Of air-born honey, gift of heaven, I nowTake up the tale. Upon this theme no lessLook thou, Maecenas, with indulgent eye.A marvellous display of puny powers,High-hearted chiefs, a nation's history,Its traits, its bent, its battles and its clans,All, each, shall pass before you, while I sing.Slight though the poet's theme, not slight the praise,So frown not heaven, and Phoebus hear his call.
Protinus aerii mellis caelestia donaexsequar: hanc etiam, Maecenas, adspice partem.Admiranda tibi levium spectacula rerummagnanimosque duces totiusque ordine gentismores et studia et populos et proelia dicam.In tenui labor; at tenuis non gloria, si quemnumina laeva sinunt auditque vocatus Apollo.
First find your bees a settled sure abode,Where neither winds can enter (winds blow backThe foragers with food returning home)Nor sheep and butting kids tread down the flowers,Nor heifer wandering wide upon the plainDash off the dew, and bruise the springing blades.Let the gay lizard too keep far aloofHis scale-clad body from their honied stalls,And the bee-eater, and what birds beside,And Procne smirched with blood upon the breastFrom her own murderous hands. For these roam wideWasting all substance, or the bees themselvesStrike flying, and in their beaks bear home, to glutThose savage nestlings with the dainty prey.But let clear springs and moss-green pools be near,And through the grass a streamlet hurrying run,Some palm-tree o'er the porch extend its shade,Or huge-grown oleaster, that in Spring,Their own sweet Spring-tide, when the new-made chiefsLead forth the young swarms, and, escaped their comb,The colony comes forth to sport and play,The neighbouring bank may lure them from the heat,Or bough befriend with hospitable shade.O'er the mid-waters, whether swift or still,Cast willow-branches and big stones enow,Bridge after bridge, where they may footing findAnd spread their wide wings to the summer sun,If haply Eurus, swooping as they pause,Have dashed with spray or plunged them in the deep.And let green cassias and far-scented thymes,And savory with its heavy-laden breathBloom round about, and violet-beds hard bySip sweetness from the fertilizing springs.For the hive's self, or stitched of hollow bark,Or from tough osier woven, let the doorsBe strait of entrance; for stiff winter's coldCongeals the honey, and heat resolves and thaws,To bees alike disastrous; not for naughtSo haste they to cement the tiny poresThat pierce their walls, and fill the crevicesWith pollen from the flowers, and glean and keepTo this same end the glue, that binds more fastThan bird-lime or the pitch from Ida's pines.Oft too in burrowed holes, if fame be true,They make their cosy subterranean home,And deeply lodged in hollow rocks are found,Or in the cavern of an age-hewn tree.Thou not the less smear round their crannied cribsWith warm smooth mud-coat, and strew leaves above;But near their home let neither yew-tree grow,Nor reddening crabs be roasted, and mistrustDeep marish-ground and mire with noisome smell,Or where the hollow rocks sonorous ring,And the word spoken buffets and rebounds.
