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Roman d'Eneas

(lines 263-844, 1197-2154)

(translated [from CFMA ed.] by Míceál F. Vaughan [June 1999])

............

(lines 1-262 omitted)

In these conditions, the fugitives from Troy

Suffered for three days, so that they had no joy.

When day arrived on the fourth day, 265

The winds lessened, ceased completely,

The sun rose, and it rained no more,

The sea went entirely calm;

The tempest was assuaged.

Then Eneas lifted up his head 270

And looked straight in front of him,

And he saw the land of Libya.

He encouraged all his companions;

They rowed with power in that direction.

They rowed and sailed 275

Until they reached the Libyan harbor;

They landed as soon as they could.

They had only seven of their twenty ships;

These they secured on the beach.

They found the country very wild; 280

They saw neither cabin nor house

Nor village nor city, only trees;

But nevertheless they were quite pleased.

Eneas went into the forest;

A single boy went with him, 285

Both carrying their bows,

And hunted deer and wild beasts.

His men carried back many of them.

They made fires on the shore,

And happily prepared to eat 290

What they had taken from the woods.

Often they looked out to sea

To see if they could spot their ships

That the wind had driven away from them;

They were anxious about them; 295

But they were even more distressed

About those men they saw in the water,

Whom they did not expect to see again.

They were more hopeful about the others,

But they had no hope for the dead. 300

They went to watch from the bluffs

And looked long out to sea;

When they saw nothing of them, they greatly feared

That the deep sea had swallowed the ships.

Then Eneas assembled 305

Those who had come along with him;

Of his company he had with him

No more than a third.

He began to comfort them

For the bad times they had on the sea. 310

'Men,' he said, 'noble knights,

Do not be dismayed

If you were afraid

On this sea, or felt troubled or sad; 315

It will, in the future, delight you,

When you remember it;

It will be a pleasure for you to tell stories

About the bad times you had had at sea.

A man who journeys to another land, 320

To conquer a kingdom and country,

Cannot achieve very great honor

If he cannot bear up under both good times and

bad.

Whoever always gets what he wants

And never experiences evil, 325

In my opinion, will not know

At any time what 'good' might be;

But if he suffers a little discomfort ,

So that he does not get everything that pleases him,

In my opinion, he will treasure 330

The good later, when he gets it.

Now have we suffered much hardship

On many seas for more than seven years

And we have worked hard out there

And gone hungry and sleepless often; 335

If we ever get some rest,

A bit of good will please us greatly.

Having suffered hard labor and evil and pain,

If fortune keeps us in hand,

The gods will lead us to the place 340

That they promised us as a feudal territory,

In Greater Lombardy;

From there our ancestors came.

We are a large group and do not have

Very much in the way of food; 345

We must seek out supplies.

But I see this is a very uncivilized land;

I do not know if there is any grain here,

Or village or town or city.

I have never seen a wilder place. 350

If we find nothing here to live on,

There is no reason to stay,

But instead we should return to the sea

And look for another country.

Along with food we'll also need to find 355

Fresh water, hay and oats

For the horses, who are barely still alive.

Then Eneas chose

Ten brave and hardy knights

Who would go to search the countryside 360

And would find out to report to him

In what country they had arrived,

If there were people in it, or a grain of wheat.

The messengers who were going to check out

The country set off from there; 365

The wandered through valleys and mountains,

Through woods and fields;

They wandered far and wide, but did not see

anyone

Who could give them any information,

Nothing alive, not even a wild animal. 370

They wandered far and wide through the thickets

Until they came upon a path;

From this issued a broad road.

The messengers kept on the main road,

Which was very wide, until they saw 375

The city of Carthage,

Whose fortress Dido controlled.

Lady Dido ruled the country;

She ruled it better than count or marquis;

Never was there a feudal state or kingdom 380

Better governed by a woman.

She was not born in that country,

But was from the country of Tyre;

Sicheus was the name of her husband.

One of her brothers had had him killed, 385

Chased his sister into exile,

Because he wanted to control the feudal estate.

She fled from there by sea;

She had a large group of companions,

Carried off a great deal of treasure,

Silks and cloths, silver and gold. 390

In this territory she arrived;

She came to the prince of the country,

With great ingenuity she went to ask

Him to sell her as much of his land

As the skin of bull would contain, 395

For which she gave him silver and gold;

And the prince, not expecting trickery

Gave her what she asked for.

Dido cut the skin

Into strips, which were very thin; 400

With these she got possession of so much land

That she founded a city there;

Then she conquered so much with her wealth,

With her ingenuity, with her prowess,

That she took possession of the whole territory 405

And the barons submitted to her.

The city was called Carthage,

Set on the coast of Libya.

The sea beats against it there on one side,

So that it never would be assailed from that 410

quarter;

On the other side were pools

And great and broad marshes

And large moats with barbicans,

Made in the Libyan style,

And trenches and palisades, 415

Fences, barriers, drawbridges.

Before one could reach Carthage,

There were many tight and narrow places.

In a corner, high up toward the shore

There was a large natural outcropping. 420

There they erected the walls:

The stones were of gray marble,

Of white and of indigo and of red.

With great ingenuity and planning

They were laid completely around the city; 425

They were all constructed of marble and adamant.

The walls were made with columns,

With pillars and with niches.

With wild beasts, with birds, with flowers,

In marble of a hundred colors 430

Was the outside of the wall decorated,

Without red and without blue.

All around were made three rows

With very great care, of magnets,

A stone which is extremely hard; 435

The magnet is of such a nature,

That any man who comes near it in arms

Is pulled toward the stone.

So one who comes near it with a hauberk

Would be pulled immediately toward the wall. 440

The walls were thick and high,

They feared no assault;

They had five hundred towers on the perimeter

In addition to the main fortress.

Facing the town the walls 445

Had a triforium, with arches and canopies,

Made entirely of huge blocks of marble;

The road ran underneath.

A great market was held there every day;

There was selling of silk, furs, 450

Satin blankets, coverlets,

Purple cloth, gowns, colored clothes,

Gems, spices and dishes.

Rich and lovely merchandise

Could be found there at all times; 455

One could not imagine

Any finery that existed in the world,

Of which there was not a supply in that place.

