Such peace and plenty ensued that men ever since have
called his reign the golden age; but by degrees far other times
succeeded, and the thirst of gold and the thirst of blood
prevailed. The land was a prey to successive tyrants, till fortune
and resistless destiny brought me hither, an exile from my native
land, Arcadia."
Having thus said, he showed him the Tarpeian rock, and the rude
spot then overgrown with bushes where in after times the Capitol
rose in all its magnificence. He next pointed to some dismantled
walls, and said, "Here stood Janiculum, built by Janus, and there
Saturnia, the town of Saturn." Such discourse brought them to the
cottage of poor Evander, whence they saw the lowing herds roaming
over the plain where now the proud and stately Forum stands. They
entered, and a couch was spread for Aeneas, well stuffed with
leaves, and covered with the skin of a Libyan bear.
Next morning, awakened by the dawn and the shrill song of birds
beneath the eaves of his low mansion, old Evander rose. Clad in a
tunic, and a panther's skin thrown over his shoulders, with
sandals on his feet and his good sword girded to his side, he went
forth to seek his guest. Two mastiffs followed him, his whole
retinue and body guard. He found the hero attended by his faithful
Achates, and, Pallas soon joining them, the old king spoke thus:
"Illustrious Trojan, it is but little we can do in so great a
cause.
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