Principio sedes apibus statioque petenda,quo neque sit ventis aditus—nam pabula ventiferre domum prohibent—neque oves haedique petulcifloribus insultent aut errans bucula campodecutiat rorem et surgentes atterat herbas.Absint et picti squalentia terga lacertipinguibus a stabulis meropesque aliaeque volucreset manibus Procne pectus signata cruentis;omnia nam late vastant ipsasque volantesore ferunt dulcem nidis immitibus escam.At liquidi fontes et stagna virentia muscoadsint et tenuis fugiens per gramina rivus,palmaque vestibulum aut ingens oleaster inumbret,ut, cum prima novi ducent examina regesvere suo ludetque favis emissa iuventus,vicina invitet decedere ripa calori,obviaque hospitiis teneat frondentibus arbos.In medium, seu stabit iners seu profluet umor,transversas salices et grandia conice saxa,pontibus ut crebris possint consistere et alaspandere ad aestivum solem, si forte morantessparserit aut praeceps Neptuno immerserit Eurus.Haec circum casiae virides et olentia lateserpylla et graviter spirantis copia thymbraefloreat inriguumque bibant violaria fontem.Ipsa autem, seu corticibus tibi suta cavatis,seu lento fuerint alvaria vimine texta,angustos habeant aditus: nam frigore mellacogit hiems, eademque calor liquefacta remittit.Utraque vis apibus pariter metuenda; neque illaenequiquam in tectis certatim tenuia ceraspiramenta linunt fucoque et floribus orasexplent collectumque haec ipsa ad munera glutenet visco et Phrygiae servant pice lentius Idae.Saepe etiam effossis, si vera est fama, latebrissub terra fovere larem, penitusque repertaepumicibusque cavis exesaeque arboris antro.Tu tamen et levi rimosa cubilia limoungue fovens circum et raras superinice frondes.Neu propius tectis taxum sine, neve rubentesure foco cancros, altae neu crede paludi,aut ubi odor caeni gravis aut ubi concava pulsusaxa sonant vocisque offensa resultat imago.
What more? When now the golden sun has putWinter to headlong flight beneath the world,And oped the doors of heaven with summer ray,Forthwith they roam the glades and forests o'er,Rifle the painted flowers, or sip the streams,Light-hovering on the surface. Hence it isWith some sweet rapture, that we know not of,Their little ones they foster, hence with skillWork out new wax or clinging honey mould.So when the cage-escaped hosts you seeFloat heavenward through the hot clear air, untilYou marvel at yon dusky cloud that spreadsAnd lengthens on the wind, then mark them well;For then 'tis ever the fresh springs they seekAnd bowery shelter: hither must you bringThe savoury sweets I bid, and sprinkle them,Bruised balsam and the wax-flower's lowly weed,And wake and shake the tinkling cymbals heardBy the great Mother: on the anointed spotsThemselves will settle, and in wonted wiseSeek of themselves the cradle's inmost depth.
Quod superest, ubi pulsam hiemem sol aureus egitsub terras caelumque aestiva luce reclusit,illae continuo saltus silvasque peragrantpurpureosque metunt flores et flumina libantsumma leves. Hinc nescio qua dulcedine laetaeprogeniem nidosque fovent, hinc arte recentesexcudunt ceras et mella tenacia fingunt.Hinc ubi iam emissum caveis ad sidera caelinare per aestatem liquidam suspexeris agmenobscuramque trahi vento mirabere nubem,contemplator: aquas dulces et frondea sempertecta petunt. Huc tu iussos adsperge sapores,trita melisphylla et cerinthae ignobile gramen,tinnitusque cie et Matris quate cymbala circum.ipsae consident medicatis sedibus, ipsaeintima more suo sese in cunabula condent.
But if to battle they have hied them forth—For oft 'twixt king and king with uproar direFierce feud arises, and at once from farYou may discern what passion sways the mob,And how their hearts are throbbing for the strife;Hark! the hoarse brazen note that warriors knowChides on the loiterers, and the ear may catchA sound that mocks the war-trump's broken blasts;Then in hot haste they muster, then flash wings,Sharpen their pointed beaks and knit their thews,And round the king, even to his royal tent,Throng rallying, and with shouts defy the foe.So, when a dry Spring and clear space is given,Forth from the gates they burst, they clash on high;A din arises; they are heaped and rolledInto one mighty mass, and headlong fall,Not denselier hail through heaven, nor pelting soRains from the shaken oak its acorn-shower.Conspicuous by their wings the chiefs themselvesPress through the heart of battle, and displayA giant's spirit in each pigmy frame,Steadfast no inch to yield till these or thoseThe victor's ponderous arm has turned to flight.Such fiery passions and such fierce assaultsA little sprinkled dust controls and quells.
