Met. 13.750"Acis erat Faunō nymphāque Symaethide crētus,
magna quidem patrisque suī mātrisque voluptās,
nostra tamen maior: nam mē sibi iūnxerat ūnī.'Acis was the son of Faunus and a nymph, daughter of Symaethus, a great delight indeed to his father and his mother, but a greater one to me: for he had bound himself to me alone. Met. 13.753Pulcher et octōnīs iterum nātālibus āctīs
signārat tenerās dubiā lānūgine mālās.He was handsome, and, with his sixteenth birthday passed, he had marked his tender cheeks with uncertain down. Met. 13.755Hunc ego, mē Cyclōps nūllā cum fīne petēbat.I pursued him, the Cyclops pursued me without end. Met. 13.756Ēn sī quaesieris, odium Cyclōpis, amorne
Acidis in nōbīs fuerit praesentior, ēdam:
pār utrumque fuit.And if you should ask whether hatred of the Cyclops or love of Acis was stronger in me, I shall tell you: both were equal. Met. 13.758Prō quantā potentia regnī
est, Venus alma, tuī!O how great is the power of your kingdom, kindly Venus! Met. 13.759Nempe ille inmītis et ipsīs
760horrendus silvīs et vīsus ab hospite nūllō
impūne et magnī cum dīs contemptor Olympī,
quid sit amor, sēnsit validāque cupīdine captus
ūritur, oblītus pecorum antrōrumque suōrum.For that pitiless creature, dreaded even by the woods themselves, seen by no stranger with impunity, scorner of great Olympus along with its gods, felt what love is, and, seized by strong desire, he burns, forgetful of his flocks and his caves.
Met. 13.764Iamque tibi fōrmae, iamque est tibi cūra placendī,
765iam rigidōs pectis rāstrīs, Polyphēme, capillōs,
iam libet hirsūtam tibi falce recidere barbam
et spectāre ferōs in aquā et compōnere vultūs.And now you care about your looks, now you care about pleasing, now you comb your stiff hair with rakes, Polyphemus, now you like to cut your shaggy beard with a sickle, and to gaze at your fierce features in the water and compose them. Met. 13.768Caedis amor feritāsque sitisque inmēnsa cruōris
cessant, et tūtae veniunt abeuntque carīnae.The love of slaughter and the savagery and the boundless thirst for blood cease, and ships come and go in safety. Met. 13.770Tēlemus intereā Siculam dēlātus ad Aetnēn,
Tēlemus Eurymidēs, quem nūlla fefellerat āles,
terribilem Polyphēmon adit "lūmen" que, "quod ūnum
fronte geris mediā, rapiet tibi" dīxit "Ulixēs!"Meanwhile Telemus, carried to Sicilian Etna, Telemus son of Eurymus, whom no bird had ever deceived, approaches terrible Polyphemus and says, 'The one eye that you bear in the middle of your forehead Ulysses will take from you!' Met. 13.774Rīsit et "ō vātum stolidissime, falleris," inquit,
775"altera iam rapuit!"He laughed and said, 'O stupidest of seers, you are mistaken: another has already taken it!' Met. 13.775Sīc frūstrā vēra monentem
spernit et aut gradiēns ingentī lītora passū
dēgravat aut fessus sub opāca revertitur antra.So he scorns the man who warns him truly, in vain, and either weighs down the shores, striding with his huge pace, or wearily returns into his shadowy caves.
