Page:The Aeneid of Virgil JOHN CONINGTON 1917 V2.pdf/285

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and makes haste to march against him. He abides undismayed,
waiting for his gallant foe, and stands like
column on its base; then, measuring with his eye the
distance that may suffice for his spear, "Now let my right
hand, the god of my worship, and the missile dart I am 5
poising, vouchsafe their aid! I vow that you, my Lausus,
clad in spoils torn from yonder robber's carcase, shall
stand in your own person the trophy of Æneas." He
said, and threw from far his hurtling lance: flying onward,
it glances aside from the shield, and strikes in the 10
distance noble Antores twixt side and flank, Antores,
comrade of Hercules, who, sent from Argos, had cloven to
Evander's fortunes and sat him down in an Italian home.
Now he falls, ill-fated, by a wound meant for other, and
gazes on the sky, and dreams in death of his darling Argos. 15
Then good Æneas hurls his spear; through the hollow
disk with its triple plating of brass, through the folds of
linen and the texture wherein three bulls joined, it won
its way and lodged low down in the groin, but its force
held not on. In a moment Æneas, gladdened by the sight 20
of the Tuscan's blood, plucks his sword from his thigh
and presses hotly on his unnerved foe.

Soon as Lausus saw, he gave a heavy groan of tenderness
for the sire he loved, and tears trickled down his
face. And here, gallant youth, neither the cruel chance 25
of thy death, nor thy glorious deeds, if antiquity may
gain credence for so great a sacrifice, nor thine own most
worthy memory shall be unsung through fault of mine.
The father, dragging back his foot, disabled and entangled,
was quitting the field, his enemy's spearshaft trailing 30
from his buckler. Forth dashed the youth and mingled
in the duel, and even as Æneas was rising with hand and
body and bringing down a blow from above, met the
shock of the sword, and gave the swordsman pause; his
comrades second him with a mighty shout, covering the 35
father's retreat as sheltered by his son's shield he withdraws
from the fray, hurl a rain of darts, and strive with
distant missiles to dislodge the foe. Æneas glows with