Met. 2.708Hinc sē sustulerat paribus cādūcifer alīs,
Mūnychiōsque volāns agrōs grātamque Minervae
710dēspectābat humum cultīque arbusta Lycēī.From here the bearer of the caduceus had lifted himself on balanced wings, and in his flight he was looking down on the fields of Munychia and the land dear to Minerva and the groves of the cultivated Lyceum. Met. 2.711Illā forte diē castae dē mōre puellae
vertice suppositō fēstās in Palladis arcēs
pūra corōnātīs portābant sacra canistrīs.That day, as it happened, chaste maidens, according to custom, were carrying pure offerings on their heads in garlanded baskets to the festive citadel of Pallas. Met. 2.714Inde revertentēs deus adspicit āles iterque
715nōn agit in rēctum, sed in orbem curvat eundem.The winged god sees them as they return from there, and does not drive his course straight on, but bends it round in the same circle. Met. 2.716Ut volucris vīsīs rapidissima mīluus extīs,
dum timet et dēnsī circumstant sacra ministrī,
flectitur in gȳrum nec longius audet abīre
spemque suam mōtīs avidus circumvolat alīs,
720sīc super Actaeās agilis Cyllēnius arcēs
inclīnat cursūs et eāsdem circinat aurās.As the kite, swiftest of birds, having seen the entrails, while he is afraid and the attendants stand thick around the sacrifice, wheels in a circle and does not dare to go further away, and greedily flies round his hope on beating wings, so the nimble Cyllenian slants his course above the Attic citadel and circles in the same air.
Met. 2.722Quantō splendidior quam cētera sīdera fulget
Lūcifer, et quantō quam Lūcifer aurea Phoebē,
tantō virginibus praestantior omnibus Hersē
725ībat, eratque decus pompae comitumque suārum.As much as Lucifer shines more brightly than the other stars, and as much as golden Phoebe outshines Lucifer, so much more outstanding than all the maidens did Herse walk, and she was the glory of the procession and of her companions. Met. 2.726Obstipuit fōrmā Iove nātus, et aethere pendēns
nōn secus exārsit, quam cum Baleārica plumbum
funda iacit: volat illud et incandēscit eundō
et quōs nōn habuit, sub nūbibus invenit ignēs.Jupiter's son was struck by her beauty, and, hanging in the ether, he blazed up just as when a Balearic sling hurls a lead shot: it flies and grows hot as it goes and finds beneath the clouds fires that it did not have. Met. 2.730Vertit iter caelōque petit terrēna relictō
nec sē dissimulat: tanta est fīdūcia fōrmae.He turns his course and, leaving the sky, makes for the earth, and does not disguise himself: so great is his confidence in his looks.
Met. 2.732Quae quamquam iūsta est, cūra tamen adiuvat illam
permulcetque comās chlamydemque, ut pendeat aptē,
collocat, ut limbus tōtumque appāreat aurum,
735ut teres in dextrā, quā somnōs dūcit et arcet,
virga sit, ut tersīs niteant tālāria plantīs.Though that confidence is justified, he still aids his looks with care, and smooths his hair and arranges his cloak so that it hangs neatly, so that the border and all the gold show, so that the wand in his right hand, with which he brings and banishes sleep, is smooth, so that his winged sandals shine on his polished feet. Met. 2.737Pars sēcrēta domus ebore et testūdine cultōs
trēs habuit thalamōs: quōrum tū, Pandrose, dextrum,
Aglauros laevum, medium possēderat Hersē.A secluded part of the house had three bedchambers adorned with ivory and tortoiseshell: of these you, Pandrosos, had the right, Aglauros the left, and Herse the middle. Met. 2.740Quae tenuit laevum, venientem prīma notāvit
Mercurium nōmenque deī scītārier ausa est
et causam adventūs.She who held the left was the first to notice Mercury coming, and dared to ask the god's name and the reason for his coming.
Met. 2.742Cui sīc respondit Atlantis
Plēionēsque nepōs: "Ego sum, quī iussa per aurās
verba patris portō: pater est mihi Iuppiter ipse.To her the grandson of Atlas and Pleione replied thus: 'I am he who carries my father's commands through the air: my father is Jupiter himself. Met. 2.745Nec fingam causās;Nor will I invent reasons; Met. 2.745tū tantum fīda sorōrī
esse velīs prōlisque meae mātertera dīcī.only be willing to be loyal to your sister and to be called the aunt of my offspring. Met. 2.747Hersē causa viae.Herse is the reason for my journey. Met. 2.747Faveās ōrāmus amantī."I beg you to favour a lover.' Met. 2.748Adspicit hunc oculīs īsdem, quibus abdita nūper
vīderat Aglauros flāvae sēcrēta Minervae,
750prōque ministeriō magnī sibi ponderis aurum
postulat: intereā tēctīs excēdere cōgit.Aglauros looks at him with the same eyes with which she had lately seen the hidden secret of golden-haired Minerva, and for her service demands from him gold of great weight: meanwhile she forces him to leave the house. Met. 2.752Vertit ad hanc torvī dea bellica lūminis orbem
et tantō penitus trāxit suspīria mōtū,
ut pariter pectus positamque in pectore fortī
755aegida concuteret.The warrior goddess turned the orb of her grim eye on her and drew sighs from so deep within and with such violence that she shook both her breast and the aegis set on her strong breast.
