Met. 7.759Carmina Lāiadēs nōn intellēcta priōrum
760solverat ingeniīs, et praecipitāta iacēbat
inmemor ambāgum vātēs obscūra suārum.The son of Laius had solved by his wit the riddling songs not understood by those before him, and the dark prophetess lay hurled headlong, forgetful of her own enigmas. Met. 7.763Prōtinus Āoniīs inmittitur altera Thēbīs
pestis, et exitiō multī pecorumque suōque
765rūrigenae pāvēre feram.At once a second plague is sent against Aonian Thebes, and many country folk feared the beast, for the destruction of their flocks and of themselves. Met. 7.765Vīcīna iuventūs
vēnimus et lātōs indāgine cinximus agrōs.We young men of the neighbourhood came and surrounded the broad fields with a ring of nets. Met. 7.767Illa levī vēlōx superābat rētia saltū
summaque trānsībat positārum līna plagārum.She, swift, leapt over the nets with a light bound and passed over the top cords of the snares we had set. Met. 7.769Cōpula dētrahitur canibus: quōs illa sequentēs
770effūgit et celerī nōn segnior ālite lūdit.The leash is drawn off the dogs: she escapes them as they follow, and, no slower than a swift bird, mocks them.
Met. 7.771Poscor et ipse meum cōnsēnsū Laelapa magnō
(mūneris hoc nōmen).I myself am asked by general consent for my Laelaps (that is the name of the gift). Met. 7.772Iamdūdum vincula pugnat
exuere ipse sibi collōque morantia tendit.For long he had been struggling himself to throw off his bonds, and strains his neck against what held him back. Met. 7.774Vix bene missus erat, nec iam poterāmus, ubi esset,
775scīre.Hardly had he been let go, and already we could not tell where he was. Met. 7.775Pedum calidus vestīgia pulvis habēbat,
ipse oculīs ēreptus erat.The hot dust held the traces of his feet; he himself had been snatched from our eyes. Met. 7.776Nōn ōcior illō
hasta nec exūtae contortō verbere glandēs,
nec Gortȳniacō calamus levis exit ab arcū.No swifter than he is a spear, or bullets flung from a whirled sling, or a light arrow leaving a Gortynian bow. Met. 7.779Collis apex mediī subiectīs inminet arvīs:
780tollor eō capiōque novī spectācula cursūs,
quō modo dēprendī, modo sē subdūcere ab ipsō
vulnere vīsa fera est.The top of a hill in the middle overlooks the fields beneath: I climb up there and take in the spectacle of a strange race, in which the beast seemed now to be caught, now to slip away from the very wound.
Met. 7.782Nec līmite callida rēctō
in spatiumque fugit, sed dēcipit ōra sequentis
et redit in gȳrum, nē sit suus impetus hostī.Nor does she, cunning, flee in a straight line and into the open, but deceives the jaws of her pursuer and turns back in a circle, so that her enemy's rush may lose its force. Met. 7.785Inminet hic sequiturque parem similisque tenentī
nōn tenet et vānōs exercet in āera morsūs.He presses close and follows, matching her, and, seeming to hold her, does not hold her, and snaps vainly at the air. Met. 7.787Ad iaculī vertēbar opem.I was turning to the help of my javelin. Met. 7.787Quod dextera lībrat
dum mea, dum digitōs āmentīs addere temptō,
lūmina dēflexī.While my right hand is balancing it, while I try to fit my fingers to the thongs, I turned my eyes aside. Met. 7.789Revocātaque rūrsus eōdem
790rettuleram: in mediō (mīrum) duo marmora campō
adspiciō: fugere hoc, illud captāre putārēs.And when I had brought them back again to the same place, in the middle of the plain (a wonder!) I see two marble statues: you would think the one was fleeing, the other trying to catch.
