
海岛上的一座城堡，受到敌人的围攻，
护城的人们在墙上奋勇抵抗，
苦战终日，及至太阳西沉，点起
一堆堆报警的柴火，呼呼地
升腾，告急于邻近岛屿上的人们，
企盼他们的营救，驾着海船赶来，打退进攻的敌人——
就像这样，阿基琉斯头上烈焰熊熊，冲指明亮的气空。
他从墙边大步扑进，站在壕沟边沿，牢记
母亲的命嘱，不曾介入阿开亚人的营伍。
他挺胸直立，放声长啸，帕拉丝、雅典娜亦在
远处呼喊，把特洛伊人吓得五脏俱裂。
阿基琉斯的呐喊清响激越，
尖利嘹亮，如同围城之时，
杀人成性的兵勇吹响的号角。
听到埃阿科斯后代的铜嗓，特洛伊人
无不心惊肉跳；长鬃飘洒的驭马，
心知死难临头，掉转身后的战车，
驭手们个个目瞪口呆，望着灰眼睛女神雅典娜
点燃的烈火，窜耀在心胸豪壮的阿基琉斯
头上，来势凶猛，暴虐无情。
一连三次，卓越的阿基琉斯隔着壕沟啸吼，
一连三次，特洛伊人和声名遐迩的盟友吓得活蹦乱跳。
其间，他们中十二个最好的战勇即刻毙命，
葬身于自己的战车和枪矛。与此同时，阿开亚人，
冒着飞舞的枪械，高兴地抢回帕特罗克洛斯，
放躺在尸架上，出手迅捷；亲密的伙伴们围站在他的
身边，深情悲悼。捷足的阿基琉斯介入哀悼的
人群，热泪滚滚，看着他所信赖的伴友
尸躺架面，挺着被锋快的铜尖破毁的躯身——
他把伴友送上战场，连同驭马和
战车，但却不曾见他生还，把他迎进家门。
其时，牛眼睛天后赫拉把尚无倦意。
不愿离息的太阳赶下俄开阿诺斯水流。
太阳下沉后，卓越的阿开亚人停止
激烈的拼杀，你死我活的搏斗。
在他们对面，特洛伊人亦随即撤出激烈的
战斗，将善跑的驭马宽出战车的轭架，
集聚商议，把做食晚饭之事忘得精光。
他们直立聚会，谁也不敢就地下坐，
个个心慌意乱——要知道，在长期避离惨烈的
搏杀后，阿基琼斯现又重返战斗。
头脑冷静的普鲁达马斯首先发话，
潘苏斯之子，全军中推他一人具有瞻前顾后的睿智。
他是赫克托耳的战友，同一个晚上出生，
比赫克托耳能言，而后者则远比他擅使枪矛。
怀着对众人的善意，他开口说道：
“是慎重考虑的时候了，我的朋友们！我劝大家
回兵城内，不要在平原上，在这海船边等盼
神圣的黎明——我们已过远地撤离了城堡。
只要此人盛怒不息，对了不起的阿伽门农，
阿开亚人还是一支较为容易对付的军旅，
而我亦乐意露营寝宿，睡躺在
船边，企望着抓获弯翘的船舟。
但现在，我却十分害怕裴琉斯捷足的儿子，
此人的勇力如此狂暴，我想他绝不会只是满足于
果留平原——特洛伊人和阿开亚人在此
拼死相搏，均分战神的凶暴。
不！他要荡平我们的城堡，抢走我们的女人！
让我们撤兵回城；相信我，这一切将会发生。
眼下，神赐的夜晚止住了裴琉斯之子、捷足的
阿基琉斯的进攻，然而，明天呢？倘若等他披甲
持枪，冲扑上来，逮着正在此间磨蹭的我们，各位
就会知道他的厉害。那时候，有人准会庆幸自己命大，
要是他能活着跑回神圣的伊利昂。成片的特洛伊尸躯将喂饱
兀鹫和俄狗。但愿此类消息永远不要传至我的耳旁！
倘若大家都能听从我的劝说——尽管我们不愿这么做——
今晚，我们将养精蓄锐，在聚会的空场上；高大的城墙
和门户，偌大的门面，平滑吻合的木板和紧插的门闩，
将能保护城堡的安全。然后，明天一早，
拂晓时分，我们将全副武装，进入
墙头的战位。那时，倘若阿基琉斯试图从船边过来，
拼杀在我们的墙下，他将面临厄运的击打。
他会鞭策驭马，在墙下来回穿梭，把它们
累得垂头丧气，最后无可奈何，返回搁岸的船旁。
所以，尽管狂烈，他将无法冲破城门，攻占
我们的城堡。用不了多久，奔跑的犬狗便会把他撕食吞咬！”
听罢这番话，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳恶狠狠地盯着他，
嚷道：“普鲁达马斯，你的话使我厌烦——
你再次催我们回撤，要我们缩挤在城区；
在高墙的樊笼里，你难道还没有蹲够吗？
从前，人们到处议论纷纷，议说普里阿摩斯的城，
说这是个富藏黄金和青铜的去处。但
现在，由于宙斯的愤怒，房居里丰盈的
财富已被掏扫一空；大量的库藏已被变卖，
运往弗鲁吉亚和美丽的迈俄尼亚。
今天，工于心计的克罗诺斯的儿子给了我
争获荣誉的机会，就在敌人的船边，把阿开亚人
赶下大海——此时此刻，你，你这个笨蛋，不要再说撤兵的蠢
话，当着此间的众人！
特洛伊人中谁也不会听从你的议说——我将不允许有人这
么做。行动起来，按我说的办，谁也不要倔拗。
现在，大家各归本队，吃用晚餐，沿着宽阔的营区；
不要忘了布置岗哨，人人都要保持警觉。
要是有谁实在放心不下自己的财富，
那就让他尽数收聚，交给众人，让大家一起享用。
与其让阿开亚人糜耗，倒不如让自己人消受。
明天一早，拂晓时分，我们要全副武装，
在深旷的船边唤醒凶暴的战神！
如果挺身船边的真是卓越的阿基琉斯，
那就让他等着遭殃——一倘若他想试试自己的身手。我不会
在他面前逃跑，不会跑离悲烈的战斗；我将
顽强拼战，看看到底谁能赢得巨大的光荣，是他，还是我！
战神是公正的：用死亡回敬以死相逼之人！”
赫克托耳言罢，特洛伊人报之以赞同的吼声——
好一群傻瓜，帕拉丝·雅典娜已夺走他们的智筹。
赫克托耳的计划凶险横生，他们竟盲目喝彩，
而普鲁达马斯的主意尽管明智，却没有一个人赞同。
议毕，全军吃用晚饭，沿着宽阔的营区。其时，在帕特罗克洛斯
身边，阿开亚人哀声悲悼，通宵达旦。
裴琉斯之子领头唱诵曲调凄楚的挽歌，
把杀人的双手紧贴着挚友的胸脯，
发出一声声痛苦的悲号。像一头虬须满面的狮子，
被一位打鹿的猎手偷走它的幼仔，从
密密的树林里，甫及回来，方知为时已晚，恼恨不已，
急起追踪，沿着猎人的足迹，跑过一道道山谷，
企望找到他的去处，凶蛮狂烈。就像这样，
阿基琉斯哀声长叹，对慕耳弥冬人哭诉道：
“唉，荒唐啊，我说的那番空话——那天，
在裴琉斯家里，为了宽慰英雄墨诺伊提俄斯的心房！
我答应他，攻陷伊利昂后，我会把他的儿男带回
俄普斯，载誉而归，带着他的份子，他的战礼。
但是，宙斯绝不会从头至尾兑现凡人的心愿。
瞧瞧我俩的下场：你我将用鲜血染红同一块土地，
在这特洛伊平野！我已不能生还家园；裴琉斯，
我的父亲，年迈的车战者，将再也不能把我收迎进家门，
还有塞提丝，我的母亲——异乡的泥土将把我收藏！
然而，帕特罗克洛斯，由于我将步你的后尘，离开人间，
我现在不打算把你埋葬，直到带回那套铠甲和
赫克托耳的脑袋——是他杀了你，我的心胸豪壮的伴友。
在火焚遗体的柴堆前，我将砍掉十二个特洛伊人
风华正茂的儿子，消泄我对他们杀你的愤恨！
在此之前，你就躺在这里，在我的弯翘的海船前；
特洛伊妇女和束腰紧深的达耳达尼亚女子将泪流
满面，哀悼在你的身边，无论白天和黑夜——她们是
你我夺来的俘获，靠我们的勇力和粗长的
枪矛，攻克一座座凡人富有的城堡。”
言罢，卓越的阿基琉斯命令属下，
在火堆上架起一口大锅，以便尽快
洗去帕特罗克洛斯身上斑结的血污。
他们把大锅架上炽烈的柴火，注满洗澡的
清水，添上木块，燃起通红的火苗。
柴火舔着锅底，增升着水温，直至
热腾腾的浴水沸滚在闪亮的铜锅。
他们动手洗净遗体，抹上舒滑的橄榄油，
填平一道道伤口，用成年的[●]油膏，
●成年的：enneoroio，可作“九年的”解。
把他放躺在床上，盖上一层薄薄的亚麻布，
从头到脚，用一件白色的披篷罩掩全身。
整整一夜，围绕着捷足的阿基琉斯，
慕耳弥冬人哀声吟叹，悲悼帕特罗克洛斯的故亡。
其时，宙斯对赫拉发话，他的妻子和姐妹：
“这么看来，赫拉，我的牛眼睛王后，你还是实践了你的意图
你已催使捷足的阿基琉斯站挺起身子。他们都该是
你的孩子吧，这些个长发的阿开亚人？”
听罢这番话，牛眼睛夫人赫拉答道：
“克罗诺斯之子，可怕的王者，你说了些什么？
即便是个凡人，也会尽己所能，帮助朋友，
尽管凡骨肉脯，没有我等的睿智。
我，自诩为女神中最高贵的姣杰，体现在
两个方面，出生次序和同你的关系——我被
尊为你的伴侣，而你是众神之主——
难道就不能因为出于恨心，谋导特洛伊人的败亡？”
就这样，他俩你来我往，一番争说；与此同时，
银脚的塞提丝来到了赫法伊斯托斯的房居，
由瘸腿的神匠自己建造，取料青铜，
固垂永久，亮似明星，闪耀在众神之中。
她找见神匠，正风风火火地穿梭在
风箱边，忙于制作二十个鼎锅，
用于排放在屋墙边，筑造坚固的房居里。
他在每个架锅下安了黄金的滑轮，
所以它们会自动滚人神祗聚会的厅堂，
然后再滑回他的府居：一批让人看了赞叹不已的精品。
一切都已制铸完毕，只缺纹工精致的
把手。其时，他正忙着安制和铆接手柄。
正当他专心摆弄手头的活计，以他的工艺和匠心，
银脚女神塞提丝已走近他的身边。
头巾闪亮的克里丝徐步前行，眼见造访的塞提丝，
克里丝，美貌的女神，声名遐迩的强臂神工的婚配。
她迎上前去，拉住塞提丝的手，叫着她的名字，说道：
“裙衫飘逸的塞提丝，是哪阵和风把你吹进我们的房居？
我们尊敬和爱慕的朋友，稀客，以前为何不常来赏光串门？
请进来吧，容我聊尽地主的情谊。”
言罢，克里丝，风姿绰约的女神，引步前行，
让塞提丝坐息一张做工精致的靠椅，造型
美观，银钉嵌饰，前面放着一只脚凳。
她开口招呼赫法伊斯托斯，喊道：
“赫法伊斯托斯，来呀，看看是谁来了——塞提丝有事相求。”
耳闻她的呼喊，著名的强臂神工答道：
“呵，是尊敬的塞提丝，好一位贵客！
她曾救过我——那一次，我可吃够了苦头，从高天上摔落，
感谢我那厚脸皮的母亲，嫌我是个拐子
想要把我藏匿。要不是欧鲁诺墨和塞提丝将我怀抱，
我的心灵将会承受何样的煎熬——
欧鲁诺墨，环世长河俄开阿诺斯的女儿。
作为工匠，我在她们那里生活了九年，制铸了许多精美的用品；
有典雅的胸针、项链、弯卷的别针和带螺纹的手镯，
在空旷的洞穴里，四周是俄开阿诺斯奔腾不息的水流，
泡沫翻涌，发出沉闷的吼声。除了
欧鲁诺墨和塞提丝——因为她俩救了我——
此事神人不知，谁也不曾悉晓。
现在，塞提丝来访我们的家居，我必将全力以赴，
竭己所能，报效发辫秀美的女神，她的
救命之恩。赶快张罗，盛情招待，
我这就去收拾，收拾我的风箱和所有的械具。”
言罢，他在砧台前直起腰来，
瘸拐着行走，灵巧地挪动干瘪的双腿。
他移开风箱，使之脱离炉火，收起所有
操用的工具，放入一只坚实的银箱。
然后，他用吸水的海绵擦净额头、双手。
粗大的脖子和多毛的胸脯，套上衫衣，
抓起一根粗重的拐杖，一瘸一拐地
前行。侍从们赶上前去，扶持着主人，
全用黄金铸成，形同少女，栩栩如生。
她们有会思考的心智，通说话语，行动自如，
从不死的神祗那里，已学得做事的技能。
她们动作敏捷，扶持着主人，后者瘸腿走近
端坐的塞提丝，在那张闪亮的靠椅上，
握住她的手，叫着她的名字，说道：
“裙衫飘逸的塞提丝，是哪阵和风把你吹进我们的房居？
我们尊敬和爱慕的朋友，稀客，以前为何不常来赏光串门？
告诉我你的心事，我将竭诚为你效劳，
只要可能，只要此事可以做到。”
听罢这番话，塞提丝泪流满面，答道：
“唉，赫法伊斯托斯，俄林波斯的女神中
有谁忍受过这许多深切的悲愁？
克罗诺斯之子宙斯让我承受这场悲痛，似乎这是我的专有。
海神姐妹中，他惟独让我嫁给凡人，
嫁给裴琉斯，埃阿科斯之子，使我违心背意，
忍受凡婚。现在，岁月已把他带入可悲的暮年，
睡躺在自家的厅堂里。这还不够——
他还让我孕怀和抚养了一个儿子，
英雄中的俊杰，像一棵树苗似地茁壮成长；
我把他养大成人，好似一棵果树，为园林增彩添光。
然而，我却把他送上弯翘的海船，前往伊利昂地面，
和特洛伊人战斗！我再也见不到他的身影，
见不到他回返自己的家居，裴琉斯的门户。
只要他还活着，能见到白昼的日光，他就无法摆脱
烦愁，即便我亲往探视，也帮不了他的忙。
强有力的阿伽门农从他手里夺走那位姑娘，
阿开亚人的儿子们分给他的战获。为了她，
我儿心绪焦恼，悲愁交加。其后，特洛伊人
把阿开亚人逼回船尾，不让他们杀出
困境。阿耳吉维人的首领们恳求我儿，
列出许多光灿灿的礼物，以为偿补。当时
我儿拒绝出战，为他们挡开灾亡，
但还是让出自己的铠甲，披上帕特罗克洛斯的肩膀，
把他送上战场，带着大队的兵勇。
他们在斯卡亚门边奋战终日，当天即可
攻下城堡，倘若福伊波斯·阿波罗
不在前排里杀了墨诺伊提俄斯骁勇的儿郎——
他已把特洛伊人捣得稀里哗拉——使赫克托耳争得荣光。
所以，我来到此地，跪在你的膝前，请求你的帮助，
给我那短命的儿子铸制一面盾牌、一顶盔盖。
一副带踝绊的、漂亮的胫甲，以及一件
护胸的甲衣。他自己的征甲已丢失战场，他所信赖的伴友
已被特洛伊人剥杀。现在，我儿躺在地上，心绪悲伤。”
听罢这番话，臂膀强健的著名神匠答道：
“鼓起勇气，不要为这些事情担心。
但愿在厄运把他抓走之时，我能
设法使他躲过死亡，避免痛苦，就像我会
给他一套上好的铠甲一样毋庸置疑——此甲
精美，谁要是见了，管叫他咋舌惊讶。”
言罢，赫法伊斯托斯离她而去，朝着风箱前行。
他把风箱对着炉火，发出干活的指令。
二十只风箱对着坩埚吹呼，
喷出温高不等的热风，效力于忙忙碌碌的神匠，
有的亢猛炽烈，顺应强力操作的需要，有的
轻缓舒徐，迎合神匠的愿望。工作做得井井有条。
他把金属丢进火里，坚韧的青铜，还有锡块、
贵重的黄金和白银。接着，他把硕大的
砧块搬上平台，一手抓起
沉重的鎯锤，一手拿稳了钳夹。
神匠先铸战盾，厚重、硕大，
精工饰制，绕着盾边隆起一道三层的因围，
闪出熠熠的光亮，映衬着纯银的背带。
盾身五层，宽面上铸着一组组奇美的浮景，
倾注了他的技艺和匠心。
他铸出大地、天空、海洋、不知
疲倦的太阳和盈满溜圆的月亮，
以及众多的星宿，像增色天穹的花环，
普雷阿得斯、华得斯和强有力的俄里昂，
还有大熊座，人们亦称之为“车座”，
总在一个地方旋转，注视着俄里昂；
众星中，惟有大熊座从不下沉沐浴，在俄开阿诺斯的水流。
他还铸下，在盾面上，两座凡人的城市，精美
绝伦。一座表现婚娶和欢庆的场面，
人们正把新娘引出闺房，沿着城街行走，
打着耀眼的火把，踩着高歌新婚的旋律。
小伙们急步摇转，跳起欢快的舞蹈，
阿洛斯和坚琴的声响此起彼落；女人们
站在自家门前，投出惊赞的眼光。
市场上人群拥聚，观望
两位男子的争吵，为了一个被杀的亲人，
一笔偿命的血酬。一方当众声称血酬
已付，半点不少，另一方则坚持根本不曾收受；[●]
●一方……不曾收受：或：一方当众声称愿意付足血酬，另一方则满口拒绝，
不予收受。
两人于是求助于审事的仲裁，听凭他的判夺。
人们意见分歧，有的为这方说话，有的为那方辩解；
使者们挡开人群，让地方的长老
聚首商议，坐在溜光的石凳上，围成一个神圣的圆圈
手握嗓音清亮的使者们交给的节杖。
两人急步上前，依次陈述事情的原由，
身前放着两个塔兰同的黄金，准备
赏付给审断最公正的判者。
然而，在另一座城堡的周围，聚集着两队攻城的兵勇，
甲械的闪光连成一片。不同的计划把他们分作两边，
是攻伐抢劫，还是留下这座美丽、库藏
丰盈的堡城，满足于二分之一的贡偿。[●]
●还是……二分之一的贡偿：换言之，如果围城者放弃攻城，即可收受城民
们分之一的所有，作为“贡礼”或“赔偿”。
城内的民众并没有屈服，他们武装起来，准备伏击。
他们的爱妻和年幼的孩子站守在
城墙上，连同上了年纪的老人，而青壮们则
鱼贯出城，由阿瑞斯和雅典娜率领。
两位神祗由黄金浇铸，身着金甲，
神威赫赫，全副武装，显得俊美、高大，
以瞩目的形象，突显在矮小的凡人中。
他们来到理想的伏击地点，
河边的滩泽，牲畜群至饮水的地方，
屈腿蹲坐，身披闪光的铜甲。
两位哨探，离着众人，藏身自己的位置，伏兵的眼睛，
聚神探望，等待着羊群和步履瞒珊的肥牛。
过了一会儿，它们果然来了，后边跟着两个牧人，
兴高采烈，吹着苏里克斯，根本不曾想到眼前的诡诈。
伏兵们见状，冲扑上前，迅猛
砍杀，宰了成群的畜牛和毛色；
白亮、净美的肥羊，杀了跟行的牧人。
围城的壮勇，其时正聚坐高议，听到牛群里
传来的喧嚣，从蹄腿轻捷的马后
登车，急往救援，当即来到出事的地点。
两军对阵，交手开战，在河的岸沿，
互相击打，投出铜头的枪矛。
争斗和混战介入拼搏的人群，还有致命的死亡，
她时而抓住一个刚刚受伤的活人，时而
逮着一个不曾受伤的精壮，时而又拎起一具尸体，抓住
死者的腿脚，在粗野的
残杀中——衣服的肩背上浸染着凡人的血浆，猩红一片。
神明冲撞扑杀，像凡人一样战斗，
互抢着别个撂倒的尸体，倒地死去的人们。
他还铸上一片深熟的原野，广袤、肥沃
的农地，受过三遍犁耕的良田；众多的犁手遍地劳作，
驭使着成对的牲畜，来回耕忙。
当他们犁至地头，准备掉返之际，
有人会跑上前去，端上一杯香甜的
酒浆。他们掉过牲畜，重人垄沟，
盼望着犁过深广的沃土，再临地头。
犁尖撇下一垄垄幽黑的泥土，看来真像是翻耕过的农地，
虽然取料黄金——赫法伊斯托斯的手艺就有这般卓绝。
他还铸出一片国王的属地；景面上，农人们
正忙于收获，挥舞锋快的镰刀，割下庄稼，
有的和收割者成行，一堆接着一堆，
另一些则由捆秆者用草绳扎绑，
一共三位，站在秆堆前，后面跟着
一帮孩子，收捡割下的穗秆，满满地抱在胸前，
交给捆绑的农人，忙得不亦乐乎。国王亦置身现场，
手握权杖，静观不语，站在割倒的秆堆前，心情舒畅。
谷地的一边，在一棵树下，使者们已将盛宴排开——
他们杀倒一头硕大的肥牛，此刻正忙着切剥。与此同时，妇女们
撒出一把把雪白的大麦，作为收割者的午餐。
他还铸出一大片果实累累的葡萄园，
景象生动，以黄金作果，呈现出深熟的紫蓝，
蔓爬的枝藤依附在银质的杆架上。他还抹出
一道渠沟，在果园四周，用暗蓝色的珐琅，并在外围
套上一层白锡，以为栅栏。只有一条贯通的小径，
每当撷取的时节，人们由此跑人果园，收摘葡萄。
姑娘和小伙们，带着年轻人的纯真，
用柳条编织的篮子，装走混熟、甜美的葡萄；
在他们中间，一个年轻人拨响声音清脆的竖琴，奏出
迷人的曲调，亮开富有表现力的歌喉，演唱念悼夏日的挽歌，[●]
●演唱念悼夏日的挽歌：或“唱着利诺斯的歌”。
优美动听；众人随声附和，高歌欢叫，
迈出轻快的舞步，踏出齐整的节奏。
神匠还铸出一群长角的壮牛，用
黄金和白锡，啤吼着冲出满地
泥粪的农院，直奔草场，在一条
水流哗哗的河边，芦草飘摇的滩沿。
牧牛人金首金身，随同牛群行走，
一共四位，身后跟着九条快腿的牧狗。
突然，两头凶狠的狮子闯入牛群的前头，
咬住一头悲吼的公牛，把它拖走，踏踩着
哞哞的叫声；狗和年轻的牧人疾步追救。
然而，两头兽狮裂开壮牛的皮层，
大口吞咽内脏和黑红的热血；牧人
驱怂狗群上前搏斗，后者
不敢和狮子对咬，回避不前，
站在对手近旁，悻悻吠叫，躲闪观望。”
著名的强臂神工还铸出一片宽阔的
草场，卧躺在水草肥美的谷地，牧养着洁白闪亮的羊群，
伴随着牧羊人的房院，带顶的棚屋和栅围。
著名的强臂神工还精心铸出，在后面上，一个
舞场，就像在广袤的克诺索斯，代达洛斯
为发辫秀美的阿里娅德奈建造的舞场那样。
场地上，年轻的小伙和美貌的姑娘们——她们的聘礼
是昂贵的壮牛——牵着手腕，抬腿欢跳。
姑娘们身穿亚麻布的长裙，小伙们穿着
精工织纺的短套，涂闪着橄榄油的光泽。
姑娘们头戴漂亮的花环，小伙们佩挂
黄金的匕首，垂悬在银带的尾端。
他们时而摆开轻盈的腿步，灵巧地转起圈子——
像一位弯腰劳作的陶工，试转起陶轮，
触之以前伸的手掌，估探它的运作——
时而又跳排出行次，奔跑着互相穿插。
大群的民众拥站在舞队周围，凝目观望，
笑逐颜开。舞队里活跃着两位耍杂的高手，
翻转腾跃，合导着歌的节奏。
他还铸出俄开阿诺斯河磅礴的水流，
奔腾在坚不可摧的战盾的边沿。
铸罢这面巨大、厚重的战盾，
神匠打出一副胸甲，烁烁的闪光比火焰还要明亮。接着，
他又打出一顶盔盖，体积硕大，恰好扣紧阿基琉斯的脑穴，
工艺精湛，造型美观。他给头盔铸上一峰黄金的脊冠，
然后用柔韧的白锡打出一副胫甲。
完工后，著名的强臂神工抱起甲械，
放在阿基琉斯母亲的腿脚前。
像一只鹰鹞，塞提丝冲下白雪皑皑的俄林波斯，
带着赫法伊斯托斯赠送的厚礼，光彩夺目的甲械。
ARGUMENT.
THE GRIEF OF ACHILLES, AND NEW ARMOUR MADE HIM BY VULCAN.
The news of the death of Patroclus is brought to Achilles by Antilochus.
Thetis, hearing his lamentations, comes with all her sea- nymphs to
comfort him. The speeches of the mother and son on this occasion. Iris
appears to Achilles by the command of Juno, and orders him to show himself
at the head of the intrenchments. The sight of him turns the fortunes of
the day, and the body of Patroclus is carried off by the Greeks. The
Trojans call a council, where Hector and Polydamas disagree in their
opinions: but the advice of the former prevails, to remain encamped in the
field. The grief of Achilles over the body of Patroclus.
Thetis goes to the palace of Vulcan to obtain new arms for her son. The
description of the wonderful works of Vulcan: and, lastly, that noble one
of the shield of Achilles.
The latter part of the nine-and-twentieth day, and the night ensuing, take
up this book: the scene is at Achilles' tent on the sea-shore, from whence
it changes to the palace of Vulcan.
Thus like the rage of fire the combat burns,(250)
And now it rises, now it sinks by turns.
Meanwhile, where Hellespont's broad waters flow,
Stood Nestor's son, the messenger of woe:
There sat Achilles, shaded by his sails,
On hoisted yards extended to the gales;
Pensive he sat; for all that fate design'd
Rose in sad prospect to his boding mind.
Thus to his soul he said: "Ah! what constrains
The Greeks, late victors, now to quit the plains?
Is this the day, which heaven so long ago
Ordain'd, to sink me with the weight of woe?
(So Thetis warn'd;) when by a Trojan hand
The bravest of the Myrmidonian band
Should lose the light! Fulfilled is that decree;
Fallen is the warrior, and Patroclus he!
In vain I charged him soon to quit the plain,
And warn'd to shun Hectorean force in vain!"
Thus while he thinks, Antilochus appears,
And tells the melancholy tale with tears.
"Sad tidings, son of Peleus! thou must hear;
And wretched I, the unwilling messenger!
Dead is Patroclus! For his corse they fight;
His naked corse: his arms are Hector's right."
A sudden horror shot through all the chief,
And wrapp'd his senses in the cloud of grief;
Cast on the ground, with furious hands he spread
The scorching ashes o'er his graceful head;
His purple garments, and his golden hairs,
Those he deforms with dust, and these he tears;
On the hard soil his groaning breast he threw,
And roll'd and grovell'd, as to earth he grew.
The virgin captives, with disorder'd charms,
(Won by his own, or by Patroclus' arms,)
Rush'd from their tents with cries; and gathering round,
Beat their white breasts, and fainted on the ground:
While Nestor's son sustains a manlier part,
And mourns the warrior with a warrior's heart;
Hangs on his arms, amidst his frantic woe,
And oft prevents the meditated blow.
Far in the deep abysses of the main,(251)
With hoary Nereus, and the watery train,
The mother-goddess from her crystal throne
Heard his loud cries, and answer'd groan for groan.
The circling Nereids with their mistress weep,
And all the sea-green sisters of the deep.
Thalia, Glauce (every watery name),
Nesaea mild, and silver Spio came:
Cymothoe and Cymodoce were nigh,
And the blue languish of soft Alia's eye.
Their locks Actaea and Limnoria rear,
Then Proto, Doris, Panope appear,
Thoa, Pherusa, Doto, Melita;
Agave gentle, and Amphithoe gay:
Next Callianira, Callianassa show
Their sister looks; Dexamene the slow,
And swift Dynamene, now cut the tides:
Iaera now the verdant wave divides:
Nemertes with Apseudes lifts the head,
Bright Galatea quits her pearly bed;
These Orythia, Clymene, attend,
Maera, Amphinome, the train extend;
And black Janira, and Janassa fair,
And Amatheia with her amber hair.
All these, and all that deep in ocean held
Their sacred seats, the glimmering grotto fill'd;
Each beat her ivory breast with silent woe,
Till Thetis' sorrows thus began to flow:
"Hear me, and judge, ye sisters of the main!
How just a cause has Thetis to complain!
How wretched, were I mortal, were my fate!
How more than wretched in the immortal state!
Sprung from my bed a godlike hero came,
The bravest far that ever bore the name;
Like some fair olive, by my careful hand
He grew, he flourish'd and adorn'd the land
To Troy I sent him: but the fates ordain
He never, never must return again.
So short a space the light of heaven to view,
So short, alas! and fill'd with anguish too!
Hear how his sorrows echo through the shore!
I cannot ease them, but I must deplore;
I go at least to bear a tender part,
And mourn my loved-one with a mother's heart."
She said, and left the caverns of the main,
All bathed in tears; the melancholy train
Attend her way. Wide-opening part the tides,
While the long pomp the silver wave divides.
Approaching now, they touch'd the Trojan land;
Then, two by two, ascended up the strand.
The immortal mother, standing close beside
Her mournful offspring, to his sighs replied;
Along the coast their mingled clamours ran,
And thus the silver-footed dame began:
"Why mourns my son? thy late preferr'd request
The god has granted, and the Greeks distress'd:
Why mourns my son? thy anguish let me share,
Reveal the cause, and trust a parent's care."
He, deeply groaning--"To this cureless grief,
Not even the Thunderer's favour brings relief.
Patroclus--Ah!--say, goddess, can I boast
A pleasure now? revenge itself is lost;
Patroclus, loved of all my martial train,
Beyond mankind, beyond myself is slain!
Lost are those arms the gods themselves bestow'd
On Peleus; Hector bears the glorious load.
Cursed be that day, when all the powers above
Thy charms submitted to a mortal love:
O hadst thou still, a sister of the main,
Pursued the pleasures of the watery reign:
And happier Peleus, less ambitious, led
A mortal beauty to his equal bed!
Ere the sad fruit of thy unhappy womb
Had caused such sorrows past, and woes to come.
For soon, alas! that wretched offspring slain,
New woes, new sorrows, shall create again.
'Tis not in fate the alternate now to give;
Patroclus dead, Achilles hates to live.
Let me revenge it on proud Hector's heart,
Let his last spirit smoke upon my dart;
On these conditions will I breathe: till then,
I blush to walk among the race of men."
A flood of tears, at this, the goddess shed:
"Ah then, I see thee dying, see thee dead!
When Hector falls, thou diest."--"Let Hector die,
And let me fall! (Achilles made reply)
Far lies Patroclus from his native plain!
He fell, and falling, wish'd my aid in vain.
Ah then, since from this miserable day
I cast all hope of my return away;
Since, unrevenged, a hundred ghosts demand
The fate of Hector from Achilles' hand;
Since here, for brutal courage far renown'd,
I live an idle burden to the ground,
(Others in council famed for nobler skill,
More useful to preserve, than I to kill,)
Let me--But oh! ye gracious powers above!
Wrath and revenge from men and gods remove:
Far, far too dear to every mortal breast,
Sweet to the soul, as honey to the taste:
Gathering like vapours of a noxious kind
From fiery blood, and darkening all the mind.
Me Agamemnon urged to deadly hate;
'Tis past--I quell it; I resign to fate.
Yes--I will meet the murderer of my friend;
Or (if the gods ordain it) meet my end.
The stroke of fate the strongest cannot shun:
The great Alcides, Jove's unequall'd son,
To Juno's hate, at length resign'd his breath,
And sunk the victim of all-conquering death.
So shall Achilles fall! stretch'd pale and dead,
No more the Grecian hope, or Trojan dread!
Let me, this instant, rush into the fields,
And reap what glory life's short harvest yields.
Shall I not force some widow'd dame to tear
With frantic hands her long dishevell'd hair?
Shall I not force her breast to heave with sighs,
And the soft tears to trickle from her eyes?
Yes, I shall give the fair those mournful charms--
In vain you hold me--Hence! my arms! my arms!--
Soon shall the sanguine torrent spread so wide,
That all shall know Achilles swells the tide."
"My son (coerulean Thetis made reply,
To fate submitting with a secret sigh,)
The host to succour, and thy friends to save,
Is worthy thee; the duty of the brave.
But canst thou, naked, issue to the plains?
Thy radiant arms the Trojan foe detains.
Insulting Hector bears the spoils on high,
But vainly glories, for his fate is nigh.
Yet, yet awhile thy generous ardour stay;
Assured, I meet thee at the dawn of day,
Charged with refulgent arms (a glorious load),
Vulcanian arms, the labour of a god."
Then turning to the daughters of the main,
The goddess thus dismiss'd her azure train:
"Ye sister Nereids! to your deeps descend;
Haste, and our father's sacred seat attend;
I go to find the architect divine,
Where vast Olympus' starry summits shine:
So tell our hoary sire"--This charge she gave:
The sea-green sisters plunge beneath the wave:
Thetis once more ascends the bless'd abodes,
And treads the brazen threshold of the gods.
[Illustration: THETIS ORDERING THE NEREIDS TO DESCEND INTO THE SEA.]
THETIS ORDERING THE NEREIDS TO DESCEND INTO THE SEA.
And now the Greeks from furious Hector's force,
Urge to broad Hellespont their headlong course;
Nor yet their chiefs Patroclus' body bore
Safe through the tempest to the tented shore.
The horse, the foot, with equal fury join'd,
Pour'd on the rear, and thunder'd close behind:
And like a flame through fields of ripen'd corn,
The rage of Hector o'er the ranks was borne.
Thrice the slain hero by the foot he drew;
Thrice to the skies the Trojan clamours flew:
As oft the Ajaces his assault sustain;
But check'd, he turns; repuls'd, attacks again.
With fiercer shouts his lingering troops he fires,
Nor yields a step, nor from his post retires:
So watchful shepherds strive to force, in vain,
The hungry lion from a carcase slain.
Even yet Patroclus had he borne away,
And all the glories of the extended day,
Had not high Juno from the realms of air,
Secret, despatch'd her trusty messenger.
The various goddess of the showery bow,
Shot in a whirlwind to the shore below;
To great Achilles at his ships she came,
And thus began the many-colour'd dame:
"Rise, son of Peleus! rise, divinely brave!
Assist the combat, and Patroclus save:
For him the slaughter to the fleet they spread,
And fall by mutual wounds around the dead.
To drag him back to Troy the foe contends:
Nor with his death the rage of Hector ends:
A prey to dogs he dooms the corse to lie,
And marks the place to fix his head on high.
Rise, and prevent (if yet you think of fame)
Thy friend's disgrace, thy own eternal shame!"
"Who sends thee, goddess, from the ethereal skies?"
Achilles thus. And Iris thus replies:
"I come, Pelides! from the queen of Jove,
The immortal empress of the realms above;
Unknown to him who sits remote on high,
Unknown to all the synod of the sky."
"Thou comest in vain (he cries, with fury warm'd);
Arms I have none, and can I fight unarm'd?
Unwilling as I am, of force I stay,
Till Thetis bring me at the dawn of day
Vulcanian arms: what other can I wield,
Except the mighty Telamonian shield?
That, in my friend's defence, has Ajax spread,
While his strong lance around him heaps the dead:
The gallant chief defends Menoetius' son,
And does what his Achilles should have done."
"Thy want of arms (said Iris) well we know;
But though unarm'd, yet clad in terrors, go!
Let but Achilles o'er yon trench appear,
Proud Troy shall tremble, and consent to fear;
Greece from one glance of that tremendous eye
Shall take new courage, and disdain to fly."
She spoke, and pass'd in air. The hero rose:
Her aegis Pallas o'er his shoulder throws;
Around his brows a golden cloud she spread;
A stream of glory flamed above his head.
As when from some beleaguer'd town arise
The smokes, high curling to the shaded skies;
(Seen from some island, o'er the main afar,
When men distress'd hang out the sign of war;)
Soon as the sun in ocean hides his rays,
Thick on the hills the flaming beacons blaze;
With long-projected beams the seas are bright,
And heaven's high arch reflects the ruddy light:
So from Achilles' head the splendours rise,
Reflecting blaze on blaze against the skies.
Forth march'd the chief, and distant from the crowd,
High on the rampart raised his voice aloud;
With her own shout Minerva swells the sound;
Troy starts astonish'd, and the shores rebound.
As the loud trumpet's brazen mouth from far
With shrilling clangour sounds the alarm of war,
Struck from the walls, the echoes float on high,
And the round bulwarks and thick towers reply;
So high his brazen voice the hero rear'd:
Hosts dropp'd their arms, and trembled as they heard:
And back the chariots roll, and coursers bound,
And steeds and men lie mingled on the ground.
Aghast they see the living lightnings play,
And turn their eyeballs from the flashing ray.
Thrice from the trench his dreadful voice he raised,
And thrice they fled, confounded and amazed.
Twelve in the tumult wedged, untimely rush'd
On their own spears, by their own chariots crush'd:
While, shielded from the darts, the Greeks obtain
The long-contended carcase of the slain.
A lofty bier the breathless warrior bears:
Around, his sad companions melt in tears.
But chief Achilles, bending down his head,
Pours unavailing sorrows o'er the dead,
Whom late triumphant, with his steeds and car,
He sent refulgent to the field of war;
(Unhappy change!) now senseless, pale, he found,
Stretch'd forth, and gash'd with many a gaping wound.
Meantime, unwearied with his heavenly way,
In ocean's waves the unwilling light of day
Quench'd his red orb, at Juno's high command,
And from their labours eased the Achaian band.
The frighted Trojans (panting from the war,
Their steeds unharness'd from the weary car)
A sudden council call'd: each chief appear'd
In haste, and standing; for to sit they fear'd.
'Twas now no season for prolong'd debate;
They saw Achilles, and in him their fate.
Silent they stood: Polydamas at last,
Skill'd to discern the future by the past,
The son of Panthus, thus express'd his fears
(The friend of Hector, and of equal years;
The self-same night to both a being gave,
One wise in council, one in action brave):
[Illustration: JUNO COMMANDING THE SUN TO SET.]
JUNO COMMANDING THE SUN TO SET.
"In free debate, my friends, your sentence speak;
For me, I move, before the morning break,
To raise our camp: too dangerous here our post,
Far from Troy walls, and on a naked coast.
I deem'd not Greece so dreadful, while engaged
In mutual feuds her king and hero raged;
Then, while we hoped our armies might prevail
We boldly camp'd beside a thousand sail.
I dread Pelides now: his rage of mind
Not long continues to the shores confined,
Nor to the fields, where long in equal fray
Contending nations won and lost the day;
For Troy, for Troy, shall henceforth be the strife,
And the hard contest not for fame, but life.
Haste then to Ilion, while the favouring night
Detains these terrors, keeps that arm from fight.
If but the morrow's sun behold us here,
That arm, those terrors, we shall feel, not fear;
And hearts that now disdain, shall leap with joy,
If heaven permit them then to enter Troy.
Let not my fatal prophecy be true,
Nor what I tremble but to think, ensue.
Whatever be our fate, yet let us try
What force of thought and reason can supply;
Let us on counsel for our guard depend;
The town her gates and bulwarks shall defend.
When morning dawns, our well-appointed powers,
Array'd in arms, shall line the lofty towers.
Let the fierce hero, then, when fury calls,
Vent his mad vengeance on our rocky walls,
Or fetch a thousand circles round the plain,
Till his spent coursers seek the fleet again:
So may his rage be tired, and labour'd down!
And dogs shall tear him ere he sack the town."
"Return! (said Hector, fired with stern disdain)
What! coop whole armies in our walls again?
Was't not enough, ye valiant warriors, say,
Nine years imprison'd in those towers ye lay?
Wide o'er the world was Ilion famed of old
For brass exhaustless, and for mines of gold:
But while inglorious in her walls we stay'd,
Sunk were her treasures, and her stores decay'd;
The Phrygians now her scatter'd spoils enjoy,
And proud Maeonia wastes the fruits of Troy.
Great Jove at length my arms to conquest calls,
And shuts the Grecians in their wooden walls,
Darest thou dispirit whom the gods incite?
Flies any Trojan? I shall stop his flight.
To better counsel then attention lend;
Take due refreshment, and the watch attend.
If there be one whose riches cost him care,
Forth let him bring them for the troops to share;
'Tis better generously bestow'd on those,
Than left the plunder of our country's foes.
Soon as the morn the purple orient warms,
Fierce on yon navy will we pour our arms.
If great Achilles rise in all his might,
His be the danger: I shall stand the fight.
Honour, ye gods! or let me gain or give;
And live he glorious, whosoe'er shall live!
Mars is our common lord, alike to all;
And oft the victor triumphs, but to fall."
The shouting host in loud applauses join'd;
So Pallas robb'd the many of their mind;
To their own sense condemn'd, and left to choose
The worst advice, the better to refuse.
While the long night extends her sable reign,
Around Patroclus mourn'd the Grecian train.
Stern in superior grief Pelides stood;
Those slaughtering arms, so used to bathe in blood,
Now clasp his clay-cold limbs: then gushing start
The tears, and sighs burst from his swelling heart.
The lion thus, with dreadful anguish stung,
Roars through the desert, and demands his young;
When the grim savage, to his rifled den
Too late returning, snuffs the track of men,
And o'er the vales and o'er the forest bounds;
His clamorous grief the bellowing wood resounds.
So grieves Achilles; and, impetuous, vents
To all his Myrmidons his loud laments.
"In what vain promise, gods! did I engage,
When to console Menoetius' feeble age,
I vowed his much-loved offspring to restore,
Charged with rich spoils, to fair Opuntia's shore?(252)
But mighty Jove cuts short, with just disdain,
The long, long views of poor designing man!
One fate the warrior and the friend shall strike,
And Troy's black sands must drink our blood alike:
Me too a wretched mother shall deplore,
An aged father never see me more!
Yet, my Patroclus! yet a space I stay,
Then swift pursue thee on the darksome way.
Ere thy dear relics in the grave are laid,
Shall Hector's head be offer'd to thy shade;
That, with his arms, shall hang before thy shrine;
And twelve, the noblest of the Trojan line,
Sacred to vengeance, by this hand expire;
Their lives effused around thy flaming pyre.
Thus let me lie till then! thus, closely press'd,
Bathe thy cold face, and sob upon thy breast!
While Trojan captives here thy mourners stay,
Weep all the night and murmur all the day:
Spoils of my arms, and thine; when, wasting wide,
Our swords kept time, and conquer'd side by side."
He spoke, and bade the sad attendants round
Cleanse the pale corse, and wash each honour'd wound.
A massy caldron of stupendous frame
They brought, and placed it o'er the rising flame:
Then heap'd the lighted wood; the flame divides
Beneath the vase, and climbs around the sides:
In its wide womb they pour the rushing stream;
The boiling water bubbles to the brim.
The body then they bathe with pious toil,
Embalm the wounds, anoint the limbs with oil,
High on a bed of state extended laid,
And decent cover'd with a linen shade;
Last o'er the dead the milk-white veil they threw;
That done, their sorrows and their sighs renew.
Meanwhile to Juno, in the realms above,
(His wife and sister,) spoke almighty Jove.
"At last thy will prevails: great Peleus' son
Rises in arms: such grace thy Greeks have won.
Say (for I know not), is their race divine,
And thou the mother of that martial line?"
"What words are these? (the imperial dame replies,
While anger flash'd from her majestic eyes)
Succour like this a mortal arm might lend,
And such success mere human wit attend:
And shall not I, the second power above,
Heaven's queen, and consort of the thundering Jove,
Say, shall not I one nation's fate command,
Not wreak my vengeance on one guilty land?"
[Illustration: TRIPOD.]
TRIPOD.
So they. Meanwhile the silver-footed dame
Reach'd the Vulcanian dome, eternal frame!
High-eminent amid the works divine,
Where heaven's far-beaming brazen mansions shine.
There the lame architect the goddess found,
Obscure in smoke, his forges flaming round,
While bathed in sweat from fire to fire he flew;
And puffing loud, the roaring billows blew.
That day no common task his labour claim'd:
Full twenty tripods for his hall he framed,
That placed on living wheels of massy gold,
(Wondrous to tell,) instinct with spirit roll'd
From place to place, around the bless'd abodes
Self-moved, obedient to the beck of gods:
For their fair handles now, o'erwrought with flowers,
In moulds prepared, the glowing ore he pours.
Just as responsive to his thought the frame
Stood prompt to move, the azure goddess came:
Charis, his spouse, a grace divinely fair,
(With purple fillets round her braided hair,)
Observed her entering; her soft hand she press'd,
And, smiling, thus the watery queen address'd:
"What, goddess! this unusual favour draws?
All hail, and welcome! whatsoe'er the cause;
Till now a stranger, in a happy hour
Approach, and taste the dainties of the bower."
[Illustration: THETIS AND EURYNOME RECEIVING THE INFANT VULCAN.]
THETIS AND EURYNOME RECEIVING THE INFANT VULCAN.
High on a throne, with stars of silver graced,
And various artifice, the queen she placed;
A footstool at her feet: then calling, said,
"Vulcan, draw near, 'tis Thetis asks your aid."
"Thetis (replied the god) our powers may claim,
An ever-dear, an ever-honour'd name!
When my proud mother hurl'd me from the sky,
(My awkward form, it seems, displeased her eye,)
She, and Eurynome, my griefs redress'd,
And soft received me on their silver breast.
Even then these arts employ'd my infant thought:
Chains, bracelets, pendants, all their toys, I wrought.
Nine years kept secret in the dark abode,
Secure I lay, conceal'd from man and god:
Deep in a cavern'd rock my days were led;
The rushing ocean murmur'd o'er my head.
Now, since her presence glads our mansion, say,
For such desert what service can I pay?
Vouchsafe, O Thetis! at our board to share
The genial rites, and hospitable fare;
While I the labours of the forge forego,
And bid the roaring bellows cease to blow."
Then from his anvil the lame artist rose;
Wide with distorted legs oblique he goes,
And stills the bellows, and (in order laid)
Locks in their chests his instruments of trade.
Then with a sponge the sooty workman dress'd
His brawny arms embrown'd, and hairy breast.
With his huge sceptre graced, and red attire,
Came halting forth the sovereign of the fire:
The monarch's steps two female forms uphold,
That moved and breathed in animated gold;
To whom was voice, and sense, and science given
Of works divine (such wonders are in heaven!)
On these supported, with unequal gait,
He reach'd the throne where pensive Thetis sate;
There placed beside her on the shining frame,
He thus address'd the silver-footed dame:
"Thee, welcome, goddess! what occasion calls
(So long a stranger) to these honour'd walls?
'Tis thine, fair Thetis, the command to lay,
And Vulcan's joy and duty to obey."
[Illustration: VULCAN AND CHARIS RECEIVING THETIS.]
VULCAN AND CHARIS RECEIVING THETIS.
To whom the mournful mother thus replies:
(The crystal drops stood trembling in her eyes:)
"O Vulcan! say, was ever breast divine
So pierced with sorrows, so o'erwhelm'd as mine?
Of all the goddesses, did Jove prepare
For Thetis only such a weight of care?
I, only I, of all the watery race
By force subjected to a man's embrace,
Who, sinking now with age and sorrow, pays
The mighty fine imposed on length of days.
Sprung from my bed, a godlike hero came,
The bravest sure that ever bore the name;
Like some fair plant beneath my careful hand
He grew, he flourish'd, and he graced the land:
To Troy I sent him! but his native shore
Never, ah never, shall receive him more;
(Even while he lives, he wastes with secret woe;)
Nor I, a goddess, can retard the blow!
Robb'd of the prize the Grecian suffrage gave,
The king of nations forced his royal slave:
For this he grieved; and, till the Greeks oppress'd
Required his arm, he sorrow'd unredress'd.
Large gifts they promise, and their elders send;
In vain--he arms not, but permits his friend
His arms, his steeds, his forces to employ:
He marches, combats, almost conquers Troy:
Then slain by Phoebus (Hector had the name)
At once resigns his armour, life, and fame.
But thou, in pity, by my prayer be won:
Grace with immortal arms this short-lived son,
And to the field in martial pomp restore,
To shine with glory, till he shines no more!"
To her the artist-god: "Thy griefs resign,
Secure, what Vulcan can, is ever thine.
O could I hide him from the Fates, as well,
Or with these hands the cruel stroke repel,
As I shall forge most envied arms, the gaze
Of wondering ages, and the world's amaze!"
Thus having said, the father of the fires
To the black labours of his forge retires.
Soon as he bade them blow, the bellows turn'd
Their iron mouths; and where the furnace burn'd,
Resounding breathed: at once the blast expires,
And twenty forges catch at once the fires;
Just as the god directs, now loud, now low,
They raise a tempest, or they gently blow;
In hissing flames huge silver bars are roll'd,
And stubborn brass, and tin, and solid gold;
Before, deep fix'd, the eternal anvils stand;
The ponderous hammer loads his better hand,
His left with tongs turns the vex'd metal round,
And thick, strong strokes, the doubling vaults rebound.
Then first he form'd the immense and solid shield;
Rich various artifice emblazed the field;
Its utmost verge a threefold circle bound;(253)
A silver chain suspends the massy round;
Five ample plates the broad expanse compose,
And godlike labours on the surface rose.
There shone the image of the master-mind:
There earth, there heaven, there ocean he design'd;
The unwearied sun, the moon completely round;
The starry lights that heaven's high convex crown'd;
The Pleiads, Hyads, with the northern team;
And great Orion's more refulgent beam;
To which, around the axle of the sky,
The Bear, revolving, points his golden eye,
Still shines exalted on the ethereal plain,
Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main.
Two cities radiant on the shield appear,
The image one of peace, and one of war.
Here sacred pomp and genial feast delight,
And solemn dance, and hymeneal rite;
Along the street the new-made brides are led,
With torches flaming, to the nuptial bed:
The youthful dancers in a circle bound
To the soft flute, and cithern's silver sound:
Through the fair streets the matrons in a row
Stand in their porches, and enjoy the show.
There in the forum swarm a numerous train;
The subject of debate, a townsman slain:
One pleads the fine discharged, which one denied,
And bade the public and the laws decide:
The witness is produced on either hand:
For this, or that, the partial people stand:
The appointed heralds still the noisy bands,
And form a ring, with sceptres in their hands:
On seats of stone, within the sacred place,(254)
The reverend elders nodded o'er the case;
Alternate, each the attesting sceptre took,
And rising solemn, each his sentence spoke
Two golden talents lay amidst, in sight,
The prize of him who best adjudged the right.
Another part (a prospect differing far)(255)
Glow'd with refulgent arms, and horrid war.
Two mighty hosts a leaguer'd town embrace,
And one would pillage, one would burn the place.
Meantime the townsmen, arm'd with silent care,
A secret ambush on the foe prepare:
Their wives, their children, and the watchful band
Of trembling parents, on the turrets stand.
They march; by Pallas and by Mars made bold:
Gold were the gods, their radiant garments gold,
And gold their armour: these the squadron led,
August, divine, superior by the head!
A place for ambush fit they found, and stood,
Cover'd with shields, beside a silver flood.
Two spies at distance lurk, and watchful seem
If sheep or oxen seek the winding stream.
Soon the white flocks proceeded o'er the plains,
And steers slow-moving, and two shepherd swains;
Behind them piping on their reeds they go,
Nor fear an ambush, nor suspect a foe.
In arms the glittering squadron rising round
Rush sudden; hills of slaughter heap the ground;
Whole flocks and herds lie bleeding on the plains,
And, all amidst them, dead, the shepherd swains!
The bellowing oxen the besiegers hear;
They rise, take horse, approach, and meet the war,
They fight, they fall, beside the silver flood;
The waving silver seem'd to blush with blood.
There Tumult, there Contention stood confess'd;
One rear'd a dagger at a captive's breast;
One held a living foe, that freshly bled
With new-made wounds; another dragg'd a dead;
Now here, now there, the carcases they tore:
Fate stalk'd amidst them, grim with human gore.
And the whole war came out, and met the eye;
And each bold figure seem'd to live or die.
A field deep furrow'd next the god design'd,(256)
The third time labour'd by the sweating hind;
The shining shares full many ploughmen guide,
And turn their crooked yokes on every side.
Still as at either end they wheel around,
The master meets them with his goblet crown'd;
The hearty draught rewards, renews their toil,
Then back the turning ploughshares cleave the soil:
Behind, the rising earth in ridges roll'd;
And sable look'd, though form'd of molten gold.
Another field rose high with waving grain;
With bended sickles stand the reaper train:
Here stretched in ranks the levell'd swarths are found,
Sheaves heap'd on sheaves here thicken up the ground.
With sweeping stroke the mowers strow the lands;
The gatherers follow, and collect in bands;
And last the children, in whose arms are borne
(Too short to gripe them) the brown sheaves of corn.
The rustic monarch of the field descries,
With silent glee, the heaps around him rise.
A ready banquet on the turf is laid,
Beneath an ample oak's expanded shade.
The victim ox the sturdy youth prepare;
The reaper's due repast, the woman's care.
Next, ripe in yellow gold, a vineyard shines,
Bent with the ponderous harvest of its vines;
A deeper dye the dangling clusters show,
And curl'd on silver props, in order glow:
A darker metal mix'd intrench'd the place;
And pales of glittering tin the inclosure grace.
To this, one pathway gently winding leads,
Where march a train with baskets on their heads,
(Fair maids and blooming youths,) that smiling bear
The purple product of the autumnal year.
To these a youth awakes the warbling strings,
Whose tender lay the fate of Linus sings;
In measured dance behind him move the train,
Tune soft the voice, and answer to the strain.
Here herds of oxen march, erect and bold,
Rear high their horns, and seem to low in gold,
And speed to meadows on whose sounding shores
A rapid torrent through the rushes roars:
Four golden herdsmen as their guardians stand,
And nine sour dogs complete the rustic band.
Two lions rushing from the wood appear'd;
And seized a bull, the master of the herd:
He roar'd: in vain the dogs, the men withstood;
They tore his flesh, and drank his sable blood.
The dogs (oft cheer'd in vain) desert the prey,
Dread the grim terrors, and at distance bay.
Next this, the eye the art of Vulcan leads
Deep through fair forests, and a length of meads,
And stalls, and folds, and scatter'd cots between;
And fleecy flocks, that whiten all the scene.
A figured dance succeeds; such once was seen
In lofty Gnossus for the Cretan queen,
Form'd by Daedalean art; a comely band
Of youths and maidens, bounding hand in hand.
The maids in soft simars of linen dress'd;
The youths all graceful in the glossy vest:
Of those the locks with flowery wreath inroll'd;
Of these the sides adorn'd with swords of gold,
That glittering gay, from silver belts depend.
Now all at once they rise, at once descend,
With well-taught feet: now shape in oblique ways,
Confusedly regular, the moving maze:
Now forth at once, too swift for sight, they spring,
And undistinguish'd blend the flying ring:
So whirls a wheel, in giddy circle toss'd,
And, rapid as it runs, the single spokes are lost.
The gazing multitudes admire around:
Two active tumblers in the centre bound;
Now high, now low, their pliant limbs they bend:
And general songs the sprightly revel end.
Thus the broad shield complete the artist crown'd
With his last hand, and pour'd the ocean round:
In living silver seem'd the waves to roll,
And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the whole.
This done, whate'er a warrior's use requires
He forged; the cuirass that outshone the fires,
The greaves of ductile tin, the helm impress'd
With various sculpture, and the golden crest.
