§4.318dulce meum, miserere domus labentis, et istam— §4.319oro, si quis adhuc precibus locus—exue mentem.
sweet to you, pity a falling house, and that— I pray, if there is still any room for prayers—put away that mind.
§4.320Te propter Libycae gentes Nomadumque tyranni §4.321odere, infensi Tyrii; te propter eundem §4.322exstinctus pudor, et, qua sola sidera adibam, §4.323fama prior.
Because of you, the Libyan peoples and the tyrants of the Nomads hate me, and the Tyrians are hostile; because of you also my honor is lost, and my former reputation, by which alone I was approaching the stars.
Cui me moribundam deseris, hospes?
To whom do you abandon me, about to die, guest?
§4.324Hoc solum nomen quoniam de coniuge restat.
Since this name alone remains from that of husband.
§4.325Quid moror? An mea Pygmalion dum moenia frater §4.326destruat, aut captam ducat Gaetulus Iarbas?
Why do I delay? Until my brother Pygmalion destroys my walls, or Gaetulian Iarbas leads me away captive?
§4.327Saltem si qua mihi de te suscepta fuisset §4.328ante fugam suboles, si quis mihi parvulus aula §4.329luderet Aeneas, qui te tamen ore referret, §4.330non equidem omnino capta ac deserta viderer. §4.331Dixerat.
At least if some offspring had been conceived by me from you before your flight, if some little Aeneas were playing in my hall, who would nevertheless bring you back in his face, I indeed would not seem entirely captured and deserted." She had spoken.
Ille Iovis monitis immota tenebat §4.332lumina, et obnixus curam sub corde premebat.
He, by the warnings of Jupiter, was keeping his eyes unmoved, and, struggling, was pressing down his care deep within his heart.
§4.333Tandem pauca refert:
Ego te, quae plurima fando §4.334enumerare vales, numquam, regina, negabo §4.335promeritam; nec me meminisse pigebit Elissae, §4.336dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos regit artus.
At last he returns a few words: "I will never deny, O queen, that you have deserved well of me in those very many things which you are able to enumerate in speaking; nor will it displease me to remember Elissa, as long as I myself am mindful of myself, as long as breath rules these limbs.
§4.337Pro re pauca loquar.
I will speak a few words on the matter.
Neque ego hanc abscondere furto §4.338speravi—ne finge—fugam, nec coniugis umquam §4.339praetendi taedas, aut haec in foedera veni.
I neither hoped to conceal this flight by stealth—do not imagine so—nor did I ever hold out the torches of a husband, or enter into these compacts.
§4.340Me si fata meis paterentur ducere vitam §4.341auspiciis et sponte mea componere curas, §4.342urbem Troianam primum dulcisque meorum §4.343reliquias colerem, Priami tecta alta manerent, §4.344et recidiva manu posuissem Pergama victis.
If the fates permitted me to lead my life under my own auspices and to settle my cares of my own free will, I would cultivate first the Trojan city and the sweet relics of my people, the high roofs of Priam would remain, and I would have established a reborn Troy with my hand for the vanquished.
§4.345Sed nunc Italiam magnam Gryneus Apollo, §4.346Italiam Lyciae iussere capessere sortes: §4.347hic amor, haec patria est.
But now Grynean Apollo has ordered me to take great Italy, and the Lycian oracles have ordered me to take Italy: this is my love, this is my country.
Si te Karthaginis arces, §4.348Phoenissam, Libycaeque aspectus detinet urbis, §4.349quae tandem, Ausonia Teucros considere terra,
If the towers of Carthage and the sight of a Libyan city detain you, a Phoenician, what jealousy is there, after all, that the Trojans should settle in Ausonian land?
§4.350invidia est? Et nos fas extera quaerere regna.
It is right for us also to seek foreign kingdoms.
§4.351Me patris Anchisae, quotiens umentibus umbris §4.352nox operit terras, quotiens astra ignea surgunt, §4.353admonet in somnis et turbida terret imago; §4.354me puer Ascanius capitisque iniuria cari, §4.355quem regno Hesperiae fraudo et fatalibus arvis.
As often as night covers the lands with damp shadows, as often as the fiery stars rise, the troubled ghost of my father Anchises admonishes me in my sleep and terrifies me; the boy Ascanius and the injury to his dear head admonish me, whom I defraud of the kingdom of Hesperia and the fated fields.
