But pleasure always is alloyed with grief,and sorrow mingles in the joyous hour.While the king Aegeus and his son rejoiced,Minos prepared for war. He was invinciblein men and ships—and stronger in his rageto wreak due vengeance on the king who slewhis son Androgeus. But first he soughtsome friends to aid his warfare; and he scouredthe sea with a swift fleet—which was his strength.Anaphe and Astypalaea, bothagreed to join his cause—the first one movedby promises, the second by his threats.Level Myconus and the chalky fieldsof Cimolus agreed to aid, and Syroscovered with wild thyme, level Seriphos,Paros of marble cliffs, and that place whichArne the impious Siphnian had betrayed,who having got the gold which in her greedshe had demanded, was changed to a birdwhich ever since that day imagines goldits chief delight—a black-foot black-winged daw.But Oliarus, Didymae, and Tenos,Gyaros, Andros, and Peparethosrich in its glossy olives, gave no aidto the strong Cretan fleet. Sailing from themMinos went to Oenopia, known realmof the Aeacidae.—Men of old timehad called the place Oenopia; but Aeacusstyled it Aegina from his mother's name.At his approach an eager rabble rushedresolved to see and know so great a man.Telamon met him, and his brother,younger than Telamon, and Phocus whowas third in age. Even Aeacus appeared,slow with the weight of years, and asked him whatcould be a reason for his coming there.The ruler of a hundred cities, sighed,as he beheld the sons of Aeacus,for they reminded him of his lost son;—and heavy with his sorrow, he replied:“I come imploring you to take up arms,and aid me in the war against my foes;for I must give that comfort to the shadeof my misfortuned son—whose blood they shed.”But Aeacus replied to Minos, “Nay,it is a vain request you make, for weare bound in strict alliance to the landand people of Cecropia.”Full of rage,because he was denied, the king of Crete,Minos, as he departed from their shoresreplied, “Let such a treaty be your bane.”And he departed with his crafty threat,believing it expedient not to wastehis power in wars until the proper time.Before the ships of Crete had disappeared,before the mist and blue of waves concealedtheir fading outlines from the anxious throngwhich gathered on Oenopian shores, a shipof Athens covered with wide sails appeared,and anchored safely by their friendly shore;and, presently, the mighty Cephalus,well known through all that nation for his deeds,addressed them as he landed, and declaredthe good will of his people. Him the sonsof Aeacus remembered well, althoughthey had not seen him for some untold years.They led him to their father's welcome home;and with him, also, his two comrades went,Clytus and Butes.Center of all eyes,the hero still retained his charm,the customary greetings were exchanged,the graceful hero, bearing in his handsa branch of olive from his native soil,delivered the Athenian message, whichrequested aid and offered for their thoughtthe treaty and the ancestral league betweentheir nations. And he added, Minos soughtnot only conquest of the Athenian statebut sovereignty of all the states of Greece.And when this eloquence had shown his cause;with left hand on his gleaming sceptre's hilt,King Aeacus exclaimed: “Ask not our aid,but take it, Athens; and count boldly yoursall of the force this island holds, and allthings which the state of my affairs supplies.My strength for this war is not light, and Ihave many soldiers for myself and formy enemy. Thanks to the Gods! the timesare happy, giving no excuse for myrefusal.” “May it prove so,” Cephalusreplied, “and may your city multiplyin men: just now as I was landing, Irejoiced to meet youths, fair and matched in age.And yet I miss among them many whomI saw before when last I visitedyour city.” Aeacus then groaned and withsad voice replied: “With weeping we began,but better fortune followed. Would that Icould tell the last of it, and not the first!Giving my heart command that simple wordsand briefly spoken may not long detain.Those happy youths who waited at your need,who smiled upon you and for whom you ask,because their absence grieves your noble mind,they've perished! and their bleaching bonesor scattered ashes, only may remain,sad remnants, impotent, of vanished power,so recently my hope and my resource.“Because this island bears a rival's name,a deadly pestilence was visitedon my confiding people, through the rageof jealous Juno flaming for revenge.This great calamity at first appeareda natural disease—but soon its powerbaffled our utmost efforts. Medicinesavailing not, a reign of terror sweptfrom shore to shore and fearful havoc raged.“Thick darkness, gathered from descending skies,enveloped our devoted land with heatand languid sickness, for the space of fullfour moons.—Four times the Moon increased her size.Hot south winds blew with pestilential breathupon us. At the same time the diseasedinfection reached our needed springs and pools,thousands of serpents crawling over ourdeserted fields, defiled our rivers withtheir poison. The swift power of the diseaseat first was limited to death of dogsand birds and cattle, or among wild beasts.The luckless plowman marvels when he seeshis strong bulls fall while at their taskand sink down in the furrow. Woolly flocksbleat feebly while their wool falls off withouta cause, and while their bodies pine away.The prized horse of high courage, and of greatrenown when on the race-course, has now lostvictorious spirit, and forgetting hisremembered glory groans in his shut stall,doomed for inglorious death. The boar forgetsto rage, the stag to trust his speed; and eventhe famished bear to fight the stronger herd.“Death seizes on the vitals of all life;and in the woods, and in the fields and roadsthe loathsome bodies of the dead corruptthe heavy-hanging air. Even the dogs,the vultures and the wolves refuse to touchthe putrid flesh, there in the sultry sunrotting upon the earth; emitting steams,and exhalations, with a baneful sweepincreasing the dread contagion's wide extent.