Sin autem ad pugnam exierint, nam saepe duobusregibus incessit magno discordia motu,continuoque animos vulgi et trepidantia bellocorda licet longe praesciscere; namque morantesMartius ille aeris rauci canor increpat et voxauditur fractos sonitus imitata tubarum;tum trepidae inter se coeunt pennisque coruscantspiculaque exacuunt rostris aptantque lacertoset circa regem atque ipsa ad praetoria densaemiscentur magnisque vocant clamoribus hostem.Ergo ubi ver nactae sudum camposque patentes,erumpunt portis; concurritur, aethere in altofit sonitus, magnum mixtae glomerantur in orbempraecipitesque cadunt; non densior aere grando,nec de concussa tantum pluit ilice glandis.ipsi per medias acies insignibus alisingentes animos angusto in pectore versant,usque adeo obnixi non cedere, dum gravis aut hosaut hos versa fuga victor dare terga subegit.Hi motus animorum atque haec certamina tantapulveris exigui iactu compressa quiescent.
And now, both leaders from the field recalled,Who hath the worser seeming, do to death,Lest royal waste wax burdensome, but letHis better lord it on the empty throne.One with gold-burnished flakes will shine like fire,For twofold are their kinds, the nobler he,Of peerless front and lit with flashing scales;That other, from neglect and squalor foul,Drags slow a cumbrous belly. As with kings,So too with people, diverse is their mould,Some rough and loathly, as when the wayfarerScapes from a whirl of dust, and scorched with heatSpits forth the dry grit from his parched mouth:The others shine forth and flash with lightning-gleam,Their backs all blazoned with bright drops of goldSymmetric: this the likelier breed; from these,When heaven brings round the season, thou shalt strainSweet honey, nor yet so sweet as passing clear,And mellowing on the tongue the wine-god's fire.
Verum ubi ductores acie revocaveris ambo,deterior qui visus, eum, ne prodigus obsit,dede neci; melior vacua sine regnet in aula.Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens;nam duo sunt genera: hic melior, insignis et oreet rutilis clarus squamis, ille horridus alterdesidia latamque trahens inglorius alvum.Ut binae regum facies, ita corpora plebis.Namque aliae turpes horrent, ceu pulvere ab altocum venit et sicco terram spuit ore viatoraridus; elucent aliae et fulgore coruscantardentes auro et paribus lita corpora guttis.Haec potior suboles, hinc caeli tempore certodulcia mella premes, nec tantum dulcia, quantumet liquida et durum Bacchi domitura saporem.
But when the swarms fly aimlessly abroad,Disport themselves in heaven and spurn their cells,Leaving the hive unwarmed, from such vain playMust you refrain their volatile desires,Nor hard the task: tear off the monarchs' wings;While these prove loiterers, none beside will dareMount heaven, or pluck the standards from the camp.Let gardens with the breath of saffron flowersAllure them, and the lord of Hellespont,Priapus, wielder of the willow-scythe,Safe in his keeping hold from birds and thieves.And let the man to whom such cares are dearHimself bring thyme and pine-trees from the heights,And strew them in broad belts about their home;No hand but his the blistering task should ply,Plant the young slips, or shed the genial showers.
At cum incerta volant caeloque examina luduntcontemnuntque favos et frigida tecta relinquunt,instabiles animos ludo prohibebis inani.Nec magnus prohibere labor: tu regibus alaseripe; non illis quisquam cunctantibus altumire iter aut castris audebit vellere signa.Invitent croceis halantes floribus hortiet custos furum atque avium cum falce salignaHellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi.Ipse thymum pinosque ferens de montibus altistecta serat late circum, cui talia curae;ipse labore manum duro terat, ipse feracesfigat humo plantas et amicos inriget imbres.
