Fast flies meanwhile the irreparable hour,As point to point our charmed round we trace.Enough of herds. This second task remains,The wool-clad flocks and shaggy goats to treat.Here lies a labour; hence for glory look,Brave husbandmen. Nor doubtfully knowHow hard it is for words to triumph here,And shed their lustre on a theme so slight:But I am caught by ravishing desireAbove the lone Parnassian steep; I loveTo walk the heights, from whence no earlier trackSlopes gently downward to Castalia's spring.Now, awful Pales, strike a louder tone.First, for the sheep soft pencotes I decreeTo browse in, till green summer's swift return;And that the hard earth under them with strawAnd handfuls of the fern be littered deep,Lest chill of ice such tender cattle harmWith scab and loathly foot-rot. Passing thenceI bid the goats with arbute-leaves be stored,And served with fresh spring-water, and their pensTurned southward from the blast, to face the sunsOf winter, when Aquarius' icy beamNow sinks in showers upon the parting year.These too no lightlier our protection claim,Nor prove of poorer service, howsoe'erMilesian fleeces dipped in Tyrian redsRepay the barterer; these with offspring teemMore numerous; these yield plenteous store of milk:The more each dry-wrung udder froths the pail,More copious soon the teat-pressed torrents flow.Ay, and on Cinyps' bank the he-goats tooTheir beards and grizzled chins and bristling hairLet clip for camp-use, or as rugs to wrapSeafaring wretches. But they browse the woodsAnd summits of Lycaeus, and rough briers,And brakes that love the highland: of themselvesRight heedfully the she-goats homeward troopBefore their kids, and with plump udders cloggedScarce cross the threshold. Wherefore rather ye,The less they crave man's vigilance, be fainFrom ice to fend them and from snowy winds;Bring food and feast them with their branchy fare,Nor lock your hay-loft all the winter long.But when glad summer at the west wind's callSends either flock to pasture in the glades,Soon as the day-star shineth, hie we thenTo the cool meadows, while the dawn is young,The grass yet hoary, and to browsing herdsThe dew tastes sweetest on the tender sward.When heaven's fourth hour draws on the thickening drought,And shrill cicalas pierce the brake with song,Then at the well-springs bid them, or deep pools,From troughs of holm-oak quaff the running wave:But at day's hottest seek a shadowy vale,Where some vast ancient-timbered oak of JoveSpreads his huge branches, or where huddling blackIlex on ilex cowers in awful shade.Then once more give them water sparingly,And feed once more, till sunset, when cool eveAllays the air, and dewy moonbeams slakeThe forest glades, with halcyon's song the shore,And every thicket with the goldfinch rings.Of Libya's shepherds why the tale pursue?Why sing their pastures and the scattered hutsThey house in? Oft their cattle day and nightGraze the whole month together, and go forthInto far deserts where no shelter is,So flat the plain and boundless. All his goodsThe Afric swain bears with him, house and home,Arms, Cretan quiver, and Amyclaean dog;As some keen Roman in his country's armsPlies the swift march beneath a cruel load;Soon with tents pitched and at his post he stands,Ere looked for by the foe.
