The Aeneid Virgil (the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT) đ
- Author: Virgil
Book online «The Aeneid Virgil (the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT) đ». Author Virgil
Rich was the gift, and glorious to behold,
But yet so pondârous with its plates of gold,
That scarce two servants could the weight sustain;
Yet, loaded thus, Demoleus oâer the plain
Pursued and lightly seizâd the Trojan train.
The third, succeeding to the last reward,
Two goodly bowls of massy silver sharâd,
With figures prominent, and richly wrought,
And two brass cauldrons from Dodona brought.
Thus all, rewarded by the heroâs hands,
Their conquâring temples bound with purple bands;
And now Sergesthus, clearing from the rock,
Brought back his galley shatterâd with the shock.
Forlorn she lookâd, without an aiding oar,
And, houted by the vulgar, made to shore.
As when a snake, surprisâd upon the road,
Is crushâd athwart her body by the load
Of heavy wheels; or with a mortal wound
Her belly bruisâd, and trodden to the ground:
In vain, with loosenâd curls, she crawls along;
Yet, fierce above, she brandishes her tongue;
Glares with her eyes, and bristles with her scales;
But, groveling in the dust, her parts unsound she trails:
So slowly to the port the Centaur tends,
But, what she wants in oars, with sails amends.
Yet, for his galley savâd, the grateful prince
Is pleasâd thâ unhappy chief to recompense.
Pholoe, the Cretan slave, rewards his care,
Beauteous herself, with lovely twins as fair.
From thence his way the Trojan hero bent
Into the neighbâring plain, with mountains pent,
Whose sides were shaded with surrounding wood.
Full in the midst of this fair valley stood
A native theatre, which, rising slow
By just degrees, oâerlookâd the ground below.
High on a sylvan throne the leader sate;
A numârous train attend in solemn state.
Here those that in the rapid course delight,
Desire of honour and the prize invite.
The rival runners without order stand;
The Trojans mixâd with the Sicilian band.
First Nisus, with Euryalus, appears;
Euryalus a boy of blooming years,
With sprightly grace and equal beauty crownâd;
Nisus, for friendship to the youth renownâd.
Diores next, of Priamâs royal race,
(Then Salius joined with Patron, took their place;
But Patron in Arcadia had his birth,
And Salius his from Arcananian earth;)
Then two Sicilian youthsâ âthe names of these,
Swift Helymus, and lovely Panopes:
Both jolly huntsmen, both in forest bred,
And owning old Acestes for their head;
With sevâral others of ignobler name,
Whom time has not deliverâd oâer to fame.
To these the hero thus his thoughts explainâd,
In words which genâral approbation gainâd:
âOne common largess is for all designâd,
(The vanquishâd and the victor shall be joinâd,)
Two darts of polishâd steel and Gnosian wood,
A silver-studded ax alike bestowâd.
The foremost three have olive wreaths decreed:
The first of these obtains a stately steed,
Adornâd with trappings; and the next in fame,
The quiver of an Amazonian dame,
With featherâd Thracian arrows well supplied:
A golden belt shall gird his manly side,
Which with a sparkling diamond shall be tied.
The third this Grecian helmet shall content.â
He said. To their appointed base they went;
With beating hearts thâ expected sign receive,
And, starting all at once, the barrier leave.
Spread out, as on the winged winds, they flew,
And seizâd the distant goal with greedy view.
Shot from the crowd, swift Nisus all oâerpassâd;
Nor storms, nor thunder, equal half his haste.
The next, but thoâ the next, yet far disjoinâd,
Came Salius, and Euryalus behind;
Then Helymus, whom young Diores plied,
Step after step, and almost side by side,
His shoulders pressing; and, in longer space,
Had won, or left at least a dubious race.
Now, spent, the goal they almost reach at last,
When eager Nisus, hapless in his haste,
Slippâd first, and, slipping, fell upon the plain,
Soakâd with the blood of oxen newly slain.
The careless victor had not markâd his way;
But, treading where the treachârous puddle lay,
His heels flew up; and on the grassy floor
He fell, besmearâd with filth and holy gore.
Not mindless then, Euryalus, of thee,
Nor of the sacred bonds of amity,
He strove thâ immediate rivalâs hope to cross,
And caught the foot of Salius as he rose.
So Salius lay extended on the plain;
Euryalus springs out, the prize to gain,
And leaves the crowd: applauding peals attend
The victor to the goal, who vanquishâd by his friend.
Next Helymus; and then Diores came,
By two misfortunes made the third in fame.
But Salius enters, and, exclaiming loud
For justice, deafens and disturbs the crowd;
Urges his cause may in the court be heard;
And pleads the prize is wrongfully conferrâd.
But favour for Euryalus appears;
His blooming beauty, with his tender tears,
Had bribâd the judges for the promisâd prize.
Besides, Diores fills the court with cries,
Who vainly reaches at the last reward,
If the first palm on Salius be conferrâd.
Then thus the prince: âLet no disputes arise:
Where fortune placâd it, I award the prize.
But fortuneâs errors give me leave to mend,
At least to pity my deserving friend.â
He said, and, from among the spoils, he draws
(Pondârous with shaggy mane and golden paws)
A lionâs hide: to Salius this he gives.
Nisus with envy sees the gift, and grieves.
âIf such rewards to vanquishâd men are due.â
He said, âand falling is to rise by you,
What prize may Nisus from your bounty claim,
Who merited the first rewards and fame?
In falling, both an equal fortune tried;
Would fortune for my fall so well provide!â
With this he pointed to his face, and showâd
His hand and all his habit smearâd with blood.
Thâ indulgent father of the people smilâd,
And causâd to be producâd an ample shield,
Of wondrous art, by Didymaon wrought,
Long since from Neptuneâs bars in triumph brought.
This givân to Nisus, he divides the rest,
And equal justice in his gifts expressâd.
The race thus ended, and rewards bestowâd,
Once more the prince bespeaks thâ attentive crowd:
âIf there be here, whose dauntless courage dare
In gauntlet fight, with limbs and body bare,
His opposite sustain in open view,
Stand forth the champion, and the games renew.
Two prizes I propose, and thus divide:
A bull with gilded horns, and fillets tied,
Shall be the portion of the conquâring chief;
A sword and helm shall cheer the loserâs grief.â
Then haughty Dares in the lists appears;
Stalking he strides, his head erected bears:
His nervous arms the weighty gauntlet wield,
And loud applauses echo throâ the field.
Dares alone in combat usâd to stand
The match of mighty Paris, hand to hand;
The same, at Hectorâs funârals, undertook
Gigantic Butes, of thâ Amycian stock,
And, by the stroke of his resistless hand,
Stretchâd the vast bulk upon the yellow sand.
Such Dares was; and such he strode along,
And drew the wonder of the gazing throng.
His brawny back and ample
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