§2.1Conticuere omnes, intentique ora tenebant.
All became silent, and attentive, held their faces toward him.
§2.2Inde toro pater Aeneas sic orsus ab alto: §2.3Infandum, regina, iubes renovare dolorem, §2.4Troianas ut opes et lamentabile regnum §2.5eruerint Danai; quaeque ipse miserrima vidi,
Then from his high couch father Aeneas thus began: "Unspeakable, O queen, is the grief you bid me renew, how the Greeks overturned the Trojan wealth and lamentable kingdom, and those most pitiable things which I myself saw, and of which I was a great part.
Who of the Myrmidons or Dolopes, or what soldier of harsh Ulysses, could refrain from tears in speaking such things?
And now dewy night hastens down from the sky, and the setting stars urge sleep.
§2.10Sed si tantus amor casus cognoscere nostros §2.11et breviter Troiae supremum audire laborem, §2.12quamquam animus meminisse horret, luctuque refugit, §2.13incipiam.
But if there is such a great desire to learn our misfortunes and to hear briefly the last agony of Troy, although my mind shudders to remember and has shrunk back from the grief, I will begin.
Fracti bello fatisque repulsi §2.14ductores Danaum, tot iam labentibus annis, §2.15instar montis equum divina Palladis arte §2.16aedificant, sectaque intexunt abiete costas: §2.17votum pro reditu simulant; ea fama vagatur.
Broken by war and repulsed by the fates, the leaders of the Greeks, with so many years now gliding away, a horse of mountain size by the divine art of Pallas build, and interweave its ribs with cut fir: they pretend it is an offering for their return; that rumor spreads.
§2.18Huc delecta virum sortiti corpora furtim §2.19includunt caeco lateri, penitusque cavernas §2.20ingentis uterumque armato milite complent.
Hither, having chosen by lot, they secretly shut selected bodies of men within its dark side, and fill the deep, vast caverns of its belly with armed soldiers.
§2.21Est in conspectu Tenedos, notissima fama §2.22insula, dives opum, Priami dum regna manebant, §2.23nunc tantum sinus et statio male fida carinis: §2.24huc se provecti deserto in litore condunt.
There is in sight Tenedos, an island most well-known by fame, rich in resources while Priam’s kingdoms remained, now only a bay and an anchorage unsafe for ships: hither sailing, they hide themselves on the deserted shore.
§2.25Nos abiisse rati et vento petiisse Mycenas: §2.26ergo omnis longo solvit se Teucria luctu; §2.27panduntur portae; iuvat ire et Dorica castra §2.28desertosque videre locos litusque relictum.
We thought they had gone and sought Mycenae with the wind: therefore all Teucria releases itself from its long grief; the gates are opened; it is a joy to go and see the Doric camp and the deserted places and the abandoned shore.
§2.29Hic Dolopum manus, hic saevus tendebat Achilles; §2.30classibus hic locus; hic acie certare solebant.
Here the band of the Dolopes pitched their tents, here fierce Achilles; here was the place for the fleets; here they were accustomed to fight in battle array.
§2.31Pars stupet innuptae donum exitiale Minervae, §2.32et molem mirantur equi; primusque Thymoetes §2.33duci intra muros hortatur et arce locari, §2.34sive dolo, seu iam Troiae sic fata ferebant.
A part gapes at the destructive gift of unwed Minerva, and they marvel at the horse’s bulk; and Thymoetes first urges that it be drawn inside the walls and placed in the citadel, whether by deceit, or whether the fates of Troy were already so tending.
§2.35At Capys, et quorum melior sententia menti, §2.36aut pelago Danaum insidias suspectaque dona §2.37praecipitare iubent, subiectisque urere flammis, §2.38aut terebrare cavas uteri et temptare latebras.
But Capys, and those whose minds held a better opinion, bid them either hurl the Greek snares and suspected gifts into the sea, or burn them with flames placed underneath, or pierce and explore the hollow hiding-places of the belly.
§2.39Scinditur incertum studia in contraria volgus.
The uncertain crowd is split into opposing factions.
§2.40Primus ibi ante omnis, magna comitante caterva, §2.41Laocoön ardens summa decurrit ab arce, §2.42et procul:
O miseri, quae tanta insania, cives?
