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Book 6

Book 7

Book 8

Book 9

Book 10

BOOK VI

Glaucus and Diomed—The story of Bellerophon—Hector and Andromache.

THE fight between Trojans and Achaeans was now left to rage 愤怒 as it would, and the tide 潮汐 of war surged 浪涌 hither and thither over the plain as they aimed their bronze 青铜-shod spears 矛 at one another between the streams of Simois and Xanthus.

First, Ajax son of Telamon, tower 塔 of strength to the Achaeans, broke break a phalanx of the Trojans, and came to the assistance 帮助 of his comrades 同志 by killing Acamas son of Eussorus, the best man among the Thracians, being both brave 勇敢的 and of great stature 身材. The spear 矛 struck strike the projecting 项目 peak 峰 of his helmet 头盔: its bronze 青铜 point then went through his fore‧head 前额 into the brain, and darkness 黑暗 veiled 面纱 his eyes.

Then Diomed killed Axylus son of Teuthranus, a rich man who lived in the strong city of Arisbe, and was beloved 心爱 by all men; for he had a house by the road‧side 路边, and entertained every one who passed; howbeit not one of his guests stood before him to save his life, and Diomed killed both him and his squire Calesius, who was then his charioteer—so the pair passed beneath 之下 the earth.

Euryalus killed Dresus and Opheltius, and then went in pursuit 追求 of Aesepus and Pedasus, whom 谁 the naiad nymph Abarbarea had borne bear to noble 高尚的 Bucolion. Bucolion was eldest 最年长 son to Laomedon, but he was a bastard 混蛋. While tending his sheep 羊 he had con‧verse 交谈 with the nymph, and she conceived 构想 twin 双胞胎之一 sons; these the son of Mecisteus now slew, and he stripped the armour from their shoulders. Polypoetes then killed Astyalus, Ulysses Pidytes of Percote, and Teucer Aretaon. Ablerus fell fall by the spear 矛 of Nestor's son Antilochus, and Agamemnon, king of men, killed Elatus who dwelt in Pedasus by the banks of the river Satnioeis. Leitus killed Phylacus as he was flying, and Eurypylus slew Melanthus.

Then Menelaus of the loud 响亮的 war-cry took Adrestus alive 活的；有生命的, for his horses ran into a tamarisk bush 灌木, as they were flying wildly over the plain, and broke the pole 极 from the car; they went on towards the city along with the others in full flight 飞行, but Adrestus rolled out, and fell in the dust flat on his face by the wheel of his chariot; Menelaus came up to him spear 矛 in hand, but Adrestus caught catch him by the knees begging 乞讨 for his life. "Take me alive 活的；有生命的," he cried, "son of Atreus, and you shall have a full ransom 赎金 for me: my father is rich and has much treasure 金银财宝 of gold 金, bronze 青铜, and wrought 锻 iron 铁器 laid by in his house. From this store he will give you a large ransom 赎金 should he hear of my being alive and at the ships of the Achaeans."

Thus did he plead 求情, and Menelaus was for yielding and giving him to a squire to take to the ships of the Achaeans, but Agamemnon came running up to him and rebuked 训斥 him. "My good Menelaus," said he, "this is no time for giving quarter. Has, then, your house fared 票价 so well at the hands of the Trojans? Let us not spare 节省；多余的；备用件 a single one of them—not even the child unborn and in its mother's womb 子宫; let not a man of them be left alive, but let all in Ilius perish 沦, unheeded and forgotten forget."

Thus did he speak, and his brother was persuaded 说服 by him, for his words were just. Menelaus, therefore, thrust 推力 Adrestus from him, whereon King Agamemnon struck him in the flank 侧翼, and he fell: then the son of Atreus planted his foot upon his breast 乳房 to draw his spear 矛 from the body.

Meanwhile 同时 Nestor shouted to the Argives, saying, "My friends, Danaan warriors 战士, servants 仆人 of Mars, let no man lag 落后 that he may spoil 损坏；变质 the dead, and bring back much booty to the ships. Let us kill as many as we can; the bodies will lie upon the plain, and you can despoil them later at your leisure 闲暇."

With these words he put heart and soul into them all. And now the Trojans would have been routed 路线 and driven drive back into Ilius, had not Priam's son Helenus, wisest 明智的；聪明的 of augurs, said to Hector and Aeneas, "Hector and Aeneas, you two are the mainstays of the Trojans and Lycians, for you are fore‧most 最重要的是 at all times, alike 同样的 in fight and counsel 法律顾问; hold your ground grind here, and go about among the host 主人 to rally 团结 them in front of the gates 门, or they will fling 一扔 themselves into the arms of their wives, to the great joy 喜悦 of our foes 敌人. Then, when you have put heart into all our companies, we will stand firm here and fight the Danaans however hard they press us, for there is nothing else to be done. Meanwhile 同时 do you, Hector, go to the city and tell our mother what is happening. Tell her to bid 出价 the matrons gather at the temple 庙 of Minerva in the acropolis; let her then take her key and open the doors of the sacred 神圣的 building; there, upon the knees of Minerva, let her lay lie the largest, fairest robe 长袍 she has in her house—the one she sets most store by; let her, moreover, promise to sacrifice 牺牲 twelve 十二 yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple 庙 of the goddess 女神, if she will take pity 怜悯 on the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of Tydeus from falling on the goodly city of Ilius; for he fights with fury 愤怒 and fills men's souls with panic 恐慌. I hold him mightiest of them all; we did not fear even their great champion 冠军 Achilles, son of a goddess 女神 though he be, as we do this man: his rage 愤怒 is beyond all bounds 必定；跳, and there is none can vie 争夺 with him in prowess 实力."

Hector did as his brother bade him. He sprang from his chariot, and went about every‧where 到处 among the host 主人, brandishing his spears 矛, urging the men on to fight, and raising the dread 恐惧 cry of battle. Thereon they rallied 团结 and again faced the Achaeans, who gave ground and ceased 停止 their murderous 杀 onset 发病, for they deemed 认为 that some one of the immortals 不朽 had come down from starry heaven 天 to help the Trojans, so strangely had they rallied 团结. And Hector shouted to the Trojans, "Trojans and allies 联盟；盟友, be men, my friends, and fight with might and main, while I go to Ilius and tell the old men of our council and our wives to pray to the gods and vow 发誓 hecatombs in their honour."

With this he went his way, and the black rim 轮缘 of hide that went round his shield 盾 beat against his neck and his ancles.

Then Glaucus son of Hippolochus, and the son of Tydeus went into the open space between the hosts 主人 to fight in single combat 战斗. When they were close up to one another Diomed of the loud 响亮的 war-cry was the first to speak. "Who, my good sir 先生," said he, "who are you among men? I have never seen you in battle until now, but you are daring 敢 beyond all others if you abide 遵守 my onset 发病. Woe to those fathers whose 谁的 sons face my might. If, however, you are one of the immortals 不朽 and have come down from heaven 天, I will not fight you; for even valiant Lycurgus, son of Dryas, did not live long when he took to fighting with the gods. He it was that drove drive the nursing 护士 women who were in charge of frenzied 发狂 Bacchus through the land of Nysa, and they flung their thyrsi on the ground as murderous 杀 Lycurgus beat them with his oxgoad. Bacchus himself plunged 跳水 terror 恐怖-stricken into the sea, and Thetis took him to her bosom to comfort him, for he was scared 惊恐 by the fury 愤怒 with which the man reviled him. Thereon the gods who live at ease 轻松 were angry 生气的 with Lycurgus and the son of Saturn struck him blind, nor did he live much longer after he had become hateful to the immortals 不朽. Therefore I will not fight with the blessed 祝福 gods; but if you are of them that eat the fruit of the ground, draw near and meet your doom 厄运."

And the son of Hippolochus answered, "Son of Tydeus, why ask me of my line‧age 血统? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the trees. Those of autumn 秋 the wind sheds 棚 upon the ground, but when spring returns the forest buds 芽 forth with fresh vines 藤蔓. Even so is it with the generations 代 of man‧kind 人类, the new spring up as the old are passing away. If, then, you would learn my descent 下降, it is one that is well known to many. There is a city in the heart of Argos, pasture 牧场 land of horses, called Ephyra, where Sisyphus lived, who was the craftiest of all mankind. He was the son of Aeolus, and had a son named Glaucus, who was father to Bellerophon, whom 谁 heaven endowed 赋予 with the most surpassing 超过 comeliness and beauty. But Proetus devised 设计 his ruin 破坏, and being stronger than he, drove him from the land of the Argives, over which Jove had made him ruler. For Antea, wife of Proetus, lusted 情欲 after him, and would have had him lie with her in secret; but Bellerophon was an honourable man and would not, so she told lies about him to Proteus. 'Proetus,' said she, 'kill Bellerophon or die, for he would have had con‧verse 交谈 with me against my will.' The king was angered 生气, but shrank from killing Bellerophon, so he sent send him to Lycia with lying letters of introduction 介绍, written on a folded 折叠 tablet 片剂, and containing much ill 生病 against the bearer. He bade Bellerophon show these letters to his father-in-law, to the end that he might thus perish 沦; Bellerophon therefore went to Lycia, and the gods convoyed 护航 him safely.

"When he reached the river Xanthus, which is in Lycia, the king received him with all good‧will 善意, feasted 盛会 him nine 九 days, and killed nine 九 heifers in his honour, but when rosy 红润-fingered morning appeared upon the tenth day, he questioned him and desired to see the letter from his son-in-law Proetus. When he had received the wicked 邪恶的 letter he first commanded Bellerophon to kill that savage 野蛮人 monster 怪物, the Chimaera, who was not a human being, but a goddess 女神, for she had the head of a lion 狮子 and the tail 尾 of a serpent, while her body was that of a goat 山羊, and she breathed 呼吸 forth flames 火焰 of fire; but Bellerophon slew her, for he was guided by signs from heaven. He next fought fight the far-famed Solymi, and this, he said, was the hardest of all his battles. Thirdly, he killed the Amazons, women who were the peers 窥视 of men, and as he was returning thence the king devised 设计 yet another plan for his destruction 破坏; he picked the bravest 勇敢的 warriors 战士 in all Lycia, and placed them in ambuscade, but not a man ever came back, for Bellerophon killed every one of them. Then the king knew that he must be the valiant off‧spring 子孙 of a god, so he kept him in Lycia, gave him his daughter in marriage, and made him of equal honour in the kingdom 王国 with himself; and the Lycians gave him a piece of land, the best in all the country, fair with vine‧yard 葡萄园 and tilled 到 fields, to have and to hold.

"The king's daughter bore bear Bellerophon three children, Isander, Hippolochus, and Laodameia. Jove, the lord of counsel 法律顾问, lay with Laodameia, and she bore him noble 高尚的 Sarpedon; but when Bellerophon came to be hated by all the gods, he wandered 漫步 all desolate 荒凉 and dismayed 沮丧 upon the Alean plain, gnawing at his own heart, and shunning 顺 the path 小路 of man. Mars, insatiate of battle, killed his son Isander while he was fighting the Solymi; his daughter was killed by Diana of the golden 金色的 reins 缰绳, for she was angered with her; but Hippolochus was father to myself 我, and when he sent me to Troy he urged me again and again to fight ever among the fore‧most 最重要的是 and outvie my peers 窥视, so as not to shame 羞愧 the blood of my fathers who were the noblest 高尚的 in Ephyra and in all Lycia. This, then, is the descent 下降 I claim."

Thus did he speak, and the heart of Diomed was glad 高兴的. He planted his spear 矛 in the ground, and spoke speak to him with friendly words. "Then," he said, "you are an old friend of my father's house. Great Oeneus once entertained Bellerophon for twenty 二十 days, and the two exchanged presents. Oeneus gave a belt 腰带 rich with purple 紫色的, and Bellerophon a double cup, which I left at home when I set out for Troy. I do not remember Tydeus, for he was taken from us while I was yet a child, when the army of the Achaeans was cut to pieces before Thebes. Henceforth, however, I must be your host in middle Argos, and you mine in Lycia, if I should ever go there; let us avoid one another's spears 矛 even during a general engagement 订婚; there are many noble 高尚的 Trojans and allies whom 谁 I can kill, if I overtake them and heaven delivers them into my hand; so again with your‧self 你自己, there are many Achaeans whose 谁的 lives you may take if you can; we two, then, will exchange armour, that all present may know of the old ties that subsist between us."

With these words they sprang from their chariots, grasped 把握 one another's hands, and plighted 困境 friend‧ship 友情. But the son of Saturn made Glaucus take leave of his wits 风趣, for he exchanged golden 金色的 armour for bronze 青铜, the worth of a hundred 百 head of cattle for the worth of nine 九.

Now when Hector reached the Scaean gates and the oak 橡木 tree, the wives and daughters of the Trojans came running towards him to ask after their sons, brothers, kinsmen, and husbands: he told them to set about praying to the gods, and many were made sorrowful as they heard him.

Presently he reached the splendid 壮观的 palace 宫 of King Priam, adorned 装饰 with colonnades of hewn stone. In it there were fifty 五十 bedchambers—all of hewn stone—built near one another, where the sons of Priam slept sleep, each with his wedded 结婚 wife. Opposite these, on the other side the court‧yard 庭院, there were twelve 十二 upper rooms also of hewn stone for Priam's daughters, built near one another, where his sons-in-law slept with their wives. When Hector got there, his fond 喜欢的 mother came up to him with Laodice the fairest of her daughters. She took his hand within her own and said, "My son, why have you left the battle to come hither? Are the Achaeans, woe 荣辱与共 betide them, pressing you hard about the city that you have thought fit to come and uplift 抬起 your hands to Jove from the citadel? Wait till 到 I can bring you wine that you may make offering to Jove and to the other immortals 不朽, and may then drink and be refreshed 使恢复. Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied 厌倦, as you now are with fighting on behalf 代表 of your kinsmen."

And Hector answered, "Honoured mother, bring no wine, lest 免得 you unman me and I forget my strength. I dare 敢 not make a drink-offering to Jove with unwashed hands; one who is bespattered with blood and filth may not pray to the son of Saturn. Get the matrons together, and go with offerings to the temple of Minerva driver of the spoil 损坏；变质; there, upon the knees of Minerva, lay the largest and fairest robe 长袍 you have in your house—the one you set most store by; promise, moreover, to sacrifice 牺牲 twelve 十二 yearling heifers that have never yet felt the goad, in the temple of the goddess 女神 if she will take pity 怜悯 on the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans, and keep the son of Tydeus from off the goodly city of Ilius, for he fights with fury 愤怒, and fills men's souls with panic 恐慌. Go, then, to the temple of Minerva, while I seek 寻求 Paris and exhort him, if he will hear my words. Would that the earth might open her jaws 下巴 and swallow 吞 him, for Jove bred 养育；繁殖:breed him to be the bane of the Trojans, and of Priam and Priam's sons. Could I but see him go down into the house of Hades, my heart would forget its heaviness."

His mother went into the house and called her waiting-women who gathered the matrons through‧out 始终 the city. She then went down into her fragrant store-room, where her embroidered 绣 robes 长袍 were kept, the work of Sidonian women, whom 谁 Alexandrus had brought over from Sidon when he sailed 航行；帆 the seas upon that voyage 旅行 during which he carried off Helen. Hecuba took out the largest robe 长袍, and the one that was most beautifully 精美 enriched 丰富 with embroidery, as an offering to Minerva: it glittered 闪光 like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest 胸部. With this she went on her way and many matrons with her.

When they reached the temple of Minerva, lovely 可爱的 Theano, daughter of Cisseus and wife of Antenor, opened the doors, for the Trojans had made her priestess of Minerva. The women lifted up their hands to the goddess 女神 with a loud cry, and Theano took the robe 长袍 to lay it upon the knees of Minerva, praying the while to the daughter of great Jove. " Holy 神圣的 Minerva," she cried, "protectress of our city, mighty 威武 goddess 女神, break the spear 矛 of Diomed and lay him low before the Scaean gates. Do this, and we will sacrifice twelve 十二 heifers that have never yet known the goad, in your temple, if you will have pity 怜悯 upon the town, with the wives and little ones of the Trojans." Thus she prayed, but Pallas Minerva granted 发放 not her prayer.

While they were thus praying to the daughter of great Jove, Hector went to the fair house of Alexandrus, which he had built for him by the fore‧most 最重要的是 builders 建设者 in the land. They had built him his house, store‧house 商店‧房屋, and court‧yard 庭院 near those of Priam and Hector on the acropolis. Here Hector entered, with a spear 矛 eleven 十一 cubits long in his hand; the bronze 青铜 point gleamed 闪光 in front of him, and was fastened 系牢 to the shaft 轴 of the spear 矛 by a ring of gold 金. He found Alexandrus within the house, busied about his armour, his shield 盾 and cuirass, and handling his curved bow 弓; there, too, sat sit Argive Helen with her women, setting them their several tasks 任务; and as Hector saw him he rebuked 训斥 him with words of scorn 鄙视. " Sir 先生," said he, "you do ill 生病 to nurse 护士 this rancour; the people perish 沦 fighting round this our town; you would your‧self 你自己 chide one whom 4 you saw shirking his part in the combat 战斗. Up then, or ere long the city will be in a blaze 火焰."

And Alexandrus answered, "Hector, your rebuke 训斥 is just; listen therefore, and believe me when I tell you that I am not here so much through rancour or ill-will towards the Trojans, as from a desire to indulge 放纵 my grief 哀思. My wife was even now gently urging me to battle, and I hold it better that I should go, for victory is ever fickle. Wait, then, while I put on my armour, or go first and I will follow. I shall be sure to overtake you."

