Met. 5.487Tum caput Ēlēīs Alphēias extulit undīs
rōrantēsque comās ā fronte remōvit ad aurēs
atque ait: "Ō tōtō quaesītae virginis orbe
490et frūgum genetrīx, inmēnsōs siste labōrēs
nēve tibi fīdae violenta īrāscere terrae.Then the beloved of Alpheus raised her head from the Elean waters and pushed her dripping hair back from her brow to her ears and said: 'O mother of the maiden sought through all the world, and mother of the crops, cease your immense labours, and do not be violently angry with the land that is faithful to you. Met. 5.492Terra nihil meruit patuitque invīta rapīnae.The land deserved nothing, and opened unwillingly to the abduction. Met. 5.493Nec sum prō patriā supplex: hūc hospita vēnī;Nor am I a suppliant for my own country: I came here as a stranger; Met. 5.494Pīsa mihi patria est et ab Ēlide dūcimus ortūs;Pisa is my country, and from Elis I draw my origin; Met. 5.495Sīcaniam peregrīna colō, sed grātior omnī
haec mihi terra solō est: hōs nunc Arethūsa penātēs,
hanc habeō sēdem: quam tū, mītissima, servā.I dwell in Sicania as a foreigner, but this land is dearer to me than any soil: I, Arethusa, now have this as my home, this as my abode: preserve it, most gentle one.
Met. 5.498Mōta locō cūr sim tantīque per aequoris undās
advehar Ortygiam, veniet narrātibus hōra
500tempestīva meīs, cum tū cūrāque levāta
et vultūs meliōris eris.Why I was moved from my place and am carried through the waves of so great a sea to Ortygia, a fitting hour will come for my tale, when you are relieved of your care and of happier countenance. Met. 5.501Mihi pervia tellūs
praebet iter, subterque īmās ablāta cavernās
hīc caput attollō dēsuētaque sīdera cernō.The earth opens a passage and gives me a path, and, carried beneath its deepest caverns, I raise my head here and see the stars I had grown unused to. Met. 5.504Ergō dum Stygiō sub terrīs gurgite lābor,
505vīsa tua est oculīs illīc Prōserpina nostrīs:
illa quidem trīstis neque adhūc interrita vultū,
sed rēgīna tamen, sed opācī maxima mundī,
sed tamen īnfernī pollēns mātrona tyrannī."So while I glide beneath the earth in the Stygian stream, I saw your Proserpina there with my own eyes: sad indeed, and with a face not yet free from fear, but a queen nonetheless, but the greatest of the dark world, but still the powerful consort of the tyrant of the underworld.' Met. 5.509Māter ad audītās stupuit ceu saxea vōcēs
510attonitaeque diū similis fuit.At the words she heard, the mother stood stunned as if turned to stone, and for a long time was like one thunderstruck.
Met. 5.510Utque dolōre
pulsa gravī gravis est āmentia, curribus ōrās
exit in aetheriās.And when her heavy bewilderment was driven out by heavy grief, she goes out in her chariot to the regions of the upper air. Met. 5.512Ibi tōtō nūbila vultū
ante Iovem passīs stetit invidiōsa capillīs "prō" que "meō vēnī supplex tibi, Iuppiter" inquit,
515"sanguine prōque tuō.There, her whole face clouded, her hair dishevelled, she stood before Jupiter, full of resentment, and said, 'I have come as a suppliant to you, Jupiter, for my offspring, and for yours. Met. 5.515Sī nūlla est grātia mātris,
nāta patrem moveat, neu sit tibi cūra, precāmur,
vīlior illīus, quod nostrō est ēdita partū.If the mother has no favour with you, let the daughter move her father, and let your care for her not be, I pray, the less because she was born from my womb. Met. 5.518Ēn quaesīta diū tandem mihi nāta reperta est,
sī reperīre vocās āmittere certius, aut sī
520scīre, ubi sit, reperīre vocās.See, my daughter, long sought, is at last found by me, if you call it finding to lose her more surely, or if you call it finding to know where she is.
Met. 5.520Quod rapta, ferēmus,
dummodo reddat eam: neque enim praedōne marītō
fīlia digna tua est, sī iam mea fīlia nōn est."That she was carried off we will bear, if only he gives her back: for your daughter is not worthy of a robber for a husband, even if she is no longer my daughter.' Met. 5.523Iuppiter excēpit: "Commūne est pignus onusque
nāta mihi tēcum.Jupiter answered: 'Our daughter is a pledge and a burden shared by me with you. Met. 5.524Sed sī modo nōmina rēbus
525addere vēra placet, nōn hoc iniūria factum,
vērum amor est;But if only we are willing to give things their true names, this deed is not an injury but love; Met. 5.526neque erit nōbīs gener ille pudōrī,
tū modo, dīva, velīs.nor will he be a son-in-law to shame us, if only you, goddess, are willing. Met. 5.527Ut dēsint cētera, quantum est
esse Iovis frātrem!Even if all else were lacking, what a thing it is to be the brother of Jupiter! Met. 5.528— Quid quod nōn cētera dēsunt
nec cēdit nisi sorte mihi?What of the fact that all else is not lacking, and he yields to me only by lot?
