Page:The Iliad of Homer (Butler).djvu/180

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160
DOLON EXPLAINS THE SITUATION
[ILIAD

392Dolon answered, his limbs trembling beneath him: "Hector, with his vain flattering promises, lured me from my better judgement. He said he would give me the horses of the noble son of Peleus and his bronze-bedizened chariot; he bade me go through the darkness 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 Achæans design to fly, and through sheer exhaustion are neglecting to keep their watches."

400Ulysses smiled at him and answered, "You had indeed set your heart upon a great reward, but the horses of the descendant of Æacus are hardly to be kept in hand or driven by any other mortal man than Achilles himself, whose mother was an immortal. 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 Achæans, will they retire within their walls?"

412And Dolon answered, "I will tell you truly all. Hector and the other councillors are now holding conference by the monument 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 to have them; they, therefore, are awake and keep each other to their duty as sentinels; but the allies who have come from other places are asleep and leave it to the Trojans to keep guard, for their wives and children are not here."

423Ulysses then said, "Now tell me; are they sleeping among the Trojan troops, or do they lie apart? Explain this that I may understand it."

426"I will tell you truly all," replied Dolon. "To the seaward lie the Carians, the Pæonian bowmen, the Leleges, the Cauconians, and the noble Pelasgi. The Lysians and