be}, and that he had never attended us as a companion to the Phrygian
towers, this counsellor of evil! Then, son of Poeas,[11] Lemnos would not
have had thee exposed {there} through our guilt; who now, as they say,
concealed in sylvan caves, art moving the {very} rocks with thy groans,
and art wishing for the son of Laertes what he has deserved; which, may
the Gods, the Gods, {I say}, grant thee not to pray in vain.

"And now, he that was sworn upon the same arms with ourselves, one of
our leaders, alas! by whom, as his successor, the arrows of Hercules are
used, broken by disease and famine, is being clothed[12] and fed by
birds; and in shooting fowls, he is employing the shafts destined for
the destruction of Troy. Still, he lives, because he did not accompany
Ulysses. And the unhappy Palamedes would have preferred that he had been
left behind; {then} he would have been living, or, at least, he would
have had a death without any criminality. Him, {Ulysses} remembering too
well the unlucky discovery of his madness, pretended to be betraying the
Grecian interests, and proved his feigned charge, and shewed {the
Greeks} the gold, which he had previously hidden in the ground. By exile
then, or by death,[13] has he withdrawn from the Greeks their {best}
strength. Thus Ulysses fights, thus is he to be dreaded. Though he were
to excel even the faithful Nestor in eloquence, yet he would never cause
me to believe that the forsaking of Nestor[14] was not a crime; who,
when he implored {the aid of} Ulysses, retarded by the wound of his
steed, and wearied with the years of old age, was deserted by his
companion. The son of Tydeus knows full well that these charges are not
invented by me, who calling on him often by name, rebuked him, and
upbraided[15] his trembling friend with his flight. The Gods above
behold the affairs of men with just eyes. Lo! he wants help, himself,
who gave it not; and as he left {another}, so was he doomed to be left:
{such} law had he made for himself.

"He called aloud to his companions. I came, and I saw him trembling, and
pale with fear, and shuddering at the impending death. I opposed the
mass of my shield {to the enemy}, and covered him[16] as he lay; and I
preserved (and that is the least part of my praise) his dastardly life.
If thou dost persist in vying, let us return to that place; restore the
enemy, and thy wound, and thy wonted fear; and hide behind my shield,
and under that contend with me.