Met. 2.531Dī maris adnuerant: habilī Sāturnia currū
ingreditur liquidum pāvōnibus aethera pictīs,
tam nūper pictīs caesō pāvōnibus Argō,
quam tū nūper erās, cum candidus ante fuissēs,
535corve loquāx, subitō nigrantēs versus in alās.The gods of the sea had nodded assent: Saturn's daughter enters the clear ether in her nimble chariot drawn by painted peacocks, peacocks painted as recently as Argus was slain, as recently as you, talkative raven, though before you had been white, were suddenly turned to black wings. Met. 2.536Nam fuit haec quondam niveīs argentea pennīs
āles ut aequāret tōtās sine lābe columbās
nec servātūrīs vigilī Capitōlia vōce
cēderet ānseribus nec amantī flūmina cycnō.For this bird was once silvery, with snowy feathers, so that it equalled doves wholly without a stain, and did not yield to the geese that would save the Capitol with their watchful cry, nor to the swan that loves rivers. Met. 2.540Lingua fuit damnō;His tongue was his ruin; Met. 2.540linguā faciente loquācī
quī color albus erat, nunc est contrārius albō.because of his talkative tongue, the colour that was white is now the opposite of white.
Met. 2.542Pulchrior in tōtā, quam Lārīsaea Corōnis,
nōn fuit Haemoniā: placuit tibi, Delphice, certē,
dum vel casta fuit vel inobservāta.In all Haemonia there was none more beautiful than Coronis of Larisa: she pleased you, Delphic god, certainly, so long as she was either chaste or unwatched. Met. 2.544Sed āles
545sēnsit adulterium Phoebēius, utque latentem
dētegeret culpam, nōn exōrābilis index,
ad dominum tendēbat iter.But Phoebus' bird perceived the adultery, and, an informer not to be moved by entreaty, was making his way to his master to reveal the hidden fault. Met. 2.547Quem garrula mōtīs
cōnsequitur pennīs, scītētur ut omnia, cornīx,
audītāque viae causā "nōn ūtile carpis"
550inquit "iter: nē sperne meae praesāgia linguae.The chattering crow follows him on beating wings, to learn everything, and, having heard the reason for his journey, says, 'It is no profitable road you take: do not despise the warnings of my tongue. Met. 2.551Quid fuerim quid simque vidē, meritumque requīre:
inveniēs nocuisse fidem.See what I was and what I am, and ask what I deserved: you will find that loyalty did me harm.
Met. 2.552Nam tempore quōdam
Pallas Erichthonium, prōlem sine mātre creātam,
clauserat Actaeō textā dē vīmine cistā
555virginibusque tribus geminō dē Cecrope nātīs
et lēgem dederat, sua nē sēcrēta vidērent.For once upon a time Pallas had shut Erichthonius, a child born without a mother, in a box woven of Attic osier, and had given it to the three maidens born of two-formed Cecrops, with the rule that they should not look at its secret. Met. 2.557Abdita fronde levī dēnsā speculābar ab ulmō,
quid facerent.Hidden by light leaves, I watched from a dense elm what they would do. Met. 2.558Commissa duae sine fraude tuentur,
Pandrosos atque Hersē;Two keep the trust without deceit, Pandrosos and Herse; Met. 2.559timidās vocat ūna sorōrēs
560Aglauros nōdōsque manū dīdūcit, et intus
īnfantemque vident adporrēctumque dracōnem.one, Aglauros, calls her sisters timid and undoes the knots with her hand, and inside they see an infant and a serpent stretched out beside him. Met. 2.562Ācta deae referō.I report what was done to the goddess. Met. 2.562Prō quō mihi grātia tālis
redditur, ut dīcar tūtēla pulsa Minervae
et pōnar post noctis avem.For this such thanks are returned to me that I am said to be driven from Minerva's protection and am placed below the bird of night.
