Turnus thenpoised, without haste, his iron-pointed spear,and, launching it on Pallas, cried, “Look nowwill not this shaft a good bit deeper drive?”He said: and through the mid-boss of the shield,steel scales and brass with bull's-hide folded round,the quivering spear-point crashed resistlessly,and through the corselet's broken barrierpierced Pallas' heart. The youth plucked out in vainthe hot shaft from the wound; his life and bloodtogether ebbed away, as sinking proneon his rent side he fell; above him ranghis armor; and from lips with blood defiledhe breathed his last upon his foeman's ground.Over him Turnus stood: “Arcadians all,”He cried, “take tidings of this feat of armsto King Evander. With a warrior's wagehis Pallas I restore, and freely grantwhat glory in a hero's tomb may lie,or comfort in a grave. They dearly paywho bid Aeneas welcome at their board.”So saying, with his left foot he held downthe lifeless form, and raised the heavy weightof graven belt, which pictured forth that crimeof youthful company by treason slain,all on their wedding night, in bridal bowersto horrid murder given,—which Clonus, sonof Eurytus, had wrought in lavish gold;this Turnus in his triumph bore away,exulting in the spoil. O heart of man,not knowing doom, nor of events to be!Nor, being lifted up, to keep thy boundsin prosperous days! To Turnus comes the hourwhen he would fain a prince's ransom givehad Pallas passed unscathed, and will bewailcuch spoil of victory. With weeping nowand lamentations Ioud his comrades layyoung Pallas on his shield, and thronging closecarry him homeward with a mournful song:alas! the sorrow and the glorious gainthy sire shall have in thee. For one brief daybore thee to battle and now bears away;yet leavest thou full tale of foemen slain.
Hic Turnus ferro praefixum robur acutoin Pallanta diu librans iacit atque ita fatur:“Adspice, num mage sit nostrum penetrabile telum.”Dixerat; at clipeum, tot ferri terga, tot aeris,quem pellis totiens obeat circumdata tauri,vibranti cuspis medium transverberat ictuloricaeque moras et pectus perforat ingens.Ille rapit calidum frustra de volnere telum:una eademque via sanguis animusque sequuntur.Corruit in volnus, sonitum super arma dedereet terram hostilem moriens petit ore cruento.Quem Turnus super adsistens,“Arcades, haec,” inquit, “memores mea dicta referte”“Euandro; qualem meruit, Pallanta remitto.”“Quisquis honos tumuli, quidquid solamen humandi est,”“largior. Haud illi stabunt Aeneia parvo”“hospitia.” Et laevo pressit pede talia fatusexanimem, rapiens immania pondera balteiimpressumque nefas, una sub nocte iugalicaesa manus iuvenum foede thalamique cruenti,quae Clonus Eurytides multo caelaverat auro;quo nunc Turnus ovat spolio gaudetque potitus.Nescia mens hominum fati sortisque futuraeet servare modum, rebus sublata secundis!Turno tempus erit, magno cum optaverit emptumintactum Pallanta et cum spolia ista diemqueoderit. At socii multo gemitu lacrimisqueimpositum scuto referunt Pallanta frequentes.O dolor atque decus magnum rediture parentihaec te prima dies bello dedit, haec eadem aufert,cum tamen ingentis Rutulorum linquis acervos.
No doubtful rumor to Aeneas breaksthe direful news, but a sure messengertells him his followers' peril, and imploresprompt help for routed Troy. His ready swordreaped down the nearest foes, and through their lineclove furious path and broad; the valiant bladethrough oft-repeated bloodshed groped its way,proud Turnus, unto thee! His heart beholdsPallas and Sire Evander, their kind boardin welcome spread, their friendly league of peaceproffered and sealed with him, the stranger-guest.So Sulmo's sons, four warriors, and fourof Ufens sprung, he took alive—to slayas victims to the shades, and pour a streamof captives' blood upon a flaming pyre.Next from afar his hostile shaft he threwat Mago, who with wary motion bowedbeneath the quivering weapon, as it spedclean over him; then at Aeneas' kneeshe crouched and clung with supplicating cry:“O, by thy father's spirit, by thy hopein young Iulus, I implore thee, sparefor son and father's sake this life of mine.A lofty house have I, where safely hidare stores of graven silver and good weightof wrought and unwrought gold. The fate of warhangs not on me; nor can one little lifethy victory decide.” In answer spokeAeneas: “Hoard the silver and the goldfor thy own sons. Such bartering in warfinished with Turnus, when fair Pallas fell.Thus bids Anchises' shade, Iulus—thus!”He spoke: and, grasping with his mighty leftthe helmet of the vainly suppliant foe,bent back the throat and drove hilt-deep his sword.A little space removed, Haemonides,priest of Phoebus and pale Trivia, stood,whose ribboned brows a sacred fillet bound:in shining vesture he, and glittering arms.Him too the Trojan met, repelled, and toweredabove the fallen form, o'ermantling itin mortal shade; Serestus bore awaythose famous arms a trophy vowed to thee,Gradivus, Iord of war!
