55.1Nessus igitur sagittā Herculis trānsfīxus moriēns humī iacēbat; at nē occāsiōnem suī ulcīscendī dīmitteret, ita locūtus est: "Tū, Dēianīra, verba morientis audī.So Nessus, pierced by the arrow of Hercules, lay dying on the ground; but so as not to lose the chance of revenge, he spoke as follows: “Deianira, hear the words of a dying man.Note. suī ulcīscendī: gerundive, 'of avenging himself'. humī: locative, 'on the ground'. 55.2Sī amōrem marītī tuī cōnservāre vīs, hunc sanguinem quī nunc ē pectore meō effunditur sūme ac repōne; tum, sī umquam in suspīciōnem tibi vēnerit, vestem marītī hōc sanguine īnficiēs."If you want to keep the love of your husband, take this blood which is now pouring from my chest and store it away; then, if ever he comes under suspicion in your eyes, you will stain your husband's clothing with this blood.”Note. vīs is from volō: 'you want'. īnficiēs is a future used as a gentle command: 'you will stain'. 55.3Haec locūtus Nessus animam efflāvit; Dēianīra autem nihil malī suspicāta imperāta fēcit.Having said this, Nessus breathed his last; and Deianira, suspecting nothing bad, did as she was told.Note. nihil malī: 'nothing (of) bad', i.e. 'no harm'. 55.4Paulō post Herculēs bellum contrā Eurytum, rēgem Oechaliae, suscēpit; et cum rēgem ipsum cum fīliīs interfēcisset, Iolēn eius fīliam captīvam sēcum redūxit.A little later Hercules undertook a war against Eurytus, the king of Oechalia; and when he had killed the king himself along with his sons, he brought back with him Iole, his daughter, as a captive.
55.5Antequam tamen domum vēnit, nāvem ad Cēnaeum prōmunturium appulit, et in terram ēgressus āram cōnstituit, ut Iovī sacrificāret.But before he came home, he brought his ship in at the headland of Cenaeum, and going ashore he set up an altar, to sacrifice to Jupiter. 55.6Dum tamen sacrificium parat, Licham comitem suum domum mīsit, quī vestem albam referret; mōs enim erat apud antīquōs, dum sacrificia facerent, albam vestem gerere.While he was preparing the sacrifice, he sent his companion Lichas home, to bring back a white robe; for it was the custom among the ancients to wear a white robe when they made sacrifices. 55.7At Dēianīra verita nē Herculēs amōrem ergā Iolēn habēret, vestem priusquam Lichae dedit, sanguine Nessī īnfēcit.But Deianira, fearing that Hercules had fallen in love with Iole, stained the robe with the blood of Nessus before she gave it to Lichas.