he lashes with his tail His sides and sinewy thighs to rouse himself To combat, and then, grimly frowning, leaps To slay, or by the foremost youths be slain, So sprang Achilles, moved by his bold heart To meet the brave Aeneas. As the twain Drew near each other, the swift-footed chief, The great Achilles, was the first to speak:—
“Why, O Aeneas, hast thou come so far Through this vast crowd to seek me? Does thy heart Bid thee confront me in the hope to gain The place which Priam holds, and to bear rule Over the knights Of Troy? Yet shouldst thou take My life, think not that Priam in thy hand Will place such large reward. He has his sons, Nor is he fickle, but of stable mind. Or will the Trojans, if thou slayest me, Bestow on thee broad acres, of a soil Fruitful exceedingly, and suited well To vines or to the plough, which thou mayst till That also, as I hope, thou wilt obtain With difficulty; for, unless I err, I forced thee once to flee before my spear. Dost thou remember, when thou wert alone Among thy beeves, I drave thee, running fast, Down Ida’s steeps? Then didst thou never turn To face me, but didst seek a hiding-place Within Lyrnessus, which I also took And wasted, with the aid of Father Jove And Pallas. From the town I led away The women, never to be free again. Jove and the other gods protected thee That day. Yet will they not protect thee now, As thou dost vainly hope. Withstand me not, I counsel thee, but hide thyself among The crowd before thou suffer harm, for he Who sees past evils only is a fool.”
And then Aeneas answered: “Do not think, Pelides, with such words to frighten me, As if I were a beardless boy. I too Might use reproach and taunt; but well we know Each other’s birth and lineage, through report Of men, although by sight I know not thine, Nor know’st thou mine. They say that thou art sprung From Peleus the renowned, and from the nymph Of ocean, fair-haired Thetis, while I boast My birth from brave Anchises, and can claim Venus as mother. Two of these today Must weep the death of a beloved son, For we are not to part, I think, nor end The combat after a few childish words; Yet let me speak, that thou mayst