Roman d'Eneas, 263-

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 quarter;	410
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.' 'Where?'	645
'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 kindness.	1810
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.

. . . . . . . . . .