Hector made no answer, but Helen tried to soothe 缓和 him. "Brother," said she, "to my abhorred and sinful self 自己, would that a whirl‧wind 旋转‧风 had caught me up on the day my mother brought me forth, and had borne me to some mountain or to the waves of the roaring 咆哮 sea that should have swept sweep me away ere this mischief 恶作剧 had come about. But, since the gods have devised 设计 these evils, would, at any rate, that I had been wife to a better man—to one who could smart 聪明 under dishonour and men's evil speeches. This fellow was never yet to be depended upon, nor never will be, and he will surely reap 收割 what he has sown. Still, brother, come in and rest upon this seat, for it is you who bear the brunt of that toil 辛劳 that has been caused by my hateful self 自己 and by the sin 罪 of Alexandrus—both of whom 5 Jove has doomed 厄运 to be a theme 主题 of song among those that shall be born bear here‧after 此后."

And Hector answered, " Bid 出价 me not be seated, Helen, for all the good‧will 善意 you bear me. I cannot stay. I am in haste 匆忙 to help the Trojans, who miss me greatly when I am not among them; but urge your husband, and of his own self also let him make haste to overtake me before I am out of the city. I must go home to see my house‧hold 家庭, my wife and my little son, for I know not whether I shall ever again return to them, or whether the gods will cause me to fill by the hands of the Achaeans."

Then Hector left her, and forth‧with 向前‧和 was at his own house. He did not find Andromache, for she was on the wall with her child and one of her maids 女佣, weeping 哭泣 bitterly. Seeing, then, that she was not within, he stood on the threshold 阈 of the women's rooms and said, "Women, tell me, and tell me true, where did Andromache go when she left the house? Was it to my sisters 姐妹, or to my brothers' wives? or is she at the temple of Minerva where the other women are propitiating the awful 糟糕的 goddess 女神?"

His good house‧keep 管家 answered, "Hector, since you bid 出价 me tell you truly 真, she did not go to your sisters nor to your brothers' wives, nor yet to the temple of Minerva, where the other women are propitiating the awful goddess 女神, but she is on the high wall of Ilius, for she had heard the Trojans were being hard pressed, and that the Achaeans were in great force: she went to the wall in frenzied 发狂 haste 匆忙, and the nurse 护士 went with her carrying the child."

Hector hurried from the house when she had done speaking, and went down the streets by the same way that he had come. When he had gone through the city and had reached the Scaean gates through which he would go out on to the plain, his wife came running towards him, Andromache, daughter of great Eetion who ruled in Thebe under the wooded slopes 斜坡 of Mt. Placus, and was king of the Cilicians. His daughter had married Hector, and now came to meet him with a nurse who carried his little child in her bosom—a mere babe 孩儿. Hector's darling 宠儿 son, and lovely 可爱的 as a star. Hector had named him Scamandrius, but the people called him Astyanax, for his father stood alone as chief guardian 监护人 of Ilius. Hector smiled as he looked upon the boy, but he did not speak, and Andromache stood by him weeping 哭泣 and taking his hand in her own. "Dear husband," said she, "your valour will bring you to destruction 破坏; think on your infant 婴儿 son, and on my hapless self who ere long shall be your widow 寡妇—for the Achaeans will set upon you in a body and kill you. It would be better for me, should I lose you, to lie dead and buried 埋葬, for I shall have nothing left to comfort me when you are gone, save only sorrow 悲痛. I have neither father nor mother now. Achilles slew my father when he sacked 解雇 Thebe the goodly city of the Cilicians. He slew him, but did not for very shame 羞愧 despoil him; when he had burned burn him in his wondrous armour, he raised a barrow over his ashes 灰 and the mountain nymphs, daughters of aegis-bearing Jove, planted a grove 树林 of elms about his tomb 墓. I had seven 七 brothers in my father's house, but on the same day they all went within the house of Hades. Achilles killed them as they were with their sheep 羊 and cattle. My mother—her who had been queen 女王 of all the land under Mt. Placus—he brought hither with the spoil 损坏；变质, and freed her for a great sum 和, but the archer 弓形- queen Diana took her in the house of your father. Nay—Hector—you who to me are father, mother, brother, and dear husband—have mercy 宽容 upon me; stay here upon this wall; make not your child father‧less 父亲‧少, and your wife a widow 寡妇; as for the host, place them near the fig 图-tree, where the city can be best scaled, and the wall is weakest. Thrice have the bravest of them come thither and assailed it, under the two Ajaxes, Idomeneus, the sons of Atreus, and the brave 勇敢的 son of Tydeus, either of their own bidding 出价, or because some soothsayer had told them."

And Hector answered, "Wife, I too have thought upon all this, but with what face should I look upon the Trojans, men or women, if I shirked battle like a coward 胆小鬼? I cannot do so: I know nothing save to fight bravely 勇敢的 in the fore‧front 第一线 of the Trojan host and win renown 名声 alike 同样的 for my father and myself 我. Well do I know that the day will surely come when mighty 威武 Ilius shall be destroyed with Priam and Priam's people, but I grieve 悼 for none of these—not even for Hecuba, nor King Priam, nor for my brothers many and brave 勇敢的 who may fall in the dust before their foes 敌人—for none of these do I grieve 悼 as for your‧self 你自己 when the day shall come on which some one of the Achaeans shall rob 抢劫 you for ever of your freedom, and bear you weeping 哭泣 away. It may be that you will have to ply 股 the loom 织布机 in Argos at the bidding of a mistress 情妇, or to fetch 取 water from the springs Messeis or Hypereia, treated brutally 粗暴地 by some cruel 残酷的 task 任务-master; then will one say who sees you weeping 哭泣, 'She was wife to Hector, the bravest warrior 战士 among the Trojans during the war before Ilius.' On this your tears will break forth anew 重新 for him who would have put away the day of captivity 囚禁 from you. May I lie dead under the barrow that is heaped 堆 over my body ere I hear your cry as they carry you into bond‧age 联接；使结合‧年龄."

He stretched his arms towards his child, but the boy cried and nestled 贴近 in his nurse's bosom, scared at the sight of his father's armour, and at the horse-hair plume 羽 that nodded 点头 fiercely 凶猛的 from his helmet 头盔. His father and mother laughed to see him, but Hector took the helmet 头盔 from his head and laid it all gleaming 闪光 upon the ground. Then he took his darling 宠儿 child, kissed 接吻 him, and dandled him in his arms, praying over him the while to Jove and to all the gods. "Jove," he cried, "grant 发放 that this my child may be even as myself 我, chief among the Trojans; let him be not less excellent in strength, and let him rule Ilius with his might. Then may one say of him as he comes from battle, 'The son is far better than the father.' May he bring back the blood-stained spoils 损坏；变质 of him whom he has laid low, and let his mother's heart be glad 高兴的."

With this he laid the child again in the arms of his wife, who took him to her own soft bosom, smiling through her tears. As her husband watched her his heart yearned 向往 towards her and he caressed 抚摸 her fondly 喜欢的, saying, "My own wife, do not take these things too bitterly to heart. No one can hurry me down to Hades before my time, but if a man's hour is come, be he brave 3 or be he coward 胆小鬼, there is no escape for him when he has once been born. Go, then, within the house, and busy your‧self 你自己 with your daily duties, your loom 织布机, your distaff, and the ordering of your servants; for war is man's matter, and mine above all others of them that have been born in Ilius."

He took his plumed 羽 helmet 头盔 from the ground, and his wife went back again to her house, weeping 哭泣 bitterly and often looking back towards him. When she reached her home she found her maidens 少女 within, and bade them all join in her lament 哀叹; so they mourned 悼 Hector in his own house though he was yet alive, for they deemed 认为 that they should never see him return safe from battle, and from the furious 狂怒 hands of the Achaeans.

Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly armour overlaid with bronze 青铜, and hasted 匆忙 through the city as fast as his feet could take him. As a horse, stabled 稳定 and fed feed, breaks loose and gallops 驰骋 gloriously 辉煌 over the plain to the place where he is wont 惯于 to bathe 给…洗澡 in the fair-flowing river—he holds his head high, and his mane streams upon his shoulders as he exults in his strength and flies like the wind to the haunts 出没 and feeding ground of the mares 母马—even so went forth Paris from high Pergamus, gleaming 闪光 like sun‧light 阳光 in his armour, and he laughed aloud 高声 as he sped swiftly 如飞 on his way. Forthwith he came upon his brother Hector, who was then turning away from the place where he had held con‧verse 交谈 with his wife, and he was himself the first to speak. " Sir 先生," said he, "I fear that I have kept you waiting when you are in haste 3, and have not come as quickly as you bade me."

"My good brother," answered Hector, "you fight bravely, and no man with any justice can make light of your doings in battle. But you are care‧less 粗心 and wilfully remiss. It grieves 悼 me to the heart to hear the ill that the Trojans speak about you, for they have suffered much on your account. Let us be going, and we will make things right here‧after 此后, should Jove vouchsafe us to set the cup of our deliverance before ever-living gods of heaven in our own homes, when we have chased 追 the Achaeans from Troy."

BOOK VII

Hector and Ajax fight—Hector is getting worsted when night comes on and parts them—They exchange presents—The burial 葬礼 of the dead, and the building of a wall round their ships by the Achaeans—The Achaeans buy their wine of Agamemnon and Menelaus.

WITH these words Hector passed through the gates, and his brother Alexandrus with him, both eager 渴望的 for the fray 磨损. As when heaven sends a breeze 微风 to sailors 水手 who have long looked for one in vain 徒劳的, and have laboured at their oars till 到 they are faint 微弱的 with toil 辛劳, even so welcome was the sight of these two heroes 英雄 to the Trojans.

Thereon Alexandrus killed Menesthius the son of Areithous; he lived in Arne, and was son of Areithous the Mace-man, and of Phylomedusa. Hector threw throw a spear 矛 at Eioneus and struck him dead with a wound 创伤 in the neck under the bronze 青铜 rim 轮缘 of his helmet 头盔. Glaucus, moreover, son of Hippolochus, captain of the Lycians, in hard hand-to-hand fight smote Iphinous son of Dexius on the shoulder, as he was springing on to his chariot behind his fleet 舰队 mares 母马; so he fell to earth from the car, and there was no life left in him.

When, therefore, Minerva saw these men making havoc 浩劫 of the Argives, she darted 镖 down to Ilius from the summits 首脑 of Olympus, and Apollo, who was looking on from Pergamus, went out to meet her; for he wanted the Trojans to be victorious. The pair met by the oak 橡木 tree, and King Apollo son of Jove was first to speak. "What would you have," said he, "daughter of great Jove, that your proud spirit has sent you hither from Olympus? Have you no pity 3 upon the Trojans, and would you incline 倾斜 the scales of victory in favour of the Danaans? Let me persuade 说服 you—for it will be better thus—stay the combat 战斗 for to-day, but let them renew 更新 the fight here‧after 此后 till they compass 罗盘 the doom 厄运 of Ilius, since you goddesses 女神 have made up your minds to destroy the city."

And Minerva answered, "So be it, Far-Darter; it was in this mind that I came down from Olympus to the Trojans and Achaeans. Tell me, then, how do you propose to end this present fighting?"

Apollo, son of Jove, replied, "Let us incite 煽动 great Hector to challenge 挑战 some one of the Danaans in single combat 战斗; on this the Achaeans will be shamed 羞愧 into finding a man who will fight him."

Minerva assented 同意, and Helenus son of Priam divined 神圣 the counsel 法律顾问 of the gods; he therefore went up to Hector and said, "Hector son of Priam, peer 窥视 of gods in counsel 法律顾问, I am your brother, let me then persuade 说服 you. Bid 出价 the other Trojans and Achaeans all of them take their seats, and challenge 挑战 the best man among the Achaeans to meet you in single combat 战斗. I have heard the voice of the ever-living gods, and the hour of your doom 厄运 is not yet come."

Hector was glad when he heard this saying, and went in among the Trojans, grasping 把握 his spear 矛 by the middle to hold them back, and they all sat down. Agamemnon also bade the Achaeans be seated. But Minerva and Apollo, in the likeness 像 of vultures, perched 栖息 on father Jove's high oak 橡木 tree, proud of their men; and the ranks 排列 sat close ranged together, bristling 鬃 with shield 盾 and helmet 头盔 and spear 矛. As when the rising west wind furs 毛皮 the face of the sea and the waters grow dark beneath 之下 it, so sat the companies of Trojans and Achaeans upon the plain. And Hector spoke thus:—

"Hear me, Trojans and Achaeans, that I may speak even as I am minded; Jove on his high throne 王座 has brought our oaths 誓言 and covenants 盟约 to nothing, and foreshadows ill for both of us, till you either take the towers 塔 of Troy, or are yourselves vanquished at your ships. The princes 王子 of the Achaeans are here present in the midst 中间 of you; let him, then, that will fight me stand forward as your champion 冠军 against Hector. Thus I say, and may Jove be witness between us. If your champion 冠军 slay 诛戮 me, let him strip me of my armour and take it to your ships, but let him send my body home that the Trojans and their wives may give me my dues of fire when I am dead. In like manner, if Apollo vouchsafe me glory 光荣 and I slay 诛戮 your champion 冠军, I will strip him of his armour and take it to the city of Ilius, where I will hang it in the temple of Apollo, but I will give up his body, that the Achaeans may bury 埋葬 him at their ships, and the build him a mound 冢 by the wide waters of the Hellespont. Then will one say here‧after 此后 as he sails 航行；帆 his ship over the sea, 'This is the monument 纪念碑 of one who died long since a champion 冠军 who was slain by mighty 威武 Hector.' Thus will one say, and my fame shall not be lost."

Thus did he speak, but they all held their peace, ashamed 惭愧的 to decline 下降 the challenge 挑战, yet fearing to accept it, till at last Menelaus rose rise and rebuked 训斥 them, for he was angry 生气的. "Alas," he cried, " vain 徒劳的 braggarts, women forsooth not men, double-dyed 染料 indeed will be the stain upon us if no man of the Danaans will now face Hector. May you be turned every man of you into earth and water as you sit spirit‧less 精神‧少 and inglorious in your places. I will myself 我 go out against this man, but the upshot of the fight will be from on high in the hands of the immortal 不朽 gods."

With these words he put on his armour; and then, O Menelaus, your life would have come to an end at the hands of hands of Hector, for he was far better the man, had not the princes 王子 of the Achaeans sprung upon you and checked you. King Agamemnon caught him by the right hand and said, "Menelaus, you are mad 疯狂的; a truce 休战 to this folly 蠢事. Be patient in spite 恶意 of passion 激情，热情；强烈情感, do not think of fighting a man so much stronger than your‧self 你自己 as Hector son of Priam, who is feared by many another as well as you. Even Achilles, who is far more doughty than you are, shrank from meeting him in battle. Sit down your own people, and the Achaeans will send some other champion 冠军 to fight Hector; fear‧less 害怕‧少 and fond 喜欢的 of battle though he be, I ween his knees will bend gladly 高兴的 under him if he comes out alive from the hurly-burly of this fight."

With these words of reasonable counsel 法律顾问 he persuaded his brother, whereon his squires gladly stripped the armour from off his shoulders. Then Nestor rose and spoke, "Of a truth," said he, "the Achaean land is fallen fall upon evil times. The old knight 骑士 Peleus, counsellor and orator among the Myrmidons, loved when I was in his house to question me concerning the race and line‧age 血统 of all the Argives. How would it not grieve 悼 him could he hear of them as now quailing before Hector? Many a time would he lift his hands in prayer that his soul might leave his body and go down within the house of Hades. Would, by father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I were still young and strong as when the Pylians and Arcadians were gathered in fight by the rapid river Celadon under the walls of Pheia, and round about the waters of the river Iardanus. The god‧like 上帝‧喜欢；象 hero 英雄 Ereuthalion stood forward as their champion 冠军, with the armour of King Areithous upon his shoulders—Areithous whom men and women had surnamed 姓 'the Mace-man,' because he fought neither with bow 弓 nor spear 矛, but broke the battalions 营 of the foe 敌人 with his iron 铁器 mace. Lycurgus killed him, not in fair fight, but by entrapping him in a narrow way where his mace served him in no stead; for Lycurgus was too quick for him and speared 矛 him through the middle, so he fell to earth on his back. Lycurgus then spoiled 损坏；变质 him of the armour which Mars had given him, and bore it in battle thenceforward; but when he grew grow old and stayed at home, he gave it to his faithful 可信 squire Ereuthalion, who in this same armour challenged 挑战 the fore‧most 最重要的是 men among us. The others quaked and quailed, but my high spirit bade me fight him though none other would venture 企业；投机活动；商业冒险; I was the youngest man of them all; but when I fought him Minerva vouchsafed me victory. He was the biggest and strongest man that ever I killed, and covered much ground as he lay sprawling 蔓生 upon the earth. Would that I were still young and strong as I then was, for the son of Priam would then soon find one who would face him. But you, fore‧most 最重要的是 among the whole host though you be, have none of you any stomach 胃 for fighting Hector."

Thus did the old man rebuke 训斥 them, and forth‧with 向前‧和 nine 九 men started to their feet. Foremost of all uprose King Agamemnon, and after him brave Diomed the son of Tydeus. Next were the two Ajaxes, men clothed in valour as with a garment 服装, and then Idomeneus, and Meriones his brother in arms. After these Eurypylus son of Euaemon, Thoas the son of Andraemon, and Ulysses also rose. Then Nestor knight 骑士 of Gerene again spoke, saying: "Cast 投 lots among you to see who shall be chosen choose. If he come alive out of this fight he will have done good service alike 同样的 to his own soul and to the Achaeans."

