a portent; for, said the wise men, she will herself be illustrious 15
in fame and fortune, but to the nation she bodes
tremendous war. Troubled by these prodigies, the king
repairs to the oracle of Faunus, his prophetic sire, to
question at the groves beneath Albunea’s shade—that
queen of forests, ever vocal with the sacred waters, ever 20
breathing from its dark heart deadly vaporous steam.
It is here that the tribes of Italy and all Œnotrian land
seek answers in their perplexity; hither the priestess
brings the inquirer’s offering, lies in the still of night on a