تخلقت الطرواد لما الدجى أربدا

مغيراً وحلوا من عجالهم الجردا

The Trojans formed up as the darkness grew black,

Deepening in hue; they unyoked the sleek horses from their chariots.

وفوقاً قبيل الزاد حشداً تألقوا

ولم يجلسوا زعباً وإن ثقلوا جهدا

Before their meal they gathered, standing in a throng;

They did not sit down, terrified, though burdened with toil.

لقد هالهم أن ابن فيلا بدا لهم

وبعد اعتزال الحرب قد عاد مشتدا

For they were appalled that the son of Peleus had appeared before them

And, after withdrawing from the war, had returned in fury.

بهم فولداماس الحكيم ابن فنش

تبدى خطيباً يفقه الحل والعقدا

Among them Polydamas the wise, son of Panthous,

Appeared as an orator, knowing what to loosen and what to bind:

نظورٌ لما يأتي خبيرٌ بما مضى

وليٌّ لهكطور ومن رهطه عدا

Farsighted about what would come, versed in what had passed,

A friend of Hector, counted among his own clan.

لقد ولدا في ليلةٍ بيد أنه

بدا دونه بأساً كما فاقه رشدا

They had been born in the same night, yet he

Was less mighty in battle, though he surpassed him in judgment.

فقال أصيحابي اقتفن نصيحتي

هلموا إلى إليون ذا الحين نرتدا

He said, 'My dear friends, follow my advice:

Come, let us return to Ilium now.

لدى الفلك في ذا السهل للفجر لا أرى

مقاماً وعنا السور تدون قد ندا

By the ships upon this plain, until dawn I see

No place to stay; our wall, as you know, is far away.

لقد كانت الأرغوس أسهل مأخذاً

وآخيل مشتد بعزلته حقدا

The Argives were easier prey

While Achilles, secluded, seethed with resentment.

وكم شاقني إذ ذاك ليلي بقربها

على أمل بالقرب أن نبلغ القصدا

How gladly I then spent my nights near them,

Hoping that our nearness would bring us to our goal.

ولكنني أخشى وأدري بأنه

بحدته لن يرضين هنا الحدا

But I fear, and know that he,

In his fury, will not be content with this boundary.

يجوز مرامي الجحفلين مغادراً

ليمتلك الأسوار والأهل والولدا

He will pass beyond the battleground of both armies, leaving it

To seize our walls, our families, and our children.

صدقتكم نصحاً فسيروا بنا فإن

يكف فذاك الليل في وجهه اسودا

I have counseled you honestly: come away with us; if

He holds back, it is because night has darkened before his face.

ولكن إذا ما أصبح الصبح وانبرى

بعدته أيقنتموه الفتى الفردا

But when morning dawns and he strides forth

In his armor, you will know him for the peerless warrior.

لإليون من ولى فمستبشراً نجا

ويشبع طيرا الجو والغضف من يردى

Whoever retreats to Ilium will escape rejoicing;

Whoever falls will feed the birds of the air and the droop-eared dogs.

فلا طرقت هذي النوازل مسمعي

ولكن علمي ذا وإن ساءكم جدا

May news of such disasters never reach my ears!

But this is what I know, however deeply it displeases you.

إذاً فلنقم في الليل حشداً مكثفاً

بإليون أسباب الوقاية نعتدا

Then let us gather tonight in a dense throng

Within Ilium, preparing the means of defense.

فأبراجها الشما وأرتاجها التي

بأصفاقها زلجن نجلي بها الوفدا

Her lofty towers and her gates, which

Are bolted at their leaves, will help us repel the approaching host.

وعند بزوغ الفجر بالعدد الأولى

تألقن نبدو فوق معقلنا حشدا

And when dawn breaks, with the arms that first

Were gathered, let us stand in a throng upon our stronghold.

فهيهات آخيلٌ يفوز إذا بدا

بممتنع الأسوار مهما علا جهدا

Far from it: Achilles will not prevail when he appears

Against impregnable walls, however fiercely he strives.

يعود إذا ما أجهد الخيل حولها

مغاراً إلى أسطوله لاهباً وجدا

After exhausting his horses around them, he will return,

His raid over, to his fleet, burning with anguish.

ستفرسه غضف الكلاب قبيل أن

يحل بهن اليوم أو يعمل الحدا

The droop-eared dogs will devour him before

He descends upon them today or puts his blade to work.'

