§3.238Ergo ubi delapsae sonitum per curva dedere §3.239litora, dat signum specula Misenus ab alta §3.240aere cavo.
Therefore when, having swooped down, they gave their noise through the curved shores, Misenus gives the signal from his high lookout with hollow bronze.
Invadunt socii, et nova proelia temptant, §3.241obscenas pelagi ferro foedare volucres: §3.242sed neque vim plumis ullam nec volnera tergo §3.243accipiunt, celerique fuga sub sidera lapsae §3.244semesam praedam et vestigia foeda relinquunt.
My companions rush in, and try novel battles, to wound the filthy birds of the sea with iron: but they receive neither any violence on their feathers nor wounds on their backs, and having glided in swift flight under the stars, they leave behind the half-eaten prey and foul traces.
§3.245Una in praecelsa consedit rupe Celaeno, §3.246infelix vates, rumpitque hanc pectore vocem: §3.247Bellum etiam pro caede boum stratisque iuvencis, §3.248Laomedontiadae, bellumne inferre paratis, §3.249et patrio Harpyias insontis pellere regno?
Alone on a very lofty rock sat Celaeno, an ill-omened prophetess, and breaks forth this voice from her breast: "Is it even war in return for the slaughter of our cattle and slain bullocks, O sons of Laomedon, is it war you prepare to bring, and to drive the innocent Harpies from their ancestral kingdom?
§3.250Accipite ergo animis atque haec mea figite dicta, §3.251quae Phoebo pater omnipotens, mihi Phoebus Apollo §3.252praedixit, vobis Furiarum ego maxuma pando.
Receive therefore these words in your minds and fix them, which the omnipotent father foretold to Phoebus, and Phoebus Apollo to me, and I, the greatest of the Furies, reveal to you.
§3.253Italiam cursu petitis, ventisque vocatis §3.254ibitis Italiam, portusque intrare licebit; §3.255sed non ante datam cingetis moenibus urbem, §3.256quam vos dira fames nostraeque iniuria caedis §3.257ambesas subigat malis absumere mensas. §3.258Dixit, et in silvam pennis ablata refugit.
You seek Italy on your course, and having invoked the winds you shall go to Italy, and it shall be permitted to enter her harbors; but you shall not gird the given city with walls before a dread hunger and the injustice of our slaughter shall force you to consume your gnawed tables with your jaws." She spoke, and having been carried away on wings, fled back into the forest.
§3.259At sociis subita gelidus formidine sanguis §3.260deriguit; cecidere animi, nec iam amplius armis, §3.261sed votis precibusque iubent exposcere pacem, §3.262sive deae, seu sint dirae obscenaeque volucres.
But the cold blood of my companions with sudden dread froze; their spirits fell, and no longer with arms, but with vows and prayers they bid to entreat for peace, whether they be goddesses, or dread and filthy birds.
§3.263Et pater Anchises passis de litore palmis §3.264numina magna vocat, meritosque indicit honores: §3.265Di, prohibete minas; di, talem avertite casum, §3.266et placidi servate pios!
Tum litore funem §3.267deripere, excussosque iubet laxare rudentes.
And father Anchises, with hands outstretched from the shore, calls upon the great divinities, and ordains due honors: "Gods, avert these threats; gods, turn away such a misfortune, and placidly preserve the pious!" Then he orders to tear away the cable from the shore, and to loosen the shaken ropes.
§3.268Tendunt vela Noti; fugimus spumantibus undis, §3.269qua cursum ventusque gubernatorque vocabat.
The South winds stretch the sails; we flee on the foaming waves, where the wind and the pilot called our course.
§3.270Iam medio adparet fluctu nemorosa Zacynthos §3.271Dulichiumque Sameque et Neritos ardua saxis.
Now in the midst of the wave appears woody Zacynthos, and Dulichium and Same and Neritos lofty with rocks.
We escape the rocks of Ithaca, the kingdoms of Laertes, and curse the land that nurtured cruel Ulixes.
Soon also the cloud-capped summits of Mount Leucata and Apollo, dreaded by sailors, is opened to view.
§3.276Hunc petimus fessi et parvae succedimus urbi; §3.277ancora de prora iacitur, stant litore puppes.