Met. 2.755Subit, hanc arcāna profānā
dētēxisse manū tum cum sine mātre creātam
Lēmnicolae stirpem contrā data foedera vīdit,
et grātamque deō fore iam grātamque sorōrī
et dītem sūmptō, quod avāra poposcerat, aurō.It comes to her mind that this girl had uncovered the secret with profane hand at the time when, against the agreement made, she saw the offspring of the Lemnos-dweller created without a mother, and that she would now be pleasing to the god and pleasing to her sister, and rich, having taken the gold she had greedily demanded. Met. 2.760Prōtinus Invidiae nigrō squālentia tābō
tēcta petit.At once she makes for the house of Envy, filthy with black gore. Met. 2.761Domus est īmīs in vallibus huius
abdita, sōle carēns, nōn ūllī pervia ventō,
trīstis et ignāvī plēnissima frīgoris, et quae
igne vacet semper, cālīgine semper abundet.Her house is hidden deep in the valleys, lacking sun, open to no wind, gloomy and full of numbing cold, and such as is always without fire and always abounds in darkness. Met. 2.765Hūc ubi pervēnit bellī metuenda virāgō,
cōnstitit ante domum (neque enim succēdere tēctīs
fās habet) et postēs extrēmā cuspide pulsat.When the maiden dreaded in war arrived here, she stood before the house (for she has no right to enter the dwelling) and strikes the doorposts with the tip of her spear.
Met. 2.768Concussae patuēre forēs.Struck, the doors flew open. Met. 2.768Videt intus ēdentem
vīpereās carnēs, vitiōrum alimenta suōrum,
770Invidiam, vīsaque oculōs āvertit.She sees within Envy, eating vipers' flesh, the nourishment of her vices, and at the sight turns away her eyes. Met. 2.770At illa
surgit humō pigrē sēmēsārumque relinquit
corpora serpentum passūque incēdit inertī;But Envy rises sluggishly from the ground and leaves the bodies of the half-eaten snakes, and comes forward with listless pace; Met. 2.773utque deam vīdit fōrmāque armīsque decōram,
ingemuit vultumque īma ad suspīria dūxit.and when she saw the goddess, splendid in beauty and in arms, she groaned and drew her face down into deep sighs. Met. 2.775Pallor in ōre sedet, maciēs in corpore tōtō,
nūsquam rēcta aciēs, līvent rūbīgine dentēs,
pectora felle virent, lingua est suffūsa venēnō.Pallor sits on her face, leanness in all her body, her gaze is never straight, her teeth are livid with rust, her breast is green with bile, her tongue is suffused with poison. Met. 2.778Rīsus abest, nisi quem vīsī mōvēre dolōrēs.Laughter is absent, except what the sight of suffering has stirred.
Met. 2.779Nec fruitur somnō, vigilācibus excita cūrīs,
780sed videt ingrātōs intābēscitque videndō
successūs hominum, carpitque et carpitur ūnā,
suppliciumque suum est.Nor does she enjoy sleep, roused by wakeful cares, but she sees men's successes, unwelcome to her, and wastes away in seeing them, and she gnaws and is gnawed at once, and is her own punishment. Met. 2.782Quamvīs tamen ōderat illam,
tālibus adfāta est breviter Trītōnia dictīs:
"Īnfice tābe tuā nātārum Cecropis ūnam.Yet, though she hated her, the Tritonian goddess addressed her briefly in such words: 'Infect one of Cecrops' daughters with your poison. Met. 2.785Sīc opus est.This is what is needed. Met. 2.785Aglauros ea est."It is Aglauros.' Met. 2.785Haud plūra locūta
fūgit et impressā tellūrem reppulit hastā.Saying no more, she fled and pushed off from the earth with her spear pressed into it. Met. 2.787Illa deam oblīquō fugientem lūmine cernēns
murmura parva dedit, successūrumque Minervae
indoluit, baculumque capit, quod spīnea tōtum
790vincula cingēbant, adopertaque nūbibus ātrīs,
quācumque ingreditur, flōrentia prōterit arva
exūritque herbās et summa cacūmina carpit,
adflātūque suō populōs urbēsque domōsque
polluit.Envy, watching the goddess fleeing with a sidelong glance, gave little murmurs, and grieved at Minerva's coming success, and takes up her staff, which bands of thorns encircled all over, and, wrapped in black clouds, wherever she goes she tramples the flowering fields and burns up the grass and plucks the tops of the plants, and with her breath pollutes peoples and cities and homes.