Thus he spoke, and when each of them had marked his lot, and had thrown throw it into the helmet 头盔 of Agamemnon son of Atreus, the people lifted their hands in prayer, and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault 拱顶 of heaven, "Father Jove, grant 发放 that the lot fall on Ajax, or on the son of Tydeus, or upon the king of rich Mycene himself."

As they were speaking, Nestor knight 骑士 of Gerene shook shake the helmet 头盔, and from it there fell the very lot which they wanted—the lot of Ajax. The herald 先锋 bore it about and showed it to all the chieftains of the Achaeans, going from left to right; but they none of them owned it. When, however, in due course he reached the man who had written upon it and had put it into the helmet 头盔, brave Ajax held out his hand, and the herald 先锋 gave him the lot. When Ajax saw his mark he knew it and was glad; he threw it to the ground and said, "My friends, the lot is mine, and I rejoice 欢庆, for I shall vanquish Hector. I will put on my armour; mean‧while 同时, pray to King Jove in silence among yourselves that the Trojans may not hear you—or aloud 高声 if you will, for we fear no man. None shall over‧come 战胜 me, neither by force nor cunning 狡猾, for I was born and bred in Salamis, and can hold my own in all things."

With this they fell praying to King Jove the son of Saturn, and thus would one of them say as he looked into the vault 拱顶 of heaven, "Father Jove that rulest from Ida, most glorious 辉煌 in power, vouchsafe victory to Ajax, and let him win great glory 光荣: but if you wish well to Hector also and would protect him, grant 发放 to each of them equal fame and prowess 实力."

Thus they prayed, and Ajax armed himself in his suit of gleaming 闪光 bronze 青铜. When he was in full array 排列 he sprang forward as monstrous 滔天 Mars when he takes part among men whom Jove has set fighting with one another—even so did huge 巨大 Ajax, bulwark of the Achaeans, spring forward with a grim 严峻 smile on his face as he brandished his long spear 矛 and strode onward 向前. The Argives were elated as they beheld him, but the Trojans trembled 发抖 in every limb 肢, and the heart even of Hector beat quickly, but he could not now retreat 撤退 and with‧draw 撤回 into the ranks behind him, for he had been the challenger 挑战者. Ajax came up bearing his shield 3 in front of him like a wall—a shield of bronze 青铜 with seven 七 folds 折叠 of oxhide—the work of Tychius, who lived in Hyle and was by far the best worker in leather 皮. He had made it with the hides of seven 七 full-fed bulls 公牛, and over these he had set an eighth layer of bronze 青铜. Holding this shield before him, Ajax son of Telamon came close up to Hector, and menaced 威胁 him saying, "Hector, you shall now learn, man to man, what kind of champions 冠军 the Danaans have among them even besides lion 狮子-hearted Achilles cleaver of the ranks of men. He now abides 遵守 at the ships in anger 生气 with Agamemnon shepherd 牧羊人 of his people, but there are many of us who are well able to face you; therefore begin the fight."

And Hector answered, "Noble 3 Ajax, son of Telamon, captain of the host, treat me not as though I were some puny boy or woman that cannot fight. I have been long used to the blood and butcheries of battle. I am quick to turn my leathern shield either to right or left, for this I deem 认为 the main thing in battle. I can charge among the chariots and horsemen, and in hand to hand fighting can delight the heart of Mars; howbeit I would not take such a man as you are off his guard—but I will smite you openly if I can."

He poised 平衡 his spear 矛 as he spoke, and hurled 投 it from him. It struck the seven‧fold 7‧折叠 shield in its outer‧most 外‧最 layer—the eighth, which was of bronze 青铜—and went through six of the layers 层 but in the seventh hide it stayed. Then Ajax threw in his turn, and struck the round shield of the son of Priam. The terrible spear 矛 went through his gleaming 闪光 shield, and pressed onward 向前 through his cuirass of cunning 狡猾 workman‧ship 工人‧船; it pierced 刺穿 the shirt 衬衫 against his side, but he swerved and thus saved his life. They then each of them drew draw out the spear 矛 from his shield, and fell on one another like savage 野蛮人 lions 狮子 or wild boars 公猪 of great strength and endurance 耐力: the son of Priam struck the middle of Ajax's shield, but the bronze 青铜 did not break, and the point of his dart 镖 was turned. Ajax then sprang forward and pierced 刺穿 the shield of Hector; the spear 矛 went through it and staggered 错开 him as he was springing forward to attack; it gashed his neck and the blood came pouring 淋；倒 from the wound 创伤, but even so Hector did not cease 停止 fighting; he gave ground, and with his brawny hand seized 抓住 a stone, rugged 小块地毯 and huge 巨大, that was lying upon the plain; with this he struck the shield of Ajax on the boss 老板 that was in its middle, so that the bronze 青铜 rang again. But Ajax in turn caught up a far larger stone, swung swing it aloft, and hurled 投 it with prodigious force. This mill‧stone 磨坊‧石头 of a rock broke Hector's shield inwards 向内的 and threw him down on his back with the shield crushing 压破 him under it, but Apollo raised him at once. Thereon they would have hacked 劈 at one another in close combat 战斗 with their swords 剑, had not heralds 先锋, messengers 信使 of gods and men, come forward, one from the Trojans and the other from the Achaeans—Talthybius and Idaeus both of them honourable men; these parted them with their staves, and the good herald 先锋 Idaeus said, "My sons, fight no longer, you are both of you valiant, and both are dear to Jove; we know this; but night is now falling, and the behests of night may not be well gainsaid."

Ajax son of Telamon answered, "Idaeus, bid 4 Hector say so, for it was he that challenged 挑战 our princes 王子. Let him speak first and I will accept his saying."

Then Hector said, "Ajax, heaven has vouchsafed you stature 身材 and strength, and judgement; and in wielding 挥 the spear 矛 you excel 高强 all others of the Achaeans. Let us for this day cease 停止 fighting; here‧after 此后 we will fight anew 重新 till heaven decide between us, and give victory to one or to the other; night is now falling, and the behests of night may not be well gainsaid. Gladden, then, the hearts of the Achaeans at your ships, and more especially those of your own followers 信徒 and clansmen, while I, in the great city of King Priam, bring comfort to the Trojans and their women, who vie 争夺 with one another in their prayers 祷告 on my behalf 代表. Let us, moreover, exchange presents that it may be said among the Achaeans and Trojans, 'They fought with might and main, but were reconciled 调和 and parted in friend‧ship 友情.'"

On this he gave Ajax a silver 银-studded 螺柱 sword 剑 with its sheath 鞘 and leathern baldric, and in return Ajax gave him a girdle dyed 染料 with purple 紫色的. Thus they parted, the one going to the host of the Achaeans, and the other to that of the Trojans, who rejoiced 欢庆 when they saw their hero 英雄 come to them safe and unharmed from the strong hands of mighty 威武 Ajax. They led him, therefore, to the city as one that had been saved beyond their hopes. On the other side the Achaeans brought Ajax elated with victory to Agamemnon.

When they reached the quarters of the son of Atreus, Agamemnon sacrificed 牺牲 for them a five-year-old bull 公牛 in honour of Jove the son of Saturn. They flayed the carcass 胴体, made it ready, and divided it into joints 共同的; these they cut carefully 小心 up into smaller pieces, putting them on the spits 吐, roasting 烤 them sufficiently 充分地, and then drawing them off. When they had done all this and had prepared the feast 盛会, they ate it, and every man had his full and equal share, so that all were satisfied, and King Agamemnon gave Ajax some slices 片 cut lengthways down the loin, as a mark of special honour. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, old Nestor whose 谁的 counsel 法律顾问 was ever truest began to speak; with all sincerity 诚意 and good‧will 善意, therefore, he addressed them thus:—

"Son of Atreus, and other chieftains, inasmuch as many of the Achaeans are now dead, whose blood Mars has shed by the banks of the Scamander, and their souls have gone down to the house of Hades, it will be well when morning comes that we should cease 停止 fighting; we will then wheel our dead together with oxen and mules 马骡 and burn them not far from the ships, that when we sail 航行；帆 hence 因此 we may take the bones 骨头 of our comrades 同志 home to their children. Hard by the funeral 葬礼 pyre we will build a barrow that shall be raised from the plain for all in common; near this let us set about building a high wall, to shelter ourselves 我们自己 and our ships, and let it have well-made gates that there may be a way through them for our chariots. Close outside we will dig 挖 a deep trench 沟 all round it to keep off both horse and foot, that the Trojan chieftains may not bear hard upon us."

Thus he spoke, and the princess 公主 shouted in applause 热烈鼓掌. Meanwhile 3 the Trojans held a council, angry and full of discord, on the acropolis by the gates of King Priam's palace 宫; and wise 明智的；聪明的 Antenor spoke. "Hear me," he said, "Trojans, Dardanians, and allies, that I may speak even as I am minded. Let us give up Argive Helen and her wealth 财产 to the sons of Atreus, for we are now fighting in violation 违反 of our solemn 庄严的 covenants 盟约, and shall not prosper 繁荣 till we have done as I say."

He then sat down and Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen rose to speak. "Antenor," said he, "your words are not to my liking; you can find a better saying than this if you will; if, however, you have spoken speak in good earnest 热心的, then indeed has heaven robbed 抢劫 you of your reason. I will speak plainly, and hereby 特此 notify 通知 to the Trojans that I will not give up the woman; but the wealth 财产 that I brought home with her from Argos I will restore 修复；使复位；使复职, and will add yet further of my own."

On this, when Paris had spoken and taken his seat, Priam of the race of Dardanus, peer 窥视 of gods in council, rose and with all sincerity 诚意 and good‧will 善意 addressed them thus: "Hear me, Trojans, Dardanians, and allies, that I may speak even as I am minded. Get your suppers 晚饭 now as hitherto 迄今 through‧out 始终 the city, but keep your watches and be wakeful. At day‧break 一天‧破；断 let Idaeus go to the ships, and tell Agamemnon and Menelaus sons of Atreus the saying of Alexandrus through whom this quarrel 争吵 has come about; and let him also be instant 瞬间 with them that they now cease 停止 fighting till we burn our dead; here‧after 此后 we will fight anew 重新, till heaven decide between us and give victory to one or to the other."

Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. They took supper 晚饭 in their companies and at day‧break 一天‧破；断 Idaeus went his way to the ships. He found the Danaans, servants of Mars, in council at the stern 严肃 of Agamemnon's ship, and took his place in the midst 中间 of them. "Son of Atreus," he said, "and princes 王子 of the Achaean host, Priam and the other noble Trojans have sent me to tell you the saying of Alexandrus through whom this quarrel 争吵 has come about, if so be that you may find it accept‧able 接受. All the treasure 金银财宝 he took with him in his ships to Troy—would that he had sooner perished 沦—he will restore 修复；使复位；使复职, and will add yet further of his own, but he will not give up the wedded 结婚 wife of Menelaus, though the Trojans would have him do so. Priam bade me inquire 打听 further if you will cease 停止 fighting till we burn our dead; here‧after 此后 we will fight anew 重新, till heaven decide between us and give victory to one or to the other."

They all held their peace, but presently Diomed of the loud war-cry spoke, saying, "Let there be no taking, neither treasure 金银财宝, nor yet Helen, for even a child may see that the doom 厄运 of the Trojans is at hand."

The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause 热烈鼓掌 at the words that Diomed had spoken, and thereon King Agamemnon said to Idaeus, "Idaeus, you have heard the answer the Achaeans make you-and I with them. But as concerning the dead, I give you leave to burn them, for when men are once dead there should be no grudging 怨恨 them the rites 仪式 of fire. Let Jove the mighty 威武 husband of Juno be witness to this covenant 盟约."

As he spoke he upheld his sceptre in the sight of all the gods, and Idaeus went back to the strong city of Ilius. The Trojans and Dardanians were gathered in council waiting his return; when he came, he stood in their midst 中间 and delivered his message. As soon as they heard it they set about their two‧fold 2‧折叠 labour, some to gather the corpses 尸体, and others to bring in wood. The Argives on their part also hastened 加速 from their ships, some to gather the corpses 尸体, and others to bring in wood.

The sun was beginning to beat upon the fields, fresh risen rise into the vault 拱顶 of heaven from the slow still currents of deep Oceanus, when the two armies met. They could hardly recognise their dead, but they washed the clotted 凝块 gore from off them, shed tears over them, and lifted them upon their waggons. Priam had forbidden 禁止:forbid the Trojans to wail 哀号 aloud 高声, so they heaped their dead sadly 悲哀的 and silently upon the pyre, and having burned them went back to the city of Ilius. The Achaeans in like manner heaped their dead sadly and silently on the pyre, and having burned them went back to their ships.

Now in the twilight 暮 when it was not yet dawn 黎明, chosen bands of the Achaeans were gathered round the pyre and built one barrow that was raised in common for all, and hard by this they built a high wall to shelter themselves and their ships; they gave it strong gates that there might be a way through them for their chariots, and close outside it they dug 挖:dig a trench 沟 deep and wide, and they planted it within with stakes 赌注.

Thus did the Achaeans toil 辛劳, and the gods, seated by the side of Jove the lord of lightning 闪电, marvelled 奇迹 at their great work; but Neptune, lord of the earthquake 地震, spoke, saying, "Father Jove, what mortal 凡人 in the whole world will again take the gods into his counsel 法律顾问? See you not how the Achaeans have built a wall about their ships and driven a trench 沟 all round it, without offering hecatombs to the gods? The fame of this wall will reach as far as dawn 黎明 itself 本身, and men will no longer think anything of the one which Phoebus Apollo and myself 我 built with so much labour for Laomedon."

Jove was displeased and answered, "What, O shaker of the earth, are you talking about? A god less powerful 强大 than your‧self 你自己 might be alarmed 警告 at what they are doing, but your fame reaches as far as dawn 黎明 itself 本身. Surely when the Achaeans have gone home with their ships, you can shatter 打碎 their wall and fling 一扔 it into the sea; you can cover the beach 海滩 with sand 沙 again, and the great wall of the Achaeans will then be utterly 完全 effaced."

Thus did they con‧verse 交谈, and by sunset 日落 the work of the Achaeans was completed; they then slaughtered 屠宰 oxen at their tents 帐篷 and got their supper 晚饭. Many ships had come with wine from Lemnos, sent by Euneus the son of Jason, born to him by Hypsipyle. The son of Jason freighted 货物 them with ten 十 thou‧sand 千 measures of wine, which he sent specially to the sons of Atreus, Agamemnon and Menelaus. From this supply the Achaeans bought buy their wine, some with bronze 青铜, some with iron, some with hides, some with whole heifers, and some again with captives 俘虏. They spread a goodly banquet 宴会 and feasted the whole night through, as also did the Trojans and their allies in the city. But all the time Jove boded them ill and roared 咆哮 with his portentous thunder 雷声. Pale fear got hold upon them, and they spilled 溢出:spill the wine from their cups on to the ground, nor did any dare 敢 drink till he had made offerings to the most mighty 威武 son of Saturn. Then they laid themselves down to rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep.

BOOK VIII

Jove forbids 禁止 the gods to interfere 干预 further—There is an even fight till midday 正午, but then Jove inclines 倾斜 the scales of victory in favour of the Trojans, who eventually 终于 chase 追 the Achaeans within their wall—Juno and Minerva set out to help the Trojans: Jove sends Iris to turn them back, but later on he promises Juno that she shall have her way in the end—Hector's triumph 胜利 is stayed by night‧fall 夜‧落下—The Trojans bivouac on the plain.

NOW when Morning, clad 包层的 in her robe 长袍 of saffron, had begun to suffuse light over the earth, Jove called the gods in council on the top‧most 顶‧最 crest 波峰 of serrated Olympus. Then he spoke and all the other gods gave ear. "Hear me," said he, "gods and goddesses 女神, that I may speak even as I am minded. Let none of you neither goddess 女神 nor god try to cross me, but obey 服从 me every one of you that I may bring this matter to an end. If I see anyone acting apart 相隔 and helping either Trojans or Danaans, he shall be beaten beat inordinately ere he come back again to Olympus; or I will hurl 投 him down into dark Tartarus far into the deepest pit 坑 under the earth, where the gates are iron and the floor bronze 青铜, as far beneath Hades as heaven is high above the earth, that you may learn how much the mightiest I am among you. Try me and find out for yourselves. Hangs me a golden chain from heaven, and lay hold of it all of you, gods and goddesses 女神 together—tug 拖船 as you will, you will not drag 拖拽 Jove the supreme 最高 counsellor from heaven to earth; but were I to pull at it myself 我 I should draw you up with earth and sea into the bar‧gain 讨价还价；交易, then would I bind the chain about some pinnacle of Olympus and leave you all dangling 吊着 in the mid 中 firmament. So far am I above all others either of gods or men."

They were frightened 使惊恐 and all of them of held their peace, for he had spoken master‧fully 主人；硕士‧完全地; but at last Minerva answered, "Father, son of Saturn, king of kings, we all know that your might is not to be gainsaid, but we are also sorry 对不起的 for the Danaan warriors 战士, who are perishing 沦 and coming to a bad end. We will, however, since you so bid 5 us, ref‧rain 副歌 from actual fighting, but we will make service‧able 服务‧能够的 suggestions 建议 to the Argives that they may not all of them perish 沦 in your displeasure."

Jove smiled at her and answered, "Take heart, my child, Trito-born; I am not really in earnest 热心的, and I wish to be kind to you."

