Page:The Story of the Iliad.djvu/319

Rh he refused, saying: "Nay; water shall not come nigh me till I have laid Patroclus on the fire, and heaped a mound over him. Now let us eat our meal, though it be in sorrow; to-morrow we will pay due honour to the dead." So they ate and drank; and when they had had enough, the others lay down to sleep, each in his own tent, but Achilles lay groaning heavily amidst the Myrmidons in an open place by the sea. While he slept, the shade of Patroclus stood above his head. The very same was he in stature, and voice, and height, yea, even in the garments that he wore. The spirit spake, saying: "Sleepest thou, Achilles, and forgettest me? Bury me speedily, for the spirits of the dead suffer me not to be with them, but I wander alone in Hades. And give me now thine hand, for never shall we two sit apart and hold counsel together, for I shall come again no more from the dead after that the fire hath consumed me. Lay also thy bones with mine, that we may be together, even as when we grew together, thou a lad and I a lad, in thy father's hall."