Met. 8.796Et dedit.And she gave them. Met. 8.796Illa datō subvecta per āera currū
dēvēnit in Scythiam rigidīque cacūmine montis
(Caucason appellant) serpentum colla levāvit
quaesītamque Famem lapidōsō vīdit in agrō
800unguibus et rārās vellentem dentibus herbās.Borne up through the air on the chariot given her, she came down into Scythia, and on the summit of a rugged mountain (they call it Caucasus) she unyoked the necks of the serpents and saw Hunger, whom she sought, in a stony field, plucking the sparse grass with nails and teeth. Met. 8.801Hirtus erat crīnis, cava lūmina, pallor in ōre,
labra incāna sitū, scabrae rūbīgine faucēs,
dūra cutis, per quam spectārī viscera possent;Her hair was shaggy, her eyes hollow, pallor in her face, her lips white with mould, her throat rough with scurf, her skin hard, through which her innards could be seen; Met. 8.804ossa sub incurvīs exstābant ārida lumbīs,
805ventris erat prō ventre locus, pendēre putārēs
pectus et ā spīnae tantummodo crāte tenērī.her dry bones stood out beneath her bent loins, in place of a belly there was a place for a belly, you would think her breast was hanging and held only by the frame of her spine.
Met. 8.807Auxerat articulōs maciēs, genuumque tumēbat
orbis, et inmodicō prōdībant tūbere tālī.Leanness had enlarged her joints, the round of her knees swelled, and her ankles stuck out in a monstrous lump. Met. 8.809Hanc procul ut vīdit (neque enim est accēdere iūxtā
810ausa), refert mandāta deae: paulumque morāta,
quamquam aberat longē, quamquam modo vēnerat illūc,
vīsa tamen sēnsisse famem retrōque dracōnēs
ēgit in Haemoniam, versīs sublīmis habēnīs.When the oread saw her from afar (for she did not dare to come near), she delivers the goddess's orders; and having lingered only a little, though she was far off, though she had only just come there, she yet seemed to have felt hunger, and, turning the reins, drove the dragons back on high to Haemonia. Met. 8.814Dicta Famēs Cereris, quamvīs contrāria semper
815illīus est operī, peragit.Hunger carries out the words of Ceres, though she is always opposed to her work. Met. 8.815Perque āera ventō
ad iussam Dēlāta domum est et prōtinus intrat
sacrilegī thalamōs altōque sopōre solūtum
(noctis enim tempus) geminīs amplectitur ulnīs:
sēque virō īnspīrat faucēsque et pectus et ōra
820adflat et in vacuīs spargit iēiūnia vēnīs.And she was carried by the wind through the air to the house she was bidden to, and at once enters the bedroom of the sacrilegious man, and as he lay relaxed in deep sleep (for it was night-time), she embraces him in her two arms: and she breathes herself into the man, and blows on his throat and breast and mouth, and spreads starvation through his empty veins.
Met. 8.821Fūnctaque mandātō fēcundum dēserit orbem
inque domōs inopēs adsuēta revertitur antra.And having done her task, she leaves the fruitful world and returns to her needy home, to her familiar caves. Met. 8.823Lēnis adhūc somnus placidīs Erysichthona pennīs
mulcēbat: petit ille dapēs sub imāgine somnī
825ōraque vāna movet dentemque in dente fatīgat
exercetque cibō dēlūsum guttur inānī
prōque epulīs tenuēs nēquīquam dēvorat aurās.Gentle sleep was still soothing Erysichthon with its peaceful wings: in the image of sleep he seeks a feast and moves his mouth in vain and wears out tooth on tooth, and exercises his deluded gullet on empty food, and in place of a banquet devours thin air to no purpose. Met. 8.828Ut vērō est expulsa quiēs, furit ardor edendī
perque avidās faucēs incēnsaque viscera regnat.But when his rest was driven away, a mad craving to eat rages and reigns through his greedy throat and burning vitals. Met. 8.830Nec mora, quod pontus, quod terra, quod ēducat āēr,
poscit et adpositīs queritur iēiūnia mēnsīs
inque epulīs epulās quaerit;Without delay, whatever sea, whatever land, whatever air produces he demands, and complains of starvation with the tables set before him, and in the midst of feasts looks for feasts; Met. 8.832quodque urbibus esse
quodque satis poterat populō, nōn sufficit ūnī,
plūsque cupit, quō plūra suam dēmittit in alvum.and what could have been enough for cities, what could have been enough for a people, does not satisfy one man, and he desires more, the more he sends down into his belly.
Met. 8.835Utque fretum recipit dē tōtā flūmina terrā
nec satiātur aquīs peregrīnōsque ēbibit amnēs,
utque rapāx ignis nōn umquam alimenta recūsat
innumerāsque facēs cremat et, quō cōpia maior
est data, plūra petit turbaque vorācior ipsa est:
840sīc epulās omnēs Erysichthonis ōra profānī
accipiunt poscuntque simul.And as the sea receives rivers from all the earth and is not sated with waters and drinks up foreign streams, and as greedy fire never refuses fuel and burns countless logs and, the greater the supply that is given, the more it seeks, and is made more voracious by the very quantity: so the mouth of impious Erysichthon receives all feasts and at the same time demands more. Met. 8.841Cibus omnis in illō
causa cibī est, semperque locus fit inānis edendō.All food in him is a cause of food, and by eating there is always room made empty. Met. 8.843Iamque fame patriās altāque vorāgine ventris
attenuārat opēs, sed inattenuāta manēbat
845tum quoque dīra famēs, implācātaeque vigēbat
flamma gulae.And now through hunger and the deep abyss of his belly he had diminished his ancestral wealth, but even then his dread hunger remained undiminished, and the flame of his unappeased gullet was in full force.
Met. 8.846Tandem, dēmissō in viscera cēnsū,
fīlia restābat, nōn illō digna parente.At last, when his estate had been sent down into his vitals, his daