Page 191 - the-iliad

When he had done speaking Hector held up his sceptre,
and swore him his oath saying, ‘May Jove the thunder-
ing husband of Juno bear witness that no other Trojan but
yourself shall mount those steeds, and that you shall have
your will with them for ever.’
The oath he swore was bootless, but it made Dolon more
keen on going. He hung his bow over his shoulder, and as
an overall he wore the skin of a grey wolf, while on his head
he set a cap of ferret skin. Then he took a pointed javelin,
and left the camp for the ships, but he was not to return
with any news for Hector. When he had left the horses and
the troops behind him, he made all speed on his way, but
Ulysses perceived his coming and said to Diomed, ‘Diomed,
here is some one from the camp; I am not sure whether he
is a spy, or whether it is some thief who would plunder the
bodies of the dead; let him get a little past us, we can then
spring upon him and take him. If, however, he is too quick
for us, go after him with your spear and hem him in to-
wards the ships away from the Trojan camp, to prevent his
getting back to the town.’
With this they turned out of their way and lay down
among the corpses. Dolon suspected nothing and soon
passed them, but when he had got about as far as the dis-
tance by which a mule-plowed furrow exceeds one that has
been ploughed by oxen (for mules can plow fallow land
quicker than oxen) they ran after him, and when he heard
their footsteps he stood still, for he made sure they were
friends from the Trojan camp come by Hector’s orders to
bid him return; when, however, they were only a spear’s

1 0 The Iliad