Extulit: ille ictum venientem a vertice velox
Praevidit, celerique elapsus corpore cessit.
Entellus Vires In Ventum Effudit; et ultro
Ipse gravis, graviterque ad terram pontere vasto
Concidit: ut quondam cava concidit, aut Erymantho,
Aut Ida in magna, radicibus eruta pinus. -
Consurgunt studiis Teucri et Trinacria pubes;
It clamor coelo: primusque accurrit Acestes,
Aequaevumque ab humo miserans attollit amicum.
At non tardatus casu, neque territus heros,
Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira:
Tum pudor incendit vires, et conscia virtus;
Praecipitemque Daren ardens agit aequore toto;
Nunc dextra ingeminans ictus, nunc ille sinistra
Nec mora, nec requies: quam multa grandine nimbi
Culminibus crepitant; sic densis ictibus heros
Creber utraque manu pulsat versatque Dareta.
Both on the tiptoe stand, at full extent;
Their arms aloft, their bodies inly bent;
Their heads from aiming blows they bear afar,
With clashing gauntlets then provoke the war.
One (Dares) on his youth and pliant limbs relies;
One (Entellus) on his sinews, and his giant size.
The last is stiff with age, his motions slow;
He heaves for breath, he staggers to and fro. -
Yet equal in success, they ward, they strike;
Their ways are different, but their art alike.
Before, behind, the blows are dealt; around
Their hollow sides the rattling thumps resound;
A storm of strokes, well meant, with fury flies,
And errs about their temples, ears, and eyes:
Nor always errs; for oft the gauntlet draws
A sweeping stroke along the crackling jaws.
Hoary with age, Entellus stands his ground;
But with his warping body wards the wound;
His head and watchful eye keep even pace,
While Dares traverses and shifts his place;
And, like a captain who beleaguers round
Some strong-built castle, on a rising ground,
Views all the approaches with observing eyes;
This, and that other part, in vain he tries,
And more on industry than force relies.
With hands on high, Entellus threats the foe;
But Dares watched the motion from below,
And slipped aside, and shunned the long descending blow.