Met. 6.313Tum vērō cūnctī manifestam nūminis īram
fēmina virque timent cultūque impēnsius omnēs
315magna gemelliparae venerantur nūmina dīvae,
utque fit, ā factō propiōre priōra renarrant.Then indeed all, woman and man, fear the manifest anger of the deity, and all worship more zealously the great power of the goddess who bore twins, and, as happens, from the more recent event they retell earlier ones. Met. 6.317Ē quibus ūnus ait: "Lyciae quoque fertilis agrīs
nōn impūne deam veterēs sprēvēre colōnī.One of them says: 'In the fields of fertile Lycia too, the farmers of old spurned the goddess, not unpunished. Met. 6.319Rēs obscūra quidem est ignōbilitāte virōrum,
320mīra tamen.The story is little known indeed, through the obscurity of the men, but wonderful. Met. 6.320Vīdī praesēns stagnumque locumque
prōdigiō notum.I saw with my own eyes the pool and the place made famous by the marvel. Met. 6.321Nam mē iam grandior aevō
impatiēnsque viae genitor dēdūcere lēctōs
iusserat inde bovēs gentisque illīus euntī
ipse ducem dederat.For my father, by then advanced in age and unable to bear the journey, had told me to bring choice oxen from there, and as I went he himself had given me a guide from that people.
Met. 6.324Cum quō dum pāscua lūstrō,
325ecce lacū mediō sacrōrum nigrā favillā
āra vetus stābat tremulīs circumdata cannīs.While I travel the pastures with him, look, in the middle of a lake stood an old altar, black with the ash of sacrifices, surrounded by quivering reeds. Met. 6.327Restitit et pavidō "faveās mihi" murmure dīxit
dux meus;My guide stopped and said in a fearful murmur, "Be gracious to me"; Met. 6.328et similī "faveās" ego murmure dīxī.and with a similar murmur I said, "Be gracious." Met. 6.329Nāiadum Faunīne foret tamen āra rogābam
330indigenaeve deī, cum tālia rettulit hospes:
"Nōn hāc, ō iuvenis, montānum nūmen in ārā est:
illa suam vocat hanc, cui quondam rēgia coniūnx
orbem interdīxit, quam vix errātica Dēlos
ōrantem accēpit, tum cum levis īnsula nābat.Yet I asked whether it was an altar of the Naiads or of Faunus or of a native god, when my host replied: "Not on this altar, young man, is a mountain deity: she calls it her own to whom once the royal consort forbade the world, whom wandering Delos scarcely received at her entreaty, back when it floated, a light island.
Met. 6.335Illīc incumbēns cum Palladis arbore palmae
ēdidit invītā geminōs Lātōna novercā.There, leaning on a palm together with Pallas' tree, Latona bore twins against their stepmother's will. Met. 6.337Hinc quoque Iūnōnem fūgisse puerpera fertur
inque suō portāsse sinū, duo nūmina, nātōs.From here too, it is said, the new mother fled Juno, carrying in her bosom her children, two divinities. Met. 6.339Iamque Chimaeriferae, cum sōl gravis ūreret arva,
340fīnibus in Lyciae longō dea fessa labōre
sīdereō siccāta sitim conlēgit ab aestū,
ūberaque ēbiberant avidī lactantia nātī.And now in the territory of Lycia, land of the Chimaera, when the heavy sun was scorching the fields, the goddess, weary from long toil, parched by the heat of the star, grew thirsty, and her greedy children had drained her milky breasts. Met. 6.343Forte lacum mediocris aquae prōspexit in īmīs
vallibus;By chance she caught sight of a lake of modest size deep in the valleys; Met. 6.344agrestēs illīc fruticōsa legēbant
345vīmina cum iuncīs grātamque palūdibus ulvam.country people were gathering there bushy osiers with rushes and sedge that loves the marshes. Met. 6.346Accessit positōque genū Tītānia terram
pressit, ut haurīret gelidōs pōtūra liquōrēs.The Titaness approached and, kneeling, pressed the earth, to scoop up the cool water to drink.
