Aen. 8.219Hīc vērō Alcīdae furiīs Exarserat ātrō
220felle dolor: rapit arma manū nōdīsque gravātum
rōbur et āeriī cursū petit ardua montis.Then indeed the indignation of Alcides blazed up in fury with black bile: he snatches his weapons in his hand, and his club heavy with knots, and makes at a run for the heights of the lofty mountain. Aen. 8.222Tum prīmum nostrī Cācum vīdēre timentem
turbātumque oculīs: fugit īlicet ōcior Eurō
spēluncamque petit, pedibus timor addidit alās.Then for the first time our people saw Cacus afraid and with troubled eyes: at once he flees, swifter than the East Wind, and makes for his cave; fear added wings to his feet. Aen. 8.225Ut sēsē inclūsit ruptīsque immāne catēnīs
dēiēcit saxum, ferrō quod et arte paternā
pendēbat, fultōsque ēmūniit obice postīs,
ecce furēns animīs aderat Tīrynthius omnemque
accessum lūstrāns hūc ōra ferēbat et illūc,
230dentibus īnfrendēns.When he had shut himself in and, breaking the chains, let fall the huge rock which hung there by iron and his father's art, and had barricaded the propped doorposts with the barrier, look, the Tirynthian was there, raging in spirit, and scanning every approach he turned his face this way and that, gnashing his teeth.
Aen. 8.230Ter tōtum fervidus īrā
lūstrat Aventīnī montem, ter saxea temptat
līmina nēquīquam, ter fessus valle resēdit.Three times, burning with anger, he surveys the whole Aventine hill, three times he tries the rocky doorway in vain, three times he sank down exhausted in the valley. Aen. 8.233Stābat acūta silex, praecīsīs undique saxīs
spēluncae dorsō īnsurgēns, altissima vīsū,
235dīrārum nīdīs domus opportūna volucrum.There stood a pointed flint crag, cut away on all sides, rising from the back of the cave, very high to the sight, a fit home for the nests of ill-omened birds. Aen. 8.236Hanc, ut prōna iugō laevum incumbēbat in amnem,
dexter in adversum nītēns concussit et īmīs
āvolsam solvit rādīcibus;This, as it leaned forward from the ridge towards the river on the left, he shook, straining against it from the right, and tore it loose from its lowest roots and wrenched it free; Aen. 8.238inde repente
inpulit, inpulsū quō maximus intonat aethēr
240dissultant rīpae refluitque exterritus amnis.then suddenly he thrust it down, and with that thrust the vast sky thunders, the banks leap apart and the terrified river flows back.
Aen. 8.241At specus et Cācī dētēcta appāruit ingēns
rēgia, et umbrōsae penitus patuēre cavernae:
nōn secus ac Sīqua penitus vī terra dēhīscēns
īnfernās reseret sēdēs et regna reclūdat
245pallida, dīs invīsa, superque immāne barathrum
cernātur, trepident inmissō lūmine mānēs.But the cave and the huge palace of Cacus appeared, laid bare, and the shadowy caverns lay open to their depths: just as if the earth, gaping deep by some force, should unlock the infernal seats and lay open the pale realms hated by the gods, and from above the monstrous abyss should be seen, and the ghosts tremble as the light streams in. Aen. 8.247Ergō īnspērātā dēprēnsum lūce repente
inclūsumque cavō saxō atque īnsuēta rudentem
dēsuper Alcīdēs tēlīs premit omniaque arma
250advocat et rāmīs vāstīsque molāribus īnstat.So, as Cacus was caught suddenly in unexpected light, shut in the hollow rock and roaring as never before, Alcides presses on him from above with missiles, calls every weapon to his aid, and assails him with branches and huge millstones. Aen. 8.251Ille autem, neque enim fuga iam super ūlla perīclī,
faucibus ingentem fūmum (mīrābile dictū)
ēvomit involvitque domum cālīgine caecā,
prōspectum ēripiēns oculīs, glomeratque sub antrō
255fūmiferam noctem commixtīs igne tenebrīs.But he, since there was no escape from danger left any longer, belches from his throat huge smoke (wonderful to tell) and wraps his home in blinding gloom, snatching sight from the eyes, and rolls up smoky night within the cave, with darkness mixed with fire.
Aen. 8.256Nōn tulit Alcīdēs animīs sēque ipse per ignem
praecipitī iēcit saltū, quā plūrimus undam
fūmus agit nebulāque ingēns specus aestuat ātrā.Alcides did not endure this in his anger, and himself flung himself with a headlong leap through the fire, where the smoke drives its billows thickest and the huge cave seethes with black fog. Aen. 8.259Hīc Cācum in tenebrīs incendia vāna vomentem
260corripit in nōdum complexus et angit inhaerēns
ēlīsōs oculōs et siccum sanguine guttur.Here, as Cacus spews out useless flames in the darkness, he seizes him, gripping him in a knot, and, clinging, throttles him till his eyes start out and his throat is drained of blood.