Rhesus   

on the left wing or the right or in the centre of the allies thou
mayst plant thy shield and marshal thy troops.
RHESUS Alone will I face the foe, Hector. But if thou art ashamed,
after all thy previous toil, to have no share in firing their ships'
prows, place me face to face at least with Achilles and his host.
HECTOR 'Gainst him thou canst not range thy eager spear.
RHESUS Why, 'twas surely said he sailed to Ilium.
HECTOR He sailed and is come hither; but he is wroth and takes no
part with the other chieftains in the fray.
RHESUS Who next to him hath won a name in their host?
HECTOR Aias and the son of Tydeus are, I take it, no whit his inferiors;
there is Odysseus too, a noisy knave to talk, but bold enough withal,
of all men he country. For he her image he made his a vagrant in a
beggar's garb, and loudly did he curse the Argives, sent as a spy
to Ilium; and then sneaked out again, when he had slain the sentinels
and warders at the gate. He is ever to be found lurking in ambush
about the altar of Thymbraean Apollo nigh the city. In him we have
a troublous pest to wrestle with.
RHESUS No brave man deigns to his foe in secret, but to meet him
face to face. If I can catch this knave alive, who, as thou sayest,
skulks in stealthy ambuscade and plots his mischief, I will impale
him at the outlet of the gates and set him up for vultures of the
air to make their meal upon. This is the death he ought to die, pirate
and temple-robber that he is.
HECTOR To your quarters now, for night draws on. For thee I will
myself point out a spot where thy host can watch this night apart
from our array. Our watchword is Phorbus, if haply there be need thereof;
hear and mark it well and tell it to the Thracian army. Ye must advance
in front of our ranks and keep a watchful guard, and so receive Dolon
who went to spy the ships, for he, if safe he is, is even now approaching
the camp of Troy. (Exeunt HECTOR and RHESUS.)
CHORUS Whose watch is it? who relieves me? night's earlier stars
are on the wane, and the seven Pleiads mount the sky; athwart the
firmament the eagle floats. Rouse ye, why delay? Up from your beds
to the watch! See ye not the moon's pale beam? Dawn is near, day is
coming, and lo! a star that heralds it.
SEMI-CHORUS Who was told off to the first watch?
The son of Mygdon, whom men call Coroebus.
Who after him?
The Paconian contingent roused the Cilicians;
And the Mysians us.
Is it not then high time we went and roused the Lycians for the fifth
watch, as the lot decided?
CHORUS Hark! hark! a sound; 'tis the nightingale, that slew her child,
singing where she sits upon her bloodstained nest by Simois her piteous
plaint, sweet singer of the many trills; already along Ida's slopes
they are pasturing the flocks, and o'er the night I catch the shrill
pipe's note; sleep on my closing eyelids softly steals, the sweetest
sleep that comes at dawn to tired eyes.
SEMI-CHORUS Why doth not our scout draw near, whom Hector sent to
spy the fleet?
He is so long away, I have my fears.
Is it possible he hath plunged into a hidden ambush and been slain?
Soon must we know.
My counsel is we go and rouse the Lycians to the fifth watch, as the
lot ordained. (Exit SEMI-CHORUS., Enter DIOMEDES and ODYSSEUS
cautiously with drawn swords.)
ODYSSEUS Didst not hear, O Diomedes, the clash of arms? or is it
an idle noise that rings in my ears?
DIOMEDES Nay, 'tis the rattle of steel harness on the chariot-rails;
me, too, did fear assail, till I perceived 'twas but the clang of
horses' chains.
ODYSSEUS Beware thou stumble not upon the guard in the darkness.
DIOMEDES I will take good care how I advance even in this gloom.