Sed fugit interea, fugit inreparabile tempus,singula dum capti circumvectamur amore.Hoc satis armentis: superat pars altera curae,lanigeros agitare greges hirtasque capellas.Hic labor, hinc laudem fortes sperate coloni.Nec sum animi dubius, verbis ea vincere magnumquam sit, et angustis hunc addere rebus honorem;sed me Parnasi deserta per ardua dulcisraptat amor; iuvat ire iugis, qua nulla priorumCastaliam molli devertitur orbita clivo.Nunc, veneranda Pales, magno nunc ore sonandumIncipiens stabulis edico in mollibus herbamcarpere ovis, dum mox frondosa reducitur aestas,et multa duram stipula filicumque maniplissternere subter humum, glacies ne frigida laedatmolle pecus scabiemque ferat turpisque podagras.Post hinc digressus iubeo frondentia caprisarbuta sufficere et fluvios praebere recentiset stabula a ventis hiberno opponere soliad medium conversa diem, cum frigidus olimiam cadit extremoque inrorat Aquarius anno.Haec quoque non cura nobis leviore tuendae,nec minor usus erit, quamvis Milesia magnovellera mutentur Tyrios incocta rubores:densior hinc suboles, hinc largi copia lactis;quam magis exhausto spumaverit ubere mulctra,laeta magis pressis manabunt flumina mammis.Nec minus interea barbas incanaque mentaCinyphii tondent hirci saetasque comantisusum in castrorum et miseris velamina nautis.Pascuntur vero silvas et summa Lycaeihorrentisque rubos et amantis ardua dumos:atque ipsae memores redeunt in tecta suosqueducunt et gravido superant vix ubere limen.Ergo omni studio glaciem ventosque nivalisquo minor est illis curae mortalis egestas,avertes victumque feres et virgea laetuspabula, nec tota claudes faenilia bruma.At vero Zephyris cum laeta vocantibus aestasin saltus utrumque gregem atque in pascua mittet,Luciferi primo cum sidere frigida ruracarpamus, dum mane novum, dum gramina canent,et ros in tenera pecori gratissimus herba.Inde ubi quarta sitim caeli collegerit horaet cantu querulae rumpent arbusta cicadae,ad puteos aut alta greges ad stagna iubebocurrentem ilignis potare canalibus undam;aestibus at mediis umbrosam exquirere vallem,sicubi magna Iovis antiquo robore quercusingentis tendat ramos, aut sicubi nigrumilicibus crebris sacra nemus accubet umbra;tum tenuis dare rursus aquas et pascere rursussolis ad occasum, cum frigidus aera vespertemperat et saltus reficit iam roscida lunalitoraque alcyonem resonant, acalanthida dumi.Quid tibi pastores Libyae, quid pascua versuprosequar et raris habitata mapalia tectis?Saepe diem noctemque et totum ex ordine mensempascitur itque pecus longa in deserta sine ullishospitiis: tantum campi iacet. Omnia secumarmentarius Afer agit, tectumque laremquearmaque Amyclaeumque canem Cressamque pharetram;non secus ac patriis acer Romanus in armisiniusto sub fasce viam cum carpit et hostiante expectatum positis stat in agmine castris.
Not thus the tribesOf Scythia by the far Maeotic wave,Where turbid Ister whirls his yellow sands,And Rhodope stretched out beneath the poleComes trending backward. There the herds they keepClose-pent in byres, nor any grass is seenUpon the plain, nor leaves upon the tree:But with snow-ridges and deep frost afarHeaped seven ells high the earth lies featureless:Still winter? still the north wind's icy breath!Nay, never sun disparts the shadows pale,Or as he rides the steep of heaven, or dipsIn ocean's fiery bath his plunging car.Quick ice-crusts curdle on the running stream,And iron-hooped wheels the water's back now bears,To broad wains opened, as erewhile to ships;Brass vessels oft asunder burst, and clothesStiffen upon the wearers; juicy winesThey cleave with axes; to one frozen massWhole pools are turned; and on their untrimmed beardsStiff clings the jagged icicle. MeanwhileAll heaven no less is filled with falling snow;The cattle perish: oxen's mighty framesStand island-like amid the frost, and stagsIn huddling herds, by that strange weight benumbed,Scarce top the surface with their antler-points.These with no hounds they hunt, nor net with toils,Nor scare with terror of the crimson plume;But, as in vain they breast the opposing block,Butcher them, knife in hand, and so dispatchLoud-bellowing, and with glad shouts hale them home.Themselves in deep-dug caverns undergroundDwell free and careless; to their hearths they heaveOak-logs and elm-trees whole, and fire them there,There play the night out, and in festive gleeWith barm and service sour the wine-cup mock.So 'neath the seven-starred Hyperborean wainThe folk live tameless, buffeted with blastsOf Eurus from Rhipaean hills, and wrapTheir bodies in the tawny fells of beasts.
At non, qua Scythiae gentes Maeotiaque unda,turbidus et torquens flaventis Hister harenas,quaque redit medium Rhodope porrecta sub axem.Illic clausa tenent stabulis armenta, neque ullaeaut herbae campo apparent aut arbore frondes;sed iacet aggeribus niveis informis et altoterra gelu late septemque adsurgit in ulnas.Semper hiemps, semper spirantes frigora cauri.Tum Sol pallentis haud umquam discutit umbras,nec cum invectus equis altum petit aethera, nec cumpraecipitem Oceani rubro lavit aequore currum.Concrescunt subitae currenti in flumine crustaeundaque iam tergo ferratos sustinet orbis,puppibus illa prius, patulis nunc hospita plaustris;aeraque dissiliunt vulgo vestesque rigescuntindutae caeduntque securibus umida vinaet totae solidam in glaciem vertere lacunaestiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis.Interea toto non setius aere ninguit:intereunt pecudes, stant circumfusa pruiniscorpora magna boum, confertoque agmine cervitorpent mole nova et summis vix cornibus extant.Hos non immissis canibus, non cassibus ullispuniceaeve agitant pavidos formidine pennae,sed frustra oppositum trudentis pectore montemcomminus obtruncant ferro graviterque rudentiscaedunt et magno laeti clamore reportant.Ipsi in defossis specubus secura sub altaotia agunt terra congestaque robora totasqueadvolvere focis ulmos ignique dedere.Hic noctem ludo ducunt et pocula laetifermento atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis.Talis Hyperboreo septem subiecta trionigens effrena virum Rhiphaeo tunditur euroet pecudum fulvis velatur corpora saetis.
If wool delight thee, first, be far removedAll prickly boskage, burrs and caltrops; shunLuxuriant pastures; at the outset chooseWhite flocks with downy fleeces. For the ram,How white soe'er himself, be but the tongue'Neath his moist palate black, reject him, lestHe sully with dark spots his offspring's fleece,And seek some other o'er the teeming plain.Even with such snowy bribe of wool, if earMay trust the tale, Pan, God of Arcady,Snared and beguiled thee, Luna, calling theeTo the deep woods; nor thou didst spurn his call.
Si tibi lanitium curae, primum aspera silva,lappaeque tribolique, absint; fuge pabula laeta;Continuoque greges villis lege mollibus albos.Illum autem, quamvis aries sit candidus ipse,nigra subest udo tantum cui lingua palato,reice, ne maculis infuscet vellera pullisnascentum, plenoque alium circumspice campo.Munere sic niveo lanae, si credere dignum est,Pan deus Arcadiae captam te, Luna, fefellitin nemora alta vocans; nec tu aspernata vocantem.
But who for milk hath longing, must himselfCarry lucerne and lotus-leaves enowWith salt herbs to the cote, whence more they loveThe streams, more stretch their udders, and give backA subtle taste of saltness in the milk.Many there be who from their mothers keepThe new-born kids, and straightway bind their mouthsWith iron-tipped muzzles. What they milk at dawn,Or in the daylight hours, at night they press;What darkling or at sunset, this ere mornThey bear away in baskets—for to townThe shepherd hies him—or with dash of saltJust sprinkle, and lay by for winter use.
At cui lactis amor, cytisum lotosque frequentisipse manu salsasque ferat praesepibus herbas.Hinc et amant fluvios magis et magis ubera tenduntet salis occultum referunt in lacte saporem.Multi iam excretos prohibent a matribus haedosprimaque ferratis praefigunt ora capistris.Quod surgente die mulsere horisque diurnis,nocte premunt; quod iam tenebris et sole cadente,sub lucem exportant calathis adit oppida pastor;aut parco sale contingunt hiemique reponunt.
Nor be thy dogs last cared for; but alikeSwift Spartan hounds and fierce Molossian feedOn fattening whey. Never, with these to watch,Dread nightly thief afold and ravening wolves,Or Spanish desperadoes in the rear.And oft the shy wild asses thou wilt chase,With hounds, too, hunt the hare, with hounds the doe;Oft from his woodland wallowing-den uprouseThe boar, and scare him with their baying, and drive,And o'er the mountains urge into the toilsSome antlered monster to their chiming cry.
Nec tibi cura canum fuerit postrema, sed unavelocis Spartae catulos acremque Molossumpasce sero pingui. Numquam custodibus illisnocturnum stabulis furem incursusque luporumaut impacatos a tergo horrebis Hiberos.Saepe etiam cursu timidos agitabis onagroset canibus leporem, canibus venabere dammas,saepe volutabris pulsos silvestribus aproslatratu turbabis agens montisque per altosingentem clamore premes ad retia cervum.
Learn also scented cedar-wood to burnWithin the stalls, and snakes of noxious smellWith fumes of galbanum to drive away.Oft under long-neglected cribs, or lurksA viper ill to handle, that hath fledThe light in terror, or some snake, that wont'Neath shade and sheltering roof to creep, and showerIts bane among the cattle, hugs the ground,Fell scourge of kine. Shepherd, seize stakes, seize stones!And as he rears defiance, and puffs outA hissing throat, down with him! see how lowThat cowering crest is vailed in flight, the while,His midmost coils and final sweep of tailRelaxing, the last fold drags lingering spires.Then that vile worm that in Calabrian gladesUprears his breast, and wreathes a scaly back,His length of belly pied with mighty spots—While from their founts gush any streams, while yetWith showers of Spring and rainy south-winds earthIs moistened, lo! he haunts the pools, and hereHoused in the banks, with fish and chattering frogsCrams the black void of his insatiate maw.Soon as the fens are parched, and earth with heatIs gaping, forth he darts into the dry,Rolls eyes of fire and rages through the fields,Furious from thirst and by the drought dismayed.Me list not then beneath the open heavenTo snatch soft slumber, nor on forest-ridgeLie stretched along the grass, when, slipped his slough,To glittering youth transformed he winds his spires,And eggs or younglings leaving in his lair,Towers sunward, lightening with three-forked tongue.
Disce et odoratam stabulis accendere cedrumgalbaneoque agitare gravis nidore chelydros.saepe sub immotis praesepibus aut mala tactuvipera delituit caelumque exterrita fugit,aut tecto adsuetus coluber succedere et umbrae,pestis acerba boum, pecorique aspergere virus,fovit humum. Cape saxa manu, cape robora, pastor,tollentemque minas et sibila colla tumentemdeice. Iamque fuga timidum caput abdidit alte,cum medii nexus extremaeque agmina caudaesolvuntur, tardosque trahit sinus ultimus orbis.Est etiam ille malus Calabris in saltibus anguis,squamea convolvens sublato pectore tergaatque notis longam maculosus grandibus alvumqui, dum amnes ulli rumpuntur fontibus et dumvere madent udo terrae ac pluvialibus austrisstagna colit, ripisque habitans hic piscibus atramimprobus ingluviem ranisque loquacibus explet;postquam exusta palus, terraeque ardore dehiscunt,exsilit in siccum et flammantia lumina torquenssaevit agris asperque siti atque exterritus aestu.Ne mihi tum mollis sub divo carpere somnosneu dorso nemoris libeat iacuisse per herbas,cum positis novus exuviis nitidusque iuventavolvitur, aut catulos tectis aut ova relinquensarduus ad solem et linguis micat ore trisulcis.
