42When the next bright day had put the stars to flight with the first light of dawn, Aeneas calls his comrades to an assembly from all along the shore, and speaks from the top of a mound: 'Great Dardanians, race sprung from the high blood of the gods, the yearly circle is completed, the months run out, since we buried in the earth the remains and bones of my divine father and consecrated altars of mourning. 49And now the day is here, unless I am mistaken, which I shall always hold bitter, always honoured—so, gods, you have willed it. 51If I were spending this day an exile among the Gaetulian Syrtes, or caught on the Argive sea or in the city of Mycenae; 53still I would perform the yearly vows and solemn processions in due order, and heap the altars with their proper gifts.
55Now, beyond all hope, we stand by the ashes and bones of my father himself, not, I think, without the purpose and will of the gods, and, carried here, we enter friendly harbours. 58Come then, and let us all celebrate the rite with gladness; 59let us pray for winds; 59and may he be willing that I offer these rites to him every year, once my city is founded, in temples dedicated to him. 61Acestes, born of Troy, gives you two head of oxen for each ship; 62invite to the feast the Penates, both those of our fathers and those whom our host Acestes worships. 64Moreover, if the ninth Dawn brings out the kindly day for mortals and uncovers the world with her rays, I shall set first for the Trojans a contest of swift ships; 67and whoever is strong in the foot race, and whoever, bold in his strength, steps forward better with the javelin and light arrows, or trusts himself to join battle with the rawhide gauntlet, let all be present and look for the prizes of a well-earned palm.
71Keep holy silence, all of you, and wreathe your temples with leaves.'