and his arms. Then from the top of the chiefs own spear
he breaks off the point, and feels for an unguarded part
where to plant the deadly blow: the foe, struggling, keeps
off Tarchon’s hand from his throat, and repels force with 10
force. As when the golden eagle soaring on high carries
a serpent he has caught, trussing it in his claws, and adhering
with his taloned gripe; the wounded reptile writhes
its spiral coils, stiffens with erected scales, and hisses from
its mouth, surging and swelling; the eagle, undismayed, 15
plies it despite its struggles with his hooked beak, while