§4.356Nunc etiam interpres divom, Iove missus ab ipso— §4.357testor utrumque caput—celeris mandata per auras §4.358detulit; ipse deum manifesto in lumine vidi §4.359intrantem muros, vocemque his auribus hausi.
Now even the messenger of the gods, sent by Jupiter himself— I swear by both our lives—has brought down mandates through the swift breezes; I myself saw the god in manifest light entering the walls, and drank in his voice with these ears.
§4.360Desine meque tuis incendere teque querelis: §4.361Italiam non sponte sequor. §4.362Talia dicentem iamdudum aversa tuetur, §4.363huc illuc volvens oculos, totumque pererrat §4.364luminibus tacitis, et sic accensa profatur: §4.365Nec tibi diva parens, generis nec Dardanus auctor, §4.366perfide; sed duris genuit te cautibus horrens §4.367Caucasus, Hyrcanaeque admorunt ubera tigres.
Cease to inflame both me and yourself with your complaints: I follow Italy not of my own free will." While he was saying such things, she had long been looking at him askance, rolling her eyes hither and thither, and she surveys him all over with silent looks, and thus, inflamed, she speaks out: "Neither is a goddess your parent, nor is Dardanus the founder of your race, treacherous man; but rugged Caucasus bore you on sharp rocks, and Hyrcanian tigresses offered you their teats.
§4.368Nam quid dissimulo, aut quae me ad maiora reservo?
For why do I dissimulate, or for what greater things do I reserve myself?
§4.369Num fletu ingemuit nostro? Num lumina flexit?
Did he groan at our weeping? Did he turn his eyes?
§4.370Num lacrimas victus dedit, aut miseratus amantem est?
Did he, vanquished, shed tears, or pity his lover?
§4.371Quae quibus anteferam? Iam iam nec maxuma Iuno, §4.372nec Saturnius haec oculis pater aspicit aequis.
What shall I prefer to what? Now indeed neither greatest Juno, nor the Saturnian father regards these things with equal eyes.
§4.373Nusquam tuta fides.
Nowhere is faith safe.
Eiectum litore, egentem §4.374excepi, et regni demens in parte locavi; §4.375amissam classem, socios a morte reduxi.
Cast out on the shore, needy, I received him, and, mad, placed him in a part of my kingdom; I brought back his lost fleet and his companions from death.
§4.376Heu furiis incensa feror! Nunc augur Apollo, §4.377nunc Lyciae sortes, nunc et Iove missus ab ipso §4.378interpres divom fert horrida iussa per auras.
Alas, I am borne away, inflamed by furies! Now prophetic Apollo, now Lycian oracles, now even the messenger of the gods sent by Jupiter himself carries horrific orders through the breezes.
To be sure, this is a labor for the gods above, this care troubles them in their quiet.
Neque te teneo, neque dicta refello.
I neither hold you, nor refute your words.
§4.381I, sequere Italiam ventis, pete regna per undas.
Go, pursue Italy with the winds, seek kingdoms through the waves.
§4.382Spero equidem mediis, si quid pia numina possunt, §4.383supplicia hausurum scopulis, et nomine Dido §4.384saepe vocaturum.
I indeed hope, if the pious deities can do anything, that you will drain your punishment in the midst of reefs, and often call upon Dido by name.
Sequar atris ignibus absens, §4.385et, cum frigida mors anima seduxerit artus, §4.386omnibus umbra locis adero.
I will follow you absent with dark fires, and when cold death has separated limbs from my soul, as a ghost I will be present in all places.
Dabis, improbe, poenas.
You will pay the penalty, wicked man.
§4.387Audiam et haec Manis veniet mihi fama sub imos. §4.388His medium dictis sermonem abrumpit, et auras §4.389aegra fugit, seque ex oculis avertit et aufert, §4.390linquens multa metu cunctantem et multa parantem §4.391dicere.
I shall hear, and this report will come to me down to the deepest underworld." With these words she breaks off her speech in the middle, and flees the light, sick, and turns away and takes herself from his eyes, leaving him hesitating much through fear and preparing to say many things.
Suscipiunt famulae, conlapsaque membra
Her maidservants support her, and her collapsed limbs