Nec iam fama mali tanti, sed certior auctoradvolat Aeneae, tenui discrimine letiesse suos, versis tempus succurrere Teucris.Proxima quaeque metit gladio latumque per agmenardens limitem agit ferro, te, Turne, superbumcaede nova quaerens. Pallas, Euander, in ipsisomnia sunt oculis, mensae, quas advena primastunc adiit, dextraeque datae. Sulmone creatosquattuor hic iuvenes, totidem, quos educat Ufens,viventis rapit, inferias quos immolet umbriscaptivoque rogi perfundat sanguine flammas.Inde Mago procul infensam contenderat hastam.Ille astu subit ac tremibunda supervolat hasta,et genua amplectens effatur talia supplex:“Per patrios manis et spes surgentis Iuli”“te precor, hanc animam serves natoque patrique.”“Est domus alta, iacent penitus defossa talenta”“caelati argenti, sunt auri pondera facti”“infectique mihi. Non hic victoria Teucrum”“vertitur aut anima una dabit discrimina tanta.”Dixerat. Aeneas contra cui talia reddit:“Argenti atque auri memoras quae multa talenta,”“natis parce tuis. Belli commercia Turnus”“sustulit ista prior iam tum Pallante perempto.”“Hoc patris Anchisae manes, hoc sentit Iulus.”Sic fatus galeam laeva tenet atque reflexacervice orantis capulo tenus applicat ensem.Nec procul Haemonides, Phoebi Triviaeque sacerdos,infula cui sacra redimibat tempora vitta,totus conlucens veste atque insignibus armis.Quem congressus agit campo lapsumque superstansimmolat ingentique umbra tegit; arma Serestuslecta refert umeris, tibi, rex Gradive, tropaeum.
Soon to fresh fightcame Caeculus, a child of Vulcan's line,and Umbro on the Marsic mountains bred:these met the Trojan's wrath. His sword shore offAnxur's left hand, and the whole orbed shielddropped earthward at the stroke: though Anxur's tonguehad boasted mighty things, as if great wordswould make him strong, and lifting his proud heartas high as heaven, had hoped perchance to seegray hairs and length of days. Then Tarquitusstrode forth, exulting in his burnished arms(Him Dryope, the nymph, to Faunus bore),and dared oppose Aeneas' rage. But hedrew back his lance and, charging, crushed at oncecorselet and ponderous shield; then off he struckthe supplicating head, which seemed in vainpreparing speech; while o'er the reeking corpsethe victor stood, and thrusting it awayspoke thus with wrathful soul: “Now lie thou there,thou fearsome sight! No noble mother's handshall hide thee in the ground, or give those limbsto their ancestral tomb. Thou shalt be leftto birds of ravin; or go drifting faralong yon river to engulfing seas,where starving fishes on those wounds shall feed.”Antceus next and Lucas he pursues,though all in Turnus' van; and Numa boldand Camers tawny-tressed, the son and heirof Volscens the stout-hearted, whose domainsurpassed the richest of Ausonia's lords,when over hushed Amyclae he was king.Like old Aegaeon of the hundred arms,the hundred-handed, from whose mouths and breastsblazed fifty fiery blasts, as he made warwith fifty sounding shields and fifty swordsagainst Jove's thunder;—so Aeneas ragedvictorious o'er the field, when once his steelwarmed to its work. But lo, he turns him nowwhere come Niphaeus' bold-advancing wheelsand coursers four, who, when at furious speedthey faced his giant stride and dreadful cry,upreared in panic, and reversing spilledtheir captain to the ground, and bore awaythe chariot to the river's distant shore.
Instaurant acies Volcani stirpe creatusCaeculus et veniens Marsorum montibus Umbro:Dardanides contra furit. Anxuris ense sinistramet totum clipei ferro deiecerat orbem;dixerat ille aliquid magnum vimque adfore verbocrediderat caeloque animum fortasse ferebatcanitiemque sibi et longos promiserat annos:Tarquitus exultans contra fulgentibus armis,silvicolae Fauno Dryope quem nympha crearat,obvius ardenti sese obtulit. Ille reductaloricam clipeique ingens onus impedit hasta;tum caput orantis nequiquam et multa parantisdicere deturbat terrae truncumque tepentemprovolvens super haec inimico pectore fatur:“Istic nunc, metuende, iace. Non te optima mater”“condet humi patrioque onerabit membra sepulchro:”“alitibus linquere feris aut gurgite mersum”“unda feret piscesque impasti volnera lambent.”Protinus Antaeum et Lucam, prima agmina Turni,persequitur fortemque Numam fulvumque Camertem,magnanimo Volcente satum, ditissimus agriqui fuit Ausonidum et tacitis regnavit Amyclis.Aegaeon qualis, centum cui bracchia dicuntcentenasque manus, quinquaginta oribus ignempectoribusque arsisse, Iovis cum fulmina contratot paribus streperet clipeis, tot stringeret enses:sic toto Aeneas desaevit in aequore victor,ut semel intepuit mucro. Quin ecce Niphaeiquadriiugis in equos adversaque pectora tendit.Atque illi longe gradientem et dira frementemut videre, metu versi retroque ruenteseffunduntque ducem rapiuntque ad litora currus.
Meanwhile, with two white coursers to their car,the brothers Lucagus and Liger droveinto the heart of battle: Liger keptwith skilful hand the manage of the steeds;bold Lucagus swung wide his naked sword.Aeneas, by their wrathful brows defied,brooked not the sight, but to the onset flew,huge-looming, with adverse and threatening spear.Cried Liger, “Not Achilles' chariot, ours!Nor team of Diomed on Phrygia's plain!The last of life and strife shall be thy meedupon this very ground.” Such raving wordflowed loud from Liger's lip: not with a wordthe Trojan hero answered him, but flunghis whirling spear; and even as Lucagusleaned o'er the horses, goading them with steel,and, left foot forward, gathered all his strengthto strike—the spear crashed through the under rimof his resplendent shield and entered deepin the left groin; then from the chariot fallen,the youth rolled dying on the field, while thuspious Aeneas paid him taunting words:“O Lucagus, thy chariot did not yieldbecause of horses slow to fly, or scaredby shadows of a foe. It was thyselfleaped o'er the wheel and fled.” So saying, he graspedthe horses by the rein. The brother then,spilled also from the car, reached wildly forthhis helpless hands: “O, by thy sacred head,and by the parents who such greatness gave,good Trojan, let me live! Some pity showto prostrate me!” But ere he longer sued,Aeneas cried, “Not so thy language rana moment gone! Die thou! Nor let this daybrother from brother part!” Then where the lifehides in the bosom, he thrust deep his sword.Thus o'er the field of war the Dardan Kingmoved on, death-dealing: like a breaking floodor cloudy whirlwind seemed his wrath. Straightwaythe boy Ascanius from the ramparts came,his warriors with him; for the siege had failed.