At Thetis' feet the finished labour lay:
She, as a falcon cuts the aerial way,
Swift from Olympus' snowy summit flies,
And bears the blazing present through the skies.(257) 其时，黎明从俄开阿诺斯河升起，穿着金红色的衫袍，
把晨光遍洒给神和凡人。晓色中，塞提丝
携着赫法伊斯托斯的礼物，来到海船边，
发现心爱的儿子躺在帕特罗克洛斯的怀里，
嘶声喊叫，身边站着众多的伙伴，洒泪
哀悼。她，闪光的女神，穿过人群，
握着儿子的手，出声呼唤，说道：“我的儿，
现在，我们必须让他躺在这里，尽管大家都很伤心——
死人不会复活，神的意志已经永远把他放倒。
看看我给你带来了什么，赫法伊斯托斯的礼物，光荣的铠甲，
闪着如此绚丽的光芒，凡人的肩上，可从来不曾有过这样的
荣耀。”
言罢，女神把甲械放在阿基琉斯
脚边，铿锵碰响，璀璨辉煌。
慕耳弥冬人全都惊恐万状，谁也不敢
正视，吓得惶惶退缩，只有阿基琉斯例外——
当他凝目地上的甲械，心中腾起更为炽烈的狂暴；
睑盖下，双眼炯炯生光，像燃烧的火球。
他激奋异常，双手拿着赫法伊斯托斯赠予的光灿灿的礼物。
看着铸工精致的甲械，阿基琉斯心里高兴，
对母亲说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“母亲，这套甲械确实漂亮，不愧是神工的
手艺，凡人中谁有这个本领？现在，
我将披甲赴战，只是放心不下
墨诺伊提俄斯骁勇的儿郎，担心
在我出战期间，飞蝇会钻人铜枪开出的口子，
生虫孵蛆，烂毁遗体——由于
生命已经泯灭——整个肉身将被糜损殆尽。”
听罢这番话，银脚女神塞提丝答道：
“我的儿．不要为此事担心。
我会设法赶走这些成群结队的东西，
可恶的苍蝇，总把阵亡斗士的躯体糜耗。
即使在此躺上一个整年，他的遗体
仍将完好如初，甚至比以往更为鲜亮。
去吧，把阿开亚勇士催喊招聚，
消弃你对兵士的牧者阿伽门农的愤恨，
振发你的勇力，马上披甲战斗！”
言罢，女神把勇气和力量吹入他的体内，
然后在帕特罗克洛斯的鼻孔里滴人
仙液和血红的花露，使他的肌肤坚实如初。
其时，卓越的阿基琉斯沿着海岸迈开大步，
发出可怕的呼声，催聚着阿开亚壮勇。
就连操纵方向的舵手和留在船上负责
分发食用之物的后勤人员，这些到目前为止
一直没有离开过停船地点的人们，就连
这些人，此时也集中到聚合的地点，因为阿基琉斯，
长期避离惨烈的拼搏，此时已重返战斗。
人群里，一瘸一拐地走着阿瑞斯的两个伴从，
勇敢顽强的图丢斯之子和卓越的俄底修斯，
倚着枪矛，仍然受着伤痛的折磨，
慢慢挨到他们的位置，在队伍的前排就座。
民众的王者阿伽门农最后抵达，
带着枪伤——激战中，安忒诺耳之子科昂
捅伤了他，用青铜的枪矛。
其时，当阿开亚全军聚合完毕，
捷足的阿基琉斯起身站在众人面前，喊道：
“阿特柔斯之子，说到底，你我的争吵究竟给我俩
带来了什么好处？为了一个姑娘，你我
大吵大闹，种下了痛心裂肺的怨仇。
但愿在我攻破鲁耳奈索斯，把她抢获的
那一天，阿耳忒弥丝一箭把她射倒，躺死在海船旁！
这样，在我盛怒不息的日子里，阿开亚人的伤亡就不会
太过惨重，对方也不致把这许多人打翻泥尘。
如此行事，只会帮助赫克托耳和他的特洛伊人。我想，
阿开亚人会久久地记住我们之间的这场争斗。
算了，过去的事就让它过去吧！尽管痛楚，
我们必须压下腾升在心中的盛怒。
现在，我将就此中止我的愤怒——无休止地
暴恨，不是可取的作为。行动起来，赶快
催励长发的阿开亚人投入战斗，
使我能拔腿冲向特洛伊战勇，试试他们的力气，
看看他们是否还打算在船边宿营！我想，
他们会乐于屈腿睡躺在家里，要是能
逃出战争的狂烈，躲过我的枪头！”
听罢这番话，胫甲坚固的阿开亚人心花怒放；
他们高兴地得知，裴琉斯心胸豪壮的儿子已消弃心中的烦愤。
其时，民众的王者阿伽门农从座椅上站起，
不曾迈步队伍的正中，开口说道：
“我的朋友们，战斗的达奈人，阿瑞斯的伴从们！
当有人起身说话，旁者理应洗耳恭听，不宜
打断他的话头。即便是能言善辩之人，也受不了听者的骚扰。
喧嚣声中，谁能开口说话，谁能侧耳
静听？芜杂的声响会淹没最清晰的话音。现在，
我将对裴琉斯之子说话，你们大家
要聚精会神，肃静聆听。
阿开亚人常常以此事相责，
咒骂我的不是；其实，我并没有什么过错——
错在宙斯、命运和穿走迷雾的复仇女神，
他们用粗蛮的痴狂抓住我的心灵，在那天的
集会上，使我，用我的权威，夺走了阿基琉斯的战礼。
然而，我有什么办法？神使这一切变成现实。
狂迷是宙斯的长女，致命的狂妄使我们全都
变得昏昏沉沉。她腿脚纤细，从来不沾
厚实的泥地，而是飘行在气流里，悬离凡人的头顶，
把他们引入迷津。她缠迷过一个又一个凡人。
不是吗，那一次，就连宙斯也受过她的蒙骗，虽然人们都说，
他是神和人的至高无上的天尊。然而，赫拉，
虽属女流，却也欺蒙过宙斯，以她的洁智，
那天，在高墙环护的塞贝，阿尔克墨奈
即将临产强有力的赫拉克勒斯。其时，
宙斯张嘴发话，对所有的神明：
‘听我说，所有的神和女神！我的话
乃有感而发，受心灵的驱使。今天，
埃蕾苏娅，主管生育和阵痛的女神，将为凡间
增添一个男婴，在以我的血统繁衍的
种族里，此人将统治那一方人民。’
听罢这番话，天后赫拉说道，心怀诡计：
‘你将成为一个撒谎的骗子，倘若最终言出不果。
来吧，俄林波斯的主宰，当着我的面，庄严起誓，
此人将统治那一方人民，
出生在今天，从一名女子的胯间，
在一个以你的血统繁衍的种族里。’
赫拉言罢，宙斯丝毫没有觉察她要的把戏，
庄严起誓，一头钻进了她的圈套里。
其时，赫拉冲下俄林波斯的峰巅，急如星火，
即刻来到阿开亚的阿耳戈斯——她知道，那里有一位
女子，裴耳修斯之于塞奈洛斯健壮的妻侣，
正怀着一个男孩，七个月的身孕。
赫拉让男孩提前出世，不足月的孩子，
同时推迟阿尔墨奈的产期，阻止产前阵痛的降临。
然后，她亲自跑去，面陈宙斯，克罗诺斯的儿子：
‘父亲宙斯，把玩霹雳的尊神，我有一事相告，
慰暖你的心灵。一个了不起的凡人已经出世，他将王统阿耳
吉维兵民，
欧鲁修斯，塞奈洛斯之子，裴耳修斯的后代，
你的血青。由他统治阿耳吉维民众，此事能不得体？’
听罢这番话，宙斯的内心就像被针刺了一样苦痛。
他一把揪住狂迷油亮的发辫，
怒火中烧，发出严厉的誓咒，宣称从那时起，
不许癫惑心智的狂迷——在她面前，谁也不能幸免——
回返俄林波斯和群星闪烁的天空。誓罢，他把女神
提溜着旋转，抛出多星的天穹，
转瞬之间便降落到凡人的世界。然而，
宙斯永远忘不了她的欺诈，每每出声悲叹，目睹他的爱子
忍辱负重，干着欧鲁修斯指派的苦活。
现在，我也一样。高大的赫克托耳，头顶闪亮的头盔，
正一个劲地残杀已被逼抵船尾的阿耳吉维人——
在那种情况下，我何以忘得了狂迷，从一开始就摆脱她的欺蒙？
但是，既然我已受了迷骗，被宙斯夺走了心智，
我愿弥补过失，拿出难以估价的偿礼。
披甲战斗吧，催激起你的部属！
至于偿礼，我将如数提送，数量之多，一如
卓越的俄底修斯昨天[●]前往你的营棚，当面许下的允愿。
●昨天：应为前天。
或者，如果你愿意，亦可在此等一等——尽管你求战心切——
让我的随员从我的船里拿出礼物，送来给你，
从而让你看看，我拿出了一些什么东西，宽慰你的心灵。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“阿特柔斯之子，民众的王者，最尊贵的阿伽门农，
礼物，你愿给就给，此乃合宜之举；否则，
你亦可自留选用。但现在，我们要尽快鼓起前往
厮杀的激情！我们不宜呆在这里，浪费时间；
此事刻不容缓，眼前还有一场大战。
人们将会由此看到，阿基琉斯重返前排的队列，
以他的铜枪，荡毁特洛伊人的编队。所以，
你们，每一个人都要记住，不要放过敌打的对手！”
听罢这番话，足智多谋的俄底修斯答道：
“这么做可不行，神一样的阿基琉斯，虽然你是个出色的战勇。
不要让阿开亚人的儿子们饿着肚皮冲向伊利昂，
和特洛伊人拼斗。这将不是一场一时一刻
可以结束的搏杀，一旦大部队交手接战，
双方都挟着神明催发的狂勇。
不如先让他们呆在快捷的船边，
进食喝酒，此乃战士的力气和刚勇。
倘若饥肠回转，战士就不会有拼斗的勇力，打上
一个整天，直到太阳沉落的时分。即使
心中腾烧着战斗的激情，他的
四肢也会在不知不觉中变得疲乏沉重；饥饿和
焦渴会把他逮住，迟滞他向前迈进的腿步。
但是，一个吃饱食物、喝足甜酒的战士，
却能和敌人拼战整天，
因为他心力旺盛，肢腿不会
疲软，一直打到两军分手，息兵罢战的时候。
解散你的队伍，让他们整备
食餐。至于偿礼，让民众的王者阿伽门农
差员送到人群之中，以便让所有的阿开亚人
都能亲眼目睹，亦能偷慰你阿基琉斯的心胸。
让阿伽门农站在耳阿吉维人面前，对你发誓，
他从未和姑娘睡觉，从未和她同床，
虽说男女之间，我的王爷，此乃人之常情。
而你，你亦应拿出宽诚，舒展胸怀——
他会排开丰盛的食宴，在自己的营棚，
松解你的心结，使你得到理应收取的一切。
从今后，阿特桑斯之子，你要更公正地对待
别人。王者首先盛怒伤人，其后出面平抚
感情的痕隙，如此追补，无可非厚。”
听罢这番话，民众的王者阿伽门农答道：
“听了你的劝告，莱耳忒斯之子，我心里高兴。
对所有这些事情，你都说得中肯在理。
我将按你说的起誓——我的内心驱使我如此做来——
我将不弃违我的誓言，在神灵面前。阿基琉斯
可在此略作停留，虽然他恨不能马上赴战。
你们，其他在场的人，也要在此等待，直到我派人取来
礼物，从我的营棚，直到我们许下誓言，用牲血封证。
你，俄底修斯，我给你这趟差事，这道命令：
从阿开亚人中挑出身强力壮的小伙，从
我的船里搬出礼物，抬到这里，数量要像我们日前
诺许阿基琉斯的那样众多；别忘了把那些女人带来。
在我们人群熙攘的军伍，让塔尔苏比俄斯给我
备下一头公猪，祭献给宙斯和赫利俄斯享用。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“阿特柔斯之子，民众的王者，最尊贵的阿伽门农，
操办此事，你最好找个别的时间，
战争中的间息，其时，我的胸中
没有此般凶暴的狂烈。眼下，
我们的人血肉模糊，横躺沙场，倒死在
普里阿摩斯之子赫克托耳手下——宙斯正使他获取光荣。
此时此刻，你俩却催我赴宴——不！现在，我将
催督阿开亚人的儿子，要他们冲杀拼斗。
忍饥挨饿，不吃不喝，直到太阳西下——战后，他们
可吞食足份的佳肴——那时，我们已血洗淀积的羞辱！
在此之前，至少是我自己，我的喉咙不会
吞咽饮酒和食物。亲密的伴友已经死去，
躺在我的营棚，被青铜的枪械划得
一塌糊涂，双脚对着门户，接受伙伴们的
悼哭。对于我，饮食已不屑一顾；我所贪恋的
是热血、屠杀和听闻人的呻呼！”
听罢这番话，足智多谋的俄底修斯答道：
“阿基琉斯，裴琉斯之子，阿开亚人中最杰出的壮勇，
你比我出色，投枪操矛，你的臂力比我
大得多。然而，我或许比你更多些智慧，
因为我比你年长，所知更多。
所以，烦请你的心魂，听听我的劝说。
在战斗的农野上，当铜镰撂倒一片片茎秆，
而收获却微乎其微之时，人们很快便会
厌倦腻烦，因为宙斯已倾斜战争的天秤——
宙斯，调控凡间战事的尊神。
阿开亚人不能空着肚子悲悼死者——人死得
太多，这一天天的血战，一堆堆的尸首！
我们何时才能中止绝食的折磨？
不，我们必须铁下心来，埋葬
死者——举哀一天可也，不直延拖。所有
从可恨的战斗中生还之人，必须正常
饮食，以便能不屈不挠，更勇猛地
和敌人进行长时间的拼斗，
身披坚固的铜甲。谁也不许
退缩，等待别的什么命令——记住，
命令是现成的：谁要是畏缩在阿耳吉维人的船边，
他将必死无疑！好吧，让我们一起扑杀，
唤醒凶暴的战神，冲向特洛伊人，调驯烈马的战勇！”
言罢，他迈步离去，带着光荣的奈斯托耳的两个儿子，
还有夫琉斯之子墨格斯、墨里俄奈斯和索阿斯，
以及克雷昂之子鲁科墨得斯和墨拉尼波斯。他们
来到阿特柔斯之子阿伽门农的营棚，
发出几道命令，把事情办得妥妥帖帖。
他们从营棚里抬出七只铜鼎——阿伽门农
允诺的偿礼——二十口闪亮的大锅，十二匹好马，
旋即带出七名女子，女工娴熟，
精湛绝伦，连同美貌的布里塞伊丝，一共八位。
俄底修斯称出十塔兰同黄金，带队
回程；年轻的阿开亚军头们抬着其他偿礼，
来到会场中间，撂下手中的东西。阿伽门农
直腿站立，塔尔苏比俄斯——他的声音就像神的话语
一样明晰——站在兵士的牧者身边，抓抱着一头公猪。
阿特柔斯之子拔出匕首——此物总是
悬挂在铜剑宽厚的剑鞘旁，割下
一络猪鬃，高举双手，
对着宙斯，朗声祈祷；兵勇们端坐在自己的位置，
在各自的队伍里，屏息静听王者的祈诵。
阿伽门农朗声诵说，举目辽阔的天空：
“愿宙斯，最高、至尊的天神，作我的第一位见证，
还有大地、太阳和复仇女神们，她们行走在地下，
报复那些发伪誓的死人：
我从未伸手碰过布里塞伊丝姑娘，
没有和她同床共寝，或做过其他什么
事情；在我的营棚里，姑娘不曾被动过一个指头。
倘若我的话有半句掺假，就让神明——像对那些念着他们的
名字，作发伪誓的人们那样——给我带来受之不尽的苦痛！”
言罢，他用无情的青铜割断公猪的喉管，
塔尔苏比俄斯挥旋着猪身，把它扔进灰蓝色的海湾，
浩森的大海，喂了鱼鳖。其时，阿基琉斯
起身站在嗜战的阿开亚人中间，说道：
“父亲宙斯，你把凡人弄得稀里糊涂，用你的强有力的迷术！
否则，阿特柔斯之于决然不能在我心里
激起此番狂莽的暴怒，也不会违背我的意愿，
夺走姑娘，顽固而不讲情理。出于某种原因，
宙斯热衷于让大群的阿开亚人战死疆场。
散去吧，填饱肚子，以便尽快投入战斗！”
几句短短的话语，匆匆解散了集会。
人群四散离去，走回各自的海船。心志
高昂的慕耳弥冬人收拾起偿礼，
抬回神一样的阿基琉斯的海船，
堆放在他的营棚；他们安顿下那些女子，
高傲的随从们把得取的骏足牵人阿基琉斯的马群。
其时，布里塞伊丝回返营地，像金色的阿芙罗底忒一般，
看到帕特罗克洛斯躺在地上，伤痕累累，得之于锋快的铜矛，
一把将他抱在怀里，放声哭叫，双手撕抓着
自己的胸脯、柔软的脖子和秀美的脸面，
一位像神一样的女子，悲恸诉告：
“帕特罗克洛斯，你是我最大的愉慰，对我这颗悲愁的心灵！
我离开你，离开这座营棚的时候，你还活着；
现在，我回身营棚，而你，军队的首领，却已撒手人寰！
不幸接着不幸，我这痛苦的人生！我曾
眼见着我的丈夫，我的父亲和尊贵的母亲给我的
那个男人，躺死在我们的城堡前，被锋快的青铜豁裂，
还有我的三个兄弟，一母亲生的同胞，
我所钟爱的亲人，也被尽数杀死，就在那同一个白天！
然而，当迅捷的阿基琉斯砍倒我的
丈夫，攻陷了雄伟的城堡慕奈斯，你叫我不要
哭陶，好言劝告，说是你将使我成为神一样的阿基琉斯
合法的妻配，将用海船把我带回
弗西亚，在慕耳弥冬人中举办庆婚的盛宴。所以，
我现在悲哭你的死亡，我要哭个不停！
你，帕特罗克洛斯，你总是那么和善。”
言罢，她失声痛哭，周围的女人们个个
泪流满面，哀悼帕特罗克洛斯的死亡，私下里悲哭
自己的不幸。阿开亚人的首领们围聚在阿基琉斯身边，
恳求他用食进餐，但后者悲叹一声，出言拒绝：
“求求你们——倘若我的好伙伴中，有人愿意听我
表明心迹——不要再劝我开怀吃喝，
以饮食自娱；深切的悲痛已揪住我的心灵。
我将咬牙坚持，绝食忍耐，直到太阳西沉的时候！”
他的此番说告，送走了其他王者，但
阿特柔斯的两个儿子仍然呆留不去，还有卓越的俄底修斯、
奈斯托耳、伊多墨纽斯和年迈的车战者福伊尼克斯，
殷勤劝慰，安抚他的伤愁。无奈这一切
全都无济于事——只有战争的血盆大口才能宽慰他的心怀！
他长嘘短叹，思念着帕特罗克洛斯，开口说道：
“哦，苦命的朋友，我最亲密的伙伴，以往，
你会亲自动手，调备可口的餐食，在我的营棚，
做得既快又好，当着那些临战的时刻，阿开亚人
心急火燎，意欲投入悲烈的战斗，痛杀特洛伊人，驯马的好手！
但现在，你遍体伤痕，躺在我的面前；我无心
喝酒吃肉，虽然它们满堆在我的身边——这一切
都是出于对你的思念！对于我，生活中不会有比这更重的打击：
即便是听到父亲亡故的消息——我知道，
此刻，老人家正淌着大滴的眼泪，在弗西亚，
为了我，失离的儿子，置身异乡客地，
为了该死的海伦，拼战特洛伊壮勇——
还是闻悉儿子的不幸——有人替我照看抚养，在斯库罗斯，
倘若神一样的尼俄普托勒摩斯现时还活在人间。
在此之前，我还满怀希望，以为
仅我一人不归，死在特洛伊，远离马草
丰肥的阿耳戈斯，而你却能生还弗西亚，
而后乘坐快捷的黑船，把我儿从斯库罗斯
接口，让他看看我所拥有的一切，
我的财富，我的仆人和宽敞的、顶面高耸的房屋。
我想，裴琉斯不是已经亡故，
埋入泥尘，便是挣扎在奄奄一息的余生中，
痛苦万分，无奈于可恨的暮年，总在等盼
我的讯息；直到听闻我已被人杀死的噩耗。”
阿基琼斯悲声哭诉，众首领陪伴在他的身边，含泪叹悼，
全都思念着自己的一切，撇留在家中的所有。
看着他们悲哭哀悼，克罗诺斯之子心生怜悯，
马上喊出长了翅膀的话语，对雅典娜说道：
“我的孩子，难道你已彻底抛弃你所宠爱的壮士？
难道你已不再关心照顾阿基琉斯？
现在，他正坐在头尾翘耸的海船边，哭悼
心爱的伙伴。其他人都已散去
吃喝，而他却拒绝进食；不思炊火。
去吧，把花露和甜润的仙液
滴入他的胸腔，使他不致忍受饥饿的煎磨。”
就这样，他催促雅典娜前行，后者早已
迫不及待，化作一只翅膀宽阔、叫声尖利的鹞鹰，
扑下天际，穿过透亮的气空。军营里，阿开亚人
动作迅捷，正忙着全身武装。女神把花露
和甜润的仙液滴人阿基琉斯的
胸腔，使饥饿的折磨不致疲软他的膝腿。
然后，女神回返父亲的房居，坚固的
厅堂，而阿开亚军队则从快船边四散出击。
像宙斯撒下的纷扬密匝的雪片，
挟着高天哺育的北风吹送的寒流，
地面上铜盔簇拥，光彩烁烁，
涌出海船，连同层面突鼓的战盾，
条片坚固的胸甲和(木岑)木杆的枪矛。
耀眼的闪光照亮了天空，四周的大地发出朗朗的笑声；
锃亮的铜光下，兵勇们的脚步踏出隆隆的
巨响；人群中，卓越的阿基琉斯开始披甲持枪。
他牙齿咬得格格嘣响，双目熠熠生光，
像燃烧的火球，心中满怀难以
制抑的悲伤。挟着对待洛伊人的暴怒，
他穿戴起神赐的铠甲，凝聚着赫法伊斯托斯的辛劳。
首先，他用胫甲裹住小腿，
精美的制品，带着银质的踝扣，
随之系上胸甲，掩起胸背，然后
挎上柄嵌银钉的劈剑，
青铜铸就，背起盾牌，盾面巨大、沉重，
寒光四射，像晶莹的月亮。
宛如一堆燃烧的火焰，被漂泊海面的
水手眺见，腾升在山野里的一处荒僻的
羊圈；水手们奋力挣扎，被风暴卷出
老远的洋面，鱼群拥聚的深海，远离自己的朋伴——
烁烁的流光闪出阿基琉斯漂亮、铸工精致的盾牌，
射向高袤的气空。接着，他拿起铜盔，戴在
壮实的头上，顶着级插马鬃的盔冠，
像星星一样光亮，摇曳着黄金的冠饰，
赫法伊斯托斯的手艺，嵌显在硬角的边旁。
卓越的阿基琉斯撑收着铠甲，体察它的
合身程度，亦想由此得知，甲内闪亮的肢腿能否运作自如
铠甲穿感良好，像鸟儿的翅膀，托升起兵士的牧者。
最后，他从支架上抓起父亲的枪矛，那玩艺
硕大、粗长、沉重，阿开亚人中谁也
提拿不起，只有阿基琉斯可以得心应手地使用。
这条裴利昂(木岑)木杆枪矛，是开荣送给他父亲的赠礼，
取材裴利昂的峰巅，作为克杀英雄的利器。
奥托墨冬和阿尔基摩斯把驭马套上
战车，围上松软的胸带，勒人嚼子，
在上下颌之间，拉紧缰绳，朝着制合坚固的
战车。奥托墨冬抓起闪亮的马鞭，
紧握在手，跃上战车；
阿基琉斯站在他的身后，头顶铜盔，准备战斗，
铠甲闪闪发光，像横跨天空的太阳，
用威严可怕的声音呼喊，对着他父亲的骏马：
“珊索斯，巴利俄斯，波达耳格声名遐逃的子驹！
这回，你俩可得小心在意，干得漂亮些。记住，一经
打完这场战斗，要把驭手带回达奈人的群伍，切莫
把他丢下，像对帕特罗克洛斯那样，挺尸在战场上！”
听罢这番话，四蹄滑亮的驭马，在轭架下开口答话，
珊索斯，低着头，鬃毛铺泻在
轭垫的边沿，贴着轭架，扫落在地上，
白臂女神赫拉使它发音说话：
“是的，这次，强健的阿基琉斯，我们会救出你的性命。
然而，你的末日已在向你逼近，但这不是我们的
过错，而是取决于一位了不起的尊神和强有力的命运。
不是因为我们腿慢，也不是因为漫不经心，
才使特洛伊人抢得铠甲，从帕特罗克洛斯的肩头；
是一位无敌的神祗，长发秀美的莱托的儿子，
将他杀死在前排的战勇里，让赫克托耳获得光荣。
至于我们，我俩可以和强劲的西风赛跑，
那是风中最快的狂飙，人们都这么说道。尽管如此，
你仍然注定要被强力杀死，被一位神明和一个凡人！”
说到这里，复仇女神堵住了他的话头。
带着强烈的烦愤，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“珊索斯，为何预言我的死亡？你无需对我通报，
我已知道得清清楚楚；我将注定要死在这儿，
远离亲爱的父母。尽管如此，我将
使特洛伊人受够我的打斗，我将战斗不止！”
言罢，他大喝一声，驱策风快的驭马，奔驶在前排的战列之中。
ARGUMENT.
THE RECONCILIATION OF ACHILLES AND AGAMEMNON.
Thetis brings to her son the armour made by Vulcan. She preserves the body
of his friend from corruption, and commands him to assemble the army, to
declare his resentment at an end. Agamemnon and Achilles are solemnly
reconciled: the speeches, presents, and ceremonies on that occasion.
Achilles is with great difficulty persuaded to refrain from the battle
till the troops have refreshed themselves by the advice of Ulysses. The
presents are conveyed to the tent of Achilles, where Briseis laments over
the body of Patroclus. The hero obstinately refuses all repast, and gives
himself up to lamentations for his friend. Minerva descends to strengthen
him, by the order of Jupiter. He arms for the fight: his appearance
described. He addresses himself to his horses, and reproaches them with
the death of Patroclus. One of them is miraculously endued with voice, and
inspired to prophesy his fate: but the hero, not astonished by that
prodigy, rushes with fury to the combat.
The thirteenth day. The scene is on the sea-shore.
Soon as Aurora heaved her Orient head
Above the waves, that blush'd with early red,
(With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,
And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light,)
The immortal arms the goddess-mother bears
Swift to her son: her son she finds in tears
Stretch'd o'er Patroclus' corse; while all the rest
Their sovereign's sorrows in their own express'd.
A ray divine her heavenly presence shed,
And thus, his hand soft touching, Thetis said:
"Suppress, my son, this rage of grief, and know
It was not man, but heaven, that gave the blow;
Behold what arms by Vulcan are bestow'd,
Arms worthy thee, or fit to grace a god."
Then drops the radiant burden on the ground;
Clang the strong arms, and ring the shores around;
Back shrink the Myrmidons with dread surprise,
And from the broad effulgence turn their eyes.
Unmoved the hero kindles at the show,
And feels with rage divine his bosom glow;
From his fierce eyeballs living flames expire,
And flash incessant like a stream of fire:
He turns the radiant gift: and feeds his mind
On all the immortal artist had design'd.
"Goddess! (he cried,) these glorious arms, that shine
With matchless art, confess the hand divine.
Now to the bloody battle let me bend:
But ah! the relics of my slaughter'd friend!
In those wide wounds through which his spirit fled,
Shall flies, and worms obscene, pollute the dead?"
"That unavailing care be laid aside,
(The azure goddess to her son replied,)
Whole years untouch'd, uninjured shall remain,
Fresh as in life, the carcase of the slain.
But go, Achilles, as affairs require,
Before the Grecian peers renounce thine ire:
Then uncontroll'd in boundless war engage,
And heaven with strength supply the mighty rage!"
[Illustration: THETIS BRINGING THE ARMOUR TO ACHILLES.]
THETIS BRINGING THE ARMOUR TO ACHILLES.
Then in the nostrils of the slain she pour'd
Nectareous drops, and rich ambrosia shower'd
O'er all the corse. The flies forbid their prey,
Untouch'd it rests, and sacred from decay.
Achilles to the strand obedient went:
The shores resounded with the voice he sent.
The heroes heard, and all the naval train
That tend the ships, or guide them o'er the main,
Alarm'd, transported, at the well-known sound,
Frequent and full, the great assembly crown'd;
Studious to see the terror of the plain,
Long lost to battle, shine in arms again.
Tydides and Ulysses first appear,
Lame with their wounds, and leaning on the spear;
These on the sacred seats of council placed,
The king of men, Atrides, came the last:
He too sore wounded by Agenor's son.
Achilles (rising in the midst) begun:
"O monarch! better far had been the fate
Of thee, of me, of all the Grecian state,
If (ere the day when by mad passion sway'd,
Rash we contended for the black-eyed maid)
Preventing Dian had despatch'd her dart,
And shot the shining mischief to the heart!
Then many a hero had not press'd the shore,
Nor Troy's glad fields been fatten'd with our gore.
Long, long shall Greece the woes we caused bewail,
And sad posterity repeat the tale.
But this, no more the subject of debate,
Is past, forgotten, and resign'd to fate.
Why should, alas, a mortal man, as I,
Burn with a fury that can never die?
Here then my anger ends: let war succeed,
And even as Greece has bled, let Ilion bleed.
Now call the hosts, and try if in our sight
Troy yet shall dare to camp a second night!
I deem, their mightiest, when this arm he knows,
Shall 'scape with transport, and with joy repose."
He said: his finish'd wrath with loud acclaim
The Greeks accept, and shout Pelides' name.
When thus, not rising from his lofty throne,
In state unmoved, the king of men begun:
"Hear me, ye sons of Greece! with silence hear!
And grant your monarch an impartial ear:
Awhile your loud, untimely joy suspend,
And let your rash, injurious clamours end:
Unruly murmurs, or ill-timed applause,
Wrong the best speaker, and the justest cause.
Nor charge on me, ye Greeks, the dire debate:
Know, angry Jove, and all-compelling Fate,
With fell Erinnys, urged my wrath that day
When from Achilles' arms I forced the prey.
What then could I against the will of heaven?
Not by myself, but vengeful Ate driven;
She, Jove's dread daughter, fated to infest
The race of mortals, enter'd in my breast.
Not on the ground that haughty fury treads,
But prints her lofty footsteps on the heads
Of mighty men; inflicting as she goes
Long-festering wounds, inextricable woes!
Of old, she stalk'd amid the bright abodes;
And Jove himself, the sire of men and gods,
The world's great ruler, felt her venom'd dart;
Deceived by Juno's wiles, and female art:
For when Alcmena's nine long months were run,
And Jove expected his immortal son,
To gods and goddesses the unruly joy
He show'd, and vaunted of his matchless boy:
'From us, (he said) this day an infant springs,
Fated to rule, and born a king of kings.'
Saturnia ask'd an oath, to vouch the truth,
And fix dominion on the favour'd youth.
The Thunderer, unsuspicious of the fraud,
Pronounced those solemn words that bind a god.
The joyful goddess, from Olympus' height,
Swift to Achaian Argos bent her flight:
Scarce seven moons gone, lay Sthenelus's wife;
She push'd her lingering infant into life:
Her charms Alcmena's coming labours stay,
And stop the babe, just issuing to the day.
Then bids Saturnius bear his oath in mind;
'A youth (said she) of Jove's immortal kind
Is this day born: from Sthenelus he springs,
And claims thy promise to be king of kings.'
Grief seized the Thunderer, by his oath engaged;
Stung to the soul, he sorrow'd, and he raged.
From his ambrosial head, where perch'd she sate,
He snatch'd the fury-goddess of debate,
The dread, the irrevocable oath he swore,
The immortal seats should ne'er behold her more;
And whirl'd her headlong down, for ever driven
From bright Olympus and the starry heaven:
Thence on the nether world the fury fell;
Ordain'd with man's contentious race to dwell.
Full oft the god his son's hard toils bemoan'd,
Cursed the dire fury, and in secret groan'd.(258)
Even thus, like Jove himself, was I misled,
While raging Hector heap'd our camps with dead.
What can the errors of my rage atone?
My martial troops, my treasures are thy own:
This instant from the navy shall be sent
Whate'er Ulysses promised at thy tent:
But thou! appeased, propitious to our prayer,
Resume thy arms, and shine again in war."
" O king of nations! whose superior sway
(Returns Achilles) all our hosts obey!
To keep or send the presents, be thy care;
To us, 'tis equal: all we ask is war.
While yet we talk, or but an instant shun
The fight, our glorious work remains undone.
Let every Greek, who sees my spear confound
The Trojan ranks, and deal destruction round,
With emulation, what I act survey,
And learn from thence the business of the day.
The son of Peleus thus; and thus replies
The great in councils, Ithacus the wise:
"Though, godlike, thou art by no toils oppress'd,
At least our armies claim repast and rest:
Long and laborious must the combat be,
When by the gods inspired, and led by thee.
Strength is derived from spirits and from blood,
And those augment by generous wine and food:
What boastful son of war, without that stay,
Can last a hero through a single day?
Courage may prompt; but, ebbing out his strength,
Mere unsupported man must yield at length;
Shrunk with dry famine, and with toils declined,
The drooping body will desert the mind:
But built anew with strength-conferring fare,
With limbs and soul untamed, he tires a war.
Dismiss the people, then, and give command.
With strong repast to hearten every band;
But let the presents to Achilles made,
In full assembly of all Greece be laid.
The king of men shall rise in public sight,
And solemn swear (observant of the rite)
That, spotless, as she came, the maid removes,
Pure from his arms, and guiltless of his loves.
That done, a sumptuous banquet shall be made,
And the full price of injured honour paid.
Stretch not henceforth, O prince.! thy sovereign might
Beyond the bounds of reason and of right;
'Tis the chief praise that e'er to kings belong'd,
To right with justice whom with power they wrong'd."
To him the monarch: "Just is thy decree,
Thy words give joy, and wisdom breathes in thee.
Each due atonement gladly I prepare;
And heaven regard me as I justly swear!
Here then awhile let Greece assembled stay,
Nor great Achilles grudge this short delay.
Till from the fleet our presents be convey'd,
And Jove attesting, the firm compact made.
A train of noble youths the charge shall bear;
These to _select_, Ulysses, be thy care:
In order rank'd let all our gifts appear,
And the fair train of captives close the rear:
Talthybius shall the victim boar convey,
Sacred to Jove, and yon bright orb of day."
"For this (the stern Æacides replies)
Some less important season may suffice,
When the stern fury of the war is o'er,
And wrath, extinguish'd, burns my breast no more.
By Hector slain, their faces to the sky,
All grim with gaping wounds, our heroes lie:
Those call to war! and might my voice incite,
Now, now, this instant, shall commence the fight:
Then, when the day's complete, let generous bowls,
And copious banquets, glad your weary souls.
Let not my palate know the taste of food,
Till my insatiate rage be cloy'd with blood:
Pale lies my friend, with wounds disfigured o'er,
And his cold feet are pointed to the door.
Revenge is all my soul! no meaner care,
Interest, or thought, has room to harbour there;
Destruction be my feast, and mortal wounds,
And scenes of blood, and agonizing sounds."
"O first of Greeks, (Ulysses thus rejoin'd,)
The best and bravest of the warrior kind!
Thy praise it is in dreadful camps to shine,
But old experience and calm wisdom mine.
Then hear my counsel, and to reason yield,
The bravest soon are satiate of the field;
Though vast the heaps that strow the crimson plain,
The bloody harvest brings but little gain:
The scale of conquest ever wavering lies,
Great Jove but turns it, and the victor dies!
The great, the bold, by thousands daily fall,
And endless were the grief, to weep for all.
Eternal sorrows what avails to shed?
Greece honours not with solemn fasts the dead:
Enough, when death demands the brave, to pay
The tribute of a melancholy day.
One chief with patience to the grave resign'd,
Our care devolves on others left behind.
Let generous food supplies of strength produce,
Let rising spirits flow from sprightly juice,
Let their warm heads with scenes of battle glow,
And pour new furies on the feebler foe.
Yet a short interval, and none shall dare
Expect a second summons to the war;
Who waits for that, the dire effects shall find,
If trembling in the ships he lags behind.
Embodied, to the battle let us bend,
And all at once on haughty Troy descend."
And now the delegates Ulysses sent,
To bear the presents from the royal tent:
The sons of Nestor, Phyleus' valiant heir,
Thias and Merion, thunderbolts of war,
With Lycomedes of Creiontian strain,
And Melanippus, form'd the chosen train.
Swift as the word was given, the youths obey'd:
Twice ten bright vases in the midst they laid;
A row of six fair tripods then succeeds;
And twice the number of high-bounding steeds:
Seven captives next a lovely line compose;
The eighth Briseis, like the blooming rose,
Closed the bright band: great Ithacus, before,
First of the train, the golden talents bore:
The rest in public view the chiefs dispose,
A splendid scene! then Agamemnon rose:
The boar Talthybius held: the Grecian lord
Drew the broad cutlass sheath'd beside his sword:
The stubborn bristles from the victim's brow
He crops, and offering meditates his vow.
His hands uplifted to the attesting skies,
On heaven's broad marble roof were fixed his eyes.
The solemn words a deep attention draw,
And Greece around sat thrill'd with sacred awe.
"Witness thou first! thou greatest power above,
All-good, all-wise, and all-surveying Jove!
And mother-earth, and heaven's revolving light,
And ye, fell furies of the realms of night,
Who rule the dead, and horrid woes prepare
For perjured kings, and all who falsely swear!
The black-eyed maid inviolate removes,
Pure and unconscious of my manly loves.
If this be false, heaven all its vengeance shed,
And levell'd thunder strike my guilty head!"
With that, his weapon deep inflicts the wound;
The bleeding savage tumbles to the ground;
The sacred herald rolls the victim slain
(A feast for fish) into the foaming main.
Then thus Achilles: "Hear, ye Greeks! and know
Whate'er we feel, 'tis Jove inflicts the woe;
Not else Atrides could our rage inflame,
Nor from my arms, unwilling, force the dame.
'Twas Jove's high will alone, o'erruling all,
That doom'd our strife, and doom'd the Greeks to fall.
Go then, ye chiefs! indulge the genial rite;
Achilles waits ye, and expects the fight."
The speedy council at his word adjourn'd:
To their black vessels all the Greeks return'd.
Achilles sought his tent. His train before
March'd onward, bending with the gifts they bore.
Those in the tents the squires industrious spread:
The foaming coursers to the stalls they led;
To their new seats the female captives move
Briseis, radiant as the queen of love,
Slow as she pass'd, beheld with sad survey
Where, gash'd with cruel wounds, Patroclus lay.
Prone on the body fell the heavenly fair,
Beat her sad breast, and tore her golden hair;
All beautiful in grief, her humid eyes
Shining with tears she lifts, and thus she cries:
"Ah, youth for ever dear, for ever kind,
Once tender friend of my distracted mind!
I left thee fresh in life, in beauty gay;
Now find thee cold, inanimated clay!
What woes my wretched race of life attend!
Sorrows on sorrows, never doom'd to end!
The first loved consort of my virgin bed
Before these eyes in fatal battle bled:
My three brave brothers in one mournful day
All trod the dark, irremeable way:
Thy friendly hand uprear'd me from the plain,
And dried my sorrows for a husband slain;
Achilles' care you promised I should prove,
The first, the dearest partner of his love;
That rites divine should ratify the band,
And make me empress in his native land.
Accept these grateful tears! for thee they flow,
For thee, that ever felt another's woe!"
Her sister captives echoed groan for groan,
Nor mourn'd Patroclus' fortunes, but their own.
The leaders press'd the chief on every side;
Unmoved he heard them, and with sighs denied.
"If yet Achilles have a friend, whose care
Is bent to please him, this request forbear;
Till yonder sun descend, ah, let me pay
To grief and anguish one abstemious day."
He spoke, and from the warriors turn'd his face:
Yet still the brother-kings of Atreus' race,
Nestor, Idomeneus, Ulysses sage,
And Phoenix, strive to calm his grief and rage:
His rage they calm not, nor his grief control;
He groans, he raves, he sorrows from his soul.
"Thou too, Patroclus! (thus his heart he vents)
Once spread the inviting banquet in our tents:
Thy sweet society, thy winning care,
Once stay'd Achilles, rushing to the war.
But now, alas! to death's cold arms resign'd,
What banquet but revenge can glad my mind?
What greater sorrow could afflict my breast,
What more if hoary Peleus were deceased?
Who now, perhaps, in Phthia dreads to hear
His son's sad fate, and drops a tender tear.
What more, should Neoptolemus the brave,
My only offspring, sink into the grave?
If yet that offspring lives; (I distant far,
Of all neglectful, wage a hateful war.)
I could not this, this cruel stroke attend;
Fate claim'd Achilles, but might spare his friend.
I hoped Patroclus might survive, to rear
My tender orphan with a parent's care,
From Scyros' isle conduct him o'er the main,
And glad his eyes with his paternal reign,
The lofty palace, and the large domain.
For Peleus breathes no more the vital air;
Or drags a wretched life of age and care,
But till the news of my sad fate invades
His hastening soul, and sinks him to the shades."
Sighing he said: his grief the heroes join'd,
Each stole a tear for what he left behind.
Their mingled grief the sire of heaven survey'd,
And thus with pity to his blue-eyed maid:
"Is then Achilles now no more thy care,
And dost thou thus desert the great in war?
Lo, where yon sails their canvas wings extend,
All comfortless he sits, and wails his friend:
Ere thirst and want his forces have oppress'd,
Haste and infuse ambrosia in his breast."
He spoke; and sudden, at the word of Jove,
Shot the descending goddess from above.
So swift through ether the shrill harpy springs,
The wide air floating to her ample wings,
To great Achilles she her flight address'd,
And pour'd divine ambrosia in his breast,(259)
With nectar sweet, (refection of the gods!)
Then, swift ascending, sought the bright abodes.
Now issued from the ships the warrior-train,
And like a deluge pour'd upon the plain.
As when the piercing blasts of Boreas blow,
And scatter o'er the fields the driving snow;
From dusky clouds the fleecy winter flies,
Whose dazzling lustre whitens all the skies:
So helms succeeding helms, so shields from shields,
Catch the quick beams, and brighten all the fields;
Broad glittering breastplates, spears with pointed rays,
Mix in one stream, reflecting blaze on blaze;
Thick beats the centre as the coursers bound;
With splendour flame the skies, and laugh the fields around,
Full in the midst, high-towering o'er the rest,
His limbs in arms divine Achilles dress'd;
Arms which the father of the fire bestow'd,
Forged on the eternal anvils of the god.
Grief and revenge his furious heart inspire,
His glowing eyeballs roll with living fire;
He grinds his teeth, and furious with delay
O'erlooks the embattled host, and hopes the bloody day.
The silver cuishes first his thighs infold;
Then o'er his breast was braced the hollow gold;
The brazen sword a various baldric tied,
That, starr'd with gems, hung glittering at his side;
And, like the moon, the broad refulgent shield
Blazed with long rays, and gleam'd athwart the field.
So to night-wandering sailors, pale with fears,
Wide o'er the watery waste, a light appears,
Which on the far-seen mountain blazing high,
Streams from some lonely watch-tower to the sky:
With mournful eyes they gaze, and gaze again;
Loud howls the storm, and drives them o'er the main.
Next, his high head the helmet graced; behind
The sweepy crest hung floating in the wind:
Like the red star, that from his flaming hair
Shakes down diseases, pestilence, and war;
So stream'd the golden honours from his head,
Trembled the sparkling plumes, and the loose glories shed.
The chief beholds himself with wondering eyes;
His arms he poises, and his motions tries;
Buoy'd by some inward force, he seems to swim,
And feels a pinion lifting every limb.
And now he shakes his great paternal spear,
Ponderous and huge, which not a Greek could rear,
From Pelion's cloudy top an ash entire
Old Chiron fell'd, and shaped it for his sire;
A spear which stern Achilles only wields,
The death of heroes, and the dread of fields.
Automedon and Alcimus prepare
The immortal coursers, and the radiant car;
(The silver traces sweeping at their side;)
Their fiery mouths resplendent bridles tied;
The ivory-studded reins, return'd behind,
Waved o'er their backs, and to the chariot join'd.
The charioteer then whirl'd the lash around,
And swift ascended at one active bound.
All bright in heavenly arms, above his squire
Achilles mounts, and sets the field on fire;
Not brighter Phoebus in the ethereal way
Flames from his chariot, and restores the day.
High o'er the host, all terrible he stands,
And thunders to his steeds these dread commands:
"Xanthus and Balius! of Podarges' strain,
(Unless ye boast that heavenly race in vain,)
Be swift, be mindful of the load ye bear,
And learn to make your master more your care:
Through falling squadrons bear my slaughtering sword,
Nor, as ye left Patroclus, leave your lord."
The generous Xanthus, as the words he said,
Seem'd sensible of woe, and droop'd his head:
Trembling he stood before the golden wain,
And bow'd to dust the honours of his mane.
When, strange to tell! (so Juno will'd) he broke
Eternal silence, and portentous spoke.
"Achilles! yes! this day at least we bear
Thy rage in safety through the files of war:
But come it will, the fatal time must come,
Not ours the fault, but God decrees thy doom.
Not through our crime, or slowness in the course,
Fell thy Patroclus, but by heavenly force;
The bright far-shooting god who gilds the day
(Confess'd we saw him) tore his arms way.
No--could our swiftness o'er the winds prevail,
Or beat the pinions of the western gale,
All were in vain--the Fates thy death demand,
Due to a mortal and immortal hand."
Then ceased for ever, by the Furies tied,
His fateful voice. The intrepid chief replied
With unabated rage--"So let it be!
Portents and prodigies are lost on me.
I know my fate: to die, to see no more
My much-loved parents, and my native shore--
Enough--when heaven ordains, I sink in night:
Now perish Troy!" He said, and rush'd to fight.
[Illustration: HERCULES.]
HERCULES. 这时，在弯翘的海船边，阿开亚人正武装起来，
围绕着你，阿基琉斯，裴琉斯嗜战不厌的儿郎，
面对武装的特洛伊人，排列在平原上，隆起的
那一头。与此同时，在山脊耸叠的俄林波斯的峰巅，
宙斯命嘱塞弥丝召聚所有的神祗聚会；女神各处
奔走传告，要他们前往宙斯的房居。
除了俄开阿诺斯，所有的河流都来到议事地点，
还有所有的女仙，无一缺席——平日里，她们活跃在婆娑的
树丛下，出没在泉河的水流边和水草丰美的泽地里。
神们全都汇聚在啸聚乌云的宙斯的房居，
躬身下坐，在石面溜滑的柱廊里，赫法伊斯托斯的
杰作，为父亲宙斯，以他的工艺和匠心。
众神汇聚在宙斯的家居，包括裂地之神
波塞冬，不曾忽略女神的传谕，从海里出来，和
众神一起出席，坐在他们中间，出言询问宙斯的用意：
“这是为什么，闪电霹雳之王，为何再次把我们召聚到
这里？还在思考特洛伊人和阿开亚人的战事吗？
两军即将开战，像一堆待焚的柴火。”
听罢这番话，啸聚乌云的宙斯答道：
“裂地之神，你已猜出我的用意，我把各位
召聚起来的目的。我关心这些凡人，虽然他们正在死去。
尽管如此，我仍将呆在俄林波斯的山脊，
静坐观赏，愉悦我的心怀。你等众神
可即时下山，前往特洛伊人和阿开亚人的群队，
任凭你们的喜好，帮助各自愿帮的一边。
如果我们任由阿基琉斯独自厮杀，特洛伊人
便休想挡住裴琉斯捷足的儿子，一刻也不能。
即便在以前，他们见了此人也会嗦嗦发抖——
现在，由于伴友的死亡，悲愤交加，
我担心他会冲破命运的制约，攻下特洛伊人的城堡。”
言罢，宙斯挑起持续不断的战斗；
众神下山介入搏杀，带着互相抵触的念头。
赫拉前往云集滩沿的海船，和帕拉丝·雅典娜一起，
还有环绕大地的波塞冬和善喜助佑的
赫耳墨斯——此神心智敏捷，无有竞比的对手。
赫法伊斯托斯亦和他们同行，凭恃自己的勇力，
瘸拥着行走，灵巧地挪动干瘪的腿脚。
但头盔闪亮的阿瑞斯去了特洛伊人一边，
还有长发飘洒的阿波罗，射手
阿耳忒弥丝，以及莱托、珊索斯和爱笑的阿芙罗底忒。
在神们尚未接近凡人之时，战场上，
阿开亚人所向披靡，节节胜利——阿基琼斯
已重返疆场，虽然他已长时间地避离惨烈的战斗。
特洛伊人个个心惊胆战，吓得双腿
发抖，看着裴琉斯捷足的儿子，
铠甲挣亮，杀人狂阿瑞斯一样的凡人。
但是，当依林波斯众神汇入凡人的队伍，
强有力的争斗，兵士的驱怂，抖擞出浑身的力量；雅典娜
咆哮呼喊，时而站在墙外的沟边，
时而又出现在海涛震响的岩岸，疾声呼号。
在战场的另一边，阿瑞斯吼声如雷，像一股
黑色的旋风，时而出现在城堡的顶楼，厉声催督
特洛伊人向前，时而又奋力疾跑，沿着西摩埃斯河岸，卡利科
洛奈的坡面。
就这样，幸运的神祗催励敌对的双方拼命，
也在他们自己中间引发激烈的竞斗。
天上，神和人的父亲炸起可怕的
响雷；地下，波塞冬摇撼着无边的
陆基，摇撼着巍巍的群山和险峰。
大地震颤动荡，那多泉的伊达，它的每一个坡面，
每一峰山巅，连同特洛伊人的城堡，阿开亚人的船舟。
埃多纽斯，冥府的主宰，心里害怕，
从宝座上一跃而起，嘶声尖叫，惟恐在他的头上，
环地之神波塞冬可能裂毁地面，
暴袒出死人的房院，在神和人的眼前，
阴暗、霉烂的地府，连神祗看了也会厌恶。
就这样，神们对阵开战，撞顶出
轰然的声响。福伊波斯·阿波罗手持羽箭，
稳稳站立，攻战王者波塞冬，而
灰眼睛女神雅典娜则敌战厄努阿利俄斯。
对抗赫拉的是啸走山林的猎手，带用金箭的捕者，
泼箭如雨的阿耳忒弥丝，远射手阿波罗的姐妹。
善喜助佑的赫耳墨斯面对女神莱托，而
迎战赫法伊斯托斯的则是那条漩涡深卷的长河，
神祗叫它珊索斯，凡人则称之为斯卡曼得罗斯。
就这样，双方互不相让，神和神的对抗。与此同时，
阿基琉斯迫不及待地冲入战斗，寻战赫克托耳，
普里阿摩斯之子，渴望用他的，而不是
别人的热血，喂饱战神、从盾牌后杀砍的阿瑞斯的胃肠。
但是，阿波罗，兵士的驱怂，却催使埃内阿斯
攻战裴琉斯之子，给他注入巨大的力量。
摹仿普里阿摩斯之于鲁卡昂的声音和
形貌，宙斯之子阿波罗对埃内阿斯说道：
“埃内阿斯，特洛伊人的训导，你的那些豪言壮语，
就着杯中的饮酒，当着特洛伊人的王者发出的威胁，现在怎么
不见了踪影？
你说，你可一对一地和阿基琉斯、裴琉斯之子打个输赢。”
听罢这番话，埃内阿斯答道：“鲁卡昂，
普里阿摩斯之子，为何催我违背自己的意愿，
迎着他的狂怒，和裴琉斯之子面对面地开打？
这将不是我第一次和捷足的阿基琉斯
照面。那次，在此之前，他手持枪矛，
把我赶下伊达；那一天，他抢劫我们的牛群，
荡毁了鲁耳奈索斯和裴达索斯。幸得宙斯相救，
给我注入勇力，使我快腿如飞。否则，
我早已倒在阿基琉斯的枪下，死在雅典娜的手里，
后者跑在他的前头，洒下护助的明光，激励他
奋勇前进，用他的铜枪，击杀莱勒格斯和特洛伊兵壮。
所以，凡人中谁也不能和阿基琉斯面战，
他的身边总有某位神明，替他挡开死亡。即使
没有神的助佑，他的投枪就像长了眼睛，一旦击中，紧咬不放，
直至穿透被击者的身躯。但是，倘若神祗愿意
拉平战争的绳线，他就不能轻而易举地
获胜，即便出言称道，他的每块肌肉都是用青铜铸成！”
听罢这番话，宙斯之子、王者阿波罗说道：
“英雄，为何不对长生不老的神明祈祷？
你亦可以这么做——人们说，你是宙斯之女阿芙罗底忒的
骨肉，而阿基琉斯则出自一位身份相对低下的女神的肚腹；
阿芙罗底忒乃宙斯之女，而塞提丝的父亲是海中的长老。
去吧，提着你那不知疲倦的铜矛，勇往直前！切莫让他
把你顶退回来，用那含带蔑视的吹擂，气势汹汹的恫吓！”
此番催励在兵士的牧者身上激起巨大的力量，
他头顶闪亮的头盔，阔步穿行在前排壮勇的队列。
安基塞斯之子穿过人群，意欲寻战裴琉斯的儿郎。
白臂膀的赫拉马上发现他的行踪，
召来己方的神祗，对他们开口说道：
“好好商讨一番，你们二位，波塞冬和雅典娜；
认真想想吧，这场攻势会引出什么结果。
看，埃内阿斯，顶着锃亮的头盔，正
扑向裴琉斯之子，受福伊波斯·阿波罗的遣送。
来吧，让我们就此行动，把他赶离；
否则，我们中的一个要前往站在阿基琉斯身边，
给他注入巨大的勇力，使他不致心虚
手软。要让他知道，高高在上的神祗，他们中最了不起的几位，
全都钟爱着他，而那些个至今一直为特洛伊人
挡御战争和死亡的神们，则像无用的清风！
我们合伙从俄林波斯下来，参与这场
战斗，使阿基琉斯不致在今天倒死在特洛伊人
手中。日后，他将经受命运用纺线罗织的苦难，
早在他出生人世，他的母亲把他带到人间的那一刻。
倘若阿基琉斯对此未有所闻，听自神的声音，
那么，当一位神祗和他开打较量，他就会
心虚胆怯。谁敢看了不怕，如果神明的出现，以自己的形貌？”
听罢这番话，裂地之神波塞冬答道：
“赫拉，不要感情用事，莫名其妙地动怒
发火。至少，我不愿催领这边的神祗，
和对手战斗；我们的优势太过明显。
这样吧，让我们离开此地，避离战场，端坐高处，
极目观赏；让凡人自己对付他们的战杀。
但是，如果阿瑞斯或福伊波斯·阿波罗参与战斗，
或把阿基琉斯推挡回去，不让他冲杀，
那时，我们便可即刻出动，和他们对手
较量。这样，用不了多久，我相信，他们就会
跑回俄林波斯，躲进神的群队，
带着我们的手力，难以抗拒的击打！”
言罢，黑发的波塞冬领头前行，来到神一样的
赫拉克勒斯的墙堡，两边堆着厚实的泥土，
一座高耸的堡垒，特洛伊人和帕拉丝·雅典娜为他建造，
作为避身的去处，以便在横冲直撞的海怪，
把壮士从海边赶往平原的时候，躲防他的追捕。
波塞冬和同行的神祗在那里下坐，
卷来大片云朵，筑起不可攻破的雾障，围绕在他们的肩头。
在远离他们的另一边，神们在卡利科洛奈的悬壁上下坐，
围聚在你俩的身边，射手阿波罗和攻城略地的阿瑞斯。
就这样，两边的神祗分地而坐，运筹
谋划，哪一方都不愿首先挑起痛苦的
击打，虽然高坐云天的宙斯催恿着他们战斗。
然而，平原上人山人海，铜光四射，
到处塞满了人和战马，两军进逼，人腿和马蹄击打着地面，
大地为之摇撼。两军间的空地上，两位最杰出的
战勇迎面扑进，带着仇杀的狂烈，
埃内阿斯，安基塞斯之子，和卓越的阿基琉斯。
埃内阿斯首先走出队列，气势汹汹地迈着大步，
摇晃着脑袋，在沉重的帽盔下，挺着凶莽的战盾，
挡在胸前，挥舞着青铜的枪矛。迎着他的
脸面，裴琉斯之子猛扑上前，像一头雄狮，
凶暴的猛兽，招来猎杀的敌手，整个
村镇的居民。一开始，它还满不在乎，
放腿信步，直到一个动作敏捷的小伙
投枪捅破他的肌肤。其时，它蹲伏起身子，张开血盆大口，
齿龈间唾沫横流，强健的狮心里回响着悲沉的呼吼；
它扬起尾巴，拍打自己的肚助和两边的股腹，
抽激起厮杀的狂烈，瞪着闪光的眼睛，
狂猛地扑向人群，抱定一个决心，要么撕裂他们
中的一个，要么——在首次扑击中——被他们放倒！
就像这样，高傲的心灵和战斗的狂烈催激着阿基琉斯
奋勇向前，面对心志豪莽的埃内阿斯。
他俩相对而行，咄咄逼近；
捷足和卓越的阿基琉斯首先开口发话，喊道：
“埃内阿斯，为何远离你的队伍，
孤身出战？是你的愿望吧？是它驱使你拼命，
企望成为驯马好手特洛伊人的主宰，荣登
普里阿摩斯的宝座？然而，即使你杀了我，
普里阿摩斯也不会把王冠放到你的手里——
他有亲生的儿子，何况老人自己身板硬朗，思路敏捷。
也许，特洛伊人已经答应，倘若你能把我杀了，
他们将给你一块土地，一片精耕的沃野，繁茂的果林，
由你统管经营？不过，要想杀我，可不是件容易的事情。
我似乎记得，从前，你曾在我枪下九死一生。
忘了吗？我曾把你赶离你的牛群，
追下伊达的斜坡；你，孤伶伶的一个，撒开两腿，
不要命似地奔跑，连头都不曾回过。
你跑到鲁耳奈索斯，但我奋起强攻，
碎毁了那座城堡，承蒙雅典娜和父亲宙斯的助佑，
逮获了城内的女子，剥夺了她们的自由，
当做战礼拉走，只是让你活命逃生，宙斯和诸神把你相救。
这一回，我想，神明不会再来助佑，虽然你以为
他们还会这么做。退回去吧，恕我直言，回到
你的群队，不要和我交手，省得自找
麻烦！既便是个傻瓜，也知道前车之鉴！”
听罢这番话，埃内阿斯开口答道：
“不要痴心妄想，裴琉斯之子，试图用言语把我吓倒，
把我当做一个毛孩！不，若论咒骂
侮辱，我也是一把不让人的好手。
你我都知道对方的门第和双亲，我们
已从世人的嘴里听过，他们的光荣可追溯到久远的年代，
只是你我都不曾亲眼见过对方的父母。
人们说，你是豪勇的裴琉斯的儿子，
你的母亲是长发秀美的塞提丝，海洋的女儿。
至于我，不瞒你说，我乃心志豪莽的安基塞斯之子，
而我的母亲是阿芙罗底忒。今天，你我的双亲中，
总有一对，将为失去心爱的儿子
恸哭。相信我，我们不会就此撤离战斗，
像孩子似的，仅仅吵骂一通，然后各回家门。
虽然如此，关于我的宗谱，如果你想知道得清清楚楚，
不遗不误，那就听我道来，虽说在许多人心里，这些已是
熟知的掌故。
我的家世，可以上溯到达耳达诺斯，啸聚乌云的宙斯之子，
创建达耳达尼亚的宗祖；那时，神圣的伊利昂尚未出现，
这座耸立在平原之上，庇护着一方民众的城。
人们营居在伊达的斜面，多泉的山坡。
以后，达耳达诺斯生养一子，王者厄里克索尼俄斯，
世间最富有的凡人，拥有
三千匹母马，牧养在多草的泽地，
盛年的骒马，高傲地看育着活蹦乱跳的仔驹。
北风挟着情欲，看上了草地上的它们，化作一匹
黑鬃飘洒的儿马，爬上牝马的腰身。
后者怀受它的种子，生下十二匹幼驹。
这些好马，嬉跳在精耕的农田，丰产的谷地，
掠过成片的谷穗，不会踢断一根秆茎。
它们蹄腿轻捷，蹦达在宽阔的洋面，
踏着灰蓝色的长浪，水头的峰尖。
厄里克索尼俄斯得子特罗斯，特洛伊人的主宰，
而特罗斯生养了三个豪勇的儿郎，
伊洛斯、阿萨拉科斯和神一样的伽努墨得斯，
凡间最美的人儿——诸神视其
俊秀，把他掠到天上，当了
宙斯的侍斟，生活在神族之中。
伊洛斯得养一子，豪勇的劳墨冬；
劳墨冬有子提索诺斯、普里阿摩斯、
朗波斯、克鲁提俄斯和希开塔昂，阿瑞斯的伴从。
阿萨拉科斯有子卡普斯，而卡普斯得子安基塞斯，
我乃安基塞斯之子，而卓越的赫克托耳是普里阿摩斯的男嗣。
这，便是我要告诉你的家世，我的血统。
至于勇力，那得听凭宙斯的增减，
由他随心所欲地摆布，因为他是最强健的天神。
动手吧，不要再像孩子似地唠唠
叨叨，站在即将开战的两军间。
我们可在此没完没了地互相讥辱，
难听的话语可以压沉一艘安着一百条坐板的船舟。
人的舌头是一种曲卷油滑的东西，话语中词汇众多，
五花八门，应用广泛，无所不容。
你说了什么，就会听到什么。然而，
我们并没有这个需要，在此
争吵辱骂，你来我往，像两个街巷里的女人，
吵得心肺俱裂，冲上街头，
互相攻击，大肆诽谤，
其中不乏真话，亦多谎言——暴怒使她们信口开河。
我嗜战心切，你的话不能驱我回头——
让我们用铜枪打出输赢。来吧，
让我们试试各自的力气，用带着铜尖的枪矛！”
言罢，他挥手掷出粗重的投枪，碰撞在威森可怕的
盾面，战盾顶着枪尖，发出沉重的响声。
裴琉斯之子大手推出战盾，心里
害怕，以为心志豪莽的埃内阿斯，他的
投影森长的枪矛，会轻松地捅穿盾牌——
愚蠢得可笑。他不知道，在他的心魂里，
神祗光荣的礼物不是一捅即破的
摆设，凡人休想毁捣。这次，
身经百战的埃内阿斯，他的粗重的枪矛，
也同样不能奏效；黄金的层面，神赐的礼物，挡住了它的冲扫。
事实上，枪尖确实捅穿了两个层面，留下后面的
三个；瘸腿的神匠一共铸了五层，
表之以两层青铜，垫之以两层白锡，
铜锡之间夹着一层黄金——就是这层金属，挡住了(木岑)木杆的
枪矛。
接着，阿基琼斯奋臂投掷，落影森长的
枪矛击中埃内阿斯溜圆的战盾，
盾围的边沿，铜层稀薄，亦是
牛皮铺垫最薄弱的部位。裴利昂的(木岑)木杆枪矛
把落点破底透穿，盾牌吃不住重击，发出沉闷的声响。
埃内阿斯屈身躲避，撑出战盾，挡在头前，吓得
心惊肉跳——枪尖飞越肩背，呼啸着
扎入泥尘，捣去两个层面，从护身的
皮盾。埃内阿斯躲过长枪，
站起身子，眼里闪出强烈的忧愤，
怕得毛骨悚然：枪矛扎落在如此近身的地点。阿基琉斯
拔出锋快的利剑，全力扑进，挟着狂烈，
发出粗野的喊叫。埃内阿斯抱起
石头，一块巨大的顽石，当今之人，即便站出两个，
也动它不得，而他却仅凭一己之力，轻松地把石块高举过头。
其时，埃内阿斯的石头很可能已击中冲扫过来的阿基琉斯，
砸在头盔或盾牌上，而后者会用战盾挡住石块，
趋身近逼，出剑击杀，夺走他的生命，
若不是裂地之神波塞冬眼快，
当即开口发话，对身边的神祗说道：
“各位听着，此时此刻，我真为心志豪莽的埃内阿斯难过；
他将即刻坠入死神的地府，趴倒在阿基琉斯手下，
只为他听信远射手阿波罗的挑唆——可怜的
蠢货——而阿波罗却不会前来，替他挡开可悲的死亡。
但是，一个像他这样无辜的凡人，为何要平白无故地
受苦受难，为了别人的争斗？他总是给我们
礼物，愉悦我们的心房——我们，统掌天空的仙神。
赶快行动，我们要亲自前往，把他救出，以免
克罗诺斯之子生气动怒，倘若阿基琉斯
杀了此人。他命里注定可以逃生，
而达耳达诺斯的部族也不会彻底消亡，后继
无人——他是宙斯最钟爱的儿子，
在和几女生养的全部孩男中。
克罗诺斯之子现已憎恨普里阿摩斯的家族，
所以，埃内阿斯将以强力统治特洛伊民众，
一直延续到他的儿子的儿子，后世的子子孙孙。”
听罢这番话，牛眼睛天后赫拉答道：
“此事，裂地之神，。由你自个思忖定夺，
是救他出来，还是放手让他死去，
带着他的全部勇力，倒在裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯面前。
我们两个，我和帕拉丝·雅典娜，已多次
发誓宣称，当着所有神祗的脸面，
决不为特洛伊人挡开他们的末日，凶险的死亡，
哪怕猖莽的烈焰吞噬整座特洛伊城堡，
在那阿开亚人嗜战的儿子们放火烧城的时候！”
听罢这番话，裂地之神波塞冬
穿行在战斗的人群，冒着纷飞的枪矛，
找到埃内阿斯和光荣的阿基琉斯战斗的地方。
顷刻之间，他在阿基琼斯、裴琉斯之子眼前
布起一团迷雾，从心志豪莽的埃内阿斯的
盾上拔出安着铜尖的(木岑)木杆枪矛，
放在阿基琉斯脚边，从地上，
挽起埃内阿斯，抛向天空，
让他掠过一支支战斗的队伍，一行行
排列的车马，借助神的手力，神的抛投，
避离混战的人群，落脚在凶烈战场的边沿。其时，
那里的考科尼亚人正在穿甲披挂，准备介入战斗。
裂地之神波塞冬行至他的身边站定，
对他说话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“埃内阿斯，是哪位神明使你疯癫至此，
居然敢和裴琉斯心志高昂的儿子面对面地打斗，
虽然他比你强壮，也更受神的钟爱？
你要马上撤离，无论在哪里碰上此位壮勇，
以免逾越你的命限，坠入死神的家府。
但是，一旦阿基琉斯命归地府，实践了命运的安排，
你要鼓起勇气，奋发向前，和他们的首领战斗——
那时候，阿开亚人中将不会有杀你的敌手。”
言罢，告毕要说的一切，神祗离他而去，
旋即驱散阿基琉斯眼前神布的
迷雾。阿基琉斯睁大眼睛，注目凝望，
窘困烦恼，对自己豪莽的心魂说道：
“可能吗？我的眼前真是出现了奇迹！
我的枪矛横躺在地，但却不见了那个人的
踪影——那个我拼命冲扑，意欲把他杀死的家伙，现在哪里？
看来，埃内阿斯同样受到长生不老的神明的
钟爱——我还以为，他的那番说告是厚颜无耻的吹擂。
让他去吧！从今后，他将再也不敢和我战斗，
因为就是今天，他也巴不得逃离死的胁迫。
眼下，我要召呼嗜喜拼搏的达亲兵勇，
试试他们的身手，一起敌杀其余的特洛伊军众！”
言罢，他跳回己方的队阵，催励着每一个人：
“勇敢的阿开亚人，不要再站等观望，离着特洛伊人。
各位都要敌战自己的对手，打出战斗的狂勇！
凭我单身一人，虽说强健，也难以对付
如此众多的敌人，和所有的特洛伊战勇拼斗。
即便是阿瑞斯，不死的神明，即便，甚至是雅典娜，
也不能杀过战争的尖牙利齿，如此密集的队阵。
但是，我发誓，只要能以我的手脚和勇力身体力行的战事，
我将尽力去做；我将一步不让，决不退缩，
冲打进敌人的营阵。我敢说，特洛伊人中，
谁也不会因此感到高兴，倘若置身我的投程！”
壮士话语激昂，催励着阿开亚人。与此同时，光荣的赫克
托耳放开嗓门，激励他的兵勇，盼想着和阿基琉斯拼斗：
“不要惧怕裴琉斯的儿子，我的心志高昂的特洛伊人！
若用言词，我亦能和神祗争斗，但
若使枪矛，那就绝非易事——神明要比我们强健得多。
就是阿基琉斯，也不能践兑所有的豪言：
有的可以实现，有的会遭受挫阻，废弃中途。
我现在就去和他拼斗，虽然他的双手好似一蓬柴火——
虽然他的双手好似一蓬火焰，他的心灵好像一个闪光的铁砣！”
他话音激越，催励着特洛伊人，后者举起枪矛，准备杀搏；
双方汇聚起胸中的狂烈，喊出暴虐的呼嚎。
其时，福伊波斯·阿波罗站到赫克托耳身边，喊道：
“赫克托耳，不要独自出战，面对阿基琉斯。
退回你的队伍，避离混战拼杀，
以免让他投枪击中，或挥剑砍翻，于近战之中！”
阿波罗言罢，赫克托耳一头扎进自己的
群伍，心里害怕，听到神的话音。
挟着战斗的狂烈，阿基琉斯扑向特洛伊人，
发出一声粗蛮的嚎叫，首先杀了伊菲提昂，
俄特仑丢斯骠勇的儿子，率统大队兵丁的首领，
出自湖河女仙的肚腹，荡劫城堡的俄特仑丢斯的精血，
在积雪的特摩洛斯山下，丰足的呼德乡村。
强健的阿基琉斯出枪击中风风火火冲扑上来的伊菲提昂，
捣在脑门上，把头颅劈成两半；后者随即
倒地，轰然一声。骁勇的阿基琉斯高声欢呼，就着身前的对手：
“躺着吧，俄特仑丢斯之子，人间最凶狂的战勇！
这里是你挺尸的去处，远离古格湖畔，
你的家乡，那里有你父亲的土地，
伴随着呼洛斯的鱼群和赫耳摩斯的漩流。”
阿基琉斯一番炫耀；泥地上，黑暗蒙起伊菲提昂的眼睛，
任由阿开亚人飞滚的轮圈，把尸体压得支离破碎，
辗毁在冲战的前沿。接着，阿基琉斯扑奔
德摩勒昂，安忒诺耳之子，一位骠勇的防战能手，
出枪捅在太阳穴上，穿过青铜的颊片，
铜盔抵挡不住，青铜的枪尖，
长驱直入，砸烂头骨，溅捣出
喷飞的脑浆。就这样，阿基琉斯放倒了怒气冲冲的德摩勒昂。
然后，阿基琉斯出枪刺中希波达马斯，在他跳车
逃命，从阿基琉斯面前跑过之际——枪尖扎入后背，
壮士竭力呼吼，喘吐出生命的魂息，像一头公牛，
嘶声吼啸，被一伙年轻人拉着，拖去敬祭
波塞冬，赫利开的主宰——裂地之神喜欢看到拖拉的情景。
就像这样，此人大声吼啸，直到高傲的心魂飘离了他的躯骨。
接着，阿基琉斯提枪猛扑神一样的波鲁多罗斯，
普里阿摩斯之子——老父不让他参战，
因为他是王者最小、也是最受宠爱的
儿子，腿脚飞快，无人可及。
但现在，这个蠢莽的年轻人，急于展示他的快腿，
狂跑在激战的前沿，送掉了卿卿性命。
正当他撒腿掠过之际，卓越和捷足的阿基琉斯飞枪
击中他的后背，打在正中，金质的扣带
交合搭连，胸甲的两个半片衔接连合的部位，
枪尖长驱直入，从肚脐里穿捅出来。
波鲁道罗斯随即倒下，大声哀号，双腿跪地，眼前
黑雾弥漫，瘫倒泥尘，双手抓起外涌的肠流。
其时，赫克托耳眼见波鲁多罗斯，他的兄弟，
跌跌撞撞地瘫倒在地上，手抓着外涌的肠流，
眼前迷雾笼罩，再也不愿团团打转在
远离拼搏的地方，而是冲跑出去，寻战阿基琉斯，
高举锋快的枪矛，凶狂得像一团烈火。阿基琉斯见他扑来，
跑上前去，高声呼喊，得意洋洋：
“此人到底来了；他杀死我心爱的伴友，比谁都更使我恼怒！
不要再等了，不要再
互相回避，沿着进兵的大道！”
言罢，他恶狠狠地盯着卓越的赫克托耳，嚷道：
“走近点，以便尽快接受死的锤捣！”
然而，赫克托耳面无惧色，在闪亮的头盔下告道：
“不要痴心妄想，裴流斯之子，试图用言语把我吓倒，
把我当做一个毛孩。不，若论咒骂
侮辱，我也是一把不让人的好手。
我知道你很勇敢，而我也远不如你强壮——
这不假——但此类事情全都平躺在神的膝盖上。
所以，虽然我比你虚弱，但仍可出手投枪，
把你结果——我的枪矛，在此之前，一向锐不可当！”
言罢，他举起枪矛，奋臂投掷，但经不住
雅典娜轻轻一吹，把它拨离光荣的
阿基琉斯，返回卓越的赫克托耳身边，
掉在脚前的泥地上。与此同时，阿基琉斯
凶猛狂烈，怒气咻咻，奋勇击杀，发出
一声粗野的吼叫，但福伊波斯·阿波罗轻舒臂膀——
神力无穷——把赫克托耳抱离地面，藏裹在浓雾里。
一连三次，捷足的勇士、卓越的阿基琉斯向他冲扫，
握着青铜的枪矛；一连三次，他的进击消融在浓厚的雾团里。
阿基琉斯随即发起第四次冲击，像一位出凡的超人，
对着敌手发出粗野的喊叫，用长了翅膀的话语：
“这回，又让你躲过了死亡，你这条恶狗！虽说如此，
也只是死里逃生；福伊波斯·阿波罗又一次救了你，
这位你在投身密集的枪雨前必须对之祈诵的仙神。
但是，我们还会再战；那时，我会把你结果，
倘若我的身边也有一位助佑的尊神。
眼下，我要去追杀别的战勇，任何我可以赶上的敌人！”
言罢，他一枪扎入德鲁俄普斯的脖子，
后者随即倒地，躺死在他的腿脚前。他丢下死者，
投枪阻止德慕科斯的冲击，打在膝盖上，
菲勒托耳之子，一位高大强健的壮勇，随后
猛扑上前，挥起粗大的战剑，夺杀了他的生命。
接着，阿基琉斯放腿扑向达耳达诺斯和劳戈诺斯，
比阿斯的两个儿子，把他俩从马后撂下战车，打倒在地，
一个投枪击落，另一个，近战中，挥剑砍翻。
其后，特罗斯，阿拉斯托耳之子，跌撞到阿基琉斯
跟前，抢身抓抱他的双膝，盼望他手下留情，保住一条性命，
心想他会怜借一个和他同龄的青壮，不予斩夺。
这个笨蛋！他哪里知道，阿基琉斯根本不会听理别人的求劝；
他的心里没有一丝甜蜜，一缕温情——
他怒火中烧，凶暴狂烈！特罗斯伸手
欲抱他的膝腿，躬身祈求，但他手起一剑，扎入肚脏，
把它捣出腹腔，黑血涌注，
淋湿了腿股；随着魂息的离去，黑暗
蒙住了他的双眼。接着，阿基琉斯扑近慕利俄斯，
出枪击中耳朵，铜尖长驱直入，从另一边
耳朵里穿出。随后，他击杀了阿格诺耳之子厄开克洛斯，
用带柄的利剑，砍在脑门上，
整条剑刃鲜血模糊，暗红的死亡和
强有力的命运合上了他的眼睛。接着，阿基琉斯
出枪击断丢卡利昂的手臂，膀肘上，筋脉
交接的地方。铜尖切开肘上的筋腱，
丢卡利昂垂着断臂，痴等着，心知
死期不远。阿基琉斯挥剑砍断他的
脖子，头颅滚出老远，连着帽盔，髓浆
喷涌，从颈骨里面。他随之倒下，直挺挺地躺在地面。
其后，阿基琉斯扑向裴瑞斯豪勇的儿子，
里格摩斯，来自土地肥沃的斯拉凯，
出枪捣在肚子上，枪尖扎进腹中，把他
捅下战车。驭手阿雷苏斯调转马头，
试图逃跑，阿基琉斯出枪猛刺，锋快的枪尖
咬人他的脊背，把他撂下战车。惊马撒蹄狂跑。
一如暴极的烈焰，横扫山谷里焦干的
树木，焚烧着枝干繁茂的森林，
疾风席卷着熊熊的火势——阿基琉斯到处
横冲直撞，挺着枪矛，似乎已超出人的凡俗，
逼赶，追杀敌人，鲜血染红了乌黑的泥尘。
像农人套起额面开阔的犍牛，
踏踩着雪白的大麦，在一个铺压坚实的打谷场上，
哞哞吼叫的壮牛，用蹄腿很快分辗出麦粒的皮壳——
就像这样，拉着心胸豪壮的阿基琉斯，捷蹄的快马
踢踏着死人和战盾，轮轴
沾满飞溅的血点，马蹄和飞旋的
轮缘压出四散的血污，喷洒在
围绕车身的条杆。裴琉斯之子催马向前，
为了争夺光荣，那双克敌制胜的大手，涂染着泥血的斑痕。
ARGUMENT.