And I myself, were I not even nowFurling my sails, and, nigh the journey's end,Eager to turn my vessel's prow to shore,Perchance would sing what careful husbandryMakes the trim garden smile; of Paestum too,Whose roses bloom and fade and bloom again;How endives glory in the streams they drink,And green banks in their parsley, and how the gourdTwists through the grass and rounds him to paunch;Nor of Narcissus had my lips been dumb,That loiterer of the flowers, nor supple-stemmedAcanthus, with the praise of ivies pale,And myrtles clinging to the shores they love.For 'neath the shade of tall Oebalia's towers,Where dark Galaesus laves the yellowing fields,An old man once I mind me to have seen—From Corycus he came—to whom had fallenSome few poor acres of neglected land,And they nor fruitful' neath the plodding steer,Meet for the grazing herd, nor good for vines.Yet he, the while his meagre garden-herbsAmong the thorns he planted, and all roundWhite lilies, vervains, and lean poppy set,In pride of spirit matched the wealth of kings,And home returning not till night was late,With unbought plenty heaped his board on high.He was the first to cull the rose in spring,He the ripe fruits in autumn; and ere yetWinter had ceased in sullen ire to riveThe rocks with frost, and with her icy bitCurb in the running waters, there was hePlucking the rathe faint hyacinth, while he chidSummer's slow footsteps and the lagging West.Therefore he too with earliest brooding beesAnd their full swarms o'erflowed, and first was heTo press the bubbling honey from the comb;Lime-trees were his, and many a branching pine;And all the fruits wherewith in early bloomThe orchard-tree had clothed her, in full taleHung there, by mellowing autumn perfected.He too transplanted tall-grown elms a-row,Time-toughened pear, thorns bursting with the plumAnd plane now yielding serviceable shadeFor dry lips to drink under: but these things,Shut off by rigorous limits, I pass by,And leave for others to sing after me.
Atque equidem, extremo ni iam sub fine laborumvela traham et terris festinem advertere proram,forsitan et, pingues hortos quae cura colendiornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Paesti,quoque modo potis gauderent intiba riviset virides apio ripae, tortusque per herbamcresceret in ventrem cucumis; nec sera comantemnarcissum aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthipallentesque hederas et amantes litora myrtos.Namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus arcis,qua niger umectat flaventia culta Galaesus,Corycium vidisse senem, cui pauca relictiiugera ruris erant, nec fertilis illa iuvencisnec pecori opportuna seges nec commoda Baccho.Hic rarum tamen in dumis olus albaque circumlilia verbenasque premens vescumque papaverregum aequabat opes animis seraque revertensnocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis.Primus vere rosam atque autumno carpere poma,et cum tristis hiems etiamnum frigore saxarumperet et glacie cursus frenaret aquarum,ille comam mollis iam tondebat hyacinthiaestatem increpitans seram Zephyrosque morantes.Ergo apibus fetis idem atque examine multoprimus abundare et spumantia cogere pressismella favis; illi tiliae atque uberrima pinus,quotque in flore novo pomis se fertilis arbosinduerat, totidem autumno matura tenebat.Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmoseduramque pirum et spinos iam pruna ferentesiamque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras.Verum haec ipse equidem spatiis exclusus iniquispraetereo atque aliis post me memoranda relinquo.