Interea biiugis infert se Lucagus albisin medios fraterque Liger; sed frater habenisflectit equos, strictum rotat acer Lucagus ensem.Haud tulit Aeneas tanto fervore furentis:inruit adversaque ingens apparuit hasta.Cui Liger:“Non Diomedis equos nec currum cernis Achillis”“aut Phrygiae campos: nunc belli finis et aevi”“his dabitur terris.” Vesano talia latedicta volant Ligeri. Sed non et Troïus herosdicta parat contra: iaculum nam torquet in hostem.Lucagus ut pronus pendens in verbera teloadmonuit biiugos, proiecto dum pede laevoaptet se pugnae, subit oras hasta per imasfulgentis clipei, tum laevum perforat inguen:excussus curru moribundus volvitur arvis.Quem pius Aeneas dictis adfatur amaris:“Lucage, nulla tuos currus fuga segnis equorum”“prodidit aut vanae vertere ex hostibus umbrae:”“ipse rotis saliens iuga deseris.” Haec ita fatusarripuit biiugos; frater tendebat inertisinfelix palmas, curru delapsus eodem:“Per te, per qui te talem genuere parentes,”“vir Troiane, sine hanc animam et miserere precantis.”Pluribus oranti Aeneas: “Haud talia dudum”“dicta dabas. Morere et fratrem ne desere frater.”Tum latebras animae pectus mucrone recludit.Talia per campos edebat funera ductorDardanius, torrentis aquae vel turbinis atrimore furens. Tandem erumpunt et castra relinquuntAscanius puer et nequiquam obsessa iuventus.
Now Jupiter to Juno thus began:“O ever-cherished spouse and sister dear,surely 't is Venus—as thy mind misgave—whose favor props—O, what discernment thine!Yon Trojan power; not swift heroic hands,or souls of fury facing perilous war!”Juno made meek reply: “O noblest spouse!Why vex one sick at heart, who humbly fearsthy stern command? If I could claim to-daywhat once I had, my proper right and due,love's induence, I should not plead in vainto thee, omnipotent, to give me powerto lead off Turnus from the fight unscathed,and save him at his father Daunus' prayer.Aye, let him die! And with his loyal bloodthe Teucrians' vengeance feed! Yet he derivesfrom our Saturnian stem, by fourth removesprung from Pilumnus. Oft his liberal handshave heaped unstinted offering at thy shrine.”Thus in few words th' Olympian King replied:“If for the fated youth thy prayer imploresdelay and respite of impending doom,if but so far thou bidst me interpose,—go—favor Turnus' flight, and keep him safein this imperilled hour; I may concedesuch boon. But if thy pleading words intendsome larger grace, and fain would touch or changethe issue of the war, then art thou fedon expectation vain.” With weeping eyesJuno made answer: “Can it be thy mindgives what thy words refuse, and Turnus' life,if rescued, may endure? Yet afterwardsome cruel close his guiltless day shall see—or far from truth I stray! O, that I werethe dupe of empty fears! and O, that thouwouldst but refashion to some happier endthe things by thee begun—for thou hast power!”
Iunonem interea compellat Iuppiter ultro:“O germana mihi atque eadem gratissima coniunx”,“ut rebare, Venus, nec te sententia fallit,”“Troianas sustentat opes, non vivida bello”“dextra viris animusque ferox patiensque pericli.”Cui Iuno summissa “Quid, o pulcherrime coniunx,”“sollicitas aegram et tua tristia dicta timentem?”“Si mihi, quae quondam fuerat quamque esse decebat,”“vis in amore foret, non hoc mihi namque negares,”“omnipotens, quin et pugnae subducere Turnum”“et Dauno possem incolumem servare parenti.”“Nunc pereat Teucrisque pio det sanguine poenas.”“Ille tamen nostra deducit origine nomen”“Pilumnusque illi quartus pater et tua larga”“saepe manu multisque oneravit limina donis.”Cui rex aetherii breviter sic fatur Olympi:“Si mora praesentis leti tempusque caduco”“oratur iuveni meque hoc ita ponere sentis,”“tolle fuga Turnum atque instantibus eripe fatis”“hactenus indulsisse vacat. Sin altior istis”“sub precibus venia ulla latet totumque moveri”“mutarive putas bellum, spes pascis inanis.”Et Iuno adlacrimans: “Quid si, quae voce gravaris,”“mente dares atque haec Turno rata vita maneret?”“Nunc manet insontem gravis exitus, aut ego veri”“vana feror. Quod ut O potius formidine falsa”“ludar et in melius tua, qui potes, orsa reflectas!”
She ceased; and swiftly from the peak of heavenmoved earthward, trailing cloud-wrack through the air,and girdled with the storm. She took her wayto where Troy's warriors faced Laurentum's line.There of a hollow cloud the goddess frameda shape of airy, unsubstantial shade,Aeneas' image, wonderful to see,and decked it with a Dardan lance and shield,a crested helmet on the godlike head;and windy words she gave of soulless sound,and motion like a stride—such shapes, they say,the hovering phantoms of the dead put on,or empty dreams which cheat our slumbering eyes.Forth to the front of battle this vain shadestalked insolent, and with its voice and spearchallenged the warrior. At it Turnus flew,and hurled a hissing spear with distant aim;the thing wheeled round and fled. The foe forthwith,thinking Aeneas vanquished, with blind scornflattered his own false hope: “Where wilt thou fly,Aeneas? Wilt thou break a bridegroom's word?This sword will give thee title to some landthou hast sailed far to find!” So clamoring loudhe followed, flashing far his naked sword;nor saw the light winds waft his dream away.