THE BATTLE OF THE GODS, AND THE ACTS OF ACHILLES.
Jupiter, upon Achilles' return to the battle, calls a council of the gods,
and permits them to assist either party. The terrors of the combat
described, when the deities are engaged. Apollo encourages Æneas to meet
Achilles. After a long conversation, these two heroes encounter; but Æneas
is preserved by the assistance of Neptune. Achilles falls upon the rest of
the Trojans, and is upon the point of killing Hector, but Apollo conveys
him away in a cloud. Achilles pursues the Trojans with a great slaughter.
The same day continues. The scene is in the field before Troy.
Thus round Pelides breathing war and blood
Greece, sheathed in arms, beside her vessels stood;
While near impending from a neighbouring height,
Troy's black battalions wait the shock of fight.
Then Jove to Themis gives command, to call
The gods to council in the starry hall:
Swift o'er Olympus' hundred hills she flies,
And summons all the senate of the skies.
These shining on, in long procession come
To Jove's eternal adamantine dome.
Not one was absent, not a rural power
That haunts the verdant gloom, or rosy bower;
Each fair-hair'd dryad of the shady wood,
Each azure sister of the silver flood;
All but old Ocean, hoary sire! who keeps
His ancient seat beneath the sacred deeps.
On marble thrones, with lucid columns crown'd,
(The work of Vulcan,) sat the powers around.
Even he whose trident sways the watery reign
Heard the loud summons, and forsook the main,
Assumed his throne amid the bright abodes,
And question'd thus the sire of men and gods:
"What moves the god who heaven and earth commands,
And grasps the thunder in his awful hands,
Thus to convene the whole ethereal state?
Is Greece and Troy the subject in debate?
Already met, the louring hosts appear,
And death stands ardent on the edge of war."
"'Tis true (the cloud-compelling power replies)
This day we call the council of the skies
In care of human race; even Jove's own eye
Sees with regret unhappy mortals die.
Far on Olympus' top in secret state
Ourself will sit, and see the hand of fate
Work out our will. Celestial powers! descend,
And as your minds direct, your succour lend
To either host. Troy soon must lie o'erthrown,
If uncontroll'd Achilles fights alone:
Their troops but lately durst not meet his eyes;
What can they now, if in his rage he rise?
Assist them, gods! or Ilion's sacred wall
May fall this day, though fate forbids the fall."
He said, and fired their heavenly breasts with rage.
On adverse parts the warring gods engage:
Heaven's awful queen; and he whose azure round
Girds the vast globe; the maid in arms renown'd;
Hermes, of profitable arts the sire;
And Vulcan, the black sovereign of the fire:
These to the fleet repair with instant flight;
The vessels tremble as the gods alight.
In aid of Troy, Latona, Phoebus came,
Mars fiery-helm'd, the laughter-loving dame,
Xanthus, whose streams in golden currents flow,
And the chaste huntress of the silver bow.
Ere yet the gods their various aid employ,
Each Argive bosom swell'd with manly joy,
While great Achilles (terror of the plain),
Long lost to battle, shone in arms again.
Dreadful he stood in front of all his host;
Pale Troy beheld, and seem'd already lost;
Her bravest heroes pant with inward fear,
And trembling see another god of war.
But when the powers descending swell'd the fight,
Then tumult rose: fierce rage and pale affright
Varied each face: then Discord sounds alarms,
Earth echoes, and the nations rush to arms.
Now through the trembling shores Minerva calls,
And now she thunders from the Grecian walls.
Mars hovering o'er his Troy, his terror shrouds
In gloomy tempests, and a night of clouds:
Now through each Trojan heart he fury pours
With voice divine, from Ilion's topmost towers:
Now shouts to Simois, from her beauteous hill;
The mountain shook, the rapid stream stood still.
Above, the sire of gods his thunder rolls,
And peals on peals redoubled rend the poles.
Beneath, stern Neptune shakes the solid ground;
The forests wave, the mountains nod around;
Through all their summits tremble Ida's woods,
And from their sources boil her hundred floods.
Troy's turrets totter on the rocking plain,
And the toss'd navies beat the heaving main.
Deep in the dismal regions of the dead,(260)
The infernal monarch rear'd his horrid head,
Leap'd from his throne, lest Neptune's arm should lay
His dark dominions open to the day,
And pour in light on Pluto's drear abodes,
Abhorr'd by men, and dreadful even to gods.(261)
[Illustration: THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE.]
THE GODS DESCENDING TO BATTLE.
Such war the immortals wage; such horrors rend
The world's vast concave, when the gods contend
First silver-shafted Phoebus took the plain
Against blue Neptune, monarch of the main.
The god of arms his giant bulk display'd,
Opposed to Pallas, war's triumphant maid.
Against Latona march'd the son of May.
The quiver'd Dian, sister of the day,
(Her golden arrows sounding at her side,)
Saturnia, majesty of heaven, defied.
With fiery Vulcan last in battle stands
The sacred flood that rolls on golden sands;
Xanthus his name with those of heavenly birth,
But called Scamander by the sons of earth.
While thus the gods in various league engage,
Achilles glow'd with more than mortal rage:
Hector he sought; in search of Hector turn'd
His eyes around, for Hector only burn'd;
And burst like lightning through the ranks, and vow'd
To glut the god of battles with his blood.
Æneas was the first who dared to stay;
Apollo wedged him in the warrior's way,
But swell'd his bosom with undaunted might,
Half-forced and half-persuaded to the fight.
Like young Lycaon, of the royal line,
In voice and aspect, seem'd the power divine;
And bade the chief reflect, how late with scorn
In distant threats he braved the goddess-born.
Then thus the hero of Anchises' strain:
"To meet Pelides you persuade in vain:
Already have I met, nor void of fear
Observed the fury of his flying spear;
From Ida's woods he chased us to the field,
Our force he scattered, and our herds he kill'd;
Lyrnessus, Pedasus in ashes lay;
But (Jove assisting) I survived the day:
Else had I sunk oppress'd in fatal fight
By fierce Achilles and Minerva's might.
Where'er he moved, the goddess shone before,
And bathed his brazen lance in hostile gore.
What mortal man Achilles can sustain?
The immortals guard him through the dreadful plain,
And suffer not his dart to fall in vain.
Were God my aid, this arm should check his power,
Though strong in battle as a brazen tower."
To whom the son of Jove: "That god implore,
And be what great Achilles was before.
From heavenly Venus thou deriv'st thy strain,
And he but from a sister of the main;
An aged sea-god father of his line;
But Jove himself the sacred source of thine.
Then lift thy weapon for a noble blow,
Nor fear the vaunting of a mortal foe."
This said, and spirit breathed into his breast,
Through the thick troops the embolden'd hero press'd:
His venturous act the white-arm'd queen survey'd,
And thus, assembling all the powers, she said:
"Behold an action, gods! that claims your care,
Lo great Æneas rushing to the war!
Against Pelides he directs his course,
Phoebus impels, and Phoebus gives him force.
Restrain his bold career; at least, to attend
Our favour'd hero, let some power descend.
To guard his life, and add to his renown,
We, the great armament of heaven, came down.
Hereafter let him fall, as Fates design,
That spun so short his life's illustrious line:(262)
But lest some adverse god now cross his way,
Give him to know what powers assist this day:
For how shall mortal stand the dire alarms,
When heaven's refulgent host appear in arms?"(263)
Thus she; and thus the god whose force can make
The solid globe's eternal basis shake:
"Against the might of man, so feeble known,
Why should celestial powers exert their own?
Suffice from yonder mount to view the scene,
And leave to war the fates of mortal men.
But if the armipotent, or god of light,
Obstruct Achilles, or commence the fight.
Thence on the gods of Troy we swift descend:
Full soon, I doubt not, shall the conflict end;
And these, in ruin and confusion hurl'd,
Yield to our conquering arms the lower world."
Thus having said, the tyrant of the sea,
Coerulean Neptune, rose, and led the way.
Advanced upon the field there stood a mound
Of earth congested, wall'd, and trench'd around;
In elder times to guard Alcides made,
(The work of Trojans, with Minerva's aid,)
What time a vengeful monster of the main
Swept the wide shore, and drove him to the plain.
Here Neptune and the gods of Greece repair,
With clouds encompass'd, and a veil of air:
The adverse powers, around Apollo laid,
Crown the fair hills that silver Simois shade.
In circle close each heavenly party sat,
Intent to form the future scheme of fate;
But mix not yet in fight, though Jove on high
Gives the loud signal, and the heavens reply.
Meanwhile the rushing armies hide the ground;
The trampled centre yields a hollow sound:
Steeds cased in mail, and chiefs in armour bright,
The gleaming champaign glows with brazen light.
Amid both hosts (a dreadful space) appear,
There great Achilles; bold Æneas, here.
With towering strides Aeneas first advanced;
The nodding plumage on his helmet danced:
Spread o'er his breast the fencing shield he bore,
And, so he moved, his javelin flamed before.
Not so Pelides; furious to engage,
He rush'd impetuous. Such the lion's rage,
Who viewing first his foes with scornful eyes,
Though all in arms the peopled city rise,
Stalks careless on, with unregarding pride;
Till at the length, by some brave youth defied,
To his bold spear the savage turns alone,
He murmurs fury with a hollow groan;
He grins, he foams, he rolls his eyes around
Lash'd by his tail his heaving sides resound;
He calls up all his rage; he grinds his teeth,
Resolved on vengeance, or resolved on death.
So fierce Achilles on Æneas flies;
So stands Æneas, and his force defies.
Ere yet the stern encounter join'd, begun
The seed of Thetis thus to Venus' son:
"Why comes Æneas through the ranks so far?
Seeks he to meet Achilles' arm in war,
In hope the realms of Priam to enjoy,
And prove his merits to the throne of Troy?
Grant that beneath thy lance Achilles dies,
The partial monarch may refuse the prize;
Sons he has many; those thy pride may quell:
And 'tis his fault to love those sons too well,
Or, in reward of thy victorious hand,
Has Troy proposed some spacious tract of land
An ample forest, or a fair domain,
Of hills for vines, and arable for grain?
Even this, perhaps, will hardly prove thy lot.
But can Achilles be so soon forgot?
Once (as I think) you saw this brandish'd spear
And then the great Æneas seem'd to fear:
With hearty haste from Ida's mount he fled,
Nor, till he reach'd Lyrnessus, turn'd his head.
Her lofty walls not long our progress stay'd;
Those, Pallas, Jove, and we, in ruins laid:
In Grecian chains her captive race were cast;
'Tis true, the great Aeneas fled too fast.
Defrauded of my conquest once before,
What then I lost, the gods this day restore.
Go; while thou may'st, avoid the threaten'd fate;
Fools stay to feel it, and are wise too late."
To this Anchises' son: "Such words employ
To one that fears thee, some unwarlike boy;
Such we disdain; the best may be defied
With mean reproaches, and unmanly pride;
Unworthy the high race from which we came
Proclaim'd so loudly by the voice of fame:
Each from illustrious fathers draws his line;
Each goddess-born; half human, half divine.
Thetis' this day, or Venus' offspring dies,
And tears shall trickle from celestial eyes:
For when two heroes, thus derived, contend,
'Tis not in words the glorious strife can end.
If yet thou further seek to learn my birth
(A tale resounded through the spacious earth)
Hear how the glorious origin we prove
From ancient Dardanus, the first from Jove:
Dardania's walls he raised; for Ilion, then,
(The city since of many-languaged men,)
Was not. The natives were content to till
The shady foot of Ida's fountful hill.(264)
From Dardanus great Erichthonius springs,
The richest, once, of Asia's wealthy kings;
Three thousand mares his spacious pastures bred,
Three thousand foals beside their mothers fed.
Boreas, enamour'd of the sprightly train,
Conceal'd his godhead in a flowing mane,
With voice dissembled to his loves he neigh'd,
And coursed the dappled beauties o'er the mead:
Hence sprung twelve others of unrivall'd kind,
Swift as their mother mares, and father wind.
These lightly skimming, when they swept the plain,
Nor plied the grass, nor bent the tender grain;
And when along the level seas they flew,(265)
Scarce on the surface curl'd the briny dew.
Such Erichthonius was: from him there came
The sacred Tros, of whom the Trojan name.
Three sons renown'd adorn'd his nuptial bed,
Ilus, Assaracus, and Ganymed:
The matchless Ganymed, divinely fair,
Whom heaven, enamour'd, snatch'd to upper air,
To bear the cup of Jove (ethereal guest,
The grace and glory of the ambrosial feast).
The two remaining sons the line divide:
First rose Laomedon from Ilus' side;
From him Tithonus, now in cares grown old,
And Priam, bless'd with Hector, brave and bold;
Clytius and Lampus, ever-honour'd pair;
And Hicetaon, thunderbolt of war.
From great Assaracus sprang Capys, he
Begat Anchises, and Anchises me.
Such is our race: 'tis fortune gives us birth,
But Jove alone endues the soul with worth:
He, source of power and might! with boundless sway,
All human courage gives, or takes away.
Long in the field of words we may contend,
Reproach is infinite, and knows no end,
Arm'd or with truth or falsehood, right or wrong;
So voluble a weapon is the tongue;
Wounded, we wound; and neither side can fail,
For every man has equal strength to rail:
Women alone, when in the streets they jar,
Perhaps excel us in this wordy war;
Like us they stand, encompass'd with the crowd,
And vent their anger impotent and loud.
Cease then--Our business in the field of fight
Is not to question, but to prove our might.
To all those insults thou hast offer'd here,
Receive this answer: 'tis my flying spear."
He spoke. With all his force the javelin flung,
Fix'd deep, and loudly in the buckler rung.
Far on his outstretch'd arm, Pelides held
(To meet the thundering lance) his dreadful shield,
That trembled as it stuck; nor void of fear
Saw, ere it fell, the immeasurable spear.
His fears were vain; impenetrable charms
Secured the temper of the ethereal arms.
Through two strong plates the point its passage held,
But stopp'd, and rested, by the third repell'd.
Five plates of various metal, various mould,
Composed the shield; of brass each outward fold,
Of tin each inward, and the middle gold:
There stuck the lance. Then rising ere he threw,
The forceful spear of great Achilles flew,
And pierced the Dardan shield's extremest bound,
Where the shrill brass return'd a sharper sound:
Through the thin verge the Pelean weapon glides,
And the slight covering of expanded hides.
Æneas his contracted body bends,
And o'er him high the riven targe extends,
Sees, through its parting plates, the upper air,
And at his back perceives the quivering spear:
A fate so near him, chills his soul with fright;
And swims before his eyes the many-colour'd light.
Achilles, rushing in with dreadful cries,
Draws his broad blade, and at Æneas flies:
Æneas rousing as the foe came on,
With force collected, heaves a mighty stone:
A mass enormous! which in modern days
No two of earth's degenerate sons could raise.
But ocean's god, whose earthquakes rock the ground.
Saw the distress, and moved the powers around:
"Lo! on the brink of fate Æneas stands,
An instant victim to Achilles' hands;
By Phoebus urged; but Phoebus has bestow'd
His aid in vain: the man o'erpowers the god.
And can ye see this righteous chief atone
With guiltless blood for vices not his own?
To all the gods his constant vows were paid;
Sure, though he wars for Troy, he claims our aid.
Fate wills not this; nor thus can Jove resign
The future father of the Dardan line:(266)
The first great ancestor obtain'd his grace,
And still his love descends on all the race:
For Priam now, and Priam's faithless kind,
At length are odious to the all-seeing mind;
On great Æneas shall devolve the reign,
And sons succeeding sons the lasting line sustain."
The great earth-shaker thus: to whom replies
The imperial goddess with the radiant eyes:
"Good as he is, to immolate or spare
The Dardan prince, O Neptune! be thy care;
Pallas and I, by all that gods can bind,
Have sworn destruction to the Trojan kind;
Not even an instant to protract their fate,
Or save one member of the sinking state;
Till her last flame be quench'd with her last gore,
And even her crumbling ruins are no more."
The king of ocean to the fight descends,
Through all the whistling darts his course he bends,
Swift interposed between the warrior flies,
And casts thick darkness o'er Achilles' eyes.(267)
From great Æneas' shield the spear he drew,
And at his master's feet the weapon threw.
That done, with force divine he snatch'd on high
The Dardan prince, and bore him through the sky,
Smooth-gliding without step, above the heads
Of warring heroes, and of bounding steeds:
Till at the battle's utmost verge they light,
Where the slow Caucans close the rear of fight.
The godhead there (his heavenly form confess'd)
With words like these the panting chief address'd:
"What power, O prince! with force inferior far,
Urged thee to meet Achilles' arm in war?
Henceforth beware, nor antedate thy doom,
Defrauding fate of all thy fame to come.
But when the day decreed (for come it must)
Shall lay this dreadful hero in the dust,
Let then the furies of that arm be known,
Secure no Grecian force transcends thy own."
With that, he left him wondering as he lay,
Then from Achilles chased the mist away:
Sudden, returning with a stream of light,
The scene of war came rushing on his sight.
Then thus, amazed; "What wonders strike my mind!
My spear, that parted on the wings of wind,
Laid here before me! and the Dardan lord,
That fell this instant, vanish'd from my sword!
I thought alone with mortals to contend,
But powers celestial sure this foe defend.
Great as he is, our arms he scarce will try,
Content for once, with all his gods, to fly.
Now then let others bleed." This said, aloud
He vents his fury and inflames the crowd:
"O Greeks! (he cries, and every rank alarms)
Join battle, man to man, and arms to arms!
'Tis not in me, though favour'd by the sky,
To mow whole troops, and make whole armies fly:
No god can singly such a host engage,
Not Mars himself, nor great Minerva's rage.
But whatsoe'er Achilles can inspire,
Whate'er of active force, or acting fire;
Whate'er this heart can prompt, or hand obey;
All, all Achilles, Greeks! is yours to-day.
Through yon wide host this arm shall scatter fear,
And thin the squadrons with my single spear."
He said: nor less elate with martial joy,
The godlike Hector warm'd the troops of Troy:
"Trojans, to war! Think, Hector leads you on;
Nor dread the vaunts of Peleus' haughty son.
Deeds must decide our fate. E'en these with words
Insult the brave, who tremble at their swords:
The weakest atheist-wretch all heaven defies,
But shrinks and shudders when the thunder flies.
Nor from yon boaster shall your chief retire,
Not though his heart were steel, his hands were fire;
That fire, that steel, your Hector should withstand,
And brave that vengeful heart, that dreadful hand."
Thus (breathing rage through all) the hero said;
A wood of lances rises round his head,
Clamours on clamours tempest all the air,
They join, they throng, they thicken to the war.
But Phoebus warns him from high heaven to shun
The single fight with Thetis' godlike son;
More safe to combat in the mingled band,
Nor tempt too near the terrors of his hand.
He hears, obedient to the god of light,
And, plunged within the ranks, awaits the fight.
Then fierce Achilles, shouting to the skies,
On Troy's whole force with boundless fury flies.
First falls Iphytion, at his army's head;
Brave was the chief, and brave the host he led;
From great Otrynteus he derived his blood,
His mother was a Nais, of the flood;
Beneath the shades of Tmolus, crown'd with snow,
From Hyde's walls he ruled the lands below.
Fierce as he springs, the sword his head divides:
The parted visage falls on equal sides:
With loud-resounding arms he strikes the plain;
While thus Achilles glories o'er the slain:
"Lie there, Otryntides! the Trojan earth
Receives thee dead, though Gygae boast thy birth;
Those beauteous fields where Hyllus' waves are roll'd,
And plenteous Hermus swells with tides of gold,
Are thine no more."--The insulting hero said,
And left him sleeping in eternal shade.
The rolling wheels of Greece the body tore,
And dash'd their axles with no vulgar gore.
Demoleon next, Antenor's offspring, laid
Breathless in dust, the price of rashness paid.
The impatient steel with full-descending sway
Forced through his brazen helm its furious way,
Resistless drove the batter'd skull before,
And dash'd and mingled all the brains with gore.
This sees Hippodamas, and seized with fright,
Deserts his chariot for a swifter flight:
The lance arrests him: an ignoble wound
The panting Trojan rivets to the ground.
He groans away his soul: not louder roars,
At Neptune's shrine on Helice's high shores,
The victim bull; the rocks re-bellow round,
And ocean listens to the grateful sound.
Then fell on Polydore his vengeful rage,(268)
The youngest hope of Priam's stooping age:
(Whose feet for swiftness in the race surpass'd:)
Of all his sons, the dearest, and the last.
To the forbidden field he takes his flight,
In the first folly of a youthful knight,
To vaunt his swiftness wheels around the plain,
But vaunts not long, with all his swiftness slain:
Struck where the crossing belts unite behind,
And golden rings the double back-plate join'd
Forth through the navel burst the thrilling steel;
And on his knees with piercing shrieks he fell;
The rushing entrails pour'd upon the ground
His hands collect; and darkness wraps him round.
When Hector view'd, all ghastly in his gore,
Thus sadly slain the unhappy Polydore,
A cloud of sorrow overcast his sight,
His soul no longer brook'd the distant fight:
Full in Achilles' dreadful front he came,
And shook his javelin like a waving flame.
The son of Peleus sees, with joy possess'd,
His heart high-bounding in his rising breast.
"And, lo! the man on whom black fates attend;
The man, that slew Achilles, is his friend!
No more shall Hector's and Pelides' spear
Turn from each other in the walks of war."--
Then with revengeful eyes he scann'd him o'er:
"Come, and receive thy fate!" He spake no more.
Hector, undaunted, thus: "Such words employ
To one that dreads thee, some unwarlike boy:
Such we could give, defying and defied,
Mean intercourse of obloquy and pride!
I know thy force to mine superior far;
But heaven alone confers success in war:
Mean as I am, the gods may guide my dart,
And give it entrance in a braver heart."
Then parts the lance: but Pallas' heavenly breath
Far from Achilles wafts the winged death:
The bidden dart again to Hector flies,
And at the feet of its great master lies.
Achilles closes with his hated foe,
His heart and eyes with flaming fury glow:
But present to his aid, Apollo shrouds
The favour'd hero in a veil of clouds.
Thrice struck Pelides with indignant heart,
Thrice in impassive air he plunged the dart;
The spear a fourth time buried in the cloud.
He foams with fury, and exclaims aloud:
"Wretch! thou hast 'scaped again; once more thy flight
Has saved thee, and the partial god of light.
But long thou shalt not thy just fate withstand,
If any power assist Achilles' hand.
Fly then inglorious! but thy flight this day
Whole hecatombs of Trojan ghosts shall pay."
With that, he gluts his rage on numbers slain:
Then Dryops tumbled to the ensanguined plain,
Pierced through the neck: he left him panting there,
And stopp'd Demuchus, great Philetor's heir.
Gigantic chief! deep gash'd the enormous blade,
And for the soul an ample passage made.
Laoganus and Dardanus expire,
The valiant sons of an unhappy sire;
Both in one instant from the chariot hurl'd,
Sunk in one instant to the nether world:
This difference only their sad fates afford
That one the spear destroy'd, and one the sword.
Nor less unpitied, young Alastor bleeds;
In vain his youth, in vain his beauty pleads;
In vain he begs thee, with a suppliant's moan,
To spare a form, an age so like thy own!
Unhappy boy! no prayer, no moving art,
E'er bent that fierce, inexorable heart!
While yet he trembled at his knees, and cried,
The ruthless falchion oped his tender side;
The panting liver pours a flood of gore
That drowns his bosom till he pants no more.
Through Mulius' head then drove the impetuous spear:
The warrior falls, transfix'd from ear to ear.
Thy life, Echeclus! next the sword bereaves,
Deep though the front the ponderous falchion cleaves;
Warm'd in the brain the smoking weapon lies,
The purple death comes floating o'er his eyes.
Then brave Deucalion died: the dart was flung
Where the knit nerves the pliant elbow strung;
He dropp'd his arm, an unassisting weight,
And stood all impotent, expecting fate:
Full on his neck the falling falchion sped,
From his broad shoulders hew'd his crested head:
Forth from the bone the spinal marrow flies,
And, sunk in dust, the corpse extended lies.
Rhigmas, whose race from fruitful Thracia came,
(The son of Pierus, an illustrious name,)
Succeeds to fate: the spear his belly rends;
Prone from his car the thundering chief descends.
The squire, who saw expiring on the ground
His prostrate master, rein'd the steeds around;
His back, scarce turn'd, the Pelian javelin gored,
And stretch'd the servant o'er his dying lord.
As when a flame the winding valley fills,
And runs on crackling shrubs between the hills;
Then o'er the stubble up the mountain flies,
Fires the high woods, and blazes to the skies,
This way and that, the spreading torrent roars:
So sweeps the hero through the wasted shores;
Around him wide, immense destruction pours
And earth is deluged with the sanguine showers
As with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er,
And thick bestrewn, lies Ceres' sacred floor;
When round and round, with never-wearied pain,
The trampling steers beat out the unnumber'd grain:
So the fierce coursers, as the chariot rolls,
Tread down whole ranks, and crush out heroes' souls,
Dash'd from their hoofs while o'er the dead they fly,
Black, bloody drops the smoking chariot dye:
The spiky wheels through heaps of carnage tore;
And thick the groaning axles dropp'd with gore.
High o'er the scene of death Achilles stood,
All grim with dust, all horrible in blood:
Yet still insatiate, still with rage on flame;
Such is the lust of never-dying fame!
[Illustration: CENTAUR.]
CENTAUR. 但是，当他们跑到清水河的边岸，
其父宙斯，不死的天神，卷着漩涡的珊索斯的滩沿，
阿基琉斯截开溃败的人群，追迫其中的一部撒腿平野，朝着
特洛伊日跑——天前，就在那个地方，阿开亚人自己亦被
光荣的赫克托耳，被他的狂烈赶得惶惶奔逃。
现在，特洛伊人也在那片泥地上成群地回跑，但赫拉降下
一团浓雾，布罩在他们眼前，挡住他们的归路。与此同时，
另一部兵勇挤塞在水流深急的长河，银光闪亮的漩涡，
连滚带爬地掉进水里，发出大声的喧嚎；泼泻的水势
滔声轰响，两岸回荡着隆隆的吼啸，伴随着他们的嘶喊，
四下里荡臂挣扎，旋卷在湍急的水涡。
像一群蝗虫，飞拥在空中，迫于急火的烧烤，
一头扎进河里，暴虐的烈焰闪跳着突起的
火苗，蝗虫堆挤在一起，畏缩在水面上。
就像这样，迫于阿基琉斯的追赶，咆哮的珊索斯河中，
深深的水涡里，人马拥挤，一片糟骚。
其时，神明养育的阿基琉斯把枪矛搁置河岸，
靠贴着柽柳枝丛，跳进河里，像一位超人的神仙，
仅凭手中的利剑，心中充满凶邪的杀机，
转动身子，挥砍四面的敌人。特洛伊兵勇发出凄惨的
嚎叫，吃受着剑锋的劈打；水面上人血泛涌，
殷红一片。像水里的鱼群，碰上一条大肚子海豚，
匆忙逃离，填挤在深水港的角落，吓得
不知所措：那家伙，述着的东西，全都吞进肚腹。
就像这样，特洛伊人沉浮在凶险的水浪里，
葬身在河壁的底层。当阿基琉斯杀得双腿疲软，
便从水里拢聚和生擒了十二名青壮，为
帕特罗克洛斯，墨诺伊提俄斯之子，作为报祭的血酬。
他把这帮人带上河岸，像一群吓呆了眼的仔鹿，
将他们反手捆绑，用切割齐整的皮条，
他们自己的腰带，束扎着飘软的衣衫，
交给伙伴们看押，走向深旷的海船；
他自己则转身回头，带着杀人的狂烈。
河岸边，他撞见了达耳达尼亚人普里阿摩斯的儿子，
刚从水里逃生，鲁卡昂，阿基琉斯曾经亲手抓过的
特洛伊壮汉，带离他父亲的果园，哪怕他一路反抗，在那天
夜里的偷袭。其时，他正手握锋快的铜刀，从无花果树上
劈下嫩枝，充作战车的条杆，
却不料祸从天降，平地里冒出个裴琉斯卓越的儿男。
那一次，阿基琉斯把他船运到城垣坚固的莱姆诺斯，
当做奴隶卖掉，被伊阿来的儿子买去；在那里，
一位陌生的朋友，英勃罗斯的厄提昂，
用重金把他赎释，送往闪光的阿里斯贝——
他从那里生逃，跑回父亲的房居。
回家后，一连十一天，他欢愉着自己的心胸，
和亲朋好友们一起。然而，到了第十二天，神明
又把他丢进阿基琉斯手中——这一回，
后者将强违他的意愿，把他送入死神的家府。
现在，捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯已认出他来，
知他甲械全无，既没有头盔，又没有枪矛和盾牌——
这一切已被丢弃岸边：为了逃命激流，
他拼死挣扎，累得热汗淋漓，双腿疲软。
阿基琉斯发话自己的心魂，带着满腔烦愤：
“这可能吗？我的眼前真是出现了奇迹！
这些心志豪莽的特洛伊人，就连那些已被我杀死的，
都会从阴迷、昏暗的去处起身回还！
瞧这家伙，躲过无情的死亡，他的末日，回头重返——我曾
把他卖到神圣的莱姆诺斯，但灰蓝色的大海，翻卷的海浪，
却挡不住他的归还，虽然它能挡住整个舰队，不甘屈服的
水手。干吧，这一回，我要让他尝尝枪尖的滋味。
这样，我们就能确信无疑地知道，
他是否能从那个地方归来——生养万物的泥土是否
能把他压住——土筑的坟堆可以埋葬世间最强健的兵汉！”
阿基琉斯一番思谋，站等不动，而鲁卡昂则快步跑来，
惊恐万状，发疯似地抱住他的膝腿，希望躲过
可怕的死亡和乌黑的命运。然而，卓越的
阿基琉斯举起粗长的枪矛，运足力气，
试图把他结果，但对方躬身避过投枪，跑去
抱住他的膝腿，弯着腰，枪矛从脊背上飞过，
插在泥地里，带着撕咬人肉的欲望。
鲁卡昂一手抱住他的膝盖，恳求饶命，
一手抓住犀利的枪矛，毫不松手，
开口求告，吐出长了翅膀的话语：“我已抱住
你的双膝，阿基琉斯，尊重我的祈求，放我一条生路！
我在向你恳求，了不起的壮士，你要尊恕一个恳求的人！
你是第一位阿开亚人，和我分食黛墨忒耳的礼物，
在你把我抓住的那一天，从篱墙坚固的果园，
把我带离父王和亲友，卖到神圣的
莱姆诺斯，为你换得一百头牛回来；
而为获释放，我支付了三倍于此的赎礼。
我历经磨难，回到伊利昂地面，眼下只是
第十二个早上。现在，该诅咒的命运又把我
送到你的手里。我想，我一定受到父亲宙斯的痛恨，
让我重做你的俘虏。唉，我的母亲，你生下我来，
只有如此短暂的一生，劳索娥，阿尔忒斯的女儿，
阿尔忒斯，莱勒格斯的主宰，嗜战如命，
雄踞陡峭的裴达索斯，占地萨特尼俄埃斯河的滩沿。
普里阿摩斯娶了他的女儿，作为许多妻床中的一员。
劳索娥生得二子，而你，你会割断我们兄弟
二人的脖圈。一个已被你杀死，在前排步战的勇士中，
神一样的波鲁多伊斯，经不住枪矛的投冲，锋快的青铜。
现在，此时此地，可恶的死亡又在向我招手——我想，
我逃不出你的手掌，因为神明驱我和你照面。
虽说如此，我另有一事相告，求你记在心间：
不要杀我，我和赫克托耳并非同出一个娘胎，
是他杀了你的伴友，你的强壮、温善的朋伴！”
就这样，普里阿摩斯光荣的儿子恳求
饶命，但听到的却是一番无情的回言：
“你这个笨蛋，还在谈论什么赎释；还不给我闭上你的臭嘴！
不错，在帕特罗克洛斯尚未履践命运的约束，战死疆场
之前，我还更愿略施温存，遣放过一些
特洛伊军汉；我生俘过大群的兵勇，把他们卖到海外。
但现在，谁也甭想死里逃生，倘若神祗把他送到
我的手里，在这伊利昂城前——特洛伊人中
谁也甭想，尤其是普里阿摩斯的儿男！所以，
我的朋友，你也必死无疑。既如此，你又何必这般疾首痛心？
帕特多克洛斯已经死去，一位远比你杰出的战勇；
还有我——没看见吗？长得何等高大、英武，
有一位显赫的父亲，而生我的母亲更是一位不死的女神。
然而，就连我也逃不脱死和强有力的命运的迫胁，
将在某一天拂晓、黄昏或中午，
被某一个人放倒，在战斗中，
用投枪，或是离弦的箭镞。”
听罢这番话，鲁卡昂双腿酥软，
心力消散。他放开枪矛，瘫坐在地，双臂
伸展。阿基琉斯抽出利剑，挥手击杀，
砍在颈边的锁骨上，双刃的铜剑
长驱直入。他猝然倒地，头脸朝下，
四肢伸摊，黑血横流，泥尘尽染。
阿基琉斯抓起他的腿脚，把他甩进大河，
任其随波逐流，喊出长了翅膀的话语，高声炫耀：
“躺在那儿吧，和鱼群为伍；它们会舔去你伤口
上的淤血，权作葬你的礼仪！你的母亲已不能
把你放上尸床，为你举哀；斯卡曼得罗斯的水流
会把你卷扫，冲入大海舒展的怀抱。
鱼群会扑上水浪，荡开黑色的涟漪。
冲刺在水下，啄食鲁卡昂鲜亮的油膘。统统死
去吧，特洛伊人！我们要把你们追杀到神圣的伊利昂城前，
我在后边追杀，你等在前面逃窜，就连你们的长河，
银色的漩涡和湍急的水流，也难以
出力帮忙，虽然你们曾献祭过许多肥牛，
把捷蹄的快马活生生地丢进它的水涡。
尽管如此，你们将全部惨死在枪剑下，偿付
血的债仇——在我离战的时候，你们夺走了帕特罗克洛斯
的生命，在迅捷的海船边，残杀了众多的阿开亚兵勇！”
阿基琉斯如此一番说道，河流听了怒火中烧，
心中盘划谋算，思图阻止卓越的阿基琉斯，
中止他的冲杀，为特洛伊人挡开临头的灾亡。
其时，阿基琉斯手提投影森长的枪矛，
凶狂扑击，试图杀死阿斯忒罗派俄斯，
裴勒工之子，而裴勒工又是水面开阔的阿克西俄斯
的儿郎，由裴里波娅所生，阿开萨墨诺斯的
长女，曾经欢情水涡深卷的河流。其时，
阿基琉斯向他冲去，而后者跨出河床，
趋身迎战，手提两枝枪矛，凭靠珊索斯
注送的勇力——河神愤恨阿基琼斯的作为，
恨其宰杀年轻的壮勇，沿着他的水流，不带一丝怜悯。
他俩迎面相扑，咄咄逼近；
捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯首先发话，嚷道：
“你是何人？来自何方？竟敢和我交手——
不幸的父亲，你们的儿子要和我对阵拼打！”
听罢这番话，裴勒工光荣的儿子答道：
“裴琉斯心胸豪壮的儿子，为何询问我的家世？
我从老远的地方过来，从土地肥沃的派俄尼亚，
率领派俄尼亚兵勇，全都扛着长杆的枪矛，
来到伊利昂地面，今日是第十一个白天。
你问我的家世？那得从水流宽阔的阿克西俄斯说起，
阿克西俄斯，奔腾在大地上，淌着清湛的水流。
他的儿子是著名的枪手裴勒工，而人们都说，我是裴勒工
的儿郎。现在，光荣的阿基琉斯，让我们动手战斗！”
听罢此番恫吓，卓越的阿基琉斯举起
裴利昂的(木岑)木杆枪矛，但阿斯忒罗派俄斯，
善使双枪的勇士，同时投出两枝飞镖，
一枝打在盾牌上，只是无力彻底
穿透盾面，黄金的铺面，神赐的礼物，挡住了它的冲扫。
但是，另一枝枪矛击中阿基琉斯右臂的前端，
擦破皮肉，黑血涌注；投枪飞驰
而过，深扎在泥地里，带着撕咬人肉的欲望。
紧接着，阿基琉斯，挟着杀敌的狂烈，对着
阿斯忒罗派俄斯，投出直飞的(木岑)木杆枪矛，
但投枪偏离目标，扎在隆起的岸沿，深插进
泥层，钻进去半截子(木岑)木的杆条。
裴琉斯之子从胯边抽出锋快的铜剑，
猛扑上去，卷着狂烈，而对方则伸出粗壮的大手，
奋力拽拔河岸上阿基琉斯的样本枪杆，不得如愿。
他一连拔了三次，使出浑身的解数，而一连三次
都以不达目的告终。第四次，他又竭尽全力，
拼命扳拧，试图折断埃阿科斯后代的(木岑)木杆枪矛，
无奈枪杆不曾崩断，阿基琉斯却已冲到跟前，一剑结果了他的
性命，捅开肚子，脐眼的旁边，肛肠和盘滑出，
满地涂泻，浓黑的迷雾蒙住了他的双眼——
他大口喘着粗气，呼吐出体内的魂息。阿基琉斯踩住他的心口，
剥掉他的胸甲，得意洋洋地嚷道：
“躺着吧！瞧，和克罗诺斯不可战胜的
儿子拼斗，决非易事一件——就连神河的后代也不例外！
你声称是水流宽阔的长河的子孙，
而我，告诉你，我是大神宙斯的后代！
家父统治着众多的慕耳弥冬子民，
裴琉斯，埃阿科斯的后代，而埃阿科斯是宙斯的骨肉。
正如宙斯比泻人大海的河流强健，
宙斯的后裔也比河流的后代骠悍。
眼前便有一条宽阔的大河，他能帮你
什么忙呢？谁也不能敌战宙斯，克罗诺斯的儿男。
强有力的阿开洛伊俄斯不能和宙斯对抗，力大
无比的俄开阿诺斯，以它深急的水势，亦无力和宙斯拼搏，
俄开阿诺斯，水的源头，所有江河、大洋，
所有溪泉和深挖的水井，无不取自它的波澜。
然而，就连它也惧怕宙斯的闪电，
那可怕的雷鸣，当空炸响的霹雳！”
言罢，他把铜枪拔出河岸，丢下
对手的尸体，聊无生气的僵躯，
伸散着四肢，瘫躺在沙地上，浸没在昏暗的河水里。
鳗鲡及河鱼忙着享食他的
躯身，吞啄肾脏边的花油。其时，
阿基琉斯冲向头戴马鬃盔冠的派俄尼亚人，
后者仍在四散奔逃，沿着水涡漩转的长河——
他们都已看到，本队中最好的战勇已经
死在袭琉斯之子手下，倒在激战中。
他一气杀了塞耳西洛科斯、慕冬和阿斯图普洛斯。
慕奈索斯、塞拉西俄斯、埃尼俄斯和俄裴勒斯忒斯，
而且还将斩杀更多的派俄尼亚人——这位捷足的战勇——
偌不是打着漩涡的河流，以凡人的形貌，
动怒发话，声音传出深卷的水浪：
“住手吧，阿基琉斯！凡人中，谁也没有你劲大，也不及
你这般凶狂——因为神明总是助佑在你的身旁！
但是，即使克罗诺斯之子让你灭杀所有的特洛伊人，
你至少也得把他们驱离我的河床，赶往平原，胡砍乱杀。
我的清澈的水流已漂满尸体，
我已无法找出一条水道，把激流泻人神圣的洋流；
尸躯堵住了我的水路，而你还在一个劲地屠杀！
去吧，军队的首领——我已深感恐慌！”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“看来，是该按你命嘱的去做，斯卡曼得罗斯，宙斯的后裔。
然而，我却要不停息地砍杀，砍杀特洛伊人，
把他们逼回城堡！我要和赫克托耳
一对一地拼杀较量，不是我死，便是他亡！”
言罢，他冲扫着扑向特洛伊人，似乎已超越人的凡俗；
水涡深漩的河流对阿波罗高声喊道：
“可耻呀，银弓之神，宙斯的儿子！你没有
实践宙斯的意志；他曾多次命你站在
特洛伊人一边，救护他们的生命，直到太阳
下沉，黑夜笼罩丰产的原野。”
他言罢，著名的枪手阿基琉斯从岸上
跳入水里，河流掀起巨浪，劈头盖脸地砸去，
翻涌起每一股水头，将壅塞水道的
成堆的尸体，阿基琉斯杀死的战勇，冲出河面，
推上干实的旷野，发出牛一般的吼声。
同时，他涌起清亮的水流，救护活着的兵勇，
把他们藏掩在宽深的水里，漩流的底层。
他推起一道凶险的惊涛，在阿基琉斯身边，
冲击他的盾牌，来势凶猛，致使他腿步踉跄，
站立不稳，伸手抱住一棵榆树，
树干坚实、高大，无奈激流汹涌，把它连根端走，
冲毁整块岩壁，虬缠蓬杂的枝条
堵住了清湛的水流，横躺在长河里，
跨岸拦起一道堤阻。阿基琉斯跃出漩涡，
奋力冲向平原，蹽开快腿，踏着恐惧，
疾步飞跑，但强健的河神不让他脱身，掀起一峰
巨浪，顶着黑色的水头，试图阻止卓越的
阿基琉斯，挫止他的冲杀，为特洛伊人消避灾愁。
裴琉斯之子急步跳避，跑出一次投射的距程，
快得像一只乌黑的山鹰，凶猛的猎者，
天空中最强健、飞速最快的羽鸟。
就像这样，阿基琉斯撒腿奔跑，胸前的铜甲
碰出可怕的声响，避闪出追扑的水头，
夺路逃生，但后者紧追不放，浪涛砸出轰然的响声。
像一个农人，在幽黑的泉水边挖筑渠沟，
引水浇灌他的庄稼和果园，
挥动鹤嘴的锄头，刨落渠里的泥块，
溪水冲涌，掀起沟底的卵石，
先前的涓涓细水汇成争涌的水流，
在一个下倾的斜坡，水势汹涌，冲赶过导水的农人。
就像这样，河水的锋头一次次地扑到阿基琉斯前面，
尽管他跑得飞快——因为神比凡人强健。
捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯一次次转过身子，
试图站稳脚跟，敌战河流，并想看看
是不是所有统掌广阔天空的神祗，现在都紧追在他的后头，
但宙斯灌住的河流一次次地掀起峰涌的水浪，
居高临下，击打他的肩头。阿基琉斯气急败坏，
蹬腿高跳，但底下的河流却狠狠地
绊拉和疲惫着他的双腿，冲走脚下的泥层。
裴琉斯之子悲声叹叫，凝望着广阔的天穹：
“父亲宙斯，体恤我的悲苦——此时此刻，没有一位神祗挺身
而出，把我救离河流的追迫！如此看来，我只有死路一条！
天神中，我心爱的母亲比谁都更该受到
指责——她用谎言蒙骗，说我
将倒在披甲的特洛伊人的城下，
死于阿波罗发射的箭镞。但愿
赫克托耳已经把我杀了，特洛伊最好的战勇——
死在一个勇敢的人手里，被杀者也一定是个勇敢的人。
但现在，命运将要让我死得何等凄惨，
陷在一条大河里，仿佛我是个男孩，一个牧猪的，
试图蹚越一条激流，被冬日的暴雨冲走。”
话音刚落，波塞冬和雅典娜已赶至
他的近旁，站在他的身边，以凡人的形貌，
紧握着他的双手，重申他们的助佑。
裂地之神波塞冬首先发话，说道：
“不要怕，裴琉斯之子，不必惊恐，
瞧瞧来者是谁，带着宙斯的许可，
我，阿波罗，和帕拉丝·雅典娜，前来助你。
命运并非要你死于河流的水浪，
后者将马上停止冲击，对此，你会亲眼目睹。
不过，我们倒有一番忠告，倘若你愿意听从。
不要休闲你的双手，在激烈的混战中，
直到把特洛伊人，那些个从你手下逃生的兵勇，
扫进伊利昂远近驰名的墙楼。一经杀死赫克托耳，
你要返回海船；我们答应让你赢得光荣！”
言罢，二位重返神的家族，而
阿基琉斯则冲锋向前，神的嘱令使他备受鼓舞，
催励他杀向平原。平野上，水势滔滔，推涌着
成堆璀璨的盔甲，成片的尸首，惨死疆场的
年轻人，漂逐在翻涌的水面上。阿基琉斯抬腿高跳，
迎着水浪扑进，水面宽阔的河流
挡不住他的进击——雅典娜给了他巨大的勇力。
但是，斯卡曼得罗斯不愿消偃他的暴怒，而是以
加倍的凶狂扑向裴琉斯之子，啸聚起水头，推出一峰
山一般的巨浪，对西摩埃斯喊道：
“亲爱的兄弟，让我们合力进击，挡住这个人的
勇力；否则，他会即刻攻破王者普里阿摩斯
宏伟的城！特洛伊人无力和他面对面地拼斗。
帮我打跑这个人，要快！用你众多的溪水，
注满每一条河道；推涨起你的每一股激流，
卷起一峰扑涌的洪浪，随着轰杂的声响，
荡扫林木和山石，阻滞这个狂人的杀冲——
他正仗着自己的勇力，凶野得就像神明一样。
他的勇力，告诉你，连同他的英俊，全都救不了他，
他的光灿灿的铠甲也一样——它将沉入水底，
掩人淤泥。我将埋藏他的
躯体，用大量的沙粒，成堆的
石砾——阿开亚人将找不到搜聚尸骨的
去处：我将把他深埋在石岩下，河泥里！
这，便是他的茔冢；如此，阿开亚人便无须
另筑坟场，在为他举行悼仪的时候！”
言罢，河流起身扑向阿基琉斯，水流暴急，沸沸扬扬，
腾起高耸的浪尘，发出深沉的啸吼，冲卷着泡沫、鲜血和尸首。
宙斯浇注的水流掀起一层青黑色的
峰浪，高扬着水头，对着裴琉斯之子狠砸。
然而，赫拉担心阿基琉斯的安危，心中焦急，嘶声尖叫，
怕他被水涡深陷的河流席卷冲扫。
她当即开口发话，对亲爱的儿子，赫法伊斯托斯：
“准备行动，我的孩子，瘸腿的天神！我们相信，
你是珊索斯的对手，可以敌战打着漩涡的水流。
快去营救阿基琉斯，燃起熊熊的烈火！
我将在大海的上空，集聚凶猛的狂飙，驱使
狂烈的西风和驾着白云的南风，推卷
凶蛮的烈焰，焚毁特洛伊人的
铠甲和躯身！而你，你要沿着珊索斯河岸，
放火树木，把河流烧成一片火海，说什么
也不要让他把你支顶回来，用中听的好话，或骂人的恶言！”
不要平息你的狂暴，除非听到我的
呼喊——那时，你才能收起不知疲倦的烈火！”
赫拉言罢，赫法伊斯托斯燃起了无情的火焰。
首先，他在平原上点起火苗，焚烧遍野的
尸躯，成堆的死者，阿基琼斯杀倒的壮勇；
烈火炙烤着整个平原，烧退着闪亮的河水。
像秋日的北风，迅速刮干刚刚
浇过水的林园，使果农笑逐颜开——
其时的平原，一片枯竭；赫法伊斯托斯的火焰焦烧着
倒地的躯干。接着，他把透亮的烈火引向
大河，吞噬着榆树、柳树、柽柳，
横扫着三叶草、灯心草和良姜，连同所有
其他植物，大片地生衍在海岸边，傍靠着清澈的水流。
水涡里，河鳗曲身挣扎，鱼群
晕头转向，活蹦乱跳，沿着清湛的河水，
苦受着烈焰的炙烤，心灵手巧的赫法伊斯托斯滚烫的狂飙。
火势消竭着河流的勇力，后者高声喊叫着火神的名字：
“赫法伊斯托斯，神祗中谁也无法和你对抗——
我可受不了如此狂暴的烈焰！
收起火势，停止进攻！卓越的阿基琉斯现在
可把特洛伊人赶离城堡！这场争斗于我何于，我又何苦出力
帮忙？”
河流裹着烈焰，嘶声喊叫，清澈的河面翻滚着沸腾的
水泡，像一口架在火堆上的大锅，榨熬一头
肥猪的油膘，仗着干柴的火势，
油脂沿着锅边沸腾溢爆——珊索斯河里
大火铺蔓，滚水沸腾，清澈的水流失去
运行的活力，静止不动，顶不住火风的炙烤，
心灵手巧的工匠赫法伊斯托斯强有力的伐讨。河流
对着赫拉喊叫，用长了翅膀的话语，急切地恳求道：
“赫拉，你的儿子为何攻扰我的水流，以其他神明不曾
遭受过的凶狂？我并没有得罪过你嘛——
瞧瞧那些神们，如此热心地帮助特洛伊人战斗。
现在，我将退离此地，倘若这是你的命令——
不过，也要请你的儿子退出。我要向你保证，
决不替特洛伊人挡开他们的末日，凶险的死亡，
哪怕猖莽的烈焰吞噬整座特洛伊城堡，
在那阿开亚人嗜战的儿子们放火烧城的时候！”
白臂女神赫拉听到了他的求告，
马上对心爱的儿子赫法伊斯托斯说道：
“收起你的火头，赫法伊斯托斯，我光荣的儿子！
犯不着为了凡人的琐事，痛打一位不死的仙神！”
听罢这番话，赫法伊斯托斯收起狂虐的烈火，
河流荡着清波，返回自己的水道。
其时，平服了珊索斯的勇力，两位神祗
息手罢战，尽管盛怒难消——赫拉中止了他俩的战斗。
然而，激烈残暴的争斗，此时却在其他神祗中
展露身手；神们营垒分明，战斗的狂烈如疾风吹扫；
巨力碰顶冲撞，广袤的大地回声浩荡，
无垠的长空轰然作响，像吹奏的长号；宙斯端坐在
俄林波斯山上，耳闻天宇间的轰响，观望
众神的格斗，心花怒放。
一经对阵，他们动手便打；劈刺盾牌的阿瑞斯
首挑战端，对着雅典娜猛扑，
手握铜矛，开口辱骂，喊道：
“你这狗头[●]，为何挟着狂烈的风飙，受你那颗高傲的
●狗头：原文作kunamuia，“狗蝇”。
心灵驱使，再次挑起神对神的争斗？
还记得你怂恿狄俄墨得斯、图丢之子
出枪伤我的事吗？你亲自动手，当着众神的脸面，抓住投枪，
拨对着我的身躯，捅破我健美的肌肤。
现在，我要回报你的作为，伤我的一切！”
言罢，他出枪刺去可怕的埃吉斯，穗条飘洒的
神物，连宙斯的霹雳也莫它奈何。
对着它，嗜血的阿瑞斯捅出粗长的枪矛，
雅典娜移步后退，伸出壮实的双手，抱起一块
睡躺平原的石头，硕大、乌黑、粗皱，
前人把它放在那里，作为定分谷地的界标。她举起
石头，投砸疯狂的阿瑞斯，打在脖子上，松软了他的四肢。
他翻身倒下，伸摊着手脚，占地七顷，头发沾满
泥尘，铠甲铿锵作响。帕拉丝·雅典娜放声大笑，
得意洋洋地对着他炫耀，喊出长了翅膀的话语：
“你这个笨蛋！你从来不曾想过——此次亦然——
试比力气，拼搏打斗——告诉你——我要比你强健得多！
所以，你母亲的愤怒正使你付出代价。
她已勃然大怒，谋划着使你遭殃，因为你撇下
阿开亚军队不管，出力帮助凶顽的特洛伊兵壮！”
言罢，雅典娜睁着闪亮的眼睛，移目它方。
其时，阿芙罗底忒，宙斯之女，握住阿瑞斯的手，
把他带离战场，后者一路哀叫，几乎不能回聚他的力量。
然而，白臂女神赫拉发现了她的行踪，
随即发话帕拉丝·雅典娜，用长了翅膀的言语：
“看呢，阿特鲁托奈，带埃吉斯的宙斯的女儿！
那个狗头故伎重演，又引着杀人不眨眼的阿瑞斯
跑离战斗，撤出纷乱的战场！追上他，赶快！”
她言罢，雅典娜奋起直追，满心欢喜，
赶到阿芙罗底忒的前头，伸出有力的臂膀，送去
一拳当胸，打得她双膝酥软，心力飘荡。
两位神祗伸摊着四肢，躺倒在丰腴的大地上。
雅典娜得意洋洋地对着他们炫耀，喊出长了翅膀的话语：
“但愿所有帮助特洛伊人的神祗，全都
遭受这个下场，在攻战披甲的阿耳吉维人的时候，
像阿芙罗底忒一样勇猛、顽莽，前往
救护阿瑞斯，迎面受对我的凶狂！
这样，我们早就可以结束这场争斗，
摧毁坚固的城堡，荡平伊利昂！”
听罢这番炫耀，白臂女神赫拉的脸上绽出了笑容。
其时，强有力的裂地之神对阿波罗说道：
“福伊波斯，你我为何还不开战？如此很不合适——
其他神明已交手拼搏。那将是一场莫大的羞辱，倘若
不战而回，回到俄林波斯，宙斯那青铜铺地的居所。
你先动手吧，你比我年轻；反之却不
妥当，因为我比你年长，所知更多。
你这个笨蛋，你的心神竟会如此健忘！
不记得了吗，我俩在伊利昂遭受的种种折磨？
众神之中，宙斯只打发你我下凡，替
高傲的劳墨冬干活，充当一年的仆役，争赚
一笔说定的报酬——由他指派活计，我们以他的指令是从。
我为特洛伊人筑了一堵围城的护墙，
宽厚、极其雄伟、坚不可破；而你
福伊波斯，却放牧着他的腿步蹒跚的弯角壮牛，
行走在伊达的山面，树木葱郁的岭坡。
然而，当季节的变化令人高兴地结束了我们的
役期，狠毒的劳墨冬却贪吞了我们的
工酬，把我们赶走，威胁恫吓，
扬言要捆绑我们的手脚，把
我们当做奴隶，卖到远方的海岛。
他甚至还打算用铜斧砍落我们的耳朵！
其后，你我返回家居，怀着满腔的愤怒，
恨他不付答应我们的工酬。但现在，
对他的属民，你却恩宠有加，不想
站到我们一边，一起灭毁横蛮的特洛伊人，
把他们斩尽杀绝，连同他们的孩子和尊贵的妻房！”
听罢这番话，王者、远射手阿波罗答道：
“裂地之神，你会以为我头脑发热，
倘若我和你开打，为了可怜的凡人。
他们像树叶一样，一时间风华森茂，勃发出
如火的生机，食用大地催发的硕果；然而，好景不长，
他们枯竭衰老，体毁人亡。所以，我们要
即时停止这场纠纷，让凡人自己去争斗拼搏！”
言罢，他转身离去，有愧于同
父亲的兄弟手对手地开打。但
他的姐妹，猎手阿耳忒弥丝，兽群中的女王，
此时开口咒骂，用尖利刻薄的言词：
“你不是在撒腿逃命吧，我的远射手！你把胜利，彻底的胜利，
拱手让给了波塞冬。你让他不动一个指儿，得到这份光荣！
为何携带这张硬弓，你这个蠢货，它就像清风一样无用！
从今后，不要再让我听你自吹自擂，在父亲的
厅堂，像你以往常做的那样，当着众神的脸面，
说是你可以和波塞冬战斗，较劲拼搏！”
她言罢，远射手阿波罗一言不发，
但宙斯尊贵的妻侣却勃然震怒，
咒骂发放箭雨的猎手，用狠毒的言词：
“你这不要脸的东西，竟敢如此大胆，和我
作对争斗！你要和我打斗，可是凶多吉少，
哪怕你带着弓箭。宙斯让你成为女人中的
狮子，给了你随心所欲地宰杀的权利——
放聪明点，还是去那山上，追猎野兽，
捕杀林地里的奔鹿，不要试图和比你强健的神祗争斗！
但是，倘若你想尝尝打斗的滋味，那就上来吧，
通过面对面的较量，你就会知道，和你相比，我要强健多少！”
言罢，她伸出左手，抓住阿耳忒弥丝的双腕，
然后一把夺过弓杆，用她的右手，从后者的肩头，
举起夺得的弯弓，劈打她的耳朵，忍俊不住，
看着她避闪的窘相，迅捷的羽箭纷散掉落。
她从赫拉手下脱身逃跑，泪流满面，像一只鸽子，
逃避鹰的追捕，展翅惊飞，躲入一道岩缝，
一个洞穴——命运并没有要它死于鹰的抓捕；就像这样，
阿耳忒弥丝撇下弓箭，挂着眼泪，夺路奔逃。
与此同时，导者阿耳吉丰忒斯对莱托说道：
“莱扎，我不会和你战斗；同宙斯的妻房[●]交手，
●宙斯的妻房：当然，不是严格意义上的妻子。
可是件凶多吉少的事情——宙斯，啸聚乌云的仙神。
这下，你可随心所欲地吹擂，告诉
不死的神明，你已把我击败，比我强勇。”
他言罢，莱托捡起弯弓和箭矢，
后者横七竖八地躺落在起伏的泥地里，
带着弓箭，朝着女儿离行的方向赶去。
其时，猎手姑娘来到俄林波斯，宙斯的青铜
铺地的房居，坐身父亲的膝腿，泪水横流，
永不败坏的裙抱在身上不停地颤动。父亲，
克罗诺斯之子，把女儿搂抱在怀里，温和地笑着，问道：
“是谁，我的孩子，是天神中的哪一个，胡作非为，把你
弄成这个样子，仿佛你是个被抓现场的歹徒？”
听罢这番话，头戴花环、呼叫山野的猎手答道：
“正是你的妻子，父亲，是白臂膀的赫拉，出手
打了我！由于她的过错，众神已陷入格斗和拼搏的漩涡！”
正当他俩你来我往，一番答说之际，
福伊波斯·阿波罗进入了神圣的伊利昂，
放心不下城堡坚固的围墙，
惟恐达奈人，先于命运的安排，今天即会把它攻破。
其他神明全都回到俄林波斯，他们永久的家居，
有的怒气冲冲，有的兴高采烈，坐在
父亲身边，统掌乌云的神主。地面上，阿基琉斯
正不停地屠杀特洛伊人和风快的驭马。
像腾升的烟云，冲上辽阔的天空，
从一座被烧的城堡，受到神之愤怒的吹怂，
使所有的城民为之苦苦挣扎，许多人为之痛心悲愁——就像
这样，面对阿基琉斯的冲杀，特洛伊人苦苦挣扎，愁满心胸。
年迈的普里阿摩斯站在神筑的城楼上，
看到高大魁梧的阿基琉斯以及被他赶得拼命
逃窜的特洛伊人；战局已经一败涂地。
他走下城楼，落脚地面，哀声叹息，
沿着城墙，对着护守城门的骠健的卫兵们喊道：
“赶快动手，大开城门，接纳溃败
回跑的兵勇！阿基琉斯已咄咄逼近，
赶杀我们的兵壮；可以预见，这里将有一场血肉横飞的战斗！
但是，当他们蜂拥着退进城里，可得定神喘息后，
你们要即刻关上城门，插紧门闩。我担心，
这个杀气腾腾的家伙会跳上我们的墙头！”
他言罢，兵勇们拉开门闩，打开城门，
洞敞的大门为特洛伊人提供了一个藏身的通途。其时，阿波罗
跃出城外，寻会阿基琉斯，为特洛伊兵勇
挡避灾亡，后者正拼命朝着城堡和高墙冲跑，
喉咙干渴焦燥，踏着平原上的泥尘，撒腿
奔逃；阿基琉斯提着枪矛，发疯似地追赶，凶暴的狂莽
始终揪揉着他的心房，渴望着为自己争得荣光。
此时此刻，阿开亚人可能已经拿下城门高耸的伊利昂，
要不是福伊波斯·阿波罗给他们派去卓越的阿格诺耳，
安忒诺耳之子，豪犷、强健的战勇。
阿波罗把勇气注入他的心胸，亲自站在他的
身边，为他挡开拖抢人命的死亡，
斜倚在一棵橡树上，隐身在一团迷雾里。
当阿格诺耳见到阿基琉斯，城堡的荡击者，
马上收住脚步，就地等待，心潮犹如起伏的波浪，
窘困烦恼，对自己豪莽的心魂说道：
“哦，我的天！如果我逃避阿基琉斯的冲杀，
像其他人那样慌慌张张地奔跑，他仍会追赶上来，
砍断我的脖子，就像杀死一个贪生怕死的小人。
倘若丢下伙伴，这些被裴琼斯之子阿基琉斯
赶得撒腿惊跑的兵勇，朝着另一个方向，
蹽腿跑离城墙，穿过伊利昂城前的平野，驻
伊达的坡面，藏身灌木丛中，待至
夜幕降临，我便可下河洗澡，擦去
身上的汗水，回程伊利昂城堡。
既如此，心魂啊，你为何还要和我争吵？
看在老天的份上，不要让他发现我跑离城堡，撒腿平原，
然后奋起直追，凭着他的快腿，把我赶超。
那时，我将无论如何逃不过死的胁迫，命运的追捕——
阿基琉斯的勇力凡人谁也抵挡不了。等一等，要是我
跑到城堡的前面，和他对阵敌战，此举如何？
即便是他的肌肤，我想，也抵不住锋快的铜矛！
他只有一条性命；人们说，他是一个凡人——
只是因为宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，要让他得享荣光。”
言罢，他鼓起勇气，迎战阿基琉斯，狂莽的
心胸企盼着拼杀和打斗。
像一只山豹，钻出繁密密的枝丛，
面对捕杀她的猎人，听着猎狗的吠叫，
心中既无惧怕，也不带逃跑的念头，
虽然猎人手脚利索，用投枪或刺捅击杀，
虽然她已身带枪伤，但却丝毫没有怠懈
猛兽的狂暴，要么逼近扑杀，要么死在猎人手中。
就像这样，卓越的阿格诺耳，高傲的安忒诺耳之子，
一步不让，决心试试阿基琉斯的锋芒，
携着溜圆的战后，挡在胸前，
举枪瞄准，放声喊道：
“毫无疑问，闪光的阿基琉斯，你在痴心企望，
企望就在今天，荡扫高傲的特洛伊人的城堡！
好一个笨蛋！攻夺这座城堡，你们还得承受巨大的悲伤。
我们的城里，还有众多善战的壮勇，
站在我们尊爱的双亲、妻子和儿子的面前，
保卫伊利昂——而正是在这个地方，你将服从命运的
安排，虽然你很强悍、暴莽！”
言罢，他挥动粗壮的大手，投出犀利的铜矛，
不曾虚发，打中膝下的小腿，
新近锻制的白锡胫甲，发出
可怕的声响，不曾穿透甲面，被
反弹回来——神赐的礼物挡住了它的冲撞。
接着，裴琉斯之子朝着神一样的阿格诺耳扑去，
但阿波罗不想让他争得这份荣光，
一把带走阿格诺耳，把他藏卷在浓雾里，
悄悄地送出战场，踏上安全的途程。
然后，阿波罗又设计把裴琉斯之子引开逃跑的人群。
摹仿阿格诺耳的形象，远射手幻化得惟妙惟肖，
站在阿基琉斯面前，后者奋起直追，
蹽开快腿，跑过盛产麦子的平原，
转向斯卡曼得罗斯深卷的漩涡，
而神祗总是略微领先一点，引诱他不停脚地
追跑，抱着不灭的希望，试图仗着腿快，把神明赶超。
利用这一长段时间，特洛伊人拥攘着跑回
城里，兴高采烈；成群的散兵塞满了地面。
他们再也不敢留在城墙外，
互相等盼，弄清哪些人生还回来，
哪些人战死疆场，慌慌忙忙地涌进
城里，为了保命，人人摆动双膝，跑出了最快的腿步。
ARGUMENT.
