THE ARMS OF ÆNEAS.
Very early the next morning the old man Evander rose up from his bed,
and donned his tunic, and bound his Tuscan sandals on his feet, and
girt his Tegean sword to his side, flinging a panther's hide over his
left shoulder. Pallas, his son, also went with him. And two hounds,
which lay by his chamber, followed him. For he would fain have speech
with Æneas, whom, indeed, he found astir, and Achates with him. Then
spake Evander: "Great chief of Troy, good will have we, but scanty
means; for our folk are few and our bounds narrow. But I will tell
thee of a great people and a wealthy, with whom thou mayest make
alliance. Nigh to this place is the famous city Agylla, which the men
of Lydia, settling in this land of Etruria, builded aforetime. Now of
this Agylla Mezentius was king, who surpassed all men in wickedness.
For he would join a living man to a dead corpse, and so leave him to
perish miserably. But after awhile the citizens rebelled, saying that
he should not reign over them, and slew his guards and burnt his
palace. But on him they laid not hands, for he fled to Prince Turnus.
Therefore there is war between Turnus and Agylla. Now in this war thou
shalt be leader; for as yet, when they would have gone forth to
battle, the soothsayers have hindered them, saying, 'Though your wrath
against Mezentius be just, yet must no man of Italy lead this people;
but look you for a stranger.' And they would fain have had me for
their leader, but I am old and feeble. And my son Pallas also is akin
to them, seeing that he was born of a Sabine mother. But thou art in
thy prime, and altogether a stranger in race. Wherefore take this
office upon thyself. Pallas also shall go with thee, and learn from
thee to bear himself as a warrior. Also I will send with thee two
hundred chosen horsemen, and Pallas will give thee as many."
And even before he had made an end of speaking, Venus gave them a
sign, even thunder in a clear sky; and there was heard a voice as of
a Tuscan trumpet, and when they looked to the heavens, lo! there was a
flashing of arms.
And Æneas knew the sign and the intepretation thereof, even that he
should prosper in that to which he set his hand. Therefore he bade
Evander be of good cheer. Then again they did sacrifice, and
afterwards Æneas returned to his companions, of whom he chose some,
and them the bravest, who should go with him to Agylla, and the rest
he bade return to Iülus, to the camp.
But when he was now ready to depart, Evander took him by the hand,
saying, "O that Jupiter would give me back the years that are gone,
when I slew, under Præneste, King Erulus, to whom at his birth his
mother, Feronia, gave three lives. Thrice must he needs be slain, and
thrice I slew him. Then had I not been parted from thee, my son, nor
had the wicked Mezentius slain so many of my people. And now, may the
Gods hear my prayer: If it be their pleasure that Pallas should come
back, may I live to see it; but if not, may I die even now while I
hold thee in my arms, my son, my one and only joy."
And his spirit left the old man, and they carried him into the palace.
Then the horsemen rode out from the gates, with Pallas in the midst,
adorned with mantle and blazoned arms, fair as the Morning Star, which
Venus loves beyond all others in the sky. The women stood watching
them from the walls, while they shouted aloud and galloped across the
plain. And after a while they came to a grove, near to which the
Etruscans and Tarchon, their leader, had pitched their camp.
Now in the mean time Venus had bestirred herself for her son, for
while he slept in the palace of Evander she spake to her husband, even
Vulcan, saying, "While the Greeks were fighting against Troy, I sought
not thy help, for I would not that thou shouldst labour in vain; but
now that Æneas is come to Italy by the command of the Gods, I ask thee
that thou shouldst make arms and armour for my son. This Aurora asked
for Memnon; this Thetis for Achilles, and thou grantedst it to them.
And now thou seest how the nations join themselves to destroy him.
Wherefore I pray thee to help me." And he hearkened to her voice.