They had broad streets in the city

And plenty of noble palaces, 460

Wealthy townsmen, halls and towers

And galleries and parlors.

There was a great supply of beautiful buildings

Within the confines of the city.

It had seven main gates; 465

A count lived above each one,

He held his fief and his land in exchange:

If war erupted in Carthage,

Each count would have to take up arms

And lead seven hundred knights. 470

In this sea near Carthage,

Along the coast, there is caught

A kind of fish

Not very large, but small.

They slice these near the tail, 475

And red drops fall from them;

From this is derived an expensive purple dye.

There are only a few fish of this kind;

They are called concilium.

From the blood of these small fish, 480

Of which there is a great supply in that place,

From them come the red purple.

They also make black dyes in Carthage

From the blood of a huge water serpent,

Called the crocodile, 485

Of which there are quite a few on an island.

These are extraordinarily large serpents

And are of a very strange character:

When one has devoured its prey,

Then it falls asleep with its jaws open. 490

It does not have any digestive tract;

Birds go inside its body

And while it is asleep they feed

On whatever it had earlier eaten.

It doesn't expel wastes otherwise, 495

For it doesn't produce excrement.

On one side of the city

Dido set her fortress.

It had strong towers and a fine dungeon,

Which feared nothing but a thunderbolt; 500

No one could damage it at all

In any assault, with spear or arrow,

Nor could any engine damage it

Unless if came from the sky.

The palace was beneath the tower; 505

Never, by king or emperor,

Was one as fine a this ever seen.

A bushel of precious natural gems

Was set in the wall,

And seven thousand enamels were placed there 510

On the pillars, on the battlements,

On the gates, on the arches,

On the rafters, on the windows,

On the glass and on the window frames.

Nearby, Dido built a temple, 515

Where Juno was worshipped.

It was extravagantly rich;

It would be boring to recount

All the features of its construction.

The goddess Juno wanted 520

Carthage to be the capital of the world

And all the kingdoms which were in it

Would be completely subservient to her,

But she could never achieve this goal.

Destiny had completely different things in mind, 525

For the gods had decided

That Rome would be the capital.

The Capitol lay to the right,

On one side, outside the castle,

Where the senators, by common decision, 530

Were set up to hold court,

To preserve justice, and to restrain evil:

This was the place were pleas were heard.

It was made with marvelous ingenuity;

It was very beautiful and spacious inside, 535

It had two hundred vaults and arches.

Never did any one speak so quietly there,

That he was not heard immediately

Around the entire Capitol.

The twenty-four senators 540

Were selected there.

Later, a very distant time from then,

Rome obtained the power

That Dido wanted to give Carthage.

This city was not yet 545

Fully completed;

Still Dido having work done

To reinforce the walls all around.

The messengers traveled very quickly

Until they came into Carthage; 550

They inquired and asked

Who ruled that city.

People told them that a woman

Was the lady over the entire kingdom.

They inquired where she was; 555

They went directly according to the directions.

In the castle beneath the tower

They found the lady

In the hall with a large crowd.

The messengers came before her. 560

Ilioneus, who was very wise

And brave, spoke first;

He greeted her, and then said to her:

'Lady, listen to us for a moment.

You have surely heard, long ago, 565

That the Greeks went against the Trojans;

They burned and destroyed the town,

Ruined everything, large and small;

Not a single one of those they were able to capture

Was able to save himself from death. 570

The city was entirely destroyed.

In Troy there was a noble lord

Of heavenly lineage;

From the great slaughter

That the Greeks carried out at night, 575

The gods preserved him well.

They got him out of the city;

He had a large company gathered with him.

At their command he was setting out to seek

Italy, a distant land; 580

We have sought it on the sea for seven years

And we can find it nowhere.

We had a great storm the other day,

Which caused one of our ships to sink,

We saw the men from it drown 585

And we were separated from a large number

Of other ships, and we do no know

If they are already drowned or not.

The smaller part has arrived

Very near here in your country; 590

Eneas has remained there,

Where he is waiting for his ships;

He has sent us to you here,

So that he might be safe in your country,

And not have to defend himself from your people, 595

As long as there is storm and wind,

And until he has fixed his ships a little,

That the storm has damaged.'

Dido replied to the messenger.

'I know well,' she said, 'the great loss 600

And destruction of the Trojans;

I heard a great deal about it long ago.

You who were saved from that

Have suffered more since then;

Never since have you been free from sorrow, 605

Are in great need of a rest.

If you wish to rest here,

To repair and fix your ships,

Have no fear, I promise you,

Of any people in this country; 610

Be confident, have no fear.

If Eneas wants to come here,

I will look after him in my city;

What is mine will be given over to him.

I was even more distraught, 615

When I came into this country,

For I am not from this land.

For my part, I know--I understand it well--

I ought certainly have pity

On a man, if I see him disconsolate. 620

If Eneas wants to rest here

And remain for a short stay,

He will not have to spend a penny

For a single thing he needs.

I will have him fully supplied from my possessions 625

And I will give him more when he departs;

I will do more for him than I tell you.

If in the end he should want to remain here,

And if he should abandon the pursuit

Of the folly that he is seeking out, 630

He may have a part of my territory

For himself and his companions;

My people and his will be one.

If he should want to live together with me,

I will not hold the Tyrians more dear 635

Than I will the Trojans.

Go back to him on the shore, quickly,

And tell him that he should come

To Carthage to lodge with me;

He is completely worn out with sailing.' 640

The messengers took their leave,

And returned to their lord full of joy.

Eneas saw them far away,

Went to meet them and said to them:

'What have you found?' 'Our good fortune.' 645

'Where?'

'Carthage.' 'Did you speak with the king?'

'No.' "Why not?' 'They don't have a lord there.'

'What then?' 'Dido controls the realm.'

'Did you speak with her?' 'Yes.'

'Does she threaten us?' 'Certainly not.' 650

'And what did she say then?' 'She promised us good,

"Be confident, don't be afraid."

That's what the Tyrian lady says,

And if you wish to remain and rest

In this Libyan territory, 655

To repair and restore your ships,

You ought to fear nothing,

For she offers you every assurance.