THE BATTLE IN THE RIVER SCAMANDER.(269)
The Trojans fly before Achilles, some towards the town, others to the
river Scamander: he falls upon the latter with great slaughter: takes
twelve captives alive, to sacrifice to the shade of Patroclus; and kills
Lycaon and Asteropeus. Scamander attacks him with all his waves: Neptune
and Pallas assist the hero: Simois joins Scamander: at length Vulcan, by
the instigation of Juno, almost dries up the river. This Combat ended, the
other gods engage each other. Meanwhile Achilles continues the slaughter,
drives the rest into Troy: Agenor only makes a stand, and is conveyed away
in a cloud by Apollo; who (to delude Achilles) takes upon him Agenor's
shape, and while he pursues him in that disguise, gives the Trojans an
opportunity of retiring into their city.
The same day continues. The scene is on the banks and in the stream of
Scamander.
And now to Xanthus' gliding stream they drove,
Xanthus, immortal progeny of Jove.
The river here divides the flying train,
Part to the town fly diverse o'er the plain,
Where late their troops triumphant bore the fight,
Now chased, and trembling in ignoble flight:
(These with a gathered mist Saturnia shrouds,
And rolls behind the rout a heap of clouds:)
Part plunge into the stream: old Xanthus roars,
The flashing billows beat the whiten'd shores:
With cries promiscuous all the banks resound,
And here, and there, in eddies whirling round,
The flouncing steeds and shrieking warriors drown'd.
As the scorch'd locusts from their fields retire,
While fast behind them runs the blaze of fire;
Driven from the land before the smoky cloud,
The clustering legions rush into the flood:
So, plunged in Xanthus by Achilles' force,
Roars the resounding surge with men and horse.
His bloody lance the hero casts aside,
(Which spreading tamarisks on the margin hide,)
Then, like a god, the rapid billows braves,
Arm'd with his sword, high brandish'd o'er the waves:
Now down he plunges, now he whirls it round,
Deep groan'd the waters with the dying sound;
Repeated wounds the reddening river dyed,
And the warm purple circled on the tide.
Swift through the foamy flood the Trojans fly,
And close in rocks or winding caverns lie:
So the huge dolphin tempesting the main,
In shoals before him fly the scaly train,
Confusedly heap'd they seek their inmost caves,
Or pant and heave beneath the floating waves.
Now, tired with slaughter, from the Trojan band
Twelve chosen youths he drags alive to land;
With their rich belts their captive arms restrains
(Late their proud ornaments, but now their chains).
These his attendants to the ships convey'd,
Sad victims destined to Patroclus' shade;
Then, as once more he plunged amid the flood,
The young Lycaon in his passage stood;
The son of Priam; whom the hero's hand
But late made captive in his father's land
(As from a sycamore, his sounding steel
Lopp'd the green arms to spoke a chariot wheel)
To Lemnos' isle he sold the royal slave,
Where Jason's son the price demanded gave;
But kind Eetion, touching on the shore,
The ransom'd prince to fair Arisbe bore.
Ten days were past, since in his father's reign
He felt the sweets of liberty again;
The next, that god whom men in vain withstand
Gives the same youth to the same conquering hand
Now never to return! and doom'd to go
A sadder journey to the shades below.
His well-known face when great Achilles eyed,
(The helm and visor he had cast aside
With wild affright, and dropp'd upon the field
His useless lance and unavailing shield,)
As trembling, panting, from the stream he fled,
And knock'd his faltering knees, the hero said.
"Ye mighty gods! what wonders strike my view!
Is it in vain our conquering arms subdue?
Sure I shall see yon heaps of Trojans kill'd
Rise from the shades, and brave me on the field;
As now the captive, whom so late I bound
And sold to Lemnos, stalks on Trojan ground!
Not him the sea's unmeasured deeps detain,
That bar such numbers from their native plain;
Lo! he returns. Try, then, my flying spear!
Try, if the grave can hold the wanderer;
If earth, at length this active prince can seize,
Earth, whose strong grasp has held down Hercules."
Thus while he spoke, the Trojan pale with fears
Approach'd, and sought his knees with suppliant tears
Loth as he was to yield his youthful breath,
And his soul shivering at the approach of death.
Achilles raised the spear, prepared to wound;
He kiss'd his feet, extended on the ground:
And while, above, the spear suspended stood,
Longing to dip its thirsty point in blood,
One hand embraced them close, one stopp'd the dart,
While thus these melting words attempt his heart:
"Thy well-known captive, great Achilles! see,
Once more Lycaon trembles at thy knee.
Some pity to a suppliant's name afford,
Who shared the gifts of Ceres at thy board;
Whom late thy conquering arm to Lemnos bore,
Far from his father, friends, and native shore;
A hundred oxen were his price that day,
Now sums immense thy mercy shall repay.
Scarce respited from woes I yet appear,
And scarce twelve morning suns have seen me here;
Lo! Jove again submits me to thy hands,
Again, her victim cruel Fate demands!
I sprang from Priam, and Laothoe fair,
(Old Altes' daughter, and Lelegia's heir;
Who held in Pedasus his famed abode,
And ruled the fields where silver Satnio flow'd,)
Two sons (alas! unhappy sons) she bore;
For ah! one spear shall drink each brother's gore,
And I succeed to slaughter'd Polydore.
How from that arm of terror shall I fly?
Some demon urges! 'tis my doom to die!
If ever yet soft pity touch'd thy mind,
Ah! think not me too much of Hector's kind!
Not the same mother gave thy suppliant breath,
With his, who wrought thy loved Patroclus' death."
These words, attended with a shower of tears,
The youth address'd to unrelenting ears:
"Talk not of life, or ransom (he replies):
Patroclus dead, whoever meets me, dies:
In vain a single Trojan sues for grace;
But least, the sons of Priam's hateful race.
Die then, my friend! what boots it to deplore?
The great, the good Patroclus is no more!
He, far thy better, was foredoom'd to die,
And thou, dost thou bewail mortality?
Seest thou not me, whom nature's gifts adorn,
Sprung from a hero, from a goddess born?
The day shall come (which nothing can avert)
When by the spear, the arrow, or the dart,
By night, or day, by force, or by design,
Impending death and certain fate are mine!
Die then,"--He said; and as the word he spoke,
The fainting stripling sank before the stroke:
His hand forgot its grasp, and left the spear,
While all his trembling frame confess'd his fear:
Sudden, Achilles his broad sword display'd,
And buried in his neck the reeking blade.
Prone fell the youth; and panting on the land,
The gushing purple dyed the thirsty sand.
The victor to the stream the carcase gave,
And thus insults him, floating on the wave:
"Lie there, Lycaon! let the fish surround
Thy bloated corpse, and suck thy gory wound:
There no sad mother shall thy funerals weep,
But swift Scamander roll thee to the deep,
Whose every wave some watery monster brings,
To feast unpunish'd on the fat of kings.
So perish Troy, and all the Trojan line!
Such ruin theirs, and such compassion mine.
What boots ye now Scamander's worshipp'd stream,
His earthly honours, and immortal name?
In vain your immolated bulls are slain,
Your living coursers glut his gulfs in vain!
Thus he rewards you, with this bitter fate;
Thus, till the Grecian vengeance is complete:
Thus is atoned Patroclus' honour'd shade,
And the short absence of Achilles paid."
These boastful words provoked the raging god;
With fury swells the violated flood.
What means divine may yet the power employ
To check Achilles, and to rescue Troy?
Meanwhile the hero springs in arms, to dare
The great Asteropeus to mortal war;
The son of Pelagon, whose lofty line
Flows from the source of Axius, stream divine!
(Fair Peribaea's love the god had crown'd,
With all his refluent waters circled round:)
On him Achilles rush'd; he fearless stood,
And shook two spears, advancing from the flood;
The flood impell'd him, on Pelides' head
To avenge his waters choked with heaps of dead.
Near as they drew, Achilles thus began:
"What art thou, boldest of the race of man?
Who, or from whence? Unhappy is the sire
Whose son encounters our resistless ire."
"O son of Peleus! what avails to trace
(Replied the warrior) our illustrious race?
From rich Paeonia's valleys I command,
Arm'd with protended spears, my native band;
Now shines the tenth bright morning since I came
In aid of Ilion to the fields of fame:
Axius, who swells with all the neighbouring rills,
And wide around the floated region fills,
Begot my sire, whose spear much glory won:
Now lift thy arm, and try that hero's son!"
Threatening he said: the hostile chiefs advance;
At once Asteropeus discharged each lance,
(For both his dexterous hands the lance could wield,)
One struck, but pierced not, the Vulcanian shield;
One razed Achilles' hand; the spouting blood
Spun forth; in earth the fasten'd weapon stood.
Like lightning next the Pelean javelin flies:
Its erring fury hiss'd along the skies;
Deep in the swelling bank was driven the spear,
Even to the middle earth; and quiver'd there.
Then from his side the sword Pelides drew,
And on his foe with double fury flew.
The foe thrice tugg'd, and shook the rooted wood;
Repulsive of his might the weapon stood:
The fourth, he tries to break the spear in vain;
Bent as he stands, he tumbles to the plain;
His belly open'd with a ghastly wound,
The reeking entrails pour upon the ground.
Beneath the hero's feet he panting lies,
And his eye darkens, and his spirit flies;
While the proud victor thus triumphing said,
His radiant armour tearing from the dead:
"So ends thy glory! Such the fate they prove,
Who strive presumptuous with the sons of Jove!
Sprung from a river, didst thou boast thy line?
But great Saturnius is the source of mine.
How durst thou vaunt thy watery progeny?
Of Peleus, Æacus, and Jove, am I.
The race of these superior far to those,
As he that thunders to the stream that flows.
What rivers can, Scamander might have shown;
But Jove he dreads, nor wars against his son.
Even Achelous might contend in vain,
And all the roaring billows of the main.
The eternal ocean, from whose fountains flow
The seas, the rivers, and the springs below,
The thundering voice of Jove abhors to hear,
And in his deep abysses shakes with fear."
He said: then from the bank his javelin tore,
And left the breathless warrior in his gore.
The floating tides the bloody carcase lave,
And beat against it, wave succeeding wave;
Till, roll'd between the banks, it lies the food
Of curling eels, and fishes of the flood.
All scatter'd round the stream (their mightiest slain)
The amazed Paeonians scour along the plain;
He vents his fury on the flying crew,
Thrasius, Astyplus, and Mnesus slew;
Mydon, Thersilochus, with Ænius, fell;
And numbers more his lance had plunged to hell,
But from the bottom of his gulfs profound
Scamander spoke; the shores return'd the sound.
"O first of mortals! (for the gods are thine)
In valour matchless, and in force divine!
If Jove have given thee every Trojan head,
'Tis not on me thy rage should heap the dead.
See! my choked streams no more their course can keep,
Nor roll their wonted tribute to the deep.
Turn then, impetuous! from our injured flood;
Content, thy slaughters could amaze a god."
In human form, confess'd before his eyes,
The river thus; and thus the chief replies:
"O sacred stream! thy word we shall obey;
But not till Troy the destined vengeance pay,
Not till within her towers the perjured train
Shall pant, and tremble at our arms again;
Not till proud Hector, guardian of her wall,
Or stain this lance, or see Achilles fall."
He said; and drove with fury on the foe.
Then to the godhead of the silver bow
The yellow flood began: "O son of Jove!
Was not the mandate of the sire above
Full and express, that Phoebus should employ
His sacred arrows in defence of Troy,
And make her conquer, till Hyperion's fall
In awful darkness hide the face of all?"
He spoke in vain--The chief without dismay
Ploughs through the boiling surge his desperate way.
Then rising in his rage above the shores,
From all his deep the bellowing river roars,
Huge heaps of slain disgorges on the coast,
And round the banks the ghastly dead are toss'd.
While all before, the billows ranged on high,
(A watery bulwark,) screen the bands who fly.
Now bursting on his head with thundering sound,
The falling deluge whelms the hero round:
His loaded shield bends to the rushing tide;
His feet, upborne, scarce the strong flood divide,
Sliddering, and staggering. On the border stood
A spreading elm, that overhung the flood;
He seized a bending bough, his steps to stay;
The plant uprooted to his weight gave way.(270)
Heaving the bank, and undermining all;
Loud flash the waters to the rushing fall
Of the thick foliage. The large trunk display'd
Bridged the rough flood across: the hero stay'd
On this his weight, and raised upon his hand,
Leap'd from the channel, and regain'd the land.
Then blacken'd the wild waves: the murmur rose:
The god pursues, a huger billow throws,
And bursts the bank, ambitious to destroy
The man whose fury is the fate of Troy.
He like the warlike eagle speeds his pace
(Swiftest and strongest of the aerial race);
Far as a spear can fly, Achilles springs;
At every bound his clanging armour rings:
Now here, now there, he turns on every side,
And winds his course before the following tide;
The waves flow after, wheresoe'er he wheels,
And gather fast, and murmur at his heels.
So when a peasant to his garden brings
Soft rills of water from the bubbling springs,
And calls the floods from high, to bless his bowers,
And feed with pregnant streams the plants and flowers:
Soon as he clears whate'er their passage stay'd,
And marks the future current with his spade,
Swift o'er the rolling pebbles, down the hills,
Louder and louder purl the falling rills;
Before him scattering, they prevent his pains,
And shine in mazy wanderings o'er the plains.
Still flies Achilles, but before his eyes
Still swift Scamander rolls where'er he flies:
Not all his speed escapes the rapid floods;
The first of men, but not a match for gods.
Oft as he turn'd the torrent to oppose,
And bravely try if all the powers were foes;
So oft the surge, in watery mountains spread,
Beats on his back, or bursts upon his head.
Yet dauntless still the adverse flood he braves,
And still indignant bounds above the waves.
Tired by the tides, his knees relax with toil;
Wash'd from beneath him slides the slimy soil;
When thus (his eyes on heaven's expansion thrown)
Forth bursts the hero with an angry groan:
"Is there no god Achilles to befriend,
No power to avert his miserable end?
Prevent, O Jove! this ignominious date,(271)
And make my future life the sport of fate.
Of all heaven's oracles believed in vain,
But most of Thetis must her son complain;
By Phoebus' darts she prophesied my fall,
In glorious arms before the Trojan wall.
Oh! had I died in fields of battle warm,
Stretch'd like a hero, by a hero's arm!
Might Hector's spear this dauntless bosom rend,
And my swift soul o'ertake my slaughter'd friend.
Ah no! Achilles meets a shameful fate,
Oh how unworthy of the brave and great!
Like some vile swain, whom on a rainy day,
Crossing a ford, the torrent sweeps away,
An unregarded carcase to the sea."
Neptune and Pallas haste to his relief,
And thus in human form address'd the chief:
The power of ocean first: "Forbear thy fear,
O son of Peleus! Lo, thy gods appear!
Behold! from Jove descending to thy aid,
Propitious Neptune, and the blue-eyed maid.
Stay, and the furious flood shall cease to rave
'Tis not thy fate to glut his angry wave.
But thou, the counsel heaven suggests, attend!
Nor breathe from combat, nor thy sword suspend,
Till Troy receive her flying sons, till all
Her routed squadrons pant behind their wall:
Hector alone shall stand his fatal chance,
And Hector's blood shall smoke upon thy lance.
Thine is the glory doom'd." Thus spake the gods:
Then swift ascended to the bright abodes.
Stung with new ardour, thus by heaven impell'd,
He springs impetuous, and invades the field:
O'er all the expanded plain the waters spread;
Heaved on the bounding billows danced the dead,
Floating 'midst scatter'd arms; while casques of gold
And turn'd-up bucklers glitter'd as they roll'd.
High o'er the surging tide, by leaps and bounds,
He wades, and mounts; the parted wave resounds.
Not a whole river stops the hero's course,
While Pallas fills him with immortal force.
With equal rage, indignant Xanthus roars,
And lifts his billows, and o'erwhelms his shores.
Then thus to Simois! "Haste, my brother flood;
And check this mortal that controls a god;
Our bravest heroes else shall quit the fight,
And Ilion tumble from her towery height.
Call then thy subject streams, and bid them roar,
From all thy fountains swell thy watery store,
With broken rocks, and with a load of dead,
Charge the black surge, and pour it on his head.
Mark how resistless through the floods he goes,
And boldly bids the warring gods be foes!
But nor that force, nor form divine to sight,
Shall aught avail him, if our rage unite:
Whelm'd under our dark gulfs those arms shall lie,
That blaze so dreadful in each Trojan eye;
And deep beneath a sandy mountain hurl'd,
Immersed remain this terror of the world.
Such ponderous ruin shall confound the place,
No Greeks shall e'er his perish'd relics grace,
No hand his bones shall gather, or inhume;
These his cold rites, and this his watery tomb."
[Illustration: ACHILLES CONTENDING WITH THE RIVERS.]
ACHILLES CONTENDING WITH THE RIVERS.
He said; and on the chief descends amain,
Increased with gore, and swelling with the slain.
Then, murmuring from his beds, he boils, he raves,
And a foam whitens on the purple waves:
At every step, before Achilles stood
The crimson surge, and deluged him with blood.
Fear touch'd the queen of heaven: she saw dismay'd,
She call'd aloud, and summon'd Vulcan's aid.
"Rise to the war! the insulting flood requires
Thy wasteful arm! assemble all thy fires!
While to their aid, by our command enjoin'd,
Rush the swift eastern and the western wind:
These from old ocean at my word shall blow,
Pour the red torrent on the watery foe,
Corses and arms to one bright ruin turn,
And hissing rivers to their bottoms burn.
Go, mighty in thy rage! display thy power,
Drink the whole flood, the crackling trees devour.
Scorch all the banks! and (till our voice reclaim)
Exert the unwearied furies of the flame!"
The power ignipotent her word obeys:
Wide o'er the plain he pours the boundless blaze;
At once consumes the dead, and dries the soil
And the shrunk waters in their channel boil.
As when autumnal Boreas sweeps the sky,
And instant blows the water'd gardens dry:
So look'd the field, so whiten'd was the ground,
While Vulcan breathed the fiery blast around.
Swift on the sedgy reeds the ruin preys;
Along the margin winds the running blaze:
The trees in flaming rows to ashes turn,
The flowering lotos and the tamarisk burn,
Broad elm, and cypress rising in a spire;
The watery willows hiss before the fire.
Now glow the waves, the fishes pant for breath,
The eels lie twisting in the pangs of death:
Now flounce aloft, now dive the scaly fry,
Or, gasping, turn their bellies to the sky.
At length the river rear'd his languid head,
And thus, short-panting, to the god he said:
"Oh Vulcan! oh! what power resists thy might?
I faint, I sink, unequal to the fight--
I yield--Let Ilion fall; if fate decree--
Ah--bend no more thy fiery arms on me!"
He ceased; wide conflagration blazing round;
The bubbling waters yield a hissing sound.
As when the flames beneath a cauldron rise,(272)
To melt the fat of some rich sacrifice,
Amid the fierce embrace of circling fires
The waters foam, the heavy smoke aspires:
So boils the imprison'd flood, forbid to flow,
And choked with vapours feels his bottom glow.
To Juno then, imperial queen of air,
The burning river sends his earnest prayer:
"Ah why, Saturnia; must thy son engage
Me, only me, with all his wasteful rage?
On other gods his dreadful arm employ,
For mightier gods assert the cause of Troy.
Submissive I desist, if thou command;
But ah! withdraw this all-destroying hand.
Hear then my solemn oath, to yield to fate
Unaided Ilion, and her destined state,
Till Greece shall gird her with destructive flame,
And in one ruin sink the Trojan name."
His warm entreaty touch'd Saturnia's ear:
She bade the ignipotent his rage forbear,
Recall the flame, nor in a mortal cause
Infest a god: the obedient flame withdraws:
Again the branching streams begin to spread,
And soft remurmur in their wonted bed.
While these by Juno's will the strife resign,
The warring gods in fierce contention join:
Rekindling rage each heavenly breast alarms:
With horrid clangour shock the ethereal arms:
Heaven in loud thunder bids the trumpet sound;
And wide beneath them groans the rending ground.
Jove, as his sport, the dreadful scene descries,
And views contending gods with careless eyes.
The power of battles lifts his brazen spear,
And first assaults the radiant queen of war:
"What moved thy madness, thus to disunite
Ethereal minds, and mix all heaven in fight?
What wonder this, when in thy frantic mood
Thou drovest a mortal to insult a god?
Thy impious hand Tydides' javelin bore,
And madly bathed it in celestial gore."
He spoke, and smote the long-resounding shield,
Which bears Jove's thunder on its dreadful field:
The adamantine aegis of her sire,
That turns the glancing bolt and forked fire.
Then heaved the goddess in her mighty hand
A stone, the limit of the neighbouring land,
There fix'd from eldest times; black, craggy, vast;
This at the heavenly homicide she cast.
Thundering he falls, a mass of monstrous size:
And seven broad acres covers as he lies.
The stunning stroke his stubborn nerves unbound:
Loud o'er the fields his ringing arms resound:
The scornful dame her conquest views with smiles,
And, glorying, thus the prostrate god reviles:
"Hast thou not yet, insatiate fury! known
How far Minerva's force transcends thy own?
Juno, whom thou rebellious darest withstand,
Corrects thy folly thus by Pallas' hand;
Thus meets thy broken faith with just disgrace,
And partial aid to Troy's perfidious race."
The goddess spoke, and turn'd her eyes away,
That, beaming round, diffused celestial day.
Jove's Cyprian daughter, stooping on the land,
Lent to the wounded god her tender hand:
Slowly he rises, scarcely breathes with pain,
And, propp'd on her fair arm, forsakes the plain.
This the bright empress of the heavens survey'd,
And, scoffing, thus to war's victorious maid:
"Lo! what an aid on Mars's side is seen!
The smiles' and loves' unconquerable queen!
Mark with what insolence, in open view,
She moves: let Pallas, if she dares, pursue."
Minerva smiling heard, the pair o'ertook,
And slightly on her breast the wanton strook:
She, unresisting, fell (her spirits fled);
On earth together lay the lovers spread.
"And like these heroes be the fate of all
(Minerva cries) who guard the Trojan wall!
To Grecian gods such let the Phrygian be,
So dread, so fierce, as Venus is to me;
Then from the lowest stone shall Troy be moved."
Thus she, and Juno with a smile approved.
Meantime, to mix in more than mortal fight,
The god of ocean dares the god of light.
"What sloth has seized us, when the fields around
Ring with conflicting powers, and heaven returns the sound:
Shall, ignominious, we with shame retire,
No deed perform'd, to our Olympian sire?
Come, prove thy arm! for first the war to wage,
Suits not my greatness, or superior age:
Rash as thou art to prop the Trojan throne,
(Forgetful of my wrongs, and of thy own,)
And guard the race of proud Laomedon!
Hast thou forgot, how, at the monarch's prayer,
We shared the lengthen'd labours of a year?
Troy walls I raised (for such were Jove's commands),
And yon proud bulwarks grew beneath my hands:
Thy task it was to feed the bellowing droves
Along fair Ida's vales and pendant groves.
But when the circling seasons in their train
Brought back the grateful day that crown'd our pain,
With menace stern the fraudful king defied
Our latent godhead, and the prize denied:
Mad as he was, he threaten'd servile bands,
And doom'd us exiles far in barbarous lands.(273)
Incensed, we heavenward fled with swiftest wing,
And destined vengeance on the perjured king.
Dost thou, for this, afford proud Ilion grace,
And not, like us, infest the faithless race;
Like us, their present, future sons destroy,
And from its deep foundations heave their Troy?"
Apollo thus: "To combat for mankind
Ill suits the wisdom of celestial mind;
For what is man? Calamitous by birth,
They owe their life and nourishment to earth;
Like yearly leaves, that now, with beauty crown'd,
Smile on the sun; now, wither on the ground.
To their own hands commit the frantic scene,
Nor mix immortals in a cause so mean."
Then turns his face, far-beaming heavenly fires,
And from the senior power submiss retires:
Him thus retreating, Artemis upbraids,
The quiver'd huntress of the sylvan shades:
"And is it thus the youthful Phoebus flies,
And yields to ocean's hoary sire the prize?
How vain that martial pomp, and dreadful show
Of pointed arrows and the silver bow!
Now boast no more in yon celestial bower,
Thy force can match the great earth-shaking power."
Silent he heard the queen of woods upbraid:
Not so Saturnia bore the vaunting maid:
But furious thus: "What insolence has driven
Thy pride to face the majesty of heaven?
What though by Jove the female plague design'd,
Fierce to the feeble race of womankind,
The wretched matron feels thy piercing dart;
Thy sex's tyrant, with a tiger's heart?
What though tremendous in the woodland chase
Thy certain arrows pierce the savage race?
How dares thy rashness on the powers divine
Employ those arms, or match thy force with mine?
Learn hence, no more unequal war to wage--"
She said, and seized her wrists with eager rage;
These in her left hand lock'd, her right untied
The bow, the quiver, and its plumy pride.
About her temples flies the busy bow;
Now here, now there, she winds her from the blow;
The scattering arrows, rattling from the case,
Drop round, and idly mark the dusty place.
Swift from the field the baffled huntress flies,
And scarce restrains the torrent in her eyes:
So, when the falcon wings her way above,
To the cleft cavern speeds the gentle dove;
(Not fated yet to die;) there safe retreats,
Yet still her heart against the marble beats.
To her Latona hastes with tender care;
Whom Hermes viewing, thus declines the war:
"How shall I face the dame, who gives delight
To him whose thunders blacken heaven with night?
Go, matchless goddess! triumph in the skies,
And boast my conquest, while I yield the prize."
He spoke; and pass'd: Latona, stooping low,
Collects the scatter'd shafts and fallen bow,
That, glittering on the dust, lay here and there
Dishonour'd relics of Diana's war:
Then swift pursued her to her blest abode,
Where, all confused, she sought the sovereign god;
Weeping, she grasp'd his knees: the ambrosial vest
Shook with her sighs, and panted on her breast.
The sire superior smiled, and bade her show
What heavenly hand had caused his daughter's woe?
Abash'd, she names his own imperial spouse;
And the pale crescent fades upon her brows.
Thus they above: while, swiftly gliding down,
Apollo enters Ilion's sacred town;
The guardian-god now trembled for her wall,
And fear'd the Greeks, though fate forbade her fall.
Back to Olympus, from the war's alarms,
Return the shining bands of gods in arms;
Some proud in triumph, some with rage on fire;
And take their thrones around the ethereal sire.
Through blood, through death, Achilles still proceeds,
O'er slaughter'd heroes, and o'er rolling steeds.
As when avenging flames with fury driven
On guilty towns exert the wrath of heaven;
The pale inhabitants, some fall, some fly;
And the red vapours purple all the sky:
So raged Achilles: death and dire dismay,
And toils, and terrors, fill'd the dreadful day.
High on a turret hoary Priam stands,
And marks the waste of his destructive hands;
Views, from his arm, the Trojans' scatter'd flight,
And the near hero rising on his sight!
No stop, no check, no aid! With feeble pace,
And settled sorrow on his aged face,
Fast as he could, he sighing quits the walls;
And thus descending, on the guards he calls:
"You to whose care our city-gates belong,
Set wide your portals to the flying throng:
For lo! he comes, with unresisted sway;
He comes, and desolation marks his way!
But when within the walls our troops take breath,
Lock fast the brazen bars, and shut out death."
Thus charged the reverend monarch: wide were flung
The opening folds; the sounding hinges rung.
Phoebus rush'd forth, the flying bands to meet;
Struck slaughter back, and cover'd the retreat,
On heaps the Trojans crowd to gain the gate,
And gladsome see their last escape from fate.
Thither, all parch'd with thirst, a heartless train,
Hoary with dust, they beat the hollow plain:
And gasping, panting, fainting, labour on
With heavier strides, that lengthen toward the town.
Enraged Achilles follows with his spear;
Wild with revenge, insatiable of war.
Then had the Greeks eternal praise acquired,
And Troy inglorious to her walls retired;
But he, the god who darts ethereal flame,
Shot down to save her, and redeem her fame:
To young Agenor force divine he gave;
(Antenor's offspring, haughty, bold, and brave;)
In aid of him, beside the beech he sate,
And wrapt in clouds, restrain'd the hand of fate.
When now the generous youth Achilles spies.
Thick beats his heart, the troubled motions rise.
(So, ere a storm, the waters heave and roll.)
He stops, and questions thus his mighty soul;
"What, shall I fly this terror of the plain!
Like others fly, and be like others slain?
Vain hope! to shun him by the self-same road
Yon line of slaughter'd Trojans lately trod.
No: with the common heap I scorn to fall--
What if they pass'd me to the Trojan wall,
While I decline to yonder path, that leads
To Ida's forests and surrounding shades?
So may I reach, conceal'd, the cooling flood,
From my tired body wash the dirt and blood,
As soon as night her dusky veil extends,
Return in safety to my Trojan friends.
What if?--But wherefore all this vain debate?
Stand I to doubt, within the reach of fate?
Even now perhaps, ere yet I turn the wall,
The fierce Achilles sees me, and I fall:
Such is his swiftness, 'tis in vain to fly,
And such his valour, that who stands must die.
Howe'er 'tis better, fighting for the state,
Here, and in public view, to meet my fate.
Yet sure he too is mortal; he may feel
(Like all the sons of earth) the force of steel.
One only soul informs that dreadful frame:
And Jove's sole favour gives him all his fame."
He said, and stood, collected, in his might;
And all his beating bosom claim'd the fight.
So from some deep-grown wood a panther starts,
Roused from his thicket by a storm of darts:
Untaught to fear or fly, he hears the sounds
Of shouting hunters, and of clamorous hounds;
Though struck, though wounded, scarce perceives the pain;
And the barb'd javelin stings his breast in vain:
On their whole war, untamed, the savage flies;
And tears his hunter, or beneath him dies.
Not less resolved, Antenor's valiant heir
Confronts Achilles, and awaits the war,
Disdainful of retreat: high held before,
His shield (a broad circumference) he bore;
Then graceful as he stood, in act to throw
The lifted javelin, thus bespoke the foe:
"How proud Achilles glories in his fame!
And hopes this day to sink the Trojan name
Beneath her ruins! Know, that hope is vain;
A thousand woes, a thousand toils remain.
Parents and children our just arms employ,
And strong and many are the sons of Troy.
Great as thou art, even thou may'st stain with gore
These Phrygian fields, and press a foreign shore."
He said: with matchless force the javelin flung
Smote on his knee; the hollow cuishes rung
Beneath the pointed steel; but safe from harms
He stands impassive in the ethereal arms.
Then fiercely rushing on the daring foe,
His lifted arm prepares the fatal blow:
But, jealous of his fame, Apollo shrouds
The god-like Trojan in a veil of clouds.
Safe from pursuit, and shut from mortal view,
Dismiss'd with fame, the favoured youth withdrew.
Meanwhile the god, to cover their escape,
Assumes Agenor's habit, voice and shape,
Flies from the furious chief in this disguise;
The furious chief still follows where he flies.
Now o'er the fields they stretch with lengthen'd strides,
Now urge the course where swift Scamander glides:
The god, now distant scarce a stride before,
Tempts his pursuit, and wheels about the shore;
While all the flying troops their speed employ,
And pour on heaps into the walls of Troy:
No stop, no stay; no thought to ask, or tell,
Who 'scaped by flight, or who by battle fell.
'Twas tumult all, and violence of flight;
And sudden joy confused, and mix'd affright.
