I heard
it reported afterwards that he said:
"It would spoil the program for Hector to slay Achilles, but you have as
much chance of killing me as I of killing you. I am so shaken by Murmex's
death that I am not the man I was yesterday morning and up till then. I
never felt so nearly matched as by you, not even by Murmex. Attack and
spare not. I have given orders that, if you kill me, you shall not suffer
for it in any way. I don't want to live, anyhow, now Murmex is dead."
Whether he said this or something else, he spoke earnestly and walked back
to his chariot nearby, without any elasticity in his tread.
Narcissus, the wrestler, to the astonishment of the spectators, proved
himself a paragon horse jockey. Everyone knew him as a wrestler, as
reported the strongest man alive, as claimed by his admirers to have a
more powerful hand-grasp than any rival, as the favorite wrestling-mate of
the Emperor; all the notabilities had seen him and Commodus wrestle in the
Stadium of the Palace; all Rome knew him for a crony of the Prince; yet no
one had ever heard him praised or even mentioned as a charioteer. Yet he
showed himself a matchless horseman. Hector's charioteer was a master, yet
Narcissus outmaneuvered him, gained the advantage of angle of approach
and, after many turns, gave Palus his chance.
Pages:
766
767
768
769
770
771
772
773
774
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786
787
788
789
790