Met. 2.564Mea poena volucrēs
565admonuisse potest nē vōce perīcula quaerant.My punishment may warn birds not to seek dangers with their voice. Met. 2.566At, putō, nōn ultrō nec quicquam tāle rogantem
mē petiit?But, I suppose, she did not seek me out of her own accord, when I was asking for nothing of the kind? Met. 2.567ipsa licet hoc ā Pallade quaerās:
quamvīs īrāta est, nōn hoc īrāta negābit.You may ask Pallas herself: though she is angry, angry as she is, she will not deny this. Met. 2.569Nam mē Phōcaicā clārus tellūre Corōneus
570(nota loquor) genuit fueramque ego rēgia virgō
dīvitibusque procīs (nē mē contemne) petēbar.For famous Coroneus begot me in the land of Phocis (I speak of known things), and I was a royal maiden and was courted by rich suitors (do not despise me). Met. 2.572Fōrma mihi nocuit.My beauty harmed me. Met. 2.572Nam cum per lītora lentīs
passibus, ut soleō, summā spatiārer harēnā,
vīdit et incaluit pelagī deus;For when I was strolling with slow steps, as I do, along the shore on the top of the sand, the god of the sea saw me and grew hot; Met. 2.574utque precandō
575tempora cum blandīs absūmpsit inānia verbīs,
vim parat et sequitur.and when he had wasted time in pleading with coaxing words to no purpose, he prepares force and pursues me.
Met. 2.576Fugiō dēnsumque relinquō
lītus et in mollī nēquīquam lassor harēnā.I flee, and leave the firm shore, and wear myself out in vain on the soft sand. Met. 2.578Inde deōs hominēsque vocō;Then I call on gods and men; Met. 2.578nec contigit ūllum
vōx mea mortālem: mōta est prō virgine virgō
580auxiliumque tulit.and my voice reached no mortal: a maiden was moved for a maiden and brought help. Met. 2.580Tendēbam bracchia caelō:
bracchia coepērunt levibus nigrēscere pennīs.I was stretching my arms to the sky: my arms began to grow dark with light feathers. Met. 2.582Rēicere ex umerīs vestem mōlībar: at illa
plūma erat inque cutem rādīcēs ēgerat īmās.I struggled to throw my robe off my shoulders: but it was plumage and had driven its roots deep into my skin. Met. 2.584Plangere nūda meīs cōnābar pectora palmīs:
585sed neque iam palmās nec pectora nūda gerēbam.I tried to beat my bare breast with my palms: but I no longer had either palms or a bare breast. Met. 2.586Currēbam: nec, ut ante, pedēs retinēbat harēnā,
sed summā tollēbar humō.I ran: and the sand did not hold back my feet as before, but I was lifted from the surface of the ground.
Met. 2.587Mox alta per aurās
ēvehor et data sum comes inculpāta Minervae.Soon I am borne high through the air and given to Minerva as a blameless companion. Met. 2.589Quid tamen hoc prōdest, sī dīrō facta volucris
590crīmine Nyctimenē nostrō successit honōrī?Yet what good is this, if Nyctimene, made a bird for a dreadful crime, has succeeded to my honour? Met. 2.591An quae per tōtam rēs est notissima Lesbon,
nōn audīta tibi est, patrium temerāsse cubīle
Nyctimenēn?Or has the story, which is very well known through all Lesbos, not been heard by you, that Nyctimene defiled her father's bed? Met. 2.593avis illa quidem, sed cōnscia culpae
cōnspectum lūcemque fugit tenebrīsque pudōrem
595cēlat et ā cūnctīs expellitur aethere tōtō."She is a bird indeed, but conscious of her guilt she flees sight and light, and hides her shame in darkness, and is driven by all from the whole sky.' Met. 2.596Tālia dīcentī "tibi" ait "revocāmina" corvus
"sint precor ista mālō: nōs vānum spernimus ōmen."To her as she says such things, 'May these warnings of yours, I pray,' says the raven, 'bring harm on you: I scorn an empty omen.' Met. 2.598Nec coeptum dīmittit iter, dominōque iacentem
cum iuvene Haemoniō vīdisse Corōnida narrat.Nor does he abandon the journey he has begun, and he tells his master that he has seen Coronis lying with a Haemonian youth.
