Met. 6.218Plānus erat lātēque patēns prope moenia campus,
adsiduīs pulsātus equīs, ubi turba rotārum
220dūraque mollierat subiectās ungula glaebās.There was a flat plain, spreading wide near the walls, beaten by constant horses, where a crowd of wheels and hard hooves had softened the clods beneath. Met. 6.221Pars ibi dē septem genitīs Amphīone fortēs
cōnscendunt in equōs Tyriōque rubentia sūcō
terga premunt aurōque gravēs moderantur habēnās.There some of Amphion's seven sons mount strong horses, press backs red with Tyrian dye, and manage reins heavy with gold. Met. 6.224Ē quibus Ismēnus, quī mātrī sarcina quondam
225prīma suae fuerat, dum certum flectit in orbem
quadrupedis cursūs spūmantiaque ōra coercet,
"ei mihi!"Of these Ismenus, who had once been the first burden his mother bore, while he wheels his four-footed steed's course in a sure circle and reins in its foaming mouth, 'Ah me!' Met. 6.227conclāmat mediōque in pectore fīxa
tēla gerit, frēnīsque manū moriente remissīs
in latus ā dextrō paulātim dēfluit armō.he cries out, and carries arrows fixed in the middle of his chest, and, the reins let go by his dying hand, gradually slides sideways off the horse's right shoulder.
Met. 6.230Proximus, audītō sonitū per ināne pharetrae,
frēna dabat Sipylus, velutī cum praescius imbris
nūbe fugit vīsā pendentiaque undique rēctor
carbasa dēdūcit, nē qua levis effluat aura.Next, hearing the sound of a quiver through the empty air, Sipylus was giving his horse the reins, as when a helmsman, foreseeing rain, flees at the sight of a cloud and lets down the hanging sails on every side, so that no light breeze may slip away. Met. 6.234Frēna tamen dantem nōn ēvītābile tēlum
235cōnsequitur;Yet as he gives rein, the unavoidable weapon overtakes him; Met. 6.235summāque tremēns cervīce sagitta
haesit, et exstābat nūdum dē gutture ferrum.and the arrow stuck quivering in the top of his neck, and the bare iron stood out from his throat. Met. 6.237Ille, ut erat, prōnus per crūra admissa iubāsque
volvitur et calidō tellūrem sanguine foedat.He, bent forward as he was, rolls over the galloping legs and the mane, and stains the ground with warm blood. Met. 6.239Phaedimus īnfēlīx et avītī nōminis hērēs
240Tantalus, ut solitō fīnem imposuēre labōrī,
trānsierant ad opus nitidae iuvenāle palaestrae;Unhappy Phaedimus and Tantalus, heir to his grandfather's name, when they had put an end to their usual labour, had passed to the youthful work of the gleaming wrestling-ground; Met. 6.242et iam contulerant artō luctantia nexū
pectora pectoribus, cum tentō concita nervō,
sīcut erant iūnctī, trāiēcit utrumque sagitta.and already they had locked chest to chest, struggling in a tight hold, when an arrow, sped from the drawn string, pierced them both, joined as they were.
Met. 6.245Ingemuēre simul, simul incurvāta dolōre
membra solō posuēre, simul suprēma iacentēs
lūmina versārunt, animam simul exhālārunt.They groaned together, together laid their limbs, bent with pain, on the ground, together as they lay rolled their eyes for the last time, together breathed out their life. Met. 6.248Adspicit Alphēnor laniātaque pectora plangēns
advolat, ut gelidōs complexibus adlevet artūs,
250inque piō cadit officiō: nam Dēlius illī
intima fātiferō rūpit praecordia ferrō.Alphenor sees, and beating his torn breast flies to them, to lift their cold limbs in his embrace, and falls in that dutiful service: for the Delian god burst his inmost vitals with the deadly iron. Met. 6.252Quod simul ēductum est, pars est pulmōnis in hāmīs
ēruta cumque animā cruor est effūsus in aurās.As soon as it was drawn out, part of his lung was torn out on the barbs, and with his life his blood poured out into the air. Met. 6.254At nōn intōnsum simplex Damasichthona vulnus
255adficit.But no single wound strikes long-haired Damasichthon. Met. 6.255Ictus erat quā crūs esse incipit et quā
mollia nervōsus facit internōdia poples.He had been struck where the leg begins and where the sinewy back of the knee makes a soft joint.
Met. 6.257Dumque manū temptat trahere exitiābile tēlum,
altera per iugulum pennīs tenus ācta sagitta est.And while he tries with his hand to pull out the deadly weapon, a second arrow was driven through his throat up to the feathers. Met. 6.259Expulit hanc sanguis, sēque ēiaculātus in altum
260ēmicat et longē terebrātā prōsilit aurā.The blood drove it out, and, spurting high, leaps up and springs far, boring through the air. Met. 6.261Ultimus Īlioneus nōn prōfectūra precandō
bracchia sustulerat, "dī" que "ō commūniter omnēs,"
dīxerat ignārus nōn omnēs esse rogandōs
"parcite."Last, Ilioneus had raised his arms in prayers that would not avail, and had said, 'O gods, all of you together,' not knowing that not all needed to be asked, 'spare me.' Met. 6.264Mōtus erat, cum iam revocābile tēlum
265nōn fuit, arquitenēns.The bow-bearer was moved, when the weapon could no longer be called back. Met. 6.265Minimō tamen occīdit ille
vulnere, nōn altē percussō corde sagittā.Yet he died of the slightest wound, his heart not deeply pierced by the arrow. Met. 6.267Fāma malī populīque dolor lacrimaeque suōrum
tam subitae mātrem certam fēcēre ruīnae,
mīrantem potuisse, īrāscentemque, quod ausī
270hoc essent superī, quod tantum iūris habērent.Rumour of the disaster and the people's grief and the tears of her household made the mother certain of so sudden a ruin, amazed that it could have happened, and angry that the gods had dared this, that they had so much right.
