Met. 7.552Pervēnit ad miserōs damnō graviōre colōnōs
pestis et in magnae dominātur moenibus urbis.With heavier loss the plague reaches the wretched farmers and lords it within the walls of the great city. Met. 7.554Viscera torrentur prīmō, flammaeque latentis
555indicium rubor est et ductus anhēlitus ingēns.First the vitals are scorched, and the sign of the hidden flame is redness and the drawing of laboured breath. Met. 7.556Aspera lingua tumet, tepidīsque ārentia ventīs
ōra patent, auraeque gravēs captantur hiātū.The tongue is rough and swells, the mouth, parched by warm winds, gapes open, and heavy air is caught at with gaping jaws. Met. 7.558Nōn strātum, nōn ūlla patī vēlāmina possunt,
dūrā sed in terrā pōnunt praecordia;They cannot bear a bed, nor any coverings, but lay their breasts on the hard earth; Met. 7.559nec fit
560corpus humō gelidum, sed humus dē corpore fervet.nor is the body made cool by the ground, but the ground grows hot from the body. Met. 7.561Nec moderātor adest, inque ipsōs saeva medentēs
ērumpit clādēs, obsuntque auctōribus artēs:
quō propior quisque est servitque fidēlius aegrō,
in partem lētī citius venit.Nor is there anyone to check it, and the cruel disaster breaks out upon the healers themselves, and their arts harm those who practise them: the nearer each is, and the more faithfully he serves the sick, the sooner he comes to his share of death.
Met. 7.564Utque salūtis
565spēs abiit fīnemque vident in fūnere morbī,
indulgent animīs et nūlla, quid ūtile, cūra est:
ūtile enim nihil est.And when hope of recovery had gone and they see the end of the disease only in death, they indulge their impulses, and there is no care for what is useful: for nothing is useful. Met. 7.567Passim positōque pudōre
fontibus et fluviīs puteīsque capācibus haerent,
nec sitis est exstīncta prius quam vīta bibendō.Everywhere, putting off shame, they cling to springs and rivers and capacious wells, and their thirst is not quenched by drinking before their life is. Met. 7.570Inde gravēs multī nequeunt cōnsurgere et ipsīs
inmoriuntur aquīs: aliquis tamen haurit et illās.Then many, too heavy, cannot rise and die in the very waters: yet someone drinks those too. Met. 7.572Tantaque sunt miserīs invīsī taedia lectī:
prōsiliunt, aut sī prohibent cōnsistere vīrēs,
corpora dēvolvunt in humum: fugiuntque penātēs
575quisque suōs, sua cuique domus fūnesta vidētur,
et quia causa latet, locus est in crīmine parvus
Sēmianimēs errāre viīs, dum stāre valēbant,
adspicerēs, flentēs aliōs terrāque iacentēs
lassaque versantēs suprēmō lūmina mōtū:
580membraque pendentis tendunt ad sīdera caelī,
hīc illīc, ubi mors dēprenderat, exhālantēs.And so great is the wretched sufferers' loathing of their hateful beds: they leap out, or if their strength prevents them from standing, they roll their bodies down onto the ground: and each flees his own home, to each his own house seems deadly, and because the cause lies hidden, the small space is blamed. You might have seen them wandering half-dead in the streets, while they could stand, others weeping and lying on the ground and rolling their weary eyes with a final movement: and they stretch their limbs towards the stars of the overhanging sky, breathing their last here and there, wherever death had caught them.
Met. 7.582Quid mihi tunc animī fuit?What spirit did I have then? Met. 7.582an quod dēbuit esse,
ut vītam ōdissem et cuperem pars esse meōrum?Was it not what it ought to have been, that I hated life and longed to share the fate of my people? Met. 7.584Quō sē cumquē aciēs oculōrum flexerat, illīc
585vulgus erat strātum, velutī cum putria mōtīs
pōma cadunt rāmīs agitātāque īlice glandēs.Wherever the gaze of my eyes had turned, there the common folk lay strewn, as rotten apples fall when branches are shaken, and acorns from a shaken holm oak. Met. 7.587Templa vidēs contrā gradibus sublīmia longīs:
Iuppiter illa tenet.You see the temple opposite, lofty with its long flight of steps: Jupiter holds it. Met. 7.588Quis nōn altāribus illīs
inrita tūra dedit?Who did not offer vain incense on those altars? Met. 7.589Quotiēns prō coniuge coniūnx,
590prō gnātō genitor dum verba precantia dīcit,
nōn exōrātīs animam fīnīvit in ārīs,
inque manū tūris pars incōnsūmpta reperta est!How often, while a husband for his wife, a father for his son, was speaking words of prayer, did he end his life at the unmoved altars, and part of the incense was found unburnt in his hand!
