and shrieked aloud, and tossed far
away her glistening veil. And his father, King Priam, wailed and mourned;
and with him all the men and women in the city, as if the beetling towers
of Ilium were already smouldering in fire. Hardly could they keep the aged
father from rushing through the gates; for he threw himself in the dust
and supplicated each man by name: "O friend, forbear! and if you love me,
let me go to the ships of the Achaians, and pray to this arrogant, this
fearful man!" Thus wailed old Priam; and the men wailed with him. And
Queen Hecuba led the loud lamentations of the women. "Why," she cried,
"should I yet live, when thou, my son, my boast, my glory, art dead? the
pride and blessing of all, both men and women of the city, who honored
thee as a god; for in thy life thou wert an honor to them all!" Thus
mourned his unhappy mother.

But to his wife, the noble, beautiful, tender-hearted Andromache, no
messenger had brought the fearful tidings that Hector had remained without
the gates. All unconscious, she was sitting in the inner chamber of her
lofty palace, weaving a purple web of double woof, and embroidering it
with many flowers. And she was ordering her handmaids to prepare a warm
bath for her dear husband, when he should return from the battle; poor
child! little knowing that the fierce-eyed Athene had treacherously slain
him, by the hand of Achilles! But when she heard shrieks and lamentations
from the walls, she reeled, and the shuttle dropped from her hands. And
she spake again to her fair-haired maidens: "Surely, that was the cry of
Hector's noble mother! Some terrible thing must have befallen my godlike
husband! Come, then, follow me, that I may learn what has happened; I
greatly fear that he has been cut off from the city by Achilles; for he
would never retreat among the throng, or yield to any man, in his high
courage."

And she rushed, all frantic, through the house, followed by her maidens,
and came to the walls, and saw Hector dragged through the dust, towards
the black ships of the Achaians. Then darkness shrouded her fair eyes, and
she fell backwards in a swoon. And when roused, she tore from her head the
net, the fillet, and the nuptial veil which golden Venus had given her,
when noble Hector of the shining helm led her forth, from King Eetion's
palace, as his bride. And the sisters-in-law of her dear husband gathered
round her, and raised her from the ground, all distracted as she was a