Ovid, Metamorphoses Book III - Latin Text and Translation

'ne cape!' de populo, quem terra creaverat, unus exclamat 'nec te civilibus insere bellis!'

"Don't take up your arms," one, from that which the earth created, said, "don't insert yourself into civil war."

'lina madent, comites, ferrumque cruore ferarum,

"The net and the sword are wet, comrades, with the gore of wild beasts

'quid, Agenore nate, peremptum serpentem spectas? et tu spectabere serpens.'

"Why, son of Agenor, do you look at the destroyed snake? And you will (soon) be looked at as a snake."

fons sonat a dextra tenui perlucidus unda, margine gramineo patulos incinctus hiatus.

A spring sounds from the right, enclosed in its open gaps by a bank of grass.

huc adde genus de coniuge tanta,

Add to this a family from a great wife,

quo postquam subiit, nympharum tradidit uni armigerae iaculum pharetramque arcusque retentos,

After she came back, she handed back a javelin and a quiver, and a strung-bow to the shield-bearing nymph;

hunc quoque qui leto dederat, non longius illo vivit et exspirat, modo quas acceperat auras,

Also this man, who had given him death, doesn't live any longer, and breathes out the breezes which he had only just accepted;

primumque ostendere vultus, cetera paulatim,

And are the first to show their faces, and then the rest,

placidoque educta tenore tota patent imoque pedes in margine ponunt.

And are visible with a gentle course, entirely reared, and plant their feet onto the bottom edge.

vulneraque adspexit fixumque hastile momordit, idque ubi vi multa partem labefecit in omnem, vix tergo eripuit;

And caught sight of its wounds, and bit the fixed speak shaft, and when he loosened it in every part, with a great force, it scarcely ripped out from its back;

alienaque cornua fronti addita, vosque, canes satiatae sanguine erili.

And foreign horns were added to the forehead, and you, dogs, were satiated with the blood of your master.

si non inuenerit, addit exilium, facto pius et sceleratus eodem.

And he adds the punishment of exile if he does not find her; by the same deed he is pious and wicked.

instantiaque ora retardat cuspide praetenta:

And he holds back the pressing mouths with a reaching lance;

laesaque colla dabat retro plagamque sedere cedendo arcebat nec longius ire sinebat,

And it furnished its injured neck behind, and it prevented blows from succeding to remain, nor allowing them to go longer.

neque erat cognoscere promptum, unde, sed audita est:

And it was not easily known from where, but it was heard;

dicique beatus ante obitum nemo supremaque funera debet.

And no one ought to be called blessed before death and before the supreme funeral.

iam vada Cephisi Panopesque evaserat arva:

And now he passed behind the fords and fields of Cephius and Panope;

iamque venenifero sanguis manare palato coeperat et virides adspergine tinxerat herbas;

And now the blood had begyn to flood the poisonous palette, and taints the green grass with droplets of blood;

Iamque deus posita fallacis imagine tauri se confessus erat Dictaeaque rura tenebat

And now the god, with the image of the false bull put aside, confessed himself and held the Cretan islands,

iamque brevis vitae spatium sortita iuventus sanguineam tepido plangebat pectore matrem, quinque superstitibus,

And now the young men, having obtained by the space of a brief life, beating their bloody mother with their warm chests with five surviving;

motaeque iubet supponere terrae vipereos dentes, populi incrementa futuri.

And ordered that the teeth of the snake he sowed into the moved earth, (where) there will be a growth of a future race.

victoremque supra spatiosi tergoris hostem tristia sanguinea lambentem vulnera lingua,

And saw the enemy victor of the large body above, licking their sad wounds with a bloody tongue,

fortunaeque dies habuit satis;

And the day has had enough good fortune.

terraque rasa sonat squamis, quique halitus exit ore niger Stygio, vitiatas inficit auras.

And the scraped land of the snake sounds, and the black breath which exits from the Stygian mouth infects the spoiled air.

crescitque seges clipeata virorum:

And the shield bearing crop of men came to be.

et sol ex aequo meta distabat utraque,

And the sun was standing apart equally from each limit,

et totum descendit in ilia ferrum.

