Mustered in Aulis on their way to bring Woe upon Priam and the town of Troy, And we, beside a fountain, offered up On sacred altars chosen hecatombs, Under a shapely plane-tree, from whose root Flowed the clear water, there appeared to us A wondrous sign. A frightful serpent, marked With crimson spots, which Jupiter sent forth To daylight from beneath the altar-stone, Came swiftly gliding toward the tree, whereon A sparrow had her young⁠—eight unfledged birds⁠— Upon the topmost bough and screened by leaves; The mother was the ninth. The serpent seized The helpless brood and midst their piteous cries Devoured them, while the mother fluttered round, Lamenting, till he caught her by the wing; And when he had destroyed the parent bird And all her brood, the god who sent him forth Made him a greater marvel still. The son Of crafty Saturn changed the snake to stone; And we who stood around were sore amazed. Such was the awful portent which the gods Showed at that sacrifice. But Calchas thus Instantly spake, interpreting the sign:⁠—