wheat. There never famine comes, nor foul disease Fastens on wretched mortals; but when men Grow old, Apollo of the silver bow Comes with Diana, aims his silent shafts, And slays them. There two cities stand, and share The isle between them. There my father reigned, The godlike Ctesias, son of Ormenus, And both the cities owned him as their
“There came a crew of that seafaring race, The people of Phoenicia, to our isle. Shrewd fellows they, and brought in their black ship Large store of trinkets. In my father’s house Was a Phoenician woman, large and fair, And skilful in embroidery. As she came A laundress to their ship, those cunning men Seduced her. One of them obtained her love— For oft doth love mislead weak womankind, Even of the more discreet. Her paramour Asked who she was, and whence. She pointed out The lofty pile in which my father dwelt.
“ ‘At Sidon, rich in brass, I had my birth— A daughter of the opulent Arybas; And once, as I was coming from the fields, The Taphian pirates seized and bore me off, And brought me to this isle and sold me here, At that man’s house; much gold he paid for me.’
“Then said her paramour: ‘Wilt thou not then Return with us, that thou mayst see again Father and mother, and their fair abode? For yet they live, and rumor says are rich.’
“To this the woman answered:
‘I consent If first ye take an oath—ye mariners— And pledge your faith to bear me safely home.’
“She spake, and they complied, and when the oath Was duly taken, thus the woman said:—
“ ‘Now hold your peace; let none of all the crew Speak to me more, in meeting on the road Or at the fountain, lest someone should tell The old