Come, then, I will unfold the natural powersGreat Jove himself upon the bees bestowed,The boon for which, led by the shrill sweet strainsOf the Curetes and their clashing brass,They fed the King of heaven in Dicte's cave.Alone of all things they receive and holdCommunity of offspring, and they houseTogether in one city, and beneathThe shelter of majestic laws they live;And they alone fixed home and country know,And in the summer, warned of coming cold,Make proof of toil, and for the general storeHoard up their gathered harvesting. For someWatch o'er the victualling of the hive, and theseBy settled order ply their tasks afield;And some within the confines of their homePlant firm the comb's first layer, Narcissus' tear,And sticky gum oozed from the bark of trees,Then set the clinging wax to hang therefrom.Others the while lead forth the full-grown young,Their country's hope, and others press and packThe thrice repured honey, and stretch their cellsTo bursting with the clear-strained nectar sweet.Some, too, the wardship of the gates befalls,Who watch in turn for showers and cloudy skies,Or ease returning labourers of their load,Or form a band and from their precincts driveThe drones, a lazy herd. How glows the work!How sweet the honey smells of perfumed thymeLike the Cyclopes, when in haste they forgeFrom the slow-yielding ore the thunderbolts,Some from the bull's-hide bellows in and outLet the blasts drive, some dip i' the water-troughThe sputtering metal: with the anvil's weightGroans Etna: they alternately in timeWith giant strength uplift their sinewy arms,Or twist the iron with the forceps' grip—Not otherwise, to measure small with great,The love of getting planted in their breastsGoads on the bees, that haunt old Cecrops' heights,Each in his sphere to labour. The old have chargeTo keep the town, and build the walled combs,And mould the cunning chambers; but the youth,Their tired legs packed with thyme, come labouring homeBelated, for afar they range to feedOn arbutes and the grey-green willow-leaves,And cassia and the crocus blushing red,Glue-yielding limes, and hyacinths dusky-eyed.One hour for rest have all, and one for toil:With dawn they hurry from the gates—no roomFor loiterers there: and once again, when evenNow bids them quit their pasturing on the plain,Then homeward make they, then refresh their strength:A hum arises: hark! they buzz and buzzAbout the doors and threshold; till at lengthSafe laid to rest they hush them for the night,And welcome slumber laps their weary limbs.
Nunc age, naturas apibus quas Iuppiter ipseaddidit, expediam, pro qua mercede canorosCuretum sonitus crepitantiaque aera secutaeDictaeo caeli regem pavere sub antro.Solae communes natos, consortia tectaurbis habent magnisque agitant sub legibus aevum,et patriam solae et certos novere penates,venturaeque hiemis memores aestate laboremexperiuntur et in medium quaesita reponunt.Namque aliae victu invigilant et foedere pactoexercentur agris; pars intra saepta domorumNarcissi lacrimam et lentum de cortice glutenprima favis ponunt fundamina, deinde tenacessuspendunt ceras: aliae spem gentis adultoseducunt fetus, aliae purissima mellastipant et liquido distendunt nectare cellas.Sunt quibus ad portas cecidit custodia sorti,inque vicem speculantur aquas et nubila caeliaut onera accipiunt venientum aut agmine factoignavum fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent.Fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.ac veluti lentis Cyclopes fulmina massiscum properant, alii taurinis follibus aurasaccipiunt redduntque, alii stridentia tinguntaera lacu; gemit impositis incudibus Aetna;illi inter sese magna vi bracchia tolluntin numerum versantque tenaci forcipe ferrum:non aliter, si parva licet componere magnis,Cecropias innatus apes amor urget habendi,munere quamque suo. Grandaevis oppida curaeet munire favos et daedala fingere tecta.At fessae multa referunt se nocte minores,crura thymo plenae; pascuntur et arbuta passimet glaucas salices casiamque crocumque rubentemet pinguem tiliam et ferrugineos hyacinthos.Omnibus una quies operum, labor omnibus unus:mane ruunt portis; nusquam mora; rursus easdemvesper ubi e pastu tandem decedere campisadmonuit, tum tecta petunt, tum corpora curant;fit sonitus, mussantque oras et limina circum.Post, ubi iam thalamis se composuere, sileturin noctem fessosque sopor suus occupat artus.
