Met. 15.479Tālibus atque aliīs īnstrūctum pectora dictīs
480in patriam remeāsse ferunt ultrōque petītum
accēpisse Numam populī Latiāris habēnās.With such words and others, they say, Numa returned to his homeland, his heart instructed, and, at the people's own request, accepted the reins of the Latin people. Met. 15.482Coniuge quī fēlīx nymphā ducibusque Camēnīs
sacrificōs docuit rītūs gentemque ferōcī
adsuētam bellō pācis trādūxit ad artēs.Happy in his nymph wife and with the Camenae as his guides, he taught the rites of sacrifice and led a people accustomed to fierce war over to the arts of peace. Met. 15.485Quī postquam senior regnumque aevumque perēgit,
exstīnctum Latiaeque nurūs populusque patrēsque
dēflēvēre Numam;When, grown old, he had completed his reign and his life, the Latin women, the people and the fathers wept for Numa's death; Met. 15.487nam coniūnx urbe relictā
vallis Arīcīnae dēnsīs latet abdita silvīs
sacraque Orestēae gemitū questūque Diānae
490impedit: ā!for his wife, leaving the city, lies hidden in the dense woods of the Arician valley and disturbs the rites of Orestean Diana with her groaning and lament: ah!
Met. 15.490quotiēns nymphae nemorisque lacūsque,
nē faceret, monuēre et cōnsōlantia verba
dīxērunt.how often the nymphs of the grove and the lake urged her not to do so, and spoke consoling words. Met. 15.492Quotiēns flentī Thēsēius hērōs
"siste modum!"How often the hero, son of Theseus, said to her as she wept: 'Set a limit!' Met. 15.493dīxit, "neque enim fortūna querenda
sōla tua est est;he said, 'for your fortune is not the only one to be lamented; Met. 15.494similēs aliōrum respice cāsūs:
495mītius ista ferēs, utinamque exempla dolentem
nōn mea tē possent relevāre!look at the like misfortunes of others: you will bear yours more gently; and I wish that examples other than mine could relieve your grief! Met. 15.496Sed et mea possunt.But mine too can. Met. 15.497Fandō aliquem Hippolytum vestrās putō, contigit aurēs
crēdulitāte patris, scelerātae fraude novercae
occubuisse necī: mīrābere, vixque probābō,
500sed tamen ille ego sum.Someone called Hippolytus has, I think, reached your ears by report, who met his death through his father's credulity and the deceit of a wicked stepmother: you will be amazed, and I shall hardly prove it, but yet I am he.
Met. 15.500Mē Pāsiphaēia quondam
temptātum frūstrā patrium temerāre cubīle,
quod voluit, voluisse, īnfēlīx crīmine versō
(indiciīne metū magis offēnsāne repulsae?)
damnāvit, meritumque nihil pater ēicit urbe
505hostīlīque caput prece dētestātur euntis.The daughter of Pasiphae, having once tried in vain to tempt me to defile my father's bed, claimed that I had wanted what she had wanted, and, turning the charge round (was it more from fear of disclosure, or offended at her rejection?), the wretched woman condemned me; and my father drives me, guilty of nothing, from the city, and as I go curses my head with a hostile prayer. Met. 15.506Pittheam profugō currū Troezēna petēbam,
iamque Corinthiacī carpēbam lītora pontī,
cum mare surrēxit, cumulusque inmānis aquārum
in montis speciem curvārī et crēscere vīsus
510et dare mūgītūs summōque cacūmine findī.I was making for Pittheus' Troezen in my fleeing chariot, and was already travelling along the shores of the Corinthian sea, when the sea rose, and a huge heap of waters seemed to curve into the shape of a mountain and grow, and give out bellowings, and split at its topmost peak.