Of sickness, too, the causes and the signsI'll teach thee. Loathly scab assails the sheep,When chilly showers have probed them to the quick,And winter stark with hoar-frost, or when sweatUnpurged cleaves to them after shearing done,And rough thorns rend their bodies. Hence it isShepherds their whole flock steep in running streams,While, plunged beneath the flood, with drenched fell,The ram, launched free, goes drifting down the tide.Else, having shorn, they smear their bodies o'erWith acrid oil-lees, and mix silver-scumAnd native sulphur and Idaean pitch,Wax mollified with ointment, and therewithSea-leek, strong hellebores, bitumen black.Yet ne'er doth kindlier fortune crown his toil,Than if with blade of iron a man dare lanceThe ulcer's mouth ope: for the taint is fedAnd quickened by confinement; while the swainHis hand of healing from the wound withholds,Or sits for happier signs imploring heaven.Aye, and when inward to the bleater's bonesThe pain hath sunk and rages, and their limbsBy thirsty fever are consumed, 'tis goodTo draw the enkindled heat therefrom, and pierceWithin the hoof-clefts a blood-bounding vein.Of tribes Bisaltic such the wonted use,And keen Gelonian, when to RhodopeHe flies, or Getic desert, and quaffs milkWith horse-blood curdled. Seest one far afieldOft to the shade's mild covert win, or pullThe grass tops listlessly, or hindmost lag,Or, browsing, cast her down amid the plain,At night retire belated and alone;With quick knife check the mischief, ere it creepWith dire contagion through the unwary herd.Less thick and fast the whirlwind scours the mainWith tempest in its wake, than swarm the plaguesOf cattle; nor seize they single lives alone,But sudden clear whole feeding grounds, the flockWith all its promise, and extirpate the breed.Well would he trow it who, so long after, stillHigh Alps and Noric hill-forts should behold,And Iapydian Timavus' fields,Ay, still behold the shepherds' realms a waste,And far and wide the lawns untenanted.
Morborum quoque te causas et signa docebo.Turpis ovis temptat scabies, ubi frigidus imberaltius ad vivum persedit et horrida canobruma gelu, vel cum tonsis inlotus adhaesitsudor et hirsuti secuerunt corpora vepres.Dulcibus idcirco fluviis pecus omne magistriperfundunt, udisque aries in gurgite villismersatur missusque secundo defluit amni;aut tonsum tristi contingunt corpus amurcaet spumas miscent argenti et sulfura vivaIdaeasque pices et pinguis unguine cerasscillamque elleborosque gravis nigrumque bitumen.Non tamen ulla magis praesens fortuna laborum est,quam si quis ferro potuit rescindere summumulceris os: alitur vitium vivitque tegendo,dum medicas adhibere manus ad volnera pastorabnegat et meliora deos sedet omnia poscens.Quin etiam, ima dolor balantum lapsus ad ossacum furit atque artus depascitur arida febris,profuit incensos aestus avertere et interima ferire pedis salientem sanguine venam,Bisaltae quo more solent acerque Gelonus;cum fugit in Rhodopen atque in deserta Getarumet lac concretum cum sanguine potat equino.Quam procul aut molli succedere saepius umbraevideris aut summas carpentem ignavius herbasextremamque sequi aut medio procumbere campopascentem et serae solam decedere nocti:continuo culpam ferro compesce, prius quamdira per incautum serpant contagia volgus.Non tam creber agens hiemem ruit aequore turbo,quam multae pecudum pestes. Nec singula morbicorpora corripiunt, sed tota aestiva repente,spemque gregemque simul cunctamque ab origine gentem.Tum sciat, aerias Alpis et Norica si quiscastella in tumulis et Iapydis arva Timavinunc quoque post tanto videat desertaque regnapastorum et longe saltus lateque vacantis.
