Met. 13.898Dēsierat Galatēa loquī, coetūque solūtō
discēdunt placidīsque natant Nērēidēs undīs.Galatea had stopped speaking, and, the gathering breaking up, the Nereids depart and swim through the calm waves. Met. 13.900Scylla redit (neque enim mediō sē crēdere pontō
audet) et aut bibulā sine vestibus errat harēnā,
aut, ubi lassāta est, sēductōs nacta recessūs
gurgitis, inclūsa sua membra refrīgerat undā.Scylla returns (for she does not dare trust herself to the open sea) and either wanders unclothed on the thirsty sand, or, when she is tired, finding a secluded inlet of the water, cools her limbs enclosed in its waves. Met. 13.904Ecce fretum scindēns altī novus incola pontī,
905nūper in Euboicā versīs Anthēdone membrīs,
Glaucus adest vīsaeque cupīdine virginis haeret
et quaecumque putat fugientem posse morārī
verba refert;See, cleaving the sea, a new inhabitant of the deep, his limbs lately changed at Euboean Anthedon, Glaucus comes, and, seized with desire at the sight of the maiden, he stops still and speaks whatever words he thinks may delay her flight; Met. 13.908fugit illa tamen vēlōxque timōre
pervēnit in summum positī prope lītora montis.yet she flees, and, swift with fear, reaches the top of a mountain set near the shore.
Met. 13.910Ante fretum est ingēns, apicem conlēctus in ūnum,
longa sub arboribus convexus in aequora vertex:
cōnstitit hīc, et tūta locō, mōnstrumne deusne
ille sit, ignōrāns, admīrāturque colōrem
caesariemque umerōs subiectaque terga tegentem,
915ultimaque excipiat quod tortilis inguina piscis.Facing the sea there is a huge peak, gathered into a single point, long and arching beneath its trees out over the waters: here she stood, and, safe in the place, not knowing whether he is monster or god, she marvels at his colour and the hair covering his shoulders and the back beneath, and that a twisting fish takes up his loins at their end. Met. 13.916Sēnsit et innītēns, quae stābat proxima, mōlī,
"nōn ego prōdigium nec sum fera bēlua, virgō,
sed deus" inquit "aquae: nec maius in aequore Prōteus
iūs habet et Trītōn Athamantiadēsque Palaemōn.He sensed it, and, leaning on the rock that stood nearest, said, 'I am no prodigy nor a wild beast, maiden, but a god of the water: neither Proteus has greater power in the sea, nor Triton, nor Palaemon, son of Athamas. Met. 13.920Ante tamen mortālis eram, sed, scīlicet altīs
dēditus aequoribus, tantum exercēbar in illīs.Yet before I was mortal, but, devoted, as you may guess, to the deep seas, I busied myself only in them.
Met. 13.922Nam modo dūcēbam dūcentia rētia piscēs,
nunc in mōle sedēns moderābar harundine līnum.For now I would drag nets that drew in fish, now, sitting on a rock, I would manage line with rod. Met. 13.924Sunt viridī prātō cōnfīnia lītora, quōrum
925altera pars undīs, pars altera cingitur herbīs,
quās neque cornigerae morsū laesēre iuvencae,
nec placidae carpsistis ovēs hirtaeve capellae;There are shores bordering a green meadow, of which one part is bounded by waves, the other by grass, which neither horned heifers have harmed by grazing, nor have you, gentle sheep or shaggy goats, cropped; Met. 13.928nōn apis inde tulit conlēctōs sēmine flōrēs,
nōn data sunt capitī geniālia serta, neque umquam
930falciferae secuēre manūs;no bee has carried off from there flowers gathered for their seed, no festive garlands have been given from it for heads, nor have hands bearing sickles ever cut it; Met. 13.930ego prīmus in illō
caespite cōnsēdī, dum līna madentia siccō,
utque recēnsērem captīvōs ōrdine piscēs,
īnsuper exposuī, quōs aut in rētia cāsus
aut sua crēdulitās in aduncōs ēgerat hāmōs.I was the first to sit on that turf, while I dried my dripping lines, and, so as to count my captive fish in order, I laid out upon it those which either chance had driven into my nets or their own credulity onto my hooks.
Met. 13.935Rēs similis fictae (sed quid mihi fingere prōdest?):
grāmine contāctō coepit mea praeda movērī
et mūtāre latus terrāque, ut in aequore, nītī.The thing seems like an invention (but what does inventing profit me?): when the grass was touched, my catch began to move and to turn from side to side and to strive on land as if in the sea. Met. 13.938Dumque moror mīrorque simul, fugit omnis in undās
turba suās dominumque novum lītusque relinquunt.And while I hesitate and wonder at the same time, the whole crowd flees into its own waves, and they leave their new master and the shore. Met. 13.940Obstipuī dubitōque diū causamque requīrō,
num deus hoc aliquis, num sūcus fēcerit herbae.I was amazed and doubt long and seek the cause, whether some god had done this, or the juice of the grass. Met. 13.942"Quae" tamen "hās" inquam "vīrēs habet herba?",manūque
pābula dēcerpsī dēcerptaque dente momordī."Yet what herb," I said, "has such powers?", and with my hand I plucked the grass and, once plucked, bit it with my teeth.
Met. 13.944Vix bene combiberant ignōtōs guttura sūcōs,
945cum subitō trepidāre intus praecordia sēnsī
alterīusque rapī nātūrae pectus amōre,
nec potuī restāre diū "repetenda" que "numquam
terra, valē!"Scarcely had my throat drunk down the unknown juices, when suddenly I felt my heart tremble within me and my breast seized with love of another nature, and I could not resist for long, and "Farewell, land, never to be sought again!" Met. 13.948dīxī corpusque sub aequora mersī.I said, and plunged my body beneath the sea. Met. 13.949Dī maris exceptum sociō dignantur honōre,
950utque mihi quaecumque feram mortālia, dēmant,
Oceanum Tēthynque rogant: ego lūstror ab illīs,
et pūrgante nefās noviēns mihi carmine dictō
pectora flūminibus iubeor suppōnere centum;The gods of the sea receive me and deem me worthy of honour as their companion, and ask Ocean and Tethys to remove from me whatever mortal nature I bore: I am purified by them, and after a song that purges wrong has been chanted nine times over me, I am ordered to put my breast beneath a hundred rivers; Met. 13.954nec mora, dīversīs lapsī dē partibus amnēs
955tōtaque vertuntur suprā caput aequora nostrum.at once rivers glide from different directions and whole waters are poured over my head.
Met. 13.956Hāctenus ācta tibi possum memoranda referre,
hāctenus haec meminī, nec mēns mea cētera sēnsit.So far I can relate to you events worth recalling, so far I remember them; my mind did not perceive the rest. Met. 13.958Quae postquam rediit, alium mē corpore tōtō
ac fueram nūper, neque eundem mente recēpī.When it returned, I found myself different in my whole body from what I had lately been, and not the same in mind. Met. 13.960Hanc ego tum prīmum viridem ferrūgine barbam
caesariemque meam, quam longa per aequora verrō,
ingentēsque umerōs et caerula bracchia vīdī
crūraque pinnigerō curvāta novissima pisce.Then for the first time I saw this beard green with rust, and my hair, which I sweep through the long seas, and my huge shoulders and blue arms and my legs curving at their end into a finned fish. Met. 13.964Quid tamen haec speciēs, quid dīs placuisse marīnīs,
965quid iuvat esse deum, sī tū nōn tangeris istīs?"Yet what does this appearance help, what does it help to have pleased the sea gods, what does it help to be a god, if you are not touched by these things?' Met. 13.966Tālia dīcentem, dictūrum plūra, relīquit
Scylla deum;As he was saying such things, and would have said more, Scylla left the god; Met. 13.967furit ille inrītātusque repulsā
prōdigiōsa petit Tītānidos ātria Circēs.he rages, and, angered by the rejection, he makes for the marvel-filled halls of Circe, daughter of the Titan.