Pale Troy against Achilles shuts her gate:
And nations breathe, deliver'd from their fate. 就这样，特洛伊城里，曾像小鹿一样逃跑的兵勇们，
擦去身上的汗水，开怀痛饮，除去喉头的焦渴，靠着
宽厚的城墙。与此同时，阿开亚人
把盾牌背上肩头，逼近护墙。然而，
赫克托耳却仍然站在伊利昂和斯卡亚
门前，受致人于死地的命运的钉绑。其时，
福伊波斯·阿波罗对着裴琉斯之子嚷道：
“为何追我，裴琉斯的儿子，蹽开迅捷的腿步？——
你，一个凡人，而我乃不死的天神。你还不知道
我是一位神祗吗？瞧你这风风火火的模样，试图把我追逐。
对于你，同特洛伊人的苦斗，那些个被你赶得惶惶奔逃的
人们，
现在似乎已无关紧要——他们正拥挤在城里，而你却跑到这
里来忙乎。
你杀不了我；死的命运和我无缘！”
捷足的阿基琉斯怒火中烧，喊道：
“你挫阻了我，远射手，神祗中最凶残的一个——
若不是你把我引离城墙，弄到这里，成群的特洛伊人，
在不及逃离伊利昂之前，已经嘴啃泥尘！
现在，你夺走了我的丰功，轻松地救下了这些个
特洛伊人。你无忧无虑，不必担心死的惩罚——
假如我有那份勇力，一定要回报这笔冤仇！”
言罢，他大步离去，朝着城堡的方向，
壮怀激烈，像拉着战车的赛马，
轻松地撒开蹄腿，奔驰在舒坦的平原上——
阿基琉斯快步向前，驱使着他的双膝和腿脚。
年迈的普里阿摩斯第一个看到迅跑的阿基琉斯，
飞腿在平野上，像那颗闪光的星星，
升起在收获的季节，烁烁的光芒
远比布满夜空的繁星显耀，
人们称之为“俄里昂的狗”，群星中
数它最亮——尽管它是个不吉利的征兆，
带来狂烈的冲杀，给多灾多难的凡人。
就像这样，铜光在他胸前闪烁，伴随着跑动的腿步。
老人大声嚎叫，高举起双手，
击打自己的头脑，悲声呼喊，
恳求心爱的儿子，其时仍然伫立在城门的
前头，决心挟着狂烈，和阿基琉斯拼个死活。
老人伸出双臂，对着他衷声求告：
“赫克托耳，我的爱子，不要独自一人，离开伴友，
站等那个人的进攻！你会掉人命运的手心，
被裴琉斯之子击倒——此人远比你强健，
一个冷酷、粗莽的战勇。但愿神祗对他的钟爱，不至
超过我对他的喜好！让他即刻暴尸荒野，成为狗和兀
扑食的目标，消解我心头郁积的悲恼！
此人夺走了我的儿子，许多勇敢的儿郎，
不是杀了，便是卖到远方的海岛。就是
现在，我还有两个找不着的儿子，在挤满城区的特洛伊人中，
我见不到他俩的身影，劳索娥——女人中的王后——
为我生养的鲁卡昂和波鲁多罗斯。但是，
如果他俩还活在人间，在敌营里，我将用
黄金和青铜把他们赎释。宫居里珍藏着这类东西，
阿尔忒斯，声名显赫的老人，给了我一大批赔送的嫁妆。
倘若他俩已经死了，去了哀地斯的冥府，他们的
母亲和我的心里将会生发多少悲愁——是我俩生养了他们！
然而，对于其他特洛伊人，此事只会引发短暂的伤愁，
除非你也死了，死在阿基琉斯手中。
回来吧，快进城吧，我的孩子！救救
特洛伊男人和特洛伊妇女，不要垫上你的性命，
让裴琉斯之子抢得这份辉煌的战功！
你也得可怜可怜我这个老头，虽说还能知觉感受，
但灾难已经临头，当着已经跨入白发暮年的时候。父亲宙斯
将用命运的毒棍，荡扫我的残生，在我眼见过极度的不幸
之后：儿子被杀，女儿被拉走俘获；藏聚
财宝的房室被抢劫一空，弱小无助的孩童
被投摔在地面，死于残暴无情的战争中；阿开亚人
会抢拉走我儿子的媳妇，用带血的双手！
最后，厄运也不会把我放过，家门前的狗群
会把我生吞活剥——及待某个阿开亚人，用铜剑
或锋快的枪矛，把生命抢出我的躯壳。
我把狗群养在厅堂里，分享我的食物，看守我的
房屋；届时，它们会伸出贪婪的舌头，舔食我的血流，
然后躺倒身子，息养在家院中。一个战死疆场的年轻人，
他的一切看来都显得俊美崇高，带着被锋快的青铜划出的
伤痕，躺倒在地，虽说死了，却袒现出战争留给他的
光荣。然而，当一个老人被杀，任由狗群玷污脏损，
脏损他灰白的须发和私处——
痛苦的人生中，还有什么能比此景更为凄楚？！”
老人苦苦哀求，大把揪住头上的白发，
用力连根拔出，但却不能说动赫克托耳的心胸。
其时，他的母亲，站在普里阿摩斯身边，开始嚎啕大哭，
一手松开衫袍的胸襟，一手抓出一边的
胸乳，痛哭流涕，对着他大声喊叫，用长了翅膀的话语：
“赫克托耳，我的孩子，可怜可怜你的
母亲，倘若我曾用这对奶子平抚过你的苦痛！
记住这一切，心爱的儿子，在墙内打退
那个野蛮的人！切莫冲上前去，作为勇士，和那个
残暴的家伙战斗！如果他把你杀了，我就不能
在尸床边为你举哀，你那慷慨的妻子也一样——哦，一棵茁壮的
树苗，我亲生的儿郎！远离着我们，在
阿开亚人的船边，迅跑的犬狗会把你撕食吞咬！”
就这样，他俩泪流满面，苦苦恳求
心爱的儿子，但却不能使他回心转意。
他等待着迎面扑来的阿基琉斯，一个高大的身影，
像大山上的一条毒蛇，蜷缩在洞边，等待一个向他走去的
凡人，吃够了带毒的叶草，体内翻涌着不共戴天的仇恨，
盘曲在洞穴的边沿，双眼射出凶险的寒光——就像这样，
赫克托耳胸中腾烧着难以扑灭的狂烈，一步不让，
把闪亮的盾牌斜靠在一堵突出的墙垒上，
禁不住烦恼的骚扰，对自己豪莽的心魂说道：
“处境不妙，如何是好？倘若现在溜进城门和护墙，
普鲁达马斯会首当其冲，对我出言辱骂——
他曾劝我带着特洛伊人回返城堡，就在
昨天，那该受诅咒的夜晚，卓越的阿基琉斯重返战场的时候。
我不曾听从他的劝告——否则，事情何至于变得如此糟糕！
现在，我以自己的鲁莽，毁了我的兵民。
羞愧呀，我愧对特洛伊人和长裙飘摆的
特洛伊妇女！某个比我低劣的小子会这般说道：
‘赫克托耳盲目崇信自己的勇力，毁掉了他的兵民！’
他们会如此议论评说。现在，可取的上策
当是扑上前去，要么杀了阿基琉斯，返回城堡，
要么被他杀死，图个惨烈，在伊利昂城前。
或许，我是否可放下突鼓的战盾和
沉重的头盔，倚着护墙靠放我的枪矛，
徒手迎见豪勇的阿基琉斯，
答应交回海伦和所有属于她的财物，
亚历克山德罗斯用深旷的海船载运回
特洛伊的一切——此事乃引发战争的胎祸。
我可把这一切都交给阿特柔斯的儿子们带走，并和阿开亚人
平分收藏在城内的财物，尽我们的所有；
然后再让特洛伊人的参议们发誓，
决不隐藏任何东西，均分全部财产，均分
这座宏丽的城堡里的堆藏，所有的财富。
然而，为何如此争辩，我的心魂？
我不能这样走上前去，他不会可怜我，
也不会尊重我；他会把我杀了，冲着我这
无所抵挡的躯身，像对一个不设防护的女人，当我除去甲衣！
现在，可不是从一棵橡树或一块石头开始，和他喃喃细语
的时候，像谈情说爱的姑娘小伙，
年轻的朋侣，喊喊私语，情长话多；
现在是战斗的时刻，越快越好——
我倒要看看，宙斯会把光荣交给哪一位战勇！”
就这样，他权衡斟酌，就地等待，但阿基琉斯已咄咄逼近，
像临阵的战神，头盔闪亮的武士，肩上
颠动着可怕的裴利昂枪矛，(木岑)木的
枪杆，铜甲生光，像
冉冉升起的太阳，熊熊燃烧的烈火。
见此情景，赫克托耳浑身发抖，再也不敢
原地等候，撒褪便跑，吓得神魂颠倒；
裴琉斯之子紧追不舍，对自己的快腿充满信心。
像山地里的一只鹰隼，天底下飞得最快的羽鸟，
舒展翅膀，追扑一只野鸽，后者吓得嗦嗦发抖，
从它下边溜跑；飞鹰紧紧追逼，失声嘶叫，
一次次地冲扑，心急火燎，非欲捕获——
就像这样，阿基琉斯挟着狂烈，对着赫克托耳猛扑，
后者迅速摆动双腿，沿着特洛伊城墙，快步窜跑。
他们跑过了望点，跑过疾风吹曳的无花果树，
总是离着墙脚，沿着车道，跑至
两股泉溪的边沿，涌着清澈的水流，两股
喷注的泉水，卷着曲波的斯卡曼得罗斯的滩头。
一条流着滚烫的热水，到处蒸发腾升的雾气，
似乎水底埋着一盆烈火，不停地把它煮烧；
另一条，甚至在夏日里，总是流水阴凉，冷若冰雹，
像砭人肌骨的积雪和冻结流水的冰层。
这里，两条泉流的近旁，有一些石凿的
水槽，宽阔、溜滑，特洛伊人的妻子和花容玉貌的
女儿们曾在槽里濯洗闪亮的衣袍，从前，
在过去的日子里，阿开亚人的儿子们尚未到来的和平时期。
就在那里，他俩放腿追跑，一个跑，一个追，跑着
固然是个强有力的斗士，但快步追赶的汉子更是位了不起的
英壮。能不快跑吗？他们争抢的不是供作献祭的牲畜，
也不是牛的皮张，跑场上优胜者的奖品——
不，他俩拼命追跑，为的是驯马手赫克托耳的性命一条！
像捷蹄的快马，扫过拐弯处的桩标，
跑出最快的速度，为了争夺一注有分量的奖酬，一只铜鼎
或一个女人，在举行葬礼时，为尊祭死者而设的车赛中——
他俩蹄开快腿，绕着普里阿摩斯的城垣，
一连跑了三圈。其时，众神都在注目观望；
神和人的父亲首先发话，说道：
“瞧瞧这是怎么回事——一个我所钟爱的凡人，在我的眼皮底下，
被逼赶得绕着城墙狂跑。我打心眼里为他难受，
赫克托耳，曾给我焚祭过多少键牛的腿肉，
有时在山峦重选的伊达，平坡的峰脊，有时
在城堡的顶端。现在，卓越的阿基琉斯
正把他穷追猛赶，凭着他的快腿，沿着普里阿摩斯的城堡。
开动脑筋，不死的众神，好好想一想，议一议，
是把他救出来，还是——虽然他很骠健——把他击倒，
让他死在裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯手中。”
听罢这番话，灰眼睛女神雅典娜说道：
“父亲，雷电和乌云的主宰，你到底说了些什么？！
你打算把他救出悲惨的死亡，一个凡人，
一个命里早就注定要死的凡人？
做去吧，父亲，但我等众神绝不会一致赞同。”
听罢这番话，汇聚乌云的宙斯答道：
“不要灰心丧气，特里托格内娅，我心爱的女儿。我的话
并不表示严肃的意图；对于你，我总是心怀善意。
去吧，爱做什么，随你的心愿，不必再克制拖延。”
宙斯的话语催励着早已急不可待的雅典娜，
她急速出发，从俄林波斯的峰巅直冲而下。
地面上，迅捷的阿基琉斯继续追赶赫克托耳，
毫不松懈，像一条猎狗，在山里追捕一只跳离
窝巢的小鹿，紧追不舍，穿越山脊和峡谷，
尽管小鹿藏身在树丛下，蜷缩着身姿，
猎狗冲跑过来，嗅出他的踪迹，奋起进击——
就像这样，赫克托耳怎么也摆脱不了裴琉斯捷足的儿子。
他一次又一次地冲向达耳达尼亚城门，
试图迅速接近筑造坚固的城墙，希望城上的
伙伴投下雨点般的枪械，把他救出绝境，
但阿基琉斯一次又一次地拦住他的路头，把他
逼回平原，自己则总是飞跑在靠近城堡的一边。
就像梦里的场景：两个人，一追一跑，总难捕获，
后者拉不开距离，前者亦缩短不了追程；所以，
尽管追者跑得很快，却总是赶不上巡者，而逃者也总难躲开追
者的逼迫。
赫克托耳如何能跑脱死之精灵的追赶？他何以
能够——要不是阿波罗最后一次，是的，最后一次站在他的
身边，给他注入力量，使他的膝腿敏捷舒快？
卓越的阿基琼斯一个劲地对着己方的军士摇头，
不让他们投掷犀利的枪矛，对着赫克托耳，
惟恐别人夺走光荣，使他屈居第二。
但是，当他们第四次跑到两条溪泉的边沿，
父亲拿起金质的天平，放上两个表示
命运的砝码，压得凡人抬不起头来的死亡，
一个为阿基琉斯，另一个为赫克托耳，驯马的好手，
然后提起秤杆的中端，赫克托耳的末日压垂了秤盘，朝着
哀地斯的冥府倾斜——其时，福伊波斯·阿波罗离他而去。
地面上，灰眼睛女神雅典娜找到裴琉斯之子，
站在他的身边，开口说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“宙斯钟爱的战勇，卓著的阿基琉斯，我们的希望终于到了
可以实现的时候。我们将杀掉赫克托耳，哪怕他嗜战如狂，
带着巨大的光荣，回返阿开亚人的海船。
现在，他已绝难逃离我们的追捕，
哪怕远射手阿波罗愿意承担风险，
跌滚在我们的父亲、带埃吉斯的宙斯面前。
不要追了，停下来喘口气；我这就去，
赶上那个人，诱说他面对面地和你拼斗。”
雅典娜言罢，阿基琉斯心里高兴，谨遵不违，
收住脚步，倚着(木岑)木杆的枪矛，杆上顶着带铜尖的枪头。
雅典娜离他而去，赶上卓越的赫克托耳，
以德伊福波斯的形象，摹仿他那不知疲倦的声音，
站在赫克托耳身边，用长了翅膀的话语，对他说道：
“亲爱的兄弟，你受苦了，被这残忍的阿基琉斯逼迫
追赶，仗着他的快腿，沿着普里阿摩斯的城垣。
来吧，让我们顶住他的冲击，打退他的进攻！”
听罢这番话，高大的赫克托耳，顶着闪亮的头盔，答道：
“德伊福波斯，在此之前，你一直是我最钟爱的兄弟，
是的，在普里阿摩斯和赫卡贝生养的所有的儿子中！
现在，我要告诉你，我比以前更加尊你爱你——
见我有难，你敢冲出城堡，在
别人藏身城内之际，冒死相助。”
听罢这话，灰眼睛女神雅典娜答道：
“事情确是这样，我的兄弟，我们的父亲和高贵的母亲
曾轮番抱住我的膝盖，苦苦相求，还有我的伙伴们，
求我呆在城里——我们的人一个个全部吓傻了眼。
然而，为了你的境遇，我心痛欲裂。现在，
让我们直扑上去，奋力苦战，不要吝惜手中的
枪矛。我们倒要看看，结果到底怎样，是阿基琉斯
杀了我俩，带着血染的铠甲，回到
深旷的海船，还是他自己命归地府，例死在你的枪下！”
就这样，雅典娜的话语使他受骗上当。
其时，他俩迎面而行，咄咄逼近；
身材高大、头盔闪亮的赫克托耳首先开口嚷道：
“够了，裴琉斯之子，我不打算继续奔逃，像刚才那样，
一连三圈，围着普里阿摩斯宏伟的城堡，不敢
和你较量。现在，我的心灵驱我
面对面地和你战斗——眼下，不是你死，便是我亡！
过来吧，我们先对神起誓，让这些至高
无上的旁证，监督我们的誓约。我发誓，
我不会操辱你的尸体，尽管你很残暴，倘若宙斯
让我把你拖垮，夺走你的生命。
我会剥掉你光荣的铠甲，阿基琉斯，但在此之后，我将
把你的遗体交还阿开亚人。发誓吧，你会以同样的方式待我。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯恶狠狠地盯着他，答道：
“不要对我谈论什么誓约，赫克托耳，你休想得到我的宽恕！
人和狮子之间不会有誓定的协约，
狼和羊羔之间也不会有共同的意愿，
它们永远是不共戴天的仇敌。
同样，你我之间没有什么爱慕可言，也不会有什么
誓证协约——在二者中的一人倒地，用热血
喂饱战神，从盾牌后砍杀的阿瑞斯的肠胃之前！
来吧，拿出你的每一分勇力，在这死难临头的时候，
证明你还是个枪手，一位家猛的战勇！
你已无处逃生；帕拉丝·雅典娜即刻便会
把你断送，用我的枪矛。现在，我要你彻底偿报我的
伙伴们的悲愁，所有被你杀死的壮勇，被你那狂暴的枪头！”
言罢，他持平落影森长的枪矛，奋臂投掷，
但光荣的赫克托耳双眼紧盯着他的举动，见他出手，
蹲身躲避；铜枪飞过他的肩头，
扎落在泥地上。帕拉丝·雅典娜拔出枪矛，
交还阿基琉斯；兵士的牧者赫克托耳对此一无所知。
其时，赫克托耳对着裴琉斯豪勇的儿子喊道：
“你打歪了，瞧！所以，神一样的阿基琉斯，你并不曾
从宙斯那里得知我的命运，你只是在凭空臆造！
你想凭着小聪明，用骗人的话语把我耍弄，
使我见怕于你，消泄我的勇力，根熄战斗的激情！
你不能把枪矛扎入我的肩背——我不会转身逃跑；
你可以把它捅入我的胸膛，倘若神祗给你这个机会，
在我向你冲扑的当口！现在，我要你躬避我的铜枪，
但愿它从头至尾，连失带杆，扎进你的躯身！
这场战争将要轻松许多，对于我们，
如果你死了，你，特洛伊人最大的灾祸。”
言罢，他持平落影森长的枪矛，奋臂投掷，
击中裴琉斯之子的盾牌，打在正中，却不曾扎入。
被挡弹出老远。赫克托耳心中愤怒，
恼恨奋臂投出的快枪，落得一无所获的结果。
他木然而立，神情沮丧，手中再无(木岑)木杆的枪矛。
他放开喉咙，呼唤盾面苍白的德伊福波斯，
要取一杆粗长的枪矛，但后者已不在他的身旁。
其时，赫克托耳悟出了事情的真相，叹道：
“完了，全完了！神们终于把我召上了死的途程。
我以为壮士德伊福波斯近在身旁，其实
他却呆在城里——雅典娜的哄骗蒙住了我的眼睛。
现在，可恨的死亡已距我不远，实是近在眼前；逃生
已成绝望。看来，很久以前，今日的结局便是他们喜闻乐见的
趣事，宙斯和他发箭远方的儿子，虽然在此之前，
他们常常赶来帮忙。现在，我已必死无疑。
但是，我不能窝窝囊囊地死去，不做一番挣扎；
不，我要打出个壮伟的局面，使后人都能听诵我的英豪！”
言罢，他抽出跨边的利剑，宽厚、沉重，鼓起
全身的勇力，直奔扑击，像一只搏击长空的雄鹰，
穿出浓黑的乌云，对着平原俯冲，
逮住一只嫩小无助的羊羔或嗦嗦发抖的野兔——
赫克托耳奋勇出击，挥舞着利剑，而阿基琉斯
亦迎面扑来，心中腾烧着粗野的狂烈，
胸前挡着一面盾牌，后面绚丽，铸工
精湛，摇动闪亮的盔盖，顶着四支
硬角，漂亮的冠饰，摇摇晃晃，纯金做就，
赫法伊斯托斯的手艺，嵌显在冠角的边旁。
怀着杀死卓越的赫克托耳的凶念，阿基琉斯
右手挥舞枪矛，枪尖射出熠熠的寒光，
像一颗明星，穿行在繁星点缀的夜空，
赫斯裴耳，黑夜之星，天空中最亮的星座。
他用眼扫瞄赫克托耳魁伟的身躯，寻找最好的
攻击部位，但见他全身铠甲包裹，那副璀璨的
铜甲，杀死强壮的帕特罗克洛斯后剥抢到手的战礼——
尽管如此，他还是找到一个露点，琐骨分接脖子和肩膀的部
位，裸露的咽喉，人体中死之最捷达的通径。对着这个部位，
卓越的阿基琉斯捅出枪矛，在对手挟着狂烈，向他扑来之际，
枪尖穿透松软的脖子，然而，粗重的
(木岑)木杆枪矛，挑着铜尖，却不曾切断气管，
所以，他还能勉强张嘴应对。赫克托耳
瘫倒泥尘，卓越的阿基琉斯高声炫耀，对着他的躯体：
“毫无疑问，赫克托耳，你以为杀了帕特罗克洛斯之后，你仍可
平安无事，因为你不用怕我，我还远离你们战斗的地点。
你这个笨蛋！你忘了，有一个，一个远比他强健的
复仇者，等在后面，深旷的海船边——此人便是我，阿基琉斯，
我已毁散了你的勇力！狗和秃鹫会撕毁
你的皮肉，脏污你的躯体；和你相比，帕特罗克洛斯将收受
阿开亚人厚重的葬仪！”
听罢这番话，头盔闪亮的赫克托耳用虚弱的声音说道：
“求求你，求求你看在你的生命、你的膝盖和你双亲的份上，
不要让狗群撕食我的躯体，在这阿开亚人的海船边！
你可收取大量的青铜和黄金，从我们丰盈的库藏中，
大堆的赎礼，我父亲和高贵的母亲会塞送到你的手里。
把我的遗体交还我的家人吧——人已死了，
也好让特洛伊男人和他们的妻子为我举行火焚的礼仪。”
捷足的阿基琉斯恶狠狠地盯着他，答道：
“不要再哀求了，你这条恶狗一二说什么看在我的膝盖和双亲
的份上！我真想挟着激情和狂烈，就此
割下你的皮肉，生吞暴咽——你给我
带来了多少苦痛！谁也休想阻止狗群
扑食你的尸躯，哪怕给我送来十倍。
二十倍的赎礼，哪怕答应给我更多的东西，
哪怕达耳达诺斯之子普里阿摩斯愿意给我
和你等重的黄金。不！一切都已无济于事；生你养你的母亲，
那位高贵的夫人，不会有把你放上尸床，为你举哀的机会；
狗和兀鸟会把你连皮带肉，吃得干干净净！”
赫克托耳，吐着微弱的气息，在闪亮的头盔下说道：
“我了解你的为人，知道命运将如何把我处置。我知道
说服不了你，因为你长着一颗铁一般冷酷的心。
但是，你也得小心，当心我的诅咒给你招来神的
愤恨，在将来的某一天，帕里斯和福伊波斯·阿波罗
会不顾你的骠勇，把你杀死在斯卡亚门前！”
话音刚落，死的终极已蒙罩起他的躯体，
心魂飘离他的四肢，坠入死神的府居，
悲悼着他的命运，抛却青春的年华，刚勇的人生。
其时，虽然他已死去，卓越的阿基琉斯仍然对他嚷道：
“死了，你死了！至于我，我将接受我的死亡，在宙斯
和列位神祗愿意把它付诸实现的任何时光！”
言罢，他从躯体里拔出铜枪，放在
一边，剥下血迹斑斑的铠甲，从死者
肩上。阿开亚人的儿子们跑来围在他的身边，
凝视着赫克托耳的身躯，刚劲、健美的
体魄，人人都用手中的利器，给尸体添裂一道新的痕伤，
人们望着身边的伙伴，开口说道：
“瞧，现在的赫克托耳可比以前，比他周熊熊
燃烧的火把放火烧船的时候松软得多！”
就这样，他们站在尸体边沿，出手捅刺，议论纷纷。
其时，捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯已剥光死者身上的一切。
站在阿开亚人中间，喊出长了翅膀的话语：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们！
现在，既然神明已让我杀了他，这个使我们
深受其害的人——此人创下的祸孽，甚于其他所有的战勇
加在一起的作为——来吧，让我们逼近城墙，全副武装，
弄清特洛伊人下一步的打算，是
准备放弃高耸的城堡，眼见此人已躺倒在地，
还是想继续呆守；虽然赫克托耳已经死亡？
然而，为何同我争辩，我的心魂？
海船边还躺着一个死人，无人哭祭，不曾埋葬，
帕特罗克洛斯，我绝不会把他忘怀，绝对不会，
只要我还活在人间，只要我的双膝还能伸屈弯转！
如果说在死神的府居，亡魂会忘记死去的故人，但我
却不会，即便在那个地方，我还会记着亲爱的帕特罗克洛斯。
来吧，阿开亚人的儿子们，让我们高唱凯歌，
回兵深旷的海船，抬着这具尸体！
我们已争得辉煌的荣誉；我们已杀死赫克托耳，
一个被特洛伊人，在他们的城里，尊为神一样的凡人！”
他如此一番颂耀，心中谋划着如何羞辱光荣的赫克托耳。
他捅穿死者的筋腱，在脚背后面，从脚跟到
踝骨的部位，穿进牛皮切出的绳带，把双足连在一起，
绑上战车，让死者贴着地面，倒悬着头颅。然后，
他登上战车，把光荣的铠甲提进车身，
扬鞭催马，后者撒开蹄腿，飞驰而去，不带半点勉强。
骏马扬蹄迅跑，赫克托耳身边卷起腾飞的尘末，
纷乱飘散，整个头脸，曾是那样英俊潇洒的脸面，
跌跌撞撞地磕碰在泥尘里——宙斯已把他交给
敌人，在故乡的土地上，由他们亵渎脏损。
就这样，他的头颅席地拖行，沾满泥尘。城楼上，他的母亲
绞拔出自己的头发，把闪亮的头巾扔出老远，
望着亲生的儿子，竭声嚎啕。他所尊爱的父亲，
喊出悲戚的长号，身边的人们无不
痛哭流涕，哀悼之声响彻在全城的每一个角落。
此番呼嚎，此番悲烈，似乎高耸的特洛伊城已全部
葬身烧腾的火海，从楼顶到墙垣的根沿！
普里阿摩斯发疯似地试图冲出达耳达尼亚大门，
手下的人们几乎挡不住老人；他恳求所有的
人们，翻滚在脏杂的污秽里，呼喊着
每一个人，高声嘶叫，嚷道：
“我情领各位的好心，但让我
出城，独自一人，前往阿开亚人的海船旁！
我必须当面向他求告，向那个残忍、凶暴的汉子，
而他或许会尊重我的年齿，生发怜老之情——
他也有自己的父亲，和我一样年迈，
裴琉斯，生下这个儿子，养成特洛伊人的
灾祸。他杀了我这么多年轻力壮的儿子；
他带给我的哀愁比给谁的都多。
我为每一个儿子的不幸悲恸，但只有赫克托耳的阵亡
使我痛不欲生；如此强烈的伤愁会把我
带入哀地斯的冢府！但愿他倒在我的怀里，这样，
我们俩，生养他的母亲——哦，苦命的女人——
便能和我一起放声悲哭，尽情哀悼！”
老王悲声诉说，泪流满面，市民们伴随他一齐哭嚎。
赫卡贝带着特洛伊妇女，领头唱起曲调凄楚的悲歌：
“咳，我的孩子；哦，我这不幸的女人！你去了，我将如何继续
生活，带着此般悲痛！？你，我的骄傲，无论白天和
黑夜，在这座城里；你，全城的栋梁，
特洛伊男子和特洛伊妇女的主心骨。他们像敬神
似地敬你；生前，你是他们无上的
荣光！现在，我的儿，死亡和命运已把你吞夺！”
她悲声诉说，泪流满面，但赫克托耳的妻子却还
不曾听到噩耗；此间无有可信之人登门，通报
她的丈夫站在城门外面，拒敌迎战的讯息。
其时，她置身高深的房居，在内屋里，制作一件暗红色的
双层裙袍，织出绽开的花朵。
她招呼房内发辫秀美的女仆，
把一口大锅架上柴火，使赫克托耳
离战回家，能用热水洗澡——
可怜的女人，她哪里知道，远离滚烫的热水，
丈夫已经死在阿基琉斯手下，被灰眼睛的雅典娜击倒。
其时，她已耳闻墙边传来的哭叫和哀嚎，
禁不住双腿哆嗦，梭子滑出手中，掉在地上。
她随即召呼发辫秀美的侍女，说道：
“快来，你们两个，随我前行；我要看看外边发生了什么。
我已听到赫克托耳尊贵的母亲的哭声；我的双腿
麻木不仁，我的心魂已跳到嗓子眼里。我知道，
一件不幸的事情正降临在普里阿摩斯的儿子们的头顶！
但愿这条消息永远不要传入我的耳朵；然而我却从
心底里担心，强健的阿基琉斯可能会切断他的归路，
把勇敢的赫克托耳，把他孤身一人，逼离城堡，赶往平原。
他恐怕已彻底消散了赫克托耳鲁莽的傲气——它总是
缠伴着我的夫婿——他从不呆在后面，和大队聚集在一起，
而是远远地冲上前去，挟着狂烈，谁都不放在眼里！”
言罢，她冲出宫居，像个发疯的女人，
揣着怦怦乱跳的心脏，带着两名待女，紧跟在她后头。
她快步来到城楼，兵勇们聚结的地方，
停下脚步，站在墙边，移目探望，发现丈夫
正被拖颠在城堡前面，疾驰的驭马
拉着他胡奔乱跑，朝着阿开亚人深旷的海船。
安德罗玛开顿觉眼前漆黑一片，
向后晕倒，喘吐出生命的魂息，甩出
闪亮的头饰，被甩出老远，
冠条、发兜、束带和精工编织的
头巾，金色的阿芙底忒的礼物，
相赠在她被夫婿带走的那一天——头盔闪亮的赫克托耳
把她带离厄提昂的家居，给了数不清的聘礼。
其时，她丈夫的姐妹和兄弟的媳妇们围站在她的身边，
把她扶起在她们中间：此刻的安德罗玛开已濒临死的边缘。
但是，当挣扎着缓过气来，生命重返她的躯体后，
她放开喉咙，在特洛伊妇女中悲哭嚎啕：
“哦，毁了，赫克托耳；毁了，我的一切！你我生来便共有同
一个命运——你，在特洛伊，普里阿摩斯的家居；我，
在塞贝，林木森茂的普拉科斯山脚，
厄提昂的家居；他疼我爱我，在我幼小的时候。
咳，命运险恶的厄提昂，倒霉不幸的我——但愿他不曾把我养
育，经受人生的捶捣。
现在，你去了死神的家府，黑洞洞的大地
深处，把我撇在这里，承受哭嚎的悲痛，
宫居里的寡妇，守着尚是婴儿的男孩，
你我的后代，一对不幸的人儿！你帮不了他，
赫克托耳，因为你已死去，而他也帮不了你的忙。
即使他能躲过这场悲苦的战争，阿开亚人的强攻，
今后的日子也一定充满艰辛和痛苦。
别人会夺走他的土地，孤儿凄惨的
生活会使他难以交结同龄的朋友。他，
我们的男孩，总是耷拉着脑袋，整日里泪水洗面，
饥肠辘辘，找到父亲旧时的伙伴，
拉着这个人的披篷，攥着那个人的衣衫，
讨得一些人的怜悯——有人会给他一小杯饮料，
只够沾湿他的嘴唇，却不能舒缓喉聘的焦渴；
某个双亲都还活着的孩子，会把他打出宴会，
一边扔着拳头，一边张嘴咒骂：
‘滚出去！你的父亲不在这里欢宴，和我们一起！’
男孩挂着眼泪，走向他那孤寡的母亲——
我的阿斯图阿纳克斯！从前，坐在父亲的腿上，
你只吃骨髓和羔羊身上最肥美的肉膘。
玩够以后，趁着睡眠降临的当口，他就
迷迷糊糊地躺在奶妈怀里，就着松软的
床铺，心满意足地入睡。现在，
失去了亲爱的父亲，他会吃苦受难，他，
特洛伊人称其为阿斯图阿纳克斯，‘城邦的主宰’，
因为只有你独身保卫着大门和延绵的墙垣。
但现在，你远离双亲，躺倒在弯翘的海船边；
曲倦的爬虫，会在饿狗饱啖你的血肉后，
钻食你那一丝不挂的躯体，虽然在你的房居里，叠放着
做工细腻、美观华丽的衫衣，女人手制的精品。
现在，我将把它们付之一炬，烧得干干净净——
你再也不会穿用它们，无需用它们包裹你的躯体。
让衣服化成烈火，作为特洛伊男女对你的奠祭！”
她真情悲诉，热泪横流；妇女们凄声哀悼，哭诵应和。
ARGUMENT.
THE DEATH OF HECTOR.
The Trojans being safe within the walls, Hector only stays to oppose
Achilles. Priam is struck at his approach, and tries to persuade his son
to re-enter the town. Hecuba joins her entreaties, but in vain. Hector
consults within himself what measures to take; but at the advance of
Achilles, his resolution fails him, and he flies. Achilles pursues him
thrice round the walls of Troy. The gods debate concerning the fate of
Hector; at length Minerva descends to the aid of Achilles. She deludes
Hector in the shape of Deiphobus; he stands the combat, and is slain.
Achilles drags the dead body at his chariot in the sight of Priam and
Hecuba. Their lamentations, tears, and despair. Their cries reach the ears
of Andromache, who, ignorant of this, was retired into the inner part of
the palace: she mounts up to the walls, and beholds her dead husband. She
swoons at the spectacle. Her excess of grief and lamentation.
The thirtieth day still continues. The scene lies under the walls, and on
the battlements of Troy.
Thus to their bulwarks, smit with panic fear,
The herded Ilians rush like driven deer:
There safe they wipe the briny drops away,
And drown in bowls the labours of the day.
Close to the walls, advancing o'er the fields
Beneath one roof of well-compacted shields,
March, bending on, the Greeks' embodied powers,
Far stretching in the shade of Trojan towers.
Great Hector singly stay'd: chain'd down by fate
There fix'd he stood before the Scaean gate;
Still his bold arms determined to employ,
The guardian still of long-defended Troy.
Apollo now to tired Achilles turns:
(The power confess'd in all his glory burns:)
"And what (he cries) has Peleus' son in view,
With mortal speed a godhead to pursue?
For not to thee to know the gods is given,
Unskill'd to trace the latent marks of heaven.
What boots thee now, that Troy forsook the plain?
Vain thy past labour, and thy present vain:
Safe in their walls are now her troops bestow'd,
While here thy frantic rage attacks a god."
The chief incensed--"Too partial god of day!
To check my conquests in the middle way:
How few in Ilion else had refuge found!
What gasping numbers now had bit the ground!
Thou robb'st me of a glory justly mine,
Powerful of godhead, and of fraud divine:
Mean fame, alas! for one of heavenly strain,
To cheat a mortal who repines in vain."
Then to the city, terrible and strong,
With high and haughty steps he tower'd along,
So the proud courser, victor of the prize,
To the near goal with double ardour flies.
Him, as he blazing shot across the field,
The careful eyes of Priam first beheld.
Not half so dreadful rises to the sight,(274)
Through the thick gloom of some tempestuous night,
Orion's dog (the year when autumn weighs),
And o'er the feebler stars exerts his rays;
Terrific glory! for his burning breath
Taints the red air with fevers, plagues, and death.
So flamed his fiery mail. Then wept the sage:
He strikes his reverend head, now white with age;
He lifts his wither'd arms; obtests the skies;
He calls his much-loved son with feeble cries:
The son, resolved Achilles' force to dare,
Full at the Scaean gates expects the war;
While the sad father on the rampart stands,
And thus adjures him with extended hands:
"Ah stay not, stay not! guardless and alone;
Hector! my loved, my dearest, bravest son!
Methinks already I behold thee slain,
And stretch'd beneath that fury of the plain.
Implacable Achilles! might'st thou be
To all the gods no dearer than to me!
Thee, vultures wild should scatter round the shore.
And bloody dogs grow fiercer from thy gore.
How many valiant sons I late enjoy'd,
Valiant in vain! by thy cursed arm destroy'd:
Or, worse than slaughtered, sold in distant isles
To shameful bondage, and unworthy toils.
Two, while I speak, my eyes in vain explore,
Two from one mother sprung, my Polydore,
And loved Lycaon; now perhaps no more!
Oh! if in yonder hostile camp they live,
What heaps of gold, what treasures would I give!
(Their grandsire's wealth, by right of birth their own,
Consign'd his daughter with Lelegia's throne:)
But if (which Heaven forbid) already lost,
All pale they wander on the Stygian coast;
What sorrows then must their sad mother know,
What anguish I? unutterable woe!
Yet less that anguish, less to her, to me,
Less to all Troy, if not deprived of thee.
Yet shun Achilles! enter yet the wall;
And spare thyself, thy father, spare us all!
Save thy dear life; or, if a soul so brave
Neglect that thought, thy dearer glory save.
Pity, while yet I live, these silver hairs;
While yet thy father feels the woes he bears,
Yet cursed with sense! a wretch, whom in his rage
(All trembling on the verge of helpless age)
Great Jove has placed, sad spectacle of pain!
The bitter dregs of fortune's cup to drain:
To fill with scenes of death his closing eyes,
And number all his days by miseries!
My heroes slain, my bridal bed o'erturn'd,
My daughters ravish'd, and my city burn'd,
My bleeding infants dash'd against the floor;
These I have yet to see, perhaps yet more!
Perhaps even I, reserved by angry fate,
The last sad relic of my ruin'd state,
(Dire pomp of sovereign wretchedness!) must fall,
And stain the pavement of my regal hall;
Where famish'd dogs, late guardians of my door,
Shall lick their mangled master's spatter'd gore.
Yet for my sons I thank ye, gods! 'tis well;
Well have they perish'd, for in fight they fell.
Who dies in youth and vigour, dies the best,
Struck through with wounds, all honest on the breast.
But when the fates, in fulness of their rage,
Spurn the hoar head of unresisting age,
In dust the reverend lineaments deform,
And pour to dogs the life-blood scarcely warm:
This, this is misery! the last, the worse,
That man can feel! man, fated to be cursed!"
He said, and acting what no words could say,
Rent from his head the silver locks away.
With him the mournful mother bears a part;
Yet all her sorrows turn not Hector's heart.
The zone unbraced, her bosom she display'd;
And thus, fast-falling the salt tears, she said:
"Have mercy on me, O my son! revere
The words of age; attend a parent's prayer!
If ever thee in these fond arms I press'd,
Or still'd thy infant clamours at this breast;
Ah do not thus our helpless years forego,
But, by our walls secured, repel the foe.
Against his rage if singly thou proceed,
Should'st thou, (but Heaven avert it!) should'st thou bleed,
Nor must thy corse lie honour'd on the bier,
Nor spouse, nor mother, grace thee with a tear!
Far from our pious rites those dear remains
Must feast the vultures on the naked plains."
So they, while down their cheeks the torrents roll;
But fix'd remains the purpose of his soul;
Resolved he stands, and with a fiery glance
Expects the hero's terrible advance.
So, roll'd up in his den, the swelling snake
Beholds the traveller approach the brake;
When fed with noxious herbs his turgid veins
Have gather'd half the poisons of the plains;
He burns, he stiffens with collected ire,
And his red eyeballs glare with living fire.
Beneath a turret, on his shield reclined,
He stood, and question'd thus his mighty mind:(275)
"Where lies my way? to enter in the wall?
Honour and shame the ungenerous thought recall:
Shall proud Polydamas before the gate
Proclaim, his counsels are obey'd too late,
Which timely follow'd but the former night,
What numbers had been saved by Hector's flight?
That wise advice rejected with disdain,
I feel my folly in my people slain.
Methinks my suffering country's voice I hear,
But most her worthless sons insult my ear,
On my rash courage charge the chance of war,
And blame those virtues which they cannot share.
No--if I e'er return, return I must
Glorious, my country's terror laid in dust:
Or if I perish, let her see me fall
In field at least, and fighting for her wall.
And yet suppose these measures I forego,
Approach unarm'd, and parley with the foe,
The warrior-shield, the helm, and lance, lay down.
And treat on terms of peace to save the town:
The wife withheld, the treasure ill-detain'd
(Cause of the war, and grievance of the land)
With honourable justice to restore:
And add half Ilion's yet remaining store,
Which Troy shall, sworn, produce; that injured Greece
May share our wealth, and leave our walls in peace.
But why this thought? Unarm'd if I should go,
What hope of mercy from this vengeful foe,
But woman-like to fall, and fall without a blow?
We greet not here, as man conversing man,
Met at an oak, or journeying o'er a plain;
No season now for calm familiar talk,
Like youths and maidens in an evening walk:
War is our business, but to whom is given
To die, or triumph, that, determine Heaven!"
Thus pondering, like a god the Greek drew nigh;
His dreadful plumage nodded from on high;
The Pelian javelin, in his better hand,
Shot trembling rays that glitter'd o'er the land;
And on his breast the beamy splendour shone,
Like Jove's own lightning, or the rising sun.
As Hector sees, unusual terrors rise,
Struck by some god, he fears, recedes, and flies.
He leaves the gates, he leaves the wall behind:
Achilles follows like the winged wind.
Thus at the panting dove a falcon flies
(The swiftest racer of the liquid skies),
Just when he holds, or thinks he holds his prey,
Obliquely wheeling through the aerial way,
With open beak and shrilling cries he springs,
And aims his claws, and shoots upon his wings:
No less fore-right the rapid chase they held,
One urged by fury, one by fear impell'd:
Now circling round the walls their course maintain,
Where the high watch-tower overlooks the plain;
Now where the fig-trees spread their umbrage broad,
(A wider compass,) smoke along the road.
Next by Scamander's double source they bound,
Where two famed fountains burst the parted ground;
This hot through scorching clefts is seen to rise,
With exhalations steaming to the skies;
That the green banks in summer's heat o'erflows,
Like crystal clear, and cold as winter snows:
Each gushing fount a marble cistern fills,
Whose polish'd bed receives the falling rills;
Where Trojan dames (ere yet alarm'd by Greece)
Wash'd their fair garments in the days of peace.(276)
By these they pass'd, one chasing, one in flight:
(The mighty fled, pursued by stronger might:)
Swift was the course; no vulgar prize they play,
No vulgar victim must reward the day:
(Such as in races crown the speedy strife:)
The prize contended was great Hector's life.
As when some hero's funerals are decreed
In grateful honour of the mighty dead;
Where high rewards the vigorous youth inflame
(Some golden tripod, or some lovely dame)
The panting coursers swiftly turn the goal,
And with them turns the raised spectator's soul:
Thus three times round the Trojan wall they fly.
The gazing gods lean forward from the sky;
To whom, while eager on the chase they look,
The sire of mortals and immortals spoke:
"Unworthy sight! the man beloved of heaven,
Behold, inglorious round yon city driven!
My heart partakes the generous Hector's pain;
Hector, whose zeal whole hecatombs has slain,
Whose grateful fumes the gods received with joy,
From Ida's summits, and the towers of Troy:
Now see him flying; to his fears resign'd,
And fate, and fierce Achilles, close behind.
Consult, ye powers! ('tis worthy your debate)
Whether to snatch him from impending fate,
Or let him bear, by stern Pelides slain,
(Good as he is) the lot imposed on man."
Then Pallas thus: "Shall he whose vengeance forms
The forky bolt, and blackens heaven with storms,
Shall he prolong one Trojan's forfeit breath?
A man, a mortal, pre-ordain'd to death!
And will no murmurs fill the courts above?
No gods indignant blame their partial Jove?"
"Go then (return'd the sire) without delay,
Exert thy will: I give the Fates their way.
Swift at the mandate pleased Tritonia flies,
And stoops impetuous from the cleaving skies.
As through the forest, o'er the vale and lawn,
The well-breath'd beagle drives the flying fawn,
In vain he tries the covert of the brakes,
Or deep beneath the trembling thicket shakes;
Sure of the vapour in the tainted dews,
The certain hound his various maze pursues.
Thus step by step, where'er the Trojan wheel'd,
There swift Achilles compass'd round the field.
Oft as to reach the Dardan gates he bends,
And hopes the assistance of his pitying friends,
(Whose showering arrows, as he coursed below,
From the high turrets might oppress the foe,)
So oft Achilles turns him to the plain:
He eyes the city, but he eyes in vain.
As men in slumbers seem with speedy pace,
One to pursue, and one to lead the chase,
Their sinking limbs the fancied course forsake,
Nor this can fly, nor that can overtake:
No less the labouring heroes pant and strain:
While that but flies, and this pursues in vain.
What god, O muse, assisted Hector's force
With fate itself so long to hold the course?
Phoebus it was; who, in his latest hour,
Endued his knees with strength, his nerves with power:
And great Achilles, lest some Greek's advance
Should snatch the glory from his lifted lance,
Sign'd to the troops to yield his foe the way,
And leave untouch'd the honours of the day.
Jove lifts the golden balances, that show
The fates of mortal men, and things below:
Here each contending hero's lot he tries,
And weighs, with equal hand, their destinies.
Low sinks the scale surcharged with Hector's fate;
Heavy with death it sinks, and hell receives the weight.
Then Phoebus left him. Fierce Minerva flies
To stern Pelides, and triumphing, cries:
"O loved of Jove! this day our labours cease,
And conquest blazes with full beams on Greece.
Great Hector falls; that Hector famed so far,
Drunk with renown, insatiable of war,
Falls by thy hand, and mine! nor force, nor flight,
Shall more avail him, nor his god of light.
See, where in vain he supplicates above,
Roll'd at the feet of unrelenting Jove;
Rest here: myself will lead the Trojan on,
And urge to meet the fate he cannot shun."
Her voice divine the chief with joyful mind
Obey'd; and rested, on his lance reclined
While like Deiphobus the martial dame
(Her face, her gesture, and her arms the same),
In show an aid, by hapless Hector's side
Approach'd, and greets him thus with voice belied:
"Too long, O Hector! have I borne the sight
Of this distress, and sorrow'd in thy flight:
It fits us now a noble stand to make,
And here, as brothers, equal fates partake."
Then he: "O prince! allied in blood and fame,
Dearer than all that own a brother's name;
Of all that Hecuba to Priam bore,
Long tried, long loved: much loved, but honoured more!
Since you, of all our numerous race alone
Defend my life, regardless of your own."
Again the goddess: "Much my father's prayer,
And much my mother's, press'd me to forbear:
My friends embraced my knees, adjured my stay,
But stronger love impell'd, and I obey.
Come then, the glorious conflict let us try,
Let the steel sparkle, and the javelin fly;
Or let us stretch Achilles on the field,
Or to his arm our bloody trophies yield."
Fraudful she said; then swiftly march'd before:
The Dardan hero shuns his foe no more.
Sternly they met. The silence Hector broke:
His dreadful plumage nodded as he spoke:
"Enough, O son of Peleus! Troy has view'd
Her walls thrice circled, and her chief pursued.
But now some god within me bids me try
Thine, or my fate: I kill thee, or I die.
Yet on the verge of battle let us stay,
And for a moment's space suspend the day;
Let Heaven's high powers be call'd to arbitrate
The just conditions of this stern debate,
(Eternal witnesses of all below,
And faithful guardians of the treasured vow!)
To them I swear; if, victor in the strife,
Jove by these hands shall shed thy noble life,
No vile dishonour shall thy corse pursue;
Stripp'd of its arms alone (the conqueror's due)
The rest to Greece uninjured I'll restore:
Now plight thy mutual oath, I ask no more."
"Talk not of oaths (the dreadful chief replies,
While anger flash'd from his disdainful eyes),
Detested as thou art, and ought to be,
Nor oath nor pact Achilles plights with thee:
Such pacts as lambs and rabid wolves combine,
Such leagues as men and furious lions join,
To such I call the gods! one constant state
Of lasting rancour and eternal hate:
No thought but rage, and never-ceasing strife,
Till death extinguish rage, and thought, and life.
Rouse then thy forces this important hour,
Collect thy soul, and call forth all thy power.
No further subterfuge, no further chance;
'Tis Pallas, Pallas gives thee to my lance.
Each Grecian ghost, by thee deprived of breath,
Now hovers round, and calls thee to thy death."
He spoke, and launch'd his javelin at the foe;
But Hector shunn'd the meditated blow:
He stoop'd, while o'er his head the flying spear
Sang innocent, and spent its force in air.
Minerva watch'd it falling on the land,
Then drew, and gave to great Achilles' hand,
Unseen of Hector, who, elate with joy,
Now shakes his lance, and braves the dread of Troy.
"The life you boasted to that javelin given,
Prince! you have miss'd. My fate depends on Heaven,
To thee, presumptuous as thou art, unknown,
Or what must prove my fortune, or thy own.
Boasting is but an art, our fears to blind,
And with false terrors sink another's mind.
But know, whatever fate I am to try,
By no dishonest wound shall Hector die.
I shall not fall a fugitive at least,
My soul shall bravely issue from my breast.
But first, try thou my arm; and may this dart
End all my country's woes, deep buried in thy heart."
The weapon flew, its course unerring held,
Unerring, but the heavenly shield repell'd
The mortal dart; resulting with a bound
From off the ringing orb, it struck the ground.
Hector beheld his javelin fall in vain,
Nor other lance, nor other hope remain;
He calls Deiphobus, demands a spear--
In vain, for no Deiphobus was there.
All comfortless he stands: then, with a sigh;
"'Tis so--Heaven wills it, and my hour is nigh!
I deem'd Deiphobus had heard my call,
But he secure lies guarded in the wall.
A god deceived me; Pallas, 'twas thy deed,
Death and black fate approach! 'tis I must bleed.
No refuge now, no succour from above,
Great Jove deserts me, and the son of Jove,
Propitious once, and kind! Then welcome fate!
'Tis true I perish, yet I perish great:
Yet in a mighty deed I shall expire,
Let future ages hear it, and admire!"
Fierce, at the word, his weighty sword he drew,
And, all collected, on Achilles flew.
So Jove's bold bird, high balanced in the air,
Stoops from the clouds to truss the quivering hare.
Nor less Achilles his fierce soul prepares:
Before his breast the flaming shield he bears,
Refulgent orb! above his fourfold cone
The gilded horse-hair sparkled in the sun.
Nodding at every step: (Vulcanian frame!)
And as he moved, his figure seem'd on flame.
As radiant Hesper shines with keener light,(277)
Far-beaming o'er the silver host of night,
When all the starry train emblaze the sphere:
So shone the point of great Achilles' spear.
In his right hand he waves the weapon round,
Eyes the whole man, and meditates the wound;
But the rich mail Patroclus lately wore
Securely cased the warrior's body o'er.
One space at length he spies, to let in fate,
Where 'twixt the neck and throat the jointed plate
Gave entrance: through that penetrable part
Furious he drove the well-directed dart:
Nor pierced the windpipe yet, nor took the power
Of speech, unhappy! from thy dying hour.
Prone on the field the bleeding warrior lies,
While, thus triumphing, stern Achilles cries:
"At last is Hector stretch'd upon the plain,
Who fear'd no vengeance for Patroclus slain:
Then, prince! you should have fear'd, what now you feel;
Achilles absent was Achilles still:
Yet a short space the great avenger stayed,
Then low in dust thy strength and glory laid.
Peaceful he sleeps, with all our rites adorn'd,
For ever honour'd, and for ever mourn'd:
While cast to all the rage of hostile power,
Thee birds shall mangle, and the gods devour."
Then Hector, fainting at the approach of death:
"By thy own soul! by those who gave thee breath!
By all the sacred prevalence of prayer;
Ah, leave me not for Grecian dogs to tear!
The common rites of sepulture bestow,
To soothe a father's and a mother's woe:
Let their large gifts procure an urn at least,
And Hector's ashes in his country rest."
"No, wretch accursed! relentless he replies;
(Flames, as he spoke, shot flashing from his eyes;)
Not those who gave me breath should bid me spare,
Nor all the sacred prevalence of prayer.
Could I myself the bloody banquet join!
No--to the dogs that carcase I resign.
Should Troy, to bribe me, bring forth all her store,
And giving thousands, offer thousands more;
Should Dardan Priam, and his weeping dame,
Drain their whole realm to buy one funeral flame:
Their Hector on the pile they should not see,
Nor rob the vultures of one limb of thee."
Then thus the chief his dying accents drew:
"Thy rage, implacable! too well I knew:
The Furies that relentless breast have steel'd,
And cursed thee with a heart that cannot yield.
Yet think, a day will come, when fate's decree
And angry gods shall wreak this wrong on thee;
Phoebus and Paris shall avenge my fate,
And stretch thee here before the Scaean gate."(278)
He ceased. The Fates suppress'd his labouring breath,
And his eyes stiffen'd at the hand of death;
To the dark realm the spirit wings its way,
(The manly body left a load of clay,)
And plaintive glides along the dreary coast,
A naked, wandering, melancholy ghost!
Achilles, musing as he roll'd his eyes
O'er the dead hero, thus unheard, replies:
"Die thou the first! When Jove and heaven ordain,
I follow thee"--He said, and stripp'd the slain.
Then forcing backward from the gaping wound
The reeking javelin, cast it on the ground.
The thronging Greeks behold with wondering eyes
His manly beauty and superior size;
While some, ignobler, the great dead deface
With wounds ungenerous, or with taunts disgrace:
"How changed that Hector, who like Jove of late
Sent lightning on our fleets, and scatter'd fate!"
High o'er the slain the great Achilles stands,
Begirt with heroes and surrounding bands;
And thus aloud, while all the host attends:
"Princes and leaders! countrymen and friends!
Since now at length the powerful will of heaven
The dire destroyer to our arm has given,
Is not Troy fallen already? Haste, ye powers!
See, if already their deserted towers
Are left unmann'd; or if they yet retain
The souls of heroes, their great Hector slain.
But what is Troy, or glory what to me?
Or why reflects my mind on aught but thee,
Divine Patroclus! Death hath seal'd his eyes;
Unwept, unhonour'd, uninterr'd he lies!
Can his dear image from my soul depart,
Long as the vital spirit moves my heart?
If in the melancholy shades below,
The flames of friends and lovers cease to glow,
Yet mine shall sacred last; mine, undecay'd,
Burn on through death, and animate my shade.
Meanwhile, ye sons of Greece, in triumph bring
The corpse of Hector, and your paeans sing.
Be this the song, slow-moving toward the shore,
"Hector is dead, and Ilion is no more."
Then his fell soul a thought of vengeance bred;
(Unworthy of himself, and of the dead;)
The nervous ancles bored, his feet he bound
With thongs _insert_ed through the double wound;
These fix'd up high behind the rolling wain,
His graceful head was trail'd along the plain.
Proud on his car the insulting victor stood,
And bore aloft his arms, distilling blood.
He smites the steeds; the rapid chariot flies;
The sudden clouds of circling dust arise.
Now lost is all that formidable air;
The face divine, and long-descending hair,
Purple the ground, and streak the sable sand;
Deform'd, dishonour'd, in his native land,
Given to the rage of an insulting throng,
And, in his parents' sight, now dragg'd along!
The mother first beheld with sad survey;
She rent her tresses, venerable grey,
And cast, far off, the regal veils away.
With piercing shrieks his bitter fate she moans,
While the sad father answers groans with groans
Tears after tears his mournful cheeks o'erflow,
And the whole city wears one face of woe:
No less than if the rage of hostile fires.
From her foundations curling to her spires,
O'er the proud citadel at length should rise,
And the last blaze send Ilion to the skies.
The wretched monarch of the falling state,
Distracted, presses to the Dardan gate.
Scarce the whole people stop his desperate course,
While strong affliction gives the feeble force:
Grief tears his heart, and drives him to and fro,
In all the raging impotence of woe.
At length he roll'd in dust, and thus begun,
Imploring all, and naming one by one:
"Ah! let me, let me go where sorrow calls;
I, only I, will issue from your walls
(Guide or companion, friends! I ask ye none),
And bow before the murderer of my son.
My grief perhaps his pity may engage;
Perhaps at least he may respect my age.
He has a father too; a man like me;
One, not exempt from age and misery
(Vigorous no more, as when his young embrace
Begot this pest of me, and all my race).
How many valiant sons, in early bloom,
Has that cursed hand send headlong to the tomb!
Thee, Hector! last: thy loss (divinely brave)
Sinks my sad soul with sorrow to the grave.
O had thy gentle spirit pass'd in peace,
The son expiring in the sire's embrace,
While both thy parents wept the fatal hour,
And, bending o'er thee, mix'd the tender shower!
Some comfort that had been, some sad relief,
To melt in full satiety of grief!"
Thus wail'd the father, grovelling on the ground,
And all the eyes of Ilion stream'd around.
Amidst her matrons Hecuba appears:
(A mourning princess, and a train in tears;)
"Ah why has Heaven prolong'd this hated breath,
Patient of horrors, to behold thy death?
O Hector! late thy parents' pride and joy,
The boast of nations! the defence of Troy!
To whom her safety and her fame she owed;
Her chief, her hero, and almost her god!
O fatal change! become in one sad day
A senseless corse! inanimated clay!"
But not as yet the fatal news had spread
To fair Andromache, of Hector dead;
As yet no messenger had told his fate,
Not e'en his stay without the Scaean gate.
Far in the close recesses of the dome,
Pensive she plied the melancholy loom;
A growing work employ'd her secret hours,
Confusedly gay with intermingled flowers.
Her fair-haired handmaids heat the brazen urn,
The bath preparing for her lord's return
In vain; alas! her lord returns no more;
Unbathed he lies, and bleeds along the shore!
Now from the walls the clamours reach her ear,
And all her members shake with sudden fear:
Forth from her ivory hand the shuttle falls,
And thus, astonish'd, to her maids she calls:
[Illustration: THE BATH.]
THE BATH.
"Ah follow me! (she cried) what plaintive noise
Invades my ear? 'Tis sure my mother's voice.
My faltering knees their trembling frame desert,
A pulse unusual flutters at my heart;
Some strange disaster, some reverse of fate
(Ye gods avert it!) threats the Trojan state.
Far be the omen which my thoughts suggest!
But much I fear my Hector's dauntless breast
Confronts Achilles; chased along the plain,
Shut from our walls! I fear, I fear him slain!
Safe in the crowd he ever scorn'd to wait,
And sought for glory in the jaws of fate:
Perhaps that noble heat has cost his breath,
Now quench'd for ever in the arms of death."
She spoke: and furious, with distracted pace,
Fears in her heart, and anguish in her face,
Flies through the dome (the maids her steps pursue),
And mounts the walls, and sends around her view.
Too soon her eyes the killing object found,
The godlike Hector dragg'd along the ground.
A sudden darkness shades her swimming eyes:
She faints, she falls; her breath, her colour flies.
Her hair's fair ornaments, the braids that bound,
The net that held them, and the wreath that crown'd,
The veil and diadem flew far away
(The gift of Venus on her bridal day).
Around a train of weeping sisters stands,
To raise her sinking with assistant hands.
Scarce from the verge of death recall'd, again
She faints, or but recovers to complain.
[Illustration: ANDROMACHE FAINTING ON THE WALL.]
ANDROMACHE FAINTING ON THE WALL.
"O wretched husband of a wretched wife!
Born with one fate, to one unhappy life!
For sure one star its baneful beam display'd
On Priam's roof, and Hippoplacia's shade.
From different parents, different climes we came.
At different periods, yet our fate the same!
Why was my birth to great Aetion owed,
And why was all that tender care bestow'd?
Would I had never been!--O thou, the ghost
Of my dead husband! miserably lost!
Thou to the dismal realms for ever gone!
And I abandon'd, desolate, alone!
An only child, once comfort of my pains,
Sad product now of hapless love, remains!
No more to smile upon his sire; no friend
To help him now! no father to defend!
For should he 'scape the sword, the common doom,
What wrongs attend him, and what griefs to come!
Even from his own paternal roof expell'd,
Some stranger ploughs his patrimonial field.
The day, that to the shades the father sends,
Robs the sad orphan of his father's friends:
He, wretched outcast of mankind! appears
For ever sad, for ever bathed in tears;
Amongst the happy, unregarded, he
Hangs on the robe, or trembles at the knee,
While those his father's former bounty fed
Nor reach the goblet, nor divide the bread:
The kindest but his present wants allay,
To leave him wretched the succeeding day.
Frugal compassion! Heedless, they who boast
Both parents still, nor feel what he has lost,
Shall cry, 'Begone! thy father feasts not here:'
The wretch obeys, retiring with a tear.
Thus wretched, thus retiring all in tears,
To my sad soul Astyanax appears!
Forced by repeated insults to return,
And to his widow'd mother vainly mourn:
He, who, with tender delicacy bred,
With princes sported, and on dainties fed,
And when still evening gave him up to rest,
Sunk soft in down upon the nurse's breast,
Must--ah what must he not? Whom Ilion calls
Astyanax, from her well-guarded walls,(279)
Is now that name no more, unhappy boy!
Since now no more thy father guards his Troy.
But thou, my Hector, liest exposed in air,
Far from thy parents' and thy consort's care;
Whose hand in vain, directed by her love,
The martial scarf and robe of triumph wove.
Now to devouring flames be these a prey,
Useless to thee, from this accursed day!
Yet let the sacrifice at least be paid,
An honour to the living, not the dead!"
