介绍:
"All who have not since perished must remember as though it were
yesterday or the day before, how the ships of the Achaeans were
detained in Aulis when we were on our way hither to make war on Priam
and the Trojans. We were ranged round about a fountain offering
hecatombs to the gods upon their holy altars, and there was a fine
plane-tree from beneath which there welled a stream of pure water. Then
we saw a prodigy; for Jove sent a fearful serpent out of the ground,
with blood-red stains upon its back, and it darted from under the altar
on to the plane-tree. Now there was a brood of young sparrows, quite
small, upon the topmost bough, peeping out from under the leaves, eight
in all, and their mother that hatched them made nine. The serpent ate
the poor cheeping things, while the old bird flew about lamenting her
little ones; but the serpent threw his coils about her and caught her
by the wing as she was screaming. Then, when he had eaten both the
sparrow and her young, the god who had sent him made him become a sign;
for the son of scheming Saturn turned him into stone, and we stood
there wondering at that which had come to pass. Seeing, then, that such
a fearful portent had broken in upon our hecatombs, Calchas forthwith
declared to us the oracles of heaven. 'Why, Achaeans,' said he, 'are
you thus speechless? Jove has sent us this sign, long in coming, and
long ere it be fulfilled, though its fame shall last for ever. As the
serpent ate the eight fledglings and the sparrow that hatched them,
which makes nine, so shall we fight nine years at Troy, but in the
tenth shall take the town.' This was what he said, and now it is all
coming true. Stay here, therefore, all of you, till we take the city of
Priam.”———————
On this the Argives raised a shout, till the ships rang again with the
uproar. Nestor, knight of Gerene, then addressed them. "Shame on you,"
he cried, "to stay talking here like children, when you should fight
like men. Where are our covenants now, and where the oaths that we have
taken? Shall our counsels be flung into the fire, with our
drink-offerings and the right hands of fellowship wherein we have put
our trust? We waste our time in words, and for all our talking here
shall be no further forward. Stand, therefore, son of Atreus, by your
own steadfast purpose; lead the Argives on to battle, and leave this
handful of men to rot, who scheme, and scheme in vain, to get back to
Argos ere they have learned whether Jove be true or a liar. For the
mighty son of Saturn surely promised that we should succeed, when we
Argives set sail to bring death and destruction upon the Trojans. He
showed us favourable signs by flashing his lightning on our right
hands; therefore let none make haste to go till he has first lain with
the wife of some Trojan, and avenged the toil and sorrow that he has
suffered for the sake of Helen. Nevertheless, if any man is in such
haste to be at home again, let him lay his hand to his ship that he may
meet his doom in the sight of all. But, O king, consider and give ear
to my counsel, for the word that I say may not be neglected lightly.
Divide your men, Agamemnon, into their several tribes and clans, that
clans and tribes may stand by and help one another. If you do this, and
if the Achaeans obey you, you will find out who, both chiefs and
peoples, are brave, and who are cowards; for they will vie against the
other. Thus you shall also learn whether it is through the counsel of
heaven or the cowardice of man that you shall fail to take the town."
And Agamemnon answered, "Nestor, you have again outdone the sons of the
Achaeans in counsel. Would, by Father Jove, Minerva, and Apollo, that I
had among them ten more such councillors, for the city of King Priam
would then soon fall beneath our hands, and we should sack it. But the
son of Saturn afflicts me with bootless wranglings and strife. Achilles
and I are quarrelling about this girl, in which matter I was the first
to offend; if we can be of one mind again, the Trojans will not stave
off destruction for a day. Now, therefore, get your morning meal, that
our hosts join in fight. Whet well your spears; see well to the
ordering of your shields; give good feeds to your horses, and look your
chariots carefully over, that we may do battle the livelong day; for we
shall have no rest, not for a moment, till night falls to part us. The
bands that bear your shields shall be wet with the sweat upon your
shoulders, your hands shall weary upon your spears, your horses shall
steam in front of your chariots, and if I see any man shirking the
fight, or trying to keep out of it at the ships, there shall be no help
for him, but he shall be a prey to dogs and vultures."
Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans roared applause. As when the waves run
high before the blast of the south wind and break on some lofty
headland, dashing against it and buffeting it without ceasing, as the
storms from every quarter drive them, even so did the Achaeans rise and
hurry in all directions to their ships. There they lighted their fires
at their tents and got dinner, offering sacrifice every man to one or
other of the gods, and praying each one of them that he might live to
come out of the fight. Agamemnon, king of men, sacrificed a fat
five-year-old bull to the mighty son of Saturn, and invited the princes
and elders of his host. First he asked Nestor and King Idomeneus, then
the two Ajaxes and the son of Tydeus, and sixthly Ulysses, peer of gods
in counsel; but Menelaus came of his own accord, for he knew how busy
his brother then was. They stood round the bull with the barley-meal in
their hands, and Agamemnon……
大家还在听