فأحدق شزراً فيه هكطور صارخاً

لقد جئت أمراً فولداماسنا إدا

Hector glared askance at him and shouted,

'You have proposed a monstrous thing, our Polydamas!

لقد ملأ الأسماع ما أرضنا حوت

نضاراً بهيا أو نحاساً بها صلدا

All ears have heard of what our land once held:

Splendid gold and solid bronze within it.

وقد نفدت جلى الكنوز وبددت

فلست لها تلقى بأنفائها عهدا

Now the greatest treasures are exhausted and dispersed;

You will find no trace of them in its farthest reaches.

بإفريجيا بيعت وأرض ميونةٍ

على حين عنا زفس منتقما صدا

They were sold in Phrygia and the land of Maeonia,

When Zeus turned from us in vengeance.

وها هو عني الآن راضٍ منيلني

من النصر ما للفلك يطردهم طردا

But now he is pleased with me, granting me

Victory that drives them headlong to their ships.

تعست فصه لا تخدع الجند لن يروا

برأيك نصحاً أو أردهم ردا

Confound you! Be silent; do not deceive the troops. They will find

No sound counsel in your view, or I shall drive them back.

هلموا إذاً للزاد لا تتشتتوا

وكل فتىً في حينه يحسن الرصدا

Come, then, to your meal; do not scatter.

Let each man, at his appointed turn, keep careful watch.

ومن بات في خوفٍ على المال فليقم

ويجمع لديه المال يطعمه الجندا

Whoever fears for his wealth tonight, let him rise

And gather it before him to feed the soldiers.

فخيرٌ لنا نلهو به جملةً ولا

نمتع بالأموال أعداءنا اللدا

Better that we all enjoy it together than

Give our bitter enemies delight in our riches.

وإن طر وجه الصبح دجج جيشنا

فتعقد دون الفلك كرته العقدا

When dawn's face appears, our army shall arm itself;

Its charge shall tighten the knots of battle before the ships.

فإن كر آخيلٌ إلى ساحة الوغى

رأى عجباً من قبل أن يرد الوردا

If Achilles charges onto the field of battle,

He shall see wonders before he reaches the watering-place.

أبارزه لاهالعاً أو مولياً

ولا بد منا ماجدٌ يحرز المجدا

I will face him, neither cowering nor fleeing;

One of us must win the glory as a noble warrior.

لكل همام كانت الحرب منهلا

فكم بطلٍ فيها يصد العدى أصدى

For every valiant man, war is a watering-place;

How many a hero repelling foes there has gone thirsty!'

فضجت له الطرواد جهلاً وما دروا

بأن أثينا قد أضلتهم عمدا

The Trojans roared their approval in ignorance, not knowing

That Athena had deliberately led them astray.

وهكطور طرّاً وافقوا يغفلون ما

لهم فولداماسٌ بحكمته أبدى

They all sided with Hector, neglecting what

Polydamas, in his wisdom, had shown them.

وما لوا وما زالوا بملء انتظامهم

لزادٍ لهم ما بين تلك السرى مدا

They turned away and, still in their full formation,

Went to the food spread for them during those nighttime hours.

وأما بنوا الإغريق آناء ليلهم

فقد لبثوا في مأتمٍ هدهم هدا

But the sons of Greece, throughout the hours of their night,

Remained in mourning that crushed them utterly.

وبينهم أخيل في زفراتهم

يحن لفطرقل وقد أكبر الفقدا

Among them Achilles, amid their sighs,

Lamented Patroclus, feeling the enormity of the loss.

على صدرٍ ذاك الإلف ألقى أكفه

يحاكي إذا ما أحدق الأسد الوردا

He laid his hands upon that beloved companion's breast,

Like a tawny lion when it glares around:

كأن ببطن الغاب أشباله بها

خلا قانصٌ فأربد واشتد واحتدا

As though its cubs, in the depths of the forest,

Had met a hunter alone: it darkens, grows fierce, and rages.

وهب على آثاره بحزازةٍ

تحدره وهداً وتصعده نجدا

It springs after his tracks, with an anguish

That drives it down into hollows and up onto heights.

فصاح ألا رباه واعظم موعدٍ

وعدت منتيوساً ولن أصدق الوعدا

He cried, 'O my Lord, what a solemn pledge

I made to Menoetius, and shall not fulfill!

