Met. 14.101Hās ubi praeteriit et Parthenopēia dextra
moenia dēseruit, laevā dē parte canōrī
Aeolidae tumulum et, loca fēta palūstribus undīs,
lītora Cūmārum vīvācisque antra Sibyllae
105intrat, et ut mānēs veniat per Averna paternōs,
ōrat.When he had passed these and left behind the walls of Parthenope on the right, on the left-hand side he enters the tomb of the tuneful son of Aeolus and, a place teeming with marshy waters, the shores of Cumae and the cave of the long-lived Sibyl, and begs that he may go through Avernus to his father's shade. Met. 14.106At illa diū vultum tellūre morātum
ērēxit tandemque deō furibunda receptō
"magna petis" dīxit, "vir factīs maxime, cuius
dextera per ferrum est, pietās spectāta per ignēs.But she raised her face, long fixed on the ground, and at last, frenzied as the god entered her, said, 'Great things you ask, man greatest in deeds, whose right hand has been proved through the sword, your devotion through fire. Met. 14.110Pōne tamen, Trōiāne, metum: potiēre petītīs
Elysiāsque domōs et regna novissima mundī
mē duce cognōscēs simulācraque cāra parentis.Yet put aside fear, Trojan: you will gain what you seek, and with me as guide you will come to know the Elysian homes and the last realm of the world and the dear image of your father.
Met. 14.113Invia virtūtī nūlla est via!"To valour no way is impassable!' Met. 14.113Dīxit et aurō
fulgentem rāmum silvā Iūnōnis Avernae
115mōnstrāvit iussitque suō dīvellere truncō.She spoke, and pointed out in the wood of Avernian Juno a bough gleaming with gold, and ordered him to tear it from its trunk. Met. 14.116Pāruit Aenēās et formīdābilis Orcī
vīdit opēs atavōsque suōs umbramque senīlem
magnanimī Anchīsae;Aeneas obeyed and saw the riches of dread Orcus and his ancestors and the aged shade of great-hearted Anchises; Met. 14.118didicit quoque iūra locōrum,
quaeque novīs essent adeunda perīcula bellīs.he learned too the laws of those regions, and what dangers he must face in new wars. Met. 14.120Inde ferēns lassōs adversō trāmite passūs
cum duce Cūmaeā mollit sermōne labōrem.Then, carrying his weary steps along the upward path, he lightens the toil by talking with his Cumaean guide. Met. 14.122Dumque iter horrendum per opāca crepuscula carpit,
"seu dea tū praesēns, seu dīs grātissima" dīxit,
"nūminis īnstar eris semper mihi mēque fatēbor
125mūneris esse tuī, quae mē loca mortis adīre,
quae loca mē vīsae voluistī ēvādere mortis.And while he makes his way along the dreadful road through the dark twilight, he said, 'Whether you are a goddess in person or one most dear to the gods, you will always be as a deity to me, and I shall confess that I owe myself to your gift, you who willed me to enter the places of death, and to escape the places of death that I had seen.
Met. 14.127Prō quibus āeriās meritīs ēvectus ad aurās
templa tibi statuam, tribuam tibi tūris honōrēs."For these services, when I have come up to the airs above, I will set up a temple to you and grant you the honours of incense.' Met. 14.129Respicit hunc vātēs et suspīrātibus haustīs
130"nec dea sum" dīxit "nec sacrī tūris honōre
hūmānum dignāre caput;The prophetess looks back at him and, drawing deep sighs, said, 'I am no goddess, nor should you deem a human head worthy of the honour of holy incense; Met. 14.131neu nescius errēs,
lūx aeterna mihi caritūraque fīne dabātur,
sī mea virginitās Phoebō patuisset amantī.and so that you do not err in ignorance, eternal light without end was being offered to me, if my virginity had yielded to Phoebus, who loved me. Met. 14.134Dum tamen hanc spērat dum praecorrumpere dōnīs
135mē cupit, "ēlige" ait, "virgō Cūmaea, quid optēs:
optātīs potiēre tuīs."But while he was hoping for this, while he longed to corrupt me beforehand with gifts, he said, "Choose, Cumaean maiden, what you wish: you shall have your wish."
Met. 14.136Ego pulveris haustī
ostendī cumulum: quot habēret corpora pulvis,
tot mihi nātālēs contingere vāna rogāvī;I, taking up a handful of dust, pointed to the heap and foolishly asked that as many birthdays should fall to me as the dust had grains; Met. 14.139excīdit, ut peterem iuvenēs quoque prōtinus annōs.it slipped my mind to ask that the years too should stay young throughout. Met. 14.140Hōs tamen ille mihi dabat aeternamque iuventam,
sī venerem paterer: contemptō mūnere Phoebī
innuba permaneō;Yet he was offering me these and eternal youth, if I would submit to love: I scorned the gift of Phoebus and remain unwed; Met. 14.142sed iam fēlīcior aetās
terga dedit, tremulōque gradū vēnit aegra senectūs,
quae patienda diū est (nam iam mihi saecula septem
145ācta vidēs): superest, numerōs ut pulveris aequem,
ter centum messēs, ter centum musta vidēre.but now the happier time of life has turned its back, and sickly old age has come with trembling step, and it must long be endured (for, as you see, I have now lived through seven centuries): it remains for me, to equal the number of the grains of dust, to see three hundred harvests, three hundred vintages.
Met. 14.147Tempus erit, cum dē tantō mē corpore parvam
longa diēs faciet cōnsūmptaque membra senectā
ad minimum redigentur onus: nec amāta vidēbor
150nec placuisse deō;The time will come when the length of days will make me small from so great a body, and my limbs, consumed by age, will be reduced to the slightest weight: I shall seem neither to have been loved nor to have pleased a god; Met. 14.150Phoebus quoque forsitan ipse
vel nōn cognōscet vel dīlēxisse negābit:
ūsque adeō mūtāta ferar, nūllīque videnda,
vōce tamen nōscar;Phoebus himself perhaps will either not recognise me or will deny that he loved me: so utterly changed shall I be said to be, and, visible to no one, I shall yet be known by my voice; Met. 14.153vōcem mihi fāta relinquent."my voice the fates will leave me.'