She remembered well,how, when she lay in childbirth round her stoodthe three attendant sisters of his fate.There was a billet in the room, and thisthey took and cast upon the wasting flames,and as they spun and drew the fatal threadsthey softly chanted, “Unto you we give,O child new-born! only the life of this;the period of this billet is your life.”And having spoken so, they vanished in the smoke.Althaea snatched the billet from the fire,and having quenched it with drawn water, hidit long and secretly in her own room,where, thus preserved, it acted as a charmto save the life of Meleager. Thisthe mother now brought forth, and fetched a pileof seasoned tinder ready for the torch.She lit the torches and the ready pile,and as the flames leaped up, four times preparedto cast the fatal billet in the midst;and four times hesitated to committhe dreadful deed,—so long the contest veeredbetween the feelings of a mother's breastand the fierce vengeance of a sister's rage.Now is the mother's visage pale with fear,and now the sister's sanguinary rageglows in her eyes. Her countenance contortswith cruel threats and in bewildered waysdissolves compassionate: And even whenthe heat of anger had dried up her eyesthe conflict of her passion brought new tears.As when the wind has seized upon a shipand blows against a tide of equal force,the vexed vessel feels repellent powers,and with unsteady motion sways to both;so did Althaea hesitate betweenthe conflict of her passions: when her ragehad cooled, her fury was as fast renewed:but always the unsatisfied desireof blood, to ease the disembodied shadesof her slain brothers, seemed to overcomethe mother-instinct; and intensityof conduct proved the utmost test of love.She took the billet in her arms and stoodbefore the leaping flames, and said, “Alas,be this the funeral pyre of my own flesh!”And as she held in her relentless handthe destiny of him she loved, and stoodbefore the flames, in all her wretchednessshe moaned, “You sad Eumenides attend!Relentless Gods of punishment,—turn, turnyour dreadful vision on these baneful rites!I am avenging and committing crime!With death must death be justified and crimebe added unto crime! Let funeralsupon succeeding funerals attend!“Let these accumulating woes destroya wicked race. Shall happy Oeneus baskin the great fame of his victorious son,and Thestius mourn without slaughtered ones?'Tis better they should both lament the deed!Witness the act of my affection, shadesof my departed brothers! and acceptmy funeral offering, given at a costbeyond my strength to bear. Ah wretched me!Distracted is my reason! Pity me,the yearnings of a stricken mother's heartwithholding me from duty! Aye, althoughhis punishment be just, my hands refusethe office of such vengeance. What, shall healive, victorious, flushed with his success,inherit the broad realms of Calydon,and you, my slaughtered brothers, unavenged,dissolved in ashes, float upon the air,unpalpitating phantoms? How can Iendure the thought of it? Oh let the wretchforever perish, and with him be lostthe hopes of his sad father, in the wreckof his distracted kingdom. Where are nowthe love and feelings of a mother; howcan I forget the bitter pangs enduredwhile twice times five the slow moon waxed and waned?“O had you perished in your infancyby those first fires, and I had suffered it!Your life was in my power! and now your deathis the result of wrongs which you have done—take now a just reward for what you did:return to me the life I gave and saved.When from the flames I snatched the fatal brand.Return that gift or take my wretched life,that I may hasten to my brothers' tomb.“What dreadful deed can satisfy the law,when I for love against my love am forced?For even as my brothers' wounds appearin visions dreadful to denounce my son,the love so nurtured in a mother's breastbreaks down the resolution! Wretched me!Such vengeance for my brothers overcomesfirst at your birth I gave it, and againthe yearning of a mother for her son!Let not my love denounce my vengeance!My soul may follow with its love the shadeof him I sacrifice, and following himmy shade and his and yours unite below.”She spoke and as she turned her face away,she threw the fatal billet on the fire,and as the flames devoured it, a strange groanwas heard to issue from the burning woodbut Meleager at a distance knowsof naught to wreck his hour of victory,until he feels the flame of burning woodscorching with secret fire his forfeit life.Yet with a mighty will, disdaining painhe grieves his bloodless and ignoble death.He calls Ancaeus happy for the woundsthat caused his death. With sighs and groans he calledhis aged father's name, and then the namesof brothers, sisters, and his wife—and last,they say he called upon his mother's name.His torment always with the fire increased,until, as little of the wood remained,—his pain diminished with the heat's decrease;and as the flames extinguished, so his lifeslowly ascended in the rising air.And all the mighty realm of Calydonwas filled with lamentations —young and oldthe common people and the nobles mourned;and all the wailing women tore their hairhis father threw his body on the ground,and as he covered his white hair and facewith ashy dust, bewailed his aged days.Althaea, maddened in her mother's grief,has punished herself with a ruthless hand;she pierced her heart with iron. —Oh! if some Godhad given a resounding harp, a voicean hundred-fold more mighty, and a soulenlarged with genius, I could never tellthe grief of his unhappy sisters.—They,regardless of all shame, beat on their breasts;before the body was consumed with fire,embraced it, and again embracing it,rained kisses on their loved one and the bier.And when the flames had burnt his shrinking formthey strained his gathered ashes to their breasts,and prostrate on the tomb kissed his dear name,cut only in the stone,—and bathed it with their tearsLatona's daughter, glutted with the woesinflicted on Parthaon's house, now gavetwo of the weeping sisters wide-spread wings,but Gorge and the spouse of Herculesnot so were changed. Latona stretched long wingsupon their arms, transformed their mouths to beaks,and sent them winging through the lucent air.
Stipes erat, quem, cum partus enixa iaceretThestias, in flammam triplices posuere sorores;staminaque impresso fatalia pollice nentes“tempora” dixerunt “eadem lignoque tibique,o modo nate, damus.” Quo postquam carmine dictoexcessere deae, flagrantem mater ab igneeripuit ramum sparsitque liquentibus undis.Ille diu fuerat penetralibus abditus imisservatusque tuos, iuvenis, servaverat annos.Protulit hunc genetrix taedasque et fragmina poniimperat et positis inimicos admovet ignes.Tum conata quater flammis imponere ramum,coepta quater tenuit. Pugnant materque sororque,et diversa trahunt unum duo nomina pectus.Saepe metu sceleris pallebant ora futuri,saepe suum fervens oculis dabat ira ruborem.Et modo nescio quid similis crudele minantivultus erat, modo quem misereri credere posses.Cumque ferus lacrimas animi siccaverat ardor,inveniebantur lacrimae tamen. Utque carina,quam ventus ventoque rapit contrarius aestus,vim geminam sentit paretque incerta duobus:Thestias haud aliter dubiis adfectibus erratinque vices ponit positamque resuscitat iram.Incipit esse tamen melior germana parente,et consanguineas ut sanguine leniat umbras,impietate pia est. Nam postquam pestifer ignisconvaluit, “rogus iste cremet mea viscera” dixit.Utque manu dira lignum fatale tenebat,ante sepulcrales infelix adstitit aras“poenarum” que “deae triplices, furialibus,” inquit,“Eumenides, sacris vultus advertite vestros.Ulciscor facioque nefas: mors morte pianda est,in scelus addendum scelus est, in funera funus.Per coacervatos pereat domus impia luctus.An felix Oeneus nato victore fruetur,Thestius orbus erit? Melius lugebitis ambo.Vos modo, fraterni manes animaeque recentes,officium sentite meum magnoque paratasaccipite inferias, uteri mala pignera nostri! —Ei mihi! quo rapior? Fratres, ignoscite matri.Deficiunt ad coepta manus. Meruisse fatemurillum, cur pereat: mortis mihi displicet auctor. —Ergo impune feret, vivusque et victor et ipsosuccessu tumidus regnum Calydonis habebit:vos cinis exiguus gelidaeque iacebitis umbrae?Haud equidem patiar. Pereat sceleratus et illespemque patris regnumque trahat patriaeque ruinam.Mens ubi materna est? Ubi sunt pia iura parentumet quos sustinui bis mensum quinque labores?O utinam primis arsisses ignibus infans,idque ego passa forem! Vixisti munere nostro:nunc merito moriere tuo. Cape praemia factibisque datam, primum partu, mox stipite rapto,redde animam — vel me fraternis adde sepulcris!Et cupio et nequeo. Quid agam? modo vulnera fratrumante oculos mihi sunt et tantae caedis imago,nunc animum pietas maternaque nomina frangunt. —Me miseram! male vincetis, sed vincite, fratres:dummodo quae dedero vobis solacia vosqueipsa sequar.” Dixit, dextraque aversa trementifunereum torrem medios coniecit in ignes.Aut dedit aut visus gemitus est ipse dedissestipes, ut invitis correptus ab ignibus arsit.Inscius atque absens flamma Meleagros ab illauritur et caecis torreri viscera sentitignibus ac magnos superat virtute dolores.Quod tamen ignavo cadat et sine sanguine leto,maeret et Ancaei felicia vulnera dicitgrandaevumque patrem fratresque piasque sororescum gemitu sociamque tori vocat ore supremo,forsitan et matrem. Crescunt ignisque dolorquelanguescuntque iterum: simul est exstinctus uterque,inque leves abiit paulatim spiritus auraspaulatim cana prunam velante favilla.Alta iacet Calydon: lugent iuvenesque senesque,vulgusque proceresque gemunt, scissaeque capillosplanguntur matres Calydonides Eueninae.Pulvere canitiem genitor vultusque senilesfoedat humi fusus spatiosumque increpat aevum.Nam de matre manus diri sibi conscia factiexegit poenas acto per viscera ferro.Non mihi si centum deus ora sonantia linguisingeniumque capax totumque Helicona dedisset,tristia persequerer miserarum dicta sororum.Inmemores decoris liventia pectora tundunt,dumque manet corpus, corpus refoventque foventque,oscula dant ipsi, posito dant oscula lecto.Post cinerem cineres haustos ad pectora pressant,adfusaeque iacent tumulo signataque saxonomina complexae lacrimas in nomina fundunt.Quas Parthaoniae tandem Latonia cladeexsatiata domus praeter Gorgenque nurumquenobilis Alcmenae natis in corpore pennisadlevat et longas per bracchia porrigit alascorneaque ora facit versasque per aera mittit.
