§3.159imperiumque urbi dabimus: tu moenia magnis
and we shall give empire to your city.
§3.160magna para, longumque fugae ne linque laborem.
Do you prepare a great city for the great; and do not shrink from the long labor of flight.
Your home must be changed; the Delian Apollo did not suggest these shores to you, nor did he order you to settle in Crete.
§3.163Est locus, Hesperiam Grai cognomine dicunt, §3.164terra antiqua, potens armis atque ubere glaebae; §3.165Oenotri coluere viri; nunc fama minores §3.166Italiam dixisse ducis de nomine gentem: §3.167hae nobis propriae sedes; hinc Dardanus ortus, §3.168Iasiusque pater, genus a quo principe nostrum.
There is a place, the Greeks call it Hesperia by name, an ancient land, powerful in arms and in the richness of its soil; Oenotrian men cultivated it; now the rumor is that their descendants have called the nation Italy from the name of their leader: this is our proper home; hence Dardanus arose, and father Iasius, from which leader our race first began.
§3.169Surge age, et haec laetus longaevo dicta parenti §3.170haud dubitanda refer: Corythum terrasque requirat §3.171Ausonias; Dictaea negat tibi Iuppiter arva. §3.172Talibus attonitus visis et voce deorum— §3.173nec sopor illud erat, sed coram adgnoscere voltus §3.174velatasque comas praesentiaque ora videbar; §3.175tum gelidus toto manabat corpore sudor §3.176corripio e stratis corpus, tendoque supinas §3.177ad caelum cum voce manus, et munera libo §3.178intemerata focis.
Arise, come, and joyful report these words, not to be doubted, to your aged parent: let him seek Corythus and the Ausonian lands; Jupiter denies you the Dictaean fields of Crete." I was astonished by such visions and the voice of the gods— nor was that a sleep, but I seemed to recognize their countenances openly, and their veiled hair, and their very faces before me; then a cold sweat poured from my whole body— I snatch my body from the bed, and raise my upturned hands to heaven with my voice, and pour pure offerings on the hearths.
Perfecto laetus honore §3.179Anchisen facio certum, remque ordine pando.
Having completed the worship with joy, I inform Anchises, and lay open the matter in order.
§3.180Adgnovit prolem ambiguam geminosque parentes, §3.181seque novo veterum deceptum errore locorum.
He recognized the double lineage and the twin ancestors, and that he had been deceived by a new mistake concerning ancient places.
Then he spoke: "O son, harassed by Iliac fates, only Cassandra used to foretell such events to me.
§3.184Nunc repeto haec generi portendere debita nostro, §3.185et saepe Hesperiam, saepe Itala regna vocare.
Now I recall that she portended these things as due to our race, and often called Hesperia, often the Italian kingdoms.
§3.186Sed quis ad Hesperiae venturos litora Teucros §3.187crederet, aut quem tum vates Cassandra moveret?
But who would believe that the Teucrians would come to the shores of Hesperia, or whom would the prophetess Cassandra move at that time?
Let us yield to Phoebus, and, having been advised, let us follow better things." Thus he spoke, and we all, rejoicing, obey his word.
§3.190Hanc quoque deserimus sedem, paucisque relictis §3.191vela damus, vastumque cava trabe currimus aequor.
This home also we desert, and, leaving a few behind, we set sail, and run over the vast sea in our hollow wood.
§3.192Postquam altum tenuere rates, nec iam amplius ullae §3.193adparent terrae, caelum undique et undique pontus, §3.194tum mihi caeruleus supra caput adstitit imber, §3.195noctem hiememque ferens, et inhorruit unda tenebris.
After the ships held the deep, and no longer did any lands appear, sky on all sides and sea on all sides, then a dark-blue rain-cloud stood above my head, bringing night and storm, and the wave grew rough with darkness.
§3.196Continuo venti volvunt mare, magnaque surgunt §3.197aequora; dispersi iactamur gurgite vasto; §3.198involvere diem nimbi, et nox umida caelum §3.199abstulit; ingeminant abruptis nubibus ignes.