Then first before all, with a great crowd accompanying, Laocoön, burning, runs down from the top of the citadel, and from afar: 'O wretched citizens, what so great madness is this?
§2.43Creditis avectos hostis? Aut ulla putatis
Do you believe the enemy has sailed away?
§2.44dona carere dolis Danaum? Sic notus Ulixes?
Or do you think any gifts of the Greeks are free from deceits? Is Ulysses thus known to you?
§2.45aut hoc inclusi ligno occultantur Achivi, §2.46aut haec in nostros fabricata est machina muros §2.47inspectura domos venturaque desuper urbi, §2.48aut aliquis latet error; equo ne credite, Teucri.
Either enclosed in this wood are Achaians hidden, or this engine was built against our walls, to look into our homes and come upon the city from above, or some other trick lies hidden; trust not the horse, Teucrians.
§2.49Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos et dona ferentis. §2.50Sic fatus, validis ingentem viribus hastam §2.51in latus inque feri curvam compagibus alvum §2.52contorsit: stetit illa tremens, uteroque recusso §2.53insonuere cavae gemitumque dedere cavernae.
Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks, even bearing gifts.' Having thus spoken, with mighty strength he hurled a huge spear into the side and into the curved belly of the beast with its jointed frame: it stood quivering, and when the womb was struck, the hollow caverns resounded and gave a groan.
§2.54Et, si fata deum, si mens non laeva fuisset, §2.55impulerat ferro Argolicas foedare latebras, §2.56Troiaque, nunc stares, Priamique arx alta, maneres.
And, if the fates of the gods, if our mind had not been ill-directed, he would have impelled us to defile the Argive hiding-places with the sword, and you, O Troy, would now be standing, and you, high citadel of Priam, would remain.
§2.57Ecce, manus iuvenem interea post terga revinctum §2.58pastores magno ad regem clamore trahebant §2.59Dardanidae, qui se ignotum venientibus ultro, §2.60hoc ipsum ut strueret Troiamque aperiret Achivis, §2.61obtulerat, fidens animi atque in utrumque paratus, §2.62seu versare dolos, seu certae occumbere morti.
Behold, meanwhile, Dardanian shepherds with great clamor were dragging to the king a youth with his hands bound behind his back, who had offered himself, a stranger, voluntarily to them as they approached, in order to construct this very thing and open Troy to the Achaians; confident in mind and prepared for either alternative, whether to spin his deceits or to succumb to certain death.
From all sides, in their eagerness to see him, the Trojan youth rush, pouring around, and they vie to mock the captive.
Receive now the treachery of the Greeks, and from one crime learn them all.
§2.67Namque ut conspectu in medio turbatus, inermis §2.68constitit atque oculis Phrygia agmina circumspexit: §2.69Heu, quae nunc tellus
inquit
quae me aequora possunt
For as he stood in the midst of their gaze, dismayed, unarmed, and looked around at the Phrygian ranks with his eyes: 'Alas, what land now,' he said, 'what seas can receive me?
§2.70accipere? Aut quid iam misero mihi denique restat, §2.71cui neque apud Danaos usquam locus, et super ipsi §2.72Dardanidae infensi poenas cum sanguine poscunt? §2.73Quo gemitu conversi animi, compressus et omnis §2.74impetus.
Or what now remains at last for miserable me, who have no place anywhere among the Greeks, and moreover the Dardanians themselves, hostile, demand blood-for-blood punishment?' At this groan our minds were changed, and all violent impulse was checked.
Hortamur fari; quo sanguine cretus, §2.75quidve ferat, memoret, quae sit fiducia capto.
We encourage him to speak; let him tell from what blood he is sprung, or what he brings, what hope there is for a captive.
§2.77Cuncta equidem tibi, Rex, fuerit quodcumque, fatebor §2.78vera, inquit; neque me Argolica de gente negabo: §2.79hoc primum; nec, si miserum Fortuna Sinonem
'Surely indeed, O King, I will confess to you all things truly, whatever shall have been,' he said; 'nor will I deny that I am of the Argive nation: this is first; nor, if Fortune has made Sinon miserable...'