Haec ubi dicta dedit, caelo se protinus altomisit, agens hiemem nimbo succincta per auras,Iliacamque aciem et Laurentia castra petivit.Tum dea nube cava tenuem sine viribus umbramin faciem Aeneae, visu mirabile monstrum,Dardaniis ornat telis clipeumque iubasquedivini adsimulat capitis, dat inania verba,dat sine mente sonum gressusque effingit euntis,morte obita qualis fama est volitare figurasaut quae sopitos deludunt somnia sensus.At primas laeta ante acies exsultat imagoinritatque virum telis et voce lacessit.Instat cui Turnus stridentemque eminus hastamconicit: illa dato vertit vestigia tergo.Tum vero Aenean aversum ut cedere Turnuscredidit atque animo spem turbidus hausit inanem,“Quo fugis, Aenea? Thalamos ne desere pactos;”“hac dabitur dextra tellus quaesita per undas.”Talia vociferans sequitur strictumque coruscatmucronem nec ferre videt sua gaudia ventos.
By chance in covert of a lofty craga ship stood fastened and at rest; her sidesshowed ready bridge and stairway; she had broughtOsinius, king of Clusium. Thither cameAeneas' counterfeit of flight and fear,and dropped to darkness. Turnus, nothing loth,gave close chase, overleaping every bar,and scaling the high bridge; but scarce he reachedthe vessel's prow, when Juno cut her loose,the cables breaking, and along swift wavespushed her to sea. Yet in that very hourAeneas to the battle vainly calledthe vanished foe, and round his hard-fought pathstretched many a hero dead. No longer nowthe mocking shadow sought to hide, but soaredvisibly upward and was Iost in cloud,while Turnus drifted o'er the waters widebefore the wind. Bewildered and amazedhe looked around him; little joy had hein his own safety, but upraised his handsin prayer to Heaven: “O Sire omnipotent!Didst thou condemn me to a shame like this?Such retribution dire? Whither now?Whence came I here? What panic wafts awaythis Turnus—if 't is he? Shall I beholdLaurentum's towers once more? But what of thosemy heroes yonder, who took oath to me,and whom—O sin and shame!—I have betrayedto horrible destruction? Even nowI see them routed, and my ears receivetheir dying groans. What is this thing I do?Where will the yawning earth crack wide enoughbeneath my feet? Ye tempests, pity me!On rocks and reef—'t is Turnus' faithful prayer,let this bark founder; fling it on the shoalsof wreckful isles, where no Rutulian eyecan follow me, or Rumor tell my shame.”With such wild words his soul tossed to and fro,not knowing if to hide his infamywith his own sword and madly drive its bladehome to his heart, or cast him in the sea,and, swimming to the rounded shore, renewhis battle with the Trojan foe. Three timeseach fatal course he tried; but Juno's powerthree times restrained, and with a pitying handthe warrior's purpose barred. So on he spedo'er yielding waters and propitious tides,far as his father Daunus' ancient town.
Forte ratis celsi coniuncta crepidine saxiexpositis stabat scalis et ponte parato,qua rex Clusinis advectus Osinius oris.Huc sese trepida Aeneae fugientis imagoconicit in latebras; nec Turnus segnior instatexsuperatque moras et pontis transilit altos.Vix proram attigerat: rumpit Saturnia funemavolsamque rapit revoluta per aequora navem.Illum autem Aeneas absentem in praelia poscit;obvia multa virum demittit corpora morti:tum levis haud ultra latebras iam quaerit imago,sed sublime volans nubi se immiscuit atrae.Cum Turnum medio interea fert aequore turbo.Respicit ignarus rerum ingratusque salutiset duplicis cum voce manus ad sidera tendit:“Omnipotens genitor, tanton me crimine dignum”“duxisti et talis voluisti expendere poenas?”“Quo feror? Unde abii? Quae me fuga quemve reducit?”“Laurentisne iterum muros aut castra videbo?”“Quid manus illa virum, qui me meaque arma secuti?”“Quosne (nefas) omnis infanda in morte reliqui”“et nunc palantis video gemitumque cadentum”“accipio! Quid ago? Aut quae iam satis ima dehiscat”“terra mihi? Vos O potius miserescite venti:”“in rupes, in saxa, volens vos Turnus adoro”“ferte ratem saevisque vadis immittite Syrtis,”“quo neque me Rutuli nec conscia fama sequatur.”Haec memorans animo nunc huc, nunc fluctuat illuc,an sese mucrone ob tantum dedecus amensinduat et crudum per costas exigat ensem,fluctibus an iaciat mediis et litora nandocurva petat Teucrumque iterum se reddat in arma.Ter conatus utramque viam, ter maxima Iunocontinuit iuvenemque animi miserata repressit.Labitur alta secans fluctuque aestuque secundoet patris antiquam Dauni defertur ad urbem.