Met. 2.794Et tandem Trītōnida cōnspicit arcem
795ingeniīs opibusque et fēstā pāce virentem,
vixque tenet lacrimās, quia nīl lacrimābile cernit.And at last she catches sight of the Tritonian citadel, flourishing with talents and wealth and festive peace, and scarcely holds back her tears because she sees nothing worth tears. Met. 2.797Sed postquam thalamōs intrāvit Cecrope nātae,
iussa facit pectusque manū ferrūgine tinctā
tangit et hāmātīs praecordia sentibus implet,
800īnspīratque nocēns vīrus, piceumque per ossa
dissipat et mediō spargit pulmōne venēnum.But after she entered the chambers of Cecrops' daughter, she carries out her orders, and touches her breast with a hand stained with rust, and fills her heart with hooked thorns, and breathes a harmful venom into her, and disperses pitch-black poison through her bones and sprinkles it in the middle of her lungs. Met. 2.802Nēve malī causae spatium per lātius errent,
germānam ante oculōs fortūnātumque sorōris
coniugium pulchrāque deum sub imāgine pōnit,
805cūnctaque magna facit.And so that the causes of the evil may not wander over too wide a space, she sets before her eyes her sister and her sister's fortunate marriage and the god in his beautiful form, and makes everything great.
Met. 2.805Quibus inrītāta dolōre
Cecropis occultō mordētur et ānxia nocte,
ānxia lūce gemit, lentāque miserrima tābe
līquitur ut glaciēs incertō saucia sōle.Provoked by these things, Cecrops' daughter is gnawed by hidden pain, and, anxious by night, anxious by day, she groans, and in utter misery melts with a slow wasting, like ice struck by a fitful sun. Met. 2.809Fēlīcisque bonīs nōn lēnius ūritur Hersēs,
810quam cum spīnōsīs ignis suppōnitur herbīs,
quae neque dant flammās lēnīque tepōre cremantur.She burns at the blessings of happy Herse no more gently than when fire is put under thorny weeds, which give no flames and are consumed by a gentle heat. Met. 2.812Saepe morī voluit, nē quicquam tāle vidēret,
saepe velut crīmen rigidō narrāre parentī;Often she wanted to die, so as not to see any such thing, often to tell it, as if it were a crime, to her stern father; Met. 2.814dēnique in adversō venientem līmine sēdit
815exclūsūra deum.at last she sat down on the threshold facing him, to shut out the god as he came.
Met. 2.815Cui blandīmenta precēsque
verbaque iactantī mītissima "dēsine" dīxit:
"hinc ego mē nōn sum nisi tē mōtūra repulsō."When he offered coaxing words and prayers and the gentlest speech, she said, 'Stop: I will not move myself from here until you have been driven off.' Met. 2.818"Stēmus" ait "pactō" vēlōx Cyllēnius "istō":
caelestīque forēs virgā patefēcit.'Let us stand by that agreement,' says the swift Cyllenian, and he opened the doors with his heavenly wand. Met. 2.819At illī
820surgere cōnantī partēs, quāscumque sedendō
flectimus, ignāvā nequeunt gravitāte movērī.But when she tried to rise, the parts which we bend in sitting could not move for a sluggish heaviness. Met. 2.822Illa quidem pugnat rēctō sē attollere truncō,
sed genuum iūnctūra riget, frīgusque per inguen
lābitur, et callent āmissō sanguine vēnae.She indeed struggles to raise herself with her trunk upright, but the joints of her knees are stiff, and a chill glides through her groin, and her veins harden as the blood is lost. Met. 2.825Utque malum lātē solet inmedicābile cancer
serpere et inlaesās vitiātīs addere partēs,
sīc lētālis hiems paulātim in pectora vēnit
vītālēsque viās et respīrāmina clausit.And as an incurable cancer is wont to creep widely and add unharmed parts to those infected, so a deadly winter gradually came into her breast and closed the passages of life and breath.
Met. 2.829Nec cōnāta loquī est, nec, sī cōnāta fuisset,
830vōcis habēbat iter: saxum iam colla tenēbat,
ōraque dūruerant, signumque exsangue sedēbat.Nor did she try to speak, nor, had she tried, did her voice have a path: stone now held her neck, her face had hardened, and she sat, a bloodless statue. Met. 2.832Nec lapis albus erat: sua mēns īnfēcerat illam.Nor was the stone white: her mind had stained it.