Nec tamen (usque adeo nulla est sincera voluptas,sollicitumque aliquid laetis intervenit) Aegeusgaudia percepit nato secura recepto.Bella parat Minos. Qui quamquam milite, quamquamclasse valet, patria tamen est firmissimus iraAndrogeique necem iustis ulciscitur armis.Ante tamen bello vires adquirit amicas,quaque potens habitus, volucri freta classe pererrat.Hinc Anaphen sibi iungit et Astypaleia regna,promissis Anaphen, regna Astypaleia bello;hinc humilem Myconum cretosaque rura Cimoliflorentemque thymo Cythnum parvamque Seriphonmarmoreamque Paron, quaque impia prodidit ArnenSithonis (accepto, quod avara poposcerat, auromutata est in avem, quae nunc quoque diligit aurum,nigra pedes, nigris velata monedula pennis).At non Oliaros Didymaeque et Tenos et Androset Gyaros nitidaeque ferax Peparethos olivaeGnosiacas iuvere rates. Latere inde sinistroOenopiam Minos petit, Aeacideia regna:Oenopiam veteres appellavere, sed ipseAeacus Aeginam genetricis nomine dixit.Turba ruit tantaeque virum cognoscere famaeexpetit. Occurrunt illi Telamonque, minorquequam Telamon Peleus, et proles tertia Phocus.Ipse quoque egreditur tardus gravitate seniliAeacus, et quae sit veniendi causa requirit.Admonitus patrii luctus suspirat et illidicta refert rector populorum talia centum:“Arma iuves oro pro gnato sumpta piaequepars sis militiae; tumulo solacia posco.”Huic Asopiades “petis inrita” dixit “et urbinon facienda meae: neque enim coniunctior ullaCecropidis hac est tellus: ea foedera nobis.”Tristis abit “stabunt” que “tibi tua foedera magno”dixit et utilius bellum putat esse minariquam gerere atque suas ibi praeconsumere vires.Classis ab Oenopiis etiamnum Lyctia murisspectari poterat, cum pleno concita veloAttica puppis adest in portusque intrat amicos,quae Cephalum patriaeque simul mandata ferebat.Aeacidae longo iuvenes post tempore visumagnovere tamen Cephalum dextrasque dedereinque patris duxere domum. Spectabilis heroset veteris retinens etiamnum pignera formaeingreditur ramumque tenens popularis olivaea dextra laevaque duos aetate minoresmaior habet, Clyton et Buten, Pallante creatos.Postquam congressus primi sua verba tulerunt,Cecropidae Cephalus peragit mandata rogatqueauxilium foedusque refert et iura parentumimperiumque peti totius Achaidos addit.Sic ubi mandatam iuvit facundia causam,Aeacus, in capulo sceptri nitente sinistra,“ne petite auxilium, sed sumite”, dixit “Athenae;nec dubie vires, quas haec habet insula, vestrasducite; et omnia habet (rerum status iste mearum).Robora non desunt, superat mihi miles et hosti:gratia dis, felix et inexcusabile tempus.”“Immo ita sit,” Cephalus,”crescat tua civibus optourbs!” ait. “Adveniens equidem modo gaudia cepi,cum tam pulchra mihi, tam par aetate iuventusobvia processit. Multos tamen inde requiro,quos quondam vidi vestra prius urbe receptus.”Aeacus ingemuit tristique ita voce locutus:”Flebile principium melior fortuna secuta est.Hanc utinam possem vobis memorare sine illo!Ordine nunc repetam. Neu longa ambage morer vos:ossa cinisque iacent, memori quos mente requiris.Et quota pars illi rerum periere mearum!Dira lues ira populis Iunonis iniquaeincidit exosae dictas a paelice terras.Dum visum mortale malum tantaeque latebatcausa nocens cladis, pugnatum est arte medendi:exitium superabat opem, quae victa iacebat.Principio caelum spissa caligine terraspressit et ignavos inclusit nubibus aestus;dumque quater iunctis explevit cornibus orbemluna, quater plenum tenuata retexuit orbem,letiferis calidi spirarunt aestibus austri.Constat et in fontes vitium venisse lacusque,miliaque incultos serpentum multa per agroserrasse atque suis fluvios temerasse venenis.Strage canum primo volucrumque oviumque boumque,inque feris subiti deprensa potentia morbi.Concidere infelix validos miratur aratorinter opus tauros medioque recumbere sulco;lanigeris gregibus balatus dantibus aegrossponte sua lanaeque cadunt et corpora tabent.Acer equus quondam magnaeque in pulvere famaedegenerat palmas veterumque oblitus honorumad praesepe gemit leto moriturus inerti.Non aper irasci meminit, non fidere cursucerva, nec armentis incurrere fortibus ursi.Omnia languor habet; silvisque agrisque viisquecorpora foeda iacent, vitiantur odoribus aurae.Mira loquar: non illa canes avidaeque volucres,non cani tetigere lupi; dilapsa liquescuntadflatuque nocent et agunt contagia late.