And the whole blade went down into his guts.

atque ita terrigenis rigido de fratribus unum comminus ense ferit, iaculo cadit eminus ipse;

And thus he struck towards one of the earth-borne brothers with a stiff-sword hand to hand; and he fell to a missile from afar.

atque ita respiciens comites sua terga sequentis procubuit teneraque latus submisit in herba.

And thus, looking back at his comrades following the rear, put down its hind on the soft grass.

ac media plus parte leves erectus in auras despicit omne nemus tantoque est corpore, quanto, si totum spectes, geminas qui separat arctos.

And with more than its middle part raised in the light breezes, he looked down upon the entire grove, and his body was so immense that if you looked at it in its entirety, it was as that which seperates the twin bears.

interdum longa trabe rectior adstat,

Another time he stands straighter than a long tree,

donec Agenorides coniectum in guttura ferrum usque sequens pressit, i

As long as Cadmus pressed the thrown sword in the throat, continuously persuing,

ecce viri fautrix superas delapsa per auras Pallas adest

Behold! The supporter of the man Pallas comes down through the air above

at non duritia iaculum quoque vicit eadem, quod medio lentae spinae curvamine fixum constitit

But the same hardness did not defeat the javelin, which stood fixed in the middle curve of his pliant spine,

sed leve vulnus erat, quia se retrahebat ab ictu

But the wound was light, because it withdrew itself from the blow,

sed scilicet ultima semper exspectanda dies hominis,

But, obviously, the date was to be awaited by a man,

Cadmus agit grates peregrinaeque oscula terrae figit et ignotos montes agrosque salutat.

Cadmus gives thanks, and fixes the foreign ground with kisses and he greets the unknown mountains and fields.

vix bene Castalio Cadmus descenderat antro, incustoditam lente videt ire iuvencam nullum servitii signum cervice gerentem.

Cadmus had scarcely descended out of the Castalian caves; he sees a heifer unsupervised slowly going, carrying no sign of servitude on its neck.

nam pumice vivo et levibus tofis nativum duxerat arcum;

For indeed it formed a natural arch of living pumice and smooth sandstone.

subsequitur pressoque legit vestigia gressu auctoremque viae Phoebum taciturnus adorat.

He follows and traces the footprints with his pressed step and, silently, worships Phoebus and the creator of the journey.

paret et, ut presso sulcum patefecit aratro, spargit humi iussos, mortalia semina, dentes.

He prepared this and, when he opened a furrow with a firmly-planted plough, he spread about the ordered teeth on the ground; seeds of human origin.

'aut ultor vestrae, fidissima pectora, mortis, aut comes' inquit 'ero.'

He said "Either I will be the avenger of your deaths, most loyal hearts, or I will be your comrade in it!"

dixit dextraque molarem sustulit et magnum magno conamine misit.

He said this, and he raised a large boulder with his right hand, and threw the stone with great effort.

is sua iecit humo monitu Tritonidis arma fraternaeque fidem pacis petiitque deditque:

He threw his arms to the ground at the warning of Athena, and he both sought and gave the pledge of brotherly peace.

ille diu pavidus pariter cum mente colorem perdiderat, gelidoque comae terrore rigebant:

He, for a long time, had lost his colour as well as his mind, and the hairs of his head were standing with icy terror;

hic dea silvarum venatu fessa solebat virgineos artus liquido perfundere rore.

Here, the goddess of the wood, tired by hunting, bathed her virgin limbs with clear water.

tegumen derepta leoni pellis erat, telum splendenti lancea ferro et iaculum teloque animus praestantior omni.

His covering was a skin torn from a lion, his weapon was a javelin, a lance with a gleaming blade; but his mind was more outstanding than all.

igne micant oculi, corpus tumet omne venenis, tresque vibrant linguae, triplici stant ordine dentes.

His eyes flashed with fire, and his entire body swelled with poisons; his three tongues flash, and his teeth stood within a three-fold row.

ferrum tamen ossibus haesit.

However, the blade remained stuck in its bones.

ipse modo inmensum spiris facientibus orbem cingitur,

In this way, he surrounds himself with coils, making an immense circle,

soceri tibi Marsque Venusque contigerant;

Mars and Venus came to be parents-in-law for you.

simulaverat artem ingenio natura suo;

Nature had copied art by its own genius itself,

nunc Phoebus utraque distat idem meta finditque vaporibus arva.

Now Phoebus is distant from both posts, and divides the dry fields with his rays.

Iam stabant Thebae, poteras iam, Cadme, videri exilio felix:

Now Thebes was standing; you were able Cadmus, to seem happy in exile.

inpete nunc vasto ceu concitus imbribus amnis fertur et obstantis proturbat pectore silvas.

Now as a river brought together by showers of rain, it is carried with a great attack, and it crushed the imposing woods with its chest.

quorum fuit unus Echion.

One of whom was named Echion.

'bos tibi' Phoebus ait 'solis occurret in arvis, nullum passa iugum curvique inmunis aratri.

Phoebus says "A cow will come up to you in the empty fields, having endured no yoke and free of the crooked plough;

succinctae sacra Dianae, cuius in extremo est antrum nemorale recessu arte laboratum nulla:

Sacred to the gilded Diana, in the furthest recesses of which there was a wooded cave, labored with no artistic skill;

Sacra Iovi facturus erat: iubet ire ministros et petere e vivis libandas fontibus undas.

Sacrifices were about to be made to Jupiter; he ordered his servants to go and seek librations of water from fresh springs.

altera depositae subiecit bracchia pallae,

She placed her other weapons underneath the arms of her robes;

tot natos natasque et, pignora cara, nepotes, hos quoque iam iuvenes;

Si many daughters and sons and dear pledges, grand-children, these also now young men.

mox umeri pectusque onerataque bracchia telis exsistunt,

Soon shoulders and breasrs and arms burdened with weapons exist,

tegmina mox capitum picto nutantia cono,

Soon the coverings of heads were waving with pointed crest,

sistite opus praesens nodosaque tollite lina!'

Stop your current task, and carry away the tangled nets."

Territus hoste novo Cadmus capere arma parabat:

Terrified by this new enemy, Cadmus prepared to take up arms;

ille volubilibus squamosos nexibus orbes torquet et inmensos saltu sinuatur in arcus

That snake twists, with circular intertwinings into scaly coils, in an immense arch with a leap it was bent,

hos operis comites habuit Sidonius hospes, cum posuit iussus Phoebeis sortibus urbem.

The Sidonian visitor had these as comrades of his work, when he put the city as ordered by Apollo's oracles.

silva vetus stabat nulla violata securi, et specus in media virgis ac vimine densus efficiens humilem lapidum conpagibus arcum uberibus fecundus aquis; ubi conditus antro Martius anguis erat, cristis praesignis et auro;

The ancient wood was standing violated by no axe, and a cave in the middle was thick with vines and a twig, making a humble arch with joints of stones, fertile with abundant streams, where there was a snake of Mars, concealed in a cave, wonderous with a golden crest;

bos stetit et tollens speciosam cornibus altis ad caelum frontem mugitibus inpulit auras

The cow stood and, raising its beautiful head to the sky with high horns, stirs the air with mooing,

longo caput extulit antro caeruleus serpens horrendaque sibila misit.

The head advanced long from the cave, and the blue serpent sent forward with dreadful hisses.

iussa viri faciunt intermittuntque laborem.

The men did so, and raise up the work.

Mons erat infectus variarum caede ferarum, iamque dies medius rerum contraxerat umbras

The mountain was polluted with the slaughter of various wild animals, and now midday narrowed the shadows of things,

quae mora sit sociis, miratur Agenore natus vestigatque viros.

The one born from Aegenor wonders what the delay is, and he tracks down the men.

serpens sine vulnere mansit loricaeque modo squamis defensus et atrae duritia pellis validos cute reppulit ictus;

The snake remained without a wound, and was defended by its scales in the manner of a breastplate, and the hardness of the dark skin pushed back the strong blows with its skin.

furit ille et inania duro vulnera dat ferro figitque in acumine dentes.

The snake was driven mad, and gave empty wounds by the burdensome sword, and fixes its teeth in the sharpened point of the spear.

ille dolore ferox caput in sua terga retorsit

The snake, furious with anguish, twisted its head back into his back,

cedit Agenorides paulum spolioque leonis sustinet incursus

The son of Aegenor fell back a little, and, with the skin of the lion, he endures the attacks,

illius inpulsu cum turribus ardua celsis moenia mota forent,

The steep city walls with towering turrets would have been moved by the force of the rock;

pondere serpentis curvata est arbor et ima parte flagellari gemuit sua robora caudae.