Through us she offers you rest

Together with her in her tower; 660

Her assistance will not fail you,

As long as you will be pleased to take it.'

While the messengers

Were going around searching the countryside,

Their ships, which they thought were lost, 665

Came to the harbor.

Each of them was at anchor;

All were there except one,

Which they had lost during the storm,

For which on earth they had no expectation. 670

Eneas was especially joyful

At the news which he heard,

And at his ships, of which he had all but one.

Fortune was very kind to him:

Fortune, which had previously been attacking him, 675

Was now encouraging him.

For this reason, one ought not to give up hope

If he must endure evil;

And, likewise, if he has all his desires,

Then he ought not be overjoyed: 680

Neither too dismayed by great evil,

Nor too happy at great good fortune;

Completely unmoved, by both one or the other.

No good thing, nor an evil, lasts forever.

Fortune turns in a very short time: 685

One who smiles in the morning, weeps at night:

She is ugly at night, beautiful in the morning.

As she turns her wheel,

She puts one on top one day,

On the bottom the next: 690

The higher she has put him,

The farther he falls down.

Eneas talked to his barons

About the lady's offer and her response,

And what message she had sent him: 695

That he should go to her in her city.

They all, collectively, advised him

That he should go there quickly,

And he did so, did not delay.

He got himself well decked out 700

And mounted a palfrey;

Seven score rode along with him,

And they rode straight off to Carthage,

Led by the messengers

Who had been there earlier. 705

He arrived at the city before mid-afternoon.

His men went ahead of him

And rode two by two;

Townsmen, ladies and knights

On the streets and at the windows 710

Came to look at them with wonder.

There was no need to ask

Who was the master of this company:

Without any of them having heard a word,

They recognized immediately the king. 715

Each one identified him to another with his finger;

He was very good-looking and stately

And a strong and well-built knight;

To all he seemed the most handsome of them.

He went to dismount at the castle; 720

Dido came before him;

He went forward, and greeted her.

She took him by the right hand;

In a window nook

They sat, far from the others. 725

She asked how he was,

And he told a long story,

About his wanderings and his coming there.

When he had told her everything,

He called his chamberlain, 730

Sent him back to the ships

For his son, who had remained there;

He asked that he be brought very quickly

And ordered that three bits of finery

That he had be brought. 735

He inwardly thought that he would give them

To the queen of Carthage,

Who had made him feel so welcome.

He had a spectacular brooch,

More precious than any other, 740

And a cloak that was very expensive.

Its fur was checkered,

From a wild animal of a hundred colors;

All the edges were nicely trimmed

With others more valuable and fine, 745

In front and on the hem below.

The lining was very costly

And the covering was worth even more:

The outside was embroidered all over in gold.

The fasteners alone and the buckles 750

And the buttons and tassels

Were worth more than three castles.

He had also a gown there

That would be suitable for a queen:

It was purple, sparkling with gold. 755

King Priam had put these garments

For safe keeping in his treasury,

When he was about to be crowned;

His wife Hecuba wore them

On the day of his coronation. 760

The chamberlain came back,

Having accomplished, in a very short time,

What his master had told him

Eneas's mother knew and saw

That her son was in Carthage; 765

In her heart she was much afraid

That they would threaten him with evil:

He was among a savage people.

She held the power of love;

When she saw that her son had sent for his, 770

She took him gently in her arms,

She kissed him very warmly.

With this kiss she gave him

Great power to inspire love:

Whoever will kiss him after that 775

Will be caught by the fire of love.

Venus said to those who were taking him

That no man or woman should kiss him,

Except the queen and Eneas.

They set off immediately. 780

Ascanius and his companions

Came to his father in Carthage.

He had him present to Dido

Those things he had had him bring.

She accepted them with great thanks, 785

Took the rich gift;

She did not value it as much for its own worth,

As for the person who gave it to her.

The lady and all the Tyrians

Inspected the Trojan gift; 790

They all considered it a marvel.

They talked about it a lot, and with great energy,

And they did not know, among themselves,

How to choose which of them to value more.

When they had examined the cloak 795

They praised it as a spectacular piece,

And, when they looked at the gown,

They considered the cloak a trifle;

And when the brooch came along,

They considered all the others not worth an egg. 800

The queen sent them

To her chamber, then summoned

The child, who had come to his father;

She embraced him, held him softly,

Kissed him very warmly. 805

She looked after herself very badly:

She was acting very foolishly who touched him

About his face and mouth.

Venus had set her flame there;

Dido took him in her arms, and she caught fire. 810

The lady drank a fatal poison,

Did not recognize it, to her great sorrow;

With the kiss she caught such a passion

Of love that her body burned up.

Then Eneas kissed him 815

And then Dido did so immediately again:

Love flickered from one to the other.

Each drank of it deeply in turn;

Whoever kissed him more drank more of it.

Dido was the more foolish, 820

She caught a fatal madness from it.

Now love has her in deep distress.

The queen had devoted herself so long

To kissing him, that soon it was night

And time for supper. 825

First they were called to wash,

And then seated for dinner.

It would be boring to detail

And enumerate all the dishes,

Which came often and in great amounts, 830

And to name the wines and spices.

But each one had enough of them;

They were all very well looked after,

And when the meal was over,

The servants took away the tablecloths. 835

In the palace it was very bright:

There were so many candles, the light would never

Have been greater by day.

Dido remained at the head table;

Her barons there had high reputation; 840

The rest of her household had departed.

She begged her guest to tell her

About the destruction of Troy,

And to narrate the treachery.

.........

(lines 845-1196 omitted)

When Eneas had told her the story,

The queen was struck with wonder

At the evils, the sorrows and the losses

And the pains that he had suffered. 1200

She looked at him kindly

As Love constrained her.

Love spurs her, Love persuades her,

She often sighs and changes color.

When it was time for bed, 1205

She has the beds prepared;

She led him to the bedroom

Where the beds were ready

With blankets and fine linen.

Very tired, he went to bed; 1210

The queen was there as he pulls up the sheets,

Only with great reluctance was she able to leave.

Four counts led her away;

She is brought into her chamber;

A hundred noble damsels are there, 1215

Daughters of counts and kings;

There isn't one who is not a nobleman's daughter;

They take care of the queen as she goes to bed.

