under the trees. Latinus, after performing the necessary ceremonies,
soon heard the voice of his father warning him not to give his
daughter in marriage to any prince of his own country. "A foreigner,"
said he, "is coming who shall be your son-in-law, and his descendants
shall exalt our name to the stars. From his race, united with ours,
shall spring mighty men, who shall conquer and rule the world to its
farthest limits."

King Latinus did not conceal his dream. On the contrary he proclaimed
it aloud to his people. And so the news of the arrival of the
strangers with their ships came not as a surprise to the inhabitants
of Latium.

Meanwhile the Trojans having landed upon the Latian coast, Aeneas and
several of his chiefs, accompanied by his son Iulus, sat down under a
tall tree to refresh themselves with food and drink. They had cakes of
wheat, the last of their store, spread upon the grass, and upon these
cakes they placed wild fruits which they had gathered in the woods.
When they had eaten the fruit, they proceeded to eat the cakes, upon
which Iulus exclaimed, "What, are we eating our tables too?" The boy
had no thought of the meaning of what they had been doing. But Aeneas
joyfully recognized it as the fulfillment of the threatening prophecy
of the Harpy Celaena. The cakes were the tables, and the Trojans had
now eaten them without harm.

Then Aeneas spoke encouraging words to his companions. "Hail, O land,
destined to us by the Fates! This is our home; this is our country.
For my father too (as I now remember), told me in Elysium these same
secrets, saying: 'When hunger shall compel you, my son, wafted to an
unknown shore, to eat up your tables, your provisions having failed,