But from the homestead not too far they fare,When showers hang like to fall, nor, east winds nigh,Confide in heaven, but 'neath the city wallsSafe-circling fetch them water, or essayBrief out-goings, and oft weigh-up tiny stones,As light craft ballast in the tossing tide,Wherewith they poise them through the cloudy vast.This law of life, too, by the bees obeyed,Will move thy wonder, that nor sex with sexYoke they in marriage, nor yield their limbs to love,Nor know the pangs of labour, but aloneFrom leaves and honied herbs, the mothers, each,Gather their offspring in their mouths, aloneSupply new kings and pigmy commonwealth,And their old court and waxen realm repair.Oft, too, while wandering, against jagged stonesTheir wings they fray, and 'neath the burden yieldTheir liberal lives: so deep their love of flowers,So glorious deem they honey's proud acquist.Therefore, though each a life of narrow span,Ne'er stretched to summers more than seven, befalls,Yet deathless doth the race endure, and stillPerennial stands the fortune of their line,From grandsire unto grandsire backward told.Moreover, not Aegyptus, nor the realmOf boundless Lydia, no, nor Parthia's hordes,Nor Median Hydaspes, to their kingDo such obeisance: lives the king unscathed,One will inspires the million: is he dead,Snapt is the bond of fealty; they themselvesRavage their toil-wrought honey, and rend amainTheir own comb's waxen trellis. He is the lordOf all their labour; him with awful eyeThey reverence, and with murmuring throngs surround,In crowds attend, oft shoulder him on high,Or with their bodies shield him in the fight,And seek through showering wounds a glorious death.
Nec vero a stabulis pluvia impendente receduntlongius aut credunt caelo adventantibus Euris,sed circum tutae sub moenibus urbis aquantur,excursusque breves temptant et saepe lapillos,ut cumbae instabiles fluctu iactante saburram,tollunt, his sese per inania nubila librant.Illum adeo placuisse apibus mirabere morem,quod neque concubitu indulgent nec corpora segnesin Venerem solvunt aut fetus nixibus edunt:verum ipsae e foliis natos, e suavibus herbisore legunt, ipsae regem parvosque Quiritessufficiunt aulasque et cerea regna refigunt.saepe etiam duris errando in cotibus alasattrivere ultroque animam sub fasce dedere:tantus amor florum et generandi gloria mellis.Ergo ipsas quamvis angusti terminus aeviexcipiat, neque enim plus septima ducitur aestas,at genus immortale manet multosque per annosstat fortuna domus et avi numerantur avorum.Praeterea regem non sic Aegyptus et ingensLydia nec populi Parthorum aut Medus Hydaspesobservant. Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est;amisso rupere fidem constructaque melladiripuere ipsae et crates solvere favorum.Ille operum custos, illum admiruntur et omnescircumstant fremitu denso stipantque frequenteset saepe attollunt umeris et corpora belloobiectant pulchramque petunt per vulnera mortem.
Led by these tokens, and with such traits to guide,Some say that unto bees a share is givenOf the Divine Intelligence, and to drinkPure draughts of ether; for God permeates all—Earth, and wide ocean, and the vault of heaven—From whom flocks, herds, men, beasts of every kind,Draw each at birth the fine essential flame;Yea, and that all things hence to Him return,Brought back by dissolution, nor can deathFind place: but, each into his starry rank,Alive they soar, and mount the heights of heaven.
His quidam signis atque haec exempla secutiesse apibus partem divinae mentis et haustusaetherios dixere; deum namque ire per omnesterrasque tractusque maris caelumque profundum.Hinc pecudes, armenta, viros, genus omne ferarum,quemque sibi tenues nascentem arcessere vitas;scilicet huc reddi deinde ac resoluta referriomnia nec morti esse locum, sed viva volaresideris in numerum atque alto succedere caelo.
If now their narrow home thou wouldst unseal,And broach the treasures of the honey-house,With draught of water first toment thy lips,And spread before thee fumes of trailing smoke.Twice is the teeming produce gathered in,Twofold their time of harvest year by year,Once when Taygete the Pleiad upliftsHer comely forehead for the earth to see,With foot of scorn spurning the ocean-streams,Once when in gloom she flies the watery Fish,And dips from heaven into the wintry wave.Unbounded then their wrath; if hurt, they breatheVenom into their bite, cleave to the veinsAnd let the sting lie buried, and leave their livesBehind them in the wound. But if you dreadToo rigorous a winter, and would fainTemper the coming time, and their bruised heartsAnd broken estate to pity move thy soul,Yet who would fear to fumigate with thyme,Or cut the empty wax away? for oftInto their comb the newt has gnawed unseen,And the light-loathing beetles crammed their bed,And he that sits at others' board to feast,The do-naught drone; or 'gainst the unequal foeSwoops the fierce hornet, or the moth's fell tribe;Or spider, victim of Minerva's spite,Athwart the doorway hangs her swaying net.The more impoverished they, the keenlier allTo mend the fallen fortunes of their raceWill nerve them, fill the cells up, tier on tier,And weave their granaries from the rifled flowers.
