t him, and filled with baseless exultation,
cried out, "AEneas, whither dost thou fly? Desert not thus thy promised
bride; with this right hand will I bestow upon thee the settled abode thou
hast sought in vain through so many lands and seas." Thus vociferating, he
madly pursued the deceitful phantom. It chanced that near the shore there
lay a vessel, joined to the land by a temporary bridge of planks. Hither
Juno led the shadow, and caused it in seeming fear to leap on board and
throw itself into a hiding-place. With not less speed Turnus followed,
bounded along the bridge, and mounted to the lofty prow of the ship in
search of the supposed fugitive. Instantly the goddess severed the cable,
and drove the vessel over the foaming waves. Then the phantom melted into
the air, and the Rutulian, utterly bewildered, gazed about him in despair,
nor did he feel at all thankful to the guardian deity for having thus
preserved him from the arms of AEneas. "Almighty Father," he cried, raising
his eyes and hands towards heaven, "why dost thou think me worthy of such
shame as this? What have I done to merit such a punishment? whither am I
borne? How shall I venture again to enter the walls of Laurentum or look
upon my camp? What will be said of me by the warriors who have followed me
into this war, and whom--unutterable shame!--I have abandoned to the
bloodthirsty Trojans! O winds! take pity on me, I entreat you; dash this
vessel on some rugged crag, and overwhelm me so that I can no longer be
conscious either of my humiliation or of the reproaches of my Rutulians."
While he thus lamented, he was uncertain whether he should put an end to
his own life with his sword or plunge into the sea and endeavor to regain
the land by swimming. Three times he attempted each expedient, and as
often Juno, full of pity, restrained him. Carried along by a favorable
wind, the ship bore him safely to the capital of his father, King Daunus.
Meanwhile AEneas raged through the battle-field in search of the victim
whom the queen of the Gods had thus snatched from his conquering hands.
Under his leadership the Trojans and their allies, flushed with success,
pressed more eagerly on their discomfited foe; but Mezentius now advanced
to restore the courage of the Rutulians. The Etrurians, as soon as they
saw their expelled monarch, out of hostility to whom they had engaged in
the war, rushed upon him with shouts of rage; but he, as fearless as he
was wicked, sto
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