Mythology, Greek -- Juvenile literature; Mythology, Roman -- Juvenile literature
But Venus suffered him not to speak more, but said, “Whoever thou art,
stranger, that art come to this Tyrian city, thou art surely beloved by
the gods. And now go, show thyself to the Queen. And as for thy ships
and thy companions, I tell that they are safe in the haven, if I have
not learnt augury in vain. See those twenty swans, how joyously they
fly! And now there cometh an eagle swooping down from the sky, putting
them to confusion; but now again they move in due order, and some are
settling on the earth and some preparing to settle. Even so doth it
fare with thy ships, for either are they already in the haven or enter
thereinto with sails full set.”
And as she spake she turned away, and there shone a rosy light from her
neck; also there came from her hair a sweet savor as of ambrosia, and
her garments grew unto her feet; and Æneas perceived that she was his
mother, and cried aloud,--
“O my mother, why dost thou mock me so often with false shows, nor
sufferest me to join my hand unto thy hand, and to speak with thee face
to face?”
And he went towards the walls of the city. But Venus covered him and
his companions with a mist, that no man might see them, or hinder them,
or inquire of their business, and then departed to Paphos, where was
her temple and also many altars of incense. Then the men hastened on
their way, and mounting a hill which hung over the city, marvelled to
behold it, for indeed it was very great and noble, with mighty gates
and streets, and a multitude that walked therein. For some built the
walls and the citadel, rolling great stones with their hands, and
others marked out places for houses. Also they chose those that should
give judgment and bear rule in the city. Some, too, digged out harbors,
and others laid the foundations of a theatre, and cut out great pillars
of stone. Like to bees they were, when, the summer being newly come,
the young swarms go forth, or when they labor filling the cells with
honey, and some receive the burdens of those that return from the
fields, and others keep off the drones from the hive. Even so labored
the men of Tyre. And when Æneas beheld them he cried, “Happy ye, who
even now have a city to dwell in!” And being yet hidden by the mist, he
went in at the gate and mingled with the men, being seen of none.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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