At Jove's command Mezentius, breathing rage,now takes the field and leads a strong assaultagainst victorious Troy. The Tuscan ranksmeet round him, and press hard on him alone,on him alone with vengeance multipliedtheir host of swords they draw. As some tall cliff,projecting to the sea, receives the rageof winds and waters, and untrembling bearsvast, frowning enmity of seas and skies,—so he. First Dolichaon's son he slew,Hebrus; then Latagus and Palmus, thoughthey fled amain; he smote with mighty stonetorn from the mountain, full upon the faceof Latagus; and Palmus he let liehamstrung and rolling helpless; he bestowedthe arms on his son Lausus for a prize,another proud crest in his helm to wear;he laid the Phrygian Euanthus Iow;and Mimas, Paris' comrade, just his age,—born of Theano's womb to Amycushis sire, that night when royal Hecuba,teeming with firebrand, gave Paris birth:one in the city of his fathers sleeps;and one, inglorious, on Laurentian strand.As when a wild boar, harried from the hillsby teeth of dogs (one who for many a yearwas safe in pine-clad Vesulus, or roamedthe meres of Tiber, feeding in the reeds)falls in the toils at last, and stands at bay,raging and bristling, and no hunter daresdefy him or come near, but darts are hurledfrom far away, with cries unperilous:not otherwise, though righteous is their wrathagainst Mezentius, not a man so boldas face him with drawn sword, but at long rangethey throw their shafts and with loud cries assail;he, all unterrified, makes frequent stand,gnashing his teeth, and shaking off their spears.
At Iovis interea monitis Mezentius ardenssuccedit pugnae Teucrosque invadit ovantis.Concurrunt Tyrrhenae acies atque omnibus uni,uni odiisque viro telisque frequentibus instant.Ille velut rupes, vastum quae prodit in aequor,obvia ventorum furiis expostaque ponto,vim cunctam atque minas perfert caelique marisque,ipsa immota manens, prolem Dolichaonis Hebrumsternit humi, cum quo Latagum Palmumque fugacem,sed Latagum saxo atque ingenti fragmine montisoccupat os faciemque adversam, poplite Palmumsucciso volvi segnem sinit, armaque Lausodonat habere umeris et vertice figere cristas.Nec non Euanthen Phrygium Paridisque Mimantaaequalem comitemque, una quem nocte Theanoin lucem genitori Amyco dedit et face praegnansCisseis regina Parin creat: urbe paternaoccubat, ignarum Laurens habet ora Mimanta.Ac velut ille canum morsu de montibus altisactus aper, multos Vesulus quem pinifer annosdefendit multosve palus Laurentia, silvapastus harundinea, postquam inter retia ventum est,substitit infremuitque ferox et inhorruit armos,nec cuiquam irasci propiusque accedere virtus,sed iaculis tutisque procul clamoribus instant;ille autem impavidus partis cunctatur in omnis,dentibus infrendens, et tergo decutit hastas.haud aliter, iustae quibus est Mezentius irae,non ulli est animus stricto concurrere ferro;missilibus longe et vasto clamore lacessunt:
From ancient Corythus had Acron come,a Greek, who left half-sung his wedding-song,and was an exile; him Mezentius sawamong long lines of foes, with flaunting plumesand purple garments from his plighted spouse.Then as a starving lion when he prowlsabout high pasture-lands, urged on his wayby maddening hunger (if perchance he seea flying she-goat or tall-antlered stag)lifts up his shaggy mane, and gaping widehis monstrous jaws, springs at the creature's side,feeding foul-lipped, insatiable of gore:so through his gathered foes Mezentiusflew at his prey. He stretched along the groundill-fated Acron, who breathed life away,beating the dark dust with his heels, and bathedhis broken weapons in his blood. Nor deignedMezentius to strike Orodes downas he took flight, nor deal a wound unseenwith far-thrown spear; but ran before his face,fronting him man to man, nor would he winby sleight or trick, but by a mightier sword.Soon on the fallen foe he set his heel,and, pushing hard, with heel and spear, cried out:“Look ye, my men, where huge Orodes lies,himself a dangerous portion of this war!”With loyal, Ioud acclaim his peers reply;but thus the dying hero: “Victor mine,whoe'er thou art, I fall not unavenged!Thou shalt but triumph for a fleeting hour.Like doom for thee is written. Speedilythou shalt this dust inhabit, even as I!”Mezentius answered him with wrathful smile:“Now die! What comes on me concerns alonethe Sire of gods and Sovereign of mankind.”So saying, from the wounded breast he pluckedhis javelin: and on those eyes there fellinexorable rest and iron slumber,and in unending night their vision closed.
Venerat antiquis Corythi de finibus Acron,Graius homo, infectos linquens profugus hymenaeos.Hunc ubi miscentem longe media agmina vidit,purpureum pennis et pactae coniugis ostro:impastus stabula alta leo ceu saepe peragrans,suadet enim vesana fames, si forte fugacemconspexit capream aut surgentem in cornua cervum,gaudet, hians immane, comasque arrexit et haeretvisceribus super accumbens, lavit inproba taeterora cruor,sic ruit in densos alacer Mezentius hostis.Sternitur infelix Acron et calcibus atramtundit humum expirans infractaque tela cruentat.Atque idem fugientem haud est dignatus Orodensternere nec iacta caecum dare cuspide volnus:obvius adversoque occurrit seque viro vircontulit, haud furto melior, sed fortibus armis.Tum super abiectum posito pede nixus et hasta:“Pars belli haud temnenda, viri, iacet altus Orodes.”Conclamant socii laetum paeana secuti.Ille autem exspirans: “Non me, quicumque es, inulto,”“victor, nec longum laetabere: te quoque fata”“prospectant paria atque eadem mox arva tenebis.”Ad quae subridens mixta Mezentius ira:“Nunc morere. Ast de me divom pater atque hominum rex”“viderit.” Hoc dicens eduxit corpore telum:olli dura quies oculos et ferreus urgetsomnus, in aeternam clauduntur lumina noctem.
