Met. 11.708Plūra dolor prohibet, verbōque intervenit omnī
plangor, et attonitō gemitūs ā corde trahuntur.Grief forbids more, and lamentation breaks into every word, and groans are drawn from her stunned heart. Met. 11.710Māne erat, ēgreditur tēctīs ad lītus et illum
maesta locum repetit, dē quō spectārat euntem.It was morning; she goes out of the house to the shore and sadly returns to that place from which she had watched him leave. Met. 11.712Dumque morātur ibi, dumque "hīc retinācula solvit,
hōc mihi discēdēns dedit ōscula lītore" dīcit,
715prōspicit: in liquidā, spatiō distante, tuētur
nesciō quid quasi corpus, aquā.And while she lingers there, and while she says, 'Here he cast off the moorings, on this shore he gave me kisses as he left,' she looks out: in the clear water, some distance off, she sees something like a body. Met. 11.716Prīmōque, quid illud
esset, erat dubium;And at first it was uncertain what it was; Met. 11.717postquam paulum appulit unda,
et, quamvīs aberat, corpus tamen esse liquēbat,
quī foret, ignōrāns, quia naufragus, ōmine mōta est
720et, tamquam ignōtō lacrimam daret, "heu!after the wave had brought it in a little and, although it was still far off, it was nonetheless plain that it was a body, though not knowing who it was, yet because it was a shipwrecked man, she was moved by the omen and, as though giving her tears to a stranger, said, 'Alas!
Met. 11.720miser" inquit
"quisquis es, et Sīqua est coniūnx tibi !"poor man, whoever you are, and your wife, if you have one!' Met. 11.721Flūctibus āctum
fit propius corpus;Driven by the waves, the body comes nearer; Met. 11.722quod quō magis illa tuētur,
hōc minus et minus est mentis sua, iamque propinquae
admōtum terrae, iam quod cognōscere posset,
725cernit: erat coniūnx.and the more she gazes at it, the less and less is she in her right mind, and now she sees it brought close to the near shore, now so that she could recognise it: it was her husband. Met. 11.725"Ille est!"'It is he!' Met. 11.725exclāmat et ūnā
ōra, comās, vestem lacerat tendēnsque trementēs
ad Cēyca manūs "sīc, ō cārissime coniūnx,
sīc ad mē, miserande, redīs?"she cries, and at once tears her face, her hair, her clothes, and stretching her trembling hands towards Ceyx, 'Is this how, dearest husband, is this how, poor man, you come back to me?' Met. 11.728ait.she says. Met. 11.728Adiacet undīs
facta manū mōlēs, quae prīmās aequoris undās
730frangit et incursūs quae praedēlassat aquārum.Next to the waters is a mole built by hand, which breaks the first waves of the sea and wears out beforehand the onslaught of the waters.
Met. 11.731Īnsilit hūc, mīrumque fuit potuisse: volābat
percutiēnsque levem modo nātīs āera pennīs
stringēbat summās āles miserābilis undās.She leaps onto it, and it was a wonder she could: she was flying, and, beating the light air with newborn wings, she skimmed the tops of the waves, a pitiable bird. Met. 11.734Dumque volat, maestō similem plēnumque querellae
735ōra dedēre sonum tenuī crepitantia rōstrō.And as she flies, her mouth, clattering with its slender beak, gave out a sound like one in grief and full of complaint. Met. 11.736Ut vērō tetigit mūtum et sine sanguine corpus,
dīlēctōs artūs amplexa recentibus alīs
frīgida nēquīquam dūrō dedit ōscula rōstrō.But when she touched the mute and bloodless body, embracing the beloved limbs with her new wings, she gave cold kisses in vain with her hard beak. Met. 11.739Sēnserit hoc Cēyx, an vultum mōtibus undae
740tollere sit vīsus, populus dubitābat: at ille
sēnserat, et tandem superīs miserantibus, ambō
ālite mūtantur.Whether Ceyx felt this, or only seemed to lift his face with the motion of the wave, the people were in doubt: but he had felt it, and at last, through the pity of the gods, both are changed into birds.
Met. 11.742Fātīs obnoxius īsdem
tunc quoque mānsit amor, nec coniugiāle solūtum est
foedus in ālitibus: coeunt fīuntque parentēs,
745perque diēs placidōs hībernō tempore septem
incubat Alcyonē pendentibus aequore nīdīs.Subject to the same fate, their love remained even then, nor was the marriage bond loosened in the birds: they mate and become parents, and through seven calm days in the winter season Alcyone broods on her nest floating on the sea. Met. 11.747Tunc iacet unda maris: ventōs custōdit et arcet
Aeolus ēgressū praestatque nepōtibus aequor.Then the sea's waves lie still: Aeolus guards the winds and keeps them from going out, and makes the sea calm for his grandchildren.