صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

Book XV.

Although on foot,

he holds the

Greeks at bay.

His brothers missing him assemble and

agree to search for him.

They dash through the

ranks, and wound Telamon.

Wore hym full wightly, & myche wo did:

Was non so bold in pat batell, of po buernes all, 6752 fforto deire hym with dynt, ne pe Duke touche, Ne negh hym with noy, for nolpis of his hond. His nobill brether naturile nemly persayuit,

bat pe troiens in the toile had turnyt þe backe, 6756 And segh not pere souerain, paire sorow was pe

more,

Wend pere lord hade ben lost, or of lyue broght.
bai assemblit on a sop sone vpon-one,
ffrusshet to pe fight, pe freike for to laite.

6760 ffull bremly þurgh the batels þe buernes can pas,
And wan to þat worthy, pat in woche stode;
Telamon, the tore kyng, þai tenfully woundit,
Gird mony to pe ground of the grekes felle.

Dynadorus hurls 6764 Dynadron, a derf knight of his dere brother,

Polixenus from

his horse, seizes

it, and leads it to

his brother

Hector, who

quickly mounts.

(fol. 105 a.)

Deiphobus leads on his archers, who hurt and slay many of the Greeks.

Deiphobus

wounds Theuter

in the face.

Preset to Polexuma, þat hade a proude stede, Gird hym euyn to þe ground, grippit his horse, Raght to be Reynes, ricchit hom belyue, 6768 Broght hym his brother, þe best vpon erthe, And he launchit o lofte with a light wille. All the nobill anon,-þo naturill brether,Wonderfully wroght with wepyn in hond, 6772 Gird doun of the grekes vnto grym dethe, And stird hom in the stoure stightly vnfaire. Then Deffibus drogh negh with a derfe pepull, bat by ordynaunse of Ector was etlit to hym; 6776 The prise folke of Poyeme presit hym after, Bowmen of þe best, big in hor armys,

Myche greuaunce & grem to be grekes did.

Mony woundit po weghis & warpit to ground, 6780 Mony shalke purgh shot with pere sharpe gere,

And myche hyndrit the hepe with pere hard shot.
Deffibus the doughty, with a derfe wepyn,

Tachit vpon Teutro, a full tore dynt,

6784 Vne fourme in the face foule to behold.

THESEUS SAVED BY HECTOR.

pen the troiens, full tite, tokyn þere hertes
ffelly vnto fight, þat were fled er.

ffull stithe was þe stoure for pe striffe new; 6788 Mony bold on the bent brytont to dethe;

Book XV.

Theseus is attacked by

Mony lyue of lept with lasshyng of swerdis!
As Theseus, the tore duke, the troiens anoyet,
And mony fell of pe folke, with his fuerse wepon, Modernus,
6792 On of Ector owne brether, þat I erst neuenyt,

And Modernus, the mayn kyng, on pe mon set.
Theseus pai toke, pof hym tene poght,

219

and a brother of Hector.

And wold haue slayn hym in þe slade sleghly They are about to

anon;

6796 But Ector aurthwart pis auntrid to se,

Bade hom leue of lightly, let hym pas forth,
Withouten hurt owper harme, hast hym agayn :
And so he kyd hym counsell of kyndnes before.
6800 At biddyng of þe bold, pe buerne was rescewet,
He launchit furth lightly, & pe lede ponket,

Gird furth to pe grekes with a glad chere,
And Ector euer more egerly ponket.

6804 Then þe kyng of Calsidon com into batell,
Toax, a tide mon of pat oper side,

And Philote, a fuerse kyng, with a fell power,
A grete nowmber of grekes with a grym fare.

6808 Toax, in his tene, with a tore speire,

slay him, when Hector bids them let him alone.

He thanks Hector, and dashes off to the Greeks.

(fol. 105 b.)

Thoas and

Phylotas with a great number of Greeks enter into battle.

Thoas engages with Cassibilan,

Caupit to Cassibilan, þe kynges son of Troy,- and slays him.
On of Ector aun brether, þat I er said;

And pe lede on lokond, hym launchit to dethe:
6812 ffor whose dethe the Duke moche dole polit.
As wode in his wit as a wild bore,

Gird euyn to the grekes in his gret yre,
And mony knight doun kyld in his kene hate.
6816 Sum wondit full wide, walt to pe ground;

Sum hurlit to pe hard yerth, & on hede light;
Sum þe lymes of lop, sum þe lyf tynt ;
And myche wo in his wodenes wroght at þe tyme.

Hector, enraged

at the death of his brother, attacks the Greeks more fiercely; wounds and slays many of them;

Book XV.

and puts them to fight.

Nestor comes to their assistance

with 5000 men, and the battle is renewed.

The Greeks surround King Philon, and are about to slay

him; but Esdras

and Iacomas

rescue him.

(fol. 106 a.)

Hector and his

natural brothers, with Deiphobus and Polydamas, sorely press the Greeks;

and would have

put them to

flight, but for

Menelaus and
Telamon.

6820 So fuersly he fore in his fight þen,

With other helpe pat he hade, his harmys to

venge,

þat þe grekes gyuen bake, & the ground leuyn, And were forsit to þe fight or pai fay worthit. 6824 pen gird in on pe grekes half with a grym fare, Nestor, the noble duke, with a new batell

Of v thousaund fuerse men, & felle to be stour, þat mony warchand wound wroght on hor fos. 6828 ffull tyte fro þe toun turnyt hym agayne, Philon, a felle kyng, & his fere Esdras,

6836

hat shot purgh pere sheltruns & shent mony knightes.