Met. 2.600Laurea dēlapsa est audītō crīmine amantī,
et pariter vultusque deō plēctrumque colorque
excidit.When the lover heard of the crime, his laurel wreath slipped off, and at the same moment the god's expression and plectrum and colour fell. Met. 2.602Utque animus tumidā fervēbat ab īrā,
arma adsuēta rapit flexumque ā cornibus arcum
tendit et illa suō totiēns cum pectore iūncta
605indēvītātō trāiēcit pectora tēlō.And as his spirit was seething with swelling anger, he seizes his accustomed weapons, draws the bow, curved at its tips, and pierced with an unavoidable arrow that breast which had so often been joined to his own. Met. 2.606Icta dedit gemitum, trāctōque ā corpore ferrō
candida pūniceō perfūdit membra cruōre,
et dīxit: "Potuī poenās tibi, Phoebe, dedisse,
sed peperisse prius: duo nunc moriēmur in ūnā."Struck, she gave a groan, and, as the iron was drawn from her body, she drenched her white limbs with crimson blood, and said, 'I could have paid the penalty to you, Phoebus, but given birth first: now two of us will die in one.' Met. 2.610Hāctenus, et pariter vītam cum sanguine fūdit.So much she said, and with her blood she poured out her life.
Met. 2.611Corpus ināne animae frīgus lētāle secūtum est.Her body, empty of soul, was overtaken by the chill of death. Met. 2.612Paenitet heu sērō poenae crūdēlis amantem,
sēque, quod audierit, quod sīc exārserit, ōdit;Too late, alas, the lover regrets his cruel punishment, and hates himself for having listened, for having blazed up so; Met. 2.614ōdit avem, per quam crīmen causamque dolendī
615scīre coāctus erat, nec nōn arcumque manumque
ōdit, cumque manū temerāriā tēla sagittās
conlapsamque fovet sērāque ope vincere fāta
nītitur et medicās exercet ināniter artēs.he hates the bird through whom he had been forced to learn of the crime and the cause of his grief, and he hates his bow and his hand as well, and with his hand those rash weapons, the arrows, and he cherishes her fallen body and strives to overcome fate with help that comes too late, and practises his healing arts in vain. Met. 2.619Quae postquam frūstrā temptāta, rogumque parārī
620vīdit et ārsūrōs suprēmīs ignibus artūs,
tum vērō gemitūs (neque enim caelestia tingī
ōra licet lacrimīs) altō dē corde petītōs
ēdidit, haud aliter quam cum spectante iuvencā
lactentis vitulī, dextrā lībrātus ab aure
625tempora discussit clārō cava malleus ictū.When these had been tried in vain, and he saw the pyre being prepared and her limbs about to burn in the final fire, then indeed he uttered groans drawn from deep in his heart (for heavenly faces may not be wet with tears), just as when, while a heifer looks on, the mallet, poised from beside the right ear, shatters with a ringing blow the hollow temples of her suckling calf.
Met. 2.626Ut tamen ingrātōs in pectora fūdit odōrēs
et dedit amplexūs iniūstaque iūsta perēgit,
nōn tulit in cinerēs lābī sua Phoebus eōsdem
sēmina, sed nātum flammīs uterōque parentis
630ēripuit geminīque tulit Chīrōnis in antrum;Yet when he had poured unwelcome perfumes on her breast, and given her embraces, and performed the unjust rites that are her due, Phoebus did not allow his own seed to fall into the same ashes, but snatched his son from the flames and from his mother's womb and carried him to the cave of two-formed Chiron; Met. 2.631spērantemque sibi nōn falsae praemia linguae
inter avēs albās vetuit cōnsistere corvum.and the raven, who hoped for a reward for his truthful tongue, he forbade to stay among white birds.