Met. 2.103Fīnierat monitūs: dictīs tamen ille repugnat
prōpositumque premit flagratque cupīdine currūs.He had finished his warnings: yet the boy resists his words, presses his purpose, and burns with desire for the chariot. Met. 2.105Ergō quā licuit genitor cūnctātus ad altōs
dēdūcit iuvenem, Vulcānia mūnera, currūs.So his father, having delayed as long as he could, leads the youth to the lofty chariot, the gift of Vulcan. Met. 2.107Aureus axis erat, tēmō aureus, aurea summae
curvātūra rotae, radiōrum argenteus ōrdō;The axle was golden, the pole golden, golden the rim of the outer wheel, the spokes a row of silver; Met. 2.109per iuga chrysolithī positaeque ex ōrdine gemmae
110clāra repercussō reddēbant lūmina Phoebō.along the yoke chrysolites and gems set in order gave back bright light as Phoebus was reflected on them. Met. 2.111Dumque ea magnanimus Phaethōn mīrātur opusque
perspicit, ecce vigil nitidō patefēcit ab ortū
purpureās Aurōra forēs et plēna rosārum
ātria.And while great-hearted Phaethon marvels at these things and examines the workmanship, look, watchful Aurora has opened in the shining east her purple doors and her halls full of roses.
Met. 2.114Diffugiunt stellae, quārum agmina cōgit
115Lūcifer et caelī statiōne novissimus exit.The stars scatter, whose ranks Lucifer marshals, and he leaves his station in the sky the last of all. Met. 2.116Quem petere ut terrās mundumque rubēscere vīdit
cornuaque extrēmae velut ēvānēscere lūnae,
iungere equōs Tītān vēlōcibus imperat Hōrīs.When the Titan saw him making for the earth, and the world reddening, and the horns of the waning moon as it were vanishing, he orders the swift Hours to yoke the horses. Met. 2.119Iussa deae celerēs peragunt, ignemque vomentēs,
120ambrosiae sūcō saturōs, praesēpibus altīs
quadrupedēs dūcunt adduntque sonantia frēna.The goddesses swiftly carry out his orders, and lead from the high stalls the four-footed steeds, vomiting fire and filled with the juice of ambrosia, and put on the clanking bridles. Met. 2.122Tum pater ōra suī sacrō medicāmine nātī
contigit et rapidae fēcit patientia flammae
imposuitque comae radiōs, praesāgaque lūctūs
125pectore sollicitō repetēns suspīria dīxit:
"Sī potes hīs saltem monitīs pārēre parentis,
parce, puer, stimulīs et fortius ūtere lōrīs:
sponte suā properant;Then the father touched his son's face with a sacred ointment and made it able to endure the consuming flame, and set the rays on his hair, and, heaving from his anxious breast sighs that foretold grief, he said: 'If you can at least obey these warnings of your parent, spare the goad, boy, and use the reins more firmly: they hurry of their own accord; Met. 2.128labor est inhibēre volentēs.the labour is to hold them back when they are eager.
Met. 2.129Nec tibi dīrēctōs placeat via quīnque per arcūs:
130sectus in oblīquum est lātō curvāmine līmes,
zōnārumque trium contentus fīne polumque
effugit austrālem iūnctamque aquilōnibus arcton.And do not choose the road straight through the five zones: the track is cut slantwise in a broad curve, and, confined within the limit of three zones, it avoids the southern pole and the Bear that is joined to the north winds. Met. 2.133Hāc sit iter: manifesta rotae vestīgia cernēs.Let your way be this: you will see clear tracks of the wheels. Met. 2.134Utque ferant aequōs et caelum et terra calōrēs,
135nec preme nec summum mōlīre per aethera currum.And so that sky and earth may both receive equal heat, neither press the chariot down nor drive it up through the topmost ether. Met. 2.136Altius ēgressus caelestia tēcta cremābis,
īnferius terrās: mediō tūtissimus ībis.Going too high you will burn the dwellings of heaven, too low the lands: in the middle you will go most safely. Met. 2.138Neu tē dexterior tortum dēclīnet ad anguem,
nēve sinisterior pressam rota dūcat ad āram:
140inter utrumque tenē.And let the wheel not turn you too far to the right towards the coiling Serpent, nor lead you too far to the left to the low-lying Altar: hold your course between the two.
Met. 2.140Fortūnae cētera mandō,
quae iuvet et melius quam tū tibi, cōnsulat optō.The rest I entrust to Fortune, and I pray that she may help you and take better thought for you than you take for yourself. Met. 2.142Dum loquor, Hesperiō positās in lītore mētās
ūmida nox tetigit.While I speak, dewy night has touched the turning-posts set on the Hesperian shore. Met. 2.143Nōn est mora lībera nōbīs:
poscimur: effulget tenebrīs aurōra fugātīs.We are not free to delay: we are summoned: the darkness is put to flight and dawn shines out. Met. 2.145Corripe lōra manū, vel, sī mūtābile pectus
est tibi, cōnsiliīs, nōn curribus ūtere nostrīs,
dum potes et solidīs etiamnunc sēdibus adstās
dumque male optātōs nōndum premis īnscius axēs.Seize the reins in your hand, or, if your heart can be changed, use my counsels, not my chariot, while you can, and while you still stand on solid ground, and while you are not yet, in your ignorance, mounting the chariot you have unwisely wished for. Met. 2.149Quae tūtus spectēs, sine mē dare lūmina terrīs!"Let me give the lands the light that you may watch in safety!' Met. 2.150Occupat ille levem iuvenālī corpore currum,
statque super manibusque datās contingere habēnās
gaudet et invītō grātēs agit inde parentī.The boy takes possession of the light chariot with his youthful body, stands up on it, rejoices to touch the reins put in his hands, and thereupon gives thanks to his unwilling father.