With this he yoked his fleet 舰队 horses, with hoofs 蹄 of bronze 青铜 and manes of glittering 闪光 gold. He girded himself also with gold about the body, seized his gold whip 鞭打 and took his seat in his chariot. Thereon he lashed 睫毛 his horses and they flew fly forward nothing loth midway 中途 twixt earth and starry heaven. After a while he reached many-fountained 喷泉 Ida, mother of wild beasts 野兽, and Gargarus, where are his grove 树林 and fragrant altar 坛. There the father of gods and men stayed his horses, took them from the chariot, and hid hide them in a thick cloud; then he took his seat all glorious 辉煌 upon the top‧most 顶‧最 crests 波峰, looking down upon the city of Troy and the ships of the Achaeans.

The Achaeans took their morning meal 餐 hastily 草草 at the ships, and after‧ward 之后 put on their armour. The Trojans on the other hand like‧wise 同样 armed themselves through‧out 始终 the city, fewer in numbers but nevertheless 虽然 eager 渴望的 per‧force 每个；依照‧力 to do battle for their wives and children. All the gates were flung wide open, and horse and foot sallied forth with the tramp 流浪汉 as of a great multitude 苠.

When they were got together in one place, shield clashed 冲突 with shield, and spear 矛 with spear 矛, in the conflict 冲突 of mail-clad 包层的 men. Mighty was the din 吵闹 as the bossed 老板 shields 盾 pressed hard on one another—death—cry and shout of triumph 胜利 of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with blood.

Now so long as the day waxed 蜡 and it was still morning their weapons beat against one another, and the people fell, but when the sun had reached mid 中-heaven, the sire of all balanced his golden scales, and put two fates 命运 of death within them, one for the Trojans and the other for the Achaeans. He took the balance by the middle, and when he lifted it up the day of the Achaeans sank 淹没:sink; the death-fraught 误人子弟 scale of the Achaeans settled down upon the ground, while that of the Trojans rose heavenwards. Then he thundered 雷声 aloud 高声 from Ida, and sent the glare 强光 of his lightning 闪电 upon the Achaeans; when they saw this, pale fear fell upon them and they were sore 疼痛的 afraid.

Idomeneus dared 敢 not stay nor yet Agamemnon, nor did the two Ajaxes, servants of Mars, hold their ground. Nestor knight 骑士 of Gerene alone stood firm, bulwark of the Achaeans, not of his own will, but one of his horses was disabled 禁用. Alexandrus husband of lovely Helen had hit it with an arrow 箭头；矢 just on the top of its head where the mane begins to grow away from the skull 头骨, a very deadly place. The horse bounded 必定；跳 in his anguish 痛苦 as the arrow pierced 刺穿 his brain, and his struggles threw others into confusion 混乱. The old man instantly 瞬间 began cutting the traces 跟踪 with his sword 剑, but Hector's fleet 舰队 horses bore down upon him through the rout 大败 with their bold 胆大的；醒目的 charioteer, even Hector himself, and the old man would have perished 沦 there and then had not Diomed been quick to mark, and with a loud cry called Ulysses to help him.

"Ulysses," he cried, "noble son of Laertes where are you flying to, with your back turned like a coward 胆小鬼? See that you are not struck with a spear 矛 between the shoulders. Stay here and help me to defend Nestor from this man's furious 狂怒 onset 发病."

Ulysses would not give ear, but sped onward 向前 to the ships of the Achaeans, and the son of Tydeus flinging 一扔 himself alone into the thick of the fight took his stand before the horses of the son of Neleus. "Sir 3," said he, "these young warriors 战士 are pressing you hard, your force is spent spend, and age is heavy upon you, your squire is naught 零, and your horses are slow to move. Mount 增加 my chariot and see what the horses of Tros can do—how cleverly 聪明的 they can scud hither and thither over the plain either in flight 飞行 or in pursuit 追求. I took them from the hero 英雄 Aeneas. Let our squires attend to your own steeds, but let us drive mine straight at the Trojans, that Hector may learn how furiously 疯狂 I too can wield 挥 my spear 矛."

Nestor knight 骑士 of Gerene hearkened to his words. Thereon the doughty squires, Sthenelus and kind-hearted Eurymedon, saw to Nestor's horses, while the two both mounted 增加 Diomed's chariot. Nestor took the reins 缰绳 in his hands and lashed 睫毛 the horses on; they were soon close up with Hector, and the son of Tydeus aimed a spear 矛 at him as he was charging full speed towards them. He missed him, but struck his charioteer and squire Eniopeus son of noble Thebaeus in the breast 乳房 by the nipple 乳头 while the reins 缰绳 were in his hands, so that he died there and then, and the horses swerved as he fell head‧long 头；上端‧长的 from the chariot. Hector was greatly grieved 悼 at the loss of his charioteer, but let him lie for all his sorrow 悲痛, while he went in quest 寻求 of another driver; nor did his steeds have to go long without one, for he presently found brave Archeptolemus the son of Iphitus, and made him get up behind the horses, giving the reins 缰绳 into his hand.

All had then been lost and no help for it, for they would have been penned 笔 up in Ilius like sheep 羊, had not the sire of gods and men been quick to mark, and hurled 投 a fiery 火热 flaming 火焰 thunder‧bolt 雷声‧螺栓 which fell just in front of Diomed's horses with a flare 闪光 of burning brim‧stone 边‧石头. The horses were frightened and tried to back beneath the car, while the reins 缰绳 dropped from Nestor's hands. Then he was afraid and said to Diomed, "Son of Tydeus, turn your horses in flight 飞行; see you not that the hand of Jove is against you? To-day he vouchsafes victory to Hector; to-morrow, if it so please him, he will again grant 发放 it to ourselves 我们自己; no man, however brave, may thwart 阻挠 the purpose of Jove, for he is far stronger than any."

Diomed answered, "All that you have said is true; there is a grief 哀思 however which pierces 刺穿 me to the very heart, for Hector will talk among the Trojans and say, 'The son of Tydeus fled before me to the ships.' This is the vaunt he will make, and may earth then swallow 吞 me."

"Son of Tydeus," replied Nestor, "what mean you? Though Hector say that you are a coward 胆小鬼 the Trojans and Dardanians will not believe him, nor yet the wives of the mighty 威武 warriors 战士 whom you have laid low."

So saying he turned the horses back through the thick of the battle, and with a cry that rent 租；租金 the air the Trojans and Hector rained their darts 镖 after them. Hector shouted to him and said, "Son of Tydeus, the Danaans have done you honour hitherto 迄今 as regards your place at table, the meals 餐 they give you, and the filling of your cup with wine. Henceforth they will despise 讨厌 you, for you are become no better than a woman. Be off, girl and coward 4 that you are, you shall not scale our walls through any flinching upon my part; neither shall you carry off our wives in your ships, for I shall kill you with my own hand."

The son of Tydeus was in two minds whether or no to turn his horses round again and fight him. Thrice did he doubt, and thrice did Jove thunder 雷声 from the heights 高度 of Ida in token 代币 to the Trojans that he would turn the battle in their favour. Hector then shouted to them and said, "Trojans, Lycians, and Dardanians, lovers 情人 of close fighting, be men, my friends, and fight with might and with main; I see that Jove is minded to vouchsafe victory and great glory to myself 我, while he will deal destruction 破坏 upon the Danaans. Fools, for having thought of building this weak and worth‧less 无用 wall. It shall not stay my fury 愤怒; my horses will spring lightly over their trench 沟, and when I am at their ships forget not to bring me fire that I may burn them, while I slaughter 屠宰 the Argives who will be all dazed 迷乱 and bewildered 困惑 by the smoke."

Then he cried to his horses, "Xanthus and Podargus, and you Aethon and goodly Lampus, pay me for your keep now and for all the honey 蜜糖-sweet corn 玉米 with which Andromache daughter of great Eetion has fed you, and for she has mixed wine and water for you to drink when‧ever 随时 you would, before doing so even for me who am her own husband. Haste in pursuit 追求, that we may take the shield of Nestor, the fame of which ascends 登 to heaven, for it is of solid gold, arm-rods 杆 and all, and that we may strip from the shoulders of Diomed the cuirass which Vulcan made him. Could we take these two things, the Achaeans would set sail 航行；帆 in their ships this self-same night."

Thus did he vaunt, but Queen Juno made high Olympus quake as she shook with rage 愤怒 upon her throne 王座. Then said she to the mighty 威武 god of Neptune, "What now, wide ruling lord of the earthquake 地震? Can you find no compassion 同情 in your heart for the dying Danaans, who bring you many a welcome offering to Helice and to Aegae? Wish them well then. If all of us who are with the Danaans were to drive the Trojans back and keep Jove from helping them, he would have to sit there sulking alone on Ida."

King Neptune was greatly troubled and answered, "Juno, rash 皮疹 of tongue 舌头, what are you talking about? We other gods must not set ourselves 我们自己 against Jove, for he is far stronger than we are."

Thus did they con‧verse 交谈; but the whole space enclosed 围起来 by the ditch 沟渠, from the ships even to the wall, was filled with horses and warriors 战士, who were pent up there by Hector son of Priam, now that the hand of Jove was with him. He would even have set fire to the ships and burned them, had not Queen Juno put it into the mind of Agamemnon, to bestir himself and to encourage the Achaeans. To this end he went round the ships and tents carrying a great purple 紫色的 cloak 披风, and took his stand by the huge 巨大 black hull 船壳 of Ulysses' ship, which was middle‧most 中部‧最 of all; it was from this place that his voice would carry farthest, on the one hand towards the tents of Ajax son of Telamon, and on the other towards those of Achilles—for these two heroes, well assured 向…保证；肯定地说 of their own strength, had valorously drawn draw up their ships at the two ends of the line. From this spot then, with a voice that could be heard afar, he shouted to the Danaans, saying, "Argives, shame 羞愧 on you cowardly creatures 动物；生物, brave in semblance only; where are now our vaunts that we should prove victorious—the vaunts we made so vaingloriously in Lemnos, when we ate the flesh 肉 of horned 角；喇叭 cattle and filled our mixing-bowls 碗 to the brim 边? You vowed 发誓 that you would each of you stand against a hundred 百 or two hundred 百 men, and now you prove no match even for one—for Hector, who will be ere long setting our ships in a blaze 火焰. Father Jove, did you ever so ruin 破坏 a great king and rob 抢劫 him so utterly 完全 of his greatness 伟大? Yet, when to my sorrow 悲痛 I was coming hither, I never let my ship pass your altars 坛 without offering the fat and thigh 大腿-bones of heifers upon every one of them, so eager was I to sack 解雇 the city of Troy. Vouchsafe me then this prayer—suffer us to escape at any rate with our lives, and let not the Achaeans be so utterly 完全 vanquished by the Trojans."

Thus did he pray, and father Jove pitying 怜悯 his tears vouchsafed him that his people should live, not die; forth‧with 向前‧和 he sent them an eagle 鹰, most unfailingly portentous of all birds, with a young fawn in its talons; the eagle 鹰 dropped the fawn by the altar 坛 on which the Achaeans sacrificed to Jove the lord of omens; when, therefore, the people saw that the bird had come from Jove, they sprang more fiercely upon the Trojans and fought more boldly 胆大的；醒目的.

There was no man of all the many Danaans who could then boast 自夸 that he had driven his horses over the trench 沟 and gone forth to fight sooner than the son of Tydeus; long before any one else could do so he slew an armed warrior 战士 of the Trojans, Agelaus the son of Phradmon. He had turned his horses in flight 飞行, but the spear 矛 struck him in the back midway 中途 between his shoulders and went right through his chest 胸部, and his armour rang rattling 霸王鞭 round him as he fell forward from his chariot.

After him came Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus, the two Ajaxes clothed in valour as with a garment 服装, Idomeneus and his companion 同伴 in arms Meriones, peer 窥视 of murderous 杀 Mars, and Eurypylus the brave son of Euaemon. Ninth came Teucer with his bow 弓, and took his place under cover of the shield of Ajax son of Telamon. When Ajax lifted his shield Teucer would peer 窥视 round, and when he had hit any one in the throng 人群, the man would fall dead; then Teucer would hie back to Ajax as a child to its mother, and again duck 鸭子 down under his shield.

Which of the Trojans did brave Teucer first kill? Orsilochus, and then Ormenus and Ophelestes, Daetor, Chromius, and god‧like 上帝‧喜欢；象 Lycophontes, Amopaon son of Polyaemon, and Melanippus. All these in turn did he lay low upon the earth, and King Agamemnon was glad when he saw him making havoc 浩劫 of the Trojans with his mighty 威武 bow 3. He went up to him and said, "Teucer, man after my own heart, son of Telamon, captain among the host, shoot on, and be at once the saving of the Danaans and the glory of your father Telamon, who brought you up and took care of you in his own house when you were a child, bastard 混蛋 though you were. Cover him with glory though he is far off; I will promise and I will assuredly perform; if aegis-bearing Jove and Minerva grant 发放 me to sack 解雇 the city of Ilius, you shall have the next best meed of honour after my own—a tripod, or two horses with their chariot, or a woman who shall go up into your bed."

And Teucer answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, you need not urge me; from the moment we began to drive them back to Ilius, I have never ceased 停止 so far as in me lies to look out for men whom I can shoot and kill; I have shot shoot eight 八 barbed 倒钩 shafts 轴, and all of them have been buried in the flesh 肉 of war‧like 战争‧喜欢；象 youths, but this mad dog I cannot hit."

As he spoke he aimed another arrow 箭头；矢 straight at Hector, for he was bent bend on hitting him; nevertheless 虽然 he missed him, and the arrow 3 hit Priam's brave son Gorgythion in the breast 乳房. His mother, fair Castianeira, lovely as a goddess 女神, had been married from Aesyme, and now he bowed 弓 his head as a garden poppy 罂粟 in full bloom 盛开 when it is weighed 称重 down by showers 阵雨 in spring—even thus heavy bowed his head beneath the weight of his helmet 头盔.

Again he aimed at Hector, for he was longing to hit him, and again his arrow missed, for Apollo turned it aside; but he hit Hector's brave charioteer Archeptolemus in the breast 乳房, by the nipple 乳头, as he was driving furiously 疯狂 into the fight. The horses swerved aside as he fell head‧long 头；上端‧长的 from the chariot, and there was no life left in him. Hector was greatly grieved 悼 at the loss of his charioteer, but for all his sorrow 悲痛 he let him lie where he fell, and bade his brother Cebriones, who was hard by, take the reins 缰绳. Cebriones did as he had said. Hector thereon with a loud cry sprang from his chariot to the ground, and seizing 抓住 a great stone made straight for Teucer with intent 意图 to kill him. Teucer had just taken an arrow from his quiver 颤动 and had laid it upon the bow-string 绳子, but Hector struck him with the jagged 乱切 stone as he was taking aim and drawing the string to his shoulder; he hit him just where the collar 衣领-bone 骨头 divides the neck from the chest, a very deadly place, and broke the sinew of his arm so that his wrist 腕 was less, and the bow dropped from his hand as he fell forward on his knees. Ajax saw that his brother had fallen, and running towards him bestrode him and sheltered him with his shield. Meanwhile his two trusty squires, Mecisteus son of Echius, and Alastor, came up and bore him to the ships groaning 呻吟 in his great pain.

Jove now again put heart into the Trojans, and they drove the Achaeans to their deep trench 沟 with Hector in all his glory at their head. As a hound 猎犬 grips 握 a wild boar 公猪 or lion 狮子 in flank 侧翼 or buttock when he gives him chase 追, and watches warily 警惕 for his wheeling, even so did Hector follow close upon the Achaeans, ever killing the hindmost as they rushed 仓促 panic 恐慌-stricken onwards 向前. When they had fled through the set stakes 赌注 and trench 沟 and many Achaeans had been laid low at the hands of the Trojans, they halted 停 at their ships, calling upon one another and praying every man instantly as they lifted up their hands to the gods; but Hector wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring 强光 like those of Gorgo or murderous 杀 Mars.

Juno when she saw them had pity upon them, and at once said to Minerva, "Alas, child of aegis-bearing Jove, shall you and I take no more thought for the dying Danaans, though it be the last time we ever do so? See how they perish 沦 and come to a bad end before the onset 发病 of but a single man. Hector the son of Priam rages 愤怒 with intolerable 无法忍受 fury 愤怒, and has already done great mischief 恶作剧."

Minerva answered, "Would, indeed, this fellow might die in his own land, and fall by the hands of the Achaeans; but my father Jove is mad with spleen, ever foiling 挫败 me, ever head‧strong 头；上端‧强的 and unjust 不公. He forgets how often I saved his son when he was worn wear out by the labours Eurystheus had laid on him. He would weep till his cry came up to heaven, and then Jove would send me down to help him; if I had had the sense to fore‧see 预料 all this, when Eurystheus sent him to the house of Hades, to fetch 取 the hell 地狱-hound 猎犬 from Erebus, he would never have come back alive out of the deep waters of the river Styx. And now Jove hates me, while he lets Thetis have her way because she kissed his knees and took hold of his beard 胡须, when she was begging him to do honour to Achilles. I shall know what to do next time he begins calling me his grey 灰色:gray-eyed darling 宠儿. Get our horses ready, while I go within the house of aegis-bearing Jove and put on my armour; we shall then find out whether Priam's son Hector will be glad to meet us in the high‧way 公路 of battle, or whether the Trojans will glut hounds 猎犬 and vultures with the fat of their flesh as they be dead by the ships of the Achaeans."