Met. 15.511Corniger hinc taurus ruptīs expellitur undīs,
pectoribusque tenus mollēs ērēctus in aurās
nāribus et patulō partem maris ēvomit ōre.From there a horned bull is driven out of the broken waves, and, raised up to the chest into the soft air, spews out part of the sea from its nostrils and wide mouth. Met. 15.514Corda pavent comitum.The hearts of my companions are terrified. Met. 15.514Mihi mēns interrita mānsit
515exsiliīs contenta suīs: cum colla ferōcēs
ad freta convertunt adrēctīsque auribus horrent
quadrupedēs mōnstrīque metū turbantur et altīs
praecipitant currum scopulīs;My mind remained undaunted, content with its own exile: when the fierce horses turn their necks towards the sea and, ears pricked, shudder, and are thrown into confusion by fear of the monster, and hurl the chariot down the high cliffs; Met. 15.518ego dūcere vāna
frēna manū spūmīs albentibus oblita luctor
520et retrō lentās tendō resupīnus habēnās.I struggle with my hand to guide the useless reins, smeared with white foam, and, leaning back, I pull the pliant reins towards me. Met. 15.521Nec vīrēs tamen hās rabiēs superāsset equōrum.And yet the frenzy of the horses would not have overcome this strength of mine.
Met. 15.522nī rota, perpetuum quā circumvertitur axem,
stīpitis occursū frācta ac disiecta fuisset.had not the wheel, where it turns around its everlasting axle, been broken and wrenched apart by striking a stump. Met. 15.524Excutior currū, lōrīsque tenentibus artūs
525viscera vīva trahī nervōsque in stipe tenērī,
membra rapī partim, partim reprēnsa relinquī,
ossa gravem dare frācta sonum fessamque vidērēs
exhālārī animam nūllāsque in corpore partēs,
nōscere quās possēs;I am thrown from the chariot, and, with the reins holding my limbs, you would have seen my living flesh dragged along, my sinews caught on the stump, my limbs partly carried off, partly caught and left behind, my broken bones giving a heavy sound, and my weary soul breathed out, and no parts of my body which you could recognise; Met. 15.529ūnumque erat omnia vulnus.and all was one wound. Met. 15.530Num potes aut audēs clādī compōnere nostrae,
nympha, tuam?Can you, or do you dare, nymph, to compare your disaster with mine? Met. 15.531Vīdī quoque lūce carentia regna
et lacerum fōvī Phlegethontide corpus in undā,
nec nisi Apollineae validō medicāmine prōlis
reddita vīta foret;I also saw the realms that lack light, and bathed my torn body in the water of Phlegethon; nor would life have been restored to me but for the powerful remedy of Apollo's son; Met. 15.534quam postquam fortibus herbīs
535atque ope Paeōniā Dīte indignante recēpī,
tum mihi, nē praesēns augērem mūneris huius
invidiam, dēnsās obiēcit Cynthia nūbēs,
utque forem tūtus possemque impūne vidērī,
addidit aetātem nec cognōscenda relīquit
540ōra mihi Crētēnque diū dubitāvit habendam
trāderet an Dēlon: Dēlō Crētēque relictīs
hīc posuit nōmenque simul, quod possit equōrum
admonuisse, iubet dēpōnere, "quī" que "fuistī
Hippolytus" dīxit, "nunc īdem Virbius estō!"and after I had recovered it by potent herbs and Paeonian aid, to the indignation of Dis, then, lest my presence should increase resentment at this gift, Cynthia threw thick clouds around me, and so that I might be safe and could be seen without harm, she added age to me and left me a face that could not be recognised, and long hesitated whether to give me Crete or Delos to dwell in: leaving Delos and Crete, she placed me here, and at the same time bade me lay aside my name, which might have called horses to mind, and said: "You who were Hippolytus, be now the same man as Virbius!"
Met. 15.545Hoc nemus inde colō, dē dīsque minōribus ūnus
nūmine sub dominae lateō atque accēnseor illī."From then on I dwell in this grove, and as one of the lesser gods I lie hidden under the power of my mistress and am counted among her train.' Met. 15.547Nōn tamen Ēgeriae lūctūs aliēna levāre
damna valent, montisque iacēns rādīcibus īmīs
līquitur in lacrimās, dōnec pietāte dolentis
550mōta soror Phoebī gelidum dē corpore fontem
fēcit et aeternās artūs tenuāvit in undās.Yet the sorrows of others cannot relieve Egeria's grief, and lying at the very foot of the mountain she melts into tears, until Phoebus' sister, moved by the devotion of the mourner, made a cool spring from her body and thinned her limbs into everlasting waters.