And Theseus, meantime, having done great deeds,was wending towards Tritonian Athen's towers,but Achelous, swollen with great rains,opposed his journey and delayed his steps.“O famous son of Athens, come to me,beneath my roof, and leave my rapid floods;for they are wont to bear enormous beams,and hurl up heavy stones to bar the way,—mighty with roaring, down the steep ravines.And I have seen the sheep-folds on my banksswept down the flood, together with the sheep;and in the current neither strength availedthe ox for safety, nor swift speed the horse.When rushed the melting snows from mountain peakshow many bodies of unwary menthis flood has overwhelmed in whirling waves!Rest safely then, until my river runswithin its usual bounds—till it containsits flowing waters in its proper banks.”and gladly answered Theseus, “I will makegood use of both your dwelling and advice.”And waiting not he entered a rude hut,of porous pumice and of rough stone built.The floor was damp and soft with springy moss,and rows of shells and murex arched the roof.And now Hyperion having measured quitetwo thirds of daylight, Theseus and his friendsreclined upon the couches.—On his rightIxion's son was placed, and on his leftthe gray-haired hero Lelex; and othersdeemed worthy by the Acarnanian-godwho was so joyful in his noble guests.Without delay the barefoot nimble Nymphsattending to the banquet, rich food brought;and after all were satisfied with meatand dainties delicate, the careful Nymphsremoved all traces of the feast, and serveddelicious wine in bowls embossed with gems.And after they had eaten, Theseus arose,and as he pointed with his finger, said,“Declare to me what name that island bears,or is it one or more than one I see?”To which the ready River-God replied:“It is not one we see but five are there,deceptive in the distance. And that youmay wonder less at what Diana did,those islands were five Naiads.—Long ago,ten bullocks for a sacrifice they slew;and when the joyous festival was given,ignoring me they bade all other Gods.Indignant at the slight, I swelled with rageas great as ever when my banks are full,—and so redoubled both in rage and flood,I ravished woods from woods, and fields from fields,and hurled into the sea the very soil,together with the Nymphs, who then at lastremembered their neglect. And soon my waves,united with the ocean streams, cut throughthe solid soil, and fashioned from the one,five islands you may see amid the waves,which men since then, have called Echinades.“But yet beyond you can observe how onemost beautiful of all is far withdrawn;and this which most delights me, marinershave Perimela named. She was so fairthat I deprived her of a precious wealth.And when Hippodamas, her father, knew,enraged he pushed her, heavy then with child,forth from a rock into the cruel sea,where she must perish,—but I rescued her;and as I bore her on my swimming tide,I called on Neptune, ruler of the deep,‘O Trident-wielder, you who are preferrednext to the god most mighty! who by lotobtained the empire of the flowing deep,to which all sacred rivers flow and end;come here, O Neptune, and with gracious willgrant my desire;—I injured her I save;—but if Hippodamas, her father, whenhe knew my love, had been both kind and just,if he had not been so unnatural,he would have pitied and forgiven her.Ah, Neptune, I beseech you, grant your powermay find a place of safety for this Nymph,abandoned to the deep waves by her sire.Or if that cannot be, let her whom Iembrace to show my love, let her becomea place of safety.’ Instantly to methe King of Ocean moved his mighty head,and all the deep waves quivered in response.“The Nymph, afraid, still struggled in the deep,and as she swam I touched her throbbing breast;and as I felt her bosom, trembling still,I thought her soft flesh was becoming hard;for even then, new earth enclosed her form;and as I prayed to Neptune, earth encasedher floating limbs;—and on her changing formthe heavy soil of that fair island grew.”And at this point, the River said no more.This wonderful event astonished all;but one was there, Ixion's haughty son—a known despiser of the living Gods—who, laughing, scorned it as an idle tale.He made a jest of those who heard, and said,“A foolish fiction! Achelous, howcan such a tale be true? Do you believea god there is, in heaven so powerful,a god to give and take away a form—transform created shapes?Such impious wordsfound no response in those who heard him speak.Amazed he could so doubt known truth, beforethem all, uprose to vindicate the Godsthe hero Lelex, wise in length of days.“The glory of the living Gods,” he said,“Is not diminished, nor their power confined,and whatsoever they decree is done.“And I have this to tell, for all must knowthe evil of such words:—Upon the hillsof Phrygia I have seen two sacred trees,a lime-tree and an oak, so closely growntheir branches interlace. A low stone wallis built around to guard them from all harm.And that you may not doubt it, I declareagain, I saw the spot, for Pittheus therehad sent me to attend his father's court.“Near by those trees are stagnant pools and fens,where coots and cormorants delight to haunt;but it was not so always. Long ago'Twas visited by mighty Jupiter,together with his nimble-witted son,who first had laid aside his rod and Wings.“As weary travelers over all the landthey wandered, begging for their food and bed;and of a thousand houses, all the doorswere bolted and no word of kindness given—so wicked were the people of that land.At last, by chance, they stopped at a small house,whose humble roof was thatched with reeds and straw;—and here a kind old couple greeted them.