Thus did she speak and white-armed Juno, daughter of great Saturn, obeyed 服从 her words; she set about harnessing 马具 her gold-bedizened steeds, while Minerva daughter of aegis-bearing Jove flung her richly vesture, made with her own hands, on to the threshold 阈 of her father, and donned the shirt 衬衫 of Jove, arming her‧self 她自己 for battle. Then she stepped into her flaming chariot, and grasped 把握 the spear 矛 so stout 肥硕 and sturdy 粗壮 and strong with which she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her. Juno lashed 睫毛 her horses, and the gates of heaven bellowed 怒吼 as they flew open of their own accord—gates over which the Hours pre‧side 主持, in whose 4 hands are heaven and Olympus, either to open the dense 稠密 cloud that hides them or to close it. Through these the goddesses 女神 drove their obedient 顺从的 steeds.

But father Jove when he saw them from Ida was very angry, and sent winged 翅膀 Iris with a message to them. "Go," said he, "fleet 舰队 Iris, turn them back, and see that they do not come near me, for if we come to fighting there will be mischief 恶作剧. This is what I say, and this is what I mean to do. I will lame 瘸 their horses for them; I will hurl 投 them from their chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take them all ten 十 years to heal 治愈 the wounds 创伤 my lightning 闪电 shall inflict 造成 upon them; my grey 灰色:gray-eyed daughter will then learn what quarrelling 争吵 with her father means. I am less surprised and angry with Juno, for whatever I say she always contradicts 顶撞 me."

With this Iris went her way, fleet 舰队 as the wind, from the heights of Ida to the lofty 高远 summits 首脑 of Olympus. She met the goddesses 女神 at the outer gates of its many valleys and gave them her message. "What," said she, "are you about? Are you mad? The son of Saturn forbids going. This is what he says, and this is what he means to do, he will lame 瘸 your horses for you, he will hurl 投 you from your chariot, and will break it in pieces. It will take you all ten 十 years to heal the wounds his lightning 闪电 will inflict 造成 upon you, that you may learn, grey 灰色:gray-eyed goddess 女神, what quarrelling with your father means. He is less hurt 损害 and angry with Juno, for whatever he says she always contradicts 顶撞 him but you, bold 胆大的；醒目的 hussy, will you really dare to raise your huge 巨大 spear 矛 in defiance 蔑视 of Jove?"

With this she left them, and Juno said to Minerva, "Of a truth, child of aegis-bearing Jove, I am not for fighting men's battles further in defiance 蔑视 of Jove. Let them live or die as luck will have it, and let Jove mete out his judgements upon the Trojans and Danaans according to his own pleasure."

She turned her steeds; the Hours presently unyoked them, made them fast to their ambrosial mangers, and leaned lean the chariot against the end wall of the court‧yard 庭院. The two goddesses 女神 then sat down upon their golden thrones 王座, amid 际 the company of the other gods; but they were very angry.

Presently father Jove drove his chariot to Olympus, and entered the assembly 部件 of gods. The mighty 威武 lord of the earthquake 地震 unyoked his horses for him, set the car upon its stand, and threw a cloth 布 over it. Jove then sat down upon his golden throne 王座 and Olympus reeled 卷轴 beneath him. Minerva and Juno sat alone, apart 相隔 from Jove, and neither spoke nor asked him questions, but Jove knew what they meant, and said, "Minerva and Juno, why are you so angry? Are you fatigued 疲劳 with killing so many of your dear friends the Trojans? Be this as it may, such is the might of my hands that all the gods in Olympus cannot turn me; you were both of you trembling 发抖 all over ere ever you saw the fight and its terrible doings. I tell you therefore-and it would have surely been—I should have struck you with lightning 闪电, and your chariots would never have brought you back again to Olympus."

Minerva and Juno groaned 呻吟 in spirit as they sat side by side and brooded 窝 mischief 恶作剧 for the Trojans. Minerva sat silent without a word, for she was in a furious 狂怒 passion 激情，热情；强烈情感 and bitterly incensed 香 against her father; but Juno could not contain her‧self 她自己 and said, "What, dread 恐惧 son of Saturn, are you talking about? We know how great your power is, nevertheless 虽然 we have compassion 同情 upon the Danaan warriors 战士 who are perishing 沦 and coming to a bad end. We will, however, since you so bid us, ref‧rain 副歌 from actual fighting, but we will make service‧able 服务‧能够的 suggestions to the Argives, that they may not all of them perish 沦 in your displeasure."

And Jove answered, "To-morrow morning, Juno, if you choose to do so, you will see the son of Saturn destroying large numbers of the Argives, for fierce 凶猛的 Hector shall not cease 停止 fighting till he has roused 唤醒 the son of Peleus when they are fighting in dire 可怕的 straits at their ships' sterns 严肃 about the body of Patroclus. Like it or no, this is how it is decreed 法令; for aught I care, you may go to the lowest depths beneath earth and sea, where Iapetus and Saturn dwell 住 in lone 孤单 Tartarus with neither ray 光束 of light nor breath of wind to cheer 欢呼 them. You may go on and on till you get there, and I shall not care one whit for your displeasure; you are the greatest vixen living."

Juno made him no answer. The sun's glorious 辉煌 orb now sank into Oceanus and drew down night over the land. Sorry 对不起的 indeed were the Trojans when light failed them, but welcome and thrice prayed for did darkness 黑暗 fall upon the Achaeans.

Then Hector led the Trojans back from the ships, and held a council on the open space near the river, where there was a spot clear of corpses 尸体. They left their chariots and sat down on the ground to hear the speech he made them. He grasped 把握 a spear 矛 eleven 十一 cubits long, the bronze 青铜 point of which gleamed 闪光 in front of it, while the ring round the spear 矛-head was of gold. Spear in hand he spoke. "Hear me," said he, "Trojans, Dardanians, and allies. I deemed 认为 but now that I should destroy the ships and all the Achaeans with them ere I went back to Ilius, but darkness 黑暗 came on too soon. It was this alone that saved them and their ships upon the sea‧shore 海‧岸. Now, therefore, let us obey 服从 the behests of night, and prepare our suppers. Take your horses out of their chariots and give them their feeds of corn; then make speed to bring sheep 3 and cattle from the city; bring wine also and corn for your horses and gather much wood, that from dark till dawn 黎明 we may burn watchfires whose 5 flare 闪光 may reach to heaven. For the Achaeans may try to fly beyond the sea by night, and they must not embark 从事 scatheless and unmolested; many a man among them must take a dart 镖 with him to nurse at home, hit with spear 矛 or arrow as he is leaping 飞跃 on board his ship, that others may fear to bring war and weeping 哭泣 upon the Trojans. Moreover let the heralds 先锋 tell it about the city that the growing youths and grey 灰色:gray-bearded 胡须 men are to camp upon its heaven-built walls. Let the women each of them light a great fire in her house, and let watch be safely kept lest 免得 the town be entered by surprise while the host is outside. See to it, brave Trojans, as I have said, and let this suffice 满足 for the moment; at day‧break 一天‧破；断 I will instruct 指导 you further. I pray in hope to Jove and to the gods that we may then drive those fate 命运-sped hounds 猎犬 from our land, for 'tis TI the fates that have borne them and their ships hither. This night, therefore, let us keep watch, but with early morning let us put on our armour and rouse 唤醒 fierce 凶猛的 war at the ships of the Achaeans; I shall then know whether brave Diomed the son of Tydeus will drive me back from the ships to the wall, or whether I shall myself 我 slay 诛戮 him and carry off his bloodstained spoils. To-morrow let him show his mettle, abide 遵守 my spear 矛 if he dare. I ween that at break of day, he shall be among the first to fall and many another of his comrades 同志 round him. Would that I were as sure of being immortal 不朽 and never growing old, and of being worshipped 崇拜 like Minerva and Apollo, as I am that this day will bring evil to the Argives."

Thus spoke Hector and the Trojans shouted applause 热烈鼓掌. They took their sweating 流汗 steeds from under the yoke, and made them fast each by his own chariot. They made haste to bring sheep and cattle from the city, they brought wine also and corn from their houses and gathered much wood. They then offered unblemished hecatombs to the immortals 不朽, and the wind carried the sweet savour of sacrifice to heaven—but the blessed gods partook not thereof 其, for they bitterly hated Ilius with Priam and Priam's people. Thus high in hope they sat through the live‧long 生活；住；有生命的‧长的 night by the highways of war, and many a watch‧fire 钟表；注视‧火 did they kindle. As when the stars shine 发光 clear, and the moon is bright—there is not a breath of air, not a peak 峰 nor glade nor jutting 突出部分 head‧land 头；上端‧陆地；着陆 but it stands out in the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene 安详 of heaven; the stars can all of them be told and the heart of the shepherd 牧羊人 is glad—even thus shone 发光:shine the watchfires of the Trojans before Ilius midway 中途 between the ships and the river Xanthus. A thou‧sand 千 camp-fires gleamed 闪光 upon the plain, and in the glow 辉光 of each there sat fifty 五十 men, while the horses, champing 冠军 oats 燕麦 and corn beside their chariots, waited till dawn 黎明 should come.

BOOK IX

The Embassy to Achilles.

THUS did the Trojans watch. But Panic, comrade 同志 of blood-stained Rout, had taken fast hold of the Achaeans, and their princes 王子 were all of them in despair 绝望. As when the two winds that blow from Thrace—the north and the north‧west 西北—spring up of a sudden and rouse 唤醒 the fury 愤怒 of the main—in a moment the dark waves uprear their heads and scatter 散落 their sea-wrack in all directions—even thus troubled were the hearts of the Achaeans.

The son of Atreus in dismay 沮丧 bade the heralds 先锋 call the people to a council man by man, but not to cry the matter aloud 4; he made haste also himself to call them, and they sat sorry at heart in their assembly 部件. Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or cataract on the side of some sheer cliff 悬崖; and thus, with many a heavy sigh 叹 he spoke to the Achaeans. "My friends," said he, "princes 王子 and councillors of the Argives, the hand of heaven has been laid heavily 很大，沉重地 upon me. Cruel 残酷的 Jove gave me his solemn 庄严的 promise that I should sack 解雇 the city of Troy before returning, but he has played me false 虚伪的, and is now bidding me go ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of much people. Such is the will of Jove, who has laid many a proud city in the dust as he will yet lay others, for his power is above all. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say and sail back to our own country, for we shall not take Troy."

Thus he spoke, and the sons of the Achaeans for a long while sat sorrowful there, but they all held their peace, till at last Diomed of the loud battle-cry made answer saying, "Son of Atreus, I will chide your folly 蠢事, as is my right in council. Be not then aggrieved that I should do so. In the first place you attacked me before all the Danaans and said that I was a coward 5 and no soldier. The Argives young and old know that you did so. But the son of scheming 方案 Saturn endowed 赋予 you by halves 对分 only. He gave you honour as the chief ruler over us, but valour, which is the highest both right and might he did not give you. Sir, think you that the sons of the Achaeans are indeed as unwarlike and cowardly as you say they are? If your own mind is set upon going home—go—the way is open to you; the many ships that followed you from Mycene stand ranged upon the sea‧shore 海‧岸; but the rest of us stay here till we have sacked 解雇 Troy. Nay though these too should turn home‧ward 家‧病房 with their ships, Sthenelus and myself 我 will still fight on till we reach the goal 目标 of Ilius, for heaven was with us when we came."

The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause 热烈鼓掌 at the words of Diomed, and presently Nestor rose to speak. "Son of Tydeus," said he, "in war your prowess 实力 is beyond question, and in council you excel 高强 all who are of your own years; no one of the Achaeans can make light of what you say nor gain‧say 获得‧说 it, but you have not yet come to the end of the whole matter. You are still young—you might be the youngest of my own children—still you have spoken wisely 明智的；聪明的 and have counselled 法律顾问 the chief of the Achaeans not without discretion 慎重; nevertheless 虽然 I am older than you and I will tell you everything; therefore let no man, not even King Agamemnon, disregard 不顾 my saying, for he that foments civil 国内 discord is a clan‧less 氏族‧少, hearth‧less 炉‧少 outlaw 取缔.

"Now, however, let us obey 服从 the behests of night and get our suppers, but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the trench 沟 that is without the wall. I am giving these instructions 指令 to the young men; when they have been attended to, do you, son of Atreus, give your orders, for you are the most royal 王国的 among us all. Prepare a feast 盛会 for your councillors; it is right and reasonable that you should do so; there is abundance 丰富 of wine in your tents, which the ships of the Achaeans bring from Thrace daily. You have everything at your disposal 处置 where‧with 哪里‧和 to entertain guests, and you have many subjects. When many are got together, you can be guided by him whose counsel 法律顾问 is wisest—and sorely 疼痛的 do we need shrewd 精明 and prudent 谨慎 counsel 法律顾问, for the foe 敌人 has lit his watchfires hard by our ships. Who can be other than dismayed 沮丧? This night will either be the ruin 破坏 of our host, or save it."

Thus did he speak, and they did even as he had said. The sentinels went out in their armour under command of Nestor's son Thrasymedes, a captain of the host, and of the bold 胆大的；醒目的 warriors 战士 Ascalaphus and Ialmenus: there were also Meriones, Aphareus and Deipyrus, and the son of Creion, noble Lycomedes. There were seven 七 captains of the sentinels, and with each there went a hundred 百 youths armed with long spears 矛: they took their places midway 中途 between the trench 沟 and the wall, and when they had done so they lit their fires and got every man his supper 晚饭.

The son of Atreus then bade many councillors of the Achaeans to his quarters and prepared a great feast 盛会 in their honour. They laid their hands on the good things that were before them, and as soon as they had enough to eat and drink, old Nestor, whose counsel 法律顾问 was ever truest, was the first to lay his mind before them. He, therefore, with all sincerity 诚意 and good‧will 善意 addressed them thus.

"With your‧self 你自己, most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, will I both begin my speech and end it, for you are king over much people. Jove, moreover, has vouchsafed you to wield 挥 the sceptre and to uphold 坚持 righteousness, that you may take thought for your people under you; therefore it behooves you above all others both to speak and to give ear, and to out the counsel 法律顾问 of another who shall have been minded to speak wisely. All turns on you and on your commands, therefore I will say what I think will be best. No man will be of a truer mind than that which has been mine from the hour when you, sir, angered Achilles by taking the girl Briseis from his tent 帐篷 against my judgment 判断. I urged you not to do so, but you yielded to your own pride 自尊, and dishonoured a hero 3 whom heaven itself 本身 had honoured—for you still hold the prize 奖赏 that had been awarded 奖 to him. Now, however, let us think how we may appease him, both with presents and fair speeches that may conciliate him."

And King Agamemnon answered, "Sir, you have reproved my folly 蠢事 justly. I was wrong. I own it. One whom heaven befriends is in himself a host, and Jove has shown that he befriends this man by destroying much people of the Achaeans. I was blinded with passion 激情，热情；强烈情感 and yielded to my worser mind; therefore I will make amends 修改, and will give him great gifts 赠品 by way of atonement. I will tell them in the presence of you all. I will give him seven 七 tripods that have never yet been on the fire, and ten 十 talents 天赋 of gold. I will give him twenty 二十 iron cauldrons and twelve 十二 strong horses that have won win races and carried off prizes 奖赏. Rich, indeed, both in land and gold is he that has as many prizes as my horses have won me. I will give him seven 七 excellent workwomen, Lesbians, whom I chose choose for myself 我 when he took Lesbos—all of surpassing 超过 beauty. I will give him these, and with them her whom I erewhile took from him, the daughter of Briseus; and I swear 发誓 a great oath 誓言 that I never went up into her couch 长椅, nor have been with her after the manner of men and women.

"All these things will I give him now, and if here‧after 此后 the gods vouchsafe me to sack 解雇 the city of Priam, let him come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil 损坏；变质, and load his ship with gold and bronze 青铜 to his liking; further‧more 此外 let him take twenty 二十 Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen her‧self 她自己. Then, when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, he shall be my son-in-law and I will show him like honour with my own dear son Orestes, who is being nurtured 培育 in all abundance 丰富. I have three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodice, and Iphianassa, let him take the one of his choice, freely and without gifts of wooing 求爱, to the house of Peleus; I will add such dower to boot 靴；鞋 as no man ever yet gave his daughter, and will give him seven 七 well established 建立 cities, Cardamyle, Enope, and Hire 聘用, where there is grass 草; holy 神圣的 Pherae and the rich meadows 草地 of Anthea; Aepea also, and the vine 藤蔓-clad 包层的 slopes of Pedasus, all near the sea, and on the borders 边；界 of sandy 沙 Pylos. The men that dwell 住 there are rich in cattle and sheep; they will honour him with gifts as though he were a god, and be obedient 顺从的 to his comfort‧able 舒服；自在 ordinances 条例. All this will I do if he will now forgo his anger 生气. Let him then yield; it is only Hades who is utterly 完全 ruthless 无情 and unyielding—and hence 因此 he is of all gods the one most hateful to mankind. Moreover I am older and more royal 王国的 than himself. Therefore, let him now obey 3 me."

Then Nestor answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon. The gifts you offer are no small ones, let us then send chosen messengers, who may go to the tent 帐篷 of Achilles son of Peleus without delay 延迟. Let those go whom I shall name. Let Phoenix, dear to Jove, lead the way; let Ajax and Ulysses follow, and let the heralds 先锋 Odius and Eurybates go with them. Now bring water for our hands, and bid all keep silence while we pray to Jove the son of Saturn, if so be that he may have mercy 宽容 upon us."

Thus did he speak, and his saying pleased them well. Men-servants poured 淋；倒 water over the hands of the guests, while pages filled the mixing-bowls with wine and water, and handed it round after giving every man his drink-offering; then, when they had made their offerings, and had drunk drink each as much as he was minded, the envoys 使者 set out from the tent 帐篷 of Agamemnon son of Atreus; and Nestor, looking first to one and then to another, but most especially at Ulysses, was instant 瞬间 with them that they should prevail 战胜 with the noble son of Peleus.