This Philon, in fight, mony freike slogh. 6832 pen the grekes with grym gedirt hym vmbe, Wold haue kyld the kyng with a kant wille ; But on Iacomas, a Ioly mon, as the gest tellis, To Esdras, in ernyst, egirly saide :"Se Philon, the fre kyng, is with his fos takon : High we vs hastely, help hym away! Let vs reskew the Renke, refe hym his fos!" pen the Troiens, with tene, tidely pai faght; 6840 Sore greuit the grekes, gird hom abacke; Wonen to be wale kyng, & away toke, Withouten hurt, other harme, in a hond while. ben Ector Eftersones entrid agayne,

6844 With the noble men, þat I neuenyt, his naturill brether,

And Deffebus the Duke, dughty of hond;

Polidamus, the pert knight, preset in als. Thes wonderfully wroght in hor wale strenght, 6848 With pere company clene of kyd men of Troy, bat the grekes, of þe ground, gird were anon, fflagh fro the frekes, & the fild leuyt ;

But Menelay the mighty, & the mayn Telamon, 6852 So sturnly withstod with paire strenkyth holl,

AJAX BRINGS UP THE RESERVE.

þat þe troiens tite tynt of hor purpos,

And were foghtyn with felly, folut no lengur.
ben entrid Eneas, egur to fight,

6856 With the comyns full clene in a close batell,
þat were led by the lede, pat I lefe saide,-
Euformus the fuerse, þat was a fyn sqwier.
With pes, Ector & other, so odly pai foght,
6860 That the grekes gaf bake, & paire ground leuyt.
þat Aiax the auntrus, pat angardly wroght,
With mekill sorow pis segh in his sad yre.
He lokit back on pe bent, pere pe buernes were,
6864 Segh soppes of sad men in a soum hoge,

bat neghit no note, ne no noy feld,

With baners on brede, & bold men of armys,

here all pe grete of pe grekys, & pe grym

knyghtys,

6868 And pe chose of hor chyualry, was chargit to

lenge.

ben he said to po souerans, pat pe saut lefte;
"Abide, buernys, on pis bent, buskys vs ferre;
Here seches vs socoure in a sad haste!"

6872 pen gird in þe grekys with a grete wyll,
Restoret pe stithe fight stalwertly pen.
Eneas to Aiax angarely rode,

And he keppit hym cantly with a kene spere, 6876 pat bothe were pai bakeword borne to be grene. ben gyrd in þe grekys syde with a grym pupull, Philothetes, a freke, with a freshe batell, bat kyng was of Calsidon,-a kid mon of were,

6880 With iij м. pro knyghtis pronge into prese.

he troiens to pis tyme tyd ay þe bettur,
And pe fairer of pe fyght in þe feld had;
But þes batels so big, þat þe buerne led,—

6884 Philoc pe freke, pat I first saide,

Tenyt the troiens with mony tore dintes,
And to put hom fro purpos, pynyt hym sore.

221

Book XV.

Eneas and Euphorbus bring assistance to the Trojans, and the Greeks are driven back.

Ajax, sorely vexed on account of this defeat, orders up the reserve;

checks and

encourages those

who fled; and

the battle is
renewed.

(fol. 106 b.)

Ajax and Æneas rush together; and both are unhorsed.

Philoctetes, with 3000 knights, engages the Trojans, and checks them.

Book XV.

be freke, with a felle spere frunt vnto Ector,

He attacks Hector 6888 þat hit shok alto schyuers, & pe schalk holl: But Ector Aurthewert hym Auntrid to hyt,

with a spear:

it is shivered. Hector, uninjured,

strikes him to the ground.

The Greeks,

to the number of 10,000, led by

Henex, Ulysses, Eumelus, and other kings, fall upon the

Trojans, who are

nearly worn out:

but Paris with a host of Persians

comes to their assistance.

(fol. 107 a.)

bat he frunt of hys fol flat to be ground,
Half ded of pe dynt, derit no mo.

6892 þen Henex, with hese men, happit to come,
Gird in with grekys, as a grym syre ;
Vlixes also, with angarely mony

Of tulkis of Traci, tor men of strenkyth;

6896 Humelius with hast highit hom after,

And all be kyngis clene, pat comyn out of grice,
With x .M. pro knyghtis, pristiest of all:

hes bounyt vnto batell & to bent droghyn.
6900 Wat schall tyde of þes troiens to pes tore pupull,
hat so were wroght of weghis before,
And so bysy in batell er þo bold come ?
ben Paris aprochyt, pe Percians hym with;
6904 Radli on pe right syde Rakit he furth,

And bounet into batell with a brym will.
Vnto Frigie, pe fell kyng, he frusshit anon,
With pe strenkyth of his stroke & his store arme,

He kills the king 6908 þat þe kyng, to pe cold erthe, cayrs out of lyue.

of Phrygia,

at which the

Greeks are much

grieved.

In revenge for the death of his

cousin, Ulysses drives at Paris with a spear. Missing him, he kills his horse,

and Paris falls to the ground.

Troilus wounds

Ulysses on the

face;

ben þe grekys, for greme of þe gay kyng,
Miche dyn & dol for þat deth made.
Vlixes, his aune cosyn, angrit full sore,

6912 To venge of þat vilany vili dissirit:

He put hym to Paris with a proude will, Sparrit at hym with a spere spitusly fast. He myst of þe mon with his mayn dynt, 6916 But he hit on his horse, hurt hym full sore, hat he deghit of pe dynt, dusshit to ground, And Paris, in þe plit, pight vppon fote.

Troiell, pat tyme, was truly besyde,

6920 Segh pe bold at his brother boun for to strike; He swapt at hym swyth with a sword fell.

Hit brake thurgh þe basnet to pe bare hed,

« السابقةمتابعة »