But when Dido saw it she called to Anna her sister and said, “Seest thou how they hasten the work along the shore?  Even now the sails are ready for the winds, and the sailors have wreathed the ships with garlands, as if for departure.  Go thou—­the deceiver always trusted thee, and thou knowest how best to move him—­go and entreat him.  I harmed not him nor his people; let him then grant me this only.  Let him wait for a fairer time for his journey.  I ask not that he give up his purpose; only that he grant me a short breathing space, till I may learn how to bear this sorrow.”

And Anna hearkened to her sister, and took the message to AEneas, yet profited nothing, for the Gods shut his ears that he should not hear.  Even as the oak stands firm when the north wind would root it up from the earth,—­its leaves are scattered all around, yet doth it remain firm, for its roots go down to the regions below, even as far as its branches reach to heaven,—­so stood AEneas firm, and, though he wept many tears, changed not his purpose.

Then did Dido grow weary of her life.  For when she did sacrifice, the pure water would grow black and the wine be changed to blood.  Also from the shrine of her husband, which was in the midst of her palace, was heard a voice calling her, and the owl cried aloud from the house-top.  And in her dreams the cruel AEneas seemed to drive her before him; or she seemed to be going a long way with none to bear her company, and be seeking her own people in a land that was desert.  Therefore, hiding the thing that was in her heart, she spake to her sister, saying, “I have found a way, my sister, that shall bring him back to me or set me free from him.  Near the shore of the Great Sea, where the AEthiopians dwell, is a priestess, who guards the temple of the daughters of Hesperus, being wont to feed the dragons that kept the apples of gold.  She is able by her charms to loose the heart from care or to bind it, and to stay rivers also, and to turn the courses of the stars, and to call up the spirits of the dead.  Do thou, therefore—­for this is what the priestess commands—­build a pile in the open court, and put thereon the sword which he left hanging in our chamber, and the garments he wore, and the couch on which he lay, even all that was his, so that they may perish together.”

And when these things were done—­for Anna knew not of her purpose—­and also an image of AEneas was laid upon the pile, the priestess, with her hair unbound, called upon all the gods that dwell below, sprinkling thereon water that was drawn, she said, from the lake of Avernus, and scattering evil herbs that had been cut at the full moon with a sickle of bronze.  Dido also, with one foot bare and her garments loosened, threw meal upon the fire and called upon the gods, if haply there be any, that look upon those that love and suffer wrong.