They went their way by the shore of the sounding sea, and prayed ear‧nest 热心的 to earth-encircling 包围 Neptune that the high spirit of the son of Aeacus might incline 倾斜 favourably towards them. When they reached the ships and tents of the Myrmidons, they found Achilles playing on a lyre, fair, of cunning 狡猾 workman‧ship 工人‧船, and its cross-bar was of silver 银. It was part of the spoils which he had taken when he sacked 解雇 the city of Eetion, and he was now diverting 转移 himself with it and singing the feats 功绩 of heroes. He was alone with Patroclus, who sat opposite to him and said nothing, waiting till he should cease 停止 singing. Ulysses and Ajax now came in—Ulysses leading the way—and stood before him. Achilles sprang from his seat with the lyre still in his hand, and Patroclus, when he saw the strangers 陌生人, rose also. Achilles then greeted 欢迎 them saying, "All hail 冰雹 and welcome—you must come upon some great matter, you, who for all my anger are still dearest to me of the Achaeans."

With this he led them forward, and bade them sit on seats covered with purple 紫色的 rugs 小块地毯; then he said to Patroclus who was close by him, "Son of Menoetius, set a larger bowl 碗 upon the table, mix less water with the wine, and give every man his cup, for these are very dear friends, who are now under my roof."

Patroclus did as his comrade 同志 bade him; he set the chopping 劈-block in front of the fire, and on it he laid the loin of a sheep, the loin also of a goat 山羊, and the chine of a fat hog 豕. Automedon held the meat 肉 while Achilles chopped 劈 it; he then sliced 片 the pieces and put them on spits while the son of Menoetius made the fire burn high. When the flame 火焰 had died down, he spread the embers, laid the spits on top of them, lifting them up and setting them upon the spit 吐-racks 架; and he sprinkled 撒 them with salt. When the meat was roasted 烤, he set it on platters, and handed bread 面包 round the table in fair baskets 篮, while Achilles dealt deal them their portions 一部分；一份. Then Achilles took his seat facing Ulysses against the opposite wall, and bade his comrade 同志 Patroclus offer sacrifice to the gods; so he cast 投 the offerings into the fire, and they laid their hands upon the good things that were before them. As soon as they had had enough to eat and drink, Ajax made a sign to Phoenix, and when he saw this, Ulysses filled his cup with wine and pledged 保证 Achilles.

"Hail," said he, "Achilles, we have had no scant 很少的 of good cheer 欢呼, neither in the tent 3 of Agamemnon, nor yet here; there has been plenty to eat and drink, but our thought turns upon no such matter. Sir, we are in the face of great disaster 灾难，大祸, and without your help know not whether we shall save our fleet 舰队 or lose it. The Trojans and their allies have camped hard by our ships and by the wall; they have lit watchfires through‧out 始终 their host and deem 认为 that nothing can now prevent them from falling on our fleet 舰队. Jove, moreover, has sent his lightnings 闪电 on their right; Hector, in all his glory, rages 愤怒 like a maniac; confident 确信的 that Jove is with him he fears neither god nor man, but is gone raving 狂欢 mad, and prays for the approach of day. He vows 发誓 that he will hew the high sterns 严肃 of our ships in pieces, set fire to their hulls 船壳, and make havoc 浩劫 of the Achaeans while they are dazed 迷乱 and smothered 扼杀 in smoke; I much fear that heaven will make good his boasting 自夸, and it will prove our lot to perish 沦 at Troy far from our home in Argos. Up, then, and late though it be, save the sons of the Achaeans who faint 微弱的 before the fury 愤怒 of the Trojans. You will repent bitterly here‧after 此后 if you do not, for when the harm 损害 is done there will be no curing 治愈 it; consider ere it be too late, and save the Danaans from destruction 3.

"My good friend, when your father Peleus sent you from Phthia to Agamemnon, did he not charge you saying, 'Son, Minerva and Juno will make you strong if they choose, but check your high temper 性情, for the better part is in good‧will 善意. Eschew vain 徒劳的 quarrelling, and the Achaeans old and young will respect you more for doing so.' These were his words, but you have forgotten them. Even now, however, be appeased, and put away your anger from you. Agamemnon will make you great amends 修改 if you will for‧give 原谅 him; listen, and I will tell you what he has said in his tent that he will give you. He will give you seven 七 tripods that have never yet been on the fire, and ten 十 talents 天赋 of gold; twenty 二十 iron cauldrons, and twelve 十二 strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes. Rich indeed both in land and gold is he who has as many prizes as these horses have won for Agamemnon. Moreover he will give you seven 七 excellent workwomen, Lesbians, whom he chose for himself, when you took Lesbos—all of surpassing 超过 beauty. He will give you these, and with them her whom he erewhile took from you, the daughter of Briseus, and he will swear 发誓 a great oath 誓言, he has never gone up into her couch 长椅 nor been with her after the manner of men and women. All these things will he give you now down, and if here‧after 此后 the gods vouchsafe him to sack 解雇 the city of Priam, you can come when we Achaeans are dividing the spoil 4, and load your ship with gold and bronze 青铜 to your liking. You can take twenty 二十 Trojan women, the loveliest after Helen her‧self 她自己. Then, when we reach Achaean Argos, wealthiest of all lands, you shall be his son-in-law, and he will show you like honour with his own dear son Orestes, who is being nurtured 培育 in all abundance 丰富. Agamemnon has three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodice, and Iphianassa; you may take the one of your choice, freely and without gifts of wooing 求爱, to the house of Peleus; he will add such dower to boot 靴；鞋 as no man ever yet gave his daughter, and will give you seven 七 well-established 建立 cities, Cardamyle, Enope, and Hire 聘用 where there is grass 草; holy Pheras and the rich meadows 草地 of Anthea; Aepea also, and the vine 藤蔓-clad 包层的 slopes of Pedasus, all near the sea, and on the borders of sandy 沙 Pylos. The men that dwell 住 there are rich in cattle and sheep; they will honour you with gifts as though were a god, and be obedient 顺从的 to your comfort‧able 舒服；自在 ordinances 条例. All this will he do if you will now forgo your anger. Moreover, though you hate both him and his gifts with all your heart, yet pity the rest of the Achaeans who are being harassed 骚扰 in all their host; they will honour you as a god, and you will earn great glory at their hands. You might even kill Hector; he will come within your reach, for he is infatuated, and declares that not a Danaan whom the ships have brought can hold his own against him."

Achilles answered, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, I should give you formal notice plainly and in all fixity of purpose that there be no more of this cajoling, from whatsoever 任何 quarter it may come. Him do I hate even as the gates of hell 地狱 who says one thing while he hides another in his heart; therefore I will say what I mean. I will be appeased neither by Agamemnon son of Atreus nor by any other of the Danaans, for I see that I have no thanks for all my fighting. He that fights fares 票价 no better than he that does not; coward and hero are held in equal honour, and death deals like measure to him who works and him who is idle 无意义的. I have taken nothing by all my hard‧ship 苦—with my life ever in my hand; as a bird when she has found a morsel takes it to her nestlings 贴近, and her‧self 她自己 fares 票价 hardly, even so many a long night have I been wakeful, and many a bloody 血腥的；该死的；他妈的 battle have I waged by day against those who were fighting for their women. With my ships I have taken twelve 十二 cities, and eleven 十一 round about Troy have I stormed 暴风雨 with my men by land; I took great store of wealth 财产 from every one of them, but I gave all up to Agamemnon son of Atreus. He stayed where he was by his ships, yet of what came to him he gave little, and kept much himself.

"Nevertheless 虽然 he did distribute 分发 some meeds of honour among the chieftains and kings, and these have them still; from me alone of the Achaeans did he take the woman in whom I delighted—let him keep her and sleep with her. Why, pray, must the Argives needs fight the Trojans? What made the son of Atreus gather the host and bring them? Was it not for the sake 缘故 of Helen? Are the sons of Atreus the only men in the world who love their wives? Any man of common right feeling will love and cherish 珍视 her who is his own, as I this woman, with my whole heart, though she was but a fruitling of my spear 矛. Agamemnon has taken her from me; he has played me false 虚伪的; I know him; let him tempt 引诱 me no further, for he shall not move me. Let him look to you, Ulysses, and to the other princes 王子 to save his ships from burning. He has done much without me already. He has built a wall; he has dug 挖:dig a trench 沟 deep and wide all round it, and he has planted it within with stakes 赌注; but even so he stays not the murderous 杀 might of Hector. So long as I fought the Achaeans Hector suffered not the battle range far from the city walls; he would come to the Scaean gates and to the oak 橡木 tree, but no further. Once he stayed to meet me and hardly did he escape my onset 发病: now, however, since I am in no mood 心境 to fight him, I will to-morrow offer sacrifice to Jove and to all the gods; I will draw my ships into the water and then victual them duly 适时地; to-morrow morning, if you care to look, you will see my ships on the Hellespont, and my men rowing 行 out to sea with might and main. If great Neptune vouchsafes me a fair passage, in three days I shall be in Phthia. I have much there that I left behind me when I came here to my sorrow 4, and I shall bring back still further store of gold, of red copper 铜, of fair women, and of iron, my share of the spoils that we have taken; but one prize 奖赏, he who gave has insolently taken away. Tell him all as I now bid you, and tell him in public that the Achaeans may hate him and beware 谨防 of him should he think that he can yet dupe others for his effrontery never fails him.

"As for me, hound 猎犬 that he is, he dares 敢 not look me in the face. I will take no counsel 法律顾问 with him, and will under‧take 承担 nothing in common with him. He has wronged me and deceived 欺诈 me enough, he shall not cozen me further; let him go his own way, for Jove has robbed him of his reason. I loathe 厌恶 his presents, and for himself care not one straw 稻草. He may offer me ten 十 or even twenty 二十 times what he has now done, nay—not though it be all that he has in the world, both now or ever shall have; he may promise me the wealth 3 of Orchomenus or of Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world, for it has a hundred 百 gates through each of which two hundred 百 men may drive at once with their chariots and horses; he may offer me gifts as the sands 沙 of the sea or the dust of the plain in multitude 苠, but even so he shall not move me till I have been revenged 报仇 in full for the bitter wrong he has done me. I will not marry his daughter; she may be fair as Venus, and skilful as Minerva, but I will have none of her: let another take her, who may be a good match for her and who rules a larger kingdom 王国. If the gods spare 节省；多余的；备用件 me to return home, Peleus will find me a wife; there are Achaean women in Hellas and Phthia, daughters of kings that have cities under them; of these I can take whom I will and marry her. Many a time was I minded when at home in Phthia to woo 求爱 and wed a woman who would make me a suit‧able 适当 wife, and to enjoy the riches of my old father Peleus. My life is more to me than all the wealth of Ilius while it was yet at peace before the Achaeans went there, or than all the treasure 3 that lies on the stone floor of Apollo's temple beneath the cliffs 悬崖 of Pytho. Cattle and sheep are to be had for harrying, and a man buy both tripods and horses if he wants them, but when his life has once left him it can neither be bought nor harried back again.

"My mother Thetis tells me that there are two ways in which I may meet my end. If I stay here and fight, I shall not return alive but my name will live for ever: whereas 而 if I go home my name will die, but it will be long ere death shall take me. To the rest of you, then, I say, 'Go home, for you will not take Ilius.' Jove has held his hand over her to protect her, and her people have taken heart. Go, therefore, as in duty bound 必定；跳, and tell the princes 王子 of the Achaeans the message that I have sent them; tell them to find some other plan for the saving of their ships and people, for so long as my displeasure lasts the one that they have now hit upon may not be. As for Phoenix, let him sleep here that he may sail with me in the morning if he so will. But I will not take him by force."

They all held their peace, dismayed 沮丧 at the sternness with which he had denied 拒绝 them, till presently the old knight 骑士 Phoenix in his great fear for the ships of the Achaeans, burst 爆裂 into tears and said, "Noble Achilles, if you are now minded to return, and in the fierceness of your anger will do nothing to save the ships from burning, how, my son, can I remain here without you? Your father Peleus bade me go with you when he sent you as a mere lad 小伙子 from Phthia to Agamemnon. You knew nothing neither of war nor of the arts whereby 因此 men make their mark in council, and he sent me with you to train you in all excellence 优秀 of speech and action. Therefore, my son, I will not stay here without you—no, not though heaven itself 本身 vouchsafe to strip my years from off me, and make me young as I was when I first left Hellas the land of fair women. I was then flying the anger of father Amyntor, son of Ormenus, who was furious 狂怒 with me in the matter of his concubine, of whom he was enamoured to the wronging of his wife my mother. My mother, therefore, prayed me without ceasing 停止 to lie with the woman myself 我, that so she hate my father, and in the course of time I yielded. But my father soon came to know, and cursed 诅咒 me bitterly, calling the dread 恐惧 Erinyes to witness. He prayed that no son of mine might ever sit upon knees—and the gods, Jove of the world below and awful 糟糕的 Proserpine, fulfilled 履行 his curse 诅咒. I took counsel 法律顾问 to kill him, but some god stayed my rashness and bade me think on men's evil tongues 舌头 and how I should be branded 牌 as the murderer of my father; nevertheless 虽然 I could not bear to stay in my father's house with him so bitter against me. My cousins and clansmen came about me, and pressed me sorely to remain; many a sheep and many an ox 牛 did they slaughter 屠宰, and many a fat hog 豕 did they set down to roast 烤 before the fire; many a jar 罐, too, did they broach of my father's wine. Nine 九 whole nights did they set a guard over me taking it in turns to watch, and they kept a fire always burning, both in the cloister of the outer court and in the inner 里面的 court at the doors of the room wherein 其中， I lay; but when the darkness 黑暗 of the tenth night came, I broke through the closed doors of my room, and climbed the wall of the outer court after passing quickly and unperceived through the men on guard and the women servants. I then fled through Hellas till I came to fertile 沃 Phthia, mother of sheep, and to King Peleus, who made me welcome and treated me as a father treats an only son who will be heir 继承者 to all his wealth. He made me rich and set me over much people, establishing 建立 me on the borders of Phthia where I was chief ruler over the Dolopians.

"It was I, Achilles, who had the making of you; I loved you with all my heart: for you would eat neither at home nor when you had gone out else‧where 在别处, till I had first set you upon my knees, cut up the dainty morsel that you were to eat, and held the wine-cup to your lips. Many a time have you slobbered your wine in baby helplessness over my shirt 衬衫; I had infinite 无穷 trouble with you, but I knew that heaven had vouchsafed me no off‧spring 子孙 of my own, and I made a son of you, Achilles, that in my hour of need you might protect me. Now, therefore, I say battle with your pride 自尊 and beat it; cherish 珍视 not your anger for ever; the might and majesty 威严 of heaven are more than ours, but even heaven may be appeased; and if a man has sinned 罪 he prays the gods, and reconciles 调和 them to himself by his piteous cries and by frankincense, with drink-offerings and the savour of burnt burn sacrifice. For prayers 祷告 are as daughters to great Jove; halt 停, wrinkled 皱纹, with eyes askance, they follow in the foot‧step 脚步 of sin 罪, who, being fierce 凶猛的 and fleet 舰队 of foot, leaves them far behind him, and ever baneful to mankind outstrips them even to the ends of the world; but nevertheless 虽然 the prayers 祷告 come hobbling and healing 治愈 after. If a man has pity upon these daughters of Jove when they draw near him, they will bless 祝福 him and hear him too when he is praying; but if he deny 拒绝 them and will not listen to them, they go to Jove the son of Saturn and pray that he may presently fall into sin 罪—to his ruing 后悔 bitterly here‧after 此后. Therefore, Achilles, give these daughters of Jove due reverence, and bow before them as all good men will bow. Were not the son of Atreus offering you gifts and promising others later—if he were still furious 狂怒 and implacable—I am not he that would bid you throw off your anger and help the Achaeans, no matter how great their need; but he is giving much now, and more here‧after 此后; he has sent his captains to urge his suit, and has chosen those who of all the Argives are most accept‧able 接受 to you; make not then their words and their coming to be of none effect. Your anger has been righteous so far. We have heard in song how heroes of old time quarrelled 争吵 when they were roused 唤醒 to fury 愤怒, but still they could be won by gifts, and fair words could soothe 缓和 them.

"I have an old story in my mind—a very old one—but you are all friends and I will tell it. The Curetes and the Aetolians were fighting and killing one another round Calydon—the Aetolians defending the city and the Curetes trying to destroy it. For Diana of the golden throne 王座 was angry and did them hurt 损害 because Oeneus had not offered her his harvest 收割 first-fruits. The other gods had all been feasted with hecatombs, but to the daughter of great Jove alone he had made no sacrifice. He had forgotten her, or somehow or other it had escaped him, and this was a grievous sin 罪. Thereon the archer goddess 女神 in her displeasure sent a prodigious creature 动物；生物 against him—a savage 野蛮人 wild boar 公猪 with great white tusks that did much harm 损害 to his orchard 果园 lands, uprooting apple 苹果-trees in full bloom 盛开 and throwing them to the ground. But Meleager son of Oeneus got huntsmen and hounds 猎犬 from many cities and killed it—for it was so monstrous 滔天 that not a few were needed, and many a man did it stretch upon his funeral 葬礼 pyre. On this the goddess 女神 set the Curetes and the Aetolians fighting furiously 疯狂 about the head and skin 皮 of the boar 公猪.