The tree was bent by the weight of the snake, and the tree lamented that its trunk was lashed by the deepest part of the tail.

effluxere urnae manibus sanguisque reliquit corpus et attonitos subitus tremor occupat artus.

The urns escaped from their hands, blood left their bodies, and a sudden shaking occupied their thunderstruck limbs.

Fecerat exiguas iam sol altissimus umbras:

The very high sun had now made the shadows small;

exemploque pari furit omnis turba, suoque Marte cadunt subiti per mutua vulnera fratres.

The whole crowd is enraged the same way, and the sudden brothers fall by their own conflict and by their mutual wounds.

tum vero postquam solitas accessit ad iras causa recens, plenis tumuerunt guttura venis, spumaque pestiferos circumfluit albida rictus,

Then, in truth, after a recent cause joined to its habitual anger, his throat swelled with full veins, and white foam flowed around his jaws,

inde (fide maius) glaebae coepere moveri, primaque de sulcis acies adparuit hastae,

Thenceforth (greater than belief), clods of earth began to move, and first the point of a spear appeared from the furrows,

Vallis erat piceis et acuta densa cupressu, nomine Gargaphie

There was a valley, dense with spruce and spiky cypressus, with the name Gargaphie,

nec mora, Phoenicas, sive illi tela parabant sive fugam, sive ipse timor prohibebat utrumque, occupat:

There was no delay; those Phoenicians, whether they prepared with weapons or flight, or were prohibited by fear, whichever of the two; the snake seized them.

quem postquam Tyria lucum de gente profecti infausto tetigere gradu, demissaque in undas urna dedit sonitum,

Those who had departed from the Tyrian race touched with an unlucky step, and the urn, dropped in the waters, gave a sound;

hos morsu, longis conplexibus illos, hos necat adflati funesta tabe veneni.

Those with a bite, those with a long embrace, and those he killed with a breath; the decay of deadly poison.

sic, ubi tolluntur festis aulaea theatris, surgere signa solent

Thusly, when curtains are being raised in festival theatres, the signs, accustomed to rise,

propositum repetemus opus:

We seek again the work of this example;

altera lucem cum croceis invecta rotis Aurora reducet,

When another dawn will bring back light, brought with golden wheels,

ut nemus intravit letataque corpora vidit

When he entered the grove and saw the stained bodies,

cum pater ignarus Cadmo perquirere raptam imperat et poenam,

When the ignorant father orders Cadmus to seek out the stolen girl,

cum iuvenis placido per devia lustra vagantes participes operum conpellat Hyantius ore:

When the young man Actaeon addresses orders with his mouth to his friends, those who participate in the works out of the way;

dum retro quercus eunti obstitit et fixa est pariter cum robore cervix.

While the oak-tree hindered the snake's going back and pierced at the same time the neck and the tree.

Dum spatium victor victi considerat hostis, vox subito audita est;

While the victor considered the size of the conquered enemy, a voice was suddenly heard

hac duce carpe vias et, qua requieverit herba, moenia fac condas Boeotiaque illa vocato.'

With her as a leader, sieze the way, and in which grass she rests, make sure that you found city walls and call it Boeotia."

orbe pererrato (quis enim deprendere possit furta Iovis?) profugus patriamque iramque parentis vitat Agenorides Phoebique oracula supplex consulit et, quae sit tellus habitanda, requirit.

With the world wandered (for who could grasp the trickery of Jupiter?), the fugitive Agenorides avoids the anger of his father and his homeland, and consults the oracle of Apollo as a supplicant, and seeks what land that ought to be inhabited.

at bene si quaeras, Fortunae crimen in illo, non scelus invenies; quod enim scelus error habebat?

Yet, if you seek, rightly, a crime of fortune within him, not wickedness, for what crime was involved in his going astray?

Prima nepos inter tot res tibi, Cadme, secundas causa fuit luctus,

Your grandson, Cadmus was the first cause of grief for you among so many lucky things;