Chapter 39 39

When the fleeing Trojans, pursued by their enemies, reached the Scamander River, they split in two.Some of them fled towards the city of Troy, where Hector had won yesterday.Hera rained down a thick fog to prevent their further escape.Others jumped into the rushing water.They struggled in the river like locusts, and the whole river was crowded with horses and soldiers.At this time, Achilles leaned his spear against a tamarisk tree on the bank, and just brandished his sword, chasing and killing the Trojans.After a while, the river was stained red with blood.Like a giant dolphin, he rampages through the bends, devouring every small fish he encounters.When his hands were numb from cutting too much, he captured twelve young soldiers who did not drown.These were to be sacrificed to his friend Patroclus.

Lycaon, the son of Priam, came up just as Achilles rushed into the river again.Achilles was taken aback when he saw him.Once upon a time, Lycaon was captured by Achilles during a night raid on the grove of Priam.He was sent to the island of Lemnos and sold as a slave to King Oyunnaos.Later, he was sold to Eetion, king of Imbros Island.Eetion brought him back to the city of Alisper.Lycaon lived here for a period of time, then escaped by surprise and returned to Troy alone.He had only been out of slavery for twelve days, and now he fell into the hands of Achilles for the second time. When Achilles saw him, he said to himself suspiciously: "What a miracle! I sold him as a slave, and he reappeared here. Those Trojans I killed must also come from the dark underworld." Well, let him have a taste of me!" Before Achilles could make a move, Lycaon crawled over and hugged his knees, saying, "Achilles, have pity on me!" Me! I was once protected by you! I gave you a hundred bulls, and now I will pay you three times the ransom! I have only been back to my hometown for twelve days, and I have suffered a long period of slavery. Zeus must have hated me and let me fall into your hands. But please don't kill me. I am the son of Priam and Laothoe, not Heka, the mother of Hector. Son of Bo, it was Hector who killed your friend."

Achilles frowned, and replied in a ruthless tone: "You fool, don't mention ransom to me! Before Patroclus died, I would forgive anyone. But now I will not forgive anyone." Let it go! This time you have to die too. Patroclus is much braver than you, isn't he also killed? Look into my eyes, I know, one day I will die at the hands of the enemy too !” Hearing what he said, Lycaon stretched out his arms and quietly let him stab him to death.Achilles dragged the dead man by the feet, threw the body into the rushing water, and cried mockingly: "I want to see if the river you used to sacrifice to will not bring you back to life!"

His words angered the irascible river god Scamander, who was on the side of the Trojans.He emerged from the river in human form and shouted at Achilles: "Son of Peleus, you are insane, cruel, and contrary to human nature! The river is full of dead people, and the rushing river It's almost impossible to flow smoothly into the sea, so get out of here!" "You are a god, and I obey you," replied Achilles, "but as long as the Trojans are not driven back to the city, and as long as I have not contested Hector, I will not Will stop slaughtering the Trojans." And he chased the fleeing Trojans and drove them into the river.When the Trojans jumped into the river to flee for their lives, Achilles forgot the order of the river god and jumped too.The river suddenly swelled angrily, and the river surged up, turning up muddy waves, and pushing all the dead bodies to the river bank.The rapids lashed against Achilles' shield.He swayed and held tightly to an elm tree on the river bank, uprooting the tree. He climbed the branches to return to the river bank, and then galloped across the field.The river god roared and caught up with him.He tried to resist the attack of the huge waves, but the river rushed in and knocked him to the ground.In the end the hero had no choice but to whine to heaven. "Zeus, father of all gods, is there no god who has pity on me and rescued me from the fierce river? My mother lied to me, and she once predicted that I would be shot dead by Apollo's arrow. May Hector kill me, and may the strong die by the hands of the strong! But now I shall perish in the waves!"

While he was wailing, Poseidon and Athena came to him in the form of mortals, took his hand, and comforted him, because it was fate that he would not drown in the river.The two gods rescued him only before leaving, and Athena bestowed upon him divine powers.He jumped, jumped out of the waves, and landed on the flat ground again.However, the river god Scamanders did not give up. He rolled up a huge wave and called his brother Seamois loudly. "Come, brother, let us subdue this strong man together. Otherwise, he will destroy the city of Priam this day! Come! Help me, call the springs of the mountains, stir all the rushing streams, set off Your raging waves, rush the boulder here! Make his strength and armor useless!" After he finished speaking, he roared and rushed towards Achilles, splashing water, blood and corpses mixed together and rushed towards Achilles .Soon, the river of Simois also rushed to support the river god, and the raging waves covered Achilles' head.

Hera cried out in terror as she saw her beloved suffer.Immediately she called to Hephaestus, and said to him: "My dear son, only your fire can stand against the river. Go and rescue the son of Peleus; Burn the Trojans with fire. At the same time, you will set fire to the trees by the river and dry up the river! I hope you will not back down in the face of threats and temptations. Only fire can prevent this destruction!" Hephaestus obeyed her , fanned the flames, and the entire battlefield was ablaze.First the flames burned the bodies of all the soldiers killed by Achilles; then, the flames scorched the field and stopped the raging torrent.The elms, willows, tamarisks, and grasses on the banks of the river were all ablaze.The eels and other fishes in the river flapped their gills in terror, panting for a clear spring.Finally, the river also became a sea of ​​fire.The river god Scamandros came out from the bottom of the river moaning and said, "God of Vulcan, I don't want to fight with you, let us have a truce! What does the dispute between the Trojans and Achilles have to do with me?" He said Sobbing and begging, his river boiled and creaked like oil on a hot pan.Finally, he turned to the Mother of Gods and begged: "Hera, why did your son Hephaestus torture me cruelly? Am I more guilty than other gods who rescued the Trojans? As long as you want, I can Be quiet, and tell him to stop!"

Then Hera turned to her son and said: "Stop, Hephaestus, do not continue to make a god suffer for the sake of mortals!" The Vulcan immediately extinguished his flame.The river god also retreated to the river bed.Simmois in the distance also calmed down, allowing his river to recede slowly.