When the chamber has grown quiet,

Lady Dido is not forgetful 1220

Of him for whom the god of love

Has now put her in great distress;

She begins to think about him,

And to recall in her heart

His appearance, his body and his form, 1225

His words, his deeds, his conversation,

The battles that he told her about.

There was no benefit from her lying in bed;

She turned and turned again very often.

She faints and revives, 1230

Gasps, sighs and yawns,

Is greatly upset and troubled,

Trembles, shivers and shakes:

Her heart fails her and deserts her.

The lady is in very bad circumstances, 1235

And when she forgets herself,

She thinks that they lie together,

That she holds him naked in her arms;

She thinks she embraces him in her arms.

She doesn't know how to cover or disguise her love. 1240

She embraces her blanket,

She finds in that neither comfort nor love;

She kisses her pillow a thousand times,

For love of the knight.

She thinks that he, who is absent, 1245

Is instead present in her bed:

He is not there, he is elsewhere.

She speaks to him as if she can hear him.

In her bed she reaches out her hand and seeks him;

Not finding him, she beats herself with her fists. 1250

She weeps and make loud moans,

She dampens her sheets with her tears.

The queen tosses and turns,

First face down, then on her back.

She cannot save herself, she is very upset, 1255

She spends the night in trouble and pain;

She is upset in many ways.

She doesn't know who has trapped her:

She has drunk a fatal poison.

She doesn't realize who the child was 1260

Whom she held and embraced,

Who had inflicted this passion on her.

She cannot avoid the anxieties

That last throughout the night;

She thinks she will never see day again. 1265

When she was able to catch a glimpse of it,

At the crack of dawn, she got up;

She summoned no chambermaid,

And no woman-in-waiting.
She was inflamed with fatal passion, 1270

Felt the great afflictions of the fires of love.

She came wandering to her sister.

'Anna, I'm dying; I will not survive, sister.'

'What's the matter then?' 'My heart is broken.'

'Are you ill?' 'I'm completely healthy.' 1274a

'What's the matter then?' 'I am weak with love; 1274b

I cannot conceal it, I'm in love.' 'With whom?' 1275

'I'll tell you; I swear it's him....'

And when she was about to speak his name,

She fainted, and wasn't able to speak.

When she recovered from her faint,

She began again to give her explanation: 1280

'He who has suffered such great evil--

The Trojan lord, that is--

Whom fortune has sent into exile

And who came into this land yesterday.

I think that he is from a high family 1285

And from a heavenly lineage;

From everything it is quite clear that he is noble.

And his son is exceptionally courteous;

With holding and kissing him

I couldn't be satiated yesterday evening. 1290

Never since I left Tyre,

When my lord Sicheus died,

Do I have any memory of love.

Until this very day he arrived,

I never saw a man of any age-- 1295

No matter how noble, brave or wise he was--

To whom I could have shown any hint

Of this feeling, more or less,

Except for this one alone, whom destiny

Led into my country. 1300

He has inflamed my heart;

He has afflicted me now with a fatal passion;

For him I am definitely about to die.

If I had not promised my spouse

My life-long love, 1305

I would make him my lover;

But since I have entrusted it to him,

It will never be violated by this one.

I would prefer to die than betray him,

Than place my affection in another; 1310

I want to protect it and keep my word.

May the earth open up beneath me

And swallow me down alive,

Or may fire from heaven consume me entirely,

Before to another I give my love, 1315

Which I promised to my lord.

I gave it to him, and he had it and still does,

And he will not be done wrong to by me.

I don't have any need of another's love,

For as long as I may live. 1320

I have nothing to do with this man; 1320a

I never saw him nor knew anything about him, 1320b

Except for what I have heard people say about him.

I heard him called Eneas....'

When she remembered him, said his name,

She went pale, and fainted,

So that she almost died. 1325

Anna, her sister, comforted her:

'Lady, why are you dying so miserably?

This love amounts to nothing,

That you have for your lord:

He is dead, and has been for many days. 1330

Your youth is passing away in sorrow,

No affection will ever come to him,

From him you will never have a child

Nor sweet love nor sweet looks,

Nor protection nor help. 1335

This is a very foolish love.

Since he cannot ever do you any good,

Why do you want to take the bad for his sake?

You will never have anything good from the dead:

Take you pleasure from the living. 1340

For the dead there is no recovery:

Turn your desires to the living.

Foolish is one who pays attention to the dead;

I know that it's true, and I have heard others say:

Let the dead keep with the dead, 1345

The living with the living, that is proper.

Who will keep your city,

Your territory, your inherited property?

A feudal state or kingdom cannot be for long

Well maintained by a woman; 1350

She accomplishes little with her commands,

If they have no other weight behind them;

She cannot sustain great costs,

If it is necessary to wage war.

This is a foreign land for you; 1355

On all sides war surrounds you;

All the barons of this territory

You have made your enemies,

For you have considered no man

Of this feudal state worthy to be your lord. 1360

You held them beneath you;

Because of this they have despised you,

Attack you on many sides,

Will destroy you sooner or later.

Since you have fallen in love with this man, 1365

Make him your lord;

He will keep you in your great feudal state,

For he has very great strength.

I assure you, God led him

Into this territory for your benefit. 1370

Since you were overtaken with love for him,

Do you think you can overcome that in any way?

You cannot do anything against love.

If you take him as your lord,

Your followers will increase greatly; 1375

Carthage will be raised up by it.

You can say, to cover yourself,

He might stay with us this winter season

And make his ships seaworthy,

For it is not now a time for going to sea, 1380

And you can easily keep him here;

Later you can do what you really want.'

The lady was already very inflamed

And her sister only increased it;

She was completely consumed in the fire of love, 1385

And this made it even more powerful.

She has brought her poor comfort.

If she had not already had the desire for him

And had never loved him,

This would have inspired it in her. 1390

With love the queen is infatuated;

She does not cease nor finish.

She takes by the hand the Trojan,

Of whose love she is not yet certain;

She leads him through the city, 1395

And shows him her rich properties

And her castle and her palace.

She cannot remain at peace for a single hour,

And she often talks very seriously to him

About a thousand things which don't concern him; 1400

She does not ask questions,

Except to have an opportunity to speak to him.

