How the Oath Was Broken

Now, if the Trojans had kept the promise which they made, confirming it with an oath, it would have been well with them. But it was not to be. And this is how it came to pass that the oath was broken and the promise not kept.

Among the chiefs who came from the countries round about to help King Priam and the Trojans, there was a certain Pandarus , son of the King of Lycia. He was a great archer, and could shoot an arrow as far and with as good an aim as any man in the army. To this Pandarus, as he stood waiting for what should happen next, there came a youth, a son of King Priam.Such indeed, he seemed to be, but in truth the goddess Athena had taken his shape, for she and, as has been said before, the goddess Hera hated the city of Troy, and desired to bring it to ruin.

The false Trojan came up to Pandarus, as he stood among his men, and said to him, “Prince of Lycia, dare you to shoot an arrow at Menelaus? Truly, the Trojans would love you well, and Paris best of all, if they could see Menelaus killed with an arrow from your bow. Shoot at him as he stands, not thinking of any danger, but first promise to sacrifice a hundred beasts to Zeus,as soon as you shall get back to your own country.”

Pandarus had a bow made out of the horns of a wild goat which he had killed. It was four feet long from end to end, and on each end there was a tip of gold on which the bowstring was fixed. While he was stringing his bow, his men stood round and hid him; and when he had strung it, he took an arrow from his quiver, and laid it on the string, and drew back the string till it touched his breast, and then let the arrow fly.

But though none of the Greeks saw what Pandarus was doing, Athena saw it, and she flew to where Menelaus stood,and kept the arrow from doing him deadly harm. She would not ward it off altogether, for she knew that the Greeks would be angry to see the King whom they loved so terribly wounded,and would have no peace with the Trojans. So she guided it to where there was a space between the belt and the breast-cover.There it struck the King, passing through the edge of the belt and through the garment that was under the belt and piercing the skin; and the red blood poured out, and dyed the thighs and the legs and the ankles of the King, as a woman dyes a piece of white ivory to make an ornament for a king’s war-horse.

Now Agamemnon was standing near, and when he saw the blood rush out, he cried, “Oh, my brother, it was a foolish thing that I did, when I made an agreement with the Trojans, for they are wicked men and break their oaths. I know that they who do such things will suffer for them. Sooner or later the man who breaks his oath will perish miserably . Nevertheless , it will be a great shame and sorrow if you, my brother, should be killed in this way. For the Greeks will go to their homes saying,‘Why should we fight any more for Menelaus, seeing that he is dead?’ And the Fair Helen for whom we have been fighting these many years will be left behind; and one of these false Trojans will say when he sees the tomb of Menelaus, ‘Surely the great Agamemnon has not got what he came for. He brought a great army to destroy the city of Troy, but Troy still stands, and he and his army have gone back: only he has left his brother behind him.’”

But Menelaus said, “Do not trouble yourself, my brother,for the wound is not deep. See, here is the tip of the arrow.”

Then King Agamemnon commanded that they should fetch Machaon, the great physician. So Machaon came, and drew the arrow out of the wound, and wiped away the blood, and put healing medicines upon the place, which took away all the pain.

After this, King Agamemnon went through the army to see that it was ready for battle. When he found anyone preparing himself, putting his men in order, and doing such things as it was his duty to do, he praised him; and if he saw anyone idle and slow to move, he criticized him. When all was ready, then the army went forward. In silence it went; but the Trojans, on the other hand, were as noisy as a flock of sheep, which cries when they hear the voice of the lambs.

Pandarus 潘达拉斯，利西亚人的领袖

horn /hɔ:n/ n. （牛、羊等的）角；喇叭；触角

garment /ˈɡɑ:mənt/ n. 衣服，外衣，外表

dye /d a ɪ/ vt. 染

thigh /θ a ɪ/ n. 大腿，股

ankle /ˈ æ ŋkl/ n. 脚踝

ivory /ˈ a ɪvərɪ/ n. 象牙

ornament /ˈɔ:nəmənt/ n. 装饰物

miserably /ˈmɪzərəblɪ/ adv. 悲惨地

nevertheless /ˌnevəðəˈles/ conj. 然而，不过

healing /ˈhi:lɪŋ/ adj. 有治疗功用的

idle /ˈ a ɪdl/ vi. 闲荡；无所事事

a flock of 一群