“So great a misfortune disrupted the concord of heaven

And

gods swelled the rout in their panic! Behold through creation

The

gentle divinities flee from the ravening earth; in

Their loathing

they turn from humanity, doomed to destruction!

And first of all,

Peace, with her snowy white arms, hides her visage

Defeated, her

helmet beneath and, abandoning earth, flees

To seek out the realm

of implacable Dis, as a refuge

Meek Faith her companion, and

Justice with locks loosely flowing,

And Concord, in tears, and her

raiment in tatters, attend her.

The minions of Pluto pour forth

from the portals of darkness

That yawn: the serpent-haired Fury,

Bellona the Savage,

Megoera with firebrands, destruction, and

treachery, livid

Death’s likeness! Among them is Frenzy, as, free,

with her lashings

Snapped short, she now raises her gory head,

shielding her features

Deep scarred by innumerous wounds ‘neath

her helmet blood-clotted.

Her left arm she guards with a

battle-scarred shield scored by weapons,

And numberless

spear-heads protrude from its surface: her right hand

A flaming

torch brandishes, kindling a flame that will burn up

The world!

Now the gods are on earth and the skies note their absence;

The

planets disordered their orbits attempt! Into factions

The heavens

divide; first Dione espouses the cause of

Her Caesar. Minerva next

steps to her side and the great son

Of Ares, his mighty spear

brandishing! Phoebus espouses

The cause of Great Pompey: his

sister and Mercury also

And Hercules like unto him in his travels

and labors.

The trumpets call! Discord her Stygian head lifts to

heaven

Her tresses disheveled, her features with clotted blood

covered,

Tears pour from her bruised eyes, her iron fangs thick

coated with rust,

Her tongue distils poison, her features are

haloed with serpents,

Her hideous bosom is visible under her

tatters,

A torch with a blood red flame waves from her tremulous

right hand.

Emerging from Cocytus dark and from Tartarus murky

She strode to the crests of the Apennines noble, the prospect

Of earth to survey, spread before her the world panorama

Its

shores and the armies that march on its surface: these words then

Burst out of her bosom malignant: ‘To arms, now, ye nations,

While

anger seethes hot, seize your arms, set the torch to the cities,

Who skulks now is lost; neither woman nor child nor the aged

Bowed

down with their years shall find quarter: the whole world will tremble

And rooftrees themselves shall crash down and take part in the

struggle.

Marcellus, hold firm for the law! And thou, Curio,

madden

The rabble! Thou, Lentulus, strive not to check valiant

Ares!

Thou, Cesar divine, why delayest thou now thine invasion?

Why smash not the gates, why not level the walls of the cities,

Their treasures to pillage? Thou, Magnus, dost not know the secret

Of holding the hills of Rome? Take thou the walls of Dyrrachium,

Let Thessaly’s harbors be dyed with the blood of the Romans!’

On earth was obeyed every detail of Discord’s commandment.”

Khi Eumolpus vừa tuôn ra một tràng dài ngút ngàn những lời ấy với giọng điệu vô cùng lưu loát, cuối cùng chúng tôi cũng đến được Crotona. Tại đây, chúng tôi nghỉ ngơi tại một quán trọ tồi tàn, nhưng sang ngày hôm sau, chúng tôi đi tìm những khu nhà trọ khang trang hơn và tình cờ gặp một đám người chuyên săn thừa kế. Bọn họ hết sức tò mò muốn biết chúng tôi thuộc tầng lớp xã hội nào và từ đâu tới. Ngay lập tức, dựa trên sự đồng thuận từ trước, chúng tôi liền đưa ra những câu trả lời vô cùng trôi chảy về thân thế cũng như quê quán của mình, khiến họ hoàn toàn không mảy may nghi ngờ. Bọn chúng liền tranh giành nhau để được dâng hiến gia tài của chính mình cho Eumolpus, và kẻ săn tiền thưởng nào cũng tìm cách lấy lòng ông bằng những món quà.