Si quando sedem angustam servataque mellathesauris relines, prius haustu sparsus aquarumora fove fumosque manu praetende sequaces.Bis gravidos cogunt fetus, duo tempora messis,Taygete simul os terris ostendit honestumPleas et Oceani spretos pede reppulit amnes,aut eadem sidus fugiens ubi Piscis aquositristior hibernas caelo descendit in undas.Illis ira modum supra est, laesaeque venenummorsibus inspirant et spicula caeca relinquuntadfixae venis animasque in vulnere ponunt.Sin duram metues hiemem parcesque futurocontunsosque animos et res miserabere fractas,at suffire thymo cerasque recidere inanesquis dubitet? nam saepe favos ignotus adeditstellio et lucifugis congesta cubilia blattisimmunisque sedens aliena ad pabula fucusaut asper crabro imparibus se immiscuit armis,aut dirum tiniae genus, aut invisa Minervaelaxos in foribus suspendit aranea casses.Quo magis exhaustae fuerint, hoc acrius omnesincumbent generis lapsi sarcire ruinascomplebuntque foros et floribus horrea texent.
Now, seeing that life doth even to bee-folk bringOur human chances, if in dire diseaseTheir bodies' strength should languish—which anonBy no uncertain tokens may be told—Forthwith the sick change hue; grim leanness marsTheir visage; then from out the cells they bearForms reft of light, and lead the mournful pomp;Or foot to foot about the porch they hang,Or within closed doors loiter, listless allFrom famine, and benumbed with shrivelling cold.Then is a deep note heard, a long-drawn hum,As when the chill South through the forests sighs,As when the troubled ocean hoarsely boomsWith back-swung billow, as ravening tide of fireSurges, shut fast within the furnace-walls.Then do I bid burn scented galbanum,And, honey-streams through reeden troughs instilled,Challenge and cheer their flagging appetiteTo taste the well-known food; and it shall bootTo mix therewith the savour bruised from gall,And rose-leaves dried, or must to thickness boiledBy a fierce fire, or juice of raisin-grapesFrom Psithian vine, and with its bitter smellCentaury, and the famed Cecropian thyme.There is a meadow-flower by country folkHight star-wort; 'tis a plant not far to seek;For from one sod an ample growth it rears,Itself all golden, but girt with plenteous leaves,Where glory of purple shines through violet gloom.With chaplets woven hereof full oft are deckedHeaven's altars: harsh its taste upon the tongue;Shepherds in vales smooth-shorn of nibbling flocksBy Mella's winding waters gather it.The roots of this, well seethed in fragrant wine,Set in brimmed baskets at their doors for food.
Si vero, quoniam casus apibus quoque nostrosvita tulit, tristi languebunt corpora morbo—quod iam non dubiis poteris cognoscere signis:continuo est aegris alius color, horrida vultumdeformat macies, tum corpora luce carentumexportant tectis et tristia funera ducunt;aut illae pedibus conexae ad limina pendent,aut intus clausis cunctantur in aedibus, omnesignavaeque fame et contracto frigore pigrae.Tum sonus auditur gravior, tractimque susurrant,frigidus ut quondam silvis immurmurat Auster,ut mare sollicitum stridit refluentibus undis,aestuat ut clausis rapidus fornacibus ignis:hic iam galbaneos suadebo incendere odoresmellaque harundineis inferre canalibus, ultrohortantem et fessas ad pabula nota vocantem.Proderit et tunsum gallae admiscere saporemArentesque rosas aut igni pinguia multodefruta vel psithia passos de vite racemosCecropiumque thymum et grave olentia centaurea.Est etiam flos in pratis, cui nomen amellofecere agricolae, facilis quaerentibus herba;namque uno ingentem tollit de caespite silvam,aureus ipse, sed in foliis, quae plurima circumfunduntur, violae sublucet purpura nigrae;[saepe deum nexis ornatae torquibus arae]asper in ore sapor; tonsis in vallibus illumpastores et curva legunt prope flumina Mellae.Huius odorato radices incoque Bacchopabulaque in foribus plenis adpone canistris.