بمنزله عاهدته لأفنطسٍ

أعيدُ ابنهُ من بعد أن يقهر الضدا

In his home I pledged that to Opus

I would bring back his son, after he had conquered the foe,

ويهدم إليوناً ويرجع غانماً

وهيهات زفسٌ كل آمالنا أسدى

Destroyed Ilium, and returned laden with spoils.

But all in vain: Zeus has brought all our hopes to nothing.

بإليون قد خط القضاء أن من

دماء كلينا الأرض محمرةً تندى

At Ilium fate has decreed that with

The blood of us both the earth shall be wet and red.

فلن يتلقاني أبثي الشيخ عائداً

وثيتس أمي بعد أن أعظما البعدا

My aged father will not welcome me home,

Nor Thetis, my mother, after their long separation.

أفطرقل مذ سيقت لذا الترب أعظمي

وبعدك لي قد خط أن أنزل اللحدا

O Patroclus, since my bones have been borne to this soil,

And it is written that after you I shall descend into the grave,

فلست متمّاً مأتماً لك قبل أن

أذيق الردى هكطور قاتلك الجلدا

I shall not complete your funeral until

I make Hector, your mighty killer, taste death.

وشكته تلقى لديك ورأسه

فأذكي لك النيران مدخراً حمدا

His armor and his head shall lie beside you;

Then I shall kindle your pyre, laying up praise.

ومن حولها اثني عشر رأساً بصارمي

أقضب من طروادة فتيةٍ مردا

And around it, with my sharp sword, twelve heads

I shall sever from beardless youths of Troy.

فظل إذاً ملقىً لدى الفلك ريثما

أبر فذا عهدي ولن أخلف العهدا

So lie here by the ships until

I fulfill it: this is my pledge, and I shall not break it.

فكم ثم طرواديةً دردنيةً

سبيناً بدارٍ بأسنا فوقها امتدا

How many Trojan and Dardanian women are here,

Whom we captured in homes over which our might prevailed!

ينحن عليك اليوم والليل كله

ويلطمن بض الصدر والنحر والخدا

They will lament you all day and all night,

And beat their tender breasts, throats, and cheeks.'

وأوعز أن يعلى على النار مرجلٌ

وفي غسل جسم الميت من حينهم يبدا

He ordered a cauldron raised over the fire,

And the washing of the dead man's body begun at once.

ولما إلى في ساطع القدر ماؤهم

ففي غسله جد وقد أحسنوا الجدا

When their water reached the mouth of the gleaming cauldron,

They worked diligently at washing him, and did the work well.

ونقوه من تلك الدماء وبادروا

لزيتٍ كثيفٍ يدلكون به الجلدا

They cleansed him of that blood and hastened

To thick oil, rubbing his skin with it.

وفي كل جرحٍ أفرغوا بلسماً مضى

لتسعة أعوامٍ تقادمه عهدا

Into every wound they poured balm whose age

Had reached a full nine years.

وألقوه من فوق السرير وأسبلوا

من الرأس حتى تحت أقدامه بردا

They laid him on the bed and spread

A cloak from his head to below his feet,

ومن فوقه سترٌ من النسج أبيضٌ

وناحوا وآخيلٌ مدى ليلهم سهدا

And over it a covering of white woven cloth.

They mourned, and Achilles kept vigil throughout the night.

فقال لهيرا زفس في قبة العلى

فلحت فآخيلٌ لقد أنف الصدا

Then Zeus said to Hera in the vault of heaven,

'You have succeeded: Achilles has spurned estrangement.

فلا ريب في أن الأغاريق قد نموا

إليك وأضحى منك طارقهم تلدا

There is no doubt that the Greeks trace their descent

To you, and even their newcomer has become your native-born son.'

فقالت ألا يا ظالماً قد هزأت بي

وللإنس تلقى الإنس قد أحسنو العضدا

She replied, 'O unjust one, you have mocked me!

Yet humans, as you see, give humans strong support,

ولم يبلغوا من راسخ العلم علمناص

ولا مثلنا أوتوا بأرضهم الخلدا

Though their deepest knowledge has never reached ours,

Nor have they, like us, been granted immortality on earth.

وإني وإن ما كنت أسمى إلاهةٍ

وبعلي أخي من لا أقيس به ندا

And I—even were I not the highest goddess,

With my husband my brother, whose equal I acknowledge in none—

فلم أعط أن أولي الطراود ذلةً

ولا قوم أرغوسٍ أنيل هنا رقدا

Why am I not allowed to bring humiliation upon the Trojans,

Nor to grant the people of Argos rest here?'