“The good dame, Baucis, seemed about the ageof old Philemon, her devoted man;they had been married in their early youth,in that same cottage and had lived in it,and grown together to a good old age;contented with their lot because they knewtheir poverty, and felt no shame of it;they had no need of servants; the good pairwere masters of their home and served themselves;their own commands they easily obeyed.“Now when the two Gods, Jove and Mercury,had reached this cottage, and with bending neckshad entered the low door, the old man badethem rest their wearied limbs, and set a bench,on which his good wife, Baucis, threw a cloth;and then with kindly bustle she stirred upthe glowing embers on the hearth, and thenlaid tinder, leaves and bark; and bending downbreathed on them with her ancient breath untilthey kindled into flame. Then from the houseshe brought a store of faggots and small twigs,and broken branches, and above them swunga kettle, not too large for simple folk.And all this done, she stripped some cabbage leaves,which her good husband gathered for the meal.“Then with a two-pronged fork the man let downa rusty side of bacon from aloft,and cut a little portion from the chine;which had been cherished long. He softened itin boiling water. All the while they triedwith cheerful conversation to beguile,so none might notice a brief loss of time.“Swung on a peg they had a beechwood trough,which quickly with warm water filled, was usedfor comfortable washing. And they fixed,upon a willow couch, a cushion softof springy sedge, on which they neatly spreada well worn cloth preserved so many years;'Twas only used on rare and festive days;and even it was coarse and very old,though not unfit to match a willow couch!“Now as the Gods reclined, the good old dame,whose skirts were tucked up, moving carefully,for so she tottered with her many years,fetched a clean table for the ready meal—but one leg of the table was too short,and so she wedged it with a potsherd—somade firm, she cleanly scoured it with fresh mint.“And here is set the double-tinted fruitof chaste Minerva, and the tasty dishof corner, autumn-picked and pickled; thesewere served for relish; and the endive-green,and radishes surrounding a large potof curdled milk; and eggs not overdonebut gently turned in glowing embers—allserved up in earthen dishes. Then sweet wineserved up in clay, so costly! all embossed,and cups of beechwood smoothed with yellow wax.“So now they had short respite, till the firemight yield the heated course.“Again they servednew wine, but mellow; and a second course:sweet nuts, dried figs and wrinkled dates and plums,and apples fragrant, in wide baskets heaped;and, in a wreath of grapes from purple vines,concealed almost, a glistening honey-comb;and all these orchard dainties were enhancedby willing service and congenial smiles.“But while they served, the wine-bowl often drained,as often was replenished, though unfilled,and Baucis and Philemon, full of fear,as they observed the wine spontaneous well,increasing when it should diminish, raisedtheir hands in supplication, and imploredindulgence for their simple home and fare.And now, persuaded by this strange eventsuch visitors were deities unknown,this aged couple, anxious to bestowtheir most esteemed possession, hastilybegan to chase the only goose they had—the faithful guardian of their little home —which they would kill and offer to the Gods.But swift of wing, at last it wearied them,and fled for refuge to the smiling Gods.At once the deities forbade their zeal,and said, ‘A righteous punishment shall fallsevere upon this wicked neighborhood;but by the might of our divinity,no evil shall befall this humble home;but you must come, and follow as we climbthe summit of this mountain!’“Both obeyed,and leaning on their staves toiled up the steep.Not farther from the summit than the flightof one swift arrow from a hunter's how,they paused to view their little home once more;and as they turned their eyes, they saw the fieldsaround their own engulfed in a morass,although their own remained,—and while they weptbewailing the sad fate of many friends,and wondered at the change, they saw their home,so old and little for their simple need—put on new splendor, and as it increasedit changed into a temple of the gods.Where first the frame was fashioned of rude stakescolumns of marble glistened, and the thatchgleamed golden in the sun, and legends carved,adorned the doors. And al] the ground shone whitewith marble rich, and after this was done,the Son of Saturn said with gentle voice,‘Now tell us, good old man and you his wife,worthy and faithful, what is your desire?’“Philemon counselled with old Baucis first;and then discovered to the listening Godstheir hearts' desire, ‘We pray you let us havethe care of your new temple; and since wehave passed so many years in harmony,let us depart this life together— Letthe same hour take us both—I would not seethe tomb of my dear wife; and let me notbe destined to be buried by her hands!’“At once their wishes were fulfilled. So longas life was granted they were known to bethe temple's trusted keepers, and when agehad enervated them with many years,as they were standing, by some chance, beforethe sacred steps, and were relating allthese things as they had happened, Baucis sawPhilemon, her old husband, and he, too,saw Baucis, as their bodies put forth leaves;and while the tops of trees grew over them,above their faces, — they spoke each to each;as long as they could speak they said, ‘Farewell,farewell, my own’—and while they said farewell;new leaves and branches covered both at once.“The people of Tyana still point outtwo trees which grew there from a double trunk,two forms made into one. Old truthful men,who have no reason to deceive me, toldme truly all that I have told to you,and I have seen the votive wreaths hung fromthe branches of the hallowed double-tree.And one time, as I hung fresh garlands there,I said, ‘Those whom the Gods care for are Gods!And those who worshiped are now worshiped here.’”
