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A scanty draught, which only wets his lips,
But not his palate; while another boy, 610
Whose parents both are living, thrusts him thence
With blows and vulgar clamor: 'Get thee gone!
Thy father is not with us at the feast.'
Then to his widowed mother shall return
Astyanax in tears, who not long since 615
Was fed, while sitting in his father's lap,
On marrow and the delicate fat of lambs.
And ever when his childish sports had tired
The boy, and sleep came stealing over him,
He slumbered, softly cushioned, on a couch 620
And in his nurse's arms, his heart at ease
And satiate with delights. But now thy son
Astyanax,[1]—whom so the Trojans name
Because thy valor guarded gate and tower,—
Thy care withdrawn, shall suffer many things. 625
While far from those who gave thee birth, beside
The roomy ships of Greece, the restless worms
Shall make thy flesh their banquet when the dogs
Have gorged themselves. Thy garments yet remain
Within the palace, delicately wrought 630
And graceful, woven by the women's hands;
And these, since thou shalt put them on no more,
Nor wear them in thy death, I burn with fire
Before the Trojan men and dames; and all
Shall see how gloriously thou wert arrayed." 635
Weeping she spake, and with her wept her maids.
- ↑ Astyanax means Defender of the City. See p. 3, line 521. Sons often were named from some distinction of the father.