Then Caedicus cut down Alcathous,Sacrator slew Hydaspes, Rapo smoteParthenius and Orses stout and strong;Messapus, good blade cut down Cloniusand Ericetes, fierce Lycaon's child;the one from an unbridled war-horse thrown,the other slain dismounted. Then rode forthAgis the Lycian, but bold Valerus,true to his valiant breeding, hurled him down;having slain Thronius, Salius was slainby skilled Nealces, of illustrious namefor spear well cast and far-surprising bow.
Caedicus Alcathoum obtruncat, Sacrator HydaspenPartheniumque Rapo et praedurum viribus Orsen,Messapus Croniumque Lycaoniumque Erichaeten,illum infrenis equi lapsu tellure iacentem,hunc peditem. Pedes et Lycius processerat Agis,quem tamen haud expers Valerus virtutis avitaedeicit; at Thronium Salius Saliumque Nealcesinsidiis, iaculo et longe fallente sagitta.
Thus Mars relentless holds in equal scaleslaughters reciprocal and mutual woe;the victors and the vanquished kill or fallin equal measure; neither knows the wayto yield or fly. Th' Olympians Iook downout of Jove's house, and pity as they seethe unavailing wrath of either foe,and burdens measureless on mortals laid.Lo! Venus here, Saturnian Juno yon,in anxious watch; while pale Tisiphonemoves on infuriate through the battling lines.On strode Mezentius o'er the gory plain,and swollen with rage waved wide-his awful spear.Like tall Orion when on foot he goestrough the deep sea and lifts his shoulders highabove the waves; or when he takes his pathalong the mountain-tops, and has for staffan aged ash-tree, as he fixes firmhis feet in earth and hides his brows in cloud;—so Ioomed Mezentius with his ponderous arms.
Iam gravis aequabat luctus et mutua Mavorsfunera: caedebant pariter pariterque ruebantvictores victique, neque his fuga nota neque illis.Di Iovis in tectis iram miserantur inanemamborum et tantos mortalibus esse labores:hinc Venus, hinc contra spectat Saturnia Iuno,pallida Tisiphone media inter milia saevit.At vero ingentem quatiens Mezentius hastamturbidus ingreditur campo. Quam magnus Orion,cum pedes incedit medii per maxima Nereistagna viam scindens, umero supereminet undasaut summis referens annosam montibus ornumingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit:talis se vastis infert Mezentius armis.
To match him now, Aeneas, Iooking downthe long array of war, came forth in armsto challenge and defy. But quailing not,a mass immovable, the other stoodwaiting his noble foe, and with a glancemeasured to cast his spear the space between.“May this right hand“, he said, “and this swift spearwhich here I poise, be favoring gods for me!The spoils from yonder robber's carcase strippedI vow to hang on thee, my Lausus, thoushalt stand for trophy of Aeneas slain.”He said, and hurled from far the roaring spear,which from the shield glanced off, and speeding stillsmote famed Antores 'twixt the loin and side—antores, friend of Hercules, who camefrom Argos, and had joined Evander's cause,abiding in Italia. Lo, a woundmeant for another pierced him, and he lay,ill-fated! Iooking upward to the light,and dreaming of dear Argos as he died.Then good Aeneas hurled his spear; it passedthrough hollow orb of triple bronze, and throughlayers of flax and triple-twisted hides;then in the lower groin it lodged, but leftits work undone. Aeneas, not ill-pleasedto see the Tuscan wounded, swiftly drewthe falchion from his thigh, and hotly pressedhis startled foe. But Lausus at the sightgroaned loud, so much he loved his father dear,and tears his cheek bedewed.
Huic contra Aeneas, speculatus in agmine longo,obvius ire parat. Manet imperterritus ille,hostem magnanimum opperiens, et mole sua stat;atque oculis spatium emensus, quantum satis hastae:“Dextra mihi deus et telum, quod missile libro,”“nunc adsint! Voveo praedonis corpore raptis”“indutum spoliis ipsum te, Lause, tropaeum”“Aeneae.” Dixit stridentemque eminus hastamiecit; at illa volans clipeo est excussa proculqueegregium Antoren latus inter et ilia figit,Herculis Antoren comitem, qui missus ab Argishaeserat Euandro atque Itala consederat urbe.Sternitur infelix alieno volnere caelumqueaspicit et dulcis moriens reminiscitur Argostum pius Aeneas hastam iacit: illa per orbemaere cavum triplici, per linea terga tribusquetransit intextum tauris opus imaque seditinguine, sed viris haud pertulit. Ocius ensemAeneas, viso Tyrrheni sanguine laetus,eripit a femine et trepidanti fervidus instat.Ingemuit cari graviter genitoris amore,ut vidit, Lausus, lacrimaeque per ora volutae.
O storied youth!If olden worth may win believing ear,let not my song now fail of thee to sing,thy noble deeds, thy doom of death and pain!Mezentius, now encumbered and undone,fell backward, trailing from the broken shieldhis foeman's spear. His son leaped wildly forthto join the fray; and where Aeneas' handlifted to strike, he faced the thrusting swordand gave the hero pause. His comrades raisedapplauding cries, as shielded by his sonthe father made retreat; their darts they hurl,and vex with flying spears the distant foe:Aeneas, wrathful, stands beneath his shield.As when the storm-clouds break in pelting hail,the swains and ploughmen from the furrows fly,and every traveller cowers in sure defenceof river-bank or lofty shelving crag,while far and wide it pours; and by and by,each, when the sun returns, his task pursues:so great Aeneas, by assault o'erwhelmed,endured the cloud of battle, till its ragethundered no more; then with a warning wordto Lausus with upbraiding voice he called:“Why, O death-doomed, rush on to deeds too highfor strength like thine. Thou art betrayed, rash boy,by thine own loyal heart!” But none the lessthe youth made mad defence; while fiercer burnedthe Trojan's anger; and of Lausus' daysthe loom of Fate spun forth the last thin thread;for now Aeneas thrust his potent bladedeep through the stripling's breast and out of sight;through the light shield it passed—a frail defenceto threaten with!—and through the tunic finehis mother's hand had wrought with softest gold:blood filled his bosom, and on path of airdown to the shades the mournful soul withdrew,its body quitting. As Anchises' sonbeheld the agonizing lips and browso wondrous white in death, he groaned aloudin pity, and reached o'er him his right hand,touched to the heart such likeness to beholdof his own filial love. “Unhappy boy!What reward worthy of heroic deedscan I award thee now? Wear still those armsso proudly worn! And I will send thee home(Perhaps thou carest!) to the kindred shadesand ashes of thy sires. But let it besome solace in thy pitiable doomthat none but great Aeneas wrought thy fall.”Then to the stripling's tardy followershe sternly called, and lifted from the earthwith his own hand the fallen foe: dark blooddefiled those princely tresses braided fair.
