Met. 10.560"Forsitan audierīs aliquam certāmine cursūs
vēlōcēs superāsse virōs.'Perhaps you have heard of a woman who outdid swift men in a contest of running. Met. 10.561Nōn fābula rūmor
ille fuit: superābat enim;That rumour was no tale: she did outdo them; Met. 10.562nec dīcere possēs,
laude pedum fōrmaene bonō praestantior esset.nor could you say whether she was more outstanding for the glory of her feet or the blessing of her beauty. Met. 10.564Scītantī deus huic dē coniuge "coniuge" dīxit
565"nīl opus est, Atalanta, tibi: fuge coniugis ūsum!When she consulted the god about a husband, he said, "You have no need of a husband, Atalanta: flee the use of a husband! Met. 10.566nec tamen effugiēs tēque ipsa vīva carēbis."And yet you will not escape, and, living, you will lose yourself." Met. 10.567Territa sorte deī per opācās innuba silvās
vīvit et īnstantem turbam violentā procōrum
condiciōne fugat, nec "sum potienda, nisi" inquit
570"victa prius cursū.Terrified by the god's oracle, she lives unmarried in the shady woods and violently drives off the pressing throng of suitors with a condition, and says, "I am not to be won unless first defeated in running.
Met. 10.570Pedibus contendite mēcum:
praemia vēlōcī coniūnx thalamīque dabuntur,
mors pretium tardīs.Compete with me on foot: a wife and marriage-bed will be given as prizes to the swift, death the price for the slow. Met. 10.572Ea lēx certāminis Estō."Let that be the law of the contest." Met. 10.573Illa quidem inmītis: sed (tanta potentia fōrmae est)
venit ad hanc lēgem temerāria turba procōrum.She indeed was pitiless: but (such is the power of beauty) a rash throng of suitors came to accept this law. Met. 10.575Sēderat Hippomenēs cursūs spectātor inīquī
et "petitur cuiquam per tanta perīcula coniūnx?"Hippomenes had sat down as a spectator of the unequal race and had said, "Does anyone seek a wife through such great dangers?" Met. 10.577dīxerat ac nimiōs iuvenum damnārat amōrēs.and had condemned the young men's excessive love. Met. 10.578Ut faciem et positō corpus vēlāmine vīdit,
quāle meum, vel quāle tuum, sī fēmina fīās,
580obstipuit tollēnsque manūs "ignōscite," dīxit
"quōs modo culpāvī.When he saw her face and her body with its garment laid aside, a body like mine, or like yours if you were to become a woman, he was amazed, and raising his hands said, "Forgive me, you whom I just now blamed.
Met. 10.581Nōndum mihi praemia nota,
quae peterētis, erant."I did not yet know the prize you were seeking." Met. 10.582Laudandō concipit ignēs
et, nē quis iuvenum currat vēlōcius, optat
invidiāque timet.By praising he conceives a fire, and wishes that none of the young men may run faster, and fears it from jealousy. Met. 10.584"Sed cūr certāminis huius
585intemptāta mihi fortūna relinquitur?""But why is the fortune of this contest left untried by me?" Met. 10.585inquit
"audentēs deus ipse iuvat."he says; "the god himself helps the daring." Met. 10.586Dum tālia sēcum
exigit Hippomenēs, passū volat ālite virgō.While Hippomenes weighs such things within himself, the maiden flies with winged step. Met. 10.588Quae quamquam Scythicā nōn sētius īre sagittā
Āoniō vīsa est iuvenī, tamen ille decōrem
590mīrātur magis;Though she seemed to the Aonian youth to go no less swiftly than a Scythian arrow, yet he admires her grace more; Met. 10.590et cursus facit ipse decōrem.and the running itself creates grace. Met. 10.591Aura refert ablāta citīs tālāria plantīs,
tergaque iactantur crīnēs per eburnea, quaeque
poplitibus suberant pictō genuālia limbō;The breeze carries back the ankle-ribbons from her swift feet, and her hair is tossed over her ivory back, and the knee-bands with painted border that lay beneath the backs of her knees; Met. 10.594inque puellārī corpus candōre rubōrem
595trāxerat, haud aliter, quam cum super ātria vēlum
candida purpureum simulātās īnficit umbrās.and over her girlish whiteness her body had taken on a blush, just as when a purple awning over a white hall stains it with counterfeit shadows.
Met. 10.597Dum notat haec hospes, dēcursa novissima mēta est
et tegitur fēstā victrīx Atalanta corōnā.While the stranger notes these things, the final turning-post is passed, and the victorious Atalanta is crowned with a festal garland. Met. 10.599Dant gemitum victī penduntque ex foedere poenās.The defeated groan and pay the penalty according to the agreement. Met. 10.600Nōn tamen ēventū iuvenis dēterritus hōrum
cōnstitit in mediō, vultūque in virgine fīxō
"quid facilem titulum superandō quaeris inertēs?Yet not deterred by their fate, the young man stood in the middle and, his eyes fixed on the maiden, "Why do you seek an easy glory by defeating sluggards? Met. 10.603mēcum cōnfer!"Compete with me!" Met. 10.603ait.he says. Met. 10.603"Seu mē fortūna potentem
fēcerit, ā tantō nōn indignābere vincī:
605namque mihi genitor Megareus Onchestius, illī
est Neptūnus avus, pronepōs ego rēgis aquārum,
nec virtūs citrā genus est;"If fortune makes me the stronger, you will not be indignant at being beaten by so great a man: for my father is Megareus of Onchestus, his grandfather is Neptune, I am the great-grandson of the king of the waters, nor does my valour fall short of my birth; Met. 10.607seu vincar, habēbis
Hippomenē victō magnum et memorābile nōmen."or if I am beaten, you will have, in defeating Hippomenes, a great and memorable name."