Met. 13.778Prōminet in pontum cuneātus acūmine longō
collis utrumque latus circumfluit aequoris unda;A wedge-shaped hill juts into the sea with a long point; the waves of the sea wash round both its sides; Met. 13.780hūc ferus ascendit Cyclōps mediusque resēdit,
lānigerae pecudēs nūllō dūcente secūtae.here the wild Cyclops climbed and sat down in the middle; his woolly flocks followed with no one leading them. Met. 13.782Cui postquam pīnus, baculī quae praebuit ūsum,
ante pedēs posita est, antemnīs apta ferendīs,
sūmptaque harundinibus compācta est fistula centum,
785sēnsērunt tōtī pāstōria sībila montēs,
sēnsērunt undae;After the pine, which served him as a staff, fit for carrying sail-yards, was laid before his feet, and he had taken up his pipe, fashioned from a hundred reeds, all the mountains felt his shepherd's whistling, the waves felt it; Met. 13.786latitāns ego rūpe meīque
Acidis in gremiō residēns procul auribus hausī
tālia dicta meīs audītaque verba notāvī:
"Candidior foliō niveī, Galatēa, ligustrī,
790flōridior prātīs, longā prōcērior alnō,
splendidior vitrō, tenerō lascīvior haedō,
levior adsiduō dētrītīs aequore conchīs,
sōlibus hībernīs, aestīvā grātior umbrā,
nōbilior pōmīs, platanō cōnspectior altā,
795lūcidior glaciē, mātūrā dulcior ūvā,
mollior et cygnī plūmīs et lacte coāctō
saevior indomitīs eadem Galatēa iuvencīs,
dūrior annōsā quercū, fallācior undīs,
800lentior et salicis virgīs et vītibus albīs,
hīs inmōbilior scopulīs, violentior amne,
laudātō pāvōne superbior, ācrior ignī,
asperior tribulīs, fētā truculentior ursā,
surdior aequoribus, calcātō inmītior hydrō,
805et, quod praecipuē vellem tibi dēmere possem.I, hiding behind a rock and resting in the lap of my Acis, caught such words far off with my ears and marked the words I heard: "Galatea, whiter than the leaf of the snowy privet, more blooming than the meadows, taller than the tall alder, more radiant than glass, more playful than a tender kid, smoother than shells worn by the constant sea, more pleasing than winter suns and summer shade, nobler than fruit, more striking than the tall plane-tree, clearer than ice, sweeter than ripe grapes, softer than swan's down and curdled milk, and the same Galatea fiercer than untamed heifers, harder than an aged oak, more deceitful than the waves, tougher than willow twigs and white vines, more immovable than these crags, more violent than a river, prouder than a praised peacock, fiercer than fire, sharper than thorns, more savage than a bear with young, deafer than the seas, more pitiless than a trodden snake, and, what above all I would wish I could take from you — Met. 13.806Nōn tantum cervō clārīs lātrātibus āctō,
vērum etiam ventīs volucrīque fugācior aurā!swifter in flight not only than a deer driven by loud barking, but even than the winds and the fleeting breeze!
Met. 13.808At bene sī nōris, pigeat fūgisse morāsque
ipsa tuās damnēs et mē retinēre labōrēs.But if you knew me well, you would regret having fled, and would yourself condemn your delays and strive to keep me. Met. 13.810Sunt mihi, pars montis, vīvō pendentia saxō
antra, quibus nec sōl mediō sentītur in aestū
nec sentītur hiems;I have caves, part of the mountain, hollowed in the living rock, in which neither the sun is felt in midsummer heat, nor is winter felt; Met. 13.812sunt pōma gravantia rāmōs,
sunt aurō similēs longīs in vītibus ūvae,
sunt et purpureae: tibi et hās servāmus et illās.there are apples weighing down the branches, there are grapes like gold on long vines, and purple ones too: for you I keep both these and those. Met. 13.815Ipsa tuīs manibus silvestrī nāta sub umbrā
mollia frāga legēs, ipsa autumnālia corna
prūnaque, nōn sōlum nigrō līventia sūcō,
vērum etiam generōsa novāsque imitantia cērās.With your own hands you will pick soft strawberries grown beneath the woodland shade, you yourself autumn cornels and plums, not only those dark with black juice but also the choice kinds that imitate new wax.
Met. 13.819Nec tibi castaneae mē coniuge, nec tibi dēerunt
820arbuteī fētūs: omnis tibi serviet arbor.Nor, with me as your husband, will chestnuts be lacking for you, nor the fruit of the strawberry-tree: every tree will serve you. Met. 13.821Hoc pecus omne meum est, multae quoque vallibus errant,
multās silva tegit, multae stabulantur in antrīs.All this flock is mine; many also wander in the valleys, many the wood hides, many are stabled in the caves. Met. 13.823Nec, sī forte rogēs, possim tibi dīcere, quot sint:
pauperis est numerāre pecus!Nor, if by chance you asked, could I tell you how many there are: it is for a poor man to count his flock! Met. 13.824Dē laudibus hārum
825nīl mihi crēdiderīs: praesēns potes ipsa vidēre,
ut vix circueant distentum crūribus ūber.As for their merits, believe nothing from me: you can see for yourself in person how they can scarcely walk around their udders swelling between their legs. Met. 13.827Sunt, fētūra minor, tepidīs in ovīlibus agnī,
sunt quoque, pār aetās, aliīs in ovīlibus haedī.There are lambs, a younger brood, in warm folds, and there are kids too, of equal age, in other folds.
