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A noted sharper (1), has been such for years.

Madam, you're robb'd,—he came not from the Queen;
I knew the rogue, and should have had him taken,
But that he slipp'd away, and saved his bacon (2).

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Boiling with anger, Madame call'd her coach,
And drove to the Bureau de la Justice,
Where, with loud tongue and many a keen reproach
About the shameful state of the police,

She call'd upon the Provost for relief,

And bade him send his men to catch the thief.

Early next morn she heard the knocker's din (3);
Her heart beat high, with expectation big,
When lo! the Provost's clerk was usher'd in,
A formal consequential little prig (4),
Who with a mighty magisterial air,

Hem'd! and began his business to declare.

"Madam, a man is brought to our Bureau,
On whom was found a bracelet of great cost,
And we are all anxiety to know

Whether or not it is the one you lost;
Wherefore I'll take the other, if you please,
Just to compare and see if it agrees (5),”

(1) A noted sharper, un célèbre filou ou escroc.

(2) To save one's bacon, sauver son lard; phrase populaire

qui signifie échapper belle, se sauver.

(3) The knocker's din, le bruit du marteau à la porte.

(4) A little prig, un petit impertinent, un drôle.

(5) To agree, se ressembler, s'accorder.

ÆNEAS RELATING THE SACK OF TROY TO Dido. 291

"Dear sir, I'm overjoyed,

'tis mine, I'm sure;

Such a police as ours how few can boast!

Here take the bracelet, keep the rogue secure;

I'll follow you in half an hour at most (1); [spark (2).— Ten thousand thanks, I hope you'll trounce the

Open the door there for the Provost's clerk.'

Arrived at the Bureau, her joy finds vent :
"Well, Mr. Provost, where's the guilty knave?
The other bracelet by your clerk I sent,
Doubtless it matches with (5) the one you have;
Why then outstretch your mouth (4) with such surprise,
And goggle on (5) me thus, with all your eyes?"

[lack!

"La! bless me (6), Ma'am, you're finely hoax'd-good
I sent no clerk, no thief have we found out,
And the important little prig in black
Was the accomplice of the Page, no doubt;
Methinks the rascals might have left you one,
But both your bracelets now are fairly gone! "

ENEAS RELATING THE SACK OF TROY TO DIDO.

All were attentive to the godlike (7) man,

(1) At most ou at latest, tout au plus, au plus tard. (2) The spark, le gaillard.

(3) To match with, appareiller, répondre à.

(4) To outstretch the mouth, ouvrir grandement la bouche, mouvement de surprise.

(5) To goggle on (populaire), fixer, regarder fixement. (6) Bless me! Dieu me bénisse.

(7) Godlike, divin.

When from his lofty couch he thus began:
Great Queen, what you command me to relate
Renews the sad remembrance of our fate;
An empire from its old foundations rent (1),
And every woe the Trojans underwent;
A pop'lous city made a desert place;
All that I saw, and part of which I was;
Not ev❜n the hardest of our foes could hear,
Nor stern (2) Ulysses tell, without a tear.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

'Twas now the dead of night, when sleep repairs
Our bodies worn with toils, our minds with cares,
When Hector's ghost before my sight appears;
Shrouded in blood he stood and bathed in tears,
Such as when by the fierce Pelides slain (3),
Thessalian coursers dragg'd him o'er the plain;
Swoln (4) were his feet, as when the thongs (5) were thrust
Through the pierced limbs; his body black with dust:
Unlike that Hector, who return'd from toils

Of war triumphant in Æacian spoils,

Or him who made the fainting Greeks retire,

Hurling (6) amidst their fleets the Phrygian fire (7);
His hair and beard were clotted (8) stiff with gore;

(1) Rent, part., déchiré. Rent, subst., loyer.

(2) Stern, adj., sévère. Stern, subst., arrière de navire. (3) Slain, tué, égorgé.

(4) Swoln, enflé, passé de to swell, s'enfler. (5) Thongs, lanières, cordes.

(6) To hurl, lancer.

(7) Phrygian fire, feu grégeois.

(8) Clotted, trempé, coagulé.

ENEAS RELATING THE SACK OF TROY TO DIDO

The ghastly wounds he for his country bore
Now stream'd afresh (1).

I wept to see the solitary man,

And, whilst my trance continued, thus began:
"O light of Trojans and support of Troy,
Thy father's champion, and thy country's joy!
O long expected by thy friends! From whence
Art thou so late return'd to our defence?
Alas! what wounds are these? What new disgrace
Deforms the manly honours of thy face?"
The spectre, groaning from his inmost breast,
This warning, in these mournful words express'd :
Haste, goddess-born! Escape, by timely flight,
The flames and horrors of this fatal night.

..

The foes already have possess'd our wall;
Troy nods (2) from high and totters to her fall.
Enough is paid to Priam's royal name,
Enough to country, and to deathless (3) fame.
If by a mortal arm my father's throne

293

Could have been saved-this arm the feat (4) had done.
Troy now commends to thee her future state,
And gives her Gods companions of thy fate.
Under their umbrage (5) hope for happier walls,
And follow where thy various fortune calls.

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(1) Afresh, de nouveau.

(2) To nod, trembler, menacer de tomber, faire un signe de tête.

(3) Deathless, immortel.

(4) The feat, l'acte, le fait.

(5) Umbrage, protection, ombre, abri.

He said and brought forth (1) from the sacred choir The Gods and relics of the immortal fire.

Now peals of shouts came thund'ring from afar,
Cries, threats, and loud laments, and mingled war.
The noise approaches, though our palace stood
Aloof (2) from streets, embosom'd (5) close with wood :
Louder and louder still I hear the alarms

Of human cries distinct and clashing arms.
Fear broke my slumbers.

1 mount the terrace, thence the town survey,
And listen what the swelling sounds convey.
Then Hector's faith was manifestly clear'd,
And Grecian fraud in open light appear'd.
The palace of Deiphobus ascends

In smoky flames, and catches on (4) his friends.
Ucalegon burns next; the seas are bright

[light.

With splendours not their own, and shine with sparkling

New clangours (5), and new clamours now arise,

The trumpet's voice with agonizing cries.
With frenzy seized I run to meet the alarms,
Resolv'd on death, resolv'd to die in arms,
But first to gather friends with whom to oppose
If fortune favour'd, and repel the foes,
By courage roused, by love of country fired,
With sense of honour and revenge inspired.

(1) To bring forth, apporter, retirer de, produire. (2) Aloof, éloigné.

(5) Embosomed, caché dans le sein, au sein de. (4) To catch on, se saisir de.

(5) Clangours, bruit des armes, de la guerre.

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