Met. 5.529sed tanta cupīdō
530sī tibi discidiī est, repetet Prōserpina caelum,
lēge tamen certā, sī nūllōs contigit illīc
ōre cibōs;but if you have so great a desire to part them, Proserpina shall return to heaven, but on a fixed condition: if no food has touched her lips there; Met. 5.532nam sīc Parcārum foedere cautum est."for so it is ordained by the covenant of the Fates.' Met. 5.533Dīxerat.He had spoken. Met. 5.533At Cererī certum est ēdūcere nātam.But Ceres is resolved to bring her daughter out. Met. 5.534Nōn ita fāta sinunt, quoniam iēiūnia virgō
535solverat et, cultīs dum simplex errat in hortīs,
Poeniceum curvā dēcerpserat arbore pōmum
sūmptaque pallentī septem dē cortice grāna
presserat ōre suō.The fates do not allow it, since the maiden had broken her fast and, while she wandered in her innocence in the tended gardens, had plucked a pomegranate from a bending tree and, taking seven seeds from the pale rind, had pressed them in her mouth. Met. 5.538Sōlusque ex omnibus illud
Ascalaphus vīdit, quem quondam dīcitur Orphnē,
540inter Avernālēs haud ignōtissima nymphās,
ex Acheronte suō silvīs peperisse sub ātrīs:
vīdit et indiciō reditum crūdēlis adēmit.And alone of all, Ascalaphus saw it, whom Orphne, not the least known among the nymphs of Avernus, is said once to have borne to her Acheron beneath the dark woods: he saw, and by his cruel report took away her return.
Met. 5.543Ingemuit rēgīna Erebī testemque profānam
fēcit avem, sparsumque caput Phlegethontide lymphā
545in rōstrum et plūmās et grandia lūmina vertit.The queen of Erebus groaned, and made the informer a bird of ill omen, and, sprinkling his head with water of Phlegethon, she turned it into a beak and feathers and great eyes. Met. 5.546Ille sibi ablātus fulvīs amicītur in alīs,
inque caput crēscit, longōsque reflectitur unguēs
vixque movet nātās per inertia bracchia pennās:
foedaque fit volucris, ventūrī nūntia lūctūs,
550ignāvus būbō, dīrum mortālibus ōmen.He, lost to himself, is clothed in tawny wings, grows into a head, and his long nails curve back, and he can barely move the feathers that have sprung along his sluggish arms: and he becomes a foul bird, herald of coming grief, the sluggish owl, a dread omen for mortals. Met. 5.551Hic tamen indiciō poenam linguāque vidērī
commeruisse potest: vōbīs, Achelōidēs, unde
plūma pedēsque avium, cum virginis ōra gerātis?He, however, may seem to have deserved his punishment for his report and his tongue: but you, daughters of Achelous, whence come your birds' feathers and feet, though you bear maidens' faces?
Met. 5.554an quia, cum legeret vērnōs Prōserpina flōrēs,
555in comitum numerō, doctae Sīrēnēs, erātis?Is it because, when Proserpina was gathering spring flowers, you were among her companions, learned Sirens? Met. 5.556Quam postquam tōtō frūstrā quaesīstis in orbe,
prōtinus, ut vestram sentīrent aequora cūram,
posse super flūctūs alārum īnsistere remīs
optāstis, facilēsque deōs habuistis et artūs
560vīdistis vestrōs subitīs flāvēscere pennīs.After you had sought her in vain through all the world, at once, so that the seas too might feel your care, you prayed to be able to rest upon the waves with the oars of wings, and you found the gods compliant and saw your limbs suddenly turn golden with feathers. Met. 5.561Nē tamen ille canor mulcendās nātus ad aurēs
tantaque dōs ōris linguae dēperderet ūsum,
virgineī vultūs et vōx hūmāna remānsit.Yet so that your song, born to soothe the ears, and so great a gift of voice might not lose the use of the tongue, your maidens' faces and human voice remained. Met. 5.564At medius frātrisque suī maestaeque sorōris
565Iuppiter ex aequō volventem dīvidit annum.But Jupiter, mediating between his brother and his grieving sister, divides the revolving year equally.
Met. 5.566Nunc dea, regnōrum nūmen commūne duōrum,
cum mātre est totidem, totidem cum coniuge mēnsēs.Now the goddess, a divinity shared by two kingdoms, spends as many months with her mother as with her husband. Met. 5.568Vertitur extemplō faciēs et mentis et ōris:
nam modo quae poterat Dītī quoque maesta vidērī,
570laeta deae frōns est, ut sōl, quī tēctus aquōsīs
nūbibus ante fuit, victīs ē nūbibus exit.At once the aspect of her mind and of her face is changed: for the brow of the goddess, which just now could seem sad even to Dis, is joyful, as the sun, which before was covered by watery clouds, comes forth from the vanquished clouds.