The Aeneid Book 4 Translation Lines 259-361

ut primum alatis tetigit magalia plantis,

Aenean fundantem arces ac tecta novantem

conspicit.

As soon as he touched the huts with his winged soles, he spies Aeneas building citadels and making shelters

atque illi stellatus iaspide fulva

ensis erat Tyrioque ardebat murice laena

demissa ex umeris, dives quae munera Dido

fecerat, et tenui telas discreverat auro.

And to that one there was a sword spangled with tawny jasper, and a cloak let down from his shoulders was bright with Tyrian purple, which wealthy Dido had made [as] a gift, and she had separated the webs with slender gold [thread]

continuo invadit: 'tu nunc Karthaginis altae

fundamenta locas pulchramque uxorius urbem

exstruis?

Straightaway he addresses[him]: "Are you now laying the foundations of lofty Carthage and, wife-ruled, do you build up a lovely city?

heu, regni rerumque oblite tuarum!

Alas, you having forgotten your kingdom and your situations (responsibilities).

ipse deum tibi me claro demittit Olympo

regnator, caelum et terras qui numine torquet,

ipse haec ferre iubet celeris mandata per auras:

he ruler himself of the gods who turns the heaven and lands with [his] power, sends me to you from bright Olympus; he himself orders [me] to bear these commands through the swift breezes:

quid struis? aut qua spe Libycis teris otia terris?

What are you building? Or with what hope do you waste times of idleness in Libyan lands?

si te nulla movet tantarum gloria rerum

[nec super ipse tua moliris laude laborem,]Ascanium surgentem et spes heredis Iuli

respice, cui regnum Italiae Romanaque tellus

debetur.'

If no glory of such great situations (affairs) moves you [and in addition you yourself do not pursue an effort on behalf of your own praise,] consider Ascanius rising up and the hopes for [your] heir Iulus, to whom the kingdom of Italy and the Roman land is owed."

tali Cyllenius ore locutus

mortalis visus medio sermone reliquit

et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.

Having spoken with such a speech and from afar disappeared from [Aeneas'] eyes into thin air

At vero Aeneas aspectu obmutuit amens,

arrectaeque horrore comae et vox faucibus haesit.

But Aeneas stood speechless indeed, frenzied at/by the sight, and [his] hair stood on end from horror and [his] voice stuck in [his] jaws.

ardet abire fuga dulcisque relinquere terras,

attonitus tanto monitu imperioque deorum.

He is eager to depart in flight and to leave the sweet lands, stunned by so great a warning and order of the gods.

heu quid agat? quo nunc reginam ambire furentem

audeat adfatu?

Alas, what should he do? With what address should he dare to conciliate the raging queen now?

quae prima exordia sumat?

What first beginnings should he take up?

atque animum nunc huc celerem nunc dividit illuc

in partisque rapit varias perque omnia versat.

And he divides his swift mind now in this direction now in that and takes [it] into different directions and revolves [it] through all things.

haec alternanti potior sententia visa est:

Mnesthea Sergestumque vocat fortemque Serestum,

classem aptent taciti sociosque ad litora cogant,

arma parent et quae rebus sit causa novandis

dissimulent;

This opinion seemed preferable to him as he wavered: he calls Mnestheus and Sergestus and strong Serestus, and silent[ly] make ready the fleet and drive [their] companions to the shores, prepare weapons and conceal what the reason is for doing things anew

sese interea, quando optima Dido

nesciat et tantos rumpi non speret amores,

temptaturum aditus et quae mollissima fandi

tempora, quis rebus dexter modus.

Meanwhile herself, since wonderful Dido does not know and she does not expect such love to be broken, he himself will test approaches and what times for speaking [are] easiest, what way [is] right for things.

ocius omnes

imperio laeti parent et iussa facessunt.

Very swifty all happy obey the command and fulfil the orders.

At regina dolos (quis fallere possit amantem?)

praesensit, motusque excepit prima futuros

omnia tuta timens.

But the queen suspects tricks (who could deceive a lover?), and was the first to understand movements about to come, fearing all things, [even] safe ones.

eadem impia Fama furenti

detulit armari classem cursumque parari.

The same wicked Rumor brought [to her], raving, [the news that] the fleet was being armed and the course was being prepared

saevit inops animi totamque incensa per urbem bacchatur, qualis commotis excita sacris

Thyias, ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho

orgia nocturnusque vocat clamore Cithaeron.

Bereft of mind she rages and rushes inflamed, through the whole city like a Bacchant aroused, rituals having been stirred up when the triennial rites spur her Bacchus having been heard and nocturnal Cithaeron calls [her]with a shout.

tandem his Aenean compellat vocibus ultro:

Finally, she addresses Aeneas with these words:

'dissimulare etiam sperasti, perfide, tantum

posse nefas tacitusque mea decedere terra?

Treacherous one, did you hope to pretend still that so great a crime was possible and to depart from my land quiet[ly]?

nec te noster amor nec te data dextera quondam

nec moritura tenet crudeli funere Dido?

Does neither our love, nor the right [hand] once given, nor Dido, about to die from a cruel death hold you?

quin etiam hiberno moliri sidere classem

et mediis properas Aquilonibus ire per altum,

crudelis?

Aren't you hurrying, in fact, to prepare the fleet under the winter star and to go through the deep in the midst of the North winds, cruel man?

quid, si non arva aliena domosque

ignotas peteres, et Troia antiqua maneret,

Troia per undosum peteretur classibus aequor? mene fugis?