Here from distempered heavens erewhile aroseA piteous season, with the full fierce heatOf autumn glowed, and cattle-kindreds allAnd all wild creatures to destruction gave,Tainted the pools, the fodder charged with bane.Nor simple was the way of death, but whenHot thirst through every vein impelled had drawnTheir wretched limbs together, anon o'erflowedA watery flux, and all their bones piecemealSapped by corruption to itself absorbed.Oft in mid sacrifice to heaven—the whiteWool-woven fillet half wreathed about his brow—Some victim, standing by the altar, thereBetwixt the loitering carles a-dying fell:Or, if betimes the slaughtering priest had struck,Nor with its heaped entrails blazed the pile,Nor seer to seeker thence could answer yield;Nay, scarce the up-stabbing knife with blood was stained,Scarce sullied with thin gore the surface-sand.Hence die the calves in many a pasture fair,Or at full cribs their lives' sweet breath resign;Hence on the fawning dog comes madness, henceRacks the sick swine a gasping cough that chokesWith swelling at the jaws: the conquering steed,Uncrowned of effort and heedless of the sward,Faints, turns him from the springs, and paws the earthWith ceaseless hoof: low droop his ears, wherefromBursts fitful sweat, a sweat that waxes coldUpon the dying beast; the skin is dry,And rigidly repels the handler's touch.These earlier signs they give that presage doom.But, if the advancing plague 'gin fiercer grow,Then are their eyes all fire, deep-drawn their breath,At times groan-laboured: with long sobbing heaveTheir lowest flanks; from either nostril streamsBlack blood; a rough tongue clogs the obstructed jaws.'Twas helpful through inverted horn to pourDraughts of the wine-god down; sole way it seemedTo save the dying: soon this too proved their bane,And, reinvigorate but with frenzy's fire,Even at death's pinch—the gods some happier fateDeal to the just, such madness to their foes—Each with bared teeth his own limbs mangling tore.See! as he smokes beneath the stubborn share,The bull drops, vomiting foam-dabbled gore,And heaves his latest groans. Sad goes the swain,Unhooks the steer that mourns his fellow's fate,And in mid labour leaves the plough-gear fast.Nor tall wood's shadow, nor soft sward may stirThat heart's emotion, nor rock-channelled flood,More pure than amber speeding to the plain:But see! his flanks fail under him, his eyesAre dulled with deadly torpor, and his neckSinks to the earth with drooping weight.
Hic quondam morbo caeli miseranda coorta esttempestas totoque autumni incanduit aestuet genus omne neci pecudum dedit, omne ferarum,corrupitque lacus, infecit pabula tabo.Nec via mortis erat simplex, sed ubi ignea venisomnibus acta sitis miseros adduxerat artus,rursus abundabat fluidus liquor omniaque in seossa minutatim morbo collapsa trahebat.Saepe in honore deum medio stans hostia ad aramlanea dum nivea circumdatur infula vitta,inter cunctantis cecidit moribunda ministros.Aut si quam ferro mactaverat ante sacerdosinde neque impositis ardent altaria fibrisnec responsa potest consultus reddere vates,ac vix suppositi tinguntur sanguine cultrisummaque ieiuna sanie infuscatur harena.Hinc laetis vituli volgo moriuntur in herbiset dulcis animas plena ad praesepia reddunt;hinc canibus blandis rabies venit et quatit aegrostussis anhela sues ac faucibus angit obesis.Labitur infelix studiorum atque immemor herbaevictor equus fontisque avertitur et pede terramcrebra ferit; demissae aures, incertus ibidemsudor et ille quidem morituris frigidus, aretpellis et ad tactum tractanti dura resistit.Haec ante exitium primis dant signa diebus;sin in processu coepit crudescere morbus,tum vero ardentes oculi atque attractus ab altospiritus, interdum gemitu gravis, imaque longoilia singultu tendunt, it naribus atersanguis et obsessas fauces premit aspera lingua.Profuit inserto latices infundere cornuLenaeos; ea visa salus morientibus una;mox erat hoc ipsum exitio, furiisque refectiardebant ipsique suos iam morte sub aegra,di meliora piis erroremque hostibus illum,discissos nudis laniabant dentibus artus.Ecce autem duro fumans sub vomere taurusconcidit et mixtum spumis vomit ore cruoremextremosque ciet gemitus. It tristis aratormaerentem abiungens fraterna morte iuvencum,atque opere in medio defixa relinquit aratra.Non umbrae altorum nemorum, non mollia possuntprata movere animum, non qui per saxa volutuspurior electro campum petit amnis; at imasolvuntur latera atque oculos stupor urguet inertisad terramque fluit devexo pondere cervix.
