Met. 12.1Nescius adsūmptīs Priamus pater Aesacon alīs
vīvere lūgēbat, tumulō quoque nōmen habentī
īnferiās dederat cum frātribus Hector inānī.Unaware that Aesacus lived on, having taken wings, father Priam mourned him; to a tomb, too, which bore his name but was empty, Hector with his brothers had paid funeral offerings. Met. 12.4Dēfuit officiō Paridis praesentia trīstī,
5postmodo quī raptā longum cum coniuge bellum
attulit in patriam;Missing from that sad duty was the presence of Paris, who soon afterwards, with the wife he had carried off, brought a long war upon his country; Met. 12.6coniūrātaeque sequuntur
mīlle ratēs gentisque simul commūne Pelasgae.and a thousand ships, sworn together, follow, and with them the united force of the Pelasgian race. Met. 12.8Nec dīlāta foret vindicta, nisi aequora saevī
invia fēcissent ventī Boeōtaque tellūs
10Aulide piscōsā puppēs tenuisset itūrās.Nor would vengeance have been delayed, had not savage winds made the seas impassable, and the Boeotian land held at fish-rich Aulis the ships that were ready to sail. Met. 12.11Hīc patriō dē mōre Iovī cum sacra parāssent,
ut vetus accēnsīs incanduit ignibus āra,
serpere caeruleum Danaī vīdēre dracōnem
in platanum, coeptīs quae stābat proxima sacrīs.Here, when they had prepared sacrifices to Jupiter after their fathers' custom, as the ancient altar glowed with kindled fires, the Danaans saw a dark-blue serpent creep up into a plane tree which stood nearest to the rites they had begun.
Met. 12.15Nīdus erat volucrum bis quattuor arbore summā:
quās simul et mātrem circum sua damna volantem
corripuit serpēns avidōque recondidit ōre.At the top of the tree was a nest of twice four birds: these, and with them the mother as she flew about her loss, the serpent seized and buried in its greedy mouth. Met. 12.18Obstipuēre omnēs.All stood amazed. Met. 12.18At vērī prōvidus augur
Thestoridēs "vincēmus" ait, "gaudēte, Pelasgī!But Thestor's son, the augur, foreseeing the truth, says: 'We shall conquer; rejoice, Pelasgians! Met. 12.20Troia cadet, sed erit nostrī mora longa labōris,"
atque novem volucrēs in bellī dīgerit annōs.Troy will fall, but the delay of our labour will be long,' and he interprets the nine birds as years of war. Met. 12.22Ille, ut erat viridēs amplexus in arbore rāmōs,
fit lapis et servat serpentis imāgine saxum.The serpent, just as it was, coiled round the green branches in the tree, becomes stone, and the rock keeps the serpent's likeness. Met. 12.24Permanet Āoniīs Nēreus violentus in undīs
25bellaque nōn trānsfert;Nereus remains violent in the Aonian waters and does not carry the war across; Met. 12.25et sunt quī parcere Troiae
Neptūnum crēdant, quia moenia fēcerat urbī.and there are some who believe that Neptune was sparing Troy, because he had built the walls for the city.
Met. 12.27At nōn Thestoridēs: nec enim nescitve tacetve
sanguine virgineō plācandam virginis īram
esse deae.But not Thestor's son: for he neither fails to know nor keeps silent that the anger of the virgin goddess must be appeased with a virgin's blood. Met. 12.29Postquam pietātem pūblica causa
30rēxque patrem vīcit castumque datūra cruōrem
flentibus ante āram stetit Īphigenīa ministrīs,
victa dea est nūbemque oculīs obiēcit et inter
officium turbamque sacrī vōcēsque precantum
suppositā fertur mūtāsse Mycēnida cervā.After the public cause had overcome affection, and the king had overcome the father, and Iphigenia, about to give her pure blood, stood before the altar among weeping attendants, the goddess was overcome, and cast a cloud before their eyes, and amid the ceremony and the crowd at the rite and the voices of those praying, she is said to have exchanged the Mycenaean girl for a hind put in her place. Met. 12.35Ergō ubi, quā decuit, lēnīta est caede Diāna,
et pariter Phoebēs, pariter maris īra recessit,
accipiunt ventōs ā tergō mīlle carīnae
multaque perpessae Phrygiā potiuntur harēnā.So when Diana had been soothed by a slaughter, as was fitting, and the wrath of Phoebe and the wrath of the sea subsided together, the thousand keels take the winds astern, and after enduring much they gain the Phrygian sands.
Met. 12.39Orbe locus mediō est inter terrāsque fretumque
40caelestēsque plagās, triplicis cōnfīnia mundī,
unde quod est usquam, quamvīs regiōnibus absit,
īnspicitur, penetratque cavās vōx omnis ad aurēs.There is a place in the middle of the world, between the lands and the sea and the regions of the sky, the meeting point of the threefold universe, from which whatever is anywhere, however distant its region, is seen, and every voice makes its way to its hollow ears. Met. 12.43Fāma tenet summāque domum sibi lēgit in arce,
innumerōsque aditūs ac mīlle forāmina tēctīs
45addidit et nūllīs inclūsit līmina portīs:
nocte diēque patet.Rumour holds it, and has chosen herself a house on the topmost height, and has given its roof countless entrances and a thousand openings, and has closed its thresholds with no doors: it stands open night and day. Met. 12.46Tōta est ex aere sonantī,
tōta fremit vōcēsque refert iteratque quod audit.It is made all of sounding bronze; all of it murmurs, and gives back voices and repeats what it hears. Met. 12.48Nūlla quiēs intus nūllāque silentia parte,
nec tamen est clamor, sed parvae murmura vōcis,
50quālia dē pelagī, sīquis procul audiat, undīs
esse solent, quālemve sonum, cum Iuppiter ātrās
increpuit nūbēs, extrēma tonitrua reddunt.There is no rest within and no silence in any part, and yet there is no shouting, but murmurs of low voices, such as are wont to come from the waves of the sea if one hears them from far off, or such a sound as the last rumbles of thunder give back when Jupiter has clashed the black clouds together.
Met. 12.53Ātria turba tenet: veniunt, leve vulgus, euntque
mīxtaque cum vērīs passim commenta vagantur
55mīlia rūmōrum cōnfūsaque verba volūtant.Crowds fill the halls: they come and go, a fickle throng, and thousands of rumours, fictions mixed with truths, wander everywhere and roll confused words about. Met. 12.56Ē quibus hī vacuās inplent sermōnibus aurēs,
hī narrāta ferunt aliō;Of these, some fill idle ears with talk, others carry elsewhere what they have been told; Met. 12.57mēnsūraque fictī
crēscit, et audītīs aliquid novus adicit auctor.and the measure of the fiction grows, and each new teller adds something to what he has heard. Met. 12.59Illīc Crēdulitās, illīc temerārius Error
60vānaque Laetitia est cōnsternātīque Timōrēs
Sēditiōque recēns dubiōque auctōre Susurrī.There is Credulity, there reckless Error and empty Joy and panic-stricken Fears and sudden Sedition and Whispers of doubtful origin. Met. 12.62Ipsa, quid in caelō rērum pelagōque gerātur
et tellūre, videt tōtumque inquīrit in orbem.She herself sees what is done in heaven and on sea and land, and searches out the whole world.