She asks him things a thousand times;

She neither finishes nor rests.

She stops in the middle of her stories; 1405

She does not know what she says or does;

She completely loses her sense and her words.

Love has made a fool out of her wisdom.

She used to rule her land well

And to wage war well; 1410

Now she has put all this completely aside

And has forgotten it in her idiocy.

Love has caused her to forget

To preserve and protect her land.

If enemies devastate her land, 1415

She would not favor peace over war;

She pays attention to nothing at all,

Except the love which attacks her so forcefully,

And she has completely left her people

Without any strong support. 1420

They have neither strength nor help from her,

They do not go up on the walls or towers,

And no one pays any attention to work,

Leaving the walls in disrepair,

In one place high, in another low. 1425

She has given up everything because of Eneas;

She has left kingdom neglected.

She has no men who do not complain;

The Tyrians have been unseated

By her hospitality toward the Trojan. 1430

She who should protect her feudal state

Has completely given it up for her love.

The queen was in such travail

And such pain for a week;

She had no rest, night or day, 1435

And did not close her eyes in sleep.

She was in sorrow and great distress;

She did not know how to talk to the knight.

She will never be cured for a long time,

If she does not take a different tack: 1440

She must either die from it

Or admit her love to the knight.

She suffered this anguish for a long time,

But did not dare tell him openly about it.

One morning it pleased her especially 1445

To go hunting in the forest,

In order to distract herself from her sorrow,

So that she could forget her love.

For love is a very troublesome thing,

When one is at leisure and relaxed, 1450

And whoever wants to be well set free from it,

Ought not to relax at all.

If one wants to distance oneself from it,

It is necessary for him to have other interests,

For when one's attention is elsewhere, 1455

One remembers love more belatedly.

She called for her hunters,

And had her horses saddled.

They took their bows, horns and hunting hounds,

Dogs and trackers and leash-dogs. 1460

The town echoed with these preparations,

With the barking of the dogs and the disarray;

Servants came from all sides,

Carried bows, quivers, and arrows;

The household was very excited. 1465

The queen was dressed

In expensive red purple,

Banded with gold in a spectacular fashion

All over the body as far as her hips

And similarly all along the sleeves. 1470

She wore a costly cloak,

Sprinkled with drops of gold;

It was ribboned with threads of gold,

And her head was encircled with a gold band.

She had a quiver of gold brought along 1475

That she had had taken from her treasury;

She had a hundred arrowheads of pure gold:

The arrows were made of mountain ash.

In her hand she takes a bow of laburnum

And then descends from the tower; 1480

She leads three dukes from the hall;

The great lords descend after her.

Sir Eneas, her lover, waits for her

At the bottom of the steps with all his people;

When he sees the Tyrian lady, 1485

She appeared to him as if she were Diana:

She was an extremely beautiful huntress,

In all respects resembled the goddess closely.

When she sees him, because of her love

Her color altered. 1490

She goes down the steps

And her horse is readied,

Covered all over with gold and gems.

Her lover assists her in mounting.

The Trojan is very well prepared 1495

For going into the woods:

The horn around his neck, the bow in his hand.

He gave no sign of being lower class;

He would have seemed to you like Phoebus.

He mounted, did not delay a bit, 1500

By the reins led the lady,

Who was in great distress because of her love.

Her guide pleased her greatly;

Riding, they went into the forest,

Where they took lots of venison. 1505

They hunted until midday;

Then suddenly there arose

A very great storm and a great tempest.

It thundered and rained, became very dark;

None of them felt at all safe there. 1510

Fleeing, they went off in various directions;

The strongest turned into cowards there,

The bravest trembled with fear.

No two remained together,

Except the queen and Eneas: 1515

These two did not separate.

He did not abandon her, nor she him.

They went fleeing both together,

Until they came to a grotto.

There the two of them dismounted. 1520

The two of them are together;

He does with her what seems right to him,

But he does not use much force,

And the queen does not resist.

Her will consents entirely with his 1525

Because she has desired him a long time.

Now is love uncovered.

Never since the death of her lord

Has the lady done anything shameful.

They return to Carthage. 1530

She exhibits very great happiness,

And she does not hide it, neither more nor less;

She shows herself very joyous and happy.

She announces that she will be his wife;

Thus she covers her crime. 1535

She doesn't care any longer what anyone says;

Coming and going,

She does with him all she desires.

The rumor spreads over the country

That Eneas has dishonored her. 1540

Rumor is a marvelous thing,

It never finishes nor rests;

She has a thousand mouths with which to talk,

A thousand eyes, a thousand wings for flying,

A thousand ears with which she listens 1545

So that she might hear some marvel

That she could send forward as news.

She never stops hanging around, waiting.

If she knows this or that about something,

She makes a great deal of very little; 1550

She inflates it more and more,

While she goes both up and down.

She causes false things to be inflated

As quickly as true ones;

Of a small thing she makes many stories, 1555

Always inflating it, wherever she goes.

Out of one particle of truth she tells lies so great

That it takes on the appearance of a dream,

And she sets about multiplying it so much,

That there is hardly any truth left in it. 1560

First she speaks sweetly

And in absolute secret,

And then she goes about shouting her story;

The higher she goes. the more loudly she speaks.

When she has discovered some little thing, 1565

She proclaims it with unrestrained voice.

Throughout Libya this rumor announces

The crime of the lady;

It says that a man had come

From Troy, that Dido has kept him 1570

Together with herself in Carthage;

Now he keeps her here in shame.

Both spend the winter season

In lust, about which they have no regret.

The lady sets asides her responsibilities for this, 1575

She thinks of scarcely any thing else,

And he has given up on his journey for this,

And the one and the other are acting foolishly.

The lady is much defamed

All over the country of Libya; 1580

Her name has been exalted in evil.

When the barons hear what's being said,

The dukes, the princes, the counts,

Whom she was previously unwilling to take as lord,

Consider themselves very much shamed, 1585

Since she has completely rejected them

For a man of the lowest status,

Who was neither a count nor a king.

Among themselves they say--and they are right--

It is only a great fool who believes a woman: 1590

She does not keep her word.