But if one's whole stock fail him at a stroke,Nor hath he whence to breed the race anew,'Tis time the wondrous secret to discloseTaught by the swain of Arcady, even howThe blood of slaughtered bullocks oft has borneBees from corruption. I will trace me backTo its prime source the story's tangled thread,And thence unravel. For where thy happy folk,Canopus, city of Pellaean fame,Dwell by the Nile's lagoon-like overflow,And high o'er furrows they have called their ownSkim in their painted wherries; where, hard by,The quivered Persian presses, and that floodWhich from the swart-skinned Aethiop bears him down,Swift-parted into sevenfold branching mouthsWith black mud fattens and makes Aegypt green,That whole domain its welfare's hope secureRests on this art alone. And first is chosenA strait recess, cramped closer to this end,Which next with narrow roof of tiles atop'Twixt prisoning walls they pinch, and add heretoFrom the four winds four slanting window-slits.Then seek they from the herd a steer, whose hornsWith two years' growth are curling, and stop fast,Plunge madly as he may, the panting mouthAnd nostrils twain, and done with blows to death,Batter his flesh to pulp i' the hide yet whole,And shut the doors, and leave him there to lie.But 'neath his ribs they scatter broken boughs,With thyme and fresh-pulled cassias: this is doneWhen first the west winds bid the waters flow,Ere flush the meadows with new tints, and ereThe twittering swallow buildeth from the beams.Meanwhile the juice within his softened bonesHeats and ferments, and things of wondrous birth,Footless at first, anon with feet and wings,Swarm there and buzz, a marvel to behold;And more and more the fleeting breeze they take,Till, like a shower that pours from summer-clouds,Forth burst they, or like shafts from quivering stringWhen Parthia's flying hosts provoke the fray.
Sed siquem proles subito defecerit omnis,nec genus unde novae stirpis revocetur habebit,tempus et Arcadii memoranda inventa magistripandere, quoque modo caesis iam saepe iuvencisinsincerus apes tulerit cruor. Altius omnemexpediam prima repetens ab origine famam.Nam qua Pellaei gens fortunata Canopiaccolit effuso stagnantem flumine Nilumet circum pictis vehitur sua rura phaselis,quaque pharetratae vicinia Persidis urget,[et viridem Aegyptum nigra fecundat harena,][et diversa ruens septem discurrit in ora][usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis]omnis in hac certam regio iacit arte salutem.Exiguus primum atque ipsos contractus in ususeligitur locus; hunc angustique imbrice tectiparietibusque premunt artis et quattuor addunt,quattuor a ventis obliqua luce fenestras.Tum vitulus bima curvans iam cornua frontequaeritur; huic geminae nares et spiritus orismulta reluctanti obstruitur, plagisque peremptotunsa per integram solvuntur viscera pellem.Sic positum in clauso linquunt et ramea costissubiciunt fragmenta, thymum casiasque recentes.Hoc geritur Zephyris primum impellentibus undas,ante novis rubeant quam prata coloribus, antegarrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo.Interea teneris tepefactus in ossibus umoraestuat et visenda modis animalia miris,trunca pedum primo, mox et stridentia pennis,miscentur tenuemque magis magis aera carpunt,donec, ut aestivis effusus nubibus imber,erupere aut ut nervo pulsante sagittae,prima leves ineunt si quando proelia Parthi.