Met. 7.792Scīlicet invictōs ambō certāmine cursūs
esse deus voluit, sīquis deus adfuit illīs."Clearly some god willed that both should be unconquered in the contest of the race, if any god was with them.' Met. 7.794Hāctenus, et tacuit.So far he spoke, and fell silent. Met. 7.794"Iaculō quod crīmen in ipsō est?"'What fault is there in the javelin itself?' Met. 7.795Phōcus ait.says Phocus. Met. 7.795Iaculī sīc crīmina reddidit ille:
"Gaudia prīncipium nostrī sunt, Phōce, dolōris:
illa prius referam.He told the faults of the javelin thus: 'Joys, Phocus, are the beginning of my grief: those I shall tell first. Met. 7.797Iuvat ō meminisse beātī
temporis, Aeacida, quō prīmōs rīte per annōs
coniuge eram fēlīx, fēlīx erat illa marītō.It is a delight, O son of Aeacus, to remember that blessed time when, in those first years, as was right, I was happy in my wife, and she was happy in her husband. Met. 7.800Mūtua cūra duōs et amor sociālis habēbat;Mutual care and wedded love held the two of us; Met. 7.801nec Iovis illa meō thalamōs praeferret amōrī,
nec, mē quae caperet, nōn sī Venus ipsa venīret,
ūlla erat: aequālēs ūrēbant pectora flammae.she would not have preferred the bed of Jupiter to my love, nor was there any woman who could capture me, not if Venus herself were to come: equal flames burned in our hearts.
Met. 7.804Sōle ferē radiīs feriente cacūmina prīmīs
805vēnātum in silvās iuvenāliter īre solēbam.When the sun was just striking the hilltops with its first rays, I used to go hunting in the woods with youthful zest. Met. 7.806Nec mēcum famulī nec equī nec nāribus ācrēs
īre canēs, nec līna sequī nōdōsa solēbant:
tūtus eram iaculō.Neither servants nor horses nor keen-scented hounds used to go with me, nor knotted nets to follow: I was safe with my javelin. Met. 7.808Sed cum satiāta ferīnae
dextera caedis erat, repetēbam frīgus et umbrās
810et quae dē gelidīs exībat vallibus aura.But when my right hand had had its fill of slaughtering beasts, I would go back to the cool and the shade and the breeze that came out of the chill valleys. Met. 7.811Aura petēbātur mediō mihi lēnis in aestū,
auram exspectābam, requiēs erat illa labōrī.I would seek the gentle breeze in the midday heat, I would wait for the breeze; it was rest from my labour. Met. 7.813"Aura" (recordor enim) "veniās" cantāre solēbam,
"mēque iuvēs intrēsque sinūs, grātissima, nostrōs,
815utque facis, relevāre velīs, quibus ūrimur, aestūs.""Aura," (for I remember it) "come," I used to sing, "and help me, and enter my breast, most welcome one, and be willing, as you do, to relieve the heat with which I burn."
Met. 7.816Forsitan addiderim (sīc mē mea fāta trahēbant)
blanditiās plūrēs et "tū mihi magna voluptās,"
dīcere sim solitus, "tū mē reficisque fovēsque,
tū facis, ut silvās, ut amem loca sōla;Perhaps I added (so my fate was dragging me) more endearments, and was accustomed to say, "You are my great delight, you restore and cherish me, you make me love woods and lonely places; Met. 7.819meōque
820spīritus iste tuus semper captātur ab ōre."this breath of yours is always sought by my mouth." Met. 7.821Vōcibus ambiguīs dēceptam praebuit aurem
nesciō quis, nōmenque aurae tam saepe vocātum
esse putat nymphae: nympham mihi crēdit amārī.Someone or other lent a deceived ear to these ambiguous words, and thinks that the name "Aura", so often called, is a nymph's: he believes that I love a nymph. Met. 7.824Crīminis extemplō fictī temerārius index
825Procrin adit linguāque refert audīta susurra.At once the rash informer of the imagined crime goes to Procris and reports in whispering tones what he had heard. Met. 7.826Crēdula rēs amor est: subitō conlapsa dolōre,
ut mihi narrātur, cecidit;Love is a credulous thing: suddenly collapsing with grief, so I am told, she fell; Met. 7.827longōque refecta
tempore sē miseram, sē fātī dīxit inīquī,
dēque fidē questa est;and recovering after a long time, she called herself wretched, of unjust fate, and complained of my broken faith; Met. 7.829et crīmine concita vānō
830quod nihil est, metuit, metuit sine corpore nōmen
et dolet īnfēlīx velutī dē paelice vērā.and, roused by an empty charge, she fears what is nothing, fears a name without a body, and grieves, unhappy woman, as if over a real rival.