Hic mortis durae casum tuaque optima facta,siqua fidem tanto est operi latura vetustas,non equidem nec te, iuvenis memorande, silebo.Ille pedem referens et inutilis inque ligatuscedebat clipeoque inimicum hastile trahebat:prorupit iuvenis seseque immiscuit armisiamque adsurgentis dextra plagamque ferentisAeneae subiit mucronem ipsumque morandosustinuit. Socii magno clamore sequuntur,dum genitor nati parma protectus abiret,telaque coniciunt proturbantque eminus hostemmissilibus. Furit Aeneas tectusque tenet se.Ac velut effusa siquando grandine nimbipraecipitant, omnis campis diffugit aratoromnis et agricola et tuta latet arce viator,aut amnis ripis aut alti fornice saxi,dum pluit in terris, ut possint sole reductoexercere diem: sic obrutus undique telisAeneas nubem belli, dum detonet omnis,sustinet et Lausum increpitat Lausoque minatur:“Quo moriture ruis maioraque viribus audes?”“Fallit te incautum pietas tua.” Nec minus illeexsultat demens; saevae iamque altius iraeDardanio surgunt ductori, extremaque LausoParcae fila legunt: validum namque exigit ensemper medium Aeneas iuvenem totumque recondit.Transiit et parmam mucro, levia arma minacis,et tunicam, molli mater quam neverat auro,implevitque sinum sanguis; tum vita per aurasconcessit maesta ad manis corpusque reliquit.At vero ut voltum vidit morientis et ora,ora modis Anchisiades pallentia miris,ingemuit miserans graviter dextramque tetendit,et mentem patriae subiit pietatis imago.“Quid tibi nunc, miserande puer, pro laudibus istis,”“quid pius Aeneas tanta dabit indole dignum?”“Arma, quibus laetatus, habe tua, teque parentum”“manibus et cineri, siqua est ea cura, remitto.”“Hoc tamen infelix miseram solabere mortem:”“Aeneae magni dextra cadis.” Increpat ultrocunctantis socios et terra sublevat ipsum,sanguine turpantem comptos de more capillos.
Meanwhile Mezentius by the Tiber's wavewith water staunched his wound, and propped his weightagainst a tree; upon its limbs abovehis brazen helmet hung, and on the swardhis ponderous arms lay resting. Round him watchedhis chosen braves. He, gasping and in pain,clutched at his neck and let his flowing beardloose on his bosom fall; he questions oftof Lausus, and sends many a messengerto bid him back, and bear him the commandof his sore-grieving sire. But lo! his peersbore the dead Lausus back upon his shield,and wept to see so strong a hero quelledby stroke so strong. From long way off the sire,with soul prophetic of its woe, perceivedwhat meant their wail and cry. On his gray hairsthe dust he flung, and, stretching both his handsto heaven, he cast himself the corpse along.“O son,” he cried, “was life to me so sweet,that I to save myself surrendered o'ermy own begotten to a foeman's steel?Saved by these gashes shall thy father be,and living by thy death? O wretched me,how foul an end have I! Now is my wounddeep! deep! 't was I, dear son, have stainedthy name with infamy—to exile drivenfrom sceptre and hereditary throneby general curse. Would that myself had bornemy country's vengeance and my nation's hate!Would my own guilty life my debt had paid—yea, by a thousand deaths! But, see, I live!Not yet from human kind and light of dayhave I departed. But depart I will.”So saying, he raised him on his crippled thigh,and though by reason of the grievous woundhis forces ebbed, yet with unshaken mienhe bade them lead his war-horse forth, his pride,his solace, which from every warvictorious bore him home. The master thento the brave beast, which seemed to know his pain,spoke thus: “My Rhoebus, we have passed our dayslong time together, if long time there befor mortal creatures. Either on this daythou shalt his bloody spoils in triumph bearand that Aeneas' head,—and so shalt beavenger of my Lausus' woe; or else,if I be vanquished, thou shalt sink and fallbeside me. For, my bravest, thou wouldst spurna stranger's will, and Teucrian lords to bear.”He spoke and, mounting to his back, disposedhis limbs the wonted way and filled both handswith pointed javelins; a helm of brasswith shaggy horse-hair crest gleamed o'er his brow.Swift to the front he rode: a mingled floodsurged in his heart of sorrow, wrath, and shame;and thrice with loud voice on his foe he called.