Interea Theseus sociati parte laborisfunctus Erechtheas Tritonidos ibat ad arces.Clausit iter fecitque moras Achelous euntiimbre tumens. “Succede meis,” ait “inclite, tectis,Cecropida, nec te committe rapacibus undis:ferre trabes solidas obliquaque volvere magnomurmure saxa solent. Vidi contermina ripaecum gregibus stabula alta trahi: nec fortibus illicprofuit armentis, nec equis velocibus esse.Multa quoque hic torrens nivibus de monte solutiscorpora turbineo iuvenalia flumine mersit.Tutior est requies, solito dum flumina currantlimite, dum tenues capiat suus alveus undas.”Adnuit Aegides, “utar” que “Acheloe, domoqueconsilioque tuo” respondit; et usus utroque est.Pumice multicavo nec levibus atria tophisstructa subit: molli tellus erat umida musco,summa lacunabant alterno murice conchae.Iamque duas lucis partes Hyperione mensodiscubuere toris Theseus comitesque laborum:hac Ixionides, illa Troezenius herosparte Lelex, raris iam sparsus tempora canis,quosque alios parili fuerat dignatus honoreamnis Acarnanum, laetissimus hospite tanto.Protinus adpositas nudae vestigia nymphaeinstruxere epulis mensas dapibusque remotisin gemma posuere merum. Tum maximus heros,aequora prospiciens oculis subiecta, “quis” inquit“ille locus?” digitoque ostendit, “et insula nomenquod gerit illa, doce: quamquam non una videtur.”Amnis ad haec “non est” inquit “quod cernitis, unum:quinque iacent terrae: spatium discrimina fallit.Quoque minus spretae factum mirere Dianae,naides hae fuerant. Quae cum bis quinque iuvencosmactassent rurisque deos ad sacra vocassent,inmemores nostri festas duxere choreas.Intumui, quantusque feror, cum plurimus umquam,tantus eram, pariterque animis inmanis et undisa silvis silvas et ab arvis arva revellicumque loco nymphas, memores tum denique nostri,in freta provolvi. Fluctus nosterque marisquecontinuam diduxit humum partesque resolvitin totidem, mediis quot cernis Echinadas undis.Ut tamen ipse vides, procul en procul una recessitinsula, grata mihi; Perimelen navita dicit.Huic ego virgineum dilectae nomen ademi.Quod pater Hippodamas aegre tulit inque profundumpropulit e scopulo periturae corpora natae.Excepi nantemque ferens “o proxima mundiregna vagae” dixi “sortite, tridentifer, undae,adfer opem mersaeque precor, feritate paternada, Neptune, locum; vel sit locus ipsa licebit.”Dum loquor, amplexa est artus nova terra natantes,et gravis increvit mutatis insula membris.Amnis ab his tacuit. Factum mirabile cunctosmoverat: inridet credentes, utque deorumspretor erat mentisque ferox, Ixione natus“ficta refers nimiumque putas Acheloe potentesesse deos” dixit, “si dant adimuntque figuras.”Obstipuere omnes nec talia dicta probarunt,ante omnesque Lelex, animo maturus et aevo,sic ait: “Inmensa est finemque potentia caelinon habet, et quidquid superi voluere, peractum est.Quoque minus dubites, tiliae contermina quercuscollibus est Phrygiis modico circumdata muro.Ipse locum vidi; nam me Pelopeia Pittheusmisit in arva, suo quondam regnata parenti.Haud procul hinc stagnum est, tellus habitabilis olim,nunc celebres mergis fulicisque palustribus undae.Iuppiter huc specie mortali cumque parentevenit Atlantiades positis caducifer alis.Mille domos adiere locum requiemque petentes,mille domos clausere serae. Tamen una recepit,parva quidem, stipulis et canna tecta palustri;sed pia Baucis anus parilique aetate Philemonilla sunt annis iuncti iuvenalibus, illaconsenuere casa paupertatemque fatendoeffecere levem nec iniqua mente ferendo.Nec refert, dominos illic famulosne requiras:tota domus duo sunt, idem parentque iubentque.Ergo ubi caelicolae parvos tetigere penatessubmissoque humiles intrarunt vertice postes,membra senex posito iussit relevare sedili,quo superiniecit textum rude sedula Baucis.Inque foco tepidum cinerem dimovit et ignessuscitat hesternos foliisque et cortice sicconutrit et ad flammas anima producit anili.Multifidasque faces ramaliaque arida tectodetulit et minuit parvoque admovit aeno.Quodque suus coniunx riguo conlegerat horto,truncat holus foliis; furca levat illa bicornisordida terga suis nigro pendentia tignoservatoque diu resecat de tergore partemexiguam sectamque domat ferventibus undis.Interea medias fallunt sermonibus horasconcutiuntque torum de molli fluminis ulvaimpositum lecto sponda pedibusque salignis.Vestibus hunc velant, quas non nisi tempore festosternere consuerant: sed et haec vilisque vetusquevestis erat, lecto non indignanda saligno.Accubuere dei. Mensam succincta tremensqueponit anus, mensae sed erat pes tertius impar.Testa parem fecit. Quae postquam subdita clivumsustulit, aequatam mentae tersere virentes.Ponitur hic bicolor sincerae baca Minervaeconditaque in liquida corna autumnalia faeceintibaque et radix et lactis massa coactiovaque non acri leviter versata favilla,omnia fictilibus. Post haec caelatus eodemsistitur argento crater fabricataque fagopocula, qua cava sunt, flaventibus inlita ceris.Parva mora est, epulasque foci misere calentes,nec longae rursus referuntur vina senectaedantque locum mensis paulum seducta secundis.Hic nux, hic mixta est rugosis carica palmisprunaque et in patulis redolentia mala canistriset de purpureis conlectae vitibus uvae.Candidus in medio favus est. Super omnia vultusaccessere boni nec iners pauperque voluntas.Interea totiens haustum cratera replerisponte sua per seque vident succrescere vina:attoniti novitate pavent manibusque supinisconcipiunt Baucisque preces timidusque Philemonet veniam dapibus nullisque paratibus orant.Unicus anser erat, minimae custodia villae:quem dis hospitibus domini mactare parabant.Ille celer penna tardos aetate fatigateluditque diu tandemque est visus ad ipsosconfugisse deos. Superi vetuere necari“di” que “sumus, meritasque luet vicinia poenasimpia” dixerunt; “vobis inmunibus huiusesse mali dabitur. Modo vestra relinquite tectaac nostros comitate gradus et in ardua montisite simul.” Parent ambo baculisque levatinituntur longo vestigia ponere clivo.Tantum aberant summo, quantum semel ire sagittamissa potest: flexere oculos et mersa paludecetera prospiciunt, tantum sua tecta manere.Dumque ea mirantur, dum deflent fata suorum,illa vetus, dominis etiam casa parva duobusvertitur in templum: furcas subiere columnae,stramina flavescunt, aurataque tecta videnturcaelataeque fores adopertaque marmore tellus.Talia tum placido Saturnius edidit ore:“Dicite, iuste senex et femina coniuge iustodigna, quid optetis.” Cum Baucide pauca locutusiudicium superis aperit commune Philemon:“Esse sacerdotes delubraque vestra tueriposcimus; et quoniam concordes egimus annos,auferat hora duos eadem, ne coniugis umquambusta meae videam neu sim tumulandus ab illa.”Vota fides sequitur. Templi tutela fuere,donec vita data est. Annis aevoque solutiante gradus sacros cum starent forte lociquenarrarent casus, frondere Philemona Baucis,Baucida conspexit senior frondere PhilemonIamque super geminos crescente cacumine vultusmutua, dum licuit reddebant dicta “vale” que“o coniunx” dixere simul, simul abdita texitora frutex. Ostendit adhuc Thyneius illicincola de gemino vicinos corpore truncos.Haec mihi non vani (neque erat cur fallere vellent)narravere senes: equidem pendentia vidiserta super ramos, ponensque recentia dixi“cura deum di sint, et qui coluere colantur.””Desierat cunctosque et res et moverat auctor,Thesea praecipue. Quem facta audire volentemmira deum, innixus cubito Calydonius amnis
He ceased, and this miraculous event,and he who told it, had astonished them.But Theseus above all. The hero askedto hear of other wonders wrought by Gods.The Calydonian River-God replied,and leaning on one elbow, said to him:“There are, O valiant hero, other thingswhose forms once-changed as these, have so remained,but there are some who take on many shapes,as you have, Proteus, dweller of the deep—the deep whose arms embrace the earth. For somehave seen you as a youth, then as a lion,a furious boar one time, a serpent next,so dreadful to the touch—and sometimes hornshave made you seem a bull—or now a stone,or now a tree, or now a slipping stream,or even—the foe of water—next a fire.”Now Erysichthon's daughter, Mestra, hadthat power of Proteus—she was called the wifeof deft Autolycus.—Her father spurnedthe majesty of all the Gods, and gaveno honor to their altars. It is saidhe violated with an impious axethe sacred grove of Ceres, and he cuther trees with iron. Long-standing in her grovethere grew an ancient oak tree, spread so wide,alone it seemed a standing forest; andits trunk and branches held memorials,as, fillets, tablets, garlands, witnessinghow many prayers the goddess Ceres granted.And underneath it laughing Dryads lovedto whirl in festal dances, hand in hand,encircling its enormous trunk, that thricefive ells might measure; and to such a heightit towered over all the trees around,as they were higher than the grass beneath.But Erysichthon, heedless of all things,ordered his slaves to fell the sacred oak,and as they hesitated, in a ragethe wretch snatched from the hand of one an axe,and said, “If this should be the only oakloved by the goddess of this very grove,or even were the goddess in this tree,I'll level to the ground its leafy head.”So boasted he, and while he swung on highhis axe to strike a slanting blow, the oakbeloved of Ceres, uttered a deep groanand shuddered. Instantly its dark green leavesturned pale, and all its acorns lost their green,and even its long branches drooped their arms.But when his impious hand had struck the trunk,and cut its bark, red blood poured from the wound,—as when a weighty sacrificial bullhas fallen at the altar, streaming bloodspouts from his stricken neck. All were amazed.And one of his attendants boldly triedto stay his cruel axe, and hindered him;but Erysichthon, fixing his stern eyesupon him, said, “Let this, then, be the priceof all your pious worship!” So he turnedthe poised axe from the tree, and clove his headsheer from his body, and again beganto chop the hard oak. From the heart of itthese words were uttered; “Covered by the barkof this oak tree I long have dwelt a Nymph,beloved of Ceres, and before my deathit has been granted me to prophesy,that I may die contented. Punishmentfor this vile deed stands waiting at your side.”No warning could avert his wicked arm.Much weakened by his countless blows, the tree,pulled down by straining ropes, gave way at lastand leveled with its weight uncounted treesthat grew around it. Terrified and shocked,the sister-dryads, grieving for the groveand what they lost, put on their sable robesand hastened unto Ceres, whom they prayed,might rightly punish Erysichthon's crime;—the lovely goddess granted their request,and by the gracious movement of her headshe shook the fruitful, cultivated fields,then heavy with the harvest; and she plannedan unexampled punishment deserved,and not beyond his miserable crimes—the grisly bane of famine; but becauseit is not in the scope of Destiny,that two such deities should ever meetas Ceres and gaunt Famine,—calling forthfrom mountain-wilds a rustic Oread,the goddess Ceres, said to her, “There isan ice-bound wilderness of barren soilin utmost Scythia, desolate and bareof trees and corn, where Torpid-Frost, White-Deathand Palsy and Gaunt-Famine, hold their haunts;go there now, and command that Famine flitfrom there; and let her gnawing-essence piercethe entrails of this sacrilegious wretch,and there be hidden—Let her vanquish meand overcome the utmost power of food.Heed not misgivings of the journey's length,for you will guide my dragon-bridled carthrough lofty ether.”
talibus adloquitur: “Sunt, o fortissime, quorumforma semel mota est et in hoc renovamine mansit,sunt, quibus in plures ius est transire figuras,ut tibi, complexi terram maris incola, Proteu.Nam modo te iuvenem, modo te videre leonem;nunc violentus aper, nunc, quem tetigisse timerent,anguis eras, modo te faciebant cornua taurum.Saepe lapis poteras, arbor quoque saepe videri;interdum, faciem liquidarum imitatus aquarum,flumen eras, interdum undis contrarius ignis.Nec minus Autolyci coniunx, Erysichthone nata,iuris habet. Pater huius erat, qui numina divumsperneret et nullos aris adoleret odores.Ille etiam Cereale nemus violasse securidicitur et lucos ferro temerasse vetustos.Stabat in his ingens annoso robore quercus,una nemus; vittae mediam memoresque tabellaesertaque cingebant, voti argumenta potentis.Saepe sub hac dryades festas duxere choreas,saepe etiam manibus nexis ex ordine truncicircuiere modum, mensuraque roboris ulnasquinque ter implebat. Nec non et cetera tantumsilva sub hac, silva quantum fuit herba sub omni.Non tamen idcirco ferrum Triopeius illaabstinuit famulosque iubet succidere sacrumrobur; et ut iussos cunctari vidit, ab unoedidit haec rapta sceleratus verba securi:“Non dilecta deae solum, sed et ipsa licebitsit dea, iam tanget frondente cacumine terram.”Dixit, et obliquos dum telum librat in ictus,contremuit gemitumque dedit Deoia quercus:et pariter frondes, pariter pallescere glandescoepere ac longi pallorem ducere rami.Cuius ut in trunco fecit manus impia vulnus,haud aliter fluxit discusso cortice sanguis,quam solet, ante aras ingens ubi victima taurusconcidit, abrupta cruor e cervice profundi.Obstipuere omnes, aliquisque ex omnibus audetdeterrere nefas saevamque inhibere bipennem.Adspicit hunc “mentis” que “piae cape praemia!” dixitThessalus, inque virum convertit ab arbore ferrumdetruncatque caput repetitaque robora caedit,redditus et medio sonus est de robore talis:“Nympha sub hoc ego sum Cereri gratissima ligno,quae tibi factorum poenas instare tuorumvaticinor moriens, nostri solacia leti.”Persequitur scelus ille suum, labefactaque tandemictibus innumeris adductaque funibus arborcorruit et multam prostravit pondere silvam.Attonitae dryades damno nemorumque suoque,omnes germanae, Cererem cum vestibus atrismaerentes adeunt poenamque Erysichthonis orant.Adnuit his capitisque sui pulcherrima motuconcussit gravidis oneratos messibus agros.Moliturque genus poenae miserabile, si nonille suis esset nulli miserabilis actis,pestifera lacerare Fame. Quae quatenus ipsinon adeunda deae est (neque enim Cereremque Famemquefata coire sinunt), montani numinis unamtalibus agrestem compellat oreada dictis:“Est locus extremis Scythiae glacialis in oris,triste solum, sterilis, sine fruge, sine arbore tellus;Frigus iners illic habitant Pallorque Tremorqueet ieiuna Fames. Ea se in praecordia condatsacrilegi scelerata iube; nec copia rerumvincat eam, superetque meas certamine vires.Neve viae spatium te terreat, accipe currus,accipe quos frenis alte moderere dracones.”Et dedit. Illa dato subvecta per aera currudevenit in Scythiam rigidique cacumine montis(Caucason appellant) serpentum colla levavit
And she gave to herthe reins; and so the swiftly carried Nympharrived in Scythia. There, upon the toldof steepy Caucasus, when she had slippedtheir tight yoke from the dragons' harnessed necks,she searched for Famine in that granite land,and there she found her clutching at scant herbs,with nails and teeth. Beneath her shaggy hairher hollow eyes glared in her ghastly face,her lips were filthy and her throat was roughand blotched, and all her entrails could be seen,enclosed in nothing but her shriveled skin;her crooked loins were dry uncovered bones,and where her belly should be was a void;her flabby breast was flat against her spine;her lean, emaciated body madeher joints appear so large, her knobbled kneesseemed large knots, and her swollen ankle-bonesprotruded.When the Nymph, with keen sight, sawthe Famine-monster, fearing to draw nearshe cried aloud the mandate she had broughtfrom fruitful Ceres, and although the timehad been but brief, and Famine far away,such hunger seized the Nymph, she had to turnher dragon-steeds, and flee through yielding airand the high clouds;—at Thessaly she stopped.Grim Famine hastened to obey the willof Ceres, though their deeds are opposite,and rapidly through ether heights was borneto Erysichthon's home. When she arrivedat midnight, slumber was upon the wretch,and as she folded him in her two wings,she breathed her pestilential poison throughhis mouth and throat and breast, and spread the curseof utmost hunger in his aching veins.When all was done as Ceres had decreed,she left the fertile world for bleak abodes,and her accustomed caves. While this was donesweet Sleep with charming pinion soothed the mindof Erysichthon. In a dreamful feasthe worked his jaws in vain, and ground his teeth,and swallowed air as his imagined food;till wearied with the effort he awoketo hunger scorching as a fire, which burnedhis entrails and compelled his raging jaws,so he, demanding all the foods of seaand earth and air, raged of his hunger, whilethe tables groaned with heaps before him spread;he, banqueting, sought banquets for more food,and as he gorged he always wanted more.The food of cities and a nation failedto satisfy the cravings of one man.The more his stomach gets, the more it needs —even as the ocean takes the streams of earth,although it swallows up great rivers drawnfrom lands remote, it never can be fillednor satisfied. And as devouring fireits fuel refuses never, but consumesunnumbered beams of wood, and burns for morethe more 'tis fed, and from abundance gainsincreasing famine, so the raving jawsof wretched Erysichthon, ever cravedall food in him, was on]y cause of food,and what he ate made only room for more.And after Famine through his gluttonyat last had wasted his ancestral wealthhis raging hunger suffered no decline,and his insatiate gluttony increased.When all his wealth at last was eaten up,his daughter, worthy of a fate more kind,alone was left to him and her he sold.Descendant of a noble race, the girlrefusing to be purchased as a slave,then hastened to the near shore of the sea,and as she stretched her arms above the waves,implored kind Neptune with her tears, “Oh, youwho have deprived me of virginity,deliver me from such a master's power!”Although the master, seeking her, had seenher only at that moment, Neptune changedher quickly from a woman to a man,by giving her the features of a manand garments proper to a fisher-man:and there she stood. He even looked at herand cried out, “Hey, there! Expert of the rod!While you are casting forth the bit of brass,concealed so deftly in its tiny bait,—gods-willing! let the sea be smooth for you,and let the foolish fishes swimming up,never know danger till they snap the hook!Now tell me where is she, who only now,in tattered garment and wind-twisted hair,was standing on this shore—for I am sureI saw her standing on this shore, althoughno footstep shows her flight.”By this assuredthe favor of the god protected her;delighted to be questioned of herself,she said, “No matter who you are, excuse me.So busy have I been at catching fish,I have not had the time to move my eyesfrom this pool; and that you may be assuredI only tell the truth, may Neptune, Godof ocean witness it, I have not seen a manwhere I am standing on this shore—myselfexcepted—not a woman has stood here.”Her master could not doubt it, and deceivedretraced his footsteps from the sandy shore.As soon as he had disappeared, her formunchanged, was given back to her. But whenher father knew his daughter could transformher body and escape, he often soldher first to one and then another—allof whom she cheated— as a mare, bird,a cow, or as a stag she got away; and sobrought food, dishonestly, to ease his greed.And so he lived until the growing strengthof famine, gnawing at his vitals, hadconsumed all he could get by selling her:his anguish burned him with increasing heat.He gnawed his own flesh, and he tore his limbsand fed his body all he took from it.ah, why should I dwell on the wondrous deedsof others—Even I, O gathered youths,have such a power I can often changemy body till my limit has been reached.A while appearing in my real form,another moment coiled up as a snake,then as a monarch of the herd my strengthincreases in my horns—my strength increasedin my two horns when I had two—but nowmy forehead, as you see, has lost one horn.And having ended with such words,—he groaned.
