Foul birds, I recognize the beating of your wings and your deathly sound, nor do the proud commands of great-hearted Jupiter deceive me.
§12.878magnanimi Iovis. Haec pro virginitate reponit?
Does he repay this for my virginity?
§12.879Quo vitam dedit aeternam? Cur mortis ademptast §12.880condicio? Possem tantos finire dolores §12.881nunc certe et misero fratri comes ire per umbras!
Why did he give me eternal life? Why was the condition of death taken away? Otherwise I could certainly end such great sorrows now, and go through the shadows as a companion to my wretched brother!
§12.882Immortalis ego? Aut quicquam mihi dulce meorum §12.883te sine, frater, erit? O quae satis ima dehiscet §12.884terra mihi Manisque deam demittet ad imos? §12.885Tantum effata caput glauco contexit amictu §12.886multa gemens et se fluvio dea condidit alto.
Am I immortal? Or will anything of mine be sweet to me without you, brother? Oh, what deep enough earth will gape open for me and send a goddess down to the deepest Shades?" Having spoken thus much, the goddess covered her head with a gray mantle, groaning deeply, and hid herself in the deep river.
§12.887Aeneas instat contra telumque coruscat §12.888ingens arboreum et saevo sic pectore fatur: §12.889Quae nunc deinde mora est? Aut quid iam, Turne, retractas?
Aeneas presses on against him and brandishes his huge tree-like spear, and speaks thus from his fierce breast: "What delay is there now next? Or why now, Turnus, do you draw back?
§12.890Non cursu, saevis certandum est comminus armis.
We must contend not by running, but close at hand with cruel weapons.
§12.891Verte omnis tete in facies et contrahe quidquid §12.892sive animis sive arte vales; opta ardua pennis §12.893astra sequi clausumve cava te condere terra. §12.894Ille caput quassans
Non me tua fervida terrent §12.895dicta, ferox: di me terrent et Iuppiter hostis. §12.896Nec plura effatus saxum circumspicit ingens, §12.897saxum antiquum ingens, campo quod forte iacebat, §12.898limes agro positus, litem ut discerneret arvis.
Turn yourself into all shapes, and collect whatever you can, whether in courage or in skill; wish to follow the high stars on wings, or to hide yourself enclosed in the hollow earth." Shaking his head, he replied: "Your fiery words do not terrify me, fierce one; the gods terrify me, and Jupiter as my enemy." Saying no more, he looks around and sees a huge stone, an ancient, huge stone, which by chance was lying on the plain, placed as a boundary for the field, to settle dispute in the lands.
§12.899Vix illud lecti bis sex cervice subirent, §12.900qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus: §12.901ille manu raptum trepida torquebat in hostem §12.902altior insurgens et cursu concitus heros.
Scarcely twice six chosen men could support it on their shoulders, such bodies of men as the earth now produces; he, snatched in his trembling hand, tried to hurl it at the enemy, rising higher and quickened by his running, hero that he was.
§12.903Sed neque currentem se nec cognoscit euntem §12.904tollentemve manus saxumve immane moventem; §12.905genua labant, gelidus concrevit frigore sanguis.
But he does not recognize himself running, nor going, nor raising his hands, nor moving the immense stone; his knees give way, his icy blood froze with chill.
§12.906Tum lapis ipse viri, vacuum per inane volutus, §12.907nec spatium evasit totum neque pertulit ictum.
Then the stone itself of the hero, whirled through the empty void, neither cleared the whole space, nor carried through the blow.
§12.908Ac velut in somnis, oculos ubi languida pressit §12.909nocte quies, nequiquam avidos extendere cursus §12.910velle videmur et in mediis conatibus aegri §12.911succidimus, non lingua valet, non corpore notae §12.912sufficiunt vires, nec vox aut verba sequuntur: §12.913sic Turno, quacumque viam virtute petivit, §12.914successum dea dira negat.
And just as in dreams, when languid sleep has pressed upon our eyes at night, we seem to wish in vain to extend our eager courses, and in the midst of our efforts we sink down helpless, our tongue has no power, the familiar strength in our body is not sufficient, nor do voice or words follow: so to Turnus, with whatever valor he sought a way, the dread goddess denies success.
Tum pectore sensus §12.915vertuntur varii.
Then various feelings turn within his breast.
