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ornament in peace.
Rich was the gift, and glorious to behold,
But yet so pondā€™rous with its plates of gold,
That scarce two servants could the weight sustain;
Yet, loaded thus, Demoleus oā€™er the plain
Pursued and lightly seizā€™d the Trojan train.
The third, succeeding to the last reward,
Two goodly bowls of massy silver sharā€™d,
With figures prominent, and richly wrought,
And two brass cauldrons from Dodona brought.

Thus all, rewarded by the heroā€™s hands,
Their conquā€™ring temples bound with purple bands;
And now Sergesthus, clearing from the rock,
Brought back his galley shatterā€™d with the shock.
Forlorn she lookā€™d, without an aiding oar,
And, houted by the vulgar, made to shore.
As when a snake, surprisā€™d upon the road,
Is crushā€™d athwart her body by the load
Of heavy wheels; or with a mortal wound
Her belly bruisā€™d, and trodden to the ground:
In vain, with loosenā€™d curls, she crawls along;
Yet, fierce above, she brandishes her tongue;
Glares with her eyes, and bristles with her scales;
But, groveling in the dust, her parts unsound she trails:
So slowly to the port the Centaur tends,
But, what she wants in oars, with sails amends.
Yet, for his galley savā€™d, the grateful prince
Is pleasā€™d thā€™ unhappy chief to recompense.
Pholoe, the Cretan slave, rewards his care,
Beauteous herself, with lovely twins as fair.

From thence his way the Trojan hero bent
Into the neighbā€™ring plain, with mountains pent,
Whose sides were shaded with surrounding wood.
Full in the midst of this fair valley stood
A native theatre, which, rising slow
By just degrees, oā€™erlookā€™d the ground below.
High on a sylvan throne the leader sate;
A numā€™rous train attend in solemn state.
Here those that in the rapid course delight,
Desire of honour and the prize invite.
The rival runners without order stand;
The Trojans mixā€™d with the Sicilian band.
First Nisus, with Euryalus, appears;
Euryalus a boy of blooming years,
With sprightly grace and equal beauty crownā€™d;
Nisus, for friendship to the youth renownā€™d.
Diores next, of Priamā€™s royal race,
(Then Salius joined with Patron, took their place;
But Patron in Arcadia had his birth,
And Salius his from Arcananian earth;)
Then two Sicilian youthsā ā€”the names of these,
Swift Helymus, and lovely Panopes:
Both jolly huntsmen, both in forest bred,
And owning old Acestes for their head;
With sevā€™ral others of ignobler name,
Whom time has not deliverā€™d oā€™er to fame.

To these the hero thus his thoughts explainā€™d,
In words which genā€™ral approbation gainā€™d:
ā€œOne common largess is for all designā€™d,
(The vanquishā€™d and the victor shall be joinā€™d,)
Two darts of polishā€™d steel and Gnosian wood,
A silver-studded ax alike bestowā€™d.
The foremost three have olive wreaths decreed:
The first of these obtains a stately steed,
Adornā€™d with trappings; and the next in fame,
The quiver of an Amazonian dame,
With featherā€™d Thracian arrows well supplied:
A golden belt shall gird his manly side,
Which with a sparkling diamond shall be tied.
The third this Grecian helmet shall content.ā€
He said. To their appointed base they went;
With beating hearts thā€™ expected sign receive,
And, starting all at once, the barrier leave.
Spread out, as on the winged winds, they flew,
And seizā€™d the distant goal with greedy view.
Shot from the crowd, swift Nisus all oā€™erpassā€™d;
Nor storms, nor thunder, equal half his haste.
The next, but thoā€™ the next, yet far disjoinā€™d,
Came Salius, and Euryalus behind;
Then Helymus, whom young Diores plied,
Step after step, and almost side by side,
His shoulders pressing; and, in longer space,
Had won, or left at least a dubious race.

Now, spent, the goal they almost reach at last,
When eager Nisus, hapless in his haste,
Slippā€™d first, and, slipping, fell upon the plain,
Soakā€™d with the blood of oxen newly slain.
The careless victor had not markā€™d his way;
But, treading where the treachā€™rous puddle lay,
His heels flew up; and on the grassy floor
He fell, besmearā€™d with filth and holy gore.
Not mindless then, Euryalus, of thee,
Nor of the sacred bonds of amity,
He strove thā€™ immediate rivalā€™s hope to cross,
And caught the foot of Salius as he rose.
So Salius lay extended on the plain;
Euryalus springs out, the prize to gain,
And leaves the crowd: applauding peals attend
The victor to the goal, who vanquishā€™d by his friend.
Next Helymus; and then Diores came,
By two misfortunes made the third in fame.

But Salius enters, and, exclaiming loud
For justice, deafens and disturbs the crowd;
Urges his cause may in the court be heard;
And pleads the prize is wrongfully conferrā€™d.
But favour for Euryalus appears;
His blooming beauty, with his tender tears,
Had bribā€™d the judges for the promisā€™d prize.
Besides, Diores fills the court with cries,
Who vainly reaches at the last reward,
If the first palm on Salius be conferrā€™d.
Then thus the prince: ā€œLet no disputes arise:
Where fortune placā€™d it, I award the prize.
But fortuneā€™s errors give me leave to mend,
At least to pity my deserving friend.ā€
He said, and, from among the spoils, he draws
(Pondā€™rous with shaggy mane and golden paws)
A lionā€™s hide: to Salius this he gives.
Nisus with envy sees the gift, and grieves.
ā€œIf such rewards to vanquishā€™d men are due.ā€
He said, ā€œand falling is to rise by you,
What prize may Nisus from your bounty claim,
Who merited the first rewards and fame?
In falling, both an equal fortune tried;
Would fortune for my fall so well provide!ā€
With this he pointed to his face, and showā€™d
His hand and all his habit smearā€™d with blood.
Thā€™ indulgent father of the people smilā€™d,
And causā€™d to be producā€™d an ample shield,
Of wondrous art, by Didymaon wrought,
Long since from Neptuneā€™s bars in triumph brought.
This givā€™n to Nisus, he divides the rest,
And equal justice in his gifts expressā€™d.

The race thus ended, and rewards bestowā€™d,
Once more the prince bespeaks thā€™ attentive crowd:
ā€œIf there be here, whose dauntless courage dare
In gauntlet fight, with limbs and body bare,
His opposite sustain in open view,
Stand forth the champion, and the games renew.
Two prizes I propose, and thus divide:
A bull with gilded horns, and fillets tied,
Shall be the portion of the conquā€™ring chief;
A sword and helm shall cheer the loserā€™s grief.ā€

Then haughty Dares in the lists appears;
Stalking he strides, his head erected bears:
His nervous arms the weighty gauntlet wield,
And loud applauses echo throā€™ the field.
Dares alone in combat usā€™d to stand
The match of mighty Paris, hand to hand;
The same, at Hectorā€™s funā€™rals, undertook
Gigantic Butes, of thā€™ Amycian stock,
And, by the stroke of his resistless hand,
Stretchā€™d the vast bulk upon the yellow sand.
Such Dares was; and such he strode along,
And drew the wonder of the gazing throng.
His brawny back and ample

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