Publius Ovidius Naso
8 CE (over 2,000 years ago)
Trans RMBullard
Latin (Golden Age)
Est nemus Haemoniae,
[There is a forest in Haemonia]
praerupta quod undique claudit
silva:
[which on all sides was closed in by choppy wood:]
vocant Tempe;
[people call it "Tempe"]
per quae Peneos ab imo
effusus Pindo spumosis volvitur undis 570
[through these woods rolls the Peneos, which is poured out from the Pindos in foamy waves]
deiectuque gravi tenues agitantia fumos
nubila conducit
[and in a steep decline, does it lead to its side clouds that stir up thin mists]
summisque adspergine silvis
inpluit
[and it rains upon the tops of the wood in sprinkling fashion]
et sonitu plus quam vicina fatigat:
[and it causes weariness the more you grow closer to it.]
haec domus, haec sedes, haec sunt penetralia magni
amnis,
[This was the home, the resident, and the inner chambers of a great river,]
in his residens facto de cautibus antro, 575
[and while he resided in his cavern fashion from these hollows]
undis iura dabat nymphisque colentibus undas.
[he used to give his decrees to the waves and nymphs overseeing the waves.]
conveniunt illuc popularia flumina primum,
[In the beginning, the rabble of waves convened there]
nescia,
[unaware]
gratentur consolenturne parentem,
[either they greeted or consoled their father]
populifer Sperchios
[the poplar-bearing Sperchios]
***
Viderat a patrio redeuntem Iuppiter illam
flumine
[Jupiter had beforehand seen that girl returning from his father's river]
et 'o virgo Iove digna tuoque beatum
nescio quem factura toro, pete' dixerat 'umbras 590
altorum nemorum'
[he had said, "O maiden worthy of Jove, and one who could make anybody's marriage bed a blessed one, go search through the shades of tall groves"]
(et nemorum monstraverat umbras)
[and he had shown areas of shades in the groves]
'dum calet,
"since it is scorching hot,]
et medio sol est altissimus orbe!
[and the sun is at its higheset point in the middle of the sky's orb!"]
quodsi sola times latebras intrare ferarum,
[but if you fear to enter the lairs of wild beasts alone,]
praeside tuta deo nemorum secreta subibis,
[come sit, and lie down beneath the secret places, that are protected by a god]
nec de plebe deo,
[and not just any ordinary god,]
sed qui caelestia magna 595
sceptra manu teneo,
[but I, who had the great scepter of heaven in my hand]
sed qui vaga fulmina mitto.
[but who also sends out wandering bolts of lightning.]
ne fuge me!'
[Don't flee from me!"]
fugiebat enim.
[But you see, she began to flee.]
iam pascua Lernae
consitaque arboribus Lyrcea reliquerat arva,
[and already had she left behind the meadows of Lerna, and the Lyrcean fields, strewn with trees,]
cum deus inducta latas caligine terras
occuluit
[when the god covered the wide expanses of land with the smoke he brought upon it,]
tenuitque fugam rapuitque pudorem. 600
[and he stopped her flight, and he stole her chastity.]
Interea medios Iuno despexit in Argos
[Meanwhile, Juno looked upon the middle of Argos,]
et noctis faciem nebulas fecisse volucres
sub nitido mirata die, non fluminis illas
esse, nec umenti sensit tellure remitti;
[and she noticed that winged clouds had fashioned the appearance of night beneath the shining veneer of daylight, and that the dewy earth had not been placed in its original state.]
atque suus coniunx ubi sit circumspicit,
[and she searched around to find wherever her husband might be,]
ut quae 605
deprensi totiens iam nosset furta mariti.
[as she had already grown wise to the tricks of her husband, who had so many times before been caught red-handed.]
quem postquam caelo non repperit,
[and when she afterwards could not find him in the sky,]
'aut ego fallor
aut ego laedor' ait
[she said, "Either I'm being played the fool, or I've suffered a loss,']
delapsaque ab aethere summo
constitit
[and falling down from the peaks of the sky, she gathered herself,]
in terris nebulasque recedere iussit.
[and commanded the mist to recede back upon the lands.]
coniugis adventum praesenserat
[she had already sensed the arrival of her husband]
inque nitentem 610
Inachidos vultus mutaverat ille iuvencam;
[and that god had already changed Inachus' daugther into a radiant cow;]
bos quoque formosa est.
[and yet, even the heifer was wondrous to see.]
speciem Saturnia vaccae,
quamquam invita, probat nec non, et cuius et unde
quove sit armento, veri quasi nescia quaerit.
[the daugher of Saturn, unyielding as she was, paused, and as though unsuspecting, asked about the appearance of the cow, that, who it belonged to, and from which, or rather to which, herd it belonged.]
Iuppiter e terra genitam mentitur,
[Jupiter lied and said that she was born right up from the earth itself,]
ut auctor 615
desinat inquiri:
[planning for himself, the culprit, to cease being the subject of her inquiry:]
petit hanc Saturnia munus.
[the daughter of Saturn asks for the cow, as a gift.]
quid faciat?
[What else can he do?]
crudele suos addicere amores,
non dare suspectum est:
[it would be cruel to mutter a word about his infidelities, but suspicious not to make the exchange:]
Pudor est, qui suadeat illinc,
[On the on hand, his sense of decency was weighing upon,]
hinc dissuadet Amor.
[on the other, Love was weighing against.]
victus Pudor esset Amore,
[His sense of decency should have overcome Love,]
sed leve si munus sociae generisque torique 620
vacca negaretur,
[but if he should deny so casual a gift, a cow, to a woman who shared his bloodline and marriage bed,]
poterat non vacca videri!
[she would not really be taken to be a cow!]