Rutulos aspectat et urbem §12.916cunctaturque metu letumque instare tremescit; §12.917nec quo se eripiat, nec qua vi tendat in hostem, §12.918nec currus usquam videt aurigamve sororem.
He gazes at the Rutulians and the city, and hesitates with fear, and trembles that death is pressing on; he sees neither where he may escape, nor by what force he may advance against the enemy, nor his chariot anywhere, nor his sister as the charioteer.
§12.919Cunctanti telum Aeneas fatale coruscat, §12.920sortitus fortunam oculis, et corpore toto §12.921eminus intorquet.
As he hesitates, Aeneas brandishes the fatal weapon, having chosen the lucky spot with his eyes, and with his whole body hurls it from afar.
Murali concita numquam §12.922tormento sic saxa fremunt, nec fulmine tanti §12.923dissultant crepitus.
Never do stones hurled from a siege engine roar so, nor do such crashes burst from a thunderbolt.
Volat atri turbinis instar §12.924exitium dirum hasta ferens orasque recludit §12.925loricae et clipei extremos septemplicis orbes.
Like a black whirlwind flies the spear, bearing dread destruction, and tears open the borders of the breastplate and the outermost circles of the sevenfold shield.
§12.926Per medium stridens transit femur.
Whirring, it passes through the middle of his thigh.
Incidit ictus §12.927ingens ad terram duplicato poplite Turnus.
Under the blow, the great Turnus fell to the earth on doubled knee.
§12.928Consurgunt gemitu Rutuli, totusque remugit §12.929mons circum, et vocem late nemora alta remittunt.
The Rutulians rise up with a groan, and all the mountain re-echoes around, and the high woods return the sound far and wide.
§12.930Ille humilis supplexque oculos, dextramque precantem §12.931protendens,
Equidem merui nec deprecor,
inquit: §12.932utere sorte tua.
He, humble and suppliant, raising his eyes and stretching out his entreating right hand, says: "I have indeed deserved it, and I do not beg off; use your fortune.
Miseri te siqua parentis §12.933tangere cura potest, oro (fuit et tibi talis §12.934Anchises genitor), Dauni miserere senectae §12.935et me seu corpus spoliatum lumine mavis §12.936redde meis.
If any care for a wretched parent can touch you, I pray (you too had such a father in Anchises), pity the old age of Daunus, and restore me—or if you prefer, my body despoiled of light— to my people.
Vicisti, et victum tendere palmas §12.937Ausonii videre; tua est Lavinia coniunx: §12.938ulterius ne tende odiis. Stetit acer in armis §12.939Aeneas, volvens oculos, dextramque repressit; §12.940et iam iamque magis cunctantem flectere sermo §12.941coeperat, infelix umero cum apparuit alto §12.942balteus et notis fulserunt cingula bullis §12.943Pallantis pueri, victum quem volnere Turnus §12.944straverat atque umeris inimicum insigne gerebat.
You have won, and the Ausonians have seen me, conquered, stretch out my hands; Lavinia is your wife: do not stretch your hatred further." Aeneas stood fierce in arms, rolling his eyes, and held back his right hand; and now more and more the speech had begun to sway him as he hesitated, when the unlucky belt appeared high on the shoulder and the strap shone with the familiar studs of young Pallas, whom Turnus had laid low, conquered by a wound, and was wearing on his shoulders the hostile emblem.
§12.945Ille, oculis postquam saevi monimenta doloris §12.946exuviasque hausit, furiis accensus et ira §12.947terribilis,
Tune hinc spoliis indute meorum §12.948eripiare mihi? Pallas te hoc volnere, Pallas
He, after he drank in with his eyes the memorials of cruel grief and the spoils, inflamed with fury and terrible in his wrath, cried: "Are you, clad in the spoils of my own, to be snatched from me?
§12.949immolat et poenam scelerato ex sanguine sumit, §12.950hoc dicens ferrum adverso sub pectore condit §12.951fervidus.
Pallas immolates you with this wound, Pallas, and takes vengeance from your criminal blood!" Saying this, he buries the steel deep under his opposing breast, boiling with rage.
Ast illi solvuntur frigore membra §12.952vitaque cum gemitu fugit indignata sub umbras.
But his limbs are loosed with cold, and with a groan his life flees, indignant, down to the Shades.