The Iliad. Homer

Чтение книги онлайн.

       Or mountain goat, and with exulting spring

       Strikes down his prey, and on the carcase feeds,

       Unscar'd by baying hounds and eager youths:

       So Menelaus saw with fierce delight

       The godlike Paris; for he deem'd that now

       His vengeance was at hand; and from his car,

       Arm'd as he was, he leap'd upon the plain.

       But when the godlike Paris saw him spring

       Defiant from the ranks, with quailing heart,

       Back to his comrades' shelt'ring crowd he sprang,

       In fear of death; as when some trav'ller spies,

       Coil'd in his path upon the mountain side,

       A deadly snake, back he recoils in haste,

       His limbs all trembling, and his cheek all pale;

       So back recoil'd, in fear of Atreus' son,

       The godlike Paris 'mid the Trojan host.

      To whom in stern rebuke thus Hector spoke:

       "Thou wretched Paris, though in form so fair,

       Thou slave of woman, manhood's counterfeit!

       Would thou hadst ne'er been born, or died at least

       Unwedded; so 'twere better far for all,

       Than thus to live a scandal and reproach.

       Well may the long-hair'd Greeks triumphant boast,

       Who think thee, from thine outward show, a chief

       Among our warriors; but thou hast in truth

       Nor strength of mind, nor courage in the fight.

       How was't that such as thou could e'er induce

       A noble band, in ocean-going ships

       To cross the main, with men of other lands

       Mixing in amity, and bearing thence

       A woman, fair of face, by marriage ties

       Bound to a race of warriors; to thy sire,

       Thy state, thy people, cause of endless grief,

       Of triumph to thy foes, contempt to thee!

       Durst thou the warlike Menelaus meet,

       Thou to thy cost shouldst learn the might of him

       Whose bride thou didst not fear to bear away:

       Then shouldst thou find of small avail thy lyre,

       Or Venus' gifts of beauty and of grace,

       Or, trampled in the dust, thy flowing hair.

       But too forbearing are the men of Troy;

       Else for the ills that thou hast wrought the state,

       Ere now thy body had in stone been cas'd."

      To whom the godlike Paris thus replied:

       "Hector, I needs must own thy censure just,

       Nor without cause; thy dauntless courage knows

       Nor pause nor weariness; but as an axe,

       That in a strong man's hand, who fashions out

       Some naval timber, with unbated edge

       Cleaves the firm wood, and aids the striker's force;

       Ev'n so unwearied is thy warlike soul.

       Yet blame not me for golden Venus' gifts:

       The gifts of Heav'n are not to be despis'd,

       Which Heav'n may give, but man could not command.

       But if thou wilt that I should dare the fight,

       Bid that the Trojans and the Grecians all

       Be seated on the ground; and in the midst

       The warlike Menelaus and myself

       Stand front to front, for Helen and the spoils

       Of war to combat; and whoe'er shall prove

       The better man in conflict, let him bear

       The woman and the spoils in triumph home;

       While ye, the rest, in peace and friendship sworn,

       Shall still possess the fertile plains of Troy;

       And to their native Argos they return,

       For noble steeds and lovely women fam'd."

      He said, and Hector joy'd to hear his words:

       Forth in the midst he stepp'd, and with his spear

       Grasp'd by the middle, stay'd the Trojan ranks.

       At him the long-haired Grecians bent their bows,

       Prompt to assail with arrows and with stones;

       But loud the monarch Agamemnon's voice

       Was heard; "Hold, Argives, hold! ye sons of Greece,

       Shoot not! for Hector of the glancing helm

       Hath, as it seems, some message to impart."

      He said; they held their hands, and silent stood

       Expectant, till to both thus Hector spoke:

       "Hear now, ye Trojans, and ye well-greav'd Greeks,

       The words of Paris, cause of all this war.

       He asks through me that all the host of Troy

       And Grecian warriors shall upon the ground

       Lay down their glitt'ring arms; while in the midst

       The warlike Menelaus and himself

       Stand front to front, for Helen and the spoils

       Of war to combat; and whoe'er shall prove

       The better man in conflict, let him bear

       The woman and the spoils in triumph home,

       While we, the rest, firm peace and friendship swear."

      Thus Hector spoke; the rest in silence heard;

       СКАЧАТЬ