LIII. "Entellus, once our bravest, but in vain,
Can'st thou sit tamely, with the field unfought,
And see this braggart glory in his gain?
Where is thy god, that Eryx? Hath he taught
Thine arm its vaunted cleverness for naught?
To us what booteth thy Trinacrian name,
Thy spoil-hung house, thy roof with prizes fraught?"
Entellus said: "My spirit is the same.		469
Fear hath not quenched my fire, nor checked the love of fame.
LIV. "But numbing age hath made the blood run cold,
And turned my strength to dulness and decay.
Had I the youth that stirred these bones of old,
The youth he boasts, no need of guerdon, nay,
Nor comely steer to tempt me to the fray.
Glory I care for, not a gift," he cried,
And, rising, hurled into the ring midway
Two ponderous gauntlets, stiff with hardened hide;		478
These Eryx wore, these thongs around his wrists he tied.
LV. All stood amazed, so huge the weight, so vast,
Sevenfold with lead and iron overlaid,
The bull's tough hide. E'en Dares shrank aghast.
Forth stepped Æneas, and the gauntlets weighed,
And to and fro the ponderous folds he swayed.
Then gruffly spake the veteran once more:
"Ah! had ye seen great Hercules arrayed
In arms like these, such gauntlets as he wore,		487
And watched the deadly fight waged here upon the shore!

LVI. "These Eryx wore, thy brother, when that day
He faced [Alcides] in the strife;—see now
His blood and brains,—with these I dared the fray
When better blood gave vigour, nor the snow
Of envious eld was sprinkled on my brow.
Still, if this Trojan doth these arms decline,
And good Æneas and our host allow,
Match we the fight. These gauntlets I resign,		496
Put fear away, and doff those Trojan gloves of thine."
LVII. So saying, Entellus from his shoulders flung
His quilted doublet, and revealed to light
The massive joints, the sinews firmly strung,
The bones and muscles, and the limbs of might,
And, like a giant, stood prepared for fight.
Two gloves for either champion, matched in weight,
Æneas brings, and binds them firm and tight.
So, face to face, each eager and elate,		505
Like-armed the rivals stand, on tiptoe for debate.
LVIII. Each from the blow the towering head draws back,
Fearless, with arms uplifted to the skies.
Spars hand through hand, and tempts to the attack,
One, nimbler-footed, on his youth relies;
Entellus' strength is in his limbs and size.
But the knees shake beneath him, and are slow,
And age the wanted energy denies.
He heaves for breath; thick pantings come and go,		514
And shake the labouring breast, as hailing blow on blow.
LIX. In vain they strive for mastery. Loud sound
Their hollow sides; the battered chests ring back,
As here and there the whistling strokes pelt round
Their ears and temples, and the jaw-bones crack.
Firm stands Entellus, though his knees are slack;
Still in the same strained posture, he defies,
Unmoved, the tempest of his foe's attack.
Only his body and his watchful eyes		523
Slip from the purposed stroke, and shun the wished surprise.
LX. As one who strives with battery to o'erthrow
A high-walled city, or close siege doth lay
Against some mountain-stronghold; even so
Sly Dares shifts, an opening to essay,
And vainly varies his assault each way.
On tiptoe stretched, Entellus, pricked with pride,
Puts forth his right hand, with resistless sway
Steep from his shoulder. But the foe, quick-ey'd,		532
Foresees the coming blow, and lightly leaps aside.
LXI. On empty air Entellus wastes his strength.
Down goes the giant, baulked of his design,
Fallen like a giant, and lies stretched at length.
So, torn from earth, on Ida's height divine
Or Erymanthus, falls the hollow pine.
Up spring each rival's countrymen. Loud cheers
The welkin rend, and, bursting through the line,
Forth runs Acestes, and his friend uprears,		541
Pitying his fallen worth and fellowship of years.