quaesitamque Famem lapidoso vidit in agrounguibus et raras vellentem dentibus herbas.Hirtus erat crinis, cava lumina, pallor in ore,labra incana situ, scabrae rubigine fauces,dura cutis, per quam spectari viscera possent;ossa sub incurvis exstabant arida lumbis,ventris erat pro ventre locus, pendere putarespectus et a spinae tantummodo crate teneri.Auxerat articulos macies, genuumque tumebatorbis, et inmodico prodibant tubere tali.Hanc procul ut vidit (neque enim est accedere iuxtaausa), refert mandata deae: paulumque morata,quamquam aberat longe, quamquam modo venerat illuc,visa tamen sensisse famem retroque draconesegit in Haemoniam, versis sublimis habenis.Dicta Fames Cereris, quamvis contraria semperillius est operi, peragit. Perque aera ventoad iussam delata domum est et protinus intratsacrilegi thalamos altoque sopore solutum(noctis enim tempus) geminis amplectitur ulnis:seque viro inspirat faucesque et pectus et oraadflat et in vacuis spargit ieiunia venis.Functaque mandato fecundum deserit orbeminque domos inopes adsueta revertitur antra.Lenis adhuc somnus placidis Erysichthona pennismulcebat: petit ille dapes sub imagine somnioraque vana movet dentemque in dente fatigatexercetque cibo delusum guttur inaniproque epulis tenues nequiquam devorat auras.Ut vero est expulsa quies, furit ardor edendiperque avidas fauces incensaque viscera regnat.Nec mora, quod pontus, quod terra, quod educat aer,poscit et adpositis queritur ieiunia mensisinque epulis epulas quaerit; quodque urbibus essequodque satis poterat populo, non sufficit uni,plusque cupit, quo plura suam demittit in alvum.Utque fretum recipit de tota flumina terranec satiatur aquis peregrinosque ebibit amnes,utque rapax ignis non umquam alimenta recusatinnumerasque faces cremat et, quo copia maiorest data, plura petit turbaque voracior ipsa est:sic epulas omnes Erysichthonis ora profaniaccipiunt poscuntque simul. Cibus omnis in illocausa cibi est, semperque locus fit inanis edendo.Iamque fame patrias altaque voragine ventrisattenuarat opes, sed inattenuata manebattum quoque dira fames, implacataeque vigebatflamma gulae. Tandem, demisso in viscera censu,filia restabat, non illo digna parente.Hanc quoque vendit inops. Dominum generosa recusatet vicina suas tendens super aequora palmas“eripe me domino; qui raptae praemia nobisvirginitatis habes” ait. Haec Neptunus habebat.Qui prece non spreta, quamvis modo visa sequentiesset ero, formamque novat vultumque virileminduit et cultus piscem capientibus aptos.Hanc dominus spectans “o qui pendentia parvoaera cibo celas, moderator harundinis,” inquit“sic mare compositum, sic sit tibi piscis in undacredulus et nullos, nisi fixus, sentiat hamos:quae modo cum vili turbatis veste capillislitore in hoc steterat (nam stantem in litore vidi),dic ubi sit: neque enim vestigia longius exstant.”Illa dei munus bene cedere sensit et a sese quaeri gaudens, his est resecuta rogantem:“Quisquis es, ignoscas; in nullam lumina partemgurgite ab hoc flexi studioque operatus inhaesi.Quoque minus dubites, sic has deus aequoris artesadiuvet, ut nemo iamdudum litore in isto,me tamen excepto, nec femina constitit ulla.”Credidit et verso dominus pede pressit harenamelususque abiit: illi sua reddita forma est.Ast ubi habere suam transformia corpora sensit,saepe pater dominis Triopeida tradit. At illanunc equa, nunc ales, modo bos, modo cervus abibatpraebebatque avido non iusta alimenta parenti.Vis tamen illa mali postquam consumpserat omnemmateriam dederatque gravi nova pabula morbo,ipse suos artus lacero divellere morsucoepit et infelix minuendo corpus alebat.Quid moror externis? Etiam mihi nempe novandi estcorporis, o iuvenis, numero finita potestas.Nam modo qui nunc sum videor, modo flector in anguem,armenti modo dux vires in cornua sumo, —cornua, dum potui! nunc pars caret altera telofrontis, ut ipse vides.” Gemitus sunt verba secuti.