The danger’s great, but great rewards allure
Thee, generous youth, t’ assert thy claim,
Thrice blest if thou the gift procure,
Yet will thy toils deserve immortal fame:
Th’ allies of kings let grandeur tend,
May Heaven and Justice thy emprise befriend,
For thou already seem’st to have acquired
All that from man can be desired.
DOL. I am resolved to go: but my own doors
First must I enter, and myself attire
In such a garb as suits my present scheme,
Thence will I hasten to the Argive fleet.
CHOR. What other dress intend’st thou to assume
Instead of that thou wear’st?
DOL. Such as befits
My errand and the stealth with which I travel.
CHOR. We ought to gain instruction from the wise.
What covering hast thou chosen for thy body?
DOL. I to my back will fit the tawny hide
Of a slain wolf, will muffle up my front
With the beast’s hairy visage, fit my hands
To his fore-feet, thrust into those behind
My legs, and imitate his savage gait;
Approaching undiscovered by the foe,
The trenches and the ramparts that defend
The navy: but whenever I shall come
To desert places, on two feet I mean
To travel: such deception have I framed.
CHOR. May Hermes, Maïa’s offspring, who presides
O’er well-conducted fallacies, assist
Thy journey thither, and with safety lead
Thy homeward steps! for well thou understand’st
The business; there is nought which yet thou need’st
But good success.
DOL. I shall return in safety,
And having slain Ulysses, or the son
Of Tydeus, bring to you their ghastly heads:
For omens of assured success are mine:
Then say that Dolon reached the Grecian fleet.
These hands distained with gore, my native walls
Will I revisit ere the sun arise.
[_Exit_ DOLON.