Such a woman considers wise what is foolish;

She said that she had promised her love

To her lord, who is dead,

And she would not take it back during his life; 1595

Now another has had his way with her,

Now she has betrayed her promise,

Has trespassed the agreement

That she had pledged to her lord.

Foolish is anyone who trusts in a woman. 1600

Very quickly has she forgotten the dead,

No matter how much she might have loved him;

Now she takes all her delight in the living,

Sends the dead off with indifference.

Now Dido has what she wanted: 1605

She does what she wants with the Trojan

And does what she desires completely in the open.

Now he takes her without concealment,

Has put his responsibilities in the back of his mind

And has completely abandoned his voyage; 1610

He does not want ever to part from her.

She thinks to keep him a long time.

He is completely delivered to misfortune,

And takes the land and lady as his own.

One day he was in Carthage, 1615

A messenger came from the gods,

That commanded him on their behalf

That he leave behind this distraction

And set himself on the way to Lombardy,

Make his navy ready, 1620

Abandon the Tyrian lady,

The whole land of Libya.

This is not his land nor his feudal territory,

There is another in the providence of the gods.

Eneas was very much dismayed 1625

At what he announced to him,

Knew that he could not remain,

That he must set himself on the his way.

He felt much grief at departing

And at abandoning the lady; 1630

He is very pensive, sad and uncertain,

Filled with anxieties on both sides.

He cannot set aside even a miniscule part

Of the word of the gods or their command,

And he is very hesitant to leave 1635

The lady, fearing she might kill herself.

He fears that the great reversal would destroy her,

And nevertheless he does not know what to do

About what the gods commanded

But he considered himself very perplexed 1640

Whether he should declare it to the lady

Or whether he should take himself off in secret:

He was afraid, if he told her, she would delay him

And would force him to stay with her too long.

He had his ships well prepared; 1645

He wanted to go from there in secret.

He had firmly admonished his people,

Knowing that at the first breeze

He would be leaving there with his navy.

His companions were quite exhilarated at this, 1650

For this delay had made them anxious;

Each of them greatly desired getting underway.

Not a one of them was pleased at the stay there,

Except the one who had been at his ease;

Staying would have much pleased him, 1655

But he, of necessity, would go away from there,

As the gods had instructed him.

He had his ships outfitted in secret

With whatever was needed by them;

He planned to deceive the lady. 1660

But the queen noticed it,

For one who loves always suspects,

Is in doubt and fear,

Is never secure, neither night nor day.

Rumor holds back for nothing at all, 1665

And uncovered it to the lady;

She recounted the treachery to her

That the knight had made preparations:

How he had outfitted his ships,

Wanted to flee from there in secret. 1670

When the queen learned this,

She did not rest after that hour

When she heard of the treachery

Until she had spoken with him.

She sat down beside him, sighed, 1675

And weeping asked him:

'Tell me, knight, where I have ever done wrong,

That you should kill me?' 'What is this about, now?'

'Aren't you having your ships outfitted?'

'I?' 'Yes, you want to flee from me.' 1680

'Instead, I will be going from here very openly.'

'Why have you, then, deceived me?

Would you abandon me in this way?'

'I can no longer remain here.'

'Why?' she asked. 'The gods don't wish it." 1685

'Oh alas, what a disaster!

Why am I not killed as a result?

I'll be damned for having taken good care of you,

With the friendly glances, the fine hospitality,

That I have given you in Carthage. 1690

I will not hold back from saying this to you:

You planned a great crime

And an extraordinary treason,

When you wanted, like a thief,

To depart from me and take yourself away. 1695

How could you have planned it

And not straight out requested my permission to go,

And not had pity on me,

And not let me know it directly from you?

Trojans are betrayers of their oaths! 1700

Are these the recompense and thanks

That I have deserved from you?

Since Dido, who must die for it,

Is no longer able to keep you back

Neither can alliance nor love 1705

Nor fine service nor pity.

Do you want, then, to commit such a mad act

As to set out on the sea in such a storm?

It is winter, the weather is very ugly,

To set sail now makes no sense. 1710

Let winter pass first;

Then the sea will be calmer.

I want to pray you by all the gods,

Who are too cruel toward me,

By the love, by the alliance 1715

That is pledged between us,

That you take pity on me.

You would commit a very great sin,

If I die because of your crime

And you were to offer no comfort. 1720

These men that I have not been willing to have

As lord hate me for loving you;

There is no baron in this territory

Who is not my enemy on account of you.

They all want to take away my inheritance. 1725

I must fear so many enemies very much;

I will have no assistance, near or far.

You are failing me in this need.

They will throw me from this land,

And I will not need to wage war against them first. 1730

About this I am at a loss, whether I can do it;

But your love, which presses hard on me,

Turns even more against me.

If this desire that I now experience

Does not change, I will live no longer. 1735

I am very much dejected at this departure,

Nor do I think to have any escape from death,

For I will have nothing to give me comfort.

If I had a child by you,

Who would be like you, even a little, 1740

Whom I could kiss in your place

And put my arms around and embrace

And who would comfort me in your place,

It seems to me that I would be better off.

But it seems to me, I will have nothing 1745

That gives me comfort or benefit.

I am quite certain of dying,

When I see you go away from me.

Sire, why do you betray me?'

'I have not, truly, my love.' 1750

'Have I ever done you any wrong?'

'You have not done me anything but good.'

'Did I destroy Troy?' 'No, the Greeks did.'

'Was it for me?' 'No, for the Gods.'

'Did I kill your father?' 1755

'No, lady, I assure you.'

'Sire, why then do you flee from me?'

'It's not for my own sake.' 'For whose then?'

'The gods', who have commanded me,

Who have fated and destined, 1760

That I must go from here to Lombardy;

There I must restore Troy.

Thus they have said and destined it;

For, if this were my own choice,

And there had been no ordinance 1765

But my own alone,

Which I issued for my own sake, it's my opinion

I would not be going suddenly from this territory.

If it were not the will of the gods,

That I should govern anyone who remained 1770

After the slaughter by the Greeks,

That I should restore the walls of Troy,

And if it might be done to please myself,

I would not seek to part from you.

The departure is an unwilling one; 1775

It's not for my own sake, do not think that of me.

