} day; and Pandion, grasping the right hand of his
son-in-law, about to depart, with tears bursting forth, recommended his
companion {to his care}. "I commit her, my dear son-in-law, to thee,
because reasons, grounded on affection, have compelled me, and both {my
daughters} have desired it, and thou as well, Tereus, hast wished it;
and I entreat thee, begging by thy honor, by thy breast {thus} allied to
us, {and} by the Gods above, to protect her with the love of a father;
and do send back to me, as soon as possible, this sweet comfort of my
anxious old age, {for} all delay will be tedious to me, and do thou,
too, Philomela, if thou hast any affection for me, return as soon as
possible: 'tis enough that thy sister is so far away." {Thus} did he
enjoin, and at the same time he gave kisses to his daughter, and his
affectionate tears fell amid his instructions. He {then} demanded the
right hands of them both, as a pledge of their fidelity, and joined them
together when given, and bade them, with mindful lips, to salute for him
his absent daughter and grandson, and with difficulty[60] uttered the
last farewell, his mouth being filled with sobs; and he shuddered at the
presages of his own mind. But as soon as Philomela was put on board of
the painted ship, and the sea was urged by the oars, and the land was
left behind, he exclaimed, "I have gained my point; the object of my
desires is borne along with me." The barbarian exults, too, and with
difficulty defers his joy in his intention, and turns not his eyes
anywhere away from her. No otherwise than when the ravenous bird of
Jupiter, with crooked talons, has placed a hare in his lofty nest; there
is no escape for the captive; the plunderer keeps his eye on his prey.
And now the voyage is ended, and now they have gone forth from the
wearied ship, upon his own shore; when the king drags the daughter of
Pandion into a lofty dwelling, concealed in an ancient wood, and there
he shuts her up, pale and trembling, and dreading everything, and now
with tears inquiring where her sister is; and confessing his baseness,
he masters by force her a maiden, and but one, while she often vainly
calls on her father, often on her sister, and on the great Gods above
all. She trembles like a frightened lamb, which, wounded, being snatched
from the mouth of a hoary wolf, does not as yet seem to itself in
safety; and as a dove, its feathers soaked with its own blood, still
trembles, and dreads the ra