; thereon the others came near,
and gathered round him, holding their shields upwards from their
shoulders so as to give him cover. Ajax then made towards them, and
turned round to stand at bay as soon as he had reached his men.

Thus then did they fight as it were a flaming fire. Meanwhile the mares
of Neleus, all in a lather with sweat, were bearing Nestor out of the
fight, and with him Machaon shepherd of his people. Achilles saw and
took note, for he was standing on the stern of his ship watching the
hard stress and struggle of the fight. He called from the ship to his
comrade Patroclus, who heard him in the tent and came out looking like
Mars himself--here indeed was the beginning of the ill that presently
befell him. "Why," said he, "Achilles, do you call me? What do you want
with me?" And Achilles answered, "Noble son of Menoetius, man after my
own heart, I take it that I shall now have the Achaeans praying at my
knees, for they are in great straits; go, Patroclus, and ask Nestor who
it is that he is bearing away wounded from the field; from his back I
should say it was Machaon son of Aesculapius, but I could not see his
face for the horses went by me at full speed."

Patroclus did as his dear comrade had bidden him, and set off running
by the ships and tents of the Achaeans.

When Nestor and Machaon had reached the tents of the son of Neleus,
they dismounted, and an esquire, Eurymedon, took the horses from the
chariot. The pair then stood in the breeze by the seaside to dry the
sweat from their shirts, and when they had so done they came inside and
took their seats. Fair Hecamede, whom Nestor had had awarded to him
from Tenedos when Achilles took it, mixed them a mess; she was daughter
of wise Arsinous, and the Achaeans had given her to Nestor because he
excelled all of them in counsel. First she set for them a fair and
well-made table that had feet of cyanus; on it there was a vessel of
bronze and an onion to give relish to the drink, with honey and cakes
of barley-meal. There was also a cup of rare workmanship which the old
man had brought with him from home, studded with bosses of gold; it had
four handles, on each of which there were two golden doves feeding, and
it had two feet to stand on. Any one else would hardly have been able
to lift it from the table when it was full, but Nestor could do so
quite easily. In this the woman, as fair as a goddess, mixed them a
mess with Pramnian wine; she grated goat's