Vergil's Aeneid Book II Lines 40-56 Flashcards
Primus ibi ante omnes magnā comitante catervā Laocoon ardens summā decurrit ab arce, et procul:
There first before all with a large crowd accompanying Laocoon burning runs down from the highest citadel, and from afar (he says):
‘O miserī, quae tanta insania, cives?
‘O miserable citizens, why such insanity?
Creditis avectōs hostes?
Do you believe the enemy has been carried away?
Aut ulla putatis dona carēre dolīs Danaum?
Or do you think any gifts are free from the deceits of the Greeks?
Sīc notus Ulixes?
Thus is Ulysses known?
Aut hoc inclusī lignō occultantur Achivī, aut haec in nostrōs fabricata est machina murōs,
Either Greeks having been enclosed in this wood are hidden, or this machine has been fabricated against our walls,
īnspectura domōs venturaque desuper urbī, aut aliquis later error;
about to come into the city and inspect our homes from above, or some trick is hiding;
equō nē credite, Teucrī.
do not trust the horse, Trojans.
Quidquid id est, timeō Danaōs et dona ferentēs.’
Whatever it is, I fear the Greeks bearing gifts.’
Sīc fatus validīs ingentem viribus hastam in latus inque ferī curvam compagibus alvum contorsit.
Thus he spoke and hurled a huge spear with mighty strength into the side and into the curved body of the beast with joints.
Stetit illa tremens, uterōque recussō insonuēre cavae gemitumque dedēre cavernae.
That stood trembling, and with the belly having been shaken the hollow cavities sounded and gave a groan.
Et, sī fata deum, sī mens non laeva fuisset, impulerat ferrō Argolicās foedāre latebrās,
And, if the fates of the gods, if the mind had not been foolish, (if) it had driven with the sword to defile the Greek hiding places,
Troiaque nunc staret, Priamīque arx alta manerēs.
both Troy would now stand, and the high altar of Priam, you would now remain.
