Met. 4.373Vōta suōs habuēre deōs: nam mīxta duōrum
corpora iunguntur, faciēsque indūcitur illīs
375ūna, velut, sīquis condūcat cortice rāmōs,
crēscendō iungī pariterque adolēscere cernit.Her prayers found their gods: for the mingled bodies of the two are joined, and a single face is put upon them, as when someone grafts branches onto a tree's bark and sees them join as they grow and mature together. Met. 4.377Sīc ubi conplexū coiērunt membra tenācī,
nec duo sunt et fōrma duplex, nec fēmina dīcī
nec puer ut possit: neutrumque et utrumque videntur.So when their limbs came together in a clinging embrace, they are not two, and yet a double form, such that it could be called neither woman nor boy: they seem neither and both. Met. 4.380Ergō ubi sē liquidās, quō vir dēscenderat, undās
sēmimarem fēcisse videt, mollītaque in illīs
membra, manūs tendēns, sed nōn iam vōce virīlī,
Hermaphrodītus ait: "Nātō date mūnera vestrō,
et pater et genetrīx, ambōrum nōmen habentī:
385quisquis in hōs fontēs vir vēnerit, exeat inde
sēmivir et tāctīs subitō mollēscat in undīs."So when Hermaphroditus sees that the clear waters, into which he had gone down a man, had made him half a man, and that his limbs had been softened in them, stretching out his hands, but no longer in a man's voice, he says: 'Grant a gift to your son, father and mother, to him who bears the name of you both: whatever man comes into these springs, let him come out from there half a man, and suddenly grow soft at the touch of the waters.' Met. 4.387Mōtus uterque parēns nātī rata verba biformis
fēcit et incestō fontem medicāmine tinxit."Both parents, moved, made the words of their two-formed son come true, and tainted the spring with an unchaste drug.' Met. 4.389Fīnis erat dictīs.Her words were at an end.
Met. 4.389Sed adhūc Minyēia prōlēs
390urget opus spernitque deum fēstumque profānat,
tympana cum subitō nōn adpārentia raucīs
obstrepuēre sonīs, et aduncō tībia cornū
tinnulaque aera sonant;But still the offspring of Minyas press on with their work and scorn the god and profane his festival, when suddenly unseen drums clamoured with harsh sounds, and the flute with its curved horn and the tinkling bronzes ring out; Met. 4.393redolent murraeque crocīque,
rēsque fidē maior, coepēre virēscere tēlae
395inque hederae faciem pendēns frondēscere vestis.myrrh and saffron give off their scent, and, a thing beyond belief, the webs began to grow green and the hanging cloth to put forth leaves in the likeness of ivy. Met. 4.396Pars abit in vītēs, et quae modo fīla fuērunt,
palmite mūtantur;Part turns into vines, and what were threads a moment ago are changed into vine-shoots; Met. 4.397dē stāmine pampinus exit;from the warp a vine-leaf comes out; Met. 4.398purpura fulgōrem pictīs adcommodat ūvīs.the purple lends its brightness to the painted grapes. Met. 4.399Iamque diēs exāctus erat, tempusque subībat,
400quod tū nec tenebrās nec possīs dīcere lūcem,
sed cum lūce tamen dubiae cōnfīnia noctis:
tēcta repente quatī pinguēsque ārdēre videntur
lampadēs et rutilīs conlūcēre ignibus aedēs
falsaque saevārum simulācra ululāre ferārum.And now the day was spent, and the time was coming on which you could call neither darkness nor light, but the borderland of doubtful night, though still with light: suddenly the house seems to shake, and the oily lamps to blaze, and the rooms to glow with ruddy fires, and false phantoms of savage beasts to howl.
Met. 4.405Fūmida iamdūdum latitant per tēcta sorōrēs,
dīversaeque locīs ignēs ac lūmina vītant;For some time now the sisters have been hiding all through the smoke-filled house, and scattered in different places they shun the fires and lights; Met. 4.407dumque petunt tenebrās, parvōs membrāna per artūs
porrigitur tenuīque inclūdit bracchia pinnā.and while they seek the darkness, a membrane stretches over their small limbs and encloses their arms in a thin wing. Met. 4.409Nec quā perdiderint veterem ratiōne figūram
410scīre sinunt tenebrae.Nor does the darkness let them know by what means they lost their former shape. Met. 4.410Nōn illās plūma levāvit,
sustinuēre tamen sē perlūcentibus alīs;No feathers lifted them, yet they held themselves up on translucent wings; Met. 4.412cōnātaeque loquī minimam et prō corpore vōcem
ēmittunt, peraguntque levēs strīdōre querellās.and trying to speak, they utter a tiny voice, in proportion to their bodies, and make their slight complaints in squeaks. Met. 4.414Tēctaque, nōn silvās celebrant lūcemque perōsae
415nocte volant, sērōque tenent ā vespere nōmen.They haunt houses, not forests, and, hating the light, they fly by night, and take their name from the late evening.