Whereat Sidonian Dido rules as queen.
But what are you that ask of me these things?
Whence may you come, or whither will you go?
EN. Of Troy am I, Æneas is my name;
Who, driv'n by war from forth my
Put sails to sea to seek out Italy;
And my divine descent, from sceptr'd Jove:
With twice twelve Phrygian ships I plough'd the deep,
And made that way my mother Venus led;
But of them all scarce seven do anchor safe,
And they so wrack'd and welter'd by the waves,
As every tide tilts 'twixt their oaken sides;
And all of them, unburthen'd of their load,
Are ballasted with billows' wat'ry weight.
But hapless I, God wot! poor and unknown,
Do trace these Lybian deserts all despis'd,
Exil❜d forth Europe and wide Asia both,
And have not any coverture but heaven.
VEN. Fortune hath favour'd thee, whate'er thou be,
In sending thee unto this courteous coast:
In God's name, on! and haste thee to the court,
Where Dido will receive ye with her smiles;
And for thy ships, which thou supposest lost,
Not one of them hath perish'd in the storm,
But are arriv'd safe, not far from hence;
And so I leave thee to thy fortune's lot,
Wishing good luck unto thy wand'ring steps. [Exit.
EN. Achates, 'tis my mother that is fled;
I know her by the movings of her feet:
Stay, gentle Venus, fly not from thy son;
Too cruel! why wilt thou forsake me thus?
Or in these shades deceiv'st mine eyes so oft?
Why talk we not together hand in hand,
And tell our griefs in more familiar terms?
But thou art gone, and leav'st me here alone,
To dull the air with my discoursive moan. [Exeunt.
Enter IARBAS, followed by ILIONEUS, CLOANTHUS, and SERGESTUS.
ILIO. Follow, ye Trojans ! follow this brave lord, And 'plain to him the sum of your distress.
IAR. Why, what are you, or wherefore do you sue?
ILIO. Wretches of Troy, envied of the winds,
That crave such favour at your honour's feet,
As poor distressed misery may plead :
Save, save, O save our ships from cruel fire,
That do complain the wounds of thousand waves,
And spare our lives, whom every spite pursues.
We come not, we, to wrong your Lybian gods,
Or steal your household Lares from their shrines :
Our hands are not prepar'd to lawless spoil,
Nor armed to offend in any kind;
Such force is far from our unweapon'd thoughts,
Whose fading weal, of victory forsook,
Forbids all hope to harbour near our hearts.
IAR. But tell me, Trojans, Trojans if you be,
Unto what fruitful quarters were ye bound,
Before that Boreas buckled with your sails?
CLOAN. There is a place, Hesperia term'd by us,
An ancient empire, famoused for arms,
And fertile in fair Ceres' furrow'd wealth,
Which now we call Italia, of his name
That in such peace long time did rule the same.
Thither made we;
When, suddenly, gloomy Orion rose,
And led our ships into the shallow sands;
Whereat the southern wind, with brackish breath,
Dispers'd them all amongst the wreckful rocks;
From thence a few of us escap'd to land;
The rest, we fear, are folded in the floods.
IAR. Brave men at arms, abandon fruitless fears, Since Carthage knows to entertain distress.
SERG. Aye, but the barb'rous sort do threat our ships,
And will not let us lodge upon the sands;
In multitudes they swarm unto the shore,
And from the first earth interdict our feet.
IAR. Myself will see they shall not trouble ye:
Your men and you shall banquet in our court,
And ev'ry Trojan be as welcome here,
As Jupiter to silly Baucis' house.
Come in with me, I'll bring you to my queen,
Who shall confirm my words with further deeds. SERG. Thanks, gentle lord, for such unlook'd-for
Might we but once more see Æneas' face,
Then would we hope to 'quite such friendly turns,
As shall surpass the wonder of our speech. [Exeunt.
Enter ENEAS, ACHATES, and ASCANIUS. EN. Where am I now? these should be Carthage walls.
ACHA. Why stands my sweet Eneas thus amaz'd?
EN. O, my Achates! Theban Niobe,
Who, for her sons' death, wept out life and breath,
And, dry with grief, was turn'd into a stone,
Had not such passions in her head as I.
Methinks that town there should be Troy, yon Ida's
There Xanthus' stream, because here's Priamus,
And when I know it is not, then I die.
ACHA. And in this humour is Achates too;
I cannot choose but fall upon my knees,
And kiss his hand; O, where is Hecuba?
Here she was wont to sit, but saving air
Is nothing here; and what is this but stone?
EN. O, yet this stone doth make Æneas weep;
And, would my prayers (as Pygmalion's did)
Could give it life, that under his conduct
We might sail back to Troy, and be reveng'd
On these hard-hearted Grecians, which rejoice
That nothing now is left of Priamus !
Oh, Priamus is left, and this is he:
Come, come aboard; pursue the hateful Greeks.
ACHA. What means Eneas?
EN. Achates, though mine eyes say this is stone,
Yet thinks my mind that this is Priamus ;
And when my grieved heart sighs and says no,
Then would it leap out to give Priam life:
O were I not at all, so thou might'st be !
Achates, see, King Priam wags his hand;
He is alive; Troy is not overcome!
ACHA. Thy mind, Eneas, that would have it so, Deludes thy eye-sight; Priamus is dead.
EN. Ah, Troy is sack'd, and Priamus is dead; And why should poor Æneas be alive?
ASCA. Sweet father, leave to weep, this is not he : For were it Priam, he would smile on me.
ACHA. Æneas, see, here come the citizens;
Leave to lament, lest they laugh at our fears.
Enter CLOANTHUS, SERGESTUS, and ILIONEUS.
EN. Lords of this town, or whatsoever style
Belongs unto your name, vouchsafe of ruth
To tell us who inhabits this fair town,
What kind of people, and who governs them :
For we are strangers driv'n on this shore,
And scarcely know within what clime we are.
ILIO. I hear Æneas' voice, but see him not,
For none of these can be our general.
ACHA. Like Ilioneus speaks this nobleman,
But Ilioneus goes not in such robes.
SERG. You are Achates, or I deceiv'd.
ACHA. Æneas, see Sergestus, or his ghost.
ILIO. He names Æneas; let us kiss his feet.
CLOAN. It is our captain, see Ascanius.
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