AND SO THEY CONTINUED THE JOURNEY THEY had begun, and approached the river.
The ferryman, who had already spied them from the waters of Styx as they approached through the silent wood and directed their steps towards the river bank, went on the verbal offensive and rasped at them, unprovoked:
"Whoever you are who approach my river in armour, stay where you are and state your business. This is a place of Ghosts, of Sleep, and of drowsy Night, It is forbidden to carry live bodies on the ferry across the Styx. I was none too pleased to take Hercules as a passenger, or Theseus and Pirithous, although they were children of gods, and unchallenged in strength. The first came to carry off by force the guard dog of Tartarus in chains from the throne of the king himself, and dragged him away quivering with fear. The other two tried to snatch Pluto's mistress from her bedroom."
In reply the Sibyl said briefly:
"There are no such sinister intentions here: no need to be alarmed. The weapons do not mean violence - the monstrous watchdog can go on barking for ever in his kennel and scare the ghosts. Proserpina can keep house for her uncle unmolested. Aeneas of Troy, known as a man of duty and a warrior is descending to the deepest shadows of Hades to find his father. If the spectacle of such devotion does not influence you, then you may recognise this branch." (And she produced the bough which was hidden under her cloak.)
The swelling rage in his heart subsided. No more need be said: dumbstruck at the sacred offering, the fateful branch, seen after so long a time, he nosed his blue vessel round and came in to land.
Then he pushed out the other souls who had been sitting on the long benches and cleared the gangway. At the same time he assisted Aeneas's large person into his boat. Its hull, made of stitched hide, protested at his weight, and took in a great deal of muddy water through its cracks. He ferried the Sibyl and the man safely across the river, and at last unloaded them amid the hideous slime and the grey reeds.