They were going and carrying answers to king Turnus, three hundred, all shielded, with Volcens as leader.
§9.371Iamque propinquabant castris murosque subibant, §9.372cum procul hos laevo flectentis limite cernunt §9.373et galea Euryalum sublustri noctis in umbra §9.374prodidit immemorem radiisque adversa refulsit.
And now they were approaching the camp and coming under the walls, when from afar they see them turning on a left-hand path, and in the glimmering shadow of night the helmet betrayed the unmindful Euryalus and reflected back the rays, facing them.
§9.375Haud temere est visum.
It was not seen in vain.
Conclamat ab agmine Volcens §9.376State, viri.
Volcens shouts from the troop: "Stand, men.
Quae causa viae? Quive estis in armis?
What is the cause of your journey? Or who are you in arms?
§9.377Quove tenetis iter?
Nihil illi tendere contra, §9.378sed celerare fugam in silvas et fidere nocti.
Or where do you hold your way?" They attempted nothing in reply, but hastened their flight into the woods and trusted to the night.
§9.379Obiciunt equites sese ad divortia nota §9.380hinc atque hinc omnemque abitum custode coronant.
The horsemen throw themselves at the well-known forks here and there, and encircle every escape with a guard.
§9.381Silva fuit late dumis atque ilice nigra §9.382horrida, quam densi complerant undique sentes; §9.383rara per occultos lucebat semita calles.
There was a forest, rough far and wide with brambles and black holm-oak, which thick briars had filled on every side; here and there a path shone through the hidden tracks.
Euryalus is impeded by the darkness of the branches and the heavy booty, and fear deceives him in the direction of the paths.
§9.386Nisus abit, iamque imprudens evaserat hostis §9.387atque locos, qui post Albae de nomine dicti §9.388Albani, tum rex stabula alta Latinus habebat, §9.389ut stetit et frustra absentem respexit amicum.
Nisus gets away, and now, unthinking, he had escaped the enemy and the places which afterward, called Albani from the name of Alba, then king Latinus had his high stables there, when he stopped and looked back in vain for his absent friend.
§9.390Euryale infelix, qua te regione reliqui?
"Unhappy Euryalus, in what region did I leave you?
§9.391Quave sequar, rursus perplexum iter omne revolvens §9.392fallacis silvae?
Simul et vestigia retro §9.393observata legit dumisque silentibus errat.
Or where shall I follow, retracing again all the tangled path of the deceitful forest?" At the same time he traces back his steps observed and wanders through the silent briars.
§9.394Audit equos, audit strepitus et signa sequentum.
He hears horses, he hears the noise and signs of pursuers.
§9.395Nec longum in medio tempus, cum clamor ad auris §9.396pervenit ac videt Euryalum, quem iam manus omnis §9.397fraude loci et noctis, subito turbante tumultu, §9.398oppressum rapit et conantem plurima frustra.
Nor was there a long time between, when a shout reaches his ears and he sees Euryalus, whom now the whole band, by the deceit of the place and the night, with a sudden confusing tumult, seize, overwhelmed, as he tries many things in vain.
§9.399Quid faciat? Qua vi iuvenem, quibus audeat armis
What can he do? With what force, with what arms should he dare to rescue the youth?
§9.400eripere? An sese medios moriturus in enses §9.401inferat et pulchram properet per volnera mortem?
Or should he fling himself to death in the midst of swords and hasten a beautiful death through wounds?
§9.402Ocius adducto torquens hastile lacerto, §9.403suspiciens altam Lunam sic voce precatur: §9.404Tu, dea, tu praesens nostro succurre labori, §9.405astrorum decus et nemorum Latonia custos.
Swifter, brandishing a spear with his arm drawn back, looking up to the high Moon, he prays thus with his voice: "Do thou, O goddess, do thou present aid our toil, glory of the stars and Latonian guardian of the groves.
§9.406Siqua tuis umquam pro me pater Hyrtacus aris §9.407dona tulit, siqua ipse meis venatibus auxi §9.408suspendive tholo aut sacra ad fastigia fixi: §9.409hunc sine me turbare globum et rege tela per auras. §9.410Dixerat, et toto conixus corpore ferrum §9.411conicit: hasta volans noctis diverberat umbras §9.412et venit aversi in tergum Sulmonis ibique §9.413frangitur ac fisso transit praecordia ligno.
If ever my father Hyrtacus brought gifts to your altars for me, if ever I myself increased them by my hunting or hung them in your dome or fixed them to the sacred pediments: allow me to throw this band into confusion, and guide my weapons through the air." He had spoken, and striving with his whole body he hurls the iron: the flying spear cleaves the shadows of night and reaches the back of Sulmo who was turned away, and there is broken, and with splintered wood passes through his heart.
§9.414Volvitur ille vomens calidum de pectore flumen §9.415frigidus et longis singultibus ilia pulsat.
He rolls over, vomiting a warm stream from his breast, cold, and beats his flanks with long sobs.
§9.416Diversi circumspiciunt.
They look around in different directions.
Hoc acrior idem §9.417ecce aliud summa telum librabat ab aure.
He, the same, all the more fierce, lo, was balancing another weapon from the top of his ear.
§9.418Dum trepidant, it hasta Tago per tempus utrumque §9.419stridens traiectoque haesit tepefacta cerebro.
While they tremble, the whistling spear goes through both temples of Tagus and stuck, warmed in the pierced brain.
§9.420Saevit atrox Volcens nec teli conspicit usquam §9.421auctorem nec quo se ardens inmittere possit.
Fierce Volcens rages, yet nowhere does he see the author of the weapon, nor where he can launch himself in his burning rage.
§9.422Tu tamen interea calido mihi sanguine poenas §9.423persolves amborum,
inquit; simul ense recluso §9.424ibat in Euryalum.
"You, however, meanwhile shall pay me the penalty with your warm blood for both," he said; at the same time, with drawn sword, he was going against Euryalus.
Tum vero exterritus, amens §9.425conclamat Nisus, nec se celare tenebris §9.426amplius aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem.
Then indeed, terrified, out of his mind, Nisus cries out, nor could he hide himself in the darkness any longer or bear such great grief.
§9.427Me me, adsum qui feci, in me convertite ferrum, §9.428O Rutuli, mea fraus omnis; nihil iste nec ausus §9.429nec potuit, caelum hoc et conscia sidera testor, §9.430tantum infelicem nimium dilexit amicum. §9.431Talia dicta dabat; sed viribus ensis adactus §9.432transabiit costas et candida pectora rumpit.
"Me, me, here am I who did it, turn your steel against me, O Rutulians, mine is all the deceit; he neither dared nor could do anything, I call to witness this heaven and the knowing stars, he only loved his unhappy friend too much." He was uttering such words; but the sword, driven with force, went through the ribs and breaks his white breast.
§9.433Volvitur Euryalus leto, pulchrosque per artus §9.434it cruor, inque umeros cervix conlapsa recumbit: §9.435purpureus veluti cum flos succisus aratro §9.436languescit moriens lassove papavera collo §9.437demisere caput, pluvia cum forte gravantur.
Euryalus rolls over in death, and through his beautiful limbs the blood flows, and his neck, collapsed, reclines upon his shoulders: just as when a purple flower, cut down by the plough, languishes dying, or as poppies with weary neck have drooped their head, when by chance they are weighed down by rain.
But Nisus rushes into their midst and seeks Volcens alone through them all, on Volcens alone he stays his mind.
§9.440Quem circum glomerati hostes hinc comminus atque hinc
Around him the enemies, gathered close on this side and on that,