What, if you were not seeking foreign fields and unknown homes, and ancient Troy remained, would Troy be sought by the fleets through the wave-filled sea?

per ego has lacrimas dextramque tuam te

(quando aliud mihi iam miserae nihil ipsa reliqui),

per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos,

si bene quid de te merui, fuit aut tibi quicquam

dulce meum, miserere domus labentis et istam,

oro, si quis adhuc precibus locus, exue mentem.

By these tears and your right hand (since I myself have left nothing else to my now-wretched self), by our marriage[s], by the wedding hymns begun, if I have well deserved anything regarding you, or anything of mine was sweet to you, pity the falling house and discard, I beg you, that intention of yours, if [there is] any place still for prayers.

te propter Libycae gentes Nomadumque tyranni

odere, infensi Tyrii; te propter eundem

exstinctus pudor et, qua sola sidera adibam,

fama prior.

On account of you the Libyan peoples and the rulers of the Nomads hate [me and] the Tyrians [are] hostile; on account of the same you, [my sense of] shame [has been] extinguished, and my earlier reputation, by which alone I was approaching the stars.

cui me moribundam deseris hospes

(hoc solum nomen quoniam de coniuge restat)?

quid moror?

For what do you, guest (since this name alone remains from [my] husband, desert me, about to die? Why do I delay?

an mea Pygmalion dum moenia frater

destruat aut captam ducat Gaetulus Iarbas?

Or [am i waiting] until [my] brother Pygmalion destroys my city walls, or Gaetulian Iarbas takes [me] captive?

saltem si qua mihi de te suscepta fuisset

ante fugam suboles, si quis mihi parvulus aula

luderet Aeneas, qui te tamen ore referret,

non equidem omnino capta ac deserta viderer.'

At least, if there had been some offspring begotten to me from you before flight, if some little Aeneas were playing for me in the hall, who at least, recalled you in face, I would not indeed seem entirely taken and forsaken."

Dixerat. ille Iovis monitis immota tenebat

lumina et obnixus curam sub corde premebat.

[Dido] had spoken. That one was holding [his] eyes unmoved on account of the warnings of Jupiter, and having struggled, was pressing [his] concern beneath [his] heart.

tandem pauca refert: 'ego te, quae plurima fando

enumerare vales, numquam, regina, negabo

promeritam, nec me meminisse pigebit Elissae 335

dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos regit artus.

Finally he says a few [words]: "Queen, I shall never deny that you, who are able by speaking to list very many things, [have] deserved [very many things], nor will it displease me to remember Elissa, so long as I [am] mindful of myself, so long as breath controls these limbs.

pro re pauca loquar.

I shall say a few things on behalf of [my] case.

neque ego hanc abscondere furto

speravi (ne finge) fugam, nec coniugis umquam

praetendi taedas aut haec in foedera veni.

I neither expected--don't imagine [this]--to hide this escape by stealth, nor did I ever hold out the marriage torches of a husband or come into these agreements.

me si fata meis paterentur ducere vitam 340

auspiciis et sponte mea componere curas,

urbem Troianam primum dulcisque meorum

reliquias colerem, Priami tecta alta manerent,

et recidiva manu posuissem Pergama victis.

If the fates permitted me to lead a life by my own authority and to calm [my] cares of my own accord, I would [dwell in] the city [of] Troy first of all and would cherish the remnants of my [people], [and] the lofty walls of priam would remain, and I would have established by [my own]hand a reborn Troy for the conquered.

sed nunc Italiam magnam Gryneus Apollo, 345

Italiam Lyciae iussere capessere sortes;

hic amor, haec patria est.

But now, Grynean Apollo [has ordered me to pursue] great Italy, the Lycian lots have ofered [me] to pursue Italy; this [is my] love, this is [my] homeland

si te Karthaginis arces

Phoenissam Libycaeque aspectus detinet urbis,

quae tandem Ausonia Teucros considere terra

invidia est?

If the citadel[s] of carthage and the sight of the Libyan city detains you, a Phoenician, what [source of] jealousy, then, is it for the Teucrians to settle in the Ausonian land?

et nos fas extera quaerere regna.

It is right for us, too, to seek foreign kingdoms.

me patris Anchisae, quotiens umentibus umbris

nox operit terras, quotiens astra ignea surgunt,

admonet in somnis et turbida terret imago;

The troubled image of father Anchises advises and terrifies me in sleep, as often as night covers the lands with damp shadows, as often as the fiery stars rise;

me puer Ascanius capitisque iniuria cari,

quem regno Hesperiae fraudo et fatalibus arvis.

[my] son Ascanius [adivses] me, and the wrong done to my dear son, whom I am depriving of the kingdom of Hesperia and the fated fields.

nunc etiam interpres divum Iove missus ab ipso

(testor utrumque caput) celeris mandata per auras

detulit:

In fact, now an agent of the gods, went by Jupiter himself, has carried down [his] orders through the swift breezes:

ipse deum manifesto in lumine vidi

intrantem muros vocemque his auribus hausi.

I myself saw the god in the clear light, entering the walls and I drew in [his] voice with these ears

desine meque tuis incendere teque querelis;

Stop inflaming me and you with your laments;

Italiam non sponte sequor.'

I pursue Italy not of [my own] accord.