Page:The Story of the Iliad.djvu/281

Rh the eddying Xanthus. And these leapt into the water as locusts leap into a river when a fire which men light drives them from the fields. And all the river was full of horses and men. Then Achilles leapt into the stream, leaving his spear on the bank, resting on the tamarisk trees. Only his sword had he, and with this he slew many; and they were as fishes which fly from some great dolphin in the sea. In all the bays of a harbour they hide themselves, for the great beast devours them apace. So did the Trojans hide themselves under the banks of the river. And when Achilles was weary of slaying, he took twelve alive, whom he would slay on the tomb of Patroclus. Then met he with a son of Priam, Lycaon by name, whom he had taken captive before. He had found him in his father's vineyard, making the rims of a chariot from a wild fig-tree trunk, and sold him across the sea to Lemnos. There a friend ransomed him for a goodly price; so he came again to his father's house. For eleven days he feasted with his comrades, and on the twelfth went forth to