Met. 7.593Admōtī quotiēns templīs, dum vōta sacerdōs
concipit et fundit pūrum inter cornua vīnum,
595haud exspectātō cecidērunt vulnere taurī!How often, brought to the temples, while the priest was pronouncing the vows and pouring pure wine between their horns, did the bulls fall from a wound not waited for! Met. 7.596Ipse ego sacra Iovī prō mē patriāque tribusque
cum facerem nātīs, mūgītūs victima dīrōs
ēdidit et subitō conlapsa sine ictibus ūllīs
exiguō tinxit subiectōs sanguine cultrōs.When I myself was making sacrifice to Jupiter for myself and my country and my three sons, the victim gave dreadful bellows and, suddenly collapsing without any blow, stained the knives held beneath it with scanty blood. Met. 7.600Exta quoque aegra notās vērī monitūsque deōrum
perdiderant: trīstēs penetrant ad viscera morbī.The diseased entrails too had lost the marks of truth and the warnings of the gods: the grim disease penetrates to the inner organs. Met. 7.602Ante sacrōs vīdī prōiecta cadāvera postēs,
ante ipsās, quō mors foret invidiōsior, ārās.Before the sacred doorposts I saw corpses thrown out, before the very altars, to make death more odious. Met. 7.604Pars animam laqueō claudunt mortisque timōrem
605morte fugant ultrōque vocant venientia fāta.Some shut off their life with a noose, and by death drive away the fear of death, and of their own accord summon the fate that was coming.
Met. 7.606Corpora missa necī nūllīs dē mōre feruntur
fūneribus: neque enim capiēbant fūnera portae.Bodies sent to death are not carried out with funerals according to custom: for the gates could not hold the funerals. Met. 7.608Aut inhumāta premunt terrās aut dantur in altōs
indōtāta rogōs.Either they weigh on the earth unburied, or are given to high pyres without offerings. Met. 7.609Et iam reverentia nūlla est,
610dēque rogīs pugnant aliēnīsque ignibus ārdent.And now there is no reverence, and they fight over pyres and burn in fires meant for others. Met. 7.611Quī lacriment, dēsunt;There are none left to weep; Met. 7.611indēflētaeque vagantur
mātrumque nuruumque animae iuvenumque senumque:
nec locus in tumulōs, nec sufficit arbor in ignēs.and the souls of mothers and young wives, of young men and old, wander unwept: there is no room for tombs, nor wood enough for fires. Met. 7.614Attonitus tantō miserārum turbine rērum,
615"Iuppiter ō!"Astounded by so great a whirlwind of miseries, 'O Jupiter!' Met. 7.615dīxī "sī tē nōn falsa loquuntur
dicta sub amplexūs Aegīnae Āsōpidos īsse,
nec tē, magne pater, nostrī pudet esse parentem,
aut mihi redde meōs aut mē quoque conde sepulcrō."I said, 'if the tales are not false that say you went to the embraces of Aegina, daughter of Asopus, and if you are not ashamed, great father, to be my parent, either give me back my people or lay me too in the tomb.' Met. 7.619Ille notam fulgōre dedit tonitrūque secundō.He gave a sign with lightning and favourable thunder.
Met. 7.620"Accipiō, sintque ista, precor, fēlīcia mentis
signa tuae" dīxī.'I accept, and may these be happy signs, I pray, of your intent,' I said. Met. 7.621"Quod dās mihi, pigneror ōmen."'The omen you give me I take as a pledge.' Met. 7.622Forte fuit iūxtā patulīs rārissima rāmīs
sacra Iovī quercus dē sēmine Dōdōnaeō:
hīc nōs frūgilegās adspeximus agmine longō
625grande onus exiguō formīcās ōre gerentēs
rūgōsōque suum servantēs cortice callem.By chance there was nearby an oak with wide-spreading branches, sacred to Jupiter, from Dodonaean seed: here we saw grain-gathering ants in a long column carrying great loads in their small mouths and keeping to their own path along the wrinkled bark. Met. 7.627Dum numerum mīror, "totidem, pater optime" dīxī,
"tū mihi dā cīvēs et inānia moenia supplē."While I marvel at their number, I said, 'Give me as many citizens, best of fathers, and fill my empty walls.' Met. 7.629Intremuit rāmīsque sonum sine flāmine mōtīs
630alta dedit quercus.The tall oak trembled and, its branches moving without a breeze, gave out a sound. Met. 7.630Pavidō mihi membra timōre
horruerant, stābantque comae.My limbs had shuddered with trembling fear, and my hair stood on end.
Met. 7.631Tamen ōscula terrae
rōboribusque dedī;Yet I gave kisses to the earth and the oak; Met. 7.632nec mē spērāre fatēbar:
spērābam tamen atque animō mea vōta fovēbam.nor did I admit that I was hoping: yet I was hoping, and cherishing my prayers in my heart.