Met. 7.832Saepe tamen dubitat spēratque miserrima fallī
indiciōque fidem negat et, nisi vīderit ipsa,
damnātūra suī nōn est dēlicta marītī.Yet often she doubts and hopes, most wretched, that she is mistaken, and refuses belief to the report, and, unless she sees it herself, will not condemn her husband's offences. Met. 7.835Postera dēpulerant Aurōrae lūmina noctem:
ēgredior silvamque petō, victorque per herbās
"Aura venī" dīxī, "nostrōque medēre labōrī."The next light of Aurora had driven off the night: I go out and make for the woods, and, victorious, I said among the grass, "Aura, come and cure my weariness." Met. 7.838Et subitō gemitūs inter mea verba vidēbar
nesciō quōs audīsse: "venī" tamen "optima!"And suddenly I seemed to have heard some groans or other amid my words; "Come," nonetheless, "best one!" Met. 7.839dīcēns
840fronde levem rūrsus strepitum faciente cadūcā
sum ratus esse feram tēlumque volātile mīsī.I was saying; and as falling leaves made a slight rustle again, I thought it was a beast and sent my flying weapon. Met. 7.842Procris erat;It was Procris; Met. 7.842mediōque tenēns in pectore vulnus
"ei mihi" conclāmat.and, holding the wound in the middle of her breast, she cries out, "Ah me!"
Met. 7.843Vōx est ubi cognita fīdae
coniugis, ad vōcem praeceps āmēnsque cucurrī.When the voice of my faithful wife was recognised, headlong and frantic I ran towards the voice. Met. 7.845Sēmianimem et sparsās foedantem sanguine vestēs
et sua (mē miserum!) dē vulnere dōna trahentem
inveniō, corpusque meō mihi cārius ulnīs
mollibus attollō scissāque ā pectore veste
vulnera saeva ligō cōnorque inhibēre cruōrem,
850neu mē morte suā scelerātum dēserat, ōrō.I find her half-dead, staining her scattered garments with blood, and (wretched me!) pulling her own gift out of the wound, and I lift her body, dearer to me than my own, in gentle arms, and, tearing the garment from her breast, bind up the cruel wound and try to stop the blood, and I beg her not to leave me guilty by her death. Met. 7.851Vīribus illa carēns et iam moribunda coēgit
haec sē pauca loquī: "Per nostrī foedera lectī
perque deōs supplex ōrō superōsque meōsque,
per sīquid meruī dē tē bene perque manentem
855nunc quoque, cum pereō, causam mihi mortis, amōrem,
nē thalamīs Auram patiāre innūbere nostrīs."She, lacking strength and now dying, forced herself to say these few words: "By the bond of our bed and by the gods above and my own gods I beg you as a suppliant, by whatever good I have deserved from you, and by the love that remains even now, as I perish, the cause of my death, do not let Aura marry into our chamber."
Met. 7.857Dīxit, et errōrem tum dēnique nōminis esse
et sēnsī et docuī.She spoke, and then at last I both realised and told her that it was a mistake over a name. Met. 7.858Sed quid docuisse iuvābat?But what good did telling her do? Met. 7.859Lābitur, et parvae fugiunt cum sanguine vīrēs.She sinks, and her little strength flees with her blood. Met. 7.860Dumque aliquid spectāre potest, mē spectat et in mē
īnfēlīcem animam nostrōque exhālat in ōre;And while she can look at anything, she looks at me, and breathes out her unhappy soul upon me and on my lips; Met. 7.862sed vultū meliōre morī sēcūra vidētur."but she seems to die untroubled, with a happier face.' Met. 7.863Flentibus haec lacrimāns hērōs memorābat: et ecce
Aeacus ingreditur duplicī cum prōle novōque
865mīlite, quem Cephalus cum fortibus accipit armīs.Weeping, the hero was telling these things to weeping listeners: and look, Aeacus enters with his two sons and a new body of soldiers, which Cephalus receives with their brave arms.