I know well that you have treated me

Very richly, Your Highness;

You saw me disconsolate,

Had mercy and pity on me. 1780

If I cannot repay you for that,

I will never be able to forget it;

I will remember it as long as I live,

Will love you above every other thing.

If I go from this territory, 1785

It is not for my own sake, I assure you.

Set aside this complaining,

For you will overcome nothing with it,

But you will only upset me

And do yourself damage.' 1790

She looked at him askance.

Out of anger her face grew pale,

Often changed color,

As love tormented her;

Love had completely inflamed her. 1795

She spoke like a madwoman:

'Never were you born the child of a god,

For you are extremely wicked and cruel;

Nor were you begotten by a man.

Rather, you were born of stone; 1800

Wild tigers nursed you

Or other wild beasts.

You were never born of man, I believe,

Since you have no pity on me;

You have a heart hard and closed up, 1805

With nothing in it that feels pity.

Ah alas! What else can I say?

Since I cannot have him, I will let him go;

I speak aimlessly, since he does not hear me,

And he does not respond with one word of 1810

kindness.

The hour of my death very quickly approaches.

Never can my tears bend him

Nor my sighs nor my words.

What more can I say? I am a great fool;

Never did he hear me lament so much 1815

That he ever was able to shed a tear as a result,

Nor did he even glance toward me.

To him it means little if I am in sorrow;

Never did he offer me even a pretence.

To him I am worth hardly a thought. 1820

Since he comforts me with nothing at all,

Alas, why am I not dead?

We feel very differently:

I die of love, he feels nothing of it;

He is at peace, I experience nothing but evils. 1825

Love shows me no loyalty,

Since we do no share common feelings.

If he felt what I feel,

So that he loved me as I do him,

We two would never part. 1830

He takes off, talking about his conjectures,

And goes about inventing his lies;

He says that the gods have commanded him,

Have foreseen and ordained

How he ought to spend his life 1835

And that he should go off to Lombardy.

The gods do have great concern about this,

Put themselves to a great deal of unusual trouble,

And hold a very extended conference about this:

To order him what he should do! 1840

But I beleive it means nothing to them

Whether he remains or goes off.

Since he says the gods are so concerned about him,

So that he does nothing without their command,

Why then did they afflict him so much, 1845

Buffeting him at sea and on land?

Not for a single day did their war against him let up,

Until he came to this land.

When he arrived in this territory,

He was bereft. What a fool I was, 1850

What I received him into my presence!

Now I repent, as I should do.

He has done with me everything he desired;

He will not remain here for any pleading of mine.

Since I can no longer hold him, 1855

Let him go: I must die.'

She weeps, moans and sighs.

She still wanted to say much more,

When a swoon took complete control of her,

And deprived her of consciousness. 1860

Her maidens took her away from there

To her stone-paved bed-chamber.

Sir Eneas wept a great deal

And gave comfort to the queen,

But nothing that he might say did any good, 1865

For he could not delay any longer;

It was necessary for him to do what the gods said,

No matter to whom that might be unwelcome.

The Trojans departed from Carthage,

Came to their ships on the shore, 1870

Made their preparations,

And found the wind very favorable.

They raised their anchors, launched their ships,

And some raised up their sails.

Dido went up to her rooms, 1875

Up to the highest windows;

When she saw the navy made ready,

You won't be surprised if she made a lament.

She moans and weeps and cries and whines

When she sees that he friend is leaving; 1880

She has no care for her life:

Love has no reason or balance.

Again she wants to make an effort

To see if her prayers have any effect:

She calls her sister to her. 1885

'Anna, I am dying of great sorrow.

Sister, look at the ships, where they are leaving,

And Eneas encourages them on;

He does not want to remain, not even a little.

Go, and tell him that I declare to him: 1890

I didn't destroy his country,

Nor did I kill his father;

Never did I do anything to him except good.

Inform him to give me a gift;

I do not ask him once and for all 1895

To give up going to Lombardy,

But only to stay a short time with me,

And comfort me: this is what I wish.'

Her sister goes and comes there often,

But this man does not at all change 1900

The intention that he has.

He hastens off to sea without hesitation.

Dido faints and changes color,

And since she has determined on her death,

'Anna,' she says, 'now I have found 1905

A very good plan and purpose:

There is a sorceress near here,

For her the most difficult thing is easy.

She resurrects dead men

And prophesies and casts lots, 1910

And makes the sun disappear

At high noon and turn back

And go in reverse toward the east,

And likewise with the moon:

She makes it new or full 1915

Three or four times a week.

And she makes birds speak

And water flow uphill.

She draws the infernal Furies up from hell,

Who proclaim auguries to her; 1920

She makes oak trees to come down from the hills

And serpents to be stunned and captured;

She makes the earth groan under her feet,

Knows well how to cast enchantments and auguries.

She makes people fall in love, or hate; 1925

With everything, she does what she pleases.

She told me this: that she will make

The knight return,

Or make me completely forget,

So that I will never even dream of loving him. 1930

And for this reason she has commanded me

That I have a huge bonfire made,

Have my finery put in it,

All those things of which he made me presents,

And his sword, which he left with me, 1935

The bed where he shamed me;

I should have these completely burnt and

destroyed,

And she will see to that by her augury,

By her wonderful enchantment,

That love of him will grieve me no longer. 1940

Secretly, in a chamber,

Have a bonfire quickly made for me,

And put in it the trinkets

From the Trojan which are in the room,

All the weapons and the bed 1945

Where we took our delight;

I do not want to retain anything of his.

Have the sorceress come,

And prepare a sacrifice for me,

That must be performed with this ritual.' 1950

She went to prepare the bonfire,

Since the lady had ordered her;

She neither understood nor knew,

Why she commanded her to do this.

Dido remains in her apartments, 1955

From which she gazed after the knight,

Who was already well out to sea.

Her love impels and oppresses her,

Love makes her faint often

And gives her chills and makes her tremble; 1960

She twists her fingers, pulls at her hair,

With her sleeve of white ermine

She waves to him hundreds of times,

But this is not of any use to her at all,

For he cannot return, 1965

Or go against the command of the gods.

She calls him and signals;

Love impels and torments her.

