Met. 3.138Prīma nepōs inter tot rēs tibi, Cadme, secundās
causa fuit lūctūs, aliēnaque cornua frontī
140addita, vōsque canēs satiātae sanguine erīlī.The first cause of grief for you, Cadmus, amid so much prosperity was a grandson, and the alien horns added to his brow, and you, hounds, glutted with your master's blood. Met. 3.141At bene sī quaerās, fortūnae crīmen in illō,
nōn scelus inveniēs: quod enim scelus error habēbat?But if you inquire well, you will find in him the fault of fortune, not a crime: for what crime did a mistake contain? Met. 3.143Mōns erat īnfectus variārum caede ferārum;There was a mountain stained with the slaughter of many kinds of beasts; Met. 3.144iamque diēs medius rērum contrāxerat umbrās
145et sōl ex aequō mēta distābat utrāque,
cum iuvenis placidō per dēvia lūstra vagantēs
participēs operum compellat Hyantius ōre:
"Līna madent, comitēs, ferrumque cruōre ferārum,
fortūnamque diēs habuit satis.and now midday had drawn in the shadows of things, and the sun was equally distant from either goal, when the young Hyantian with calm voice addresses the partners of his labours as they wandered through the trackless haunts: 'Our nets are wet, comrades, and our iron, with the blood of beasts, and the day has had luck enough.
Met. 3.149Altera lūcem
150cum croceīs invecta rotīs Aurōra redūcet,
prōpositum repetēmus opus;When another Aurora, borne on saffron wheels, brings back the light, we shall resume the work we have planned; Met. 3.151nunc Phoebus utrāque
distat idem terrā finditque vapōribus arva.now Phoebus is the same distance from both lands and splits the fields with his heat. Met. 3.153Sistite opus praesēns nōdōsaque tollite līna."Stop the present work and take up the knotted nets.' Met. 3.154Iussa virī faciunt intermittuntque labōrem.The men do as ordered and break off their labour. Met. 3.155Vallis erat piceīs et acūtā dēnsā cupressū,
nōmine Gargaphiē, succīnctae sacra Diānae.There was a valley thick with pitch-pines and pointed cypress, Gargaphie by name, sacred to high-girt Diana. Met. 3.157Cuius in extrēmō est antrum nemorāle recessū,
arte labōrātum nūllā: simulāverat artem
ingeniō nātūra suō;In its farthest recess is a woodland cave, wrought by no art: nature had imitated art by her own genius; Met. 3.159nam pūmice vīvō
160et levibus tōfīs nātīvum dūxerat arcum.for she had fashioned a natural arch out of living pumice and light tufa. Met. 3.161Fōns sonat ā dextrā, tenuī perlūcidus undā,
margine grāmineō patulōs succīnctus hiātūs.A spring babbles on the right, clear with its slender stream, its wide basin girded with a grassy rim.
Met. 3.163Hīc dea silvārum vēnātū fessa solēbat
virgineōs artūs liquidō perfundere rōre.Here the goddess of the woods, weary from hunting, used to bathe her virgin limbs in the liquid water. Met. 3.165Quō postquam subiit, nymphārum trādidit ūnī
armigerae iaculum pharetramque arcūsque retentōs;When she had come in there, she handed to one of the nymphs, her armour-bearer, her javelin, her quiver and her unstrung bow; Met. 3.167altera dēpositae subiēcit bracchia pallae,
vincla duae pedibus dēmunt;another put her arms under the robe she had laid aside, two remove the sandals from her feet; Met. 3.168nam doctior illīs
Ismēnis Crocalē sparsōs per colla capillōs
170conligit in nōdum, quamvīs erat ipsa solūtīs.for Ismenian Crocale, more skilled than they, gathers the hair scattered over her neck into a knot, although her own was loose. Met. 3.171Excipiunt laticem Nephelēque Hyalēque Rhanisque
et Psecas et Phialē funduntque capācibus urnīs.Nephele and Hyale and Rhanis and Psecas and Phiale draw the water and pour it from capacious urns. Met. 3.173Dumque ibi perluitur solitā Tītānia lymphā,
ecce nepōs Cadmī dīlātā parte labōrum
175per nemus ignōtum nōn certīs passibus errāns
pervēnit in lūcum: sīc illum fāta ferēbant.And while the Titanian goddess is being bathed there in her accustomed water, look, Cadmus' grandson, having put off part of his labours, wandering with uncertain steps through the unknown wood, comes into the grove: so the fates were bearing him on.