Met. 6.348Rūstica turba vetat.The rustic crowd forbids her. Met. 6.348Dea sīc adfāta vetantēs:
"Quid prohibētis aquīs?The goddess thus addressed those forbidding her: 'Why do you keep me from the water? Met. 6.349ūsus commūnis aquārum est.the use of water is common to all. Met. 6.350Nec sōlem proprium nātūrā nec āera fēcit
nec tenuēs undās: ad pūblica mūnera vēnī.Nature has made neither the sun private property, nor the air, nor the slender waters: I have come to a public gift. Met. 6.352Quae tamen ut dētis, supplex petō.Yet I ask you as a suppliant to give it. Met. 6.352Nōn ego nostrōs
abluere hīc artūs lassātaque membra parābam,
sed relevāre sitim.I was not preparing to wash my body and tired limbs here, but to relieve my thirst. Met. 6.354Caret ōs ūmōre loquentis
355et faucēs ārent, vixque est via vōcis in illīs.My mouth lacks moisture as I speak, and my throat is parched, and there is scarcely a way for my voice through it. Met. 6.356Haustus aquae mihi nectar erit, vītamque fatēbor
accēpisse simul: vītam dederitis in undā.A draught of water will be nectar to me, and I shall confess that I have received life with it: you will have given life in the water.
Met. 6.358Hī quoque vōs moveant, quī nostrō bracchia tendunt
parva sinū:" et cāsū tendēbant bracchia nātī.Let these too move you, who stretch out little arms from my bosom': and as it chanced the children were stretching out their arms. Met. 6.360Quem nōn blanda deae potuissent verba movēre?Whom could the goddess's gentle words not have moved? Met. 6.361Hī tamen ōrantem perstant prohibēre mināsque,
nī procul abscēdat, convīciaque īnsuper addunt.Yet they persist in forbidding her as she pleads, and add threats besides, unless she goes far away, and insults too. Met. 6.363Nec satis est, ipsōs etiam pedibusque manūque
turbāvēre lacūs īmōque ē gurgite mollem
365hūc illūc līmum saltū mōvēre malignō.Nor is that enough; they even stirred up the lake itself with feet and hands, and from the bottom of the pool kicked the soft mud this way and that with spiteful leaping. Met. 6.366Distulit īra sitim: neque enim iam fīlia Coeī
supplicat indignīs nec dīcere sustinet ultrā
verba minōra dea, tollēnsque ad sīdera palmās
"aeternum stagnō" dīxit "vīvātis in istō."Anger put off her thirst: for Coeus' daughter no longer begs the unworthy, nor can she bear any longer to speak words beneath a goddess, and raising her palms to the stars she said, 'May you live for ever in that pool.' Met. 6.370Ēveniunt optāta deae: iuvat esse sub undīs
et modo tōtā cavā submergere membra palūde,
nunc prōferre caput, summō modo gurgite nāre,
saepe super rīpam stagnī cōnsistere, saepe
in gelidōs resilīre lacūs.The goddess's wish comes true: they love to be under the water and now to plunge their whole bodies in the hollow marsh, now to put their heads out, now to swim on the surface of the pool, often to settle on the bank of the pond, often to leap back into the cool lake.
Met. 6.374Sed nunc quoque turpēs
375lītibus exercent linguās pulsōque pudōre,
quamvīs sint sub aquā, sub aquā maledīcere temptant.But even now they exercise their foul tongues in quarrels, and, shame cast off, though they are under water, under water they try to curse. Met. 6.377Vōx quoque iam rauca est, īnflātaque colla tumēscunt,
ipsaque dīlātant patulōs convīcia rictūs.Their voice too is now hoarse, and their puffed-out necks swell, and the very insults widen their gaping jaws. Met. 6.379Terga caput tangunt, colla intercepta videntur,
380spīna viret, venter, pars maxima corporis, albet,
līmōsōque novae saliunt in gurgite rānae.""Their backs touch their heads, their necks seem cut away, their spine is green, their belly, the largest part of the body, is white, and they leap as new frogs in the muddy pool."'