Virgil, Aeneid I.94-96
Melphi speaks
O terque quaterque beati,
quis ante ora patrum Troiae sub moenibus altis
contigit oppetere!
The priest translates
«O three and four times blessed were those who had the fortune to die beneath the high walls of Troy, before their fathers’ eyes!»
And interprets
This is the cry of someone who, in the middle of the storm, envies those who never had to face it. If lately you catch yourself thinking that others were luckier, that it would have been better to stop earlier or never begin at all, Melphi tells you: it is a human thought, not a truth. Even the strongest of heroes had it. But the storm that seems to have no way out is exactly the one that will carry you ashore. Do not make final decisions at your worst moment. Let the wave pass, then look at your road again.
The historical translations
O mille volte fortunati e mille
Color che sotto Troia e nel cospetto
De’ padri e de la patria ebbero in sorte
Di morir combattendo! O di Tideo
and thus did plead: “O thrice and four times blest,
ye whom your sires and whom the walls of Troy
looked on in your last hour! O bravest son