It will not leave her, that's my opinion,

Until she has taken a fall. 1970

When she sees that her friend is gone

And that her love is drawing her toward death,

She begins again to sigh,

To lament to herself:

'Alas, since he is going away from here 1975

What am I to do then besides kill myself?

When I see that he has mistreated me,

Can I not therefore despise my life?

From him I will never get any comfort.

He is already very far away from the harbor; 1980

I will not see him again, I expect:

He will never again come to this country.

Since I will never receive any benefit from him,

Why did I ever see him or know him?

Why did he come to this shore? 1985

Why did I receive him in Carthage?

Why did he lie beside me?

Why did I break the pledge

I gave to my lord?

It was love that destroyed me, indeed. 1990

Now is the promise broken

And I will not have anything from this man;

For a moment's pleasure I have broken

The pledge that I had preserved so long,

But now for that little thing I am just as totally 1995

Ruined as I would have been for a greater:

My promise is just as broken,

As if he had had me my entire life.

Since this man will not have me as his wife,

Shall I go, then, to beg 2000

Those whom I have no wish to have as lord?

Shall I, now, commit such a dishonorable act?

When they wanted me, I denied them;

Now shall I beg them again?

I will certainly not do it; I would prefer to die, 2005

Since I cannot otherwise look after myself.'

She gave herself to lamenting

And the Trojans gave themselves to sailing,

Until she could no longer pick them out.

Then she thought she would die of sorrow, 2010

Beat her breast, pulled her hair.

Great is the lamentation her people make;

They could not comfort her.

None of them dare to speak with her.

She wanders about like a madwoman, 2015

Until she is come into the chamber

Where her sister had made a great bonfire

And done the rest of what she had commanded.

Before this Dido had had her called away

And had the chamber completely emptied: 2020

She did not want her to be there,

Where she might oppose her

And offer interference to her

In what she had in mind.

She is completely on her own in the chamber, 2025

And there is no one there who might interfere

With the madness that she wants to carry out:

To draw the Trojan's sword.

When he gave it to her, he did not at all think

That she would lose her life by it. 2030

She takes the fully drawn sword,

She stabbed herself below the breast;

With that blow, she jumps onto the bonfire

That her sister had prepared:

On the bed, over the Trojan's 2035

Finery, she lays herself face down;

In blood she sprawls and laments.

She speaks with a lot of difficulty:

'I loved these fine clothes a lot,

And have kept them for as long as God pleased. 2040

I cannot extend my life any further;

On these clothes I want to give up my soul.

It was my misfortune that I ever saw these trinkets:

They were the beginning

Of my death and destruction. 2045

It was my misfortune that this man made me a gift

Of them; like a fool I loved him too much.

I have been brought to a very evil end.

On these clothes I want to finish my life

And on this bed where I was brought to shame; 2050

Here I leave my honor and my high position,

And abandon Carthage without an heir.

Here I lose my name, all my glory,

But I will not die out of memory so much

That people will not speak of me forever-- 2055

At least among the Trojans.

Once upon a time I was very noble and wise,

Before love moved me to such passion;

And I would have been very happy indeed,

If the Trojan who betrayed me-- 2060

For whose love I lose my life--

Had not come into my country.

He has killed me most unjustly indeed.

Here I pardon him for my death;

In the name of reconciliation, of peace, 2065

I kiss his fine gifts on his bed.

I give you my pardon for it, lord Eneas.'

She kissed the bead and all the clothes;

She had already lost a great deal of blood

And had lost her power of speech; 2070

She gasped and sobbed,

As death weighed heavily upon her.

She breathed with very great difficulty,

Until any further delay was completely lost to her.

When her sister came, when she saw her, 2075

Then for the first time did she realize.

She sees the sword sticking straight in her body;

She sees the stream of blood pouring out.

She was about to stab herself also,

When her maidens held her back. 2080

She weeps and cries and whines

And tears and pulls her hair.

'Alas,' she said, 'unhappy woman,

I myself have prepared

The death by means of which she killed herself. 2085

Sister, is this, then, the sacrifice

That you asked to have prepared?

Was it, then, for this purpose?

I truly have killed you,

But I didn't do it knowingly; 2090

I did what you commanded me.

Now I see clearly that you manipulated me;

Now I repent. But it is too late.

Sister, is this, then, the plan

That you had to invent 2095

And plot and arrange,

So that love would be easy for you to bear?

And where now is the sorceress,

Who knows so well how to cast a spell,

Who was needed to make you forget? 2100

I have looked after you very badly,

For you have been killed by my actions.

The sorceress was to have cast a spell

By which you would be made to forget.

Here is a very poor enchantment: 2105

We see this clearly.

You have drunk a fatal poison

In order to make you forget the knight.

You will no longer, at last, have any memory

Of your love for the Trojan.' 2110

The sister laments with very great sorrow;

Her heart nearly gives out on her.

Dido has stabbed herself to death:

Death weighs and presses on her

And the flames come close on one side 2115

And engulf and burn her entire body.

She cannot say a word, loud or soft,

Except that she speaks the name of Eneas.

The flames have pressed in on her so much

Her soul is separated from her body. 2120

Her white and beautiful and soft flesh

She cannot defend from the fire.

She burns and broils and turns black;

In a very short while she is defeated.

Her servant girls and her barons 2125

Give voice to their great sorrow all around;

They loudly bewail her lost strength

And her intelligence and her nobility.

When the body is reduced to ashes,

Her sister had the dust taken up. 2130

In a very small urn

They placed the Tyrian lady;

They had her carried from there into the temple,

Had her buried with great honor.

Then they had made there a very noble tomb, 2135

Made of enamel and of niello:

A richer one no man has seen.

They inscribed an epitaph there;

The letters read: 'Here lies

Dido, who killed herself for love; 2140

Never was there a better pagan,

If she had not had a secretive love;

But she loved too foolishly,

And her intelligence did her no good.'

Eneas is on the high seas; 2145

He has no thought of returning.

He sees land in no direction.

He wants to go to Lombardy;

They are rowing and sailing rapidly.

They are very far removed from a harbor, 2150

When a wind rises from the side

Which drove drives them on a starboard tack.

They have turned toward the port of Sichans,

There where his father had died.

..........