Again the herald, Argus-queller, spake: “Thou seekest yet to try me, aged man, Who younger am than thou. Yet think thou not That I, without the knowledge of my chief, Will take thy gifts; for in my heart I fear Achilles, nor would wrong him in the least, Lest evil come upon me. Yet I go Willingly with thee, as thy faithful guide. Were it as far as Argos the renowned, In a swift galley, or on foot by land, Yet none would dare to harm thee while with me.”
So Hermes spake, and leaped into the car, And took into his hands the lash and reins, And breathed into the horses and the mules Fresh vigor. Coming to the wall and trench About the ships, they found the guard engaged With their night-meal. The herald Argicide Poured sleep upon them all, and quickly flung The gates apart, and pushed aside the bars, And led in Priam, with the costly gifts Heaped on the car. They went until they reached The lofty tent in which Achilles sat, Reared by the Myrmidons to lodge their king, With timbers of hewn fir, and over-roofed With thatch, for which the meadows had been mown, And fenced for safety round with rows of stakes. One fir-tree bar made fast its gate, which three Strong Greeks were wont to raise aloft, and three Were needed to take down the massive beam. Achilles wielded the vast weight alone; Beneficent Hermes opened it before The aged man, and brought the treasures in, Designed for swift Achilles. Then he left The car and stood upon the ground, and said:—
“O aged monarch, I am Mercury, An ever-living god; my father, Jove, Bade me attend thy journey. I shall now Return, nor must Achilles look on me; It is not meet that an immortal god Should openly befriend a mortal man. Enter, approach Pelides, clasp his knees; Entreat him by his father, and his son, And fair-haired mother; so shall he be moved.”
Thus having spoken, Hermes took his way Back to the Olympian summit. Priam then Sprang from the chariot to the ground. He left Idaeus there to guard the steeds and mules, And, hastening to the tent