Met. 3.177Quī simul intrāvit rōrantia fontibus antra,
sīcut erant, vīsō nūdae sua pectora nymphae
percussēre virō, subitīsque ululātibus omne
180implēvēre nemus circumfūsaeque Diānam
corporibus tēxēre suīs;As soon as he entered the cave wet with springs, the nymphs, naked as they were, at the sight of a man beat their breasts and filled the whole grove with sudden shrieks, and pouring round Diana covered her with their bodies; Met. 3.181tamen altior illīs
ipsa dea est collōque tenus superēminet omnēs.yet the goddess herself is taller than they and stands above them all by a neck. Met. 3.183Quī color īnfectīs adversī sōlis ab ictū
nūbibus esse solet aut purpureae aurōrae,
185is fuit in vultū vīsae sine veste Diānae.The colour that clouds usually have when struck by the opposing sun's rays, or rosy dawn, was the colour in the face of Diana seen without her clothes. Met. 3.186Quae quamquam comitum turbā est stīpāta suārum,
in latus oblīquum tamen adstitit ōraque retrō
flexit, et ut vellet promptās habuisse sagittās,
quās habuit sīc hausit aquās vultumque virīlem
190perfūdit, spargēnsque comās ultrīcibus undīs
addidit haec clādis praenūntia verba futūrae:
"Nunc tibi mē positō vīsam vēlāmine narrēs,
sī poteris narrāre, licet."Although she was surrounded by the crowd of her companions, she yet stood turned sideways and bent her face back, and as she would have liked to have her arrows ready, so she scooped up what she had, water, and drenched the man's face, and sprinkling his hair with the avenging waters she added these words, foretelling the coming disaster: 'Now you may tell that you saw me with my clothing laid aside, if you are able to tell.' Met. 3.193Nec plūra mināta
dat sparsō capitī vīvācis cornua cervī,
195dat spatium collō summāsque cacūminat aurēs,
cum pedibusque manūs, cum longīs bracchia mūtat
crūribus et vēlat maculōsō vellere corpus.Threatening no more, she gives the sprinkled head the horns of a long-lived stag, gives length to his neck and sharpens the tops of his ears, changes his hands into feet, his arms into long legs, and clothes his body in a dappled hide.
Met. 3.198Additus et pavor est.Fear too was added. Met. 3.198Fugit Autonoēius hērōs
et sē tam celerem cursū mīrātur in ipsō.The hero, son of Autonoe, flees, and marvels that he is so swift in the very running. Met. 3.200Ut vērō vultūs et cornua vīdit in undā,
"mē miserum!"But when he saw his face and horns in the water, 'Ah, wretched me!' Met. 3.201dictūrus erat: vōx nūlla secūta est.he was about to say: no voice followed. Met. 3.202Ingemuit: vōx illa fuit, lacrimaeque per ōra
nōn sua flūxērunt;He groaned: that was his voice, and tears flowed down a face not his own; Met. 3.203mēns tantum prīstina mānsit.only his former mind remained. Met. 3.204Quid faciat?What is he to do? Met. 3.204repetatne domum et rēgālia tēcta
205an lateat silvīs?Should he go back home to the royal palace, or hide in the woods? Met. 3.205pudor hoc, timor impedit illud.shame prevents the one, fear the other. Met. 3.206Dum dubitat, vīdēre canēs.While he hesitates, the hounds saw him. Met. 3.206Prīmumque Melampūs
Ichnobatēsque sagāx lātrātū signa dedēre,
Gnōsius Ichnobatēs, Spartānā gente Melampūs.And first Melampus and keen-nosed Ichnobates gave the signal by barking, Ichnobates of Cnossos, Melampus of Spartan breed.