"So long as Meleager was in the field things went badly 很糟地 with the Curetes, and for all their numbers they could not hold their ground under the city walls; but in the course of time Meleager was angered as even a wise 明智的；聪明的 man will sometimes be. He was incensed 香 with his mother Althaea, and therefore stayed at home with his wedded 结婚 wife fair Cleopatra, who was daughter of Marpessa daughter of Euenus, and of Ides the man then living. He it was who took his bow and faced King Apollo himself for fair Marpessa's sake 缘故; her father and mother then named her Alcyone, because her mother had mourned 悼 with the plaintive strains 压力 of the halcyon-bird when Phoebus Apollo had carried her off. Meleager, then, stayed at home with Cleopatra, nursing the anger which he felt by reason of his mother's curses 诅咒. His mother, grieving 悼 for the death of her brother, prayed the gods, and beat the earth with her hands, calling upon Hades and on awful 糟糕的 Proserpine; she went down upon her knees and her bosom was wet 湿的 with tears as she prayed that they would kill her son—and Erinys that walks in darkness 黑暗 and knows no ruth heard her from Erebus.

"Then was heard the din 吵闹 of battle about the gates of Calydon, and the dull 钝的；没兴趣 thump 扑通 of the battering 面糊 against their walls. Thereon the elders 年长的 of the Aetolians besought Meleager; they sent the chiefest of their priests 神父, and begged 乞讨 him to come out and help them, promising him a great reward 报酬. They bade him choose fifty 五十 plough-gates, the most fertile 沃 in the plain of Calydon, the one-half vine‧yard 葡萄园 and the other open plough-land. The old warrior 战士 Oeneus implored him, standing at the threshold 阈 of his room and beating the doors in supplication. His sisters and his mother her‧self 她自己 besought him sore 疼痛的, but he the more refused them; those of his comrades 同志 who were nearest and dearest to him also prayed him, but they could not move him till the foe 敌人 was battering 面糊 at the very doors of his chamber 室, and the Curetes had scaled the walls and were setting fire to the city. Then at last his sorrowing 悲痛 wife detailed the horrors 恐怖 that befall those whose city is taken; she reminded him how the men are slain, and the city is given over to the flames, while the women and children are carried into captivity 囚禁; when he heard all this, his heart was touched, and he donned his armour to go forth. Thus of his own inward 向内的 motion he saved the city of the Aetolians; but they now gave him nothing of those rich rewards 报酬 that they had offered earlier, and though he saved the city he took nothing by it. Be not then, my son, thus minded; let not heaven lure 饵 you into any such course. When the ships are burning it will be a harder matter to save them. Take the gifts, and go, for the Achaeans will then honour you as a god; whereas 而 if you fight without taking them, you may beat the battle back, but you will not be held in like honour."

And Achilles answered, "Phoenix, old friend and father, I have no need of such honour. I have honour from Jove himself, which will abide 遵守 with me at my ships while I have breath in my body, and my limbs 肢 are strong. I say further—and lay my saying to your heart—vex me no more with this weeping 哭泣 and lamentation, all in the cause of the son of Atreus. Love him so well, and you may lose the love I bear you. You ought to help me rather in troubling those that trouble me; be king as much as I am, and share like honour with myself 我; the others shall take my answer; stay here your‧self 你自己 and sleep comfort‧able 舒服 in your bed; at day‧break 一天‧破；断 we will consider whether to remain or go."

On this he nodded 点头 quietly to Patroclus as a sign that he was to prepare a bed for Phoenix, and that the others should take their leave. Ajax son of Telamon then said, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, let us be gone, for I see that our journey 旅行 is vain 徒劳的. We must now take our answer, unwelcome 不受欢迎 though it be, to the Danaans who are waiting to receive it. Achilles is savage 野蛮人 and remorse‧less 悔恨‧少; he is cruel 残酷的, and cares nothing for the love his comrades 同志 lavished 阔气 upon him more than on all the others. He is implacable—and yet if a man's brother or son has been slain he will accept a fine by way of amends 修改 from him that killed him, and the wrong-doer having paid in full remains in peace among his own people; but as for you, Achilles, the gods have put a wicked 邪恶的 unforgiving spirit in your heart, and this, all about one single girl, whereas 而 we now offer you the seven 七 best we have, and much else into the bar‧gain 讨价还价；交易. Be then of a more gracious 亲切 mind, respect the hospitality 待客 of your own roof. We are with you as messengers from the host of the Danaans, and would fain he held nearest and dearest to your‧self 你自己 of all the Achaeans."

"Ajax," replied Achilles, "noble son of Telamon, you have spoken much to my liking, but my blood boils 煮沸 when I think it all over, and remember how the son of Atreus treated me with contumely as though I were some vile tramp 流浪汉, and that too in the presence of the Argives. Go, then, and deliver your message; say that I will have no concern with fighting till Hector, son of noble Priam, reaches the tents of the Myrmidons in his murderous 杀 course, and flings 一扔 fire upon their ships. For all his lust 情欲 of battle, I take it he will be held in check when he is at my own tent and ship."

On this they took every man his double cup, made their drink-offerings, and went back to the ships, Ulysses leading the way. But Patroclus told his men and the maid 女佣-servants to make ready a comfort‧able 舒服；自在 bed for Phoenix; they therefore did so with sheepskins, a rug 小块地毯, and a sheet of fine linen 麻布. The old man then laid himself down and waited till morning came. But Achilles slept in an inner 里面的 room, and beside him the daughter of Phorbas lovely Diomede, whom he had carried off from Lesbos. Patroclus lay on the other side of the room, and with him fair Iphis whom Achilles had given him when he took Scyros the city of Enyeus.

When the envoys 使者 reached the tents of the son of Atreus, the Achaeans rose, pledged 保证 them in cups of gold, and began to question them. King Agamemnon was the first to do so. "Tell me, Ulysses," said he, "will he save the ships from burning, or did he refuse, and is he still furious 狂怒?"

Ulysses answered, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, Achilles will not be calmed 镇定的, but is more fiercely angry than ever, and spurns both you and your gifts. He bids 出价 you take counsel 法律顾问 with the Achaeans to save the ships and host as you best may; as for himself, he said that at day‧break 一天‧破；断 he should draw his ships into the water. He said further that he should advise every one to sail home like‧wise 同样, for that you will not reach the goal 目标 of Ilius. 'Jove,' he said, 'has laid his hand over the city to protect it, and the people have taken heart.' This is what he said, and the others who were with me can tell you the same story—Ajax and the two heralds 先锋, men, both of them, who may be trusted. The old man Phoenix stayed where he was to sleep, for so Achilles would have it, that he might go home with him in the morning if he so would; but he will not take him by force."

They all held their peace, sitting for a long time silent and dejected, by reason of the sternness with which Achilles had refused them, till presently Diomed said, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, you ought not to have sued 起诉 the son of Peleus nor offered him gifts. He is proud enough as it is, and you have encouraged him in his pride still further. Let him stay or go as he will. He will fight later when he is in the humour, and heaven puts it in his mind to do so. Now, therefore, let us all do as I say; we have eaten and drunk our fill, let us then take our rest, for in rest there is both strength and stay. But when fair rosy 红润-fingered morn appears, forth‧with 向前‧和 bring out your host and your horsemen in front of the ships, urging them on, and your‧self 你自己 fighting among the fore‧most 最重要的是."

Thus he spoke, and the other chieftains approved his words. They then made their drink-offerings and went every man to his own tent, where they laid down to rest and enjoyed the boon of sleep.

BOOK X

Ulysses and Diomed go out as spies 间谍, and meet Dolon, who gives them information: they then kill him, and profiting by what he had told them, kill Rhesus king of the Thracians and take his horses.

NOW the other princes 王子 of the Achaeans slept soundly the whole night through, but Agamemnon son of Atreus was troubled, so that he could get no rest. As when fair Juno's lord flashes 使闪光 his lightning 闪电 in token 代币 of great rain or hail 冰雹 or snow when the snow-flakes 薄片 whiten 变白 the ground, or again as a sign that he will open the wide jaws of hungry 饥饿 war, even so did Agamemnon heave 举起 many a heavy sigh 叹, for his soul trembled within him. When he looked upon the plain of Troy he marvelled 奇迹 at the many watchfires burning in front of Ilius, and at the sound of pipes 管子 and flutes 长笛 and of the hum 哼 of men, but when presently he turned towards the ships and hosts of the Achaeans, he tore tear his hair by handfuls 少数 before Jove on high, and groaned 呻吟 aloud 5 for the very disquietness of his soul. In the end he deemed 认为 it best to go at once to Nestor son of Neleus, and see if between them they could find any way of the Achaeans from destruction. He therefore rose, put on his shirt 3, bound 必定；跳 his sandals 檀香 about his comely feet, flung the skin 皮 of a huge 巨大 tawny lion 狮子 over his shoulders—a skin that reached his feet—and took his spear 矛 in his hand.

Neither could Menelaus sleep, for he, too, boded ill for the Argives who for his sake had sailed from far over the seas to fight the Trojans. He covered his broad back with the skin of a spotted panther, put a casque of bronze 青铜 upon his head, and took his spear 矛 in his brawny hand. Then he went to rouse 唤醒 his brother, who was by far the most powerful 强大 of the Achaeans, and was honoured by the people as though he were a god. He found him by the stern 严肃 of his ship already putting his goodly array 排列 about his shoulders, and right glad was he that his brother had come.

Menelaus spoke first. "Why," said he, "my dear brother, are you thus arming? Are you going to send any of our comrades 同志 to exploit 利用 the Trojans? I greatly fear that no one will do you this service, and spy 间谍 upon the enemy alone in the dead of night. It will be a deed 行为 of great daring."

And King Agamemnon answered, "Menelaus, we both of us need shrewd 精明 counsel 法律顾问 to save the Argives and our ships, for Jove has changed his mind, and inclines 倾斜 towards Hector's sacrifices 牺牲 rather than ours. I never saw nor heard tell of any man as having wrought 锻 such ruin 3 in one day as Hector has now wrought 锻 against the sons of the Achaeans—and that too of his own unaided self, for he is son neither to god nor goddess 女神. The Argives will rue 后悔 it long and deeply. Run, therefore, with all speed by the line of the ships, and call Ajax and Idomeneus. Meanwhile I will go to Nestor, and bid him rise and go about among the companies of our sentinels to give them their instructions 指令; they will listen to him sooner than to any man, for his own son, and Meriones brother in arms to Idomeneus, are captains over them. It was to them more particularly that we gave this charge."

Menelaus replied, "How do I take your meaning? Am I to stay with them and wait your coming, or shall I return here as soon as I have given your orders?" "Wait," answered King Agamemnon, "for there are so many paths 小路 about the camp that we might miss one another. Call every man on your way, and bid him be stirring 搅动; name him by his line‧age 血统 and by his father's name, give each all titular observance, and stand not too much upon your own dignity 尊严; we must take our full share of toil 辛劳, for at our birth Jove laid this heavy burden 负荷，重负 upon us."

With these instructions 指令 he sent his brother on his way, and went on to Nestor shepherd 牧羊人 of his people. He found him sleeping in his tent hard by his own ship; his goodly armour lay beside him—his shield, his two spears 矛 and his helmet 头盔; beside him also lay the gleaming 闪光 girdle with which the old man girded himself when he armed to lead his people into battle—for his age stayed him not. He raised himself on his elbow 弯头 and looked up at Agamemnon. "Who is it," said he, "that goes thus about the host and the ships alone and in the dead of night, when men are sleeping? Are you looking for one of your mules 马骡 or for some comrade 同志? Do not stand there and say nothing, but speak. What is your business?"

And Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, it is I, Agamemnon son of Atreus, on whom Jove has laid labour and sorrow 5 so long as there is breath in my body and my limbs carry me. I am thus abroad 到国外 because sleep sits not upon my eyelids 眼皮, but my heart is big with war and with the jeopardy 危险 of the Achaeans. I am in great fear for the Danaans. I am at sea, and without sure counsel 法律顾问; my heart beats as though it would leap 飞跃 out of my body, and my limbs fail me. If then you can do anything—for you too cannot sleep—let us go the round of the watch, and see whether they are drowsy with toil 辛劳 and sleeping to the neglect 疏忽 of their duty. The enemy is encamped hard and we know not but he may attack us by night."

Nestor replied, "Most noble son of Atreus, king of men, Agamemnon, Jove will not do all for Hector that Hector thinks he will; he will have troubles yet in plenty if Achilles will lay aside his anger. I will go with you, and we will rouse 唤醒 others, either the son of Tydeus, or Ulysses, or fleet 舰队 Ajax and the valiant son of Phyleus. Some one had also better go and call Ajax and King Idomeneus, for their ships are not near at hand but the farthest of all. I cannot however ref‧rain 副歌 from blaming 指责 Menelaus, much as I love him and respect him—and I will say so plainly, even at the risk of offending 触怒 you—for sleeping and leaving all this trouble to your‧self 你自己. He ought to be going about imploring aid 援助 from all the princes 王子 of the Achaeans, for we are in extreme danger."

And Agamemnon answered, "Sir, you may sometimes blame 指责 him justly, for he is often remiss and unwilling 不甘 to exert 发挥 himself—not indeed from sloth, nor yet heedlessness, but because he looks to me and expects me to take the lead. On this occasion, however, he was awake 醒着的 before I was, and came to me of his own accord. I have already sent him to call the very men whom you have named. And now let us be going. We shall find them with the watch outside the gates, for it was there I said that we would meet them."

"In that case," answered Nestor, "the Argives will not blame 指责 him nor disobey his orders when he urges them to fight or gives them instructions 指令."

With this he put on his shirt, and bound 必定；跳 his sandals 檀香 about his comely feet. He buckled 扣 on his purple 4 coat, of two thicknesses 厚度, large, and of a rough shaggy texture 质地, grasped 把握 his redoubtable bronze 青铜-shod spear 矛, and wended his way along the line of the Achaean ships. First he called loudly 响亮的 to Ulysses peer 窥视 of gods in counsel 法律顾问 and woke 醒:wake him, for he was soon roused 唤醒 by the sound of the battle-cry. He came outside his tent and said, "Why do you go thus alone about the host, and along the line of the ships in the stillness of the night? What is it that you find so urgent 急迫的?" And Nestor knight 骑士 of Gerene answered, "Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, take it not amiss, for the Achaeans are in great straits. Come with me and let us wake 醒 some other, who may advise well with us whether we shall fight or fly."

On this Ulysses went at once into his tent, put his shield about his shoulders and came out with them. First they went to Diomed son of Tydeus, and found him outside his tent clad 包层的 in his armour with his comrades 同志 sleeping round him and using their shields as pillows 枕头; as for their spears 矛, they stood upright 直立的 on the spikes 穗 of their butts 屁股 that were driven into the ground, and the burnished bronze 青铜 flashed 使闪光 afar like the lightning 闪电 of father Jove. The hero was sleeping upon the skin of an ox 牛, with a piece of fine carpet 地毯 under his head; Nestor went up to him and stirred 搅动 him with his heel 脚跟 to rouse 唤醒 him, upbraiding him and urging him to bestir himself. " Wake 醒 up," he exclaimed 喊叫, "son of Tydeus. How can you sleep on in this way? Can you not see that the Trojans are encamped on the brow 眉头 of the plain hard by our ships, with but a little space between us and them?"

On these words Diomed leaped 飞跃 up instantly and said, "Old man, your heart is of iron; you rest not one moment from your labours. Are there no younger men among the Achaeans who could go about to rouse 唤醒 the princes 王子? There is no tiring you."

And Nestor knight 骑士 of Gerene made answer, "My son, all that you have said is true. I have good sons, and also much people who might call the chieftains, but the Achaeans are in the gravest 坟墓；严重的 danger; life and death are balanced as it were on the edge of a razor 剃刀. Go then, for you are younger than I, and of your courtesy 礼貌 rouse 唤醒 Ajax and the fleet 舰队 son of Phyleus."

Diomed threw the skin of a great tawny lion 狮子 about his shoulders—a skin that reached his feet—and grasped 把握 his spear 矛. When he had roused 唤醒 the heroes, he brought them back with him; they then went the round of those who were on guard, and found the captains not sleeping at their posts but wakeful and sitting with their arms about them. As sheep dogs that watch their flocks 群 when they are yarded, and hear a wild beast 野兽 coming through the mountain forest towards them—forth‧with 向前‧和 there is a hue 色调 and cry of dogs and men, and slumber is broken break—even so was sleep chased 追 from the eyes of the Achaeans as they kept the watches of the wicked 邪恶的 night, for they turned constantly 总是；经常地，不断地 towards the plain when‧ever 随时 they heard any stir 搅动 among the Trojans. The old man was glad and bade them be of good cheer 欢呼. "Watch on, my children," said he, "and let not sleep get hold upon you, lest 免得 our enemies triumph 胜利 over us."

With this he passed the trench 沟, and with him the other chiefs of the Achaeans who had been called to the council. Meriones and the brave son of Nestor went also, for the princes 王子 bade them. When they were beyond the trench 沟 that was dug 挖:dig round the wall they held their meeting on the open ground where there was a space clear of corpses 尸体, for it was here that when night fell Hector had turned back from his onslaught 猛攻 on the Argives. They sat down, therefore, and held debate 辩论 with one another.

Nestor spoke first. "My friends," said he, "is there any man bold 3 enough to venture 企业；投机活动；商业冒险 among the Trojans, and cut off some straggler, or bring us news of what the enemy mean to do whether they will stay here by the ships away from the city, or whether, now that they have worsted the Achaeans, they will retire within their walls. If he could learn all this and come back safely here, his fame would be high as heaven in the mouths of all men, and he would be rewarded 报酬 richly; for the chiefs from all our ships would each of them give him a black ewe with her lamb 羊肉—which is a present of surpassing 超过 value—and he would be asked as a guest to all feasts 盛会 and clan 氏族-gatherings."

