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12 Remained. The Trojan fell amid the dust,

And thus Achilles boasted o'er his fall:

"Hector, when from the slain Patroclus thou

Didst strip his armor, little didst thou think

Of danger. Thou hadst then no fear of me.

Foul dogs and birds of prey shall tear thy flesh;

The Greeks shall honor him with funeral rites."

And then the crested Hector faintly said:

"I pray thee by thy life, and by thy knees,

And by thy parents, suffer not the dogs

To tear me at the galleys of the Greeks.

Accept abundant store of brass and gold,

Which gladly will my father and the queen

My mother give in ransom. Send to them

My body, that the warriors and the dames

Of Troy may light for me the funeral pile."

The swift Achilles answered with a frown:

"Nay, by my knees entreat me not, thou cur,

Nor by my parents. I could even wish

My fury prompted me to cut thy flesh

In fragments, and devour it, such the wrong

That I have had from thee. There will be none

To drive away the dogs about thy head,

Not though thy Trojan friends should bring to me

Tenfold and twentyfold the offered gifts,

And promise others,—not though Priam, sprung

From Dardanus, should send thy weight in gold.

Thy mother shall not lay thee on thy bier,

To sorrow over thee whom she brought forth;

But dogs and birds of prey shall mangle thee."