Met. 3.209Inde ruunt aliī rapidā vēlōcius aurā,
210Pamphagus et Dorceus et Oribasus, Arcadēs omnēs,
Nebrophonusque valēns et trux cum Laelape Thērōn
et pedibus Pterelās et nāribus ūtilis Agrē,
Hylaeusque ferōx, nūper percussus ab aprō,
dēque lupō concepta Napē, pecudēsque secūta
215Poemenis et nātīs comitāta Harpyia duōbus,
et substricta gerēns Sicyōnius īlia Ladōn,
et Dromas et Canachē Stictēque et Tigris et Alcē
et niveīs Leucōn et villīs Asbolus ātrīs
praevalidusque Lacōn et cursū fortis Aellō
220et Thous et Cypriō vēlōx cum frātre Lyciscē,
et nigram mediō frontem distīnctus ab albō
Harpalos, et Melaneus hirsūtaque corpore Lachnē,
et patre Dictaeō, sed mātre Lacōnide nātī
Labros et Argiodus, et acūtae vōcis Hylactōr,
225quōsque referre mora est.Then the others rush on, swifter than the rapid wind, Pamphagus and Dorceus and Oribasus, all Arcadians, and strong Nebrophonus and savage Theron with Laelaps, and Pterelas useful for his feet and Agre for her nose, and fierce Hylaeus, lately gashed by a boar, and Nape, conceived of a wolf, and Poemenis, who had followed flocks, and Harpyia accompanied by her two pups, and Sicyonian Ladon with his slender flanks, and Dromas and Canache and Sticte and Tigris and Alce, and Leucon with snowy and Asbolus with black coat, and mighty Lacon and Aello strong in running, and Thous and swift Lycisce with her Cyprian brother, and Harpalos, his black forehead marked in the middle with white, and Melaneus and Lachne with shaggy body, and Labros and Argiodus, born of a Dictaean father but a Laconian mother, and Hylactor of the shrill voice, and others whom it would take too long to name.
Met. 3.225Ea turba cupīdine praedae
per rūpēs scopulōsque aditūque carentia saxa,
quāque est difficilis quāque est via nūlla, sequuntur.That pack, in their greed for prey, follow over rocks and crags and cliffs lacking access, where the way is hard and where there is no way. Met. 3.228Ille fugit per quae fuerat loca saepe secūtus,
heu famulōs fugit ipse suōs.He flees through places where he had often pursued; alas, he flees his own servants. Met. 3.229Clāmāre libēbat
230"Actaeōn ego sum, dominum cognōscite vestrum!"He longed to shout, 'I am Actaeon, recognise your master!' Met. 3.231Verba animō dēsunt: resonat lātrātibus aethēr.Words fail his will: the air resounds with barking. Met. 3.232Prīma Melanchaetēs in tergō vulnera fēcit,
proxima Therodamās, Oresitrophus haesit in armō:
tardius exierant, sed per compendia montis
235anticipāta via est.Melanchaetes made the first wounds in his back, Therodamas the next, Oresitrophus fastened on his shoulder: they had set out later, but by a short cut over the mountain they got ahead on the way. Met. 3.235Dominum retinentibus illīs,
cētera turba coit cōnfertque in corpore dentēs.While they hold their master, the rest of the pack gathers and plunges their teeth into his body.
Met. 3.237Iam loca vulneribus dēsunt.Now there is no room left for wounds. Met. 3.237Gemit ille sonumque,
etsī nōn hominis, quem nōn tamen ēdere possit
cervus habet, maestīsque replet iuga nota querellīs.He groans, and has a sound which, though not a man's, is yet one that no stag could utter, and fills the familiar ridges with sad laments. Met. 3.240Et genibus prōnīs supplex similisque rogantī
circumfert tacitōs tamquam sua bracchia vultūs.And on bent knees like a suppliant, like one entreating, he turns his silent face around as if it were his arms. Met. 3.242At comitēs rapidum solitīs hortātibus agmen
ignārī īnstīgant oculīsque Actaeōna quaerunt
et velut absentem certātim Actaeōna clāmant
245(ad nōmen caput ille refert), et abesse queruntur
nec capere oblātae segnem spectācula praedae.But his comrades, not knowing, urge on the swift pack with the usual cries, look round for Actaeon with their eyes, and vie in calling 'Actaeon!' as if he were absent (at the name he turns his head), and complain that he is away and, slothful, does not see the spectacle of the prey presented.
Met. 3.247Vellet abesse quidem, sed adest;He would indeed wish to be away, but he is present; Met. 3.247velletque vidēre,
nōn etiam sentīre canum fera facta suōrum.and he would wish to see, not also to feel, the savage deeds of his own hounds. Met. 3.249Undique circumstant mersīsque in corpore rōstrīs
250dīlacerant falsī dominum sub imāgine cervī.They stand round on every side and, sinking their muzzles in his body, tear apart their master in the guise of a false stag.