So spake the mournful dame: her matrons hear,
Sigh back her sighs, and answer tear with tear. 就这样，他们悲声哀悼，哭满全城。与此同时，阿开亚人
回到船边和赫勒斯庞特沿岸，
解散队伍，返回各自的海船。惟有
阿基琉斯不愿解散慕耳弥冬人的队伍，
对着嗜喜搏战的伙伴们喊道：
“驾驭快马的慕耳弥冬人，我所信赖的伙伴们！
不要把蹄腿飞快的驭马卸出战车，
我们要赶着车马，前往帕特罗克洛斯
息身的去处，悲哭哀悼，此乃死者应该享受的礼遇。
我们要用挽歌和泪水抚慰心中的悲愁，
然后，方可宽出驭马，一起在此吃喝。”
言罢，全军痛哭嚎啕，由阿基琉斯挑头带领。
他们赶起长鬃飘洒的骏马，一连跑了三圈，围着遗体；
兵勇们悲哭哀悼，人群中，塞提丝催恿起恸哭的激情，
泪水透湿沙地，浸儒着战勇们的铠甲——如此
深切的怀念，对帕特罗克洛斯，驱赶逃敌的英壮。
裴琉斯之子领头唱起曲调凄楚的哀歌，
把杀人的双手紧贴着挚友的胸脯：“别了，
帕特罗克洛斯；我要招呼你，即便你已去了死神的府居！
瞧，我已在实践对你许下的诺言——我说过，
我要把赫克托耳拉到这里，让饿狗生吞
撕咬；砍掉十二个青壮的脑袋，特洛伊人风火正茂的儿子，
在焚你的柴堆前，消泄我对他们杀你的愤恼！”
他如此一番哭喊，心中盘划着羞辱光荣的赫克托耳。
他一把撂下死者，任其头脸贴着泥尘，陪旁着墨诺伊提俄斯
之子的尸床。与此同时，全军上下，所有的兵勇，全部脱去
闪亮的铜甲，宽出昂头嘶叫的骏马，
数千之众，在船边坐下，傍临捷足的阿基琉斯的
海船，后者已备下丰盛的丧宴，
供人们食餐。许多肥亮的壮牛挨宰被杀，
倒在铁锋下，还有众多的绵羊和咩咩哀叫的山羊，一大群
肥猪，露出白亮的尖牙，挂着大片的肥膘。兵勇们
叉起肥猪，架上赫法伊斯托斯的柴火，烧去鬃毛，
举杯接住泼倒而出的牲血，围洒在尸躯旁。
其时，阿开亚人的王者们将裴琉斯之子，
捷足的首领，引往尊贵的阿伽门农的住处，
好说歹说，方才成行——伴友的阵亡使他盛怒难消。
当一行人来到阿伽门农的营棚，
马上命令嗓音清亮的使者，
把一口大锅架上柴火，进而劝说
裴琉斯之子洗去身上斑结的污血，但
后者顽蛮地拒绝他们的规劝，发誓道：
“不，不！我要对宙斯起誓，对这位至高至尊的天神，
此举不当；不要让浴水碰洒我的头脸，在我做完这一切事情
之前：我要把帕特罗克洛斯放上燃烧的柴堆，垒土成莹，
割下头发，尊祭我的伴友——要知道，在我有生之日，
我的心灵再也不会经受如此的伤忧。
眼下，大家可以饱食我所厌恶的佳肴。明晨拂晓，
王者阿伽门农，你要唤起手下的兵众，
伐集薪材，备下死者所需的一切——
他借此上路，走向阴森、昏黑的地府。
这样，熊熊燃烧的烈火就能以最快的速度，把他送出
我们的视野，而兵勇们亦能重上战场，他们必须前往的去处。”
他如此一番说道，众人肃静聆听，谨遵不违，
赶忙动手做饭，人人吃饱喝足，
谁也不曾少得应有的份额，委屈饥渴的肠肚。
当满足了吃喝的欲望，他们分手
寝睡，走入自己的营棚。然而，
裴琉斯之子却躺倒在惊涛震响的
海滩，粗声哀叫，在慕耳弥冬营地的近旁，
一片久经海浪冲击的空净之处。
睡眠模糊了他的头脑，甜美深熟的鼾息
赶走了心中的悲痛——快步追赶赫克托耳，朝着
多风的伊利昂，疲乏了他那闪亮的腿脚。
其时，不幸的帕特罗克洛斯的幽灵出现在他的面前，
一如生前的音容和形貌，睁着那双明亮的
眼睛，裹着生前穿用的衫袍，
飘站在他的头顶，开口说道：
“你在睡觉，阿基琉斯？你已把我忘却——是否因我死了，
你就这样待我？我活着的时候，你可从来不曾有过疏忽。
埋葬我，越快越好；让我通过哀地斯的门户。
他们把我远远地挡在外面，那些个幽魂，死人的虚影，
不让我渡过阴河，同他们聚首，
我只能游荡在宽大的门外，死神的府居前。
我悲声求你，伸过你的手来；我再也
不会从冥界回返，一旦你为我举行过火焚的礼仪。
你我——活着的我——将再也不能坐在一起，离着我们
亲爱的伙伴，计谋商议；苦难的命运，
从我出生之日起，便和我朝夕相随，已张嘴把我吞咬。
你也一样，神一般的阿基琉斯，也会受到命运的催请，
例死在富足的特洛伊人的城墙下。我还有
一事要说，就此相告于你，恳求你的答从：
不要把我的遗骨和你的分葬，阿基琉斯，
我俩要合葬在一起，就像我们一起长大，在你的家里。
墨诺伊提俄斯把我带出俄普斯——其时，我还是个孩子——
领进你的家门，为了躲避一桩可悲的命案。
那一天，我杀了安菲达马斯的儿子——我真傻，
全是出于无意，起始于一场争吵，玩掷着投弄骰子的游戏。
那时候，车战者裴琉斯把我接进房居，
小心翼翼的把我抚养成人，让我作为你的伴从。
所以，让同一只瓮罐，你高贵的母亲给你的
那只双把的金瓮，盛装咱俩的遗骨。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“亲爱的兄弟，我的朋友，为何回来找我，
讲述这些要我操办的事情？没问题，
我会妥办一切，照你说的去做。哦，
请你再离近点，让我们互相拥抱，哪怕
只有短暂的瞬间——用悲伤的眼泪刷洗我们的心房！”
言罢，他伸出双臂，但却不能把他
抓抱；灵魂钻入泥地，像一缕清烟，
伴随着一声尖细的喊叫。阿基琉斯跳将起来，大惊失色，
击打着双手，悲声叹道：“哦，我的天！
即使在死神的府居，也还有某种形式的存在，
人的灵魂和幻象，虽然他们没有活人的命脉。
整整一个晚上，不幸的帕特罗克洛斯的鬼魂
悬站在我的头顶，悲哭啼诉，告诉我要做的
一件件事情，形貌和真人一模一样！”
一番话在所有人心里激起了恸哭的悲情。
黎明用玫瑰色的手指送来曙光，照射在他们身上，汇聚在
可悲的遗体周围，痛哭不已。其时，强有力的阿伽门农
命令兵勇们牵着骡子，走出各自的营棚，
上山伐木，由一位出色的人选带队，
墨里俄奈斯，骠勇的伊多墨纽斯的伴随。
兵勇们鱼贯出动，手握砍树的斧头
和紧打密编的绳索，跟行在骡子后头。
他们翻山越岭，走过倾斜的岗峦，崎岖的小道，
来到多泉的伊达，起伏的岭坡，
开始用锋快的铜斧砍伐，压上
全身的重量，放倒耸顶着叶冠的橡树，
发出轰轰隆隆的声响。接着，阿开亚人劈开树干，
绑上骡背，后者迈出辗裂地层的
腿步，艰难地穿过林区，走向平原。
伐木者人人肩扛树段，遵照
温雅的伊多墨纽斯的伴从墨里俄奈斯的命令。
他们撂下肩上的重压，整齐地排放在滩沿，阿基琉斯选定的
位置，准备为帕特罗克洛斯和他自己，堆垒一座高大的坟茔。
他们从四面甩下堆积如山的树段，垛毕，
屈腿下坐，云聚滩沿。阿基琉斯
当即命令嗜喜搏战的慕耳弥冬人
扣上铜甲，并要所有的驭手把马匹
套入战车。众人起身穿披铠甲，
登上战车，驭者和他身边的枪手。
车马先行，大群步战的兵勇随后跟进，
数千之众。人流里，伙伴们扛着帕特罗克洛斯的躯体，
上面满盖着他们的头发——众人割下的发绺，抛铺在
他的身上。在他们身后，卓越的阿基琉斯抱起他的头颅，
嘶声痛哭——他在护送一位忠实的伴友，前往哀地斯的家府。
他们来到阿基琉斯指定的地点，
放下遗体，搬动树料，迅速垒起一个巨大的柴堆。
其时，卓越的、捷足的阿基琉斯突然想起另一件要做的事情。
他走离木堆，站定，割下一绺金黄色的头发——
长期蓄留的发丝，准备献给河神斯裴耳开俄斯的礼物——
心情痛苦沮丧，凝望着酒蓝色的大海，诵道：
“斯裴耳开俄斯，家父裴琉斯白白辛苦了一场，对你
许下此番誓愿：当我回到我所热爱的故乡，
我将割发尊祭，举行一次盛大、神圣的
祭礼，宰杀五十头不曾去势的公羊，献给
你的水流，伴着你的园林和烟火缭绕的祭坛。
这便是老人的誓愿，可你却没有实现他的企望。
现在，既然我已不打算回返亲爱的故乡，
我将把头发献给帕特罗克洛斯，让它陪伴归去的英雄。”
言罢，他把发绺放入好友的
手心，在所有的人心里激起了恸哭的悲情。
其时，太阳的光芒将会照射悲哭的人群，
要不是阿基琉斯当即站到阿伽门农身边，说道：
“阿特桑斯之子，你的命令在全军中享有
最高的权威。凡事都有限度，哭悼亦然。
现在，你可解散柴堆边的队伍，让他们整备
食餐。我等是死者最亲近的朋伴，我们会
操办这里的一切。可让各位首领逗留，和我们一起。”
听罢这番话，全军的统帅阿伽门农
当即下令解散队伍，让他们返回线条匀称的海船。
但是，主要悼祭者们仍然逗留火场，添放着木块，
垒起一个长宽各达一百步的柴堆，
带着沉痛的心情，把遗体置放顶面。
柴堆前，他们剥杀和整治了成群的
肥羊和腿步瞒珊的弯角壮牛。心胸豪壮的
阿基琉斯扒下油脂，从所有祭畜的肚腔，包裹尸躯，
从头到脚，把去皮的畜体排放在死者周围。
接着，他把一些双把的分装着油和蜜的坛罐放在伴友身边，
紧靠着棺床，哭叫着把四匹颈脖粗长的
骏马迅速扔上柴堆。高贵的
帕特罗克洛斯豢养着九条好狗，
他杀了其中的两条，抹了它们的脖子，放上柴堆；
他还杀了十二名高贵的青壮，心胸豪壮的特洛伊人的儿子，
用他的铜剑，心怀邪恶的意念，把他们付诸柴火铁一般的狂烈。
然后，他放声哭叫，呼喊着心爱的伴友，叫着他的名字：
“别了，帕特罗克洛斯；我要招呼你，即便你已去了死神的府
居！瞧，我已在实践对你许下的诺言。这里
躺着十二个高贵的青壮，心胸豪壮的特洛伊人的儿子，
焚化你的烈火将把他们烧成灰泥。至于赫克托耳，
普里阿摩斯之子，我不打算把他投放柴火——我要让犬狗把
他断裂！”
他如此一番威胁，但犬狗却不曾撕食赫克托耳，
阿芙罗底忒，宙斯的女儿，为他挡开狗的侵袭，
夜以继日，用玫瑰仙油涂抹他的身躯，
使阿基琉斯，在把他来回拖跑的时候，不致豁裂他的肌体。
福伊波斯·阿波罗从天上采下一朵黑云，
降在平原上，遮住死者息躺的
整块地皮，使太阳的暴晒不致
枯萎他的身躯、四肢和筋肌。
然而，帕特罗克洛斯横躺的柴堆此时却不曾窜起火苗，卓越的
战勇、捷足的阿基琉斯由此想到还有一件该做的事情。
他站离柴堆，求告两飙旋风，
波瑞阿斯和泽夫罗斯，许下丰厚的祭礼，
注满金质的盏杯，慷慨地泼洒美酒，恳求
他们快来，点发柴堆，以最快的速度
火焚堆顶的躯体。听闻他的祷告，伊里丝
带着信息，急速赶往强风歇脚的去处。其时，
风哥们正聚息在荡送狂飙的泽夫罗斯的家里，
享用主人摆下的食宴；伊里丝收住疾行的身姿，
站在石凿的门槛上。他们一见到伊里丝的身影，
马上跳将起来，争先恐后地邀请，请她坐在自己身边，
但她拒绝了他们的盛情，开口说道：
“不行啊，我必须赶回俄开阿诺斯的水流，
埃西俄比亚人的疆土；他们正举行隆重的祀祭，
给不死的神祗；我必须享用我的份额，参加神圣的宴礼。
但是，我带来了阿基琉斯的祈愿，祷请波瑞阿斯和狂风怒号的
泽夫罗斯前往助信，许下丰厚的答祭，
要你们吹燃焚尸的柴堆，托着死去的
帕特罗克洛斯；阿开亚人全都围聚尸边，痛哭流涕。”
言罢，伊里丝动身离去。疾风一扫而起，
发出排山倒海般的响声，驱散风前的云朵，
以突起的狂飙扫过洋面，呼啸的旋风卷起
排空的激浪。他们登临肥沃的特洛伊地面，
击打着柴堆，卷起凶暴的烈焰，呼呼作响；
整整一个晚上，他俩吹送出嘶叫的疾风，
腾托起柴堆上的烈火；整整一个晚上，捷足的阿基琉斯
手拿双把的酒杯，从金兑缸里舀出一杯杯
醇酒，泼洒在地，透湿泥尘，
呼唤着不幸的帕特罗克洛斯的亡魂，
像一位哭悼的父亲，焚烧着儿子的尸骨，新婚的
儿郎，他的死亡愁煞了不幸的双亲——
就像这样，阿基琉斯焚烧着伴友的尸骨，痛哭不已，
悲声哀悼，拖着沉重的脚步，挪行在火堆的近旁。
这时，启明星升上天空，向大地预报
新的一天的来临，黎明随之对着大海，抖开金黄色的篷袍；
地面上，柴火已经偃灭，烈焰亦已收熄。
疾风掉转头脸，直奔家门，扫过
斯拉凯洋面——大海为之沸腾，掀起巨浪，悲吼哀鸣。
裴琉斯之子转身走离火堆，曲腿
躺下，筋疲力尽，心中升起香甜的睡意。
其时，阿特柔斯之子身边的人们汇成一堆，
迈步走来，喧嚷和芜杂之声吵醒了阿基琉斯。
他坐起身子，挺着腰板，开口说道：
“阿特柔斯之子，各位阿开亚人的首领——
首先，用晶亮的醇酒扑灭柴堆上的余火，
那些仍在腾腾燃烧的木块；然后，我们
将收捡墨诺伊提俄斯之子帕特罗克洛斯的遗骨，
要小心在意，虽然辨识并不困难：
他躺在柴堆中间，其他人则远离他的身边，
和马匹拥杂在一起，焚烧在火堆的边沿。
让我们把尸骨放入金瓮，用双层的油脂
封包得严严实实，直到我自己藏身哀地斯的那一天。
至于坟冢，我的意思，你们不必筑得太大，
只要看来合适就行。日后，阿开亚人可把它
添高加宽，那些有幸活下来的人们，在我
死后，在这些安着凳板的海船边。”
听罢这番话，人们动手办事，按照捷足的阿基琉斯的意愿。
首先，他们用晶亮的醇酒扑灭柴堆上的余火，
不放过每一束火苗；灰烬沾酒塌陷。
接着，他们含泪捡起灰堆中的白骨，温善的伙伴的遗骸，
用双层的油脂封包得严严实实，放入
金瓮，送进他的营棚，盖上一层轻薄的麻布；
随后，他们开始垒筑死者的坟茔。围着
焚尸的火堆，他们先垒起一堵石墙，然后填人松散的泥土，
堆起高高的坟冠。筑毕，他们转身离去。但是，阿基琉斯
留住他们，要他们就地坐下，黑压压的一片。
他搬出竞赛的奖品，从他的海船，有大锅、铜鼎。
骏马、骡子和颈脖粗壮的肥牛，还有
束腰秀美的女子和暗蒙蒙的灰铁。
首先，他为迅捷的车手设下闪光的奖品。
荣获第一名者，可带走一位女子，手工娴熟精细，
外加一只带耳把的铜鼎，容量大至二十二个
衡度；给第二名，他设下一匹未曾上过轭架的
母马，六岁口，肚里还揣着一匹骡驹。
为第三名，他设下一口精美的大锅，从未受过柴火的
炙烤，容量四个衡度，闪闪发光，一件簇新的精品；
给第四名，他设下两个塔兰同的黄金；
第五名的奖品是一只从未经受火烤的双把坛罐。
他站挺起身子，对着集聚的阿耳吉维人喊道：
“阿特柔斯之子，所有胫甲坚固的阿开亚人！
我已把奖品搬上赛场，正等候着驭手们领取。
当然，、倘若在祭办另一位英雄的丧事中举行车赛，
我自己定可把头奖争回营棚。
你们知道，我的马远比其他驭马快捷，
那两匹神驹，波塞冬送给家父
裴琉斯的礼物，而裴琉斯又把它们传给了我。
但今天，我不参赛，我的蹄腿风快的驭马也一样。
它们失去了一位声名遐迩的驭手，一个
好心的人，生前曾无数次地替它们擦洗，
在清亮的水流里，然后用松软的橄榄油涂抹鬃毛。
难怪它俩垂首位站，深情哀悼，长鬃
铺地，木然直立，带着沉痛的心情。
但是，你们其他人，不管是阿开亚人中的哪一个，只要
信得过自己的驭马和制合坚固的战车，现在即可各就各位！”
裴琉斯之子言罢，迅捷的驭手纷聚云集。
最先起身的是欧墨洛斯，民众的王者，
阿得墨托斯的爱子，出类拔萃的驭手。
继他而起的是图丢斯之子，强健的狄俄墨得斯，
套着两匹特洛伊骏马，从埃内阿斯手下
强行夺来的战礼——而埃内阿斯本人则被阿波罗所教。
接着，人群里站起阿特柔斯之子，棕发的墨奈劳斯，
天之骄子，车轭下套着一对风快的好马，
埃赛，阿伽门农的牝马，和他自己的波达耳戈斯。
厄开波洛斯，安基塞斯之子，把它给了阿伽门农，
作为一份礼物，使他免于跟着联军的统帅，进兵多风的伊利昂，
得以留居本地，享受丰裕的生活——宙斯给了他
丰足的财富，家住地域宽广的西库昂。
就是这匹母马，其时套用在墨奈劳斯车下，急不可待地试图扬
蹄飞跑。
第四位赛者此时起身套用长鬃飘洒的骏马，安提洛科斯，
奈琉斯心志高昂的儿男、王者奈斯托耳光荣的儿子。
这对驭马，蹄腿飞快，道地的普洛斯血种，
拉着他的战车。其时，奈琉斯站在他的身边，
对着心智敏捷的儿子，道出一番有益的嘱告：
“安提洛科斯，虽说你很年轻，却得到宙斯和阿波罗的
宠爱；他们已教会你驾车的全套本领。
所以，你并不十分需要我的指点；你早已掌握
如何驾车拐过标杆的技术。但是，你的
马慢，我以为这将是你获胜的一个阻碍。
你的对手，虽然驾着快马，但论驭马赶车的本领，
他们中谁都不比你高明。要
做到心中有数，我的孩子，善用你的
每一分技巧，不要让奖品从你手中滑掉！
一个出色的樵夫，靠的是技巧，而不是鲁莽。
同样，凭靠技巧，舵手牢牢把握快船的航向，
尽管受到风浪的冲袭，疾驰在酒蓝色的洋面上。
驭者撵赶对手，靠的也是技巧。
平庸的驭者，把一切寄托于驭马和战车，
大大咧咧地驱车拐弯，使马车大幅度地左右歪摇，
由于无力制驭奔马，只好看着他们跑离车道。
但是，高明的驭手，虽然赶着腿脚相对迟慢的驭马，
却总把双眼盯住前面的杆标，紧贴着它拐弯，
从一开始便收紧牛皮的缰绳，松放适时，
把握驭马的跑向，注意领先的对手。
至于转弯的标杆，本身已相当醒目，你不会把它错过。
那是一截干硬的树桩，离地约有六尺之高，
可能是橡树，也可能是松树，还不曾被雨水侵蚀；
树干上撑靠着两块雪白的石头，一边一块。
此乃去程结束，回程开始之处，周围是一片舒坦的平野。
这东西或许是一座古坟的遗迹，
也可能是前人设下的一个车赛中拐弯的标记——
现在，捷足的壮勇、卓越的阿基琉斯把它定为转弯的杆标。
你必须赶着车马，紧贴着它奔跑；与此同时，
在编绑坚实的战车里，你要把重心
略微左倾，举鞭击打右边的驭马，
催它向前，松手放出缰绳，让它用力快跑；
但对左边的驭马，你要让它尽可能贴近转弯的树桩，
使车的轮毂看来就像擦着它的边沿
一般——但要小心，不要真的碰上，
否则，你会伤了驭马，毁了车辆，
如此结果，只会让对手高兴，使自己脸上
无光。所以，我的孩子，要多思多想，小心谨慎。
如果你能紧紧咬住对手，在拐弯之处把他们甩下，
那么，谁也甭想挣扎补救，谁也不能把你赶上，
哪怕你后面的对手赶着了不起的阿里昂，
阿得瑞斯托斯的骏足，神的后裔，
或劳墨冬的良驹，特洛伊最好的奔马。”
言罢，奈斯托耳，奈琉斯之子，坐回自己的
位置；他已把赛车须知的要点，告诉了自己的儿子。
第五位动手套车的赛者是墨里俄奈斯。
他们登上马车，把阄石扔进头盔。阿基琉斯
摆手摇动，安提洛科斯、奈琉斯之子的石阄
首先出盔落地；接着，强有力的欧墨洛斯拈中他的车道，
再接着是阿特柔斯之子、著名的枪手墨奈劳斯。
墨里俄奈斯拈中了他的位置，其后，狄俄墨得斯，
他们中远为杰出的佼佼者，拈得第五个起跑的车位。
他们在起点上横队而立，阿基琉斯指明了转标的位置，
老远地竖立在平原上，并已派出一位裁判，
神一样的福伊尼克斯，他父亲的帮手，
观记车赛的情况，带回真实的报告。
其时，赛手们全都高悬起马鞭，
猛击马的股脊，高声喊叫，催马
向前。奔马直冲出去，撒蹄平野，
顷刻之间，便把海船远远地抛甩。
胸肚下，泥尘升卷飞扬，像天上的云朵或旋滚的风暴；
颈背上，长鬃飞舞，顺着扑面的疾风。马车疾驶向前，
时而贴着养育我们的土地迅跑，
时而离着地面飞滚腾跃；驭手们
站在车里，揣着怦怦闪跳的心房，
急切地企盼夺取胜利，人人吆喝着自己的
驭马，后者蹽开蹄腿，穿过泥尘纷飞的平原。
但是，当迅捷的快马踏上最后一段赛程，
朝着灰蓝色的大海回跑时，驭手们全都竭己所能，
各显身手；赛场上，驭马挤出了每一分腿力。转眼之间，
菲瑞斯的孙子欧墨洛斯、驾着那对捷蹄的快马，抢先
跑到前头，后面跟着狄俄墨得斯的两匹儿马，
特洛伊良驹，紧紧尾随，相距不远，
似乎随时都可能扑上前面的战车，
喷出腾腾的热气，烘烤着欧墨洛斯的脊背和
宽阔的肩膀，马头几乎垂悬在他的身上，飞也似地紧追不舍。
其时，狄俄墨得斯很可能迎头赶超，或跑出个胜负难分的
局面，要不是福伊波斯·阿波罗，出于对图丢斯之子
狄俄墨得斯的怨恨，打落他手中的马鞭。
看着欧墨洛斯的牝马远远地冲到前头，
而自己的驭马则因为没有皮鞭的催赶而腿步松弛，
驭手心头愤恨，泪水夺眶而出。然而，
雅典娜眼见了阿波罗对图丢斯之子的
调弄，飞降到兵士的牧者身边，
交还他的马鞭，把勇力注入驭马的身腿。
然后，女神挟着愤怒，追赶阿得墨托斯的儿子，
砸烂车前的轭架——驭马偏向分离，
奔跑在车道的两边，车杆跌磕碰撞，把欧墨洛斯
甩出车身，扑倒在轮圈旁，
擦烂了手肘、嘴唇和鼻孔，
额头上，眉毛一带，摔得皮开肉绽。两眼
泪水汪汪，粗大的嗓门此时窒息哽塞。
其时，图丢斯之子驾着蹄腿飞快的驭马，绕过
对手的马车，猛冲向前，把其他人远远地抛在后头——雅典娜
已给驭马注入勇力，使驭手争得光荣。
阿特柔斯之子、棕发的墨奈劳斯跑在他的后面。
安提洛科斯，此时名居第三，对着他父亲的驭马喊道：
“加油哇，你们两个！快跑，越快越好！我并不
想要你们和领头的那对驭马竞比，
车术高明的狄俄墨得斯的骏马，因为雅典娜
已给它们迅跑的勇力，让驭者争得光荣。
但是，我要你们加快速度，追赶阿特柔斯之子的驭马，
不要让它们把你们抛在后头；否则，埃赛——别忘了，它是一
匹骒马——
会把你们羞得无地自容！你们落后了，勇敢的驭马，为什么？
奈斯托耳，兵士的牧者，不会再给你们
我要警告你们，此事不带半点虚假：
抚爱；相反，他会立时宰了你俩，用锋快的铜刀，
倘若因为你们的怠懈，我们得了次等的酬奖！
还不给我紧紧咬住它们，跑出最快的速度，
我自己亦会想方设法，我有这个能耐，从旁
挤到他的前头，在路面变窄的地段——他躲不过我的追赶！”
安提洛科斯言罢，驭马畏于主人的呵斥，
加快腿步，猛跑了一阵。突然，骠勇犟悍的
安提洛科斯看到前面出现一段狭窄的车道，
一个崩裂的泥坑积聚的冬雨蓄涌
冲刷，在那一带破开了一片塌陷的路面。其时，
墨奈劳斯驱马驶近毁裂的地段，试图单车先过所剩的残道，
但安提洛科斯却把腿脚风快的驭马整个儿
绕出路面，复而转插回去，紧贴着对手追赶；
阿特柔斯之子心里害怕，对着他高声呼喊：
“安提洛科斯，你这也叫赶车？简直像个疯子！赶快收住你的
驭马！此地路面狭窄，但马上即会宽广舒坦。
小心，不要碰撞，毁了你的车马！”
他如此一番警告，但安提洛科斯却赶得更加起劲，
举鞭催马，以求跑得更快，似乎根本没有听见他的呼喊。
像一块飞旋的投饼跑过的距程，出自臂膀的运转，
掷者是一位年轻的小伙，试图估量自己的膂力——在此段
距离内，他俩一直平行竞驰；其后，阿特柔斯之子的牝马
渐渐落到后头，因他主动松缓催马向前的劲头，
担心风快的驭马会在道中相撞，
翻倒编绑坚固的战车，而车上的驭手
则会一头扑进泥尘，连同他们的挣扎和求胜的希望。
对着超前的驭手，棕发的墨奈劳斯破口大骂：
“安提洛科斯，天底下找不到比你更好毒的无赖！
跑去吧，该死的东西！阿开亚人全都瞎了眼，以为你是个通情
达理之人。
但即便如此，你也休想拿走奖品，除非你发誓诅咒！”
言罢，他又转而对着自己的驭马，嚷道：
“不要减速，切莫停步，虽然你们心里充满悲痛！
它们的膝腿不如你们的强健，用不了多久
便会疲乏酥软——闪烁着青春的年华已不再属于它们！”
听到主人愤怒的声音，驭马心里害怕，
加快腿步，很快便接近了跑在前面的对手。
其时，阿耳吉维人汇聚赛场，坐地
观望；平原上，骏马撒蹄飞跑，穿行在飞扬的泥尘里。
伊多墨纽斯，克里特人的首领，首先眺见回程的驭马，
离着众人，坐在一个高耸和利于看视的了望点上，
听到远处传来的喊叫，并已听出这是
谁的声音；他还看到一匹儿马，领先跑在前头，
引人瞩目，通身栗红，除了前额上的
一块白斑，形状溜圆，像盈满的月亮。伊多墨纽斯
站起身子，对阿耳吉维人喊道：
“朋友们，阿耳吉维人的首领和统治者们！
全军中是否只有我，还是你们大家也行，才能眺见
奔马的踪影？现在看来，跑在头里的似乎已是另一对驭马，
由另一位赛者驾驭。欧墨洛斯的牝马一定在
平原的什么地方遇到了伤心的事情——去程之中，它们可是
我曾看着它们转过桩杆，跑在前头，但
现在却找不到它们的踪影，虽然我睁大眼睛，
搜视过特洛伊平原的每一个角落。一定是
驭手抓不住缰绳，在树桩一带
失去控制，使驭马转弯不成，
就在那里，我想，他被摔出败毁的马车，
驭马惊恐万状，腾起前蹄，跑离车道。
站起来，用你们的眼睛看一看，我辨不太清楚
整个赛况，但跑在最前面的似乎是
那位出生在埃托利亚，现在统治着阿耳吉维人的王者，
调驯烈马的图丢斯之子，强有力的狄俄墨得斯！”
其时，迅捷的埃阿斯，俄伊琉斯之子，粗鲁地呵斥道：
“伊多墨级斯，为何总爱大话连篇？蹄腿轻快的
骏马还远离此地，在那宽广的平野上迅跑。
你肯定不是全军中年纪最轻的战勇，
而你脑门上的那双眼睛也绝对不比别人的犀利。
但是，你总爱唠唠叨叨地口出狂言——你最好不要
大话说个没完，当着那些比你能说会道的人的脸面！
跑在头里的驭马还是原来的两匹，欧墨洛斯的
牝马，其人正手执缰绳，站在它们的后面！”
听罢这番话，克里特人的王者怒火中烧，答道：
“埃阿斯，骂场上的英雄，愚不可及的蠢货！除此而外，
你固执顽蛮，是阿耳吉维人中最低劣的笨蛋！
来吧，让我们许物打赌，一只铜鼎或一口大锅，
请阿伽门农，阿特柔斯之子，见证仲裁，看看哪对
驭马领先——在你拿出东西的时候，你就会知晓这一点！”
他言罢，迅捷的埃阿斯，俄伊琉斯之子，站起身子，
怒火中烧，以狠毒的辱骂回报。其时，
这场纠纷还会升温加热，若不是
阿基琉斯亲自起身调停，对他们说道：
“够了，埃阿斯和伊多墨纽斯，不要再喊出
恶毒的言词，互相攻击谩骂！现在可不是喧嚣的时候。
倘若有人如此厮闹，你等自己亦会怒火满腔。
还是坐下吧，和众人一起，目视奔跑的
驭马，它们正奋力拼搏，争夺胜利，瞬息之间
便可跑回此地。那时，你俩即可亲眼目睹，阿耳吉维人的
驭马中，哪一对跑抢第一，哪一对名列第二。”
与此同时，图丢斯之子正以冲刺的速度，对着终点跑来，
不停地挥动皮鞭，抬肩抽打驭马，后者
高扬起蹄腿，对着终点，跑得更加欢快。
马蹄卷起纷飞的尘土，夹头夹脑地扑向赶车的驭手，
包着黄金和白锡的战车疾行在
腾跃的马蹄后，平浅的泥尘上，
滚动的车轮没有留下明晰的辙痕——
驭马像追风似地扫过终点。狄俄墨得斯勒住骏马，
在聚场的中心，如雨的汗水纷纷滴洒，
掉落泥尘，从它们的脖颈和胸腿。
驭手随即跳下闪光的马车，把
马鞭倚放在轭架前。强健的塞奈洛斯
毫不怠慢，在狄俄墨得斯卸马之时，
快步跑去，拿过奖品，把那名女子和
安着耳把的铜鼎交给心志高昂的伙伴，带回营盘。
接着，奈琉斯的后代安提洛科斯驱马跑完全程，
赶过了墨奈劳斯，不是靠速度，而是凭狡诈。
然而，墨奈劳斯仍然赶着快马，紧紧追逼，
所隔距离只有像从车轮到驭马之间那么一点：驭马奋蹄疾跑，
拉着主人和战车，穿越在平旷的原野，
马尾的梢端擦扫着滚动的
轮缘——车轮紧追不放，飞滚在舒坦的
平原，二者之间仅隔着狭窄的空间。就像这样，
墨奈劳斯跑在家勇的安提洛科斯后面，
差距也只有这么一点。起先，落后的距离相当于摔饼的
一次投程，但他奋起直追，缩短了距离，
长鬃飞舞的埃赛，阿伽门农的牝马，抖开追风的蹄腿。
其时，倘若跑程更长一些，墨奈劳斯
便可把他甩在后头——这样，他们就无须为此多言。
墨里俄奈斯，伊多墨纽斯刚勇的伴从，继光荣的
墨奈劳斯之后跑至终点，拉下的距离，等于枪矛的一次投程。
他的驭马，虽说鬃发秀美，却是腿步最慢的一对，
而他自己亦是赛者中最次劣的驭手。
最后抵达的是阿得墨托斯的儿子，
拖着漂亮的马车，催赶着走在前头的驭马。
见此情景，捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯心生伶悯，
起身站在阿耳吉维人中间，开口说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“一位最好的驭手，赶着飞跑的快马，以末名告终。
这样吧，让我们给他一份奖品，该得的份子——
二等奖；一等头奖要给图丢斯的儿子。”
阿基琉斯如此说道，他的主张得到众人的赞同。
如此，他就准备让阿得墨托斯之子牵走母马，
若非安提洛科斯，心胸豪壮的奈斯托耳之子，
起身争辩，面对裴琉斯的男儿，说道：
“阿基琼斯，倘若你真的这么做了，
我将非常生气！你打算转手我的奖品，
考虑到他的战车和快马受到伤损，还有他自己，
一位车技出众的驭手。他应该祈求长生不老的
神仙——这样，他就不会落在所有驭者的后面！
但是，如果你可怜他，喜欢他，那也可以，
你的营棚里有的是黄金、青铜、
肥羊、女仆和蹄腿风快的骏马。以后，你可
从里头拿出一份更丰厚的奖品，赏送此人，
亦可马上兑现，赢获阿开亚人的称颂。
至于这匹母马，我决然不会放弃；谁想把它带走，
那就让他上来，和我对打，用他的双手！”
他如此一番争议，但阿基琉斯，卓越的捷足者，出于对
他的喜爱，脸上绽开了笑容，对他钟爱的伙伴
开口说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“安提洛科斯，你要我从住处搬出另一件东西，
作为和解纠纷的礼物，送给欧墨洛斯，我愿按你说的做来。
我要给他一件胸甲，剥自阿斯忒罗派俄斯的战礼，
青铜铸就，甲边镶着闪亮的
白锡。此份礼物，自会得到他的珍重。”
言罢，他让亲密的伴友奥托墨冬
速回营棚，拿取胸衣，后者携甲回归，
放在得主手里；欧墨洛斯高兴地收下了赏礼。
其时，墨奈劳斯，压着心头的楚痛，站起身子，
怀着对安提洛科斯难以消泄的怨愤。使者
把权杖放在他的手里，召呼阿耳吉维人肃静
聆听。他挺胸直立，神一样的凡人，高声嚷道：
“安提洛科斯，过去，你是个头脑清楚的人；可现在，瞧你都干
了些什么蠢事！
你损毁了我的车技，滞阻了驭马的腿步——你，
赶着奔马，强行冲挤，虽然和我的骏马相比，它们的速度实在
不值得一提。
来吧，阿耳吉维人的统治者，军队的首领，
现在，请你们给我俩评个理，不要徇私偏袒，
使身披铜甲的阿开亚人日后不致以误谈传世：
（墨奈劳斯击败了安提洛科斯，通过欺骗，
带走那匹母马——他的驭马腿脚远不如对手的迅捷，
但他凭靠权势和地位，掠取了那份奖品。）
这样吧，还是让我自己处置这件事情。我想，达奈人中
谁也不会对我指控责备；我将公平办事。
宙斯钟爱的安提洛科斯，你过来，循行我们的规矩。
站在你的车马前，紧握你刚才
赶马的那根细长的皮鞭，
把手放在驭马上，对着环绕和震撼
大地的神明起誓：你不曾用歪邪的手段，挫阻我的马车！”
听罢这番话，聪颖的安提洛科斯答道：
“别说了，我的王爷。我比你年轻许多，
墨奈劳斯，而你比我年长，是个更了不起的人。
你知道，年轻人血气方刚，总爱逾规越矩；
他心思敏捷，无奈判识肤浅。所以，
愿蒙你的海量，容我让出那匹已经争获的母马，
心甘情愿地交到你的手里。倘若你还想要取比这更好的东西，
从我的库存，我将马上取来，高兴地奉送
给你，宙斯养育的王者，我不愿日后失去
你的宠爱，盟发虚伪的誓证，当着神的脸面。”
言罢，心胸豪壮的奈斯托耳的儿子把母马牵到
墨奈劳斯身边，交在他的手里。后者的愤怒
此时烟消云散，像晨露滋润谷穗一般，
在那茎秆拥立、谷浪翻滚的时节——
就像这样，墨奈劳斯，你的心田已被平慰松软。
他开口发话，用长了翅膀的言语：
“安提洛科斯，现在，我愿消泄怨愤，同你握手言欢，
谅你过去一向稳重谦顺。只是今天，
这一回，年轻人的粗莽压服了你的敏慧。
不过，下次可要小心，不要欺诈地位比你更高的首领。
其他阿开亚人，谁都甭想仅凭三言两语，平慰我的心灵。
但你却不同——为了我，你长期苦战，历经磨难，
偕同你那高贵的父亲，还有你的兄弟。
我愿接受你的恳求，甚至还愿给你这匹
母马，虽然它是我的所有，以便让众人知道，
我的为人既不固执，也不傲慢。”
言罢，他把母马交给诺厄蒙、安提洛科斯的伙伴
牵走，自己则拿了那口闪亮的大锅。
墨里俄奈斯名列第四，拿走了两个
塔蓝同的黄金；尚剩第五份奖品，那只带着两个
手把的坛罐，没有得主。拿着它，阿基琉斯走过
集聚的阿耳吉维群队，捧给奈斯托耳，站在他的身边，说道：
“收下这个，老人家，把它当做珍宝收藏，
作为一个纪念，对帕特罗克洛斯的葬礼。从今后，在阿耳吉
维人的群伍里，你将再也见不到他的身影。我给你这件奖品，
作为一份赠送的礼物，因为你再也不会参加竞斗，无论是
拳击还是摔跤，无论是旷场上的投枪，还是
撒开腿步的奔跑——年龄的重压已在弯挤你的腰背。’”
他如此一番说道，把礼物放在奈斯托耳手里，后者
高兴地收取接纳，开口说道，用长了翅膀的话语：
“是的，孩子，你的话句句都对。
我的膝腿已不太坚实，亲爱的朋友，我的脚杆也一样；
我的手臂已不如从前强壮，已不能轻松地随着肩头挥甩。
我真想重返青壮，像以前那样，浑身上下有用不完的
力气——那时，厄利斯人正忙着埋葬王者阿马仑丘斯，
在布普拉西昂；他的儿子们亦以举办竞赛奠祭先王。
那地方，厄利斯人中，谁也不是我的对手，就连在
我们普洛斯人或心胸豪壮的埃托利亚人中，情况也一样。
拳击中，我打翻了克鲁托墨得斯，厄诺普斯之子；
摔跤中，我撂倒了和我对阵的普琉荣人，安凯俄斯；
赛跑中，我击败了伊菲克洛斯，哪怕他快腿如飞。
我的枪矛超出了波鲁多罗斯和夫琉斯的投程。
只是在车赛中，我输给了阿克托耳之子——
仗着人多，硬抢在我的前头，拼命似地想要
夺取胜利，因为最丰厚的奖品留给了此项比赛的胜者。
他俩孪生同胞，一个紧握缰绳，是的，
紧紧握住缰绳，另一个举鞭抽赶驭马。
这便是我，从前的我。现在，此类竞斗要让当今的
青壮承担；至于我，我得顺从痛苦的晚年，接受
它的规劝。但过去，我确是闪耀在豪杰中的一颗明星。
去吧，继续进行葬礼中的竞赛，奠祭死去的伴友。
我接受你的礼物，感谢你的盛情。我真高兴，
你没有忘记我的友谊，不失时机地
表示对我的尊敬，阿开亚人中，我应该享受的荣誉。
为了你对我所做的一切，愿神祗给你带来幸福，使你欢悦！”
奈斯托耳言罢，裴琉斯之子，带着赞词的余音——
他静静地听完奈斯托耳的每一句赞颂——穿过大队的
阿开亚兵勇，搬出奖品，准备开始下一项比赛：包孕痛苦的
拳击。他牵出一头壮实的骡子，系绑在竞比场上，
六岁的牙口，从未上过轭架，那类最难套驭的
犟种。他还拿出一只双把的酒杯，赏给负者的奖品。
其时，他站挺起身子，对着集聚的阿耳吉维人喊道：
“阿特桑斯之子，所有胫甲坚固的阿开亚人！
现在，我们邀请两位战勇，你们中最好的斗士，竞夺这些奖品，
举起拳头拼搏！谁要能受阿波罗的
助信，击倒对手，并得到全体阿开亚人的见证，
我们就让他拉走这匹吃苦耐劳的骡子，带往自己的营棚。
那只双把的酒杯将给败下拳场的赛手。”
他言罢，人群中站起了一位高大、强健的壮勇，
帕诺裴乌斯之子、精于拳击的厄裴俄斯。
他手搭吃苦耐劳的骡子，开口嚷道：
“谁想领走这个双把的酒杯，就让他上来吧！
告诉你们，阿开亚人中谁也甭想把我放倒，用他的拳击，
带走这头骡子——我是无敌的拳手！战场上，
我不是一流的兵勇，然而，这又
怎么样呢？谁也不能样样上手精通。
老实告诉你们，而此事确会发生，
我将撕裂对手的皮肉，捣碎他的骨头！
让他的亲友缩挤在拳场的一边，
以便在我的拳头将他砸倒之后，把他抬走！”
他言罢，众人全被镇得目瞪口呆，
只有欧鲁阿洛斯起身应战，神一样的凡人，
塔劳斯之子、王者墨基斯丢斯的儿子，
其父曾前往塞贝，在过去的年月，俄底浦斯刚死不久的时候，
置身奠祭死者的竞赛，击败了所有的卡德墨亚人。
图丢斯之子，著名的枪手，充当欧鲁阿洛斯的帮办，鼓励他
奋勇搏击，衷心希望他赢得这场拳斗。
首先，他替拳手系上腰带，然后，
包住手指的关节，用切割齐整的皮条，取自漫步草场的
壮牛。两位拳手系扎就绪，大步跨人赛圈，
面对面地摆开架势。一时间，粗壮的臂膀
来回伸缩，绷硬的拳头交相挥舞，
牙齿咬出可怕的声响，汗水淋湿了
每一块肌腱。神勇的厄裴俄斯抓住时机，趁他
眼神偏闪的瞬息，一拳暴中他的脸面，打得他
摇摇晃晃，闪亮的膝腿瘫软酥蜷。
像一条海鱼，跃出经受北风拂荡的水面，
复又扑入水草丛生的浅滩，被一峰乌黑的水浪涌埋吞噬——
欧鲁阿洛吃不不住拳头的重击，瘫倒在地，心胸豪壮的
厄裴俄斯伸出双臂，把他扶站起来。亲密的伴友们
举步向前，把他架出拳场，后者拖着双腿，
口吐浓浊的鲜血，脑袋耷拉在一边。
伙伴们把他架到群队的集聚点，见他仍然昏迷不醒，
走上前去，替他领回那只双把的杯盏。
其时，裴琉斯之子随即又拿出两份奖品，为第三项
比赛，充满痛苦的摔跤，陈放在达亲人面前。
优胜者可得一只巨大的铜鼎，架在火上的炊具，
按阿开亚人自己估掂，值得十二头肥牛的换价。
给比赛中的输者，他带出一名女子，精熟多种
手工活计，置放在人群里，价值四头肥牛。
他站挺起身子，对着集聚的阿耳吉维人喊道：
“起来吧，要两个人，争夺此项比赛的奖品！”
话音刚落，人群里站起了高大魁伟的埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子；
俄底修斯随即起身，足智多谋的精英。
两人系扎就绪，大步跨人赛圈，
紧紧抓住对方粗壮有力的臂膀，像紧扣
在一起的椽子，一位著名工匠的手艺，在一座
高耸的房居，它的屋顶，抵挡疾风的吹扫。
壮士的脊背发出嘎嘎的声响，承受着大手粗狂的攥压
和推搡，汗水淋淋，倾盆而下，胁面里，
肩头上，暴出一条条血痕，青紫、通红——
他们拼出全身的力气，争夺
竞赛的胜利和那口精工制铸的鼎锅。
俄底修斯扳不倒埃阿斯，把他扔倒在地，而埃阿斯
也同样做不到这一点——俄底修斯的巨力推抵着他的进逼。
看着他俩相持竞争，胫甲坚固的阿开亚人产生了腻烦情绪；
终于，埃阿斯，忒拉蒙高大魁伟的儿子，高声嚷道；
“莱耳忒斯之子，宙斯的后代，足智多谋的俄底修斯，动手吧，
把我提抱起来；要不，我就会把你提抓；成败由宙斯定夺！”
言罢，埃阿斯举起俄底修斯，但后者有的是制人的
招数，从后面一脚端中膝窝，松软了
他的筋腱，仰面翻倒在泥地里；俄底修斯
顺势扑压在他的胸脯上。人们凝目观望，惊诧不已。
接着，历经磨难的斗士、卓越的俄底修斯试图抱举埃阿斯，
但只能稍稍推动他那硕大的身躯，却不能把他
抱离地面。于是，他用膝盖顶弯他的腿窝，一起
倒下，身背相贴，翻滚在泥尘里。其时，
他们会跳将起来，开始第三轮角斗，
要不是阿基琉斯亲自起身调停，制止了这场混战：
“停止搏斗！不要如此折磨自己，弄得筋疲力尽！
你俩并立第一，即可均分奖品，
退回原地，以便让其他阿开亚人竞斗拼比。”
阿基琉斯一番劝说，二位听得真切，谨遵不违，
抹去身上的灰泥，穿上自己的衫衣。
裴琉斯之子随即拿出另一批奖品，赏给竞跑的参赛者。
一只银制的兑缸，一件工艺精湛的珍品，只能容纳
六个衡度，但瑰丽典雅，精美
绝伦，由技艺高超的西多尼亚工匠手制，
经菲尼基商人运过水势深森的大洋，
停泊在索阿斯的港口，作为礼物，晋献给国王。
欧奈俄斯，伊阿宋之子，把它给了英雄帕特罗克洛斯，
赎回沦为奴隶的鲁卡昂，普里阿摩斯之子；现在，
阿基琉斯把它作为奖品，纪念自己的伴友，
赏给步跑中腿脚最快的赛手。给荣获第二的赛者，
他还设下一头硕大的肥牛，挤着鼓鼓囊囊的油膘，
另有半塔兰同黄金，归赏名列最后的赛者。
他站挺起身子，对着集聚的阿耳吉维人喊道：
“起来，你们中想要争获这份奖品的赛者！”
随着喊声，人群里跳起了迅捷的埃阿斯，俄伊琉斯之子，
还有足智多谋的俄底修斯；接着，奈斯托耳之子
安提洛科斯亦起身参赛，年轻人中首屈一指的快腿。
他们站在起跑点上，阿基琉斯指明了转弯的标杆。
赛场从起点向前延伸，俄伊琉斯之子
很快便抢到了前头，但卓越的俄底修斯
紧追不放，所隔之距近得就像线杆离着织女的
前胸——束腰秀美的女子轻轻地带过线杆，
把线轴穿过经线，将线杆拉得更近，对着自己的
胸怀。就像这样，俄底修斯跑在他的后面，紧紧追赶，
踏着前者的脚印，在扬起的泥尘落地之前。
卓著的俄底修斯大口喘着粗气，喷吐在埃阿斯的后脑勺上，
蹽开腿步，迅猛追跑，阿开亚人全都放声叫喊，
纵情欢呼，为他加油鼓劲，催他紧追快赶，夺取胜利。
然而，当他们跑人最后一段赛程，俄底修斯便在
心里默默祈祷，对眼睛灰蓝的雅典娜说道：
“听我说，女神，帮我一把，加快我的腿步！”
他如此一番愿祷，帕拉丝·雅典娜听到了他的声音，
随即舒松他的四肢，他的腿脚和双臂。
当他们进入冲刺阶段，为了争夺那份奖品，
雅典娜绊倒了快跑中的埃阿斯，后者偏腿
滑倒在粪堆里，粗声吼叫的祭牛的泻物——
捷足的阿基琉斯宰了它们，祭祀好友帕特罗克洛斯。
埃阿斯的嘴和鼻孔里塞满了牛粪，眼睁睁地看着对手
赶过他的身边，第一个冲向终点——神勇、坚忍的
俄底修斯拿走兑缸，把肥牛留给了光荣的埃阿斯。
他站在那里，双手抓住漫步草场的肥牛，它的一支犄角，
吐出嘴里的牛粪，对着阿耳吉维人嚷道：
“臭死我了，呸！那位女神败毁了我的冲刺；她总是
站在俄底修斯身边，就像是他的亲娘，助佑着自己的宝贝。”
他如此一番解说，逗得全场的阿开亚人捧腹大笑。
其时，安提洛科斯走上前去，拿走属于他的末奖，
咧嘴嘻笑，对着身边的阿耳吉维伙伴，打趣地说道：
“让我告诉你们一件大家都知道的事情，我的朋友们：
神们一如既往，今天也仍然偏爱着年长之人。你们瞧，埃阿斯
比我年长，但只大那么几岁，而这位俄底修斯，
他是上一个世代的人，一位旧时的前辈——
然而，按人们的说道，是位老当益壮的人物。阿开亚人中，
谁也跑不过他的快腿，除了推一的例外，我们的阿基琉斯。”
他如此一番说道，赞美捷足的裴琉斯之子，
后者针对他的话语，开口答道：
“你的赞誉，安提洛科斯，不会没有回报，
我将再给你半塔兰同黄金，作为附加的酬赏。”
言罢，他把黄金放入安提洛科斯手中，后者高兴地收下了
赏礼。
接着，裴琉斯之子提来一枝投影森长的枪矛，置放在
比赛的场圈，随之放下一面盾牌和一顶头盔，在枪矛的边沿，
萨耳裴冬的装备，帕特罗克洛斯剥取的战礼。
阿基琉斯挺身站立，对着集聚的阿耳吉维人喊道：
“我们邀请两位战勇，你们中最好的斗士，上来竞夺这些奖品。
披上你们的铠甲，抓起裂毁皮肉的铜枪，
面对面地交手，近战扑击。哪位斗士
首先刺中对手白亮的皮肉，捅穿
衣甲，扎出黑血，触及内脏，
我将赏他这把漂亮的斯拉凯利剑，
把上缀铆着银钉，我的战礼，夺自阿斯忒罗派俄斯的躯体。
但是，二位可共享这些甲械；此外，
我们将盛宴营棚，款待离场的壮汉。”
听罢此番催励，人群里站起了魁伟的埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子，
以及图丢斯之子、强健的狄俄墨得斯。
他们分别在人群的两头披挂完毕，
走入赛场的中间，带着格杀的狂烈，
射出凶狠的目光，阿开亚人无不惊赞诧异。
两人迎面而行，咄咄逼近，对打扑杀，
凶猛进击，一连三次。埃阿斯
出枪击中狄俄墨得斯边圈溜圆的盾牌，
但未能捅开皮肉——护身的胸甲挡住了枪尖。
其时，图丢斯之子从硕大的盾面上频频出手，
闪亮的枪尖时时出现在对手喉管的边沿；
阿开亚观众见此情景，担心埃阿斯的安全，
高声呼喊，要他俩停止打斗，均分奖品。
但英雄阿基琉斯拿起那柄硕大的战剑，给了
狄俄墨得斯，连同剑鞘和切工齐整的背带。
接着，裴琉斯之子拿出一大块生铁，
曾是强健的厄提昂投扔的物件；以后，
捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯杀人劫物，
连同其他财宝，一起船运归来。
他挺身直立，对着集聚的阿耳吉维人喊道：
“起来，你们中想要争获这份奖品的人！
谁能获胜得奖，这块生铁，够他使用五个
连转的整年——虽说他那丰足的田庄远离着我们
置身的海岸——他的收手和农人再也不必因为
缺铁面进城人镇，这一块东西一时半下可耗用不完。”
听罢这番话，骠勇犟悍的波鲁波伊忒斯挺身站立，
另有身强力壮的勒昂丢斯，神一样的凡人，以及
埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子，和卓越的厄裴俄斯。
他们依次站成一行，卓越的厄裴俄斯拿起铁块，
转动身子，甩手投扔，引出阿开亚人爆发的哄笑。
接着，勒昂丢斯，阿瑞斯的后代，挥手投掷；
再接着是魁伟的埃阿斯，忒拉蒙之子，
甩开粗壮的臂膀，落点超过了地上所有的痕标。
其时，骠勇犟悍的波鲁波伊忒斯伸手抓起铁块，
扔出了整个投场，距程之远，就像牧牛人
摔出的枝杖，旋转着穿过空间，飞过
食草的牛群——全场的阿开亚人为之欢呼喝彩。
强健的波鲁波伊忒斯的伴友跳将起来，
抬着王者的奖品，走向深旷的海船。
其时，阿基琉斯又拿出一些灰黑的铁器，作为弓赛的乡
他设下二十把铁斧，分作双刃和单刃两种，
各十把，树起一杆船桅，在远处的沙滩，
取自乌头的海船。然后，用一根细绳套住
鸽子的小腿，一只胆小的野鸽，绑在尾端，挑战人群里的
弓手，射落这个活靶：“击落野鸽的射手，
可以拿走所有的双面铁斧！然而，
倘若有人没有击中鸽子，但却射断了绳线——很自然，
他是个输者——仍可拿走这些单刃的斧片。”
他言罢，人群里站起了强有力的王者丢克罗斯
以及伊多墨纽斯骁勇的伴从墨里俄奈斯。
他们投入阄石，摇动青铜的盔盖，
丢克罗斯拈得先射之利，运开臂膀，
射出一枚羽箭，但却没有对弓箭之王许愿，
答应敬办隆重的牲祭，用头胎的羔羊。
所以，他未能箭穿飞鸽，只因阿波罗不想让他如愿，
但还是击中鸽脚边的绳线，嗖嗖嘶叫
的羽箭切断长绳，野鸽
展翅疾飞，直冲云天，留下拴脚的绳头，
朝着泥地荡垂。阿开亚人发出赞赏的呼声。
趁着丢克罗斯瞄准的当口，墨里俄奈斯早已拿好
一枚羽箭；眼下，他心急火燎，一把抓过前者手里的弯弓，
不失时机地许下心愿，对远射手阿波罗，
答应举办隆重的祀祭，用头胎的羔羊。
他瞄见那只胆小的野鸽，振翅在云层下，
飞转盘旋，引弦开弓，正中鸟翅下的要害；
羽箭穿过乌体，坠落空间，掉在
墨里俄奈斯脚边。但鸽鸟却
摔落在木杆的顶端，取自乌头海船的桅杆，
低垂着脑袋，扑闪的翅膀此时松垮疲软；魂息
飘离它的腿脚，就在霎那之间。它从桅顶
坠入，平躺在地面。人们注目凝望，惊诧不已。
其时，墨里俄奈斯拿起所有十把双刃的铁斧，
而丢克罗斯则拿起单刃的斧头，返回深旷的海船。
接着，裴琉斯之子拿出一杆投影森长的枪矛
和一口未曾受过柴火烧烤的大锅，锅面上花开朵朵，
等同于一头牛的换价，放在赛圈里面。投枪手们起身直立：
阿特柔斯之子，统治着辽阔疆域的阿伽门农，
以及墨里俄奈斯，伊多墨纽斯强有力的伙伴。
然而，捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯此时开口说道：
“阿特柔斯之子，我们全都知道，你远比我们强健：
你是最好的枪手，臂力之大，全军无人可及！
拿着这份头奖，回返深旷的海船。
此外，如果你赞成同意，我们将把这枝枪矛
赏给壮士墨里俄奈斯——这些便是我的议言。”
听罢这番话，民众的王者阿伽门农不予辩违。
于是，阿基琉斯把铜枪给了墨里俄奈斯，而英雄
阿伽门农则把大锅交给使者塔尔苏比俄斯，一件闪光的奖品。
ARGUMENT.
FUNERAL GAMES IN HONOUR OF PATROCLUS.(280)
Achilles and the Myrmidons do honours to the body of Patroclus. After the
funeral feast he retires to the sea-shore, where, falling asleep, the
ghost of his friend appears to him, and demands the rites of burial; the
next morning the soldiers are sent with mules and waggons to fetch wood
for the pyre. The funeral procession, and the offering their hair to the
dead. Achilles sacrifices several animals, and lastly twelve Trojan
captives, at the pile; then sets fire to it. He pays libations to the
Winds, which (at the instance of Iris) rise, and raise the flames. When
the pile has burned all night, they gather the bones, place them in an urn
of gold, and raise the tomb. Achilles institutes the funeral games: the
chariot-race, the fight of the caestus, the wrestling, the foot-race, the
single combat, the discus, the shooting with arrows, the darting the
javelin: the various descriptions of which, and the various success of the
several antagonists, make the greatest part of the book.
In this book ends the thirtieth day. The night following, the ghost of
Patroclus appears to Achilles: the one-and-thirtieth day is employed in
felling the timber for the pile: the two-and-thirtieth in burning it; and
the three-and-thirtieth in the games. The scene is generally on the
sea-shore.
Thus humbled in the dust, the pensive train
Through the sad city mourn'd her hero slain.
The body soil'd with dust, and black with gore,
Lies on broad Hellespont's resounding shore.
The Grecians seek their ships, and clear the strand,
All, but the martial Myrmidonian band:
These yet assembled great Achilles holds,
And the stern purpose of his mind unfolds:
"Not yet, my brave companions of the war,
Release your smoking coursers from the car;
But, with his chariot each in order led,
Perform due honours to Patroclus dead.
Ere yet from rest or food we seek relief,
Some rites remain, to glut our rage of grief."
The troops obey'd; and thrice in order led(281)
(Achilles first) their coursers round the dead;
And thrice their sorrows and laments renew;
Tears bathe their arms, and tears the sands bedew.
For such a warrior Thetis aids their woe,
Melts their strong hearts, and bids their eyes to flow.
But chief, Pelides: thick-succeeding sighs
Burst from his heart, and torrents from his eyes:
His slaughtering hands, yet red with blood, he laid
On his dead friend's cold breast, and thus he said:
"All hail, Patroclus! let thy honour'd ghost
Hear, and rejoice on Pluto's dreary coast;
Behold! Achilles' promise is complete;
The bloody Hector stretch'd before thy feet.
Lo! to the dogs his carcase I resign;
And twelve sad victims, of the Trojan line,
Sacred to vengeance, instant shall expire;
Their lives effused around thy funeral pyre."
Gloomy he said, and (horrible to view)
Before the bier the bleeding Hector threw,
Prone on the dust. The Myrmidons around
Unbraced their armour, and the steeds unbound.
All to Achilles' sable ship repair,
Frequent and full, the genial feast to share.
Now from the well-fed swine black smokes aspire,
The bristly victims hissing o'er the fire:
The huge ox bellowing falls; with feebler cries
Expires the goat; the sheep in silence dies.
Around the hero's prostrate body flow'd,
In one promiscuous stream, the reeking blood.
And now a band of Argive monarchs brings
The glorious victor to the king of kings.
From his dead friend the pensive warrior went,
With steps unwilling, to the regal tent.
The attending heralds, as by office bound,
With kindled flames the tripod-vase surround:
To cleanse his conquering hands from hostile gore,
They urged in vain; the chief refused, and swore:(282)
"No drop shall touch me, by almighty Jove!
The first and greatest of the gods above!
Till on the pyre I place thee; till I rear
The grassy mound, and clip thy sacred hair.
Some ease at least those pious rites may give,
And soothe my sorrows, while I bear to live.
Howe'er, reluctant as I am, I stay
And share your feast; but with the dawn of day,
(O king of men!) it claims thy royal care,
That Greece the warrior's funeral pile prepare,
And bid the forests fall: (such rites are paid
To heroes slumbering in eternal shade:)
Then, when his earthly part shall mount in fire,
Let the leagued squadrons to their posts retire."
He spoke: they hear him, and the word obey;
The rage of hunger and of thirst allay,
Then ease in sleep the labours of the day.
But great Pelides, stretch'd along the shore,
Where, dash'd on rocks, the broken billows roar,
Lies inly groaning; while on either hand
The martial Myrmidons confusedly stand.
Along the grass his languid members fall,
Tired with his chase around the Trojan wall;
Hush'd by the murmurs of the rolling deep,
At length he sinks in the soft arms of sleep.
When lo! the shade, before his closing eyes,
Of sad Patroclus rose, or seem'd to rise:
In the same robe he living wore, he came:
In stature, voice, and pleasing look, the same.
The form familiar hover'd o'er his head,
"And sleeps Achilles? (thus the phantom said:)
Sleeps my Achilles, his Patroclus dead?
Living, I seem'd his dearest, tenderest care,
But now forgot, I wander in the air.
Let my pale corse the rites of burial know,
And give me entrance in the realms below:
Till then the spirit finds no resting-place,
But here and there the unbodied spectres chase
The vagrant dead around the dark abode,
Forbid to cross the irremeable flood.
Now give thy hand; for to the farther shore
When once we pass, the soul returns no more:
When once the last funereal flames ascend,
No more shall meet Achilles and his friend;
No more our thoughts to those we loved make known;
Or quit the dearest, to converse alone.
Me fate has sever'd from the sons of earth,
The fate fore-doom'd that waited from my birth:
Thee too it waits; before the Trojan wall
Even great and godlike thou art doom'd to fall.
Hear then; and as in fate and love we join,
Ah suffer that my bones may rest with thine!
Together have we lived; together bred,
One house received us, and one table fed;
That golden urn, thy goddess-mother gave,
May mix our ashes in one common grave."
"And is it thou? (he answers) To my sight(283)
Once more return'st thou from the realms of night?
O more than brother! Think each office paid,
Whate'er can rest a discontented shade;
But grant one last embrace, unhappy boy!
Afford at least that melancholy joy."
He said, and with his longing arms essay'd
In vain to grasp the visionary shade!
Like a thin smoke he sees the spirit fly,(284)
And hears a feeble, lamentable cry.
Confused he wakes; amazement breaks the bands
Of golden sleep, and starting from the sands,
Pensive he muses with uplifted hands:
"'Tis true, 'tis certain; man, though dead, retains
Part of himself; the immortal mind remains:
The form subsists without the body's aid,
Aerial semblance, and an empty shade!
This night my friend, so late in battle lost,
Stood at my side, a pensive, plaintive ghost:
Even now familiar, as in life, he came;
Alas! how different! yet how like the same!"
Thus while he spoke, each eye grew big with tears:
And now the rosy-finger'd morn appears,
Shows every mournful face with tears o'erspread,
And glares on the pale visage of the dead.
But Agamemnon, as the rites demand,
With mules and waggons sends a chosen band
To load the timber, and the pile to rear;
A charge consign'd to Merion's faithful care.
With proper instruments they take the road,
Axes to cut, and ropes to sling the load.
First march the heavy mules, securely slow,
O'er hills, o'er dales, o'er crags, o'er rocks they go:(285)
Jumping, high o'er the shrubs of the rough ground,
Rattle the clattering cars, and the shock'd axles bound
But when arrived at Ida's spreading woods,(286)
(Fair Ida, water'd with descending floods,)
Loud sounds the axe, redoubling strokes on strokes;
On all sides round the forest hurls her oaks
Headlong. Deep echoing groan the thickets brown;
Then rustling, crackling, crashing, thunder down.
The wood the Grecians cleave, prepared to burn;
And the slow mules the same rough road return
The sturdy woodmen equal burdens bore
(Such charge was given them) to the sandy shore;
There on the spot which great Achilles show'd,
They eased their shoulders, and disposed the load;
Circling around the place, where times to come
Shall view Patroclus' and Achilles' tomb.
The hero bids his martial troops appear
High on their cars in all the pomp of war;
Each in refulgent arms his limbs attires,
All mount their chariots, combatants and squires.
The chariots first proceed, a shining train;
Then clouds of foot that smoke along the plain;
Next these the melancholy band appear;
Amidst, lay dead Patroclus on the bier;
O'er all the corse their scattered locks they throw;
Achilles next, oppress'd with mighty woe,
Supporting with his hands the hero's head,
Bends o'er the extended body of the dead.
Patroclus decent on the appointed ground
They place, and heap the sylvan pile around.
But great Achilles stands apart in prayer,
And from his head divides the yellow hair;
Those curling locks which from his youth he vow'd,(287)
And sacred grew, to Sperchius' honour'd flood:
Then sighing, to the deep his locks he cast,
And roll'd his eyes around the watery waste:
"Sperchius! whose waves in mazy errors lost
Delightful roll along my native coast!
To whom we vainly vow'd, at our return,
These locks to fall, and hecatombs to burn:
Full fifty rams to bleed in sacrifice,
Where to the day thy silver fountains rise,
And where in shade of consecrated bowers
Thy altars stand, perfumed with native flowers!
So vow'd my father, but he vow'd in vain;
No more Achilles sees his native plain;
In that vain hope these hairs no longer grow,
Patroclus bears them to the shades below."
Thus o'er Patroclus while the hero pray'd,
On his cold hand the sacred lock he laid.
Once more afresh the Grecian sorrows flow:
And now the sun had set upon their woe;
But to the king of men thus spoke the chief:
"Enough, Atrides! give the troops relief:
Permit the mourning legions to retire,
And let the chiefs alone attend the pyre;
The pious care be ours, the dead to burn--"
He said: the people to their ships return:
While those deputed to inter the slain
Heap with a rising pyramid the plain.(288)
A hundred foot in length, a hundred wide,
The growing structure spreads on every side;
High on the top the manly corse they lay,
And well-fed sheep and sable oxen slay:
Achilles covered with their fat the dead,
And the piled victims round the body spread;
Then jars of honey, and of fragrant oil,
Suspends around, low-bending o'er the pile.
Four sprightly coursers, with a deadly groan
Pour forth their lives, and on the pyre are thrown.
Of nine large dogs, domestic at his board,
Fall two, _select_ed to attend their lord,
Then last of all, and horrible to tell,
Sad sacrifice! twelve Trojan captives fell.(289)
On these the rage of fire victorious preys,
Involves and joins them in one common blaze.
Smear'd with the bloody rites, he stands on high,
And calls the spirit with a dreadful cry:(290)
"All hail, Patroclus! let thy vengeful ghost
Hear, and exult, on Pluto's dreary coast.
Behold Achilles' promise fully paid,
Twelve Trojan heroes offer'd to thy shade;
But heavier fates on Hector's corse attend,
Saved from the flames, for hungry dogs to rend."
So spake he, threatening: but the gods made vain
His threat, and guard inviolate the slain:
Celestial Venus hover'd o'er his head,
And roseate unguents, heavenly fragrance! shed:
She watch'd him all the night and all the day,
And drove the bloodhounds from their destined prey.
Nor sacred Phoebus less employ'd his care;
He pour'd around a veil of gather'd air,
And kept the nerves undried, the flesh entire,
Against the solar beam and Sirian fire.
[Illustration: THE FUNERAL PILE OF PATROCLUS.]
THE FUNERAL PILE OF PATROCLUS.
Nor yet the pile, where dead Patroclus lies,
Smokes, nor as yet the sullen flames arise;
But, fast beside, Achilles stood in prayer,
Invoked the gods whose spirit moves the air,
And victims promised, and libations cast,
To gentle Zephyr and the Boreal blast:
He call'd the aerial powers, along the skies
To breathe, and whisper to the fires to rise.
The winged Iris heard the hero's call,
And instant hasten'd to their airy hall,
Where in old Zephyr's open courts on high,
Sat all the blustering brethren of the sky.
She shone amidst them, on her painted bow;
The rocky pavement glitter'd with the show.
All from the banquet rise, and each invites
The various goddess to partake the rites.
"Not so (the dame replied), I haste to go
To sacred Ocean, and the floods below:
Even now our solemn hecatombs attend,
And heaven is feasting on the world's green end
With righteous Ethiops (uncorrupted train!)
Far on the extremest limits of the main.
But Peleus' son entreats, with sacrifice,
The western spirit, and the north, to rise!
Let on Patroclus' pile your blast be driven,
And bear the blazing honours high to heaven."
Swift as the word she vanish'd from their view;
Swift as the word the winds tumultuous flew;
Forth burst the stormy band with thundering roar,
And heaps on heaps the clouds are toss'd before.
To the wide main then stooping from the skies,
The heaving deeps in watery mountains rise:
Troy feels the blast along her shaking walls,
Till on the pile the gather'd tempest falls.
The structure crackles in the roaring fires,
And all the night the plenteous flame aspires.
All night Achilles hails Patroclus' soul,
With large libations from the golden bowl.
As a poor father, helpless and undone,
Mourns o'er the ashes of an only son,
Takes a sad pleasure the last bones to burn,
And pours in tears, ere yet they close the urn:
So stay'd Achilles, circling round the shore,
So watch'd the flames, till now they flame no more.
'Twas when, emerging through the shades of night.
The morning planet told the approach of light;
And, fast behind, Aurora's warmer ray
O'er the broad ocean pour'd the golden day:
Then sank the blaze, the pile no longer burn'd,
And to their caves the whistling winds return'd:
Across the Thracian seas their course they bore;
The ruffled seas beneath their passage roar.
Then parting from the pile he ceased to weep,
And sank to quiet in the embrace of sleep,
Exhausted with his grief: meanwhile the crowd
Of thronging Grecians round Achilles stood;
The tumult waked him: from his eyes he shook
Unwilling slumber, and the chiefs bespoke:
"Ye kings and princes of the Achaian name!
First let us quench the yet remaining flame
With sable wine; then, as the rites direct,
The hero's bones with careful view _select_:
(Apart, and easy to be known they lie
Amidst the heap, and obvious to the eye:
The rest around the margin will be seen
Promiscuous, steeds and immolated men:)
These wrapp'd in double cauls of fat, prepare;
And in the golden vase dispose with care;
There let them rest with decent honour laid,
Till I shall follow to the infernal shade.
Meantime erect the tomb with pious hands,
A common structure on the humble sands:
Hereafter Greece some nobler work may raise,
And late posterity record our praise!"
The Greeks obey; where yet the embers glow,
Wide o'er the pile the sable wine they throw,
And deep subsides the ashy heap below.
Next the white bones his sad companions place,
With tears collected, in the golden vase.
The sacred relics to the tent they bore;
The urn a veil of linen covered o'er.
That done, they bid the sepulchre aspire,
And cast the deep foundations round the pyre;
High in the midst they heap the swelling bed
Of rising earth, memorial of the dead.
The swarming populace the chief detains,
And leads amidst a wide extent of plains;
There placed them round: then from the ships proceeds
A train of oxen, mules, and stately steeds,
Vases and tripods (for the funeral games),
Resplendent brass, and more resplendent dames.
First stood the prizes to reward the force
Of rapid racers in the dusty course:
A woman for the first, in beauty's bloom,
Skill'd in the needle, and the labouring loom;
And a large vase, where two bright handles rise,
Of twenty measures its capacious size.
The second victor claims a mare unbroke,
Big with a mule, unknowing of the yoke:
The third, a charger yet untouch'd by flame;
Four ample measures held the shining frame:
Two golden talents for the fourth were placed:
An ample double bowl contents the last.
These in fair order ranged upon the plain,
The hero, rising, thus address'd the train:
"Behold the prizes, valiant Greeks! decreed
To the brave rulers of the racing steed;
Prizes which none beside ourself could gain,
Should our immortal coursers take the plain;
(A race unrivall'd, which from ocean's god
Peleus received, and on his son bestow'd.)
But this no time our vigour to display;
Nor suit, with them, the games of this sad day:
Lost is Patroclus now, that wont to deck
Their flowing manes, and sleek their glossy neck.
Sad, as they shared in human grief, they stand,
And trail those graceful honours on the sand!
Let others for the noble task prepare,
Who trust the courser and the flying car."
Fired at his word the rival racers rise;
But far the first Eumelus hopes the prize,
Famed though Pieria for the fleetest breed,
And skill'd to manage the high-bounding steed.
With equal ardour bold Tydides swell'd,
The steeds of Tros beneath his yoke compell'd
(Which late obey'd the Dardan chiefs command,
When scarce a god redeem'd him from his hand).
Then Menelaus his Podargus brings,
And the famed courser of the king of kings:
Whom rich Echepolus (more rich than brave),
To 'scape the wars, to Agamemnon gave,
(Æthe her name) at home to end his days;
Base wealth preferring to eternal praise.
