ortend, or that they would at least explain the meaning of
the prodigy. After offering this prayer, he took hold of another stem
of the myrtle, and attempted to draw it from the ground, in order to
see whether any change in the appearances exhibited by the prodigy
had been effected by his prayer. At the instant, however, when the
roots began to give way, he heard a groan coming up from the ground
below, as if from a person in suffering. Immediately afterward a
voice, in a mournful and sepulchral accent, began to beg him to go
away, and cease disturbing the repose of the dead. "What you are
tearing and lacerating," said the voice, "is not a tree, but a man. I
am Polydorus. I was killed by the king of Thrace, and instead of
burial, have been turned into a myrtle growing on the shore."

Polydorus was a Trojan prince. He was the youngest son of Priam, and
had been sent some years before to Thrace, to be brought up in the
court of the Thracian king. He had been provided with a large supply
of money and treasure when he left Troy, in order that all his wants
might be abundantly supplied, and that he might maintain, during his
absence from home, the position to which his rank as a Trojan prince
entitled him. His treasures, however, which had been provided for him
by his father as his sure reliance for support and protection, became
the occasion of his ruin--for the Thracian king, when he found that
the war was going against the Trojans, and that Priam the father was
slain, and the city destroyed, murdered the helpless son to get
possession of his gold.

AEneas and his companions were shocked to hear this story, and
perceived at once that Thrace was no place of safety for them. They
resolved immediately to leave the coast and seek their fortunes in
other regions. They however, first, in secrecy and silence, but with
great solemnity, performed those funeral rites for Polydorus which
were considered in those ages essential to the repose of the dead.
When these mournful ceremonies were ended they embarked on board their
ships again and sailed away.

After this, the party of AEneas spent many months in weary voyages from
island to island, and from shore to shore, along the Mediterranean
sea, encountering every imaginable difficulty and danger, and meeting
continually with the strangest and most romantic adventures. At one
time they were misled by a mistaken interpretation of prophecy to
attempt a settlement in Crete--a green and