So spreading, with renewed destruction gainedfrom its own poison, the fierce pestilenceappeared to leap from moulding carcasesof all the brute creation, till it struckthe wretched tillers of the soil, and thenextended its dominion over allthis mighty city.“Always it beganas if the patient's bowels were scorched with flames;red blotches on the body next appeared,and sharp pains in the lungs prevented breath.The swollen tongue would presently loll out,rough and discolored from the gaping mouth,wide-gasping to inhale the noxious air—and show red throbbing veins. The softest bed.And richest covering gave to none relief;but rather, the diseased would bare himselfto cool his burning breast upon the ground,only to heat the earth—and no reliefreturned. And no physician could be found;for those who ministered among the sickwere first to suffer from the dread disease—the cruel malady broke out uponthe very ones who offered remedies.The hallowed art of medicine becamea deadly snare to those who knew it best.“The only safety was in flight; and thosewho were the nearest to the stricken ones,and who most faithfully observed their wants,were always first to suffer as their wards.“And many, certain of approaching death,indulged their wicked passions—recklesslyabandoned and without the sense of shame,promiscuously huddled by the wells,and rivers and cool fountains; but their thirstno water could assuage, and death alonewas able to extinguish their desire.Too weak to rise, they die in water theypollute, while others drink its death.“A madness seizing on them made their bedsbecome most irksome to their tortured nerves.Demented they could not endure the pain,and leaped insanely forth. Or if too weak,the wretches rolled their bodies on the ground,insistent to escape from hated homes—imagined sources of calamity;for, since the cause was hidden and unknown,the horrible locality was blamed.Suspicion seizes on each frail presenceas proof of what can never be resolved.“And many half-dead wretches staggered outon sultry roads as long as they could stand;and others weeping, stretched out on the ground,died in convulsions, as their rolling eyesgazed upwards at the overhanging clouds;under the sad stars they breathed out their souls.“And oh, the deep despair that seized on me,the sovereign of that wretched people! Iwas tortured with a passionate desireto die the same death—And I hated life.“No matter where my shrinking eyes were turned,I saw a multitude of gruesome formsin ghastly attitudes bestrew the ground,scattered as rotten apples that have droppedfrom moving branches, or as acorns thickaround a gnarled oak.“Lift up your eyes!Behold that holy temple! unto Jovelong dedicated!—What availed the prayersof frightened multitudes, or incense burnedon those devoted altars?—In the midstof his most fervent supplications,the husband as he pled for his dear wife,or the fond father for his stricken son,would suddenly, before a word prevailed,die clutching at the altars of his Gods,while holding in his stiffened hand, a sprayof frankincense still waiting for the fire.How often sacrificial bulls have beenbrought to those temples, and while white-robed priestwas pouring offered wine between their horns,have fallen without waiting for the stroke.“While I prepared a sacrifice to Jove,for my behalf, my country and three sons,the victim, ever moaning dismal sounds,before a blow was struck, fell suddenlybeside the altar; and his scanty bloodran thinly from the knives that slaughtered him.His entrails, wanting all the marks of truthwere so diseased, the warnings of the Godscould not be read—the baneful maladyhad penetrated to the heart of life.“And I have seen the carcases of menlie rotting at the sacred temple gates,or by the very altars, where they fell,making death odious to the living Gods.And often I have seen some desperate manend life by his own halter, and so cheatby voluntary death his fear of death,in mad haste to outrun approaching fate.“The bodies of the dead, indecentlywere cast forth, lacking sacred funeral ritesas hitherto the custom. All the gateswere crowded with processions of the dead.Unburied, they might lie upon the ground,or else, deserted, on their lofty pyreswith no one to lament their dismal end,dissolve in their dishonored ashes. Allrestraint forgotten, a mad rabble foughtand took possession of the burning pyres,and even the dead were ravished of their rest.—And who should mourn them wanting, all the soulsof sons and husbands, and of old and young,must wander unlamented: and the landsufficed not for the crowded sepulchers:and the dense forest was denuded of all trees.“Heart-broken at the sight of this great woe,I wailed, ‘O Jupiter! if truth were toldof your sweet comfort in Aegina's arms,if you were not ashamed of me, your son,restore my people, or entomb my corpse,that I may suffer as the ones I love.’—Great lightning flashed around me, and the soundof thunder proved that my complaint was heard.Accepting it, I cried, ‘Let these, Great Jove,the happy signs of your assent, be showngood omens given as a sacred pledge.’“Near by, a sacred oak tree grown from seedbrought thither from Dodona, spread abroadits branches thinly covered with green leaves;and creeping as an army, on the treewe saw a train of ants that carried grain,half-hidden in the deep and wrinkled bark.And while I wondered at the endless lineI said, ‘Good father, give me citizensof equal number for my empty walls.’Soon as I said those words, though not a windwas moving nor a breeze,—the lofty treebegan to tremble, and I heard a soundof motion in its branches. Wonder notthat sudden fear possessed me; and my hairbegan to rise; and I could hardly standfor so my weak knees tottered!—As I madeobeisance to the soil and sacred tree,perhaps I cherished in my heart a thought,that, not acknowledged, cheered me with some hope.