They all held their peace, but Diomed of the loud war-cry spoke saying, "Nestor, gladly will I visit the host of the Trojans over against us, but if another will go with me I shall do so in greater confidence 信心 and comfort. When two men are together, one of them may see some opportunity which the other has not caught sight of; if a man is alone he is less full of resource 资源, and his wit 风趣 is weaker."

On this several offered to go with Diomed. The two Ajaxes, servants of Mars, Meriones, and the son of Nestor all wanted to go, so did Menelaus son of Atreus; Ulysses also wished to go among the host of the Trojans, for he was ever full of daring, and thereon Agamemnon king of men spoke thus: "Diomed," said he, "son of Tydeus, man after my own heart, choose your comrade 同志 for your‧self 你自己—take the best man of those that have offered, for many would now go with you. Do not through delicacy 美味 reject 拒绝 the better man, and take the worst 生病:ill out of respect for his line‧age 血统, because he is of more royal blood."

He said this because he feared for Menelaus. Diomed answered, "If you bid me take the man of my own choice, how in that case can I fail to think of Ulysses, than whom there is no man more eager to face all kinds of danger—and Pallas Minerva loves him well? If he were to go with me we should pass safely through fire itself 本身, for he is quick to see and understand."

"Son of Tydeus," replied Ulysses, "say neither good nor ill about me, for you are among Argives who know me well. Let us be going, for the night wanes 没落 and dawn 黎明 is at hand. The stars have gone forward, two-thirds of the night are already spent, and the third is alone left us."

They then put on their armour. Brave Thrasymedes provided the son of Tydeus with a sword 剑 and a shield (for he had left his own at his ship) and on his head he set a helmet 头盔 of bull 公牛's hide without either peak 峰 or crest 波峰; it is called a skull 头骨-cap 盖 and is a common head‧gear 头；上端‧齿轮. Meriones found a bow and quiver 颤动 for Ulysses, and on his head he set a leathern helmet 头盔 that was lined with a strong plaiting of leathern thongs, while on the outside it was thickly studded 螺柱 with boar 公猪's teeth, well and skilfully set into it; next the head there was an inner 里面的 lining of felt. This helmet 头盔 had been stolen by Autolycus out of Eleon when he broke into the house of Amyntor son of Ormenus. He gave it to Amphidamas of Cythera to take to Scandea, and Amphidamas gave it as a guest-gift 赠品 to Molus, who gave it to his son Meriones; and now it was set upon the head of Ulysses.

When the pair had armed, they set out, and left the other chieftains behind them. Pallas Minerva sent them a heron by the way‧side 路；方法‧边；面 upon their right hands; they could not see it for the darkness 黑暗, but they heard its cry. Ulysses was glad when he heard it and prayed to Minerva: "Hear me," he cried, "daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, you who spy 间谍 out all my ways and who are with me in all my hard‧ship 苦; befriend me in this mine hour, and grant 发放 that we may return to the ships covered with glory after having achieved 实现 some mighty 威武 exploit 利用 that shall bring sorrow to the Trojans."

Then Diomed of the loud war-cry also prayed: "Hear me too," said he, "daughter of Jove, unweariable; be with me even as you were with my noble father Tydeus when he went to Thebes as envoy 使者 sent by the Achaeans. He left the Achaeans by the banks of the river Aesopus, and went to the city bearing a message of peace to the Cadmeians; on his return thence, with your help, goddess 女神, he did great deeds 行为 of daring, for you were his ready helper. Even so guide me and guard me now, and in return I will offer you in sacrifice a broad-browed 眉头 heifer of a year old, unbroken, and never yet brought by man under the yoke. I will gild 镀金 her horns 角；喇叭 and will offer her up to you in sacrifice."

Thus they prayed, and Pallas Minerva heard their prayer. When they had done praying to the daughter of great Jove, they went their way like two lions 狮子 prowling by night amid 际 the armour and blood-stained bodies of them that had fallen.

Neither again did Hector let the Trojans sleep; for he too called the princes 王子 and councillors of the Trojans that he might set his counsel 法律顾问 before them. "Is there one," said he, "who for a great reward 报酬 will do me the service of which I will tell you? He shall be well paid if he will. I will give him a chariot and a couple of horses, the fleetest 舰队 that can be found at the ships of the Achaeans, if he will dare this thing; and he will win infinite 无穷 honour to boot 靴；鞋; he must go to the ships and find out whether they are still guarded as heretofore, or whether now that we have beaten them the Achaeans design to fly, and through sheer exhaustion 衰竭 are neglecting 疏忽 to keep their watches."

They all held their peace; but there was among the Trojans a certain man named Dolon, son of Eumedes, the famous 著名 herald 先锋—a man rich in gold and bronze 青铜. He was ill-favoured, but a good runner, and was an only son among five sisters. He it was that now addressed the Trojans. "I, Hector," said he, "Will to the ships and will exploit 利用 them. But first hold up your sceptre and swear 发誓 that you will give me the chariot, bedight with bronze 青铜, and the horses that now carry the noble son of Peleus. I will make you a good scout 侦察, and will not fail you. I will go through the host from one end to the other till I come to the ship of Agamemnon, where I take it the princes 王子 of the Achaeans are now consulting 咨询；请教；查阅 whether they shall fight or fly."

When he had done speaking Hector held up his sceptre, and swore 发誓:swear him his oath 誓言 saying, "May Jove the thundering 雷声 husband of Juno bear witness that no other Trojan but your‧self 你自己 shall mount those steeds, and that you shall have your will with them for ever."

The oath 誓言 he swore was boot‧less 靴；鞋‧少, but it made Dolon more keen 热切的 on going. He hung his bow over his shoulder, and as an over‧all 总体 he wore wear the skin of a grey 灰色:gray wolf 狼, while on his head he set a cap of ferret 鼬 skin. Then he took a pointed javelin, and left the camp for the ships, but he was not to return with any news for Hector. When he had left the horses and the troops 部队 behind him, he made all speed on his way, but Ulysses perceived 认为 his coming and said to Diomed, "Diomed, here is some one from the camp; I am not sure whether he is a spy 间谍, or whether it is some thief 小偷 who would plunder 掠夺 the bodies of the dead; let him get a little past us, we can then spring upon him and take him. If, however, he is too quick for us, go after him with your spear 矛 and hem 下摆 him in towards the ships away from the Trojan camp, to prevent his getting back to the town."

With this they turned out of their way and lay down among the corpses 尸体. Dolon suspected 怀疑；嫌疑犯 nothing and soon passed them, but when he had got about as far as the distance by which a mule 马骡-plowed 犁 furrow 畦 exceeds 超过 one that has been ploughed by oxen (for mules 马骡 can plow 犁 fallow land quicker than oxen) they ran after him, and when he heard their foot‧step 脚步 he stood still, for he made sure they were friends from the Trojan camp come by Hector's orders to bid him return; when, however, they were only a spear 矛's cast 投, or less, away from him, he saw that they were enemies and ran as fast as his legs could take him. The others gave chase 追 at once, and as a couple of well-trained hounds 猎犬 press forward after a doe or hare 野兔 that runs screaming 叫喊 in front of them, even so did the son of Tydeus and Ulysses pursue 追求 Dolon and cut him off from his own people. But when he had fled so far towards the ships that he would soon have fallen in with the out‧post 前哨, Minerva infused 注入 fresh strength into the son of Tydeus for fear some other of the Achaeans might have the glory of being first to hit him, and he might himself be only second; he therefore sprang forward with his spear 矛 and said, "Stand, or I shall throw my spear 矛, and in that case I shall soon make an end of you."

He threw as he spoke, but missed his aim on purpose. The dart 镖 flew over the man's right shoulder, and then stuck stick in the ground. He stood stock still, trembling and in great fear; his teeth chattered 喋喋不休, and he turned pale with fear. The two came breath‧less 咋舌 up to him and seized his hands, whereon he began to weep and said, "Take me alive; I will ransom 赎金 myself 我; we have great store of gold, bronze 青铜, and wrought 锻 iron, and from this my father will satisfy you with a very large ransom 赎金, should he hear of my being alive at the ships of the Achaeans."

"Fear not," replied Ulysses, "let no thought of death be in your mind; but tell me, and tell me true, why are you thus going about alone in the dead of night away from your camp and towards the ships, while other men are sleeping? Is it to plunder 掠夺 the bodies of the slain, or did Hector send you to spy 间谍 out what was going on at the ships? Or did you come here of your own mere notion 概念?"

Dolon answered, his limbs trembling beneath him: "Hector, with his vain 4 flattering 奉承 promises, lured 饵 me from my better judgement. He said he would give me the horses of the noble son of Peleus and his bronze 青铜-bedizened chariot; he bade me go through the darkness 黑暗 of the flying night, get close to the enemy, and find out whether the ships are still guarded as heretofore, or whether, now that we have beaten them, the Achaeans design to fly, and through sheer exhaustion 衰竭 are neglecting to keep their watches."

Ulysses smiled at him and answered, "You had indeed set your heart upon a great reward 报酬, but the horses of the descendant 后代 of Aeacus are hardly to be kept in hand or driven by any other mortal 凡人 man than Achilles himself, whose mother was an immortal 不朽. But tell me, and tell me true, where did you leave Hector when you started? Where lies his armour and his horses? How, too, are the watches and sleeping-ground of the Trojans ordered? What are their plans? Will they stay here by the ships and away from the city, or now that they have worsted the Achaeans, will they retire within their walls?"

And Dolon answered, "I will tell you truly 真 all. Hector and the other councillors are now holding conference 会议 by the monument 纪念碑 of great Ilus, away from the general tumult; as for the guards about which you ask me, there is no chosen watch to keep guard over the host. The Trojans have their watchfires, for they are bound 3 to have them; they, therefore, are awake 醒着的 and keep each other to their duty as sentinels; but the allies who have come from other places are asleep 睡着的 and leave it to the Trojans to keep guard, for their wives and children are not here."

Ulysses then said, "Now tell me; are they sleeping among the Trojan troops 部队, or do they lie apart? Explain this that I may understand it."

"I will tell you truly 真 all," replied Dolon. "To the sea‧ward 海‧病房 lie the Carians, the Paeonian bowmen, the Leleges, the Cauconians, and the noble Pelasgi. The Lysians and proud Mysians, with the Phrygians and Meonians, have their place on the side towards Thymbra; but why ask about all this? If you want to find your way into the host of the Trojans, there are the Thracians, who have lately 近来 come here and lie apart from the others at the far end of the camp; and they have Rhesus son of Eioneus for their king. His horses are the finest and strongest that I have ever seen, they are whiter than snow and fleeter 舰队 than any wind that blows. His chariot is bedight with silver 银 and gold, and he has brought his marvellous golden armour, of the rarest workman‧ship 工人‧船—too splendid 壮观的 for any mortal 凡人 man to carry, and meet only for the gods. Now, therefore, take me to the ships or bind me securely 安全 here, until you come back and have proved my words whether they be false 虚伪的 or true."

Diomed looked sternly 严肃 at him and answered, "Think not, Dolon, for all the good information you have given us, that you shall escape now you are in our hands, for if we ransom 赎金 you or let you go, you will come some second time to the ships of the Achaeans either as a spy 间谍 or as an open enemy, but if I kill you and an end of you, you will give no more trouble."

On this Dolon would have caught him by the beard 胡须 to beseech him further, but Diomed struck him in the middle of his neck with his sword 剑 and cut through both sinews so that his head fell rolling in the dust while he was yet speaking. They took the ferret 鼬-skin cap from his head, and also the wolf 狼-skin, the bow, and his long spear 矛. Ulysses hung them up aloft in honour of Minerva the goddess 女神 of plunder 掠夺, and prayed saying, "Accept these, goddess 女神, for we give them to you in preference 偏爱 to all the gods in Olympus: therefore speed us still further towards the horses and sleeping-ground of the Thracians."

With these words he took the spoils and set them upon a tamarisk tree, and they marked the place by pulling up reeds 芦苇 and gathering boughs of tamarisk that they might not miss it as they came back through the flying hours of darkness 黑暗. The two then went onwards 向前 amid 际 the fallen armour and the blood, and came presently to the company of Thracian soldiers, who were sleeping, tired out with their day's toil 辛劳; their goodly armour was lying on the ground beside them all orderly in three rows 行, and each man had his yoke of horses beside him. Rhesus was sleeping in the middle, and hard by him his horses were made fast to the top‧most 顶‧最 rim 轮缘 of his chariot. Ulysses from some way off saw him and said, "This, Diomed, is the man, and these are the horses about which Dolon whom we killed told us. Do your very utmost 极; dally not about your armour, but loose the horses at once—or else kill the men your‧self 你自己, while I see to the horses."

Thereon Minerva put courage 勇气 into the heart of Diomed, and he smote them right and left. They made a hideous 可怕 groaning 呻吟 as they were being hacked 劈 about, and the earth was red with their blood. As a lion 狮子 springs furiously 疯狂 upon a flock 群 of sheep or goats 山羊 when he finds them without their shepherd 牧羊人, so did the son of Tydeus set upon the Thracian soldiers till he had killed twelve 十二. As he killed them Ulysses came and drew them aside by their feet one by one, that the horses might go forward freely without being frightened as they passed over the dead bodies, for they were not yet used to them. When the son of Tydeus came to the king, he killed him too (which made thirteen 十三), as he was breathing 呼吸 hard, for by the counsel 法律顾问 of Minerva an evil dream, the seed of Oeneus, hovered 徘徊 that night over his head. Meanwhile Ulysses untied the horses, made them fast one to another and drove them off, striking them with his bow, for he had forgotten to take the whip 鞭打 from the chariot. Then he whistled 吹口哨 as a sign to Diomed.

But Diomed stayed where he was, thinking what other daring deed 行为 he might accomplish 完成；实现；达到；做到. He was doubting whether to take the chariot in which the king's armour was lying, and draw it out by the pole 极, or to lift the armour out and carry it off; or whether again, he should not kill some more Thracians. While he was thus hesitating 犹豫 Minerva came up to him and said, "Get back, Diomed, to the ships or you may be driven thither, should some other god rouse 唤醒 the Trojans."

Diomed knew that it was the goddess 女神, and at once sprang upon the horses. Ulysses beat them with his bow and they flew onward 向前 to the ships of the Achaeans.

But Apollo kept no blind look-out when he saw Minerva with the son of Tydeus. He was angry with her, and coming to the host of the Trojans he roused 唤醒 Hippocoon, a counsellor of the Thracians and a noble kinsman of Rhesus. He started up out of his sleep and saw that the horses were no longer in their place, and that the men were gasping 喘气 in their death-agony 痛苦; on this he groaned 呻吟 aloud, and called upon his friend by name. Then the whole Trojan camp was in an uproar as the people kept hurrying together, and they marvelled 奇迹 at the deeds of the heroes who had now got away towards the ships.

When they reached the place where they had killed Hector's scout 侦察, Ulysses stayed his horses, and the son of Tydeus, leaping 飞跃 to the ground, placed the blood-stained spoils in the hands of Ulysses and remounted: then he lashed 睫毛 the horses onwards 向前, and they flew forward nothing loth towards the ships as though of their own free will. Nestor was first to hear the tramp 流浪汉 of their feet. "My friends," said he, "princes 王子 and counsellors of the Argives, shall I guess right or wrong?—but I must say what I think: there is a sound in my ears as of the tramp 流浪汉 of horses. I hope it may be Diomed and Ulysses driving in horses from the Trojans, but I much fear that the bravest of the Argives may have come to some harm 损害 at their hands."

He had hardly done speaking when the two men came in and dismounted, whereon the others shook hands right gladly with them and congratulated 祝贺 them. Nestor knight 骑士 of Gerene was first to question them. "Tell me," said he, "renowned 名声 Ulysses, how did you two come by these horses? Did you steal in among the Trojan forces, or did some god meet you and give them to you? They are like sunbeams. I am well conversant with the Trojans, for old warrior 战士 though I am I never hold back by the ships, but I never yet saw or heard of such horses as these are. Surely some god must have met you and given them to you, for you are both of you dear to Jove, and to Jove's daughter Minerva."

And Ulysses answered, "Nestor son of Neleus, honour to the Achaean name, heaven, if it so will, can give us even better horses than these, for the gods are far mightier 威武 than we are. These horses, however, about which you ask me, are freshly come from Thrace. Diomed killed their king with the twelve 十二 bravest of his companions 同伴. Hard by the ships we took a thirteenth man—a scout 侦察 whom Hector and the other Trojans had sent as a spy 间谍 upon our ships."

He laughed as he spoke and drove the horses over the ditch 沟渠, while the other Achaeans followed him gladly. When they reached the strongly built quarters of the son of Tydeus, they tied the horses with thongs of leather 皮 to the manger, where the steeds of Diomed stood eating their sweet corn, but Ulysses hung the blood-stained spoils of Dolon at the stern 严肃 of his ship, that they might prepare a sacred 神圣的 offering to Minerva. As for themselves, they went into the sea and washed the sweat 流汗 from their bodies, and from their necks and thighs 大腿. When the sea-water had taken all the sweat from off them, and had refreshed them, they went into the baths 沐浴 and washed themselves. After they had so done and had anointed themselves with oil, they sat down to table, and drawing from a full mixing- bowl 碗, made a drink-offering of wine to Minerva.