The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10): Stories from the Classics
General
The Children's Hour, Volume 3 (of 10): Stories from the Classics
Children's stories; Classical literature -- Adaptations
Then first he went to the stalls of his horses. The wife of the North Wind
gave them to Pilumnus. Whiter than snow were they, and swifter than the
wind. Then he put the coat of mail about his shoulders, and fitted a
helmet on his head, and took the great sword which Vulcan had made for
Daunus his father, and had dipped it when it was white-hot in the river of
Styx. His spear also he took where it stood against a pillar, saying,
"Serve me well, my spear, that hast never failed me before, that I may lay
low this womanish robber of Phrygia, and soil with dust his curled and
perfumed hair." The next day the men of Italy and the men of Troy measured
out a space for the battle. And in the midst they builded an altar of
turf. And the two armies sat on the one side and on the other, having
fixed their spears in the earth and laid down their shields. Also the
women and the old men stood on the towers and roofs of the city, that they
might see the fight.
But Queen Juno spake to Juturna, the sister of Turnus, saying, "Seest thou
how these two are now about to fight, face to face? And indeed Turnus
goeth to his death. As for me, I endure not to look upon this covenant or
this battle. But if thou canst do aught for thy brother, lo! the time is
at hand." And when the nymph wept and beat her breast, Juno said, "This is
no time for tears. Save thy brother, if thou canst, from death; or cause
that they break this covenant."
After this came the kings, that they might make the covenant together. And
King Latinus rode in a chariot with four horses, and he had on his head a
crown with twelve rays of gold, for he was of the race of the sun; and
Turnus came in a chariot with two white horses, having a javelin in either
hand; and Æneas had donned the arms which Vulcan had made, and with him
was the young Iulus. And after due offering Æneas sware, calling on all
the Gods, "If the victory shall fall this day to Turnus, the men of Troy
shall depart to the city of Evander, nor trouble this land any more. But
if it fall to me, I will not that the Latins should serve the men of Troy.
Let the nations be equal one with the other. The gods that I bring we will
worship together, but King Latinus shall reign as before. A new city shall
the men of Troy build for me, and Lavinia shall call it after her own
name."
Then King Latinus sware, calling on the gods that are above and the gods
that are below, saying, "This covenant shall stand forever, whatsoever may
befall. As sure as this sceptre which I bear--once it was a tree, but a
cunning workman closed it in bronze, to be the glory of the Latian
kings--shall never again bear twig or leaf, so surely shall this covenant
be kept."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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