Pervenit ad miseros damno graviore colonospestis et in magnae dominatur moenibus urbis.Viscera torrentur primo, flammaeque latentisindicium rubor est et ductus anhelitus ingens.Aspera lingua tumet, tepidisque arentia ventisora patent, auraeque graves captantur hiatu.Non stratum, non ulla pati velamina possunt,dura sed in terra ponunt praecordia; nec fitcorpus humo gelidum, sed humus de corpore fervet.Nec moderator adest, inque ipsos saeva medenteserumpit clades, obsuntque auctoribus artes:quo propior quisque est servitque fidelius aegro,in partem leti citius venit. Utque salutisspes abiit finemque vident in funere morbi,indulgent animis et nulla, quid utile, cura est:utile enim nihil est. Passim positoque pudorefontibus et fluviis puteisque capacibus haerent,nec sitis est exstincta prius quam vita bibendo.Inde graves multi nequeunt consurgere et ipsisinmoriuntur aquis: aliquis tamen haurit et illas.Tantaque sunt miseris invisi taedia lecti:prosiliunt, aut si prohibent consistere vires,corpora devolvunt in humum: fugiuntque penatesquisque suos, sua cuique domus funesta videtur,et quia causa latet, locus est in crimine parvusSemianimes errare viis, dum stare valebant,adspiceres, flentes alios terraque iacenteslassaque versantes supremo lumina motu:membraque pendentis tendunt ad sidera caeli,hic illic, ubi mors deprenderat, exhalantes.Quid mihi tunc animi fuit? an quod debuit esse,ut vitam odissem et cuperem pars esse meorum?Quo se cumque acies oculorum flexerat, illicvulgus erat stratum, veluti cum putria motispoma cadunt ramis agitataque ilice glandes.Templa vides contra gradibus sublimia longis:Iuppiter illa tenet. Quis non altaribus illisinrita tura dedit? Quotiens pro coniuge coniunx,pro gnato genitor dum verba precantia dicit,non exoratis animam finivit in aris,inque manu turis pars inconsumpta reperta est!Admoti quotiens templis, dum vota sacerdosconcipit et fundit purum inter cornua vinum,haud exspectato ceciderunt vulnere tauri!Ipse ego sacra Iovi pro me patriaque tribusquecum facerem natis, mugitus victima dirosedidit et subito conlapsa sine ictibus ullisexiguo tinxit subiectos sanguine cultros.Exta quoque aegra notas veri monitusque deorumperdiderant: tristes penetrant ad viscera morbi.Ante sacros vidi proiecta cadavera postes,ante ipsas, quo mors foret invidiosior, aras.Pars animam laqueo claudunt mortisque timoremmorte fugant ultroque vocant venientia fata.Corpora missa neci nullis de more ferunturfuneribus: neque enim capiebant funera portae.Aut inhumata premunt terras aut dantur in altosindotata rogos. Et iam reverentia nulla est,deque rogis pugnant alienisque ignibus ardent.Qui lacriment, desunt; indefletaeque vaganturmatrumque nuruumque animae iuvenumque senumque:nec locus in tumulos, nec sufficit arbor in ignes.Attonitus tanto miserarum turbine rerum,“Iuppiter o!” dixi “si te non falsa loquunturdicta sub amplexus Aeginae Asopidos isse,nec te, magne pater, nostri pudet esse parentem,aut mihi redde meos aut me quoque conde sepulcro.”Ille notam fulgore dedit tonitruque secundo.“Accipio, sintque ista, precor, felicia mentissigna tuae” dixi. “Quod das mihi, pigneror omen.”Forte fuit iuxta patulis rarissima ramissacra Iovi quercus de semine Dodonaeo:hic nos frugilegas adspeximus agmine longogrande onus exiguo formicas ore gerentesrugosoque suum servantes cortice callem.Dum numerum miror, “totidem, pater optime” dixi,“tu mihi da cives et inania moenia supple.”Intremuit ramisque sonum sine flamine motisalta dedit quercus. Pavido mihi membra timorehorruerant, stabantque comae. Tamen oscula terraeroboribusque dedi; nec me sperare fatebar:sperabam tamen atque animo mea vota fovebam.
“At night I lay exhausted by such thoughts,a deep sleep seized my body, but the treeseemed always present—to my gaze distinctwith all its branches—I could even seethe birds among its leaves; and from its boughs,that trembled in the still air, moving antswere scattered to the ground in troops below;and ever, as they touched the soil, they grewlarger and larger.—As they raised themselves,they stood with upright bodies, and put offtheir lean shapes; and absorbed their many feet:and even as their dark brown color changed,their rounded forms took on a human shape.“When my strange dream departed, I awoke,the vision vanished, I complained to Heavenagainst the idle comfort of such dreams;but as I voiced my own lament, I hearda mighty murmur echoing through the hallsof my deserted palace, and a multitudeof voices in confusion; where the soundof scarce an echo had disturbed the stilldeserted chambers for so many days.“All this I thought the fancy of my dream,until my brave son Telamon, in hastethrew open the closed doorway, as he called,‘Come quickly father, and behold a sightbeyond the utmost of your fondest dreams!’I did go out, and there I saw such meneach in his turn, as I had seen transformedin that weird vision of the moving ants.“They all advanced, and hailed me as their king.So soon as I had offered vows to Jove,I subdivided the deserted farms,and dwellings in the cities to these menmiraculously raised —which now are calledmy Myrmidons, —the living evidenceof my strange vision. You have seen these men;and since that day, their name has been declared,‘Decisive evidence.’ They have retainedthe well-known customs of the days beforetheir transformation. Patiently they toil;they store the profits of their labor; whichthey guard with valiant skill. They'll follow youto any war, well matched in years and courage,and I do promise, when this east wind turns,this wind that favored you and brought you here,and when a south wind favors our design,then my brave Myrmidons will go with you.”
Nox subit, et curis exercita corpora somnusoccupat: ante oculos eadem mihi quercus adesseet ramos totidem totidemque animalia ramisferre suis visa est pariterque tremiscere motugraniferumque agmen subiectis spargere in arvis;crescere quod subito et maius maiusque videriac se tollere humo rectoque adsistere truncoet maciem numerumque pedum nigrumque coloremponere et humanam membris inducere formam.Somnus abit: damno vigilans mea visa querorquein superis opis esse nihil. At in aedibus ingensmurmur erat, vocesque hominum exaudire videbariam mihi desuetas. Dum suspicor has quoque somniesse, venit Telamon properus, foribusque reclusis“speque fideque, pater” dixit, “maiora videbis:egredere!” Egredior, qualesque in imagine somnivisus eram vidisse viros, ex ordine talesadspicio noscoque. Adeunt regemque salutant.Vota Iovi solvo populisque recentibus urbempartior et vacuos priscis cultoribus agros,Myrmidonasque voco, nec origine nomina fraudo.Corpora vidisti; mores quos ante gerebant,nunc quoque habent: parcum genus est patiensque laborumquaesitique tenax et quod quaesita reservet.Hi te ad bella pares annis animisque sequentur,cum primum qui te feliciter attulit, eurus”(eurus enim attulerat) “fuerit mutatus in austros.”