Met. 10.609Tālia dīcentem mollī Schoenēia vultū
610adspicit et dubitat, superārī an vincere mālit.As he says such things, Schoeneus' daughter looks at him with softened face, and wonders whether she would rather be defeated or win. Met. 10.611Atque ita "Quis deus hunc fōrmōsīs" inquit "inīquus
perdere vult cāraeque iubet discrīmine vītae
coniugium petere hoc?And she says thus: "What god, hostile to the beautiful, wishes to destroy him and bids him seek this marriage at the risk of his dear life? Met. 10.613Nōn sum, mē iūdice, tantī.I am not worth so much, in my own judgement. Met. 10.613—Nec fōrmā tangor (poteram tamen hāc quoque tangī),
615sed quod adhūc puer est: nōn mē movet ipse, sed aetās.— Nor am I touched by his beauty (yet I could be touched by that too), but because he is still a boy: it is not he himself that moves me, but his age. Met. 10.616Quid quod īnest virtūs et mēns interrita lētī?What of the fact that he has courage and a mind unafraid of death? Met. 10.617Quid quod ab aequoreā numerātur orīgine quartus?What of the fact that he is counted fourth in descent from the sea-god?
Met. 10.618Quid quod amat tantīque putat cōnūbia nostra,
ut pereat, sī mē fors illī dūra negārit?What of the fact that he loves me and values marriage with me so highly that he would die if harsh fortune denied me to him? Met. 10.620Dum licet, hospes, abī thalamōsque relinque cruentōs:
coniugium crūdēle meum est.While you may, stranger, go away and leave this bloody bridal chamber: marriage with me is cruel. Met. 10.621Tibi nūbere nūlla
nōlet, et optārī potes ā sapiente puellā.No woman would refuse to wed you, and you can be chosen by a wiser girl. Met. 10.622—Cūr tamen est mihi cūra tuī tot iam ante peremptīs?— Yet why do I care about you, when so many have already been killed before? Met. 10.624Vīderit!Let him see to it! Met. 10.624Intereat, quoniam tot caede procōrum
625admonitus nōn est agiturque in taedia vītae.Let him die, since he has not been warned by the slaughter of so many suitors and is driven to weariness of life. Met. 10.625—Occidet hic igitur, voluit quia vīvere mēcum,
indignamque necem pretium patiētur amōris?— Shall he die, then, because he wished to live with me, and suffer an undeserved death as the price of love?
Met. 10.628Nōn erit invidiae victōria nostra ferendae.My victory will bring odium hard to bear. Met. 10.629Sed nōn culpa mea est.But the fault is not mine. Met. 10.629Utinam dēsistere vellēs,
630aut, quoniam es dēmēns, utinam vēlōcior essēs!If only you would give up, or, since you are mad, if only you were swifter! Met. 10.631Ā!Ah! Met. 10.631quam virgineus puerīlī vultus in ōre est!how maidenly a look there is in his boyish face! Met. 10.632Ā!Ah! Met. 10.632miser Hippomenē, nōllem tibi vīsa fuissem!wretched Hippomenes, I wish you had never seen me! Met. 10.633Vīvere dignus erās.You were worthy to live. Met. 10.633Quod sī fēlīcior essem,
nec mihi coniugium fāta importūna negārent,
635ūnus erās, cum quō sociāre cubīlia vellem."But if I were more fortunate, and the harsh fates did not deny me marriage, you would be the one man with whom I should wish to share a bed." Met. 10.636Dīxerat;She had spoken; Met. 10.636utque rudis prīmōque Cupīdine tācta,
quid facit ignōrāns, amat et nōn sentit amōrem.and inexperienced, touched by Cupid for the first time, not knowing what she is doing, she loves and does not realise her love.
Met. 10.638Iam solitōs poscunt cursūs populusque paterque,
cum mē sollicitā prōlēs Neptūnia vōce
640invocat Hippomenēs "Cytherēa" que "comprecor, ausīs
adsit" ait "nostrīs et quōs dedit adiuvet ignēs."Now the people and her father demand the usual race, when Neptune's descendant Hippomenes invokes me with anxious voice, and says, "Cytherea, I pray, stand by my daring and help the fires you have given." Met. 10.642Dētulit aura precēs ad mē nōn invida blandās;A kindly breeze carried his coaxing prayers down to me; Met. 10.643mōtaque sum, fateor.and I was moved, I confess. Met. 10.643Nec opis mora longa dabātur.Nor was help long delayed. Met. 10.644Est ager, indigenae Tamasēnum nōmine dīcunt,
645tellūris Cypriae pars optima, quam mihi prīscī
sacrāvēre senēs templīsque accēdere dōtem
hanc iussēre meīs.There is a field, the natives call it by the name Tamasenus, the finest part of the Cyprian land, which the elders of old consecrated to me and ordered to be added as an endowment to my temples. Met. 10.647Mediō nitet arbor in arvō,
fulva comās, fulvō rāmīs crepitantibus aurō.In the middle of the field gleams a tree, its foliage tawny, its branches rustling with tawny gold.
Met. 10.649Hinc tria forte meā veniēns dēcerpta ferēbam
650aurea pōma manū: nūllīque videnda nisi ipsī
Hippomenēn adiī docuīque, Quis ūsus in illīs.From here, as I happened to be coming, I was carrying three golden apples plucked with my own hand: and, visible to no one but him, I approached Hippomenes and taught him what use there was in them.