[32] The Centaurs, a people of Thessaly, said to be begotten by Ixion, on the cloud which he took for Juno. [33] ----_Felicem diximus illa Conjuge Pirithoum: quod pæne fefellimus omen._ The translation is somewhat obscure; it means, "All wished her joy, and it had nearly happened that all had wished it in vain." [34] The _dress_ seems to apply to the clothing of the Centaur's human part, the _habit_ to the furniture of the horse; perhaps, however, _habit_ means his mode of life. [35] _Unhoped_ for _unexpected_. See note on "death unhoped," in the fable of the Cock and the Fox, Vol. XI. [36] Vulcan, the god of fire. THE SPEECHES OF AJAX AND ULYSSES: FROM THE THIRTEENTH BOOK Of OVID'S METAMORPHOSES. The chiefs were set, the soldiers crowned the field; To these the master of the sevenfold shield Upstarted fierce; and, kindled with disdain, Eager to speak, unable to contain His boiling rage, he rolled his eyes around The shore, and Grecian gallies hauled a-ground. Then stretching out his hands, O Jove, he cried, Must then our cause before the fleet be tried? And dares Ulysses for the prize contend, In sight of what he durst not once defend; But basely fled, that memorable day, When I from Hector's hands redeemed the flaming prey? So much 'tis safer at the noisy bar With words to flourish, than engage in war. By different methods we maintained our right, Nor am I made to talk, nor he to fight. In bloody fields I labour to be great; His arms are a smooth tongue, and soft deceit. Nor need I speak my deeds, for those you see; The sun and day are witnesses for me. Let him, who fights unseen, relate his own, And vouch the silent stars, and conscious moon. Great is the prize demanded, I confess, But such an abject rival makes it less. That gift, those honours, he but hoped to gain, Can leave no room for Ajax to be vain; Losing he wins, because his name will be Ennobled by defeat, who durst contend with me. Were mine own valour questioned, yet my blood Without that plea would make my title good; My sire was Telamon, whose arms, employed With Hercules, these Trojan walls destroyed; And who before, with Jason, sent from Greece, In the first ship brought home the golden fleece: Great Telamon from Æacus derives His birth: (the inquisitor of guilty lives In shades below; where Sisyphus, whose son This thief is thought, rolls up the restless heavy stone.) Just Æacus the king of gods above Begot; thus Ajax is the third from Jove. Nor should I seek advantage from my line, Unless, Achilles, it were mixed with thine: As next of kin Achilles' arms I claim; This fellow would ingraft a foreign name Upon our stock, and the Sisyphian seed By fraud and theft asserts his father's breed. Then must I lose these arms, because I came