This narrative and many other taleshad occupied the day. As twilight fell,festivities were blended in the night—the night, in turn, afforded sweet repose.Soon as the golden Sun had shown his light,the east wind blowing still, the ships were stayedfrom sailing home. The sons of Pallas cameto Cephalus, who was the elder called;and Cephalus together with the sonsof Pallas, went to see the king. Deep sleepstill held the king; and Phocus who was sonof Aeacus, received them at the gate,instead of Telamon and Peleus whowere marshalling the men for war. Intothe inner court and beautiful apartmentsPhocus conducted the Athenians,and they sat down together. Phocus thenobserved that Cephalus held in his handa curious javelin with golden head,and shaft of some rare wood. And as they talked,he said; “It is my pleasure to explorethe forest in the chase of startled game,and so I've learned the nature of rare woods,but never have I seen the match of thisfrom which was fashioned this good javelin;it lacks the yellow tint of forest ash,it is not knotted like all corner-wood;although I cannot name the kind of wood,my eyes have never seen a javelin-shaftso beautiful as this.”To him replieda friend of Cephalus; “But you will findits beauty is not equal to its worth,for whatsoever it is aimed against,its flight is always certain to the mark,nor is it subject to the shift of chance;and after it has struck, although no handmay cast it back, it certainly returns,bloodstained with every victim.”Then indeed,was Phocus anxious to be told, whence cameand who had given such a precious gift.And Cephalus appeared to tell him all;but craftily was silent on one strangecondition of the fatal gift. As herecalled the mournful fate of his dear wife,his eyes filled up with tears. “Ah, pity me,”he said, “If Fate should grant me many years,I must weep every time that I regardthis weapon which has been my cause of tears;the unforgiven death of my dear wife—ah, would that I had never handled it!“My sweet wife, Procris!—if you could compareher beauty with her sister's—Orithyia's,(ravished by the blustering Boreas)you would declare my wife more beautiful.“'Tis she her sire Erectheus joined to me,'Tis she the god Love also joined to me.They called me happy, and in truth I was,and all pronounced us so until the Godsdecreed it otherwise. Two joyful monthsof our united love were almost passed,when, as the grey light of the dawn dispelled,upon the summit of Hymettus green,Aurora, glorious in her golden robes,observed me busy with encircling nets,trapping the antlered deer.“Against my willincited by desire, she carried meaway with her. Oh, let me not increaseher anger, for I tell you what is true,I found no comfort in her lovely face!And, though she is the very queen of light,and reigns upon the edge of shadowy spacewhere she is nourished on rich nectar-wine,adding delight to beauty, I could giveno heed to her entreaties, for the thoughtof my beloved Procris intervened;and only her sweet name was on my lips.“I told Aurora of our wedding joysand all refreshing joys of love — and myfirst union of my couch deserted now:“Enraged against me, then the goddess said:‘Keep to your Procris, I but trouble you,ungrateful clown! but, if you can be warned,you will no longer wish for her!’ And so,in anger, she returned me to my wife.“Alas, as I retraced the weary way,long-brooding over all Aurora said,suspicion made me doubtful of my wife,so faithful and so fair.—But many thingsreminding me of steadfast virtue, Isuppressed all doubts; until the dreadful thoughtof my long absence filled my jealous mind:from which I argued to the criminaladvances of Aurora; for if she,so lovely in appearance, did concealsuch passion in the garb of innocenceuntil the moment of temptation, howcould I be certain of the purityof even the strongest when the best are frail?“So brooding—every effort I devisedto cause my own undoing. By the meansof bribing presents, favored by disguise,I sought to win her guarded chastity.Aurora had disguised me, and her guiledetermined me to work in subtle snares.“Unknown to all my friends, I paced the streetsof sacred Athens till I reached my home.I hoped to search out evidence of guilt:but everything seemed waiting my return;and all the household breathed an air of grief.“With difficulty I, disguised, obtainedan entrance to her presence by the useof artifices many: and when Ithere saw her, silent in her grief,—amazed,my heart no longer prompted me to testsuch constant love. An infinite desiretook hold upon me. I could scarce restrainan impulse to caress and kiss her. Palewith grief that I was gone, her lovely facein sorrow was more beautiful—the worldhas not another so divinely fair.“Ah, Phocus, it is wonderful to thinkof beauty so surpassing fair it seemsmore lovable in sorrow! Why relateto you how often she repulsed my feignedattempts upon her virtue? To each pleashe said: ‘I serve one man: no matter wherehe may be I will keep my love for one.’“Who but a man insane with jealousy,would doubt the virtue of a loving wife,when tempted by the most insidious wiles,whose hallowed honor was her husband's love?But I, not satisfied with proof complete,would not abandon my depraved desireto poison the pure fountain I should guard;—increasing my temptations, I caused herto hesitate, and covet a rich gift.“Then, angered at my own success I said,discarding all disguise, ‘Behold the manwhose lavish promise has established proof,the witness of your shameful treachery;your absent husband has returned to this!’“Unable to endure a ruined home,where desecration held her sin to view,despairing and in silent shame she fled;and I, the author of that wickednessran after: but enraged at my deceitand hating all mankind, she wandered farin wildest mountains; hunting the wild game.“I grieved at her desertion; and the firesof my neglected love consumed my health;with greater violence my love increased,until unable to endure such pain,I begged forgiveness and acknowledged fault:nor hesitated to declare that Imight yield, the same way tempted, if such greatgifts had been offered to me. When I had madeabject confession and she had avengedher outraged feelings, she came back to meand we spent golden years in harmony.“She gave to me the hound she fondly loved,the very one Diana gave to herwhen lovingly the goddess had declared,‘This hound all others shall excel in speed.’Nor was that gift the only one was givenby kind Diana when my wife was hers,as you may guess—this javelin I hold forth,no other but a goddess could bestow.“Would you be told the story of both giftsattend my words and you shall be amazed,for never such another sad eventhas added sorrow to the grieving world.