Weary we seek this place and enter the small city; the anchor is cast from the prow, the sterns stand on the shore.
§3.278Ergo insperata tandem tellure potiti, §3.279lustramurque Iovi votisque incendimus aras, §3.280Actiaque Iliacis celebramus litora ludis.
Therefore, having at last obtained the unhoped-for land, we perform lustrations to Jupiter and kindle the altars with vows, and celebrate the Actian shores with Trojan games.
§3.281Exercent patrias oleo labente palaestras §3.282nudati socii; iuvat evasisse tot urbes §3.283Argolicas, mediosque fugam tenuisse per hostis.
My stripped companions practice their ancestral wrestling with slippery oil; it is a joy to have escaped so many Argolic cities, and to have held our flight through the midst of enemies.
Meanwhile the sun rolls around the great year, and icy winter sharpens the waves with North winds.
§3.286Aere cavo clipeum. magni gestamen Abantis, §3.287postibus adversis figo, et rem carmine signo: §3.288AENEAS HAEC DE DANAIS VICTORIBVS ARMA. §3.289Linquere tum portus iubeo et considere transtris: §3.290certatim socii feriunt mare et aequora verrunt.
A shield of hollow bronze, once the bearing of great Abas, I fix on the confronting doorposts, and mark the deed with a verse: "AENEAS THESE ARMS FROM THE VICTORIOUS DANAI." Then I order to leave the harbors and to sit on the benches: with rivalry my companions strike the sea and sweep the waters.
§3.291Protinus aërias Phaeacum abscondimus arces, §3.292litoraque Epiri legimus portuque subimus §3.293Chaonio, et celsam Buthroti accedimus urbem.
Immediately we hide the airy citadels of the Phaeacians, and coast along the shores of Epirus and enter the Chaonian harbor, and approach the lofty city of Buthrotum.
§3.294Hic incredibilis rerum fama occupat auris, §3.295Priamiden Helenum Graias regnare per urbes, §3.296coniugio Aeacidae Pyrrhi sceptrisque potitum, §3.297et patrio Andromachen iterum cessisse marito.
Here an incredible rumor of events occupies our ears, that Helenus, son of Priam, was reigning through Greek cities, having obtained the wife and scepters of Pyrrhus, descendant of Aeacus, and that Andromache had again yielded to a husband of her own country.
I was amazed, and my breast was inflamed with a wonderful desire to address the man and to learn of such great events.
§3.300Progredior portu, classis et litora linquens, §3.301sollemnis cum forte dapes et tristia dona §3.302ante urbem in luco falsi Simoentis ad undam §3.303libabat cineri Andromache, Manisque vocabat §3.304Hectoreum ad tumulum, viridi quem caespite inanem §3.305et geminas, causam lacrimis, sacraverat aras.
I advance from the harbor, leaving the fleet and the shores, just when by chance Andromache was offering solemn feast and mournful gifts before the city in a grove by the stream of a false Simois to the ashes, and was calling the Manes at the tomb of Hector, which empty with green turf and twin altars, a cause for tears, she had consecrated.
§3.306Ut me conspexit venientem et Troïa circum §3.307arma amens vidit, magnis exterrita monstris §3.308deriguit visu in medio, calor ossa reliquit; §3.309labitur, et longo vix tandem tempore fatur: §3.310Verane te facies, verus mihi nuntius adfers,
When she beheld me coming and saw Trojan arms around me, distracted, terrified by these great portents, she stiffened in the midst of her sight, heat left her bones; she faints, and at last after a long time scarcely speaks: "Do you bring yourself to me as a true face, a true messenger, O goddess-born?
§3.311nate dea? Vivisne, aut, si lux alma recessit, §3.312Hector ubi est?
Dixit, lacrimasque effudit et omnem §3.313implevit clamore locum.
Do you live, or, if the nourishing light has departed, where is Hector?" She spoke, and poured forth tears, and filled the whole place with her crying.
Vix pauca furenti §3.314subicio, et raris turbatus vocibus hisco: §3.315Vivo equidem, vitamque extrema per omnia duco; §3.316ne dubita, nam vera vides.
Scarcely do I throw in a few words to her raving, and troubled I open my mouth with broken words: "Indeed I live, and drag out life through all extremes; do not doubt, for you see true things.