Page:The Aeneid of Virgil JOHN CONINGTON 1917 V2.pdf/66



Every tongue was hushed, and every eye fixed intently, when, from high couch, father Æneas began thus:—

"Too cruel to be told, great queen, is the sorrow you bid me revive—how the power of Troy and its empire met with piteous overthrow from the Danaans—the  5 heartrending sights which my own eyes saw, and the scenes where I had a large part to play. Who, in such recital—be he of the Myrmidons[o] or the Dolopes, or a soldier of ruthless Ulysses'[o] band—would refrain from tears? And now, too, night is rushing in dews down the steep of heaven,   10 and the setting stars counsel repose. Still, if so great be your longing to acquaint yourself with our disasters, and hear the brief tale of Troy's last agony, though my mind shudders at the remembrance, and starts back in sudden anguish, I will essay the task.   15

"Broken by war and foiled by destiny, the chiefs of the Danaans, now that the flying years were numbering so many, build a horse of mountain size, by the inspiration of Pallas' skill, and interlace its ribs with planks of fir. A vow for their safe journey home is the pretext: such the  20 fame that spreads. In this they secretly enclose chosen men of sinew, picked out by lot, in the depth of its sides, and fill every corner of those mighty caverns, the belly of the monster, with armed warriors.

"In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an island of wide-spread  25 renown, powerful and rich while Priam's empire yet was, now a mere bay, a treacherous roadstead for ships. Thus far they sail out, and hide themselves on the forsaken coast. We thought them gone off with a fair wind for Mycenæ. And so all Trojan land shakes off the agony of   30