§917sine sorte dominus, causa bellorum fui
A master without a lot. Was I the cause of wars and of so great a disaster to the Teucrians?
§918tantaeque Teucris cladis? hoc Verum puta. §919Spartana puppis vestra si secuit freta; §920sin rapta Phrygiis praeda remigibus fui §921deditque donum iudici victrix dea.
Think this to be true, if a Spartan ship cut your seas; but if I was a prey seized by Phrygian rowers, and the victorious goddess gave me as a gift to the judge.
forgive the seized woman; my cause is bound to have an angry judge: those judgments await Menelaus.
§924arbitria, nunc hanc luctibus paulum tuis, §925Andromacha, omissis flecto— vix lacrimas queo §926retinere,
now, Andromache, leaving aside your laments for a little while, I turn to her —I can scarcely hold back my tears,.
§926bQuantum est Helena quod lacrimat malum.
How great an evil it is, that Helena weeps!
§927cur lacrimat autem? fare quos Ithacus dolos, §928quae scelera nectat; utrum ab Idaeis iugis §929iactanda virgo est, arcis an celsae edito
But why does she weep? Speak, what deceits the Ithacan weaves, what crimes he weaves; whether the virgin from the Idaean ridges is to be cast down, or from the high citadel's loftiest rock is to be sent down?
§930mittenda saxo? num per has vastum in mare §931volvenda rupes, latere quas scisso levat §932altum vadoso Sigeon spectans sinu?
Or must she be rolled through these cliffs into the vast sea, which cliffs are lifted up with its torn side, looking out over the shallow bay in the deep, Sigeum?
§933dic, fare, quicquid subdolo vultu tegis.
Speak, tell whatever you hide with a deceitful face.
§934leviora mala sunt cuncta, quam Priami gener
All evils are lighter than Pyrrhus [becoming] the son-in-law of Priam and Hecuba.
Speak, what punishment you prepare, reveal, and take away this one thing from our disasters: to be deceived.
§937falli: paratas perpeti mortem vides.
You see us ready to suffer death.
§938Vtinam iuberet me quoque interpres deum §939abrumpere ense lucis invisae moras §940vel Achillis ante busta furibunda manu §941occidere Pyrrhi, fata comitantem tua, §942Polyxene miseranda, quam tradi sibi §943cineremque Achilles ante mactari suum,, §944campo maritus ut sit Elysio, iubet.
Would that the interpreter of the gods ordered me also to break off the delays of this hated light with a sword, or to fall by the furious hand of Pyrrhus, accompanying your fate, pitiable Polyxena! whom Achilles orders to be handed over to him and to be sacrificed before his ashes, so that he may be her husband in the Elysian plain.
§945Vide ut animus ingens laetus audierit necem.
See how her noble spirit heard her death with joy.
She seeks the beautiful adornments of royal clothing and allows a hand to be applied to her hair.
§948mortem putabat illud, hoc thalamos putat.
She thought that was death; she thinks this is a marriage-chamber.
But the wretched mother, having heard the grief, is stunned; her shaken mind has collapsed.
assurge, alleva §951animum et cadentem, misera, firma spiritum.
Rise, lift up your spirit and strengthen your falling breath, wretched one.
§952quam tenuis anima vinculo pendet levi—
How thin the breath of life hangs by a light bond!
§953minimum est quod Hecubam facere felicem potest.
It is a very small thing that can make Hecuba happy.
§954spirat, revixit, prima mors miseros fugit.
She breathes, she has revived; death in the first place flees the wretched.
§955Adhuc Achilles vivit in poenas Phrygum?
Does Achilles still live for the punishment of Phrygians?
§956adhuc rebellat? o manum Paridis levem,
Does he still rebel? O light hand of Paris!
§957cinis ipse nostrum sanguinem ac tumulus sitit,
The very ashes and the tomb thirst for our blood.
§958modo turba felix latera cingebat mea, §959lassabar in tot oscula et tantum gregem §960dividere matrem; sola nunc haec est super §961votum, comes, levamen, afflictae quies; §962haec totus Hecubae fetus, hac sola vocor
Just now a happy crowd surrounded my sides; I was exhausted dividing a mother['s love] among so many kisses and so great a flock; now this one alone is left as a prayer, a companion, a solace, the rest for an afflicted woman; this is Hecuba's entire offspring, by her voice alone am I now called mother.
§963iam voce mater, dura et infelix age
Come, harsh and unhappy spirit, slip away!
§964elabere anima, denique hoc unum mihi §965remitte funus, inrigat fletus genas §966imberque victo subitus e vultu cadit.
Finally, spare me this one funeral, tears wet my cheeks, and a sudden shower falls from my conquered face.
§969Nos Hecuba, nos, nos, Hecuba, lugendae sumus, §970quas mota classis huc et huc sparsas feret; §971hanc cara tellus sedibus patriis teget.
We, Hecuba, we, we, Hecuba, are to be lamented, whom the moved fleet will carry scattered hither and thither; her the beloved earth will cover in her ancestral seat.
§972Magis invidebis, si tuam sortem scies.
You will envy her more, if you know your own lot.
§973An aliqua poenae pars meae ignota est mihi?
Is some part of my punishment unknown to me?
§974Versata dominos urna captivis dedit.
The shaken urn has given masters to the captives.
§975Cui famula trador? ede;
To whom am I delivered as a handmaid? Speak.
quem dominum voco?
Whom do I call master?
§976Te sorte prima Scyrius iuvenis tulit.
The Scyrian youth took you by the first lot.
Cassandra is happy, whom madness Phoebus exempt from the lot.
§978bRegum hanc maximus rector tenet.
The greatest ruler of kings holds her.
§967Laetare, gaude, nata.
Rejoice, be glad, daughter.
quam vellet tuos §968Cassandra thalamos, vellet Andromache tuos.
How Cassandra would wish for your marriage-chamber, how Andromache would wish for yours!
§979estne aliquis, Hecubam qui suam dici velit?
Is there anyone who would wish Hecuba to be called his own?
§980Ithaco obtigisti praeda nolenti brevis.
You fell to the Ithacan as a short-lived prey, though he was unwilling.
Who so powerless, harsh, and fierce a sorter of the unjust urn has given kings to kings?
§983quis tam sinister dividit captas deus?
What so sinister god divides the captive women?
What arbiter, cruel and heavy to the wretched, knows not how to choose masters, and Hector's mother with Achilles' arms?
§987armis Achillis miscet? ad Vlixen vocor: §988nunc victa, nunc captiva, nunc cunctis mihi §989obsessa videor cladibus— domini pudet, §990non servitutis.
I am called to Ulysses: now conquered, now captive, now I seem to myself besieged by all disasters—I am ashamed of the master, not of the servitude.
§991sterilis et saevis fretis §992inclusa tellus non capit tumulos meos— §993duc, duc, Vlixe, nil moror, dominum sequor; §994me mea sequentur fata: non pelago quies §995tranquilla veniet, saevi et ventis mare, §995l* §996et bella et ignes et mea et Priami mala.
A barren land, enclosed by savage seas does not hold my tomb— lead on, lead on, Ulysses, I delay not, I follow my master; my fate will follow me: peaceful quiet will not come to the sea; rage, ocean, with your winds, * and wars, and fires, and my evils, and those of Priam.
and until those things come, in the meantime this serves as punishment: I have anticipated my lot, I have snatched the prize from you.
§999Sed en citato Pyrrhus accurrit gradu
But lo, Pyrrhus runs up with a swift pace.