What nowBesteads him toil or service? to have turnedThe heavy sod with ploughshare? And yet theseNe'er knew the Massic wine-god's baneful boon,Nor twice replenished banquets: but on leavesThey fare, and virgin grasses, and their cupsAre crystal springs and streams with running tired,Their healthful slumbers never broke by care.Then only, say they, through that country sideFor Juno's rites were cattle far to seek,And ill-matched buffaloes the chariots drewTo their high fanes. So, painfully with rakesThey grub the soil, aye, with their very nailsDig in the corn-seeds, and with strained neckO'er the high uplands drag the creaking wains.No wolf for ambush pries about the pen,Nor round the flock prowls nightly; pain more sharpSubdues him: the shy deer and fleet-foot stagsWith hounds now wander by the haunts of menVast ocean's offspring, and all tribes that swim,On the shore's confine the wave washes up,Like shipwrecked bodies: seals, unwonted there,Flee to the rivers. Now the viper dies,For all his den's close winding, and with scalesErect the astonied water-worms. The airBrooks not the very birds, that headlong fall,And leave their life beneath the soaring cloud.Moreover now nor change of fodder serves,And subtlest cures but injure; then were foiledThe masters, Chiron sprung from Phillyron,And Amythaon's son Melampus. See!From Stygian darkness launched into the lightComes raging pale Tisiphone; she drivesDisease and fear before her, day by dayStill rearing higher that all-devouring head.With bleat of flocks and lowings thick resoundRivers and parched banks and sloping heights.At last in crowds she slaughters them, she chokesThe very stalls with carrion-heaps that rotIn hideous corruption, till men learnWith earth to cover them, in pits to hide.For e'en the fells are useless; nor the fleshWith water may they purge, or tame with fire,Nor shear the fleeces even, gnawed through and throughWith foul disease, nor touch the putrid webs;But, had one dared the loathly weeds to try,Red blisters and an unclean sweat o'erranHis noisome limbs, till, no long tarriance made,The fiery curse his tainted frame devoured.
Quid labor aut benefacta iuvant? Quid vomere terrasinvertisse gravis? Atqui non Massica Bacchimunera, non illis epulae nocuere repostae:frondibus et victu pascuntur simplicis herbae,pocula sunt fontes liquidi atque exercita cursuflumina, nec somnos abrumpit cura salubris.Tempore non alio dicunt regionibus illisquaesitas ad sacra boves Iunonis et urisimparibus ductos alta ad donaria currus.Ergo aegre rastris terram rimantur et ipsisunguibus infodiunt fruges montisque per altoscontenta cervice trahunt stridentia plaustra.Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circumnec gregibus nocturnus obambulat; acrior illumcura domat; timidi dammae cervique fugacesnunc interque canes et circum tecta vagantur.Iam maris immensi prolem et genus omne natantumlitore in extremo, ceu naufraga corpora, fluctusproluit; insolitae fugiunt in flumina phocae.Interit et curvis frustra defensa latebrisvipera et attoniti squamis adstantibus hydri.Ipsis est aer avibus non aequus et illaepraecipites alta vitam sub nube relinquunt.Praeterea iam nec mutari pabula refertartes nocent quaesitaeque; cessere magistriPhillyrides Chiron Amythaoniusque Melampus.Saevit et in lucem Stygiis emissa tenebrispallida Tisiphone Morbos agit ante Metumque,inque dies avidum surgens caput altius effert:Balatu pecorum et crebris mugitibus amnesarentesque sonant ripae collesque supini:Iamque catervatim dat stragem atque aggerat ipsisin stabulis turpi dilapsa cadavera tabodonec humo tegere ac foveis abscondere discunt.Nam neque erat coriis usus nec viscera quisquamaut undis abolere potest aut vincere flamma;ne tondere quidem morbo inluvieque peresavellera nec telas possunt attingere putris;verum etiam invisos si quis temptarat amictus,ardentes papulae atque immundus olentia sudormembra sequebatur nec longo deinde morantitempore contactos artus sacer ignis edebat.