Earnestly did AEneas implore pity and aid from Apollo; and of the Sibyl he entreated that she should proclaim her revelations by word of mouth, and not, as was her custom, write them on leaves of trees, lest they should become the sport of the winds.  At first the prophetess did not answer; she was not yet fully possessed by the spirit of the god, and raved in wild ecstasy in the cave, struggling, as it were, to resist the will of Phoebus, who, on his part, wearied her foaming lips, subdued her fierce heart, and moulded her to his will.  Then all at once the hundred doors of the cavern flew open of their own accord, and the Sibyl proclaimed the divine response,—­

“O thou who hast at length overpassed the perils of the ocean, yet more terrible trials await thee on shore.  Thou and thy Trojans shall indeed reach the promised land—­that is assured; but ye shall wish that ye had never come thither.  Wars, horrid wars, I foresee, and Tiber foaming with a deluge of blood.  Another Achilles awaits thee in Latium—­he also the son of a goddess.  Nor shall the persecutions of Juno cease to follow the Trojans wherever they may be; and in your distress you will humbly supplicate all the surrounding Italian states for aid.  Once more shall a marriage with a foreign wife be a source of affliction to you.  But yield not under your sufferings; encounter them resolutely in the teeth of adverse fortune, and when you least expect it, the means of deliverance shall come to you from a Greek city.”

So, under the inspiration of Apollo, spoke the Sibyl.  When she had ceased, AEneas answered that no prospect of further trials could appall him, for he was prepared to endure the worst that could befall.  But he now entreated, since it was said that the entrance to the shades was near, that the Sibyl should conduct him into those dark regions, in order that he might obtain an interview with the spectre of his father.  It was Anchises’ self, he added, who had bidden him make this request; and filial devotion would enable him to perform a task which Orpheus had achieved out of love for his wife Eurydice, and Pollux through his attachment to his brother Castor.

“AEneas,” replied the priestess, “easy is the descent into Hades:  grim Pluto’s gate stands open night and day, but to retrace your steps and escape to the upper regions will be a difficult task indeed, and one which few have hitherto been able to accomplish.  If, however, you are fixed in the resolve to pursue so desperate an enterprise, learn what first is to be done.  There is in the dark woods which surround the Lake of Avernus a certain tree, dense of foliage, on which grows a single bough of gold, with leaves and twigs of the same precious metal, and no living mortal can enter Hades unless he has first found and plucked this bough, which is demanded by Proserpine, the consort of Pluto and queen of the infernal realms, as her peculiar tribute.  When the bough is torn off, another always grows in