Next him Antilochus demands the course
With beating heart, and cheers his Pylian horse.
Experienced Nestor gives his son the reins,
Directs his judgment, and his heat restrains;
Nor idly warns the hoary sire, nor hears
The prudent son with unattending ears.
"My son! though youthful ardour fire thy breast,
The gods have loved thee, and with arts have bless'd;
Neptune and Jove on thee conferr'd the skill
Swift round the goal to turn the flying wheel.
To guide thy conduct little precept needs;
But slow, and past their vigour, are my steeds.
Fear not thy rivals, though for swiftness known;
Compare those rivals' judgment and thy own:
It is not strength, but art, obtains the prize,
And to be swift is less than to be wise.
'Tis more by art than force of numerous strokes
The dexterous woodman shapes the stubborn oaks;
By art the pilot, through the boiling deep
And howling tempest, steers the fearless ship;
And 'tis the artist wins the glorious course;
Not those who trust in chariots and in horse.
In vain, unskilful to the goal they strive,
And short, or wide, the ungovern'd courser drive:
While with sure skill, though with inferior steeds,
The knowing racer to his end proceeds;
Fix'd on the goal his eye foreruns the course,
His hand unerring steers the steady horse,
And now contracts, or now extends the rein,
Observing still the foremost on the plain.
Mark then the goal, 'tis easy to be found;
Yon aged trunk, a cubit from the ground;
Of some once stately oak the last remains,
Or hardy fir, unperish'd with the rains:
Inclosed with stones, conspicuous from afar;
And round, a circle for the wheeling car.
(Some tomb perhaps of old, the dead to grace;
Or then, as now, the limit of a race.)
Bear close to this, and warily proceed,
A little bending to the left-hand steed;
But urge the right, and give him all the reins;
While thy strict hand his fellow's head restrains,
And turns him short; till, doubling as they roll,
The wheel's round naves appear to brush the goal.
Yet (not to break the car, or lame the horse)
Clear of the stony heap direct the course;
Lest through incaution failing, thou mayst be
A joy to others, a reproach to me.
So shalt thou pass the goal, secure of mind,
And leave unskilful swiftness far behind:
Though thy fierce rival drove the matchless steed
Which bore Adrastus, of celestial breed;
Or the famed race, through all the regions known,
That whirl'd the car of proud Laomedon."
Thus (nought unsaid) the much-advising sage
Concludes; then sat, stiff with unwieldy age.
Next bold Meriones was seen to rise,
The last, but not least ardent for the prize.
They mount their seats; the lots their place dispose
(Roll'd in his helmet, these Achilles throws).
Young Nestor leads the race: Eumelus then;
And next the brother of the king of men:
Thy lot, Meriones, the fourth was cast;
And, far the bravest, Diomed, was last.
They stand in order, an impatient train:
Pelides points the barrier on the plain,
And sends before old Phoenix to the place,
To mark the racers, and to judge the race.
At once the coursers from the barrier bound;
The lifted scourges all at once resound;
Their heart, their eyes, their voice, they send before;
And up the champaign thunder from the shore:
Thick, where they drive, the dusty clouds arise,
And the lost courser in the whirlwind flies;
Loose on their shoulders the long manes reclined,
Float in their speed, and dance upon the wind:
The smoking chariots, rapid as they bound,
Now seem to touch the sky, and now the ground.
While hot for fame, and conquest all their care,
(Each o'er his flying courser hung in air,)
Erect with ardour, poised upon the rein,
They pant, they stretch, they shout along the plain.
Now (the last compass fetch'd around the goal)
At the near prize each gathers all his soul,
Each burns with double hope, with double pain,
Tears up the shore, and thunders toward the main.
First flew Eumelus on Pheretian steeds;
With those of Tros bold Diomed succeeds:
Close on Eumelus' back they puff the wind,
And seem just mounting on his car behind;
Full on his neck he feels the sultry breeze,
And, hovering o'er, their stretching shadows sees.
Then had he lost, or left a doubtful prize;
But angry Phoebus to Tydides flies,
Strikes from his hand the scourge, and renders vain
His matchless horses' labour on the plain.
Rage fills his eye with anguish, to survey
Snatch'd from his hope the glories of the day.
The fraud celestial Pallas sees with pain,
Springs to her knight, and gives the scourge again,
And fills his steeds with vigour. At a stroke
She breaks his rival's chariot from the yoke:
No more their way the startled horses held;
The car reversed came rattling on the field;
Shot headlong from his seat, beside the wheel,
Prone on the dust the unhappy master fell;
His batter'd face and elbows strike the ground;
Nose, mouth, and front, one undistinguish'd wound:
Grief stops his voice, a torrent drowns his eyes:
Before him far the glad Tydides flies;
Minerva's spirit drives his matchless pace,
And crowns him victor of the labour'd race.
The next, though distant, Menelaus succeeds;
While thus young Nestor animates his steeds:
"Now, now, my generous pair, exert your force;
Not that we hope to match Tydides' horse,
Since great Minerva wings their rapid way,
And gives their lord the honours of the day;
But reach Atrides! shall his mare outgo
Your swiftness? vanquish'd by a female foe?
Through your neglect, if lagging on the plain
The last ignoble gift be all we gain,
No more shall Nestor's hand your food supply,
The old man's fury rises, and ye die.
Haste then: yon narrow road, before our sight,
Presents the occasion, could we use it right."
Thus he. The coursers at their master's threat
With quicker steps the sounding champaign beat.
And now Antilochus with nice survey
Observes the compass of the hollow way.
'Twas where, by force of wintry torrents torn,
Fast by the road a precipice was worn:
Here, where but one could pass, to shun the throng
The Spartan hero's chariot smoked along.
Close up the venturous youth resolves to keep,
Still edging near, and bears him toward the steep.
Atrides, trembling, casts his eye below,
And wonders at the rashness of his foe.
"Hold, stay your steeds--What madness thus to ride
This narrow way! take larger field (he cried),
Or both must fall."--Atrides cried in vain;
He flies more fast, and throws up all the rein.
Far as an able arm the disk can send,
When youthful rivals their full force extend,
So far, Antilochus! thy chariot flew
Before the king: he, cautious, backward drew
His horse compell'd; foreboding in his fears
The rattling ruin of the clashing cars,
The floundering coursers rolling on the plain,
And conquest lost through frantic haste to gain.
But thus upbraids his rival as he flies:
"Go, furious youth! ungenerous and unwise!
Go, but expect not I'll the prize resign;
Add perjury to fraud, and make it thine--"
Then to his steeds with all his force he cries,
"Be swift, be vigorous, and regain the prize!
Your rivals, destitute of youthful force,
With fainting knees shall labour in the course,
And yield the glory yours."--The steeds obey;
Already at their heels they wing their way,
And seem already to retrieve the day.
Meantime the Grecians in a ring beheld
The coursers bounding o'er the dusty field.
The first who mark'd them was the Cretan king;
High on a rising ground, above the ring,
The monarch sat: from whence with sure survey
He well observed the chief who led the way,
And heard from far his animating cries,
And saw the foremost steed with sharpen'd eyes;
On whose broad front a blaze of shining white,
Like the full moon, stood obvious to the sight.
He saw; and rising, to the Greeks begun:
"Are yonder horse discern'd by me alone?
Or can ye, all, another chief survey,
And other steeds than lately led the way?
Those, though the swiftest, by some god withheld,
Lie sure disabled in the middle field:
For, since the goal they doubled, round the plain
I search to find them, but I search in vain.
Perchance the reins forsook the driver's hand,
And, turn'd too short, he tumbled on the strand,
Shot from the chariot; while his coursers stray
With frantic fury from the destined way.
Rise then some other, and inform my sight,
For these dim eyes, perhaps, discern not right;
Yet sure he seems, to judge by shape and air,
The great Ætolian chief, renown'd in war."
"Old man! (Oileus rashly thus replies)
Thy tongue too hastily confers the prize;
Of those who view the course, nor sharpest eyed,
Nor youngest, yet the readiest to decide.
Eumelus' steeds, high bounding in the chase,
Still, as at first, unrivall'd lead the race:
I well discern him, as he shakes the rein,
And hear his shouts victorious o'er the plain."
Thus he. Idomeneus, incensed, rejoin'd:
"Barbarous of words! and arrogant of mind!
Contentious prince, of all the Greeks beside
The last in merit, as the first in pride!
To vile reproach what answer can we make?
A goblet or a tripod let us stake,
And be the king the judge. The most unwise
Will learn their rashness, when they pay the price."
He said: and Ajax, by mad passion borne,
Stern had replied; fierce scorn enhancing scorn
To fell extremes. But Thetis' godlike son
Awful amidst them rose, and thus begun:
"Forbear, ye chiefs! reproachful to contend;
Much would ye blame, should others thus offend:
And lo! the approaching steeds your contest end."
No sooner had he spoke, but thundering near,
Drives, through a stream of dust, the charioteer.
High o'er his head the circling lash he wields:
His bounding horses scarcely touch the fields:
His car amidst the dusty whirlwind roll'd,
Bright with the mingled blaze of tin and gold,
Refulgent through the cloud: no eye could find
The track his flying wheels had left behind:
And the fierce coursers urged their rapid pace
So swift, it seem'd a flight, and not a race.
Now victor at the goal Tydides stands,
Quits his bright car, and springs upon the sands;
From the hot steeds the sweaty torrents stream;
The well-plied whip is hung athwart the beam:
With joy brave Sthenelus receives the prize,
The tripod-vase, and dame with radiant eyes:
These to the ships his train triumphant leads,
The chief himself unyokes the panting steeds.
Young Nestor follows (who by art, not force,
O'erpass'd Atrides) second in the course.
Behind, Atrides urged the race, more near
Than to the courser in his swift career
The following car, just touching with his heel
And brushing with his tail the whirling wheel:
Such, and so narrow now the space between
The rivals, late so distant on the green;
So soon swift Æthe her lost ground regain'd,
One length, one moment, had the race obtain'd.
Merion pursued, at greater distance still,
With tardier coursers, and inferior skill.
Last came, Admetus! thy unhappy son;
Slow dragged the steeds his batter'd chariot on:
Achilles saw, and pitying thus begun:
"Behold! the man whose matchless art surpass'd
The sons of Greece! the ablest, yet the last!
Fortune denies, but justice bids us pay
(Since great Tydides bears the first away)
To him the second honours of the day."
The Greeks consent with loud-applauding cries,
And then Eumelus had received the prize,
But youthful Nestor, jealous of his fame,
The award opposes, and asserts his claim.
"Think not (he cries) I tamely will resign,
O Peleus' son! the mare so justly mine.
What if the gods, the skilful to confound,
Have thrown the horse and horseman to the ground?
Perhaps he sought not heaven by sacrifice,
And vows omitted forfeited the prize.
If yet (distinction to thy friend to show,
And please a soul desirous to bestow)
Some gift must grace Eumelus, view thy store
Of beauteous handmaids, steeds, and shining ore;
An ample present let him thence receive,
And Greece shall praise thy generous thirst to give.
But this my prize I never shall forego;
This, who but touches, warriors! is my foe."
Thus spake the youth; nor did his words offend;
Pleased with the well-turn'd flattery of a friend,
Achilles smiled: "The gift proposed (he cried),
Antilochus! we shall ourself provide.
With plates of brass the corslet cover'd o'er,
(The same renown'd Asteropaeus wore,)
Whose glittering margins raised with silver shine,
(No vulgar gift,) Eumelus! shall be thine."
He said: Automedon at his command
The corslet brought, and gave it to his hand.
Distinguish'd by his friend, his bosom glows
With generous joy: then Menelaus rose;
The herald placed the sceptre in his hands,
And still'd the clamour of the shouting bands.
Not without cause incensed at Nestor's son,
And inly grieving, thus the king begun:
"The praise of wisdom, in thy youth obtain'd,
An act so rash, Antilochus! has stain'd.
Robb'd of my glory and my just reward,
To you, O Grecians! be my wrong declared:
So not a leader shall our conduct blame,
Or judge me envious of a rival's fame.
But shall not we, ourselves, the truth maintain?
What needs appealing in a fact so plain?
What Greek shall blame me, if I bid thee rise,
And vindicate by oath th' ill-gotten prize?
Rise if thou darest, before thy chariot stand,
The driving scourge high-lifted in thy hand;
And touch thy steeds, and swear thy whole intent
Was but to conquer, not to circumvent.
Swear by that god whose liquid arms surround
The globe, and whose dread earthquakes heave the ground!"
The prudent chief with calm attention heard;
Then mildly thus: "Excuse, if youth have err'd;
Superior as thou art, forgive the offence,
Nor I thy equal, or in years, or sense.
Thou know'st the errors of unripen'd age,
Weak are its counsels, headlong is its rage.
The prize I quit, if thou thy wrath resign;
The mare, or aught thou ask'st, be freely thine
Ere I become (from thy dear friendship torn)
Hateful to thee, and to the gods forsworn."
So spoke Antilochus; and at the word
The mare contested to the king restored.
Joy swells his soul: as when the vernal grain
Lifts the green ear above the springing plain,
The fields their vegetable life renew,
And laugh and glitter with the morning dew;
Such joy the Spartan's shining face o'erspread,
And lifted his gay heart, while thus he said:
"Still may our souls, O generous youth! agree
'Tis now Atrides' turn to yield to thee.
Rash heat perhaps a moment might control,
Not break, the settled temper of thy soul.
Not but (my friend) 'tis still the wiser way
To waive contention with superior sway;
For ah! how few, who should like thee offend,
Like thee, have talents to regain the friend!
To plead indulgence, and thy fault atone,
Suffice thy father's merit and thy own:
Generous alike, for me, the sire and son
Have greatly suffer'd, and have greatly done.
I yield; that all may know, my soul can bend,
Nor is my pride preferr'd before my friend."
He said; and pleased his passion to command,
Resign'd the courser to Noemon's hand,
Friend of the youthful chief: himself content,
The shining charger to his vessel sent.
The golden talents Merion next obtain'd;
The fifth reward, the double bowl, remain'd.
Achilles this to reverend Nestor bears.
And thus the purpose of his gift declares:
"Accept thou this, O sacred sire! (he said)
In dear memorial of Patroclus dead;
Dead and for ever lost Patroclus lies,
For ever snatch'd from our desiring eyes!
Take thou this token of a grateful heart,
Though 'tis not thine to hurl the distant dart,
The quoit to toss, the ponderous mace to wield,
Or urge the race, or wrestle on the field:
Thy pristine vigour age has overthrown,
But left the glory of the past thy own."
He said, and placed the goblet at his side;
With joy the venerable king replied:
"Wisely and well, my son, thy words have proved
A senior honour'd, and a friend beloved!
Too true it is, deserted of my strength,
These wither'd arms and limbs have fail'd at length.
Oh! had I now that force I felt of yore,
Known through Buprasium and the Pylian shore!
Victorious then in every solemn game,
Ordain'd to Amarynces' mighty name;
The brave Epeians gave my glory way,
Ætolians, Pylians, all resign'd the day.
I quell'd Clytomedes in fights of hand,
And backward hurl'd Ancaeus on the sand,
Surpass'd Iphyclus in the swift career,
Phyleus and Polydorus with the spear.
The sons of Actor won the prize of horse,
But won by numbers, not by art or force:
For the famed twins, impatient to survey
Prize after prize by Nestor borne away,
Sprung to their car; and with united pains
One lash'd the coursers, while one ruled the reins.
Such once I was! Now to these tasks succeeds
A younger race, that emulate our deeds:
I yield, alas! (to age who must not yield?)
Though once the foremost hero of the field.
Go thou, my son! by generous friendship led,
With martial honours decorate the dead:
While pleased I take the gift thy hands present,
(Pledge of benevolence, and kind intent,)
Rejoiced, of all the numerous Greeks, to see
Not one but honours sacred age and me:
Those due distinctions thou so well canst pay,
May the just gods return another day!"
Proud of the gift, thus spake the full of days:
Achilles heard him, prouder of the praise.
The prizes next are order'd to the field,
For the bold champions who the caestus wield.
A stately mule, as yet by toils unbroke,
Of six years' age, unconscious of the yoke,
Is to the circus led, and firmly bound;
Next stands a goblet, massy, large, and round.
Achilles rising, thus: "Let Greece excite
Two heroes equal to this hardy fight;
Who dare the foe with lifted arms provoke,
And rush beneath the long-descending stroke.
On whom Apollo shall the palm bestow,
And whom the Greeks supreme by conquest know,
This mule his dauntless labours shall repay,
The vanquish'd bear the massy bowl away."
This dreadful combat great Epeus chose;(291)
High o'er the crowd, enormous bulk! he rose,
And seized the beast, and thus began to say:
"Stand forth some man, to bear the bowl away!
(Price of his ruin: for who dares deny
This mule my right; the undoubted victor I)
Others, 'tis own'd, in fields of battle shine,
But the first honours of this fight are mine;
For who excels in all? Then let my foe
Draw near, but first his certain fortune know;
Secure this hand shall his whole frame confound,
Mash all his bones, and all his body pound:
So let his friends be nigh, a needful train,
To heave the batter'd carcase off the plain."
The giant spoke; and in a stupid gaze
The host beheld him, silent with amaze!
'Twas thou, Euryalus! who durst aspire
To meet his might, and emulate thy sire,
The great Mecistheus; who in days of yore
In Theban games the noblest trophy bore,
(The games ordain'd dead OEdipus to grace,)
And singly vanquish the Cadmean race.
Him great Tydides urges to contend,
Warm with the hopes of conquest for his friend;
Officious with the cincture girds him round;
And to his wrist the gloves of death are bound.
Amid the circle now each champion stands,
And poises high in air his iron hands;
With clashing gauntlets now they fiercely close,
Their crackling jaws re-echo to the blows,
And painful sweat from all their members flows.
At length Epeus dealt a weighty blow
Full on the cheek of his unwary foe;
Beneath that ponderous arm's resistless sway
Down dropp'd he, nerveless, and extended lay.
As a large fish, when winds and waters roar,
By some huge billow dash'd against the shore,
Lies panting; not less batter'd with his wound,
The bleeding hero pants upon the ground.
To rear his fallen foe, the victor lends,
Scornful, his hand; and gives him to his friends;
Whose arms support him, reeling through the throng,
And dragging his disabled legs along;
Nodding, his head hangs down his shoulder o'er;
His mouth and nostrils pour the clotted gore;(292)
Wrapp'd round in mists he lies, and lost to thought;
His friends receive the bowl, too dearly bought.
The third bold game Achilles next demands,
And calls the wrestlers to the level sands:
A massy tripod for the victor lies,
Of twice six oxen its reputed price;
And next, the loser's spirits to restore,
A female captive, valued but at four.
Scarce did the chief the vigorous strife prop
When tower-like Ajax and Ulysses rose.
Amid the ring each nervous rival stands,
Embracing rigid with implicit hands.
Close lock'd above, their heads and arms are mix'd:
Below, their planted feet at distance fix'd;
Like two strong rafters which the builder forms,
Proof to the wintry winds and howling storms,
Their tops connected, but at wider space
Fix'd on the centre stands their solid base.
Now to the grasp each manly body bends;
The humid sweat from every pore descends;
Their bones resound with blows: sides, shoulders, thighs
Swell to each gripe, and bloody tumours rise.
Nor could Ulysses, for his art renown'd,
O'erturn the strength of Ajax on the ground;
Nor could the strength of Ajax overthrow
The watchful caution of his artful foe.
While the long strife even tired the lookers on,
Thus to Ulysses spoke great Telamon:
"Or let me lift thee, chief, or lift thou me:
Prove we our force, and Jove the rest decree."
He said; and, straining, heaved him off the ground
With matchless strength; that time Ulysses found
The strength to evade, and where the nerves combine
His ankle struck: the giant fell supine;
Ulysses, following, on his bosom lies;
Shouts of applause run rattling through the skies.
Ajax to lift Ulysses next essays;
He barely stirr'd him, but he could not raise:
His knee lock'd fast, the foe's attempt denied;
And grappling close, they tumbled side by side.
Defiled with honourable dust they roll,
Still breathing strife, and unsubdued of soul:
Again they rage, again to combat rise;
When great Achilles thus divides the prize:
"Your noble vigour, O my friends, restrain;
Nor weary out your generous strength in vain.
Ye both have won: let others who excel,
Now prove that prowess you have proved so well."
The hero's words the willing chiefs obey,
From their tired bodies wipe the dust away,
And, clothed anew, the following games survey.
And now succeed the gifts ordain'd to grace
The youths contending in the rapid race:
A silver urn that full six measures held,
By none in weight or workmanship excell'd:
Sidonian artists taught the frame to shine,
Elaborate, with artifice divine;
Whence Tyrian sailors did the prize transport,
And gave to Thoas at the Lemnian port:
From him descended, good Eunaeus heir'd
The glorious gift; and, for Lycaon spared,
To brave Patroclus gave the rich reward:
Now, the same hero's funeral rites to grace,
It stands the prize of swiftness in the race.
A well-fed ox was for the second placed;
And half a talent must content the last.
Achilles rising then bespoke the train:
"Who hope the palm of swiftness to obtain,
Stand forth, and bear these prizes from the plain."
The hero said, and starting from his place,
Oilean Ajax rises to the race;
Ulysses next; and he whose speed surpass'd
His youthful equals, Nestor's son, the last.
Ranged in a line the ready racers stand;
Pelides points the barrier with his hand;
All start at once; Oileus led the race;
The next Ulysses, measuring pace with pace;
Behind him, diligently close, he sped,
As closely following as the running thread
The spindle follows, and displays the charms
Of the fair spinster's breast and moving arms:
Graceful in motion thus, his foe he plies,
And treads each footstep ere the dust can rise;
His glowing breath upon his shoulders plays:
The admiring Greeks loud acclamations raise:
To him they give their wishes, hearts, and eyes,
And send their souls before him as he flies.
Now three times turn'd in prospect of the goal,
The panting chief to Pallas lifts his soul:
"Assist, O goddess!" thus in thought he pray'd!
And present at his thought descends the maid.
Buoy'd by her heavenly force, he seems to swim,
And feels a pinion lifting every limb.
All fierce, and ready now the prize to gain,
Unhappy Ajax stumbles on the plain
(O'erturn'd by Pallas), where the slippery shore
Was clogg'd with slimy dung and mingled gore.
(The self-same place beside Patroclus' pyre,
Where late the slaughter'd victims fed the fire.)
Besmear'd with filth, and blotted o'er with clay,
Obscene to sight, the rueful racer lay;
The well-fed bull (the second prize) he shared,
And left the urn Ulysses' rich reward.
Then, grasping by the horn the mighty beast,
The baffled hero thus the Greeks address'd:
"Accursed fate! the conquest I forego;
A mortal I, a goddess was my foe;
She urged her favourite on the rapid way,
And Pallas, not Ulysses, won the day."
Thus sourly wail'd he, sputtering dirt and gore;
A burst of laughter echoed through the shore.
Antilochus, more humorous than the rest,
Takes the last prize, and takes it with a jest:
"Why with our wiser elders should we strive?
The gods still love them, and they always thrive.
Ye see, to Ajax I must yield the prize:
He to Ulysses, still more aged and wise;
(A green old age unconscious of decays,
That proves the hero born in better days!)
Behold his vigour in this active race!
Achilles only boasts a swifter pace:
For who can match Achilles? He who can,
Must yet be more than hero, more than man."
The effect succeeds the speech. Pelides cries,
"Thy artful praise deserves a better prize.
Nor Greece in vain shall hear thy friend extoll'd;
Receive a talent of the purest gold."
The youth departs content. The host admire
The son of Nestor, worthy of his sire.
Next these a buckler, spear, and helm, he brings;
Cast on the plain, the brazen burden rings:
Arms which of late divine Sarpedon wore,
And great Patroclus in short triumph bore.
"Stand forth the bravest of our host! (he cries)
Whoever dares deserve so rich a prize,
Now grace the lists before our army's sight,
And sheathed in steel, provoke his foe to fight.
Who first the jointed armour shall explore,
And stain his rival's mail with issuing gore,
The sword Asteropaeus possess'd of old,
(A Thracian blade, distinct with studs of gold,)
Shall pay the stroke, and grace the striker's side:
These arms in common let the chiefs divide:
For each brave champion, when the combat ends,
A sumptuous banquet at our tents attends."
Fierce at the word uprose great Tydeus' son,
And the huge bulk of Ajax Telamon.
Clad in refulgent steel, on either hand,
The dreadful chiefs amid the circle stand;
Louring they meet, tremendous to the sight;
Each Argive bosom beats with fierce delight.
Opposed in arms not long they idly stood,
But thrice they closed, and thrice the charge renew'd.
A furious pass the spear of Ajax made
Through the broad shield, but at the corslet stay'd.
Not thus the foe: his javelin aim'd above
The buckler's margin, at the neck he drove.
But Greece, now trembling for her hero's life,
Bade share the honours, and surcease the strife.
Yet still the victor's due Tydides gains,
With him the sword and studded belt remains.
Then hurl'd the hero, thundering on the ground,
A mass of iron (an enormous round),
Whose weight and size the circling Greeks admire,
Rude from the furnace, and but shaped by fire.
This mighty quoit Aetion wont to rear,
And from his whirling arm dismiss in air;
The giant by Achilles slain, he stow'd
Among his spoils this memorable load.
For this, he bids those nervous artists vie,
That teach the disk to sound along the sky.
"Let him, whose might can hurl this bowl, arise;
Who farthest hurls it, take it as his prize;
If he be one enrich'd with large domain
Of downs for flocks, and arable for grain,
Small stock of iron needs that man provide;
His hinds and swains whole years shall be supplied
From hence; nor ask the neighbouring city's aid
For ploughshares, wheels, and all the rural trade."
Stern Polypoetes stepp'd before the throng,
And great Leonteus, more than mortal strong;
Whose force with rival forces to oppose,
Uprose great Ajax; up Epeus rose.
Each stood in order: first Epeus threw;
High o'er the wondering crowds the whirling circle flew.
Leonteus next a little space surpass'd;
And third, the strength of godlike Ajax cast.
O'er both their marks it flew; till fiercely flung
From Polypoetes' arm the discus sung:
Far as a swain his whirling sheephook throws,
That distant falls among the grazing cows,
So past them all the rapid circle flies:
His friends, while loud applauses shake the skies,
With force conjoin'd heave off the weighty prize.
Those, who in skilful archery contend,
He next invites the twanging bow to bend;
And twice ten axes casts amidst the round,
Ten double-edged, and ten that singly wound
The mast, which late a first-rate galley bore,
The hero fixes in the sandy shore;
To the tall top a milk-white dove they tie,
The trembling mark at which their arrows fly.
"Whose weapon strikes yon fluttering bird, shall bear
These two-edged axes, terrible in war;
The single, he whose shaft divides the cord."
He said: experienced Merion took the word;
And skilful Teucer: in the helm they threw
Their lots inscribed, and forth the latter flew.
Swift from the string the sounding arrow flies;
But flies unbless'd! No grateful sacrifice,
No firstling lambs, unheedful! didst thou vow
To Phoebus, patron of the shaft and bow.
For this, thy well-aim'd arrow turn'd aside,
Err'd from the dove, yet cut the cord that tied:
Adown the mainmast fell the parted string,
And the free bird to heaven displays her wing:
Sea, shores, and skies, with loud applause resound,
And Merion eager meditates the wound:
He takes the bow, directs the shaft above,
And following with his eye the soaring dove,
Implores the god to speed it through the skies,
With vows of firstling lambs, and grateful sacrific
The dove, in airy circles as she wheels,
Amid the clouds the piercing arrow feels;
Quite through and through the point its passage found,
And at his feet fell bloody to the ground.
The wounded bird, ere yet she breathed her last,
With flagging wings alighted on the mast,
A moment hung, and spread her pinions there,
Then sudden dropp'd, and left her life in air.
From the pleased crowd new peals of thunder rise,
And to the ships brave Merion bears the prize.
To close the funeral games, Achilles last
A massy spear amid the circle placed,
And ample charger of unsullied frame,
With flowers high-wrought, not blacken'd yet by flame.
For these he bids the heroes prove their art,
Whose dexterous skill directs the flying dart.
Here too great Merion hopes the noble prize;
Nor here disdain'd the king of men to rise.
With joy Pelides saw the honour paid,
Rose to the monarch, and respectful said:
"Thee first in virtue, as in power supreme,
O king of nations! all thy Greeks proclaim;
In every martial game thy worth attest,
And know thee both their greatest and their best.
Take then the prize, but let brave Merion bear
This beamy javelin in thy brother's war."
Pleased from the hero's lips his praise to hear,
The king to Merion gives the brazen spear:
But, set apart for sacred use, commands
The glittering charger to Talthybius' hands.
[Illustration: CERES.]
CERES. 竞赛结束，人群四散离去，走回各自的
快船，心里想着吃喝和
甜美的睡眠。惟有阿基琉斯仍在
哀声哭泣，怀念心爱的伴友，所向披靡的睡眠
此时却难以使他就范。他辗转翻滚，
念想着帕特罗克洛斯，他的强健和刚勇的人生，回想着
他俩并肩打过的每一场战斗——他可是没有少吃苦头，
出生人死，闯过拼战的人群，跨越汹涌的洋流。
他回忆着这些往事，泪如泉涌，满地翻滚，
时而侧卧，时而仰躺，时而头面
紧贴着沙层。然后，他直挺起身子，
精神恍惚，迈开腿步，沿着海滩行走。黎明
把曙光撒向滩沿，照亮了大海，映人了阿基琉斯的眼帘。
其时，他把快马套入车前的轭架，
将赫克托耳的尸躯绑在车后，赶马拉车，
绕着墨诺伊提俄斯阵亡的儿子，他的坟茔，连跑
三圈，然后走入营棚休息，把尸体扔在地上，
四肢摊展，头脸贴着泥尘。然而，阿波罗
怜悯他的处境，虽然他已死去，保护着
他的遗体，使其免受各种豁裂——他用金制的埃吉斯
盖住尸躯，从头到脚，使阿基琉斯的拖拉不能把它损毁。
就这样，阿基琉斯挟着狂怒，蹂躏着高贵的赫克托耳。
见此情景，幸福的神祗心里充满怜悯，
一再催促眼睛闪亮的阿耳吉丰忒斯前往偷尸。
此举可以愉悦各位神明，但却不能博得赫拉。
波塞冬和那位灰眼睛姑娘的欢心；他们仍然心怀
怨恨，一如当初，对神圣的伊利昂，对
普里阿摩斯和他的兵民。此事的源头乃帕里斯的恶行；
他得罪了两位女神[●]，在他的羊圈里，但却垂青
●两位女神：指赫拉和雅典娜。
另一位女仙[●]，后者用引来灾祸的色欲，换取了他的恭维。
●女仙：指阿芙罗底忒。
其时，当着赫克托耳死后的第十二个黎明的降临，
福伊波斯·阿波罗开口发话，对众神说道：
“你们这些狠心的神祗，残酷无情的天尊！难道赫克托耳
没有祀祭各位，焚烧过肥美的山羊和牛腿？
眼下，你们不愿动一个指儿，设法救护——虽然他现在只是
一具尸体——让他的妻子再看上一眼，还有他的儿子、母亲
以及父亲普里阿摩斯和普里阿摩斯的子民。他们会马上
垒起柴堆，焚烧遗体，为他举行隆重的葬礼。
但你们，你等神祗，却一心想着帮助凶狂的阿基琉斯，
此人全然不顾礼面，心胸狂蛮，
偏顽执拗，像一头狮子，
沉溺于自己的高傲和勇力，
扑向牧人的羊群，撕食咀嚼。
就像这样，阿基琉斯已忘却怜悯，不顾
廉耻——廉耻，既使人受害匪浅，也使人蓄取神益。
不用说，凡人可能失去关系更为密切的
亲人，比如儿子或一母所生的兄弟。
他会愁容满面，他会痛哭流涕，但一切终将过去，
命运给凡人安上了知道容让和忍耐的心灵。
但是这个人，他杀了高贵的赫克托耳，夺走他的生命，
把他绑在车后，拖拉奔跑，围绕着心爱的伴友，
帕特罗克洛斯的坟茔。试问，如此作为，他得到了什么好处，争
到了多少光荣？
让他小心，不要触怒神明，虽然他是人中的俊杰——
瞧，他粗狂暴虐，欺辱着没有知觉的土地！”
听罢这番话，白臂女神赫拉怒气冲冲，开口答道：
“你的话或许有点道理，我的银弓之王，只是
你应把二者，阿基琉斯和赫克托耳，放在一样尊荣的地位。
赫克托耳是个凡人，吸吮凡女的乳奶，
而阿基琉斯是女神的儿子——我亲自
关心照料，把她养大，嫁给壮士
裴琉斯，神祗钟爱的凡人。你们各位，所有的
神明，全都参加了婚礼，包括你，阿波罗，饮宴在
他们中间，弹着你的竖琴。现在，你却和该死的特洛伊人
合群——你，从来不讲信义！”
听罢这番话，汇聚乌云的宙斯答道：
“赫拉，神祗之间，不必动发这么大的肝火。这两个凡人
自然不会得到同样显贵的尊荣。但是，赫克托耳也
同样受到神的钟爱，伊利昂最杰出的凡人。
我也喜爱此人，他从来不吝啬礼物，快慰我的心胸。
我的祭坛从来不缺足份的供品，不缺
满杯的奠酒和甜美的熏烟——此乃我们的权益。
我不同意偷尸的主张；从阿基琉斯身边
偷出勇敢的赫克托耳，此事断难通行——别忘了，他的
母亲总在儿子近旁，日夜如此。不过，倒是可让
一位神祗把塞提丝招来，
使我能对他出言嘱告，让阿基琉斯
接受普里阿摩斯的赎礼，交回赫克托耳的遗躯。”
他言罢，驾踩风暴的伊里丝即刻出发，带着口信，
从萨摩斯和岩壁粗皱的英勃罗斯之间
跳下大海，灰暗的洋面发出悲沉的咽吼。
她一头扎到海底，像沉重的铅块，在
一支硬角的上面，取自漫步草场的壮牛，划破水层，
带着死亡，送给贪食的鱼类。她觅到塞提丝的身影，
在岩洞的深处，身边围坐着各位姐妹，
海中的女仙。因围中，她凄声悲哭
豪勇的儿子，注定的命运，要让他远离
故乡，死在土地肥沃的特洛伊。
快腿的伊里丝行至她的身边，对她说道：
“起来，塞提丝。言出必果的宙斯要召见于你。”
听罢这番话，塞提丝，银脚女神，答道：
“大神要我前往，有何贵干？我无颜和
众神汇聚，心里悲痛交加，苦不堪言。
尽管如此，我还将前往；他的谕令，绝非儿戏。”
言罢，闪光的女神拿起一条
黑色的头罩，黑过所有的裙袍。她随之
起程，腿脚追风的伊里丝引路先行；
翻滚的波涛破开一条水路，在她俩的身边。
她们登上泥岸，飞向天空，见到
沉雷远播的宙斯，身边围坐着各位
神祗，幸福的、长生不老的仙神。
她在父亲宙斯近旁，就座雅典娜让出的位置。
赫拉将一只漂亮的金杯放在她的手里，
好言宽慰，塞提丝喝过饮料，递还金杯。
神和人的父亲首先发话，说道：
“你已来到俄林波斯，带着你的每一分伤愁，女神塞提丝，
带着难以忘却的悲痛。对此，我有深切的心知和感觉。
但尽管如此，我还要对你说告，告知把你召来的目的。
针对赫克托耳的遗体和荡劫城堡的
阿基琉斯，神们已经争论了九天。
他们一再敦促眼睛雪亮的阿耳吉丰忒斯偷盗遗体，
但我却觉得应该让阿基琉斯获得荣誉，从而使你
日后能保持对我的尊敬和热爱。去吧，尽快
前往地面上的军营，把我的嘱令转告你的儿子。
告诉他，众神已对他皱起眉头，尤其是我，
心中盛怒难平，针对他的偏狂，
扣留赫克托耳的遗体，在弯翘的船边，不愿把它交回。
或许，他会慑于我的愠怒，交还赫克托耳的遗体。
与此同时，我要让伊里丝找见心志豪莽的普里阿摩斯，捎去
我的命令，
要她赎回心爱的儿子，前往阿开亚人的海船，
带着礼物，平抚阿基琉斯的愤怒。”
他言罢，银脚女神塞提丝谨遵不违，
急速出发，直冲而下，从俄林波斯山巅，
来到儿子的营棚，只见他正
潜心悼哭，身边走动着几位亲密的伙伴，
忙忙碌碌地准备早餐——营棚里躺着一头
被宰的绵羊，体形硕大，披着一身浓密的卷毛。
尊贵的母亲走至儿子身边坐下，
用手抚摸着他，叫着他的名字，宽慰道：
“够了，我的孩子，不要再用痛哭和悲悼
折磨自己的身心，既不吃喝，也不
睡觉。直找个女人，共枕同床，借此舒慰
你的心胸。我知道，你已来日不多，死亡和
强有力的命运已逼压在你的身边。
现在，我要你认真听讲——我给你带来了宙斯的信言。
他说众神已对你皱起眉头，尤其是他自己，
心中盛怒难消，针对你的偏狂，
扣留赫克托耳的遗体，在弯翘的船边，不让赎回。
所以，我劝你交还赫克托耳，收取赎尸的财礼。”
听罢这番话，捷足的阿基琉斯答道：
“好吧，就这么办。让来者送进赎礼，带回尸体，
如果俄林波斯大神执意要我从命。”
如此这般，在木船搁聚的滩沿，母子俩长时间地
交谈，吐诉着长了翅膀的话语。与此同时，克罗诺斯之子
催命伊里丝下山，前往神圣的伊利昂，说道：
“去吧，迅捷的伊里丝，离开俄林波斯，我们的家居，
前往伊利昂，找到心志豪莽的普里阿摩斯，要他
赎回心爱的儿子，前往阿开亚人的海船，
带着礼物，平抚阿基琉斯的愤怒。
但要只身前往，不带其他人员，除了
一位年老的使者，跟随照料，驱赶
骡子和轮圈溜滑的货车，以便把
死者的遗体，阿基琉斯杀倒的壮勇，拉回城堡。
让他不要想到死亡，不必担心害怕，
我将给他派去一位神勇无敌的向导，阿耳吉丰忒斯，
一直把他带到阿基琉斯的住处。当神明
把他引入阿基琼斯的营棚，后者不仅不会
杀他，而且还会劝阻其他人的杀性——
阿基琉斯不是笨蛋，不是粗鲁的莽汉，不会拒绝神的意念；
他会心怀善意，宽恕恳求者的进访。”
他言罢，腿脚追风的伊里丝飞也似地离去，带着口信，
来到普里阿摩斯的房居，耳边彻响着连片的恸哭和悲嚎。
他看到儿子们围坐在父亲周围，在自家的庭院里，
泪水湿透了衣衫；老人置身其中，
紧紧地包裹和压挤在披篷里。灰白的头上和
颈项上撒满了泥屎，由他自己手抓涂放，
翻滚在污秽的粪堆里。房居里，前前后后，
他的女儿们，还有他的媳妇们，失声痛哭，
怀念所有阵亡的壮士，众多勇敢的兵丁，
效命疆场，倒死在阿耳吉维人手里。
宙斯的使者站在普里阿摩斯身边，对他说道，
虽然话音轻柔，却已把他吓得浑身颤嗦。
“勇敢些，普里阿摩斯，达耳达诺斯之子，不要怕。
我来到此地，怀着友好的心愿，
断然不带恶意。我是宙斯的使者；他虽然
置身遥远的地方，但却十分关心你的处境，怜悯你的遭遇。
俄林波斯大神命你赎回卓越的赫克托耳，
带着礼物，平慰阿基琉斯的愤怒。
但要只身前往，不带其他人员，除了
一位年老的使者，跟随照料，驱赶
骡子和轮圈溜滑的货车，以便把
死者的遗体，阿基琉斯杀倒的壮勇，拉回城堡。
他让你不要想到死亡，不必担心害怕；
他将给你派来一位神勇无敌的向导，阿耳吉丰忒斯，
一直把你带到阿基琉斯的住处。当神明
把你引入阿基琉斯的营棚，后者不仅不会
杀你，而且还会劝阻其他人的杀性——
阿基琉斯不是笨蛋，不是粗鲁的莽汉，不会抗拒神的意念；
他会心怀善意，宽恕恳求者的进访。”
言罢，快腿的伊里丝转身离去。
普里阿摩斯命嘱儿子们备妥轮圈溜滑的
骡车，把一只柳条编制的篮子绑在车上；
他自己则步入屋内的藏室，散发着雪松的
清香，挑着高高的顶面，堆着许多闪光的珍宝。
他大声发话，对着赫卡贝说道：
“我的夫人，宙斯派出使者，从俄林波斯山上，给我捎来了口信，
命我必须前往阿开亚人的海船，赎回心爱的儿子，
带着礼物，平慰阿基琉斯的愤烦。
来吧，告诉我你的见解，我将如何从事？
我的心绪，我的愿念正一个劲地催励，
要我前往海船，进入阿开亚人宽阔的营盘。”
言罢，他的妻子哭叫着答诉，说道：
“不，不能这么做！你的理智呢？——过去，你曾以此名声
显赫，无论是在外邦人里，还是在由你统治的兵民中！
你怎可企望前往阿开亚人的海船，孤身一人，
面对那个人的目光——他已杀死你的儿子，这许多
勇敢的儿郎？你的心就像铁块一般！
如果你落到他的手里，让他看见你的身影，
那家伙生蛮粗野，背信弃义，既不会怜悯你，也不会
尊重你的权益！来吧，我们还是坐在自己的宫居，远离着
赫克托耳，哭掉他的死亡。这便是强有力的命运织出的毁灭，
用生命的绳线，在他出生的时刻，我把他生下来的那一天——
奔跑的饿狗将吞食他的躯体，远离他的双亲，
死在一个比他强健的人手里。我真想咬住他的
肝脏，把它咀嚼吞咽！如此，方能仇报
他对我儿的作为——他杀死了一个战勇，不是贪生的怕死鬼
我的儿子保卫着特洛伊的男儿和束腰紧深的特洛伊
妇女，压根儿没有想到逃跑，没有想到躲避！”
听罢这番话，年迈的王者、神一样的普里阿摩斯答道：
“不要拦我，此行必去无疑！告诉你，不要做一只
显示恶兆的飞鸟，扑问在我的宫居！你不能使我回心转意。
如果是个其他什么人对我发号施令，一个凡人，
某个辨察熏烟的先知或祭司，
我或许便会把它斥为谎言，加以拒绝。
但现在，我亲耳听到一位神的传谕，亲眼目睹了她的脸面，
所以，我非去不可——他的话语不是戏言。如果我命该
死去，死在身披铜甲的阿开亚人的船边，那么，
我将死而无冤。阿基琉斯可以即刻把我杀掉，只要
让我拥着我的儿子，哭个痛痛快快！”
言罢，他提起图纹秀美的箱盖，
拿出十二件精美绚丽的衫袍，
十二件单面的披篷，十二条床毯，
十二件雪白的披肩，以及同样数量的衫衣。
他称出足足十个塔兰同的黄金，拿出
两个闪亮的铜鼎，四口大锅，还有一只
精美绝伦的酒杯，斯拉凯人给他的礼物，
在他出使该地的时候。现在，老人连它
一齐割爱，清出厅堂——赎回爱子的愿望，使他
不顾一切。他大声吆喝，驱赶柱廊里的
每一个特洛伊人，骂道：“都给我
滚开，无用的废物，招羞致辱的东西！怎么，在你们
自己家里嚎哭不够，还要跑到我这儿，给我添增愁烦？！
宙斯，克罗诺斯之子，夺走了我最好的儿子，给了我此番
悲愁，这一切难道还不够吗？后果怎样，你们
亦会知道——赫克托耳死了，你们成了阿开亚兵壮
手中的玩物。至于我自己，与其看着
城堡被劫，变成废墟一片，倒不如
趁早撒手人寰，坠入死神的房院！”
他破口大骂，提着棍棒追赶，吓得他们拔腿奔逃，
慑于老人的狂烈。然后，他转而怒责自己的儿子，
咒骂赫勒诺斯、帕里斯和卓越的阿伽松，咒骂
帕蒙、安提福诺斯和啸吼战场的波利忒斯，以及
德伊福波斯、希波苏斯和高贵的秋俄斯。对这九个
儿子，老人口气粗暴，发号施令：
“赶快动手，败家的孩子，我的耻辱！但愿你们
顶替赫克托耳，全被杀死在迅捷的海船边！
我的天！我这艰厄多难的命运！在宽阔的特洛伊，
我有过本地最好的儿子；然而，告诉你们，他们全都离我而去！
神一样的墨斯托耳，喜好烈马的特罗伊洛斯，
以及赫克托耳，凡人中的神明——他似乎不是
凡人的儿子，而是神的子嗣。阿瑞斯杀死了
所有这些儿郎，而剩下的却是你们这帮废物，我的耻辱，
骗子、舞棍、舞场上的英雄，从自己的属民
手里抢夺羊羔和小山羊的盗贼！
还不动手备车，把所有的东西
放到车上，让我们登程上路——赶快！”
他破口大骂，儿子们惧怕老人的威烈，
拖出轮圈溜滑的骡车，新近制作，
工艺精美，把一只柳条编制的大篮绑上车身。
他们从挂钩上取下黄羊木的骡轭，
带着浑实的突结，安着导环；取来
轭绳（连同轭架），九个肘尺的长度，
把轭架稳稳地楔人光滑的车杆，
在前伸的杆头，然后将导环套入钉栓，
绑在突结上，各绕三圈，在左右两边，最后
拉紧绳索，拴绕在车杆后端的挂钩下。
随后，他们从房室里抬出难以估价的财礼，堆在
溜光滑亮的骡车上，回赎赫克托耳的遗躯。接着，
他们把蹄腿强健的骡子套上轭架，一对挽车苦干的牲畜，
慕西亚人送给普里阿摩斯的闪光的礼物。
最后，他们拉出普里阿摩斯的驭马，套上轭架，
老王亲自关心护养的良驹，在滑亮的厩槽前。
就这样，在高耸的宫居里，他们套好车辆，替使者和
普里阿摩斯；二位心事重重，盘想着奔波旅途的事宜。
其时，赫卡贝来到他们身边，带着痛心的悲愁，
右手拿着一只金杯，满斟着甜美的酒浆，
以便让他们泼洒祭神，在上路之前。
她站在驭马前面，对着普里阿摩斯议劝，说道：
“接过酒杯，祭洒给父亲宙斯，求他保你安返
家园，从仇敌的营垒，既然你不顾
我的意愿，执意要去他们的海船。
祈祷吧，对克罗诺斯之子，席卷乌云的天神，
高居在伊达山上，俯视着特洛伊大地；求他
遣送一只预告兆示的飞鸟，他的迅捷的使者，
飞禽中力气最大、最受宙斯钟爱的羽鸟，出现在
右边，使你一旦亲眼目睹，便可
取信于它，前往车马迅捷的达奈人的海船。
但是，如果沉雷远播的宙斯不给你发送兆示，他的信使，
那么，我就会再三地恳求，哀求你不要
前往阿耳吉维人的海船，哪怕你有非去不可的倔念！”
听罢这番话，神一样的普里阿摩斯答道：
“我的夫人，我不想拒绝你的敦请；
我应该举起双手，祈求宙斯的怜悯。”
老人言罢，告嘱身边的家仆
倒出清水，淋洗他的双手。女仆走上前来，
端着洗盆和水罐。他净过
双手，接过妻子手中的酒杯，站在
庭院中间，对神祈祷，洒出醇酒，
仰望青天，开口诉诵，说道：
“父亲宙斯，从伊达山上督视着我们的大神，光荣的典范，伟大
的象征！
答应我，阿基琉斯会以慈爱之心，欢迎我的到来，怜悯我的
苦衷。给我遣送一只预告兆示的飞鸟，你的迅捷的使者，
你最钟爱、飞禽中力气最大的羽鸟，出现在
右边，使我一旦亲眼目睹，便可
取信于它，前往车马快捷的达奈人的海船。”
他如此一番祈祷，多谋善断的宙斯听到了他的声音，
随即遣下一只苍鹰，飞禽中兆示最准的羽鸟，
毛色灰暗的掳掠者，人们称之为“黑鹰”。
像富人家里的门面，封挡着
高大的财库，紧插着粗重的门闩——雄鹰展开
翅膀，一边一个，都有此般宽广，飞越城空，
出现在右边的上方。人们翘首仰望，
个个兴高采烈，精神为之一振。
其时，老人迫不及待地登上马车，
驱车穿过大门和回声隆响的柱廊。
骡子拖着四轮货车，由经验丰富的
伊代俄斯执缰，跑在前头；马车随后
跟行，老人扬鞭催赶，策马速跑，
穿越城区；亲人们全都跟在后面，
痛哭流涕，仿佛他去后再也不能生还。
当他俩穿过城区，奔向宽阔的平野，
送行者们转身返回伊利昂，普里阿摩斯的
儿子和女婿们。沉雷远播的宙斯，其时当然不会忽略
他们，两位驱车平原的特洛伊人。看着年迈的老头，
宙斯心生怜悯，马上招呼心爱的儿子，对他说道：
“赫耳墨斯，伴引凡人是你的乐趣，对此，神明中谁也
没有你的热情；你爱倾听凡人的诉告，那些使你欢心的人们。
去吧，引着普里阿摩斯，前往阿开亚人
深旷的海船，不要让达奈人中的任何一个
看到或注意到你的行踪，进入裴琉斯之子的营棚。”
宙斯如此一番说告，导者阿耳吉丰忒斯谨遵不违。
他随即穿上精美的条鞋，黄金铸就，
永不败坏——穿着它，仙神跨涉苍海和
无垠的陆基，像疾风一样轻快。
他操起节杖——用它，赫耳墨斯既可迷合凡人的
瞳眸，只要他愿意，又可让睡者睁开眼睛。
拿着这根节杖，强有力的阿耳吉丰忒斯一阵风似地离去，
转眼之间便来到特洛伊和赫勒斯庞特海面。
他提腿步行，从那里开始，以一位年轻王子的模样，
留着头茬的胡子，正是丰华最茂的岁月。
其时，当两人驱车跑过伊洛斯高大的坟茔，
他们勒住骒马，让牲畜饮水滩沿。
其时，夜色蒙罩大地；昏暗中，使者看见
赫耳墨斯，正从不远的前方走来。
他放声呼喊，对着普里阿摩斯说道：
“用你的心思，达耳达诺斯的后裔，快快想一想——现在，已是
必须小心谨慎的时候！
我看见一个人——我担心，他会把我们撕裂，就在此时此地！
赶快，让我们赶着马车逃跑；不然，
就去抱住他的膝盖，求他手下留情！”
听罢这番话，老人心绪昏沌，吓得眼花缭乱，
全身汗毛坚指，直立在青筋突暴的肌体上。
他本然而立，膛目凝望，幸好神明亲自走上前来，
握着老人的手，亲切地问道：
“敢问阿爸，在这神赐的夜晚，凡人酣睡的
时候，你赶着骒马，何处去从？
难道，你不怕那些吞吐狂烈的阿开亚兵汉？
他们恨你，是你的仇敌，近逼在你的眼前。
要是他们中有人瞅见你，运送这许多
财宝，穿行在乌黑、即逝的夜晚——想过吗，后果将是怎样
一种情景？
你自己已不年轻，你的侍从亦是个年迈的老人，
无力击退寻挑事端的汉子。
不过，我却不会害你，相反，我还会帮你
打开试图害你的人。你看来就像是我尊爱的父亲。”
听罢这番话，年老的王者，神一样的普里阿摩斯答道：
“是的，我的孩子，事情正是这样，你可没有说错。
不过，某位神祗仍然伸着大手，护佑在我的头顶，
给我送来一位像你这样的旅行者，一个绝好的
兆头！瞧你的身材，出奇地俊美，还有
如此聪慧的心智——有这样的儿子，你的双亲可真够幸运！”
听罢这番话，导者阿耳吉辛忒斯答道：
“是的，老人家，你的话条理分明，说得一点不错。
不过，烦你告诉我，真实地告诉我，
你带着这许多珍贵的财物，是不是想把它们
送到城外，让别人替你看护，代为存管？
或许，你们正倾城出逃，丢弃神圣的伊利昂，
吓得惶惶不安，眼见一位如此杰出的斗士，你们中最好的人，
已经倒地身亡，
你的儿子，战阵中从不屈让于阿开亚人的壮汉。”
听罢这番话，年老的王者，神一样的普里阿摩斯问道：
“你是谁，高贵的年轻人？你的父母又是谁？
关于我那命运险厄的儿子，关于他的死亡，你怎能说得这样豪
阔得体？”
听罢这番话，导者阿耳吉丰忒斯答道：
“你在试探我，老人家——对我问及卓越的赫克托耳。
我曾多次目睹他的出现，在人们争得荣誉的
战场；也曾亲眼见他，在那一天，把阿耳吉维人逼回
海船，挥舞青铜的利械，不停地杀砍。
我们站着观看，惊诧不已——阿基琉斯
不让我们参战，出于对阿伽门农的愤慨。
我是阿基琉斯的随从，来到此地，同坐一条
坚固的海船。我是个墨耳弥冬人，父亲名叫
波鲁克托耳，殷实富有，早已上了年纪，和你一样。
他有六个儿子，我是第七个；我们摇石
拈阄，结果我中阄出征。现在，我
刚从海船来到平原：拂晓时分，
眼睛闪亮的阿开亚人将围城开战。
他们闲坐营盘，焦躁不安，阿开亚人的
王者们亦无法遏止他们求战的意愿。”
听罢这番话，年迈的王者，神一样的普里阿摩斯说道：
“如果你真是裴琉斯之子阿基琉斯的随从，
那么，请你真实地告诉我，我的儿子是否
还躺在海船边。说不定，阿基琉斯
已把他截肢分解，喂了豢养的狗群。”
听罢这番话，导者阿耳吉丰忒斯答道：
“老人家，狗和兀鸟都还不曾把他吞食；
他还躺在营棚里，阿基琉斯的
海船旁，完好如初。今天，是他躺在那里的
第十二个拂晓，躯身不曾腐烂，也没有被蛆虫
蚀咬——这帮祸害，总把阵亡斗士的躯体糜耗。
不错，每日清晨，天天如此，阿基琉斯残暴地
拖着他迅跑，围绕着心爱的伴友，他的坟冢，但却
不能毁裂赫克托耳的躯体。到那以后，你可亲眼目睹，
他的肌肤就像露珠一样清鲜。血迹已被净洗，
身上没有损蚀，所有的伤痕都已修整平填——
那一道道口子，许多人的穿捅，用青铜的枪械。
幸福的神祗如此关心照护你的儿子，
虽然他已死去——神们由衷地喜爱他。”
他言罢，老人喜形于色，答道：
“我的孩子，奉祭神明，用合适的礼品，
日后必有收益。就说我的儿子——他，该不是一场梦吧，
从来不曾疏略家住俄林波斯的众神，在他的厅堂里，
所以，他们记着他的虔诚，即便他已不在人间。来吧，
收下这只精美的杯盏，求你保护
我的安全，倘若神意亦然，送我
前往裴琼斯之子的营棚。”
听罢这番话，导者阿耳吉丰忒斯答道：“
“视我年轻，老人家，你又来试探于我，但你不能
把我说服，要我背着阿基琉斯，接受你的
礼物。我打心眼里怕他敬他，断然不敢
抢夺他的东西——日后，此事会给我带来悲难。
然而，我却愿真心实意地为你向导，哪怕
前往光荣的阿耳戈斯，同坐迅捷的海船，或单靠
你我的双腿。放心，没有哪个强人，胆敢蔑视你的向导，对你
亮出拳头！”
言罢，善喜助佑的神祗从马后一跃
而上，一把抓过皮鞭和缰绳，吹出
巨大的勇力，注入骡子和驭马。他们驱车
来到围护海船的壕沟和护墙的前面；
哨兵们正忙忙碌碌，准备食餐。
导者阿耳吉丰忒斯把他们全都催入睡眠，
然后迅速开门，拉开门闩，
引入普里阿摩斯和整车光灿灿的礼件。
他们一路前行，来到裴琉斯之子的住所，一座高大的
营棚，慕耳弥冬人合力兴建，为他们的王者，
劈开大段的松木，垫上泽地的芦草，
铺出虬扎、厚实的棚顶；围着棚屋，
他们栏出一片宽敞的院落，替为王的主人，密密匝匝地
排起木杆。挡插门户的是一根
松木，需要三个阿开亚人方能拴拢，
亦需三个人的力气才能把它拉出，打开大门——三个普通的
阿开亚人；至于阿基琉斯，仅凭一己之力，即可把它捅入孔眼。
其时，赫耳墨斯，善助凡人的神祗，替老人打开大门，
赶人满车光灿灿的财物，送给捷足的阿基琉斯的赎礼，
从马后一跃而下，对普里阿摩斯说道：
“老人家，我乃一位长生不老的神祗，赫耳墨斯，站助
在你的身边。天父差我下凡，引助你的行程。
现在，我要就此归去，不愿出现在
阿基琉斯的眼前，此举会激起愤怒——
让一个凡人面对面地招待一位不死的神仙。
但你可走上前去，抱住裴琉斯之子的膝盖，
苦苦哀求，提及他的父亲、长发秀美的母亲，
还有他的儿子，以此融软他的心怀。”
赫耳墨斯言罢，转身返回俄林波斯的峰脊。
普里阿摩斯从马后下车，脚踏泥地，
留下伊代俄斯，原地看守
驭马和骡子，自己则迈步向前，朝着宙斯
钟爱的阿基琉斯惯常息坐的营们走去。他发现勇士
正坐在里头，另有一些伙伴，离着他的位置，平身息坐——
只有两个人，壮士奥托墨冬和阿瑞斯的后代阿尔基摩斯，
其时正忙忽在他的身边。他刚刚进食完毕，
吃喝了一番，桌子还站放在身前，王者普里阿摩斯
步入营棚，不为众人所见，走近阿基琉斯身前，
展臂抱住他的膝盖，亲吻他的双手，这双
可怕、屠人的大手，曾经杀过他众多的儿男。
像一个杀人故土的壮汉，带着
极度的迷狂，跑人别的国度，求告
一位富足的主人，使旁观者凉奇诧异一般，
阿基琉斯此时表情愕然，望着普里阿摩斯，神一样的
凡人；众人面面相觑，惊诧不已。
其时，普里阿摩斯开口说话，用恳求的语言：
“想一想你的父亲，神一样的阿基琉斯，他和我
一样年迈，跨越苍黄的门槛，痛苦的暮年！
邻近的人们必然对他骚忧窘迫，而家中无人
挺身而出，使他免于困苦和灾难。
然而，当他听说你还活在人间的消息，
心中会荡起喜悦的波澜，希望由此产主，日以继夜，
想望见到心爱的儿子，从特洛伊大地回返乡园。
至于我，我的命运充满艰险。我有过最好的儿子，在
辽阔的特洛伊；但是，告诉你，他们全都离我而去！
我有五十个儿子，在阿开亚人进兵此地之际，
十九个出自同一个女人的肚腹，其余的由
别的女子生孕，在我的宫居。强悍的
阿瑞斯酥软了他们的膝腿，他们中的大部分，
只给我留下一个中用的儿郎，保卫我的城堡和兵民——
他为保卫故土而战，几天前死在你的手里，
我的赫克托耳！为了他，我来到阿开亚人的船边，
给你带来难以估价的财礼，打算从你手中赎回我的儿男。
敬畏神明，阿基琉斯，想想你的父亲，
怜恤我这个老头！我比他更值得怜悯；
我忍受了世间其他凡人从未做过的事情：
用我的嘴唇亲吻你的双手，杀我儿郎的军汉。”
老人一番诉说，在阿基琉斯心里催发了哭念父亲的
激情。他握着老人的手，轻轻地把他推开；
如烟的记忆，笼罩在他俩的心头。老人蟋缩在
裴琉斯之子的脚边，哭悼着杀人的赫克托耳，
而阿基琉斯则时而哭念他的父亲，时而悲悼
帕特罗克洛斯的死亡；悲戚的哭声在营棚里回转。
当卓越的阿基琉斯流够了辛酸的眼泪，
恸哭的激情随之离开了肉体和心灵，
他从座椅上起身，握着老人的手，把他
扶站起来，看着他灰白的须发，心中泛起了怜悯之情。
送出长了翅膀的话语，开口说道：
“唉，不幸的老人，你的心灵承受了多少痛苦和悲难！
你怎会有如此的胆量，独身来到阿开亚人的船边，
面视我的目光——我曾杀死你的儿子，这么多
勇敢的儿郎？你的心就像铁块一般。来吧，
坐息这张靠椅；尽管痛苦，让我们，
是的，让你我把悲愁埋在心底，
如此悲恸哭悼，不会有半点收益。
这便是神的编工，生活的网线，替不幸的凡人；
我等一生坎坷多难，而神们自己则杏无忧愁。
有两只瓮罐，停放在宙斯宫居的地面，盛着
不同的礼物，一只装着福佑，另一只填满苦难。
倘若喜好炸雷的宙斯混合这两瓮礼物，把它交给一个
凡人，那么，此人既有不幸的时刻，也会有时来运转的良辰。
然而，当宙斯交送凡人的东西全部取自装着苦难的瓮罐，
那么，此人就会离乡背井，忍受辘辘饥肠的驱策，踏着闪亮的
泥地，浪迹四方，受到神和人的鄙弃。
掺和的命运也降临在裴琉斯的头顶。神祗给了他一堆堆
闪光的礼物，始于他出身的时候，使他超越众生，以他的财富，
他的所有，统治墨耳弥冬兵民。此外，尽管身为
凡人，神们却给了他一位长生不老的女仙，做他的妻伴。
然而，即便在他头上，神明也堆起了苦难。他没有
生下一整代强健的王子，在他的宫居里，
只有一个注定会盛年夭折的孩儿——我不能
照顾他，在他的暮年，因我坐在特洛伊城下，
远离故土，给你和你的孩子们带来愁难。
你也一样，老人家；我们听说，你也有过兴盛的时候，
你的疆土面向大海，远至莱斯波斯，马卡耳的国度，
东抵弗鲁吉亚内陆，北达宽阔的赫勒斯庞特水域——
人们说，老人家，在这辽阔的地域内，比财富，论儿子，你是
首屈一指的权贵。
以后，上天的神祗给你来这场灾难，
城外进行着古无止境的战斗，人死人亡。
你必须忍受这一切；不要哭哭啼啼，没完没了。
哭子痛心，于事无补——你能把他带回人间？
决不可能。用不了多久，你会有另一场临头的大难。”
听罢这番话，年迈的王者，神一样的普里阿摩斯答道：
“不要叫我息身座椅，宙斯钟爱的王子，只要赫克托耳
还躺在军营，无人守护看管。把他交还于我，
不要拖延，也好让我亲眼看看，看看我的儿子。收下我们
带来的赎礼，洋洋洒洒的礼物！享用去吧，回到
你的家乡；你已放我一命，让我
苟延存活，得见白日的光明。”
其时，捷足的阿基琉斯恶狠狠地盯着他，说道：
“不要惹我发火，老人家！我已决定把赫克托耳
交还于你；一位信使已给我带来宙斯的谕令，
我的生身母亲，海洋老人的女儿。
至于你，普里阿摩斯，我也知道——不要隐瞒——
是某位神明把你引到此地，阿开亚人迅捷的快船边。
凡人中谁敢闯入我们的营区，哪怕他是个
强壮的年轻汉子？他躲不过哨兵的眼睛，也不能
轻松地拉开门后的杠闩。所以，
你不要继续挑拨我的怒火，在我伤愁之际，
免得惹我，老先生，结果你的性命，在我的营棚里，
不顾你这恳求者的身份，违背宙斯的训谕。”
听罢这番话，老人心里害怕，服从了他的指令。
裴琉斯之子大步扑向门口，像一头狮子，
并非单行，身后跟着两位伴从，壮士
奥托墨冬和阿尔基摩斯——帕特罗克洛斯
死后，二位是阿基琉斯最尊爱的随伴。
两人从轭架下宽出骒马，带入
信使，老王的传话人，让他坐在
椅子上，然后，从溜光滑亮的骡车里
搬出难以估价的财礼，回赎赫克托耳的遗躯，
但却留下两件披篷和一件织工精致的衫衣，
作为裹尸的用物，在他们载着遗体，回转家门之际。
阿基琉斯大声招呼女仆，净洗尸身，抹上清油，
但要先抬至一边，以恐让普里阿摩斯
见到，以痛子的悲哀，丧子的
愤怒，激起阿基琉斯的怨恨，
杀了老人，违背宙斯的训谕。
女仆们洗净尸身，抹上橄榄油，
掩之以一件衫衣和一领漂亮的披篷。
阿基琉斯亲自动手，把他抱上尸床，然后，
由伙伴们帮持，把尸床抬上溜光滑亮的车架。
接着，他悲声哭喊，叫着亲爱的伴友的名字：
“不要生我的气，帕特罗克洛斯，倘若你听说此事，
虽然你已坠入哀地斯的府居：我已把卓越的赫克托耳
交还他钟爱的父亲。他给了我分量相当的赎礼，
我将给你拿出一份，像往常一样，符合你的身份和地位。”
言罢，卓越的阿基琉斯走回营棚，
下坐刚才起身离行的靠椅，雕工精致，
靠着对面的墙壁，对着普里阿摩斯说道：
“我已交还你的儿子，老人家，如你要求的那样。
他正息躺尸床，你老马上即可亲眼日睹他的容颜，
在破晓时分，登程上路之际。眼下，我们宜可进用晚餐；
即便是长发秀美的尼娥北，也不曾断然绝食，
虽然她的六对儿女全被杀死在她的官居里，
六个女儿，六个风华正茂的儿子。阿波罗用银弓
射尽她的儿子，出于对尼娥北的
愤恨，而发箭如雨的阿耳忒弥丝杀尽了她的女儿，
只因尼娥北自以为可与美貌的莱托攀比，
讥贬后者只生了两个子女，而她自己却是这么多儿女的母亲。
然而，虽然只有两个，他俩却杀了尼娥北所有的儿女。
一连九天，死者躺倒在血泊里，无人替他们收尸
掩埋——克罗诺斯之子已把所有的人化作石头。[●]
●把所有的人化作石头：可能指卷人此事的人们。
到了第十天，神们下到凡间，把死人收埋。
而尼娥北，虽已哭得死去活来，仍然没有忘记吃喝。
现在，在岩壁耸立的某地，荒漠的山脊上，
在西普洛斯的峰峦里——人们说，那里是女神们息身的去处，
长生不老的女仙嬉舞在阿开洛伊俄斯的滩沿——
化作石头的尼娥北仍在苦苦回味着神祗致造的忧愁。
来吧，尊贵的老先生，我们也一样，不能忘了
吃喝。当你把心爱的儿子拉回伊利昂，
那到候，你可放声痛哭，用泪水洗面。”
言罢，捷足的阿基琉斯跳将起来，宰掉
一头雪白的绵羊；伙伴们剥去羊皮，收拾得干干净净，
把羊肉切成小块，动作熟练，挑上叉尖，
仔细烧烤后，脱叉备用。
奥托墨冬拿出面包，就着精美的条篮，放在
桌面上；与此同时，阿基琉斯分放着烤肉。
随后，他们伸出手来，抓起眼前的佳肴。
当他们满足了吃喝的欲望，
普里阿摩斯，达耳达诺斯之子，注目凝视阿基琉斯，
惊慕他的俊美，高大挺拔的身躯，就像
神明一般。与此同时，阿基琉斯亦在注目凝望达耳达诺斯之
子普里阿摩斯，
惊慕他高贵的长相，聆听着他的言淡。
当他俩互相看够了之后，年迈的王者。
神一样的普里阿摩斯首先发话，说道：
“快给我安排一个睡觉的地方，宙斯钟爱的壮勇，
以便让我躺身床面，享受酣睡的愉悦。
自从我儿死后，死在你的手下，
我就一直没有合过双眼，总在恸哭
哀悼，沉湎在受之不尽的愁郁中，
翻滚在院内的粪堆里。现在，
我已吃饱食物，闪亮的醇酒已浸润
我的喉管；在此之前，我啥也没有碰沾。”
老人言罢，阿基琉斯命嘱女仆和伙伴们
动手备床，在门廊的顶面下，铺开厚实的
紫红色的褥垫，覆上床毯，
压上羊毛屈卷的披盖。女仆们
手握火把，走出厅堂，动手操办，
顷刻之间铺出两个床位。捷足的
阿基琉斯看着普里阿摩斯，用讥刺的口吻说道：
“睡在外头吧，亲爱的老先生，不要让阿开亚人的
头领看见。他们常来常往，坐在我的
身边，商讨谋划，履行他们的职限。
如果有人见你在此，在这飞逝的黑夜，
他会马上告诉阿伽门农，军队的统帅，
从而迟延回赎遗体的时间。
此外，告诉我，数字要准确，你需要
多少日子，埋葬卓越的赫克托耳？
在此期间，我将罢息刀枪，也不让阿开亚兵勇赴战。”
听罢这番话，年迈的王者、神一样的普里阿摩斯答道：
“如果你真的愿意让我为卓越的赫克托耳举行隆重的
葬礼，那么，阿基琉斯，你要能如此做来，我将
感到由衷的高兴。你知道，我们被迫挤在城里，苦不堪言，
砍伐烧柴要到遥远的坡地，而特洛伊人都已
吓得腿脚酥软。我们将把他放在宫内哭祭，需用九天时间。
准备在第十天上举行葬礼，让大伙吃喝一顿；
第十一天上，我们将堆坟筑墓；到了
第十二天，两军可重新开战，如果我们必须兵戎相见。”
听罢这番话，捷足的战勇、卓越的阿基琉斯答道：
“好吧，老人家，一切按你说的办；
我将按兵不动，在你需要的期限。”
言罢，阿基琉斯握住老王的右手腕，
使他不致担惊受怕。接着，二位来者，
普里阿摩斯和同来的使者，盘想着回城的方略，
睡寝在厅前带遮顶的门廊下，
而阿基琉斯则睡在坚固的营棚里，棚屋的深处，
身边躺着美貌的布里塞伊丝。
此时，其他神明和驾驭战车的凡人
都已酣睡整夜，吞吐着睡眠的舒甜，
惟有善喜助信的赫耳墨斯还不曾屈从睡的催捕，心中
思考着如何护导王者普里阿摩斯
离开海船，躲过忠于职守的门卫的双眼。
他悬站在老王头上，对他说道：
“老人家，你全然不顾眼前的危险，睡躺在
敌营之中，只因阿基琉斯不曾把你伤害。
是的，你已赎回你的爱子，付出一大笔财礼；
然而，你家中的儿子，将付出三倍于此的财物，
回赎你的生命，要是此事传到阿特柔斯之于阿伽门农
耳边，传到所有其他阿开亚人的耳朵里。”
他言罢，老人心里害怕，叫醒使者。
赫耳墨斯套好骡车和马车，
亲自驭赶，迅速穿过营区，谁也不曾注意到车马的踪迹。
然而，当他们来到清水河的边岸，
其父宙斯，不死的天神，卷着漩涡的珊索斯的滩沿，
赫耳墨斯离开他们，回程俄林波斯的峰巅；
黎明抖开金红色的衫袍，遍撒在大地上。
其时，他们赶着马车，朝着城堡行进，悲声哀悼，
痛哭流涕。遗体由骡车拉行。城墙里，谁也
不曾首先见到他们，无论是男人，还是束腰秀美的女子，
谁也不曾先于卡桑德拉，金色的阿芙罗底忒一样的姑娘，
早已登上裴耳伽摩斯的顶面。她看到
亲爱的父亲，站在马车上，由他的信使和传话人
陪伴。她也见到尸架，骡车上的那个人，
于是尖声嘶叫，声音传响在整个城区：
“来呀，特洛伊的男子和妇女！看看我们的赫克托耳——
倘若你们，你们曾满怀喜悦，看着他生还家园，从杀敌的
战场！他给我们带来过巨大的愉悦，给这座城市，所有的
子民！”
听到此番喊叫，人们倾城而出，包括男人
和女子，个个悲苦异常，痛不欲生。
他们在城门边围住运尸进城的普里阿摩斯，
赫克托耳的妻子和尊贵的母亲最先扑上
轮圈溜滑的骡车，撕绞着自己的头发，
抚摸着死者的头脸；众人哭喊嚎啕，围站在她们身边。
此时此地，在这城门之前，人们会痛哭终日，
泪流满面，直到太阳西沉。
要不是老人开口发话，在车上高声叫喊：
“闪开，让骡车过去！稍后，当我
把他放入宫居，你们可尽情恸哭举哀。”
他言罢，人们问向两边，让出一条过车的通道。
他们把赫克托耳抬人那座著名的房居，把他
放在一张雕花的床上。引导哀悼的
歌手们坐在他的身边，唱起曲调
凄楚的挽歌，女人们悲声哭叫，应答呼号。
白臂膀的安德罗玛开引导着女人的悲嚎，
怀中抱着丈夫的头颅，杀人的赫克托耳：
“我的丈夫，你死得这般年轻！你丢下我，
宫居里的寡妇，守着尚是婴儿的男孩。
你我的后代，一对不幸的人儿！我知道，他不会
长大成人：在此之前，我们的城堡将被荡为平地，
从楼顶到底面的墙沿！因为你已不在人间，你，城堡的卫士
保卫着城内高贵的妻子和无力自卫的孩童——不幸的人们，
将被深旷的海船运往陌生的国度。
我也一样，随同被抢的女人；而你，我的孩子，
将随我前往，超越体力的负荷，替一位苛刻的
主人，干起沉重的苦活。或许，某个阿开亚强人
会伸手把他夺走，扔下城楼，暴死在墙基边，
出于内心的愤怒，因为赫克托耳曾杀死过他的亲人，
他的兄弟、父亲或儿子——众多的阿开亚人已面贴广袤的
大地，嘴啃泥尘，倒死在赫克托耳手下！
在你死我活的拼杀中，你的父亲不是个心慈手软的儒汉。
所以，赫克托耳，全城的人们都在悲哭你的死亡；
你给不幸的双亲带来了难以言喻的痛苦和悲难。
但尝苦最深、悲痛最烈的是你的妻子，
是我——你没有死在床上，对我伸出你的双臂，
也没有叙告贴心的话语，使我可以终身
怀念，伴随着我的哭悼，无论是白天，还是黑夜！”
安德罗玛开纵情哭诉，女人们答之以悲戚的呼喊。
接着，赫卡贝引唱起曲调凄楚的哀歌：
“众多的儿郎中，赫克托耳，你是我最钟爱的一个。
在我们共同生活的日子里，你是神祗钟爱的宠人；
他们仍在关心爱护着你，虽然你已离我而去。
捷足的阿基琉斯曾抓过我好几个儿子，
送过奔腾不息的大海，当做奴隶，卖往
萨摩斯、英勃罗斯和烟雾弥漫的莱姆诺斯。[●]
●烟雾弥漫的莱姆诺斯：莱姆诺斯岛偶有火山爆发。
然而你，他用锋快的铜枪夺走了你的生命，
拖着你一圈圈地围着坟茔奔跑，围着被你杀死的
帕特罗克洛斯。然而，即便如此，他也没有把心爱的伙伴
带回人间。现在，你横躺在厅堂里，宛如
晨露一般鲜亮，像被银弓之神阿波罗
击中放倒的死者，用温柔的羽箭。”
赫卡贝一番哭诉，引发出哀绵不绝的悲嚎。
接着，海伦，继二位之后，引唱起悲悼的挽歌：
“在我丈夫的兄弟中，赫克托耳，你是我最亲爱的人！
我的夫婿，亚历克山德罗斯、神一样的凡人，把我
带到特洛伊——唉，我为什么还活在人间，在那一天之前！
我来到这里，已是第二十个年头，
离开故土，我的家乡。然而，
你对我从来不会说话带刺，恶语中伤。
而且，若有别的亲戚说出难听的话语，在王家的厅堂，若有
我丈夫的某个兄弟或姐妹，或某个兄弟的裙衫绚美的妻子，
或是我夫婿的母亲——但他的父亲却总是那么和善，
就像是我的亲爹——份总会出面制止，使他们改变
成见；用你善良的心地和温文尔雅的言谈。所以，
带着悲痛的心情，我哭悼你的死亡，也为
自己艰厄的命运。在宽广的特洛伊大地，我再也找不到
一个朋友，一位善意待我的人；所有的人都回避和我见面。”
海伦一番哭诉，众人悲声呼嚎。其时，
普里阿摩斯，年迈的王者，对着人们喊道：
“特洛伊人，现在，我要你们上山伐木，“运薪回城！不要担心
阿耳吉维人的伏击，藏裹杀机的人群。阿基琉斯
已经答应，在让我离开乌黑的海船、登程上路之前，
保证决不伤害我们，直到第十二个早晨，黎明降临的时节。”
他言罢，众人拉过牛和骡子，套好车辆，
迅速集聚在城堡的前面。一连几天，
他们运来难以数计的烧柴。当第十个黎明
射出曙光，撒向凡人的世界，
他们抬出壮勇的赫克托耳，痛哭流涕，将遗体
平放在柴堆的顶面，点起焚尸的火焰。
当年轻的黎明，垂着玫瑰红的手指，重现天际时，
人们复又围聚在焚烧光荣的赫克托耳的柴堆边。
当聚合完毕，人群集中起来后，
他们先用晶亮的醇酒扑灭柴堆上的余火，
那些仍在腾腾燃烧的木块，然后，
赫克托耳的兄弟和伙伴们收捡起白骨，
悲声哀悼，泪水涌注，沿着面颊流淌。
他们把捡起的白骨放入一只金瓮，
用松软的紫袍层层包裹，
迅速放入坟穴，堆上巨大的
石块，垒得严严实实，然后赶紧
堆筑坟冢，四面站着负责警戒的哨卫，
以防胫甲坚固的阿开亚人提前进攻的时间。
他们堆起坟茔，举步回城，
再次汇拢聚合，分享奠祭赫克托耳的盛宴，
在宙斯哺育的王者、普里阿摩斯的宫殿。
就这样，特洛伊人礼葬了赫克托耳，驯马的英壮。
ARGUMENT.