Talibus atque aliis longum sermonibus illiimplevere diem. Lucis pars ultima mensaeest data, nox somnis. Iubar aureus extulerat Sol(flabat adhuc eurus redituraqua vela tenebat):ad Cephalum Pallante sati, cui grandior aetas,ad regem Cephalus simul et Pallante creaticonveniunt. Sed adhuc regem sopor altus habebat.Excipit Aeacides illos in limine Phocus:nam Telamon fraterque viros ad bella legebant.Phocus in interius spatium pulchrosque recessusCecropidas ducit, cum quis simul ipse resedit.Adspicit Aeoliden ignota ex arbore factumferre manu iaculum, cuius fuit aurea cuspis.Pauca prius mediis sermonibus ille locutus“sum nemorum studiosus” ait “caedisque ferinae:qua tamen e silva teneas hastile recisum,iamdudum dubito. Certe si fraxinus esset,fulva colore foret; si cornus, nodus inesset.Unde sit, ignoro. Sed non formosius istoviderunt oculi telum iaculabile nostri.”Excipit Actaeis e fratribus alter, et “usummaiorem specie mirabere” dixit “in isto.Consequitur quodcumque petit, fortunaque missumnon regit, et revolat nullo referente cruentum.”Tum vero iuvenis Nereius omnia quaerit,cur sit et unde datum, quis tanti muneris auctor.Quae petit, ille refert. Sed enim (narrare pudori est!),qua tulerit mercede silet; tactusque doloreconiugis amissae lacrimis ita fatur obortis:“Hoc me, nate dea, (quis possit credere?) telumflere facit facietque diu, si vivere nobisfata diu dederint. Hoc me cum coniuge caraperdidit: hoc utinam caruissem munere semper!Procris erat (si forte magis pervenit ad auresOrithyia tuas, raptae soror Orithyiae),si faciem moresque velis conferre duarum,dignior ipsa rapi. Pater hanc mihi iunxit Erechtheus,hanc mihi iunxit amor. Felix dicebar eramque.Non ita dis visum est, aut nunc quoque forsitan essem.Alter agebatur post sacra iugalia mensis,cum me cornigeris tendentem retia cervisvertice de summo semper florentis Hymettilutea mane videt pulsis Aurora tenebrisinvitumque rapit. Liceat mihi vera referrepace deae. Quod sit roseo spectabilis ore,quod teneat lucis, teneat confinia noctis,nectareis quod alatur aquis, ego —Procrin amabam:pectore Procris erat, Procris mihi semper in ore.Sacra tori coitusque novos thalamosque recentesprimaque deserti referebam foedera lecti.Mota dea est et “siste tuas, ingrate, querellas:Procrin habe!” dixit. “Quodsi mea provida mens est,non habuisse voles.” Meque illi irata remisit.Dum redeo mecumque deae memorata retracto,esse metus coepit, ne iura iugalia coniunxnon bene servasset. Facies aetasque iubebatcredere adulterium; prohibebant credere mores.Sed tamen afueram, sed et haec erat unde redibam,criminis exemplum, sed cuncta timemus amantes.Quaerere quod doleam statuo donisque pudicamsollicitare fidem. Favet huic Aurora timoriinmutatque meam (videor sensisse) figuram.Palladias ineo non cognoscendus Athenasingrediorque domum. Culpa domus ipsa carebatcastaque signa dabat dominoque erat anxia rapto:vix aditus per mille dolos ad Erechthida factus.Ut vidi, obstipui meditataque paene reliquitemptamenta fide. Male me, quin vera faterer,continui, male, quin, ut oportuit, oscula ferrem.Tristis erat (sed nulla tamen formosior illaesse potest tristi) desiderioque calebatconiugis abrepti. Tu conlige, qualis in illa,Phoce, decor fuerit, quam sic dolor ipse decebat.Quid referam, quotiens temptamina nostra pudicireppulerint mores, quotiens “ego” dixerit “uniservor; ubicumque est, uni mea gaudia servo!”Cui non ista fide satis experientia sanomagna foret? Non sum contentus et in mea pugnovulnera, dum census dare me pro nocte loquendomuneraque augendo tandem dubitare coegi.Exclamo: “Male (fictor adest!), male fictus adulterverus eram coniunx! me, perfida, teste teneris!”Illa nihil. Tacito tantummodo victa pudoreinsidiosa malo cum coniuge limina fugit;offensaque mei genus omne perosa virorummontibus errabat, studiis operata Dianae.Tum mihi deserto violentior ignis ad ossapervenit. Orabam veniam et peccasse fatebaret potuisse datis simili succumbere culpaeme quoque muneribus, si munera tanta darentur.Haec mihi confesso, laesum prius ulta pudorem,redditur et dulces concorditer exigit annos.Dat mihi praeterea, tamquam se parva dedissetdona, canem munus, quem cum sua traderet illiCynthia, “currendo superabit” dixerat “omnes.”Dat simul et iaculum, manibus quod (cernis) habemus.Muneris alterius quae sit fortuna, requiris?Accipe mirandum: novitate movebere facti.