Met. 13.829Lāc mihi semper adest niveum: pars inde bibenda
830servātur, partem liquefacta coagula dūrant.I always have snowy milk: part of it is kept for drinking, part is hardened by the rennet dissolved in it. Met. 13.831Nec tibi dēliciae facilēs vulgātaque tantum
mūnera contingent, dammae leporēsque caperque
parve columbārum dēmptusve cacūmine nīdus:
invēnī geminōs, quī tēcum lūdere possint,
835inter sē similēs, vix ut dignōscere possīs,
villōsae catulōs in summīs montibus ursae,
invēnī et dīxī "dominae servābimus istōs!"Nor will easy delights and only common gifts fall to you, does and hares and a goat, or a pair of doves or a nest taken from a treetop: I have found twins, which could play with you, so like each other that you could scarcely tell them apart, the cubs of a shaggy bear on the mountain tops; I found them and said, 'We shall keep these for our mistress!' Met. 13.838Iam modo caeruleō nitidum caput exsere pontō,
iam, Galatēa, venī, nec mūnera dēspice nostra.Now only lift your shining head from the blue sea, now, Galatea, come, and do not despise my gifts.
Met. 13.840Certē ego mē nōvī liquidaeque in imāgine vīdī
nūper aquae, placuitque mihi mea fōrma videntī.Surely I know myself, and lately I saw myself in the reflection of clear water, and my form pleased me as I looked. Met. 13.842Adspice, sim quantus!Look how big I am! Met. 13.842Nōn est hōc corpore maior
Iuppiter in caelō: nam vōs narrāre solētis,
nesciō quem regnāre Iovem.Jupiter in the sky is not larger than this body: for you are always saying that some Jove or other reigns there. Met. 13.844Coma plūrima torvōs
845prōminet in vultūs umerōsque, ut lūcus, obumbrat.A mass of hair juts over my grim face and shades my shoulders like a grove. Met. 13.846Nec mea quod rigidīs horrent dēnsissima saetīs
corpora, turpe putā turpis sine frondibus arbor,
turpis equus, nisi colla iubae flāventia vēlent;And do not think it ugly that my body bristles thick with stiff hairs: ugly is a tree without leaves, ugly a horse, unless a golden mane veils its neck; Met. 13.850barba virōs hirtaeque decent in corpore saetae.beards and shaggy bristles on the body become men. Met. 13.851Ūnum est in mediā lūmen mihi fronte, sed īnstar
ingentis clipeī.I have one eye in the middle of my forehead, but it is like a huge shield.
Met. 13.852Quid?What? Met. 13.852nōn haec omnia magnus
Sōl videt ē caelō?does not the great Sun see all these things from the sky? Met. 13.853Sōlī tamen ūnicus orbis!Yet the Sun has but one orb! Met. 13.854Adde, quod in vestrō genitor meus aequore regnat:
855hunc tibi dō socerum;Add that my father reigns in your sea: him I give you as father-in-law; Met. 13.855tantum miserēre precēsque
supplicis exaudī!only take pity and hear a suppliant's prayers! Met. 13.856tibi enim succumbimus ūnī.for to you alone I yield. Met. 13.857Quique Iovem et caelum spernō et penetrābile fulmen,
Nērēi, tē veneror: tua fulmine saevior īra est.I who scorn Jupiter and heaven and the piercing thunderbolt, I revere you, daughter of Nereus: your anger is fiercer than the thunderbolt. Met. 13.858—Atque ego contemptus essem patientior huius,
860sī fugerēs omnēs;— And I would be more patient of this contempt if you fled from everyone; Met. 13.860sed cūr Cyclōpe repulsō
Ācin amās praefersque meīs complexibus Ācin?but why, rejecting the Cyclops, do you love Acis, and prefer Acis to my embraces? Met. 13.862Ille tamen placeatque sibi placeatque licēbit,
quod nōllem, Galatēa, tibi;Let him, though, please himself, and let him please you too, Galatea, which I would not wish; Met. 13.863modo cōpia dētur,
sentiet esse mihi tantō prō corpore vīrēs!only let me have the chance, and he will find that I have strength to match so great a body!
Met. 13.865Viscera vīva traham dīvīsaque membra per agrōs
perque tuās spargam (sīc sē tibi misceat!) undās.I shall tear out his living entrails and scatter his torn limbs over the fields and over your waves (so may he be joined with you!). Met. 13.867Ūror enim, laesusque exaestuat ācrior ignis,
cumque suīs videor trānslātam vīribus Aetnam
pectore ferre meō: nec tū, Galatēa, movēris."For I burn, and the fire, provoked, rages more fiercely, and I seem to carry Etna, transferred with all its force, in my breast: and you, Galatea, are not moved." Met. 13.870Tālia nēquīquam questus (nam cūncta vidēbam)
surgit et ut taurus vaccā furibundus ademptā,
stāre nequit silvāque et notīs saltibus errat:
cum ferus ignārōs nec quicquam tāle timentēs
mē videt atque Ācin "videō" que exclāmat "et ista
875ultima sit, faciam, veneris concordia vestrae!"Having complained thus in vain (for I saw everything), he rises, and like a bull raging when his heifer is taken away, he cannot stand still and wanders through the wood and the familiar glades: when, wild, he sees me and Acis, unaware and fearing no such thing, and cries, "I see you, and I shall make this the last meeting of your love!"
Met. 13.876Tantaque vōx, quantam Cyclōps īrātus habēre
dēbuit, illa fuit: clamōre perhorruit Aetnē.And that voice was as great as an angry Cyclops ought to have: Etna shuddered at the shout. Met. 13.878Ast ego vīcīnō pavefacta sub aequore mergor,
terga fugae dederat conversa Symaethius hērōs
880et "fer opem, Galatēa, precor, mihi!But I, terrified, plunge beneath the neighbouring sea; the Symaethian hero had turned his back in flight, and "Bring help, Galatea, I pray, to me! Met. 13.880ferte, parentēs"
dīxerat "et vestrīs peritūrum admittite regnīs!"help me, parents," he had said, "and admit me, about to die, into your kingdoms!" Met. 13.882Īnsequitur Cyclōps partemque ē monte revulsam
mittit, et extrēmus quamvīs pervēnit ad illum,
angulus is mōlis tōtum tamen obruit Ācin.The Cyclops pursues and hurls a piece torn from the mountain, and though only the very corner of the mass reached him, it buried the whole of Acis. Met. 13.885At nōs, quod fierī sōlum per fāta licēbat,
fēcimus, ut vīrēs adsūmeret Acis avītās.But we did what alone the fates allowed to be done: we made Acis take on his ancestral powers. Met. 13.887Pūniceus dē mōle cruor mānābat, et intrā
temporis exiguum rubor ēvānēscere coepit
fitque color prīmō turbātī flūminis imbre
890pūrgāturque morā;Crimson blood was trickling from the mass, and within a short time its redness began to vanish, and it becomes the colour of a river troubled by the first rain, and is cleared with time; Met. 13.890tum mōlēs tācta dēhīscit,
vīvaque per rīmās prōcēraque surgit harundō,
ōsque cavum saxī sonat exsultantibus undīs:
mīraque rēs, subitō mediā tenus exstitit alvō
incīnctus iuvenis flexīs nova cornua cannīs,
895quī, nisi quod maior, quod tōtō caerulus ōre,
Acis erat.then the mass, at a touch, splits open, and a living, tall reed rises through the cracks, and the hollow mouth of the rock resounds with leaping waters: and, a marvellous thing, suddenly a youth stood out as far as the middle of his belly, his new horns wreathed with bending reeds, who, except that he was larger, and blue over all his face, was Acis.
Met. 13.896Sed sīc quoque erat tamen Acis, in amnem
versus, et antīquum tenuērunt flūmina nōmen."But even so he was still Acis, turned into a river, and the stream has kept his ancient name.'