Therefore when the morning was come, very early, even as a woman who
maketh her living by the distaff riseth and kindleth her fire, and
giveth tasks to her maidens, that she may provide for her husband and
her children, even so Vulcan rose betimes to his work. Now there is an
island, Liparé, nigh unto the shore of Sicily, and there the god had
set up his furnace and anvil, and the Cyclopés were at work, forging
thunderbolts for Jupiter, whereof one remained half wrought. Three
parts of hail had they used, and three of rain-cloud, and three of red
fire and the south wind; and now they were adding to it lightning, and
noise, and fear, and wrath, with avenging flames. And elsewhere they
wrought a chariot for Mars, and a shirt of mail for Minerva, even the
Ægis, with golden scales as of a serpent, and in the midst the
Gorgon's head, lopped at the nape, with rolling eyes. But the god
cried, "Cease ye your toils. Ye must make arms for a hero." Then they
all bent them to their toil. Then bronze, and gold, and iron flowed in
streams; and some plied the bellows, and others dipped the hissing
mass in water, and a third turned the ore in griping pincers.
[Illustration: VULCAN AND THE CYCLOPÉS.]
A helmet they made with nodding crest, that blazed like fire, and a
sword, and a cuirass of ruddy bronze, and greaves of gold molten many
times, and a spear, and a shield whereon was wrought a marvellous
story of things to come. For the god had set forth all the story of
Rome. There lay the she-wolf in the cave of Mars, suckling the twin
babes that feared her not--and she, bending back her neck, licked them
with her tongue; and there the men of Rome carried off the Sabine
virgins to be their wives; and hard by the battle raged, and there
again the kings made peace together, with offerings and sacrifice.
Also there were wrought the chariots that tore asunder Mettus of Alba
for his treachery, and Porsenna bidding the Romans take back their
king, besieging the city, but the men of Rome stood in arms against
him. Angry and threatening stood the king to see how Cocles broke down
the bridge, and Clœlia burst her bonds to swim across the river.
There Manlius stood to guard the Capitol, and a goose of silver
flapped his wings in arcades of gold, and showed the Gauls at hand.
And they, under cover of the darkness, were climbing through the
thickets even to the ridge of the hill. Their hair was wrought in
gold, in gold their raiment; and their cloaks were of divers colours
crossed; milk-white their necks and clasped with gold; two spears had
each and an oblong shield. Likewise he wrought the dwellings of the
dead, of the just and of the unjust. Here Catiline hung from the rock
while the Furies pursued him; there Cato gave the people laws. And all
about was the sea wrought in gold; but the waves were blue, and white
the foam, and therein sported dolphins of silver. But in the midst was
wrought a great battle of ships at the cape of Actium. On the one side
Augustus led the men of Italy to battle, standing very high on the
stern of the ship. From either temple of his head blazed forth a fire.
And Agrippa also led on his array with a naval crown about his head.
And on the other side stood Antony, having with him barbarous soldiers
arrayed in divers fashions, and leading to battle Egypt and Persia and
the armies of the East; and lo! behind him--a shameful sight--his
Egyptian wife. But in another part the battle raged, and all the sea
was in a foam with oars and triple beaks. It seemed as though islands
were torn from their places, or mountain clashed against mountain, so
great was the shock of the ships. And all about flew javelins with
burning tow, and the sea was red with blood. In the midst stood Queen
Cleopatra, with a timbrel in her hand, and called her armies to the
battle: behind her you might see the snakes by whose bite she should
die. And on one side the dog Anubis, with other monstrous shapes of
gods, and over against them Neptune, and Venus, and Minerva. And in
the midst Mars was seen to rage, embossed in steel; and the Furies
hovered above, and Discord stalked with garment rent, while high above
Apollo stretched his bow, and Egyptian and Indian and Arab fled before
him. And in a third place great Cæsar rode through Rome in triumph,
and the city was full of joy, and the matrons were gathered in the
temples; and through the street there passed a long array of nations
that he had conquered, from the east, and from the west, and from the
north, and from the south. Such was the shield which Vulcan wrought.
And Venus, when she saw her son that none was with him,--for he had
wandered apart from his companions,--brought the arms and laid them
down before him, saying, "See the arms that I promised I would give
thee. These my husband, the Fire-god, hath wrought for thee. With
these thou needst shun no enemy; no, not Turnus himself." Right glad
was he to see them, and fitted them upon him, and swung the shield
upon his shoulder, nor knew what mighty fates of his children he bare
thereon.