“After the son of Laius,—Oedipus,—had solved the riddle of the monster-sphinx,so often baffling to the wits of men,and after she had fallen from her hill,mangled, forgetful of her riddling craft;not unrevenged the mighty Themis brookedher loss. Without delay that goddess raisedanother savage beast to ravage Thebes,by which the farmer's cattle were devoured,the land was ruined and its people slain.“Then all the valiant young men of the realm,with whom I also went, enclosed the field(where lurked the monster) in a meshof many tangled nets: but not a strandcould stay its onrush, and it leaped the crestof every barrier where the toils were set.“Already they had urged their eager dogs,which swiftly as a bird it left behind,eluding all the hunters as it fled.“At last all begged me to let slip the leashof straining Tempest; such I called the hound,my dear wife's present. As he tugged and pulledupon the tightened cords, I let them slip:no sooner done, then he was lost to sight;although, wherever struck his rapid feetthe hot dust whirled. Not swifter flies the spear,nor whizzing bullet from the twisted sling,nor feathered arrow from the twanging bow!“A high hill jutted from a rolling plain,on which I mounted to enjoy the sightof that unequalled chase. One moment caught,the next as surely free, the wild beast seemednow here now there, elusive in its flight;swiftly sped onward, or with sudden turndoubled in circles to deceive or gain.With equal speed pursuing at each turn,the rapid hound could neither gain nor lose.Now springing forward and now doubling back,his great speed foiled, he snapped at empty air.“I then turned to my javelin's aid; and whileI poised it in my right hand, turned awaymy gaze a moment as I sought to twinemy practiced fingers in the guiding thongs;but when again I lifted up my eyes,to cast the javelin where the monster sped,I saw two marble statues standing there,transformed upon the plain. One statue seemedto strain in attitude of rapid flight,the other with wide-open jaws was changed,just in the act of barking and pursuit.Surely some God—if any god controls—decreed both equal, neither could succeed.”Now after these miraculous events,it seemed he wished to stop, but Phocus said.“What charge have you against the javelin?”And Cephalus rejoined; “I must relatemy sorrows last; for I would tell you firstthe story of my joys—'Tis sweet to think,upon the gliding tide of those few yearsof married life, when my dear wife and Iwere happy in our love and confidence.No woman could allure me then from her;and even Venus could not tempt my love;all my great passion for my dearest wifewas equalled by the passion she returned.“As early as the sun, when golden raysfirst glittered on the mountains, I would risein youthful ardor, to explore the fieldsin search of game. With no companions, hounds,nor steeds nor nets, this javelin was alonemy safety and companion in my sport.“And often when my right hand felt its weight,a-wearied of the slaughter it had caused,I would come back to rest in the cool shade,and breezes from cool vales—the breeze I wooed,blowing so gently on me in the heat;the breeze I waited for; she was my restfrom labor. I remember, ‘Aura come,’I used to say, ‘Come soothe me, come intomy breast most welcome one, and yes indeed,you do relieve the heat with which I burn.’“And as I felt the sweet breeze of the morn,as if in answer to my song, my fate impelledme further to declare my joy in song;“‘You are my comfort, you are my delight!Refresh me, cherish me, breathe on my face!I love you child of lonely haunts and trees!’“Such words I once was singing, not awareof some one spying on me from the trees,who thought I sang to some beloved Nymph,or goddess by the name of Aura—soI always called the breeze.—Unhappy man!The meddling tell-tale went to Procris witha story of supposed unfaithfulness,and slyly told in whispers all he heard.True love is credulous; (and as I heardthe story) Procris in a swoon fell down.When she awakened from her bitter swoon,she ceased not wailing her unhappy fate,and, wretched, moaned for an imagined woe.“So she lamented what was never done!Her woe incited by a whispered tale,she feared the fiction of a harmless name!But hope returning soothed her wretched state;and now, no longer willing to believesuch wrong, unless her own eyes saw it, sherefused to think her husband sinned.“When dawnhad banished night, and I, rejoicing, rangedthe breathing woods, victorious in the huntpaused and said, ‘Come Aura—lovely breeze—relieve my panting breast!’ It seemed I heardthe smothered moans of sorrow as I spoke:but not conceiving harm, I said again;“‘Come here, oh my delight!’ And as those wordsfell from my lips, I thought I heard a softsound in the thicket, as of moving leaves;and thinking surely 'twas a hidden beast,I threw this winged javelin at the spot.—“It was my own wife, Procris, and the shaftwas buried in her breast—‘Ah, wretched me!’She cried; and when I heard her well-known voice,distracted I ran towards her,—only to findher bathed in blood, and dying from the woundof that same javelin she had given to me:and in her agony she drew it forth,—ah me! alas! from her dear tender side.“I lifted her limp body to my own,in these blood-guilty arms, and wrapped the woundwith fragments of my tunic, that I torein haste to staunch her blood; and all the whileI moaned, ‘Oh, do not now forsake me—slainby these accursed hands!’“Weak with the lossof blood, and dying, she compelled herselfto utter these few words, ‘It is my death;but let my eyes not close upon this lifebefore I plead with you! — By the dear tiesof sacred marriage; by your god and mine;and if my love for you can move your heart;and even by the cause of my sad death,—my love for you increasing as I die,—ah, put away that Aura you have called,that she may never separate your soul,—your love from me.’“So, by those dying wordsI knew that she had heard me call the nameof Aura, when I wished the cooling breeze,and thought I called a goddess,—cause of allher jealous sorrow and my bitter woe“Alas, too late, I told her the sad truth;but she was sinking, and her little strengthswiftly was ebbing with her flowing blood.As long as life remained her loving gazewas fixed on mine; and her unhappy lifeat last was breathed out on my grieving face.It seemed to me a look of sweet contentwas in her face, as if she feared not death.”In tears he folds these things; and, as they weptin came the aged monarch, Aeacus,and with the monarch his two valiant sons,and troops, new-levied, trained to glorious arms.
