Tessa, Our Little Italian CousinWade, Mary Hazelton Blanchard
General
Tessa, Our Little Italian Cousin
Wade, Mary Hazelton Blanchard
Children -- Italy -- Juvenile literature
"Æneas and his people had been conquered in a great battle, and their
city was given up to their enemies. The young prince fled in the
darkness, carrying his father on his back, and leading his little boy by
the hand. His wife followed behind them. The old man carefully held some
little images. They must not be left behind or lost, for they
represented the gods in whom the Trojans believed and whom they
worshipped.
"When they had gone a little way, Æneas found that his wife was no
longer following them. What could have happened to her? He looked for
her everywhere, but it was of no use. No trace of her could be found,
and she was never heard of again.
"When Æneas and his men reached Mount Ida they built some ships and set
sail. They would find a new home for themselves."
"But where was their old home, father? You called it Troy," said Lucy.
"Troy was a place in Asia Minor, near the strait with the long name of
the Hellespont. This strait separates that part of Asia from Greece, and
the rest of Europe. You can easily find it on your map. But remember
this, as I go on,--in olden times the ships were small and people knew
little about the seas or the great ocean, and seldom went far from
home. What you would think of as a short voyage would have seemed a very
long one to the people then.
"Many wonderful things happened to Æneas after he left Troy. After a
while his provisions gave out, and he landed on the shore of an island
to get some food. He found wild goats grazing there, and his men killed
some of them. While they were feasting on the flesh of these creatures,
the harpies appeared. They had the bodies of birds, but the faces of
ugly old women."
Tessa shuddered. "Are there any real harpies?" she asked, eagerly.
"No, no, Tessa. Remember that this is only a legend.
"These horrible bird-hags flew down into the midst of the Trojans and
destroyed their dinner. The men shot at them, but the arrows glanced off
of the feathers, and not one of the harpies was harmed. Although most of
them flew far away, they were very angry. One of them stayed long
enough to cry in a harsh voice:
"'You Trojans shall be punished for troubling us. You shall be tossed
about on the ocean until you reach Italy, and you shall not build a city
for yourselves until you are so hungry that you will be willing to eat
the trenchers containing the food.'
"This was what people called a prophecy, and, as Æneas and his men
believed in such things, it made them feel far from cheerful.
"He sailed away, however, and came at length to another place, where he
found old friends. His cousin, Helenus, who had also been driven away
from Troy, was ruling there, and he had built a new city for himself and
his comrades.
"Helenus was a prophet, as it seemed, and he told Æneas that after he
reached Italy he would find an old white sow with thirty little pigs
around her. He must build a city for himself wherever he should find
her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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