Page 193 - the-iliad

come here of your own mere notion?’
Dolon answered, his limbs trembling beneath him: ‘Hec-
tor, with his vain flattering promises, lured me from my
better judgement. He said he would give me the horses of
the noble son of Peleus and his bronze-bedizened chariot;
he bade me go through the darkness of the flying night, get
close to the enemy, and find out whether the ships are still
guarded as heretofore, or whether, now that we have beaten
them, the Achaeans design to fly, and through sheer ex-
haustion are neglecting to keep their watches.’
Ulysses smiled at him and answered, ‘You had indeed
set your heart upon a great reward, but the horses of the
descendant of Aeacus are hardly to be kept in hand or driv-
en by any other mortal man than Achilles himself, whose
mother was an immortal. But tell me, and tell me true,
where did you leave Hector when you started? Where lies
his armour and his horses? How, too, are the watches and
sleeping-ground of the Trojans ordered? What are their
plans? Will they stay here by the ships and away from the
city, or now that they have worsted the Achaeans, will they
retire within their walls?’
And Dolon answered, ‘I will tell you truly all. Hector and
the other councillors are now holding conference by the
monument of great Ilus, away from the general tumult; as
for the guards about which you ask me, there is no chosen
watch to keep guard over the host. The Trojans have their
watchfires, for they are bound to have them; they, therefore,
are awake and keep each other to their duty as sentinels;
but the allies who have come from other places are asleep

1 The Iliad