Met. 6.271Nam pater Amphīōn ferrō per pectus adāctō
fīnierat moriēns pariter cum lūce dolōrem.For their father Amphion, driving a sword through his breast, had ended in dying his grief together with the light. Met. 6.273Heu quantum haec Niobē Niobē distābat ab illā,
quae modo Lātōīs populum submōverat ārīs
275et mediam tulerat gressūs resupīna per urbem,
invidiōsa suīs, at nunc miseranda vel hostī.Alas, how far this Niobe differed from that Niobe who had lately driven the people from Latona's altars and had carried her steps, head held high, through the middle of the city, envied by her own people, but now pitiable even to an enemy. Met. 6.277Corporibus gelidīs incumbit et ōrdine nūllō
ōscula dispēnsat nātōs suprēma per omnēs.She lays herself on the cold bodies and, in no order, distributes last kisses among all her sons. Met. 6.279Ā quibus ad caelum līventia bracchia tollēns
280"pāscere, crūdēlis, nostrō, Lātōna, dolōre,
pāscere" ait "satiāque meō tua pectora lūctū:
efferor.Raising from them her bruised arms to the sky, 'Feed, cruel Latona, on my grief, feed,' she says, 'and glut your heart with my mourning: I am carried out to my burial.
Met. 6.283Exsultā victrīxque inimīca triumphā.Exult, and triumph, my victorious enemy. Met. 6.284Cūr autem victrīx?But why victorious? Met. 6.284miserae mihi plūra supersunt,
285quam tibi fēlīcī: post tot quoque fūnera vincō."more remain to me in my misery than to you in your happiness: even after so many deaths I win.' Met. 6.286Dīxerat, et sonuit contentō nervus ab arcū.She had spoken, and the string twanged from the drawn bow. Met. 6.287Quī praeter Niobēn ūnam conterruit omnēs:
illa malō est audāx.It terrified all except Niobe alone: she is bold in her misfortune. Met. 6.288Stābant cum vestibus ātrīs
ante torōs frātrum dēmissō crīne sorōrēs.The sisters were standing in black garments before their brothers' biers, with hair unbound. Met. 6.290Ē quibus ūna trahēns haerentia viscere tēla
impositō frātrī moribunda relanguit ōre:
altera sōlārī miseram cōnāta parentem
conticuit subitō duplicātaque vulnere tōta est.Of these one, drawing out the arrow fixed in her vitals, sank down dying with her face laid on her brother: another, trying to console her wretched mother, suddenly fell silent and was bent wholly double by a wound. Met. 6.295Haec frūstrā fugiēns collābitur, illa sorōrī
inmoritur, latet haec, illam trepidāre vidērēs.This one collapses as she flees in vain, that one dies upon her sister; this one hides, that one you could see trembling.
Met. 6.297Sexque datīs lētō dīversaque vulnera passīs
ultima restābat.And when six had been given to death, having suffered various wounds, the last remained. Met. 6.298Quam tōtō corpore māter,
tōtā veste tegēns "ūnam minimamque relinque
300dē multīs minimam poscō" clāmāvit "et ūnam."Covering her with her whole body, her whole robe, the mother cried, 'Leave me one, the youngest; of many I ask for the youngest, and for one.' Met. 6.301Dumque rogat, prō quā rogat, occīdit.And while she asks, the one she asks for falls. Met. 6.301Orba resēdit
exanimēs inter nātōs nātāsque virumque,
dēriguitque malīs.Bereaved, she sat down among her lifeless sons and daughters and husband, and grew rigid with her woes. Met. 6.303Nūllōs movet aura capillōs,
in vultū color est sine sanguine, lūmina maestīs
305stant inmōta genīs, nihil est in imāgine vīvum.No breeze stirs her hair, in her face is colour without blood, her eyes stand unmoving in her sad cheeks, there is nothing alive in the image. Met. 6.306Ipsa quoque interius cum dūrō lingua palātō
congelat, et vēnae dēsistunt posse movērī;Her very tongue, too, freezes within against her hard palate, and her veins cease to be able to move; Met. 6.308nec flectī cervīx nec bracchia reddere mōtūs
nec pēs īre potest;neither can her neck bend nor her arms make movements nor her foot walk; Met. 6.309intrā quoque viscera saxum est.within, too, her vitals are stone.
Met. 6.310Flet tamen.Yet she weeps. Met. 6.310Et validī circumdata turbine ventī
in patriam rapta est.And wrapped in the whirl of a mighty wind, she was snatched away to her homeland. Met. 6.311Ibi fīxa cacūmine montis
līquitur, et lacrimās etiam nunc marmora mānant.There, fixed on a mountain's peak, she melts, and even now the marble trickles with tears.