Carmina Laiades non intellecta priorumsolverat ingeniis, et praecipitata iacebatinmemor ambagum vates obscura suarum.Protinus Aoniis inmittitur altera Thebispestis, et exitio multi pecorumque suoquerurigenae pavere feram. Vicina iuventusvenimus et latos indagine cinximus agros.Illa levi velox superabat retia saltusummaque transibat positarum lina plagarum.Copula detrahitur canibus: quos illa sequenteseffugit et celeri non segnior alite ludit.Poscor et ipse meum consensu Laelapa magno(muneris hoc nomen). Iamdudum vincula pugnatexuere ipse sibi colloque morantia tendit.Vix bene missus erat, nec iam poteramus, ubi esset,scire. Pedum calidus vestigia pulvis habebat,ipse oculis ereptus erat. Non ocior illohasta nec exutae contorto verbere glandes,nec Gortyniaco calamus levis exit ab arcu.Collis apex medii subiectis inminet arvis:tollor eo capioque novi spectacula cursus,quo modo deprendi, modo se subducere ab ipsovulnere visa fera est. Nec limite callida rectoin spatiumque fugit, sed decipit ora sequentiset redit in gyrum, ne sit suus impetus hosti.Inminet hic sequiturque parem similisque tenentinon tenet et vanos exercet in aera morsus.Ad iaculi vertebar opem. Quod dextera libratdum mea, dum digitos amentis addere tempto,lumina deflexi. Revocataque rursus eodemrettuleram: in medio (mirum) duo marmora campoadspicio: fugere hoc, illud captare putares.Scilicet invictos ambo certamine cursusesse deus voluit, siquis deus adfuit illis.”Hactenus, et tacuit. “Iaculo quod crimen in ipso est?”Phocus ait. Iaculi sic crimina reddidit ille:“Gaudia principium nostri sunt, Phoce, doloris:illa prius referam. Iuvat o meminisse beatitemporis, Aeacida, quo primos rite per annosconiuge eram felix, felix erat illa marito.Mutua cura duos et amor socialis habebat;nec Iovis illa meo thalamos praeferret amori,nec, me quae caperet, non si Venus ipsa veniret,ulla erat: aequales urebant pectora flammae.Sole fere radiis feriente cacumina primisvenatum in silvas iuvenaliter ire solebam.Nec mecum famuli nec equi nec naribus acresire canes, nec lina sequi nodosa solebant:tutus eram iaculo. Sed cum satiata ferinaedextera caedis erat, repetebam frigus et umbraset quae de gelidis exibat vallibus aura.Aura petebatur medio mihi lenis in aestu,auram exspectabam, requies erat illa labori.“Aura” (recordor enim) “venias” cantare solebam,“meque iuves intresque sinus, gratissima, nostros,utque facis, relevare velis, quibus urimur, aestus.”Forsitan addiderim (sic me mea fata trahebant)blanditias plures et “tu mihi magna voluptas,”dicere sim solitus, “tu me reficisque fovesque,tu facis, ut silvas, ut amem loca sola; meoquespiritus iste tuus semper captatur ab ore.”Vocibus ambiguis deceptam praebuit auremnescio quis, nomenque aurae tam saepe vocatumesse putat nymphae: nympham mihi credit amari.Criminis extemplo ficti temerarius indexProcrin adit linguaque refert audita susurra.Credula res amor est: subito conlapsa dolore,ut mihi narratur, cecidit; longoque refectatempore se miseram, se fati dixit iniqui,deque fide questa est; et crimine concita vanoquod nihil est, metuit, metuit sine corpore nomenet dolet infelix veluti de paelice vera.Saepe tamen dubitat speratque miserrima falliindicioque fidem negat et, nisi viderit ipsa,damnatura sui non est delicta mariti.Postera depulerant Aurorae lumina noctem:egredior silvamque peto, victorque per herbas“Aura veni” dixi, “nostroque medere labori.”Et subito gemitus inter mea verba videbarnescio quos audisse: “veni” tamen “optima!” dicensfronde levem rursus strepitum faciente caducasum ratus esse feram telumque volatile misi.Procris erat; medioque tenens in pectore vulnus“ei mihi” conclamat. Vox est ubi cognita fidaeconiugis, ad vocem praeceps amensque cucurri.Semianimem et sparsas foedantem sanguine vesteset sua (me miserum!) de vulnere dona trahenteminvenio, corpusque meo mihi carius ulnismollibus attollo scissaque a pectore vestevulnera saeva ligo conorque inhibere cruorem,neu me morte sua sceleratum deserat, oro.Viribus illa carens et iam moribunda coegithaec se pauca loqui: “Per nostri foedera lectiperque deos supplex oro superosque meosque,per siquid merui de te bene perque manentemnunc quoque, cum pereo, causam mihi mortis, amorem,ne thalamis Auram patiare innubere nostris.”Dixit, et errorem tum denique nominis esseet sensi et docui. Sed quid docuisse iuvabat?Labitur, et parvae fugiunt cum sanguine vires.Dumque aliquid spectare potest, me spectat et in meinfelicem animam nostroque exhalat in ore;sed vultu meliore mori secura videtur.”Flentibus haec lacrimans heros memorabat: et ecceAeacus ingreditur duplici cum prole novoquemilite, quem Cephalus cum fortibus accipit armis.