Interea genitor Tiberini ad fluminis undamvolnera siccabat lymphis corpusque levabatarboris adclinis trunco. Procul aerea ramisdependet galea et prato gravia arma quiescunt.Stant lecti circum iuvenes: ipse aeger anhelanscolla fovet, fusus propexam in pectore barbam;multa super Lauso rogitat multumque remittitqui revocent maestique ferant mandata parentis.At Lausum socii exanimem super arma ferebantflentes, ingentem atque ingenti volnere victum.Agnovit longe gemitum praesaga mali mens:canitiem multo deformat pulvere et ambasad caelum tendit palmas et corpore inhaeret.“Tantane me tenuit vivendi, nate, voluptas,”“ut pro me hostili paterer succedere dextrae,”“quem genui? Tuane haec genitor per volnera servor,”“morte tua vivens? Heu, nunc misero mihi demum”“exitium infelix, nunc alte volnus adactum!”“Idem ego, nate, tuum maculavi crimine nomen,”“pulsus ob invidiam solio sceptrisque paternis.”“Debueram patriae poenas odiisque meorum:”“omnis per mortis animam sontem ipse dedissem!”“Nunc vivo neque adhuc homines lucemque relinquo.”“Sed linquam.” Simul hoc dicens attollit in aegrumse femur et, quamvis dolor alto volnere tardet,haud deiectus equum duci iubet. Hoc decus illi,hoc solamen erat; bellis hoc victor abibatomnibus. Adloquitur maerentem et talibus infit:“Rhaebe, diu, res siqua diu mortalibus ulla est,”“viximus. Aut hodie victor spolia illa cruenti”“et caput Aeneae referes Lausique dolorum”“ultor eris mecum aut, aperit si nulla viam vis,”“occumbes pariter; neque enim, fortissime, credo,”“iussa aliena pati et dominos dignabere Teucros.”Dixit et exceptus tergo consueta locavitmembra manusque ambas iaculis oneravit acutis,aere caput fulgens cristaque hirsutus equina.Sic cursum in medios rapidus dedit: aestuat ingensuno in corde pudor mixtoque insania luctu,[et furiis agitatus amor et conscia virtus.]
Aeneas heard and made exulting vow:“Now may the Father of the gods on high,and great Apollo hear! Begin the fray!”He said, and moved forth with a threatening spear.The other cried: “Hast robbed me of my son,and now, implacable, wouldst fright me more?That way, that only, was it in thy powerto cast me down. No fear of death I feel.Nor from thy gods themselves would I refrain.Give o'er! For fated and resolved to dieI come thy way: but; bring thee as I passthese offerings.” With this he whirled a spearagainst his foe, and after it drove deepanother and another, riding swiftin wide gyration round him. But the shield,the golden boss, broke not. Three times he rodein leftward circles, hurling spear on spearagainst th' unmoved Aeneas: and three timesthe Trojan hero in his brazen shieldthe sheaf of spears upbore. But such slow fight,such plucking of spent shafts from out his shield,the Trojan liked not, vexed and sorely triedin duel so ill-matched. With wrathful soulat length he strode forth, and between the browsof the wild war-horse planted his Iong spear.Up reared the creature, beating at the airwith quivering feet, then o'er his fallen lordentangling dropped, and prone above him lay,pinning with ponderous shoulder to the ground.The Trojans and the Latins rouse the skieswith clamor Ioud. Aeneas hastening forthunsheathes his sword, and looming o'er him cries:“Where now is fierce Mezentius, and his soul'swild pulse of rage?” The Tuscan in replywith eyes uprolled, and gasping as he gavelong looks at heaven, recalled his fading mind:“Why frown at me and fume, O bitterest foe?Why threaten death? To slay me is no sin.Not to take quarter came I to this war,not truce with thee did my lost Lausus crave,yet this one boon I pray,—if mercy befor fallen foes: O, suffer me when deadin covering earth to hide! Full well I knowwhat curses of my people ring me round.Defend me from that rage! I pray to bemy son's companion in our common tomb.”He spoke: then offered with unshrinking eyehis veined throat to the sword. O'er the bright mailhis vital breath gushed forth in streaming gore.
Atque hic Aenean magna ter voce vocavit.Aeneas agnovit enim laetusque precatur:“Sic pater ille deum faciat, sic altus Apollo,”“incipias conferre manum.”Tantum effatus et infesta subit obvius hasta.Ille autem: “Quid me erepto, saevissime, nato”“terres? Haec via sola fuit, qua perdere posses.”“Nec mortem horremus nec divom parcimus ulli.”“Desine: nam venio moriturus et haec tibi porto”“dona prius.” Dixit telumque intorsit in hostem;inde aliud super atque aliud figitque volatqueingenti gyro, sed sustinet aureus umbo.Ter circum adstantem laevos equitavit in orbestela manu iaciens, ter secum Troïus herosimmanem aerato circumfert tegmine silvam.Inde ubi tot traxisse moras, tot spicula taedetvellere et urgetur pugna congressus iniqua,multa movens animo iam tandem erumpit et interbellatoris equi cava tempora conicit hastam.Tollit se arrectum quadrupes et calcibus aurasverberat effusumque equitem super ipse secutusimplicat eiectoque incumbit cernuus armo.Clamore incendunt caelum Troesque Latinique.Advolat Aeneas vaginaque eripit ensemet super haec: “Ubi nunc Mezentius acer et illa”“effera vis animi?” Contra Tyrrhenus, ut aurassuspiciens hausit caelum mentemque recepit:“Hostis amare, quid increpitas mortemque minaris?”“Nullum in caede nefas, nec sic ad proelia veni,”“nec tecum meus haec pepigit mihi foedera Lausus.”“Unum hoc per siqua est victis venia hostibus oro:”“corpus humo patiare tegi. Scio acerba meorum”“circumstare odia: hunc, oro, defende furorem”“et me consortem nati concede sepulchro.”Haec loquitur iuguloque haud inscius accipit ensemundantique animam diffundit in arva cruore.