THE REDEMPTION OF THE BODY OF HECTOR.
The gods deliberate about the redemption of Hector's body. Jupiter sends
Thetis to Achilles, to dispose him for the restoring it, and Iris to
Priam, to encourage him to go in person and treat for it. The old king,
notwithstanding the remonstrances of his queen, makes ready for the
journey, to which he is encouraged by an omen from Jupiter. He sets forth
in his chariot, with a waggon loaded with presents, under the charge of
Idaeus the herald. Mercury descends in the shape of a young man, and
conducts him to the pavilion of Achilles. Their conversation on the way.
Priam finds Achilles at his table, casts himself at his feet, and begs for
the body of his son: Achilles, moved with compassion, grants his request,
detains him one night in his tent, and the next morning sends him home
with the body: the Trojans run out to meet him. The lamentations of
Andromache, Hecuba, and Helen, with the solemnities of the funeral.
The time of twelve days is employed in this book, while the body of Hector
lies in the tent of Achilles; and as many more are spent in the truce
allowed for his interment. The scene is partly in Achilles' camp, and
partly in Troy.
Now from the finish'd games the Grecian band
Seek their black ships, and clear the crowded strand,
All stretch'd at ease the genial banquet share,
And pleasing slumbers quiet all their care.
Not so Achilles: he, to grief resign'd,
His friend's dear image present to his mind,
Takes his sad couch, more unobserved to weep;
Nor tastes the gifts of all-composing sleep.
Restless he roll'd around his weary bed,
And all his soul on his Patroclus fed:
The form so pleasing, and the heart so kind,
That youthful vigour, and that manly mind,
What toils they shared, what martial works they wrought,
What seas they measured, and what fields they fought;
All pass'd before him in remembrance dear,
Thought follows thought, and tear succeeds to tear.
And now supine, now prone, the hero lay,
Now shifts his side, impatient for the day:
Then starting up, disconsolate he goes
Wide on the lonely beach to vent his woes.
There as the solitary mourner raves,
The ruddy morning rises o'er the waves:
Soon as it rose, his furious steeds he join'd!
The chariot flies, and Hector trails behind.
And thrice, Patroclus! round thy monument
Was Hector dragg'd, then hurried to the tent.
There sleep at last o'ercomes the hero's eyes;
While foul in dust the unhonour'd carcase lies,
But not deserted by the pitying skies:
For Phoebus watch'd it with superior care,
Preserved from gaping wounds and tainting air;
And, ignominious as it swept the field,
Spread o'er the sacred corse his golden shield.
All heaven was moved, and Hermes will'd to go
By stealth to snatch him from the insulting foe:
But Neptune this, and Pallas this denies,
And th' unrelenting empress of the skies,
E'er since that day implacable to Troy,
What time young Paris, simple shepherd boy,
Won by destructive lust (reward obscene),
Their charms rejected for the Cyprian queen.
But when the tenth celestial morning broke,
To heaven assembled, thus Apollo spoke:
[Illustration: HECTOR'S BODY AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES.]
HECTOR'S BODY AT THE CAR OF ACHILLES.
"Unpitying powers! how oft each holy fane
Has Hector tinged with blood of victims slain?
And can ye still his cold remains pursue?
Still grudge his body to the Trojans' view?
Deny to consort, mother, son, and sire,
The last sad honours of a funeral fire?
Is then the dire Achilles all your care?
That iron heart, inflexibly severe;
A lion, not a man, who slaughters wide,
In strength of rage, and impotence of pride;
Who hastes to murder with a savage joy,
Invades around, and breathes but to destroy!
Shame is not of his soul; nor understood,
The greatest evil and the greatest good.
Still for one loss he rages unresign'd,
Repugnant to the lot of all mankind;
To lose a friend, a brother, or a son,
Heaven dooms each mortal, and its will is done:
Awhile they sorrow, then dismiss their care;
Fate gives the wound, and man is born to bear.
But this insatiate, the commission given
By fate exceeds, and tempts the wrath of heaven:
Lo, how his rage dishonest drags along
Hector's dead earth, insensible of wrong!
Brave though he be, yet by no reason awed,
He violates the laws of man and god."
[Illustration: THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS.]
THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS.
"If equal honours by the partial skies
Are doom'd both heroes, (Juno thus replies,)
If Thetis' son must no distinction know,
Then hear, ye gods! the patron of the bow.
But Hector only boasts a mortal claim,
His birth deriving from a mortal dame:
Achilles, of your own ethereal race,
Springs from a goddess by a man's embrace
(A goddess by ourself to Peleus given,
A man divine, and chosen friend of heaven)
To grace those nuptials, from the bright abode
Yourselves were present; where this minstrel-god,
Well pleased to share the feast, amid the quire
Stood proud to hymn, and tune his youthful lyre."
Then thus the Thunderer checks the imperial dame:
"Let not thy wrath the court of heaven inflame;
Their merits, nor their honours, are the same.
But mine, and every god's peculiar grace
Hector deserves, of all the Trojan race:
Still on our shrines his grateful offerings lay,
(The only honours men to gods can pay,)
Nor ever from our smoking altar ceased
The pure libation, and the holy feast:
Howe'er by stealth to snatch the corse away,
We will not: Thetis guards it night and day.
But haste, and summon to our courts above
The azure queen; let her persuasion move
Her furious son from Priam to receive
The proffer'd ransom, and the corse to leave."
He added not: and Iris from the skies,
Swift as a whirlwind, on the message flies,
Meteorous the face of ocean sweeps,
Refulgent gliding o'er the sable deeps.
Between where Samos wide his forests spreads,
And rocky Imbrus lifts its pointed heads,
Down plunged the maid; (the parted waves resound;)
She plunged and instant shot the dark profound.
As bearing death in the fallacious bait,
From the bent angle sinks the leaden weight;
So pass'd the goddess through the closing wave,
Where Thetis sorrow'd in her secret cave:
There placed amidst her melancholy train
(The blue-hair'd sisters of the sacred main)
Pensive she sat, revolving fates to come,
And wept her godlike son's approaching doom.
Then thus the goddess of the painted bow:
"Arise, O Thetis! from thy seats below,
'Tis Jove that calls."--"And why (the dame replies)
Calls Jove his Thetis to the hated skies?
Sad object as I am for heavenly sight!
Ah may my sorrows ever shun the light!
Howe'er, be heaven's almighty sire obey'd--"
She spake, and veil'd her head in sable shade,
Which, flowing long, her graceful person clad;
And forth she paced, majestically sad.
Then through the world of waters they repair
(The way fair Iris led) to upper air.
The deeps dividing, o'er the coast they rise,
And touch with momentary flight the skies.
There in the lightning's blaze the sire they found,
And all the gods in shining synod round.
Thetis approach'd with anguish in her face,
(Minerva rising, gave the mourner place,)
Even Juno sought her sorrows to console,
And offer'd from her hand the nectar-bowl:
She tasted, and resign'd it: then began
The sacred sire of gods and mortal man:
"Thou comest, fair Thetis, but with grief o'ercast;
Maternal sorrows; long, ah, long to last!
Suffice, we know and we partake thy cares;
But yield to fate, and hear what Jove declares
Nine days are past since all the court above
In Hector's cause have moved the ear of Jove;
'Twas voted, Hermes from his godlike foe
By stealth should bear him, but we will'd not so:
We will, thy son himself the corse restore,
And to his conquest add this glory more.
Then hie thee to him, and our mandate bear:
Tell him he tempts the wrath of heaven too far;
Nor let him more (our anger if he dread)
Vent his mad vengeance on the sacred dead;
But yield to ransom and the father's prayer;
The mournful father, Iris shall prepare
With gifts to sue; and offer to his hands
Whate'er his honour asks, or heart demands."
His word the silver-footed queen attends,
And from Olympus' snowy tops descends.
Arrived, she heard the voice of loud lament,
And echoing groans that shook the lofty tent:
His friends prepare the victim, and dispose
Repast unheeded, while he vents his woes;
The goddess seats her by her pensive son,
She press'd his hand, and tender thus begun:
"How long, unhappy! shall thy sorrows flow,
And thy heart waste with life-consuming woe:
Mindless of food, or love, whose pleasing reign
Soothes weary life, and softens human pain?
O snatch the moments yet within thy power;
Not long to live, indulge the amorous hour!
Lo! Jove himself (for Jove's command I bear)
Forbids to tempt the wrath of heaven too far.
No longer then (his fury if thou dread)
Detain the relics of great Hector dead;
Nor vent on senseless earth thy vengeance vain,
But yield to ransom, and restore the slain."
To whom Achilles: "Be the ransom given,
And we submit, since such the will of heaven."
While thus they communed, from the Olympian bowers
Jove orders Iris to the Trojan towers:
"Haste, winged goddess! to the sacred town,
And urge her monarch to redeem his son.
Alone the Ilian ramparts let him leave,
And bear what stern Achilles may receive:
Alone, for so we will; no Trojan near
Except, to place the dead with decent care,
Some aged herald, who with gentle hand
May the slow mules and funeral car command.
Nor let him death, nor let him danger dread,
Safe through the foe by our protection led:
Him Hermes to Achilles shall convey,
Guard of his life, and partner of his way.
Fierce as he is, Achilles' self shall spare
His age, nor touch one venerable hair:
Some thought there must be in a soul so brave,
Some sense of duty, some desire to save."
[Illustration: IRIS ADVISES PRIAM TO OBTAIN THE BODY OF HECTOR.]
IRIS ADVISES PRIAM TO OBTAIN THE BODY OF HECTOR.
Then down her bow the winged Iris drives,
And swift at Priam's mournful court arrives:
Where the sad sons beside their father's throne
Sat bathed in tears, and answer'd groan with groan.
And all amidst them lay the hoary sire,
(Sad scene of woe!) his face his wrapp'd attire
Conceal'd from sight; with frantic hands he spread
A shower of ashes o'er his neck and head.
From room to room his pensive daughters roam;
Whose shrieks and clamours fill the vaulted dome;
Mindful of those, who late their pride and joy,
Lie pale and breathless round the fields of Troy!
Before the king Jove's messenger appears,
And thus in whispers greets his trembling ears:
"Fear not, O father! no ill news I bear;
From Jove I come, Jove makes thee still his care;
For Hector's sake these walls he bids thee leave,
And bear what stern Achilles may receive;
Alone, for so he wills; no Trojan near,
Except, to place the dead with decent care,
Some aged herald, who with gentle hand
May the slow mules and funeral car command.
Nor shalt thou death, nor shall thou danger dread:
Safe through the foe by his protection led:
Thee Hermes to Pelides shall convey,
Guard of thy life, and partner of thy way.
Fierce as he is, Achilles' self shall spare
Thy age, nor touch one venerable hair;
Some thought there must be in a soul so brave,
Some sense of duty, some desire to save."
She spoke, and vanish'd. Priam bids prepare
His gentle mules and harness to the car;
There, for the gifts, a polish'd casket lay:
His pious sons the king's command obey.
Then pass'd the monarch to his bridal-room,
Where cedar-beams the lofty roofs perfume,
And where the treasures of his empire lay;
Then call'd his queen, and thus began to say:
"Unhappy consort of a king distress'd!
Partake the troubles of thy husband's breast:
I saw descend the messenger of Jove,
Who bids me try Achilles' mind to move;
Forsake these ramparts, and with gifts obtain
The corse of Hector, at yon navy slain.
Tell me thy thought: my heart impels to go
Through hostile camps, and bears me to the foe."
The hoary monarch thus. Her piercing cries
Sad Hecuba renews, and then replies:
"Ah! whither wanders thy distemper'd mind?
And where the prudence now that awed mankind?
Through Phrygia once and foreign regions known;
Now all confused, distracted, overthrown!
Singly to pass through hosts of foes! to face
(O heart of steel!) the murderer of thy race!
To view that deathful eye, and wander o'er
Those hands yet red with Hector's noble gore!
Alas! my lord! he knows not how to spare.
And what his mercy, thy slain sons declare;
So brave! so many fallen! To claim his rage
Vain were thy dignity, and vain thy age.
No--pent in this sad palace, let us give
To grief the wretched days we have to live.
Still, still for Hector let our sorrows flow,
Born to his own, and to his parents' woe!
Doom'd from the hour his luckless life begun,
To dogs, to vultures, and to Peleus' son!
Oh! in his dearest blood might I allay
My rage, and these barbarities repay!
For ah! could Hector merit thus, whose breath
Expired not meanly, in unactive death?
He poured his latest blood in manly fight,
And fell a hero in his country's right."
"Seek not to stay me, nor my soul affright
With words of omen, like a bird of night,
(Replied unmoved the venerable man;)
'Tis heaven commands me, and you urge in vain.
Had any mortal voice the injunction laid,
Nor augur, priest, nor seer, had been obey'd.
A present goddess brought the high command,
I saw, I heard her, and the word shall stand.
I go, ye gods! obedient to your call:
If in yon camp your powers have doom'd my fall,
Content--By the same hand let me expire!
Add to the slaughter'd son the wretched sire!
One cold embrace at least may be allow'd,
And my last tears flow mingled with his blood!"
From forth his open'd stores, this said, he drew
Twelve costly carpets of refulgent hue,
As many vests, as many mantles told,
And twelve fair veils, and garments stiff with gold,
Two tripods next, and twice two chargers shine,
With ten pure talents from the richest mine;
And last a large well-labour'd bowl had place,
(The pledge of treaties once with friendly Thrace:)
Seem'd all too mean the stores he could employ,
For one last look to buy him back to Troy!
Lo! the sad father, frantic with his pain,
Around him furious drives his menial train:
In vain each slave with duteous care attends,
Each office hurts him, and each face offends.
"What make ye here, officious crowds! (he cries).
Hence! nor obtrude your anguish on my eyes.
Have ye no griefs at home, to fix ye there:
Am I the only object of despair?
Am I become my people's common show,
Set up by Jove your spectacle of woe?
No, you must feel him too; yourselves must fall;
The same stern god to ruin gives you all:
Nor is great Hector lost by me alone;
Your sole defence, your guardian power is gone!
I see your blood the fields of Phrygia drown,
I see the ruins of your smoking town!
O send me, gods! ere that sad day shall come,
A willing ghost to Pluto's dreary dome!"
He said, and feebly drives his friends away:
The sorrowing friends his frantic rage obey.
Next on his sons his erring fury falls,
Polites, Paris, Agathon, he calls;
His threats Deiphobus and Dius hear,
Hippothous, Pammon, Helenes the seer,
And generous Antiphon: for yet these nine
Survived, sad relics of his numerous line.
"Inglorious sons of an unhappy sire!
Why did not all in Hector's cause expire?
Wretch that I am! my bravest offspring slain.
You, the disgrace of Priam's house, remain!
Mestor the brave, renown'd in ranks of war,
With Troilus, dreadful on his rushing car,(293)
And last great Hector, more than man divine,
For sure he seem'd not of terrestrial line!
All those relentless Mars untimely slew,
And left me these, a soft and servile crew,
Whose days the feast and wanton dance employ,
Gluttons and flatterers, the contempt of Troy!
Why teach ye not my rapid wheels to run,
And speed my journey to redeem my son?"
The sons their father's wretched age revere,
Forgive his anger, and produce the car.
High on the seat the cabinet they bind:
The new-made car with solid beauty shined;
Box was the yoke, emboss'd with costly pains,
And hung with ringlets to receive the reins;
Nine cubits long, the traces swept the ground:
These to the chariot's polish'd pole they bound.
Then fix'd a ring the running reins to guide,
And close beneath the gather'd ends were tied.
Next with the gifts (the price of Hector slain)
The sad attendants load the groaning wain:
Last to the yoke the well-matched mules they bring,
(The gift of Mysia to the Trojan king.)
But the fair horses, long his darling care,
Himself received, and harness'd to his car:
Grieved as he was, he not this task denied;
The hoary herald help'd him, at his side.
While careful these the gentle coursers join'd,
Sad Hecuba approach'd with anxious mind;
A golden bowl that foam'd with fragrant wine,
(Libation destined to the power divine,)
Held in her right, before the steed she stands,
And thus consigns it to the monarch's hands:
"Take this, and pour to Jove; that safe from harms
His grace restore thee to our roof and arms.
Since victor of thy fears, and slighting mine,
Heaven, or thy soul, inspires this bold design;
Pray to that god, who high on Ida's brow
Surveys thy desolated realms below,
His winged messenger to send from high,
And lead thy way with heavenly augury:
Let the strong sovereign of the plumy race
Tower on the right of yon ethereal space.
That sign beheld, and strengthen'd from above,
Boldly pursue the journey mark'd by Jove:
But if the god his augury denies,
Suppress thy impulse, nor reject advice."
"'Tis just (said Priam) to the sire above
To raise our hands; for who so good as Jove?"
He spoke, and bade the attendant handmaid bring
The purest water of the living spring:
(Her ready hands the ewer and bason held:)
Then took the golden cup his queen had fill'd;
On the mid pavement pours the rosy wine,
Uplifts his eyes, and calls the power divine:
"O first and greatest! heaven's imperial lord!
On lofty Ida's holy hill adored!
To stern Achilles now direct my ways,
And teach him mercy when a father prays.
If such thy will, despatch from yonder sky
Thy sacred bird, celestial augury!
Let the strong sovereign of the plumy race
Tower on the right of yon ethereal space;
So shall thy suppliant, strengthen'd from above,
Fearless pursue the journey mark'd by Jove."
Jove heard his prayer, and from the throne on high,
Despatch'd his bird, celestial augury!
The swift-wing'd chaser of the feather'd game,
And known to gods by Percnos' lofty name.
Wide as appears some palace-gate display'd.
So broad, his pinions stretch'd their ample shade,
As stooping dexter with resounding wings
The imperial bird descends in airy rings.
A dawn of joy in every face appears:
The mourning matron dries her timorous tears:
Swift on his car the impatient monarch sprung;
The brazen portal in his passage rung;
The mules preceding draw the loaded wain,
Charged with the gifts: Idaeus holds the rein:
The king himself his gentle steeds controls,
And through surrounding friends the chariot rolls.
On his slow wheels the following people wait,
Mourn at each step, and give him up to fate;
With hands uplifted eye him as he pass'd,
And gaze upon him as they gazed their last.
Now forward fares the father on his way,
Through the lone fields, and back to Ilion they.
Great Jove beheld him as he cross'd the plain,
And felt the woes of miserable man.
Then thus to Hermes: "Thou whose constant cares
Still succour mortals, and attend their prayers;
Behold an object to thy charge consign'd:
If ever pity touch'd thee for mankind,
Go, guard the sire: the observing foe prevent,
And safe conduct him to Achilles' tent."
The god obeys, his golden pinions binds,(294)
And mounts incumbent on the wings of winds,
That high, through fields of air, his flight sustain,
O'er the wide earth, and o'er the boundless main;
Then grasps the wand that causes sleep to fly,
Or in soft slumbers seals the wakeful eye:
Thus arm'd, swift Hermes steers his airy way,
And stoops on Hellespont's resounding sea.
A beauteous youth, majestic and divine,
He seem'd; fair offspring of some princely line!
Now twilight veil'd the glaring face of day,
And clad the dusky fields in sober grey;
What time the herald and the hoary king
(Their chariots stopping at the silver spring,
That circling Ilus' ancient marble flows)
Allow'd their mules and steeds a short repose,
Through the dim shade the herald first espies
A man's approach, and thus to Priam cries:
"I mark some foe's advance: O king! beware;
This hard adventure claims thy utmost care!
For much I fear destruction hovers nigh:
Our state asks counsel; is it best to fly?
Or old and helpless, at his feet to fall,
Two wretched suppliants, and for mercy call?"
The afflicted monarch shiver'd with despair;
Pale grew his face, and upright stood his hair;
Sunk was his heart; his colour went and came;
A sudden trembling shook his aged frame:
When Hermes, greeting, touch'd his royal hand,
And, gentle, thus accosts with kind demand:
"Say whither, father! when each mortal sight
Is seal'd in sleep, thou wanderest through the night?
Why roam thy mules and steeds the plains along,
Through Grecian foes, so numerous and so strong?
What couldst thou hope, should these thy treasures view;
These, who with endless hate thy race pursue?
For what defence, alas! could'st thou provide;
Thyself not young, a weak old man thy guide?
Yet suffer not thy soul to sink with dread;
From me no harm shall touch thy reverend head;
From Greece I'll guard thee too; for in those lines
The living image of my father shines."
"Thy words, that speak benevolence of mind,
Are true, my son! (the godlike sire rejoin'd:)
Great are my hazards; but the gods survey
My steps, and send thee, guardian of my way.
Hail, and be bless'd! For scarce of mortal kind
Appear thy form, thy feature, and thy mind."
"Nor true are all thy words, nor erring wide;
(The sacred messenger of heaven replied;)
But say, convey'st thou through the lonely plains
What yet most precious of thy store remains,
To lodge in safety with some friendly hand:
Prepared, perchance, to leave thy native land?
Or fliest thou now?--What hopes can Troy retain,
Thy matchless son, her guard and glory, slain?"
The king, alarm'd: "Say what, and whence thou art
Who search the sorrows of a parent's heart,
And know so well how godlike Hector died?"
Thus Priam spoke, and Hermes thus replied:
"You tempt me, father, and with pity touch:
On this sad subject you inquire too much.
Oft have these eyes that godlike Hector view'd
In glorious fight, with Grecian blood embrued:
I saw him when, like Jove, his flames he toss'd
On thousand ships, and wither'd half a host:
I saw, but help'd not: stern Achilles' ire
Forbade assistance, and enjoy'd the fire.
For him I serve, of Myrmidonian race;
One ship convey'd us from our native place;
Polyctor is my sire, an honour'd name,
Old like thyself, and not unknown to fame;
Of seven his sons, by whom the lot was cast
To serve our prince, it fell on me, the last.
To watch this quarter, my adventure falls:
For with the morn the Greeks attack your walls;
Sleepless they sit, impatient to engage,
And scarce their rulers check their martial rage."
"If then thou art of stern Pelides' train,
(The mournful monarch thus rejoin'd again,)
Ah tell me truly, where, oh! where are laid
My son's dear relics? what befals him dead?
Have dogs dismember'd (on the naked plains),
Or yet unmangled rest, his cold remains?"
"O favour'd of the skies! (thus answered then
The power that mediates between god and men)
Nor dogs nor vultures have thy Hector rent,
But whole he lies, neglected in the tent:
This the twelfth evening since he rested there,
Untouch'd by worms, untainted by the air.
Still as Aurora's ruddy beam is spread,
Round his friend's tomb Achilles drags the dead:
Yet undisfigured, or in limb or face,
All fresh he lies, with every living grace,
Majestical in death! No stains are found
O'er all the corse, and closed is every wound,
Though many a wound they gave. Some heavenly care,
Some hand divine, preserves him ever fair:
Or all the host of heaven, to whom he led
A life so grateful, still regard him dead."
Thus spoke to Priam the celestial guide,
And joyful thus the royal sire replied:
"Blest is the man who pays the gods above
The constant tribute of respect and love!
Those who inhabit the Olympian bower
My son forgot not, in exalted power;
And heaven, that every virtue bears in mind,
Even to the ashes of the just is kind.
But thou, O generous youth! this goblet take,
A pledge of gratitude for Hector's sake;
And while the favouring gods our steps survey,
Safe to Pelides' tent conduct my way."
To whom the latent god: "O king, forbear
To tempt my youth, for apt is youth to err.
But can I, absent from my prince's sight,
Take gifts in secret, that must shun the light?
What from our master's interest thus we draw,
Is but a licensed theft that 'scapes the law.
Respecting him, my soul abjures the offence;
And as the crime, I dread the consequence.
Thee, far as Argos, pleased I could convey;
Guard of thy life, and partner of thy way:
On thee attend, thy safety to maintain,
O'er pathless forests, or the roaring main."
He said, then took the chariot at a bound,
And snatch'd the reins, and whirl'd the lash around:
Before the inspiring god that urged them on,
The coursers fly with spirit not their own.
And now they reach'd the naval walls, and found
The guards repasting, while the bowls go round;
On these the virtue of his wand he tries,
And pours deep slumber on their watchful eyes:
Then heaved the massy gates, removed the bars,
And o'er the trenches led the rolling cars.
Unseen, through all the hostile camp they went,
And now approach'd Pelides' lofty tent.
On firs the roof was raised, and cover'd o'er
With reeds collected from the marshy shore;
And, fenced with palisades, a hall of state,
(The work of soldiers,) where the hero sat.
Large was the door, whose well-compacted strength
A solid pine-tree barr'd of wondrous length:
Scarce three strong Greeks could lift its mighty weight,
But great Achilles singly closed the gate.
This Hermes (such the power of gods) set wide;
Then swift alighted the celestial guide,
And thus reveal'd--"Hear, prince! and understand
Thou ow'st thy guidance to no mortal hand:
Hermes I am, descended from above,
The king of arts, the messenger of Jove,
Farewell: to shun Achilles' sight I fly;
Uncommon are such favours of the sky,
Nor stand confess'd to frail mortality.
Now fearless enter, and prefer thy prayers;
Adjure him by his father's silver hairs,
His son, his mother! urge him to bestow
Whatever pity that stern heart can know."
Thus having said, he vanish'd from his eyes,
And in a moment shot into the skies:
The king, confirm'd from heaven, alighted there,
And left his aged herald on the car,
With solemn pace through various rooms he went,
And found Achilles in his inner tent:
There sat the hero: Alcimus the brave,
And great Automedon, attendance gave:
These served his person at the royal feast;
Around, at awful distance, stood the rest.
Unseen by these, the king his entry made:
And, prostrate now before Achilles laid,
Sudden (a venerable sight!) appears;
Embraced his knees, and bathed his hands in tears;
Those direful hands his kisses press'd, embrued
Even with the best, the dearest of his blood!
As when a wretch (who, conscious of his crime,
Pursued for murder, flies his native clime)
Just gains some frontier, breathless, pale, amazed,
All gaze, all wonder: thus Achilles gazed:
Thus stood the attendants stupid with surprise:
All mute, yet seem'd to question with their eyes:
Each look'd on other, none the silence broke,
Till thus at last the kingly suppliant spoke:
"Ah think, thou favour'd of the powers divine!(295)
Think of thy father's age, and pity mine!
In me that father's reverend image trace,
Those silver hairs, that venerable face;
His trembling limbs, his helpless person, see!
In all my equal, but in misery!
Yet now, perhaps, some turn of human fate
Expels him helpless from his peaceful state;
Think, from some powerful foe thou seest him fly,
And beg protection with a feeble cry.
Yet still one comfort in his soul may rise;
He hears his son still lives to glad his eyes,
And, hearing, still may hope a better day
May send him thee, to chase that foe away.
No comfort to my griefs, no hopes remain,
The best, the bravest, of my sons are slain!
Yet what a race! ere Greece to Ilion came,
The pledge of many a loved and loving dame:
Nineteen one mother bore--Dead, all are dead!
How oft, alas! has wretched Priam bled!
Still one was left their loss to recompense;
His father's hope, his country's last defence.
Him too thy rage has slain! beneath thy steel,
Unhappy in his country's cause he fell!
"For him through hostile camps I bent my way,
For him thus prostrate at thy feet I lay;
Large gifts proportion'd to thy wrath I bear;
O hear the wretched, and the gods revere!
"Think of thy father, and this face behold!
See him in me, as helpless and as old!
Though not so wretched: there he yields to me,
The first of men in sovereign misery!
Thus forced to kneel, thus grovelling to embrace
The scourge and ruin of my realm and race;
Suppliant my children's murderer to implore,
And kiss those hands yet reeking with their gore!"
These words soft pity in the chief inspire,
Touch'd with the dear remembrance of his sire.
Then with his hand (as prostrate still he lay)
The old man's cheek he gently turn'd away.
Now each by turns indulged the gush of woe;
And now the mingled tides together flow:
This low on earth, that gently bending o'er;
A father one, and one a son deplore:
But great Achilles different passions rend,
And now his sire he mourns, and now his friend.
The infectious softness through the heroes ran;
One universal solemn shower began;
They bore as heroes, but they felt as man.
Satiate at length with unavailing woes,
From the high throne divine Achilles rose;
The reverend monarch by the hand he raised;
On his white beard and form majestic gazed,
Not unrelenting; then serene began
With words to soothe the miserable man:
"Alas, what weight of anguish hast thou known,
Unhappy prince! thus guardless and alone
Two pass through foes, and thus undaunted face
The man whose fury has destroy'd thy race!
Heaven sure has arm'd thee with a heart of steel,
A strength proportion'd to the woes you feel.
Rise, then: let reason mitigate your care:
To mourn avails not: man is born to bear.
Such is, alas! the gods' severe decree:
They, only they are blest, and only free.
Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever stood,
The source of evil one, and one of good;
From thence the cup of mortal man he fills,
Blessings to these, to those distributes ill;
To most he mingles both: the wretch decreed
To taste the bad unmix'd, is cursed indeed;
Pursued by wrongs, by meagre famine driven,
He wanders, outcast both of earth and heaven.
The happiest taste not happiness sincere;
But find the cordial draught is dash'd with care.
Who more than Peleus shone in wealth and power
What stars concurring bless'd his natal hour!
A realm, a goddess, to his wishes given;
Graced by the gods with all the gifts of heaven.
One evil yet o'ertakes his latest day:
No race succeeding to imperial sway;
An only son; and he, alas! ordain'd
To fall untimely in a foreign land.
See him, in Troy, the pious care decline
Of his weak age, to live the curse of thine!
Thou too, old man, hast happier days beheld;
In riches once, in children once excell'd;
Extended Phrygia own'd thy ample reign,
And all fair Lesbos' blissful seats contain,
And all wide Hellespont's unmeasured main.
But since the god his hand has pleased to turn,
And fill thy measure from his bitter urn,
What sees the sun, but hapless heroes' falls?
War, and the blood of men, surround thy walls!
What must be, must be. Bear thy lot, nor shed
These unavailing sorrows o'er the dead;
Thou canst not call him from the Stygian shore,
But thou, alas! may'st live to suffer more!"
To whom the king: "O favour'd of the skies!
Here let me grow to earth! since Hector lies
On the bare beach deprived of obsequies.
O give me Hector! to my eyes restore
His corse, and take the gifts: I ask no more.
Thou, as thou may'st, these boundless stores enjoy;
Safe may'st thou sail, and turn thy wrath from Troy;
So shall thy pity and forbearance give
A weak old man to see the light and live!"
"Move me no more, (Achilles thus replies,
While kindling anger sparkled in his eyes,)
Nor seek by tears my steady soul to bend:
To yield thy Hector I myself intend:
For know, from Jove my goddess-mother came,
(Old Ocean's daughter, silver-footed dame,)
Nor comest thou but by heaven; nor comest alone,
Some god impels with courage not thy own:
No human hand the weighty gates unbarr'd,
Nor could the boldest of our youth have dared
To pass our outworks, or elude the guard.
Cease; lest, neglectful of high Jove's command,
I show thee, king! thou tread'st on hostile land;
Release my knees, thy suppliant arts give o'er,
And shake the purpose of my soul no more."
The sire obey'd him, trembling and o'eraw'd.
Achilles, like a lion, rush'd abroad:
Automedon and Alcimus attend,
(Whom most he honour'd, since he lost his friend,)
These to unyoke the mules and horses went,
And led the hoary herald to the tent;
Next, heap'd on high, the numerous presents bear,
(Great Hector's ransom,) from the polish'd car.
Two splendid mantles, and a carpet spread,
They leave: to cover and enwrap the dead.
Then call the handmaids, with assistant toil
To wash the body and anoint with oil,
Apart from Priam: lest the unhappy sire,
Provoked to passion, once more rouse to ire
The stern Pelides; and nor sacred age,
Nor Jove's command, should check the rising rage.
This done, the garments o'er the corse they spread;
Achilles lifts it to the funeral bed:
Then, while the body on the car they laid,
He groans, and calls on loved Patroclus' shade:
"If, in that gloom which never light must know,
The deeds of mortals touch the ghosts below,
O friend! forgive me, that I thus fulfil
(Restoring Hector) heaven's unquestion'd will.
The gifts the father gave, be ever thine,
To grace thy manes, and adorn thy shrine."(296)
He said, and, entering, took his seat of state;
Where full before him reverend Priam sate;
To whom, composed, the godlike chief begun:
"Lo! to thy prayer restored, thy breathless son;
Extended on the funeral couch he lies;
And soon as morning paints the eastern skies,
The sight is granted to thy longing eyes:
But now the peaceful hours of sacred night
Demand reflection, and to rest invite:
Nor thou, O father! thus consumed with woe,
The common cares that nourish life forego.
Not thus did Niobe, of form divine,
A parent once, whose sorrows equall'd thine:
Six youthful sons, as many blooming maids,
In one sad day beheld the Stygian shades;
Those by Apollo's silver bow were slain,
These, Cynthia's arrows stretch'd upon the plain:
So was her pride chastised by wrath divine,
Who match'd her own with bright Latona's line;
But two the goddess, twelve the queen enjoy'd;
Those boasted twelve, the avenging two destroy'd.
Steep'd in their blood, and in the dust outspread,
Nine days, neglected, lay exposed the dead;
None by to weep them, to inhume them none;
(For Jove had turn'd the nation all to stone.)
The gods themselves, at length relenting gave
The unhappy race the honours of a grave.
Herself a rock (for such was heaven's high will)
Through deserts wild now pours a weeping rill;
Where round the bed whence Achelous springs,
The watery fairies dance in mazy rings;
There high on Sipylus's shaggy brow,
She stands, her own sad monument of woe;
The rock for ever lasts, the tears for ever flow.
"Such griefs, O king! have other parents known;
Remember theirs, and mitigate thy own.
The care of heaven thy Hector has appear'd,
Nor shall he lie unwept, and uninterr'd;
Soon may thy aged cheeks in tears be drown'd,
And all the eyes of Ilion stream around."
He said, and, rising, chose the victim ewe
With silver fleece, which his attendants slew.
The limbs they sever from the reeking hide,
With skill prepare them, and in parts divide:
Each on the coals the separate morsels lays,
And, hasty, snatches from the rising blaze.
With bread the glittering canisters they load,
Which round the board Automedon bestow'd.
The chief himself to each his portion placed,
And each indulging shared in sweet repast.
When now the rage of hunger was repress'd,
The wondering hero eyes his royal guest:
No less the royal guest the hero eyes,
His godlike aspect and majestic size;
Here, youthful grace and noble fire engage;
And there, the mild benevolence of age.
Thus gazing long, the silence neither broke,
(A solemn scene!) at length the father spoke:
"Permit me now, beloved of Jove! to steep
My careful temples in the dew of sleep:
For, since the day that number'd with the dead
My hapless son, the dust has been my bed;
Soft sleep a stranger to my weeping eyes;
My only food, my sorrows and my sighs!
Till now, encouraged by the grace you give,
I share thy banquet, and consent to live."
With that, Achilles bade prepare the bed,
With purple soft and shaggy carpets spread;
Forth, by the flaming lights, they bend their way,
And place the couches, and the coverings lay.
Then he: "Now, father, sleep, but sleep not here;
Consult thy safety, and forgive my fear,
Lest any Argive, at this hour awake,
To ask our counsel, or our orders take,
Approaching sudden to our open'd tent,
Perchance behold thee, and our grace prevent.
Should such report thy honour'd person here,
The king of men the ransom might defer;
But say with speed, if aught of thy desire
Remains unask'd; what time the rites require
To inter thy Hector? For, so long we stay
Our slaughtering arm, and bid the hosts obey."
"If then thy will permit (the monarch said)
To finish all due honours to the dead,
This of thy grace accord: to thee are known
The fears of Ilion, closed within her town;
And at what distance from our walls aspire
The hills of Ide, and forests for the fire.
Nine days to vent our sorrows I request,
The tenth shall see the funeral and the feast;
The next, to raise his monument be given;
The twelfth we war, if war be doom'd by heaven!"
"This thy request (replied the chief) enjoy:
Till then our arms suspend the fall of Troy."
Then gave his hand at parting, to prevent
The old man's fears, and turn'd within the tent;
Where fair Briseis, bright in blooming charms,
Expects her hero with desiring arms.
But in the porch the king and herald rest;
Sad dreams of care yet wandering in their breast.
Now gods and men the gifts of sleep partake;
Industrious Hermes only was awake,
The king's return revolving in his mind,
To pass the ramparts, and the watch to blind.
The power descending hover'd o'er his head:
"And sleep'st thou, father! (thus the vision said:)
Now dost thou sleep, when Hector is restored?
Nor fear the Grecian foes, or Grecian lord?
Thy presence here should stern Atrides see,
Thy still surviving sons may sue for thee;
May offer all thy treasures yet contain,
To spare thy age; and offer all in vain."
Waked with the word the trembling sire arose,
And raised his friend: the god before him goes:
He joins the mules, directs them with his hand,
And moves in silence through the hostile land.
When now to Xanthus' yellow stream they drove,
(Xanthus, immortal progeny of Jove,)
The winged deity forsook their view,
And in a moment to Olympus flew.
Now shed Aurora round her saffron ray,
Sprang through the gates of light, and gave the day:
Charged with the mournful load, to Ilion go
The sage and king, majestically slow.
Cassandra first beholds, from Ilion's spire,
The sad procession of her hoary sire;
Then, as the pensive pomp advanced more near,
(Her breathless brother stretched upon the bier,)
A shower of tears o'erflows her beauteous eyes,
Alarming thus all Ilion with her cries:
"Turn here your steps, and here your eyes employ,
Ye wretched daughters, and ye sons of Troy!
If e'er ye rush'd in crowds, with vast delight,
To hail your hero glorious from the fight,
Now meet him dead, and let your sorrows flow;
Your common triumph, and your common woe."
In thronging crowds they issue to the plains;
Nor man nor woman in the walls remains;
In every face the self-same grief is shown;
And Troy sends forth one universal groan.
At Scaea's gates they meet the mourning wain,
Hang on the wheels, and grovel round the slain.
The wife and mother, frantic with despair,
Kiss his pale cheek, and rend their scatter'd hair:
Thus wildly wailing, at the gates they lay;
And there had sigh'd and sorrow'd out the day;
But godlike Priam from the chariot rose:
"Forbear (he cried) this violence of woes;
First to the palace let the car proceed,
Then pour your boundless sorrows o'er the dead."
The waves of people at his word divide,
Slow rolls the chariot through the following tide;
Even to the palace the sad pomp they wait:
They weep, and place him on the bed of state.
A melancholy choir attend around,
With plaintive sighs, and music's solemn sound:
Alternately they sing, alternate flow
The obedient tears, melodious in their woe.
While deeper sorrows groan from each full heart,
And nature speaks at every pause of art.
First to the corse the weeping consort flew;
Around his neck her milk-white arms she threw,
"And oh, my Hector! Oh, my lord! (she cries)
Snatch'd in thy bloom from these desiring eyes!
Thou to the dismal realms for ever gone!
And I abandon'd, desolate, alone!
An only son, once comfort of our pains,
Sad product now of hapless love, remains!
Never to manly age that son shall rise,
Or with increasing graces glad my eyes:
For Ilion now (her great defender slain)
Shall sink a smoking ruin on the plain.
Who now protects her wives with guardian care?
Who saves her infants from the rage of war?
Now hostile fleets must waft those infants o'er
(Those wives must wait them) to a foreign shore:
Thou too, my son, to barbarous climes shall go,
The sad companion of thy mother's woe;
Driven hence a slave before the victor's sword
Condemn'd to toil for some inhuman lord:
Or else some Greek whose father press'd the plain,
Or son, or brother, by great Hector slain,
In Hector's blood his vengeance shall enjoy,
And hurl thee headlong from the towers of Troy.(297)
For thy stern father never spared a foe:
Thence all these tears, and all this scene of woe!
Thence many evils his sad parents bore,
His parents many, but his consort more.
Why gav'st thou not to me thy dying hand?
And why received not I thy last command?
Some word thou would'st have spoke, which, sadly dear,
My soul might keep, or utter with a tear;
Which never, never could be lost in air,
Fix'd in my heart, and oft repeated there!"
Thus to her weeping maids she makes her moan,
Her weeping handmaids echo groan for groan.
The mournful mother next sustains her part:
"O thou, the best, the dearest to my heart!
Of all my race thou most by heaven approved,
And by the immortals even in death beloved!
While all my other sons in barbarous bands
Achilles bound, and sold to foreign lands,
This felt no chains, but went a glorious ghost,
Free, and a hero, to the Stygian coast.
Sentenced, 'tis true, by his inhuman doom,
Thy noble corse was dragg'd around the tomb;
(The tomb of him thy warlike arm had slain;)
Ungenerous insult, impotent and vain!
Yet glow'st thou fresh with every living grace;
No mark of pain, or violence of face:
Rosy and fair! as Phoebus' silver bow
Dismiss'd thee gently to the shades below."
Thus spoke the dame, and melted into tears.
Sad Helen next in pomp of grief appears;
Fast from the shining sluices of her eyes
Fall the round crystal drops, while thus she cries.
"Ah, dearest friend! in whom the gods had join'd(298)
Tne mildest manners with the bravest mind,
Now twice ten years (unhappy years) are o'er
Since Paris brought me to the Trojan shore,
(O had I perish'd, ere that form divine
Seduced this soft, this easy heart of mine!)
Yet was it ne'er my fate, from thee to find
A deed ungentle, or a word unkind.
When others cursed the authoress of their woe,
Thy pity check'd my sorrows in their flow.
If some proud brother eyed me with disdain,
Or scornful sister with her sweeping train,
Thy gentle accents soften'd all my pain.
For thee I mourn, and mourn myself in thee,
The wretched source of all this misery.
The fate I caused, for ever I bemoan;
Sad Helen has no friend, now thou art gone!
Through Troy's wide streets abandon'd shall I roam!
In Troy deserted, as abhorr'd at home!"
So spoke the fair, with sorrow-streaming eye.
Distressful beauty melts each stander-by.
On all around the infectious sorrow grows;
But Priam check'd the torrent as it rose:
"Perform, ye Trojans! what the rites require,
And fell the forests for a funeral pyre;
Twelve days, nor foes nor secret ambush dread;
Achilles grants these honours to the dead."(299)
[Illustration: FUNERAL OF HECTOR.]
FUNERAL OF HECTOR.
He spoke, and, at his word, the Trojan train
Their mules and oxen harness to the wain,
Pour through the gates, and fell'd from Ida's crown,
Roll back the gather'd forests to the town.
These toils continue nine succeeding days,
And high in air a sylvan structure raise.
But when the tenth fair morn began to shine,
Forth to the pile was borne the man divine,
And placed aloft; while all, with streaming eyes,
Beheld the flames and rolling smokes arise.
Soon as Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rosy lustre streak'd the dewy lawn,
Again the mournful crowds surround the pyre,
And quench with wine the yet remaining fire.
The snowy bones his friends and brothers place
(With tears collected) in a golden vase;
The golden vase in purple palls they roll'd,
Of softest texture, and inwrought with gold.
Last o'er the urn the sacred earth they spread,
And raised the tomb, memorial of the dead.
(Strong guards and spies, till all the rites were done,
Watch'd from the rising to the setting sun.)
All Troy then moves to Priam's court again,
A solemn, silent, melancholy train:
Assembled there, from pious toil they rest,
And sadly shared the last sepulchral feast.
Such honours Ilion to her hero paid,
And peaceful slept the mighty Hector's shade.(300) |
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