Immediately the winds roll the sea, and great waves arise; we are scattered and tossed on the vast abyss; clouds enveloped the day, and damp night took away the sky; lightning flashes repeatedly from the broken clouds.
§3.200Excutimur cursu, et caecis erramus in undis.
We are driven from our course, and wander in blind waves.
Palinurus himself says he cannot distinguish day and night in the sky, nor remember the way in the midst of the wave.
For three days, uncertain with blind darkness, we wander on the sea, and for just as many starless nights.
§3.205Quarto terra die primum se attollere tandem §3.206visa, aperire procul montis, ac volvere fumum.
On the fourth day at last land was first seen to raise itself, to open mountains in the distance, and to roll up smoke.
§3.207Vela cadunt, remis insurgimus; haud mora nautae §3.208adnixi torquent spumas et caerula verrunt.
The sails fall, we rise on our oars; without delay the sailors, striving, churn the foam and sweep the blue waters.
§3.209Servatum ex undis Strophadum me litora primum §3.210accipiunt; Strophades Graio stant nomine dictae, §3.211insulae Ionio in magno, quas dira Celaeno §3.212Harpyiaeque colunt aliae, Phineia postquam §3.213clausa domus, mensasque metu liquere priores.
Saved from the waves, the shores of the Strophades first receive me; Strophades they are called by a Greek name, islands in the great Ionian sea, which dread Celaeno and other Harpies inhabit, after the house of Phineus was closed to them, and they left their former tables through fear.
§3.214Tristius haud illis monstrum, nec saevior ulla §3.215pestis et ira deum Stygiis sese extulit undis.
No monster is more grim than they, nor did any more savage plague and wrath of the gods rise from Stygian waves.
§3.216Virginei volucrum voltus, foedissima ventris §3.217proluvies, uncaeque manus, et pallida semper §3.218ora fame.
The birds have maiden faces, a most foul discharge of the belly, hooked hands, and faces always pale with hunger.
§3.219Huc ubi delati portus intravimus, ecce §3.220laeta boum passim campis armenta videmus, §3.221caprigenumque pecus nullo custode per herbas.
When, brought hither, we entered the harbors, behold, we see fat herds of cattle all over the plains, and a flock of goats without any keeper in the grass.
§3.222Inruimus ferro, et divos ipsumque vocamus §3.223in partem praedamque Iovem; tum litore curvo §3.224exstruimusque toros, dapibusque epulamur opimis.
We rush upon them with the sword, and call the gods and Jupiter himself to a share of the prey; then on the curved shore we build up couches, and feast on the rich banquet.
§3.225At subitae horrifico lapsu de montibus adsunt §3.226Harpyiae, et magnis quatiunt clangoribus alas, §3.227diripiuntque dapes, contactuque omnia foedant §3.228immundo; tum vox taetrum dira inter odorem.
But suddenly with a horrific swoop the Harpies are there from the mountains, and shake their wings with great clangor, and tear the banquet to pieces, and pollute everything with their filthy touch; then a dread voice sounds amidst the foul smell.
§3.229Rursum in secessu longo sub rupe cavata, §3.230arboribus clausi circum atque horrentibus umbris, §3.231instruimus mensas arisque reponimus ignem: §3.232rursum ex diverso caeli caecisque latebris §3.233turba sonans praedam pedibus circumvolat uncis, §3.234polluit ore dapes.
Again, in a deep retreat under a hollowed rock, enclosed around by trees and terrifying shadows, we set up the tables and place the fire again on the altars: again from an opposite quarter of the sky and from blind hiding-places the noisy crowd flies around the prey with hooked feet, and pollutes the feast with their mouths.
Sociis tunc, arma capessant, §3.235edico, et dira bellum cum gente gerendum.
Then I order my companions to take up arms, and that war must be waged with the dreadful race.