Met. 2.153Intereā volucrēs Pyrois et Eōus et Aethōn,
Sōlis equī, quartusque Phlegōn, hinnītibus aurās
155flammiferīs implent pedibusque repāgula pulsant.Meanwhile the Sun's swift horses, Pyrois and Eous and Aethon, and the fourth, Phlegon, fill the air with fiery neighing and beat the barriers with their hooves. Met. 2.156Quae postquam Tēthys, fātōrum ignāra nepōtis
reppulit, et facta est inmēnsī cōpia caelī,
corripuēre viam pedibusque per āera mōtīs
obstantēs scindunt nebulās pennīsque levātī
160praetereunt ortōs īsdem dē partibus Eurōs.When Tethys, unaware of her grandson's fate, pushed these back, and the freedom of the boundless sky was given them, they seized the road, and moving their feet through the air they cut through the clouds that stand in their way, and, lifted on wings, they outstrip the East Winds that rose from the same quarter. Met. 2.161Sed leve pondus erat, nec quod cognōscere possent
Sōlis equī, solitāque iugum gravitāte carēbat;But the weight was light, not such as the Sun's horses could recognise, and the yoke lacked its accustomed heaviness; Met. 2.163utque labant curvae iūstō sine pondere nāvēs
perque mare īnstabilēs nimiā levitāte feruntur,
165sīc onere adsuētō vacuus dat in āera saltūs
succutiturque altē similisque est currus inānī.and as curved ships roll without their proper ballast and, unsteady from too much lightness, are carried over the sea, so the chariot, empty of its usual load, leaps into the air and is tossed on high and is like an empty one.
Met. 2.167Quod simulac sēnsēre, ruunt trītumque relinquunt
quadriiugī spatium, nec quō prius ōrdine currunt.As soon as they felt this, the team of four rush off and leave the beaten track, and do not run in the same order as before. Met. 2.169Ipse pavet nec quā commissās flectat habēnās,
170nec scit, quā sit iter;He himself is frightened, and does not know which way to turn the reins entrusted to him, nor where the road is; Met. 2.170nec, sī sciat, imperet illīs.nor, if he knew, could he command them. Met. 2.171Tum prīmum radiīs gelidī caluēre triōnēs
et vetitō frūstrā temptārunt aequore tingī,
quaeque polō posita est glaciālī proxima serpēns,
frīgore pigra prius nec formīdābilis ūllī,
175incaluit sūmpsitque novās fervōribus īrās.Then for the first time the cold Plough-oxen grew hot with the rays and tried in vain to dip themselves in the forbidden sea, and the Serpent which is set nearest the icy pole, sluggish with cold before and fearsome to no one, grew hot and took on new fury from the heat.
Met. 2.176Tē quoque turbātum memorant fūgisse, Boōtē,
quamvīs tardus erās et tē tua plaustra tenēbant.They say that you too fled in confusion, Bootes, although you were slow and your wagon held you back. Met. 2.178Ut vērō summō dēspexit ab aethere terrās
īnfēlīx Phaethōn penitus penitusque iacentēs,
180palluit et subitō genua intremuēre timōre,
suntque oculīs tenebrae per tantum lūmen obortae.But when unhappy Phaethon looked down from the height of the ether on the lands lying far, far below, he grew pale, and his knees trembled with sudden fear, and darkness rose over his eyes through so much light. Met. 2.182Et iam māllet equōs numquam tetigisse paternōs,
iam cognōsse genus piget et valuisse rogandō,
iam Meropis dīcī cupiēns ita fertur, ut ācta
185praecipitī pīnus boreā, cui victa remīsit
frēna suus rēctor, quam dīs vōtīsque relīquit.And now he would rather never have touched his father's horses; now he regrets having learned his parentage and prevailed by asking; now, longing to be called the son of Merops, he is carried along like a ship driven by a headlong north wind, whose helmsman has let go the helm he could not master and abandoned her to the gods and to prayers.
Met. 2.187Quid faciat?What is he to do? Met. 2.187multum caelī post terga relictum,
ante oculōs plūs est!Much of the sky has been left behind his back, more is before his eyes! Met. 2.188animō mētītur utrumque,
et modo quōs illī fātum contingere nōn est,
190prōspicit occāsūs, interdum respicit ortūs:
quidque agat ignārus stupet et nec frēna remittit
nec retinēre valet nec nōmina nōvit equōrum.He measures both in his mind, and now he looks ahead to the west, which it is not his fate to reach, now looks back to the east: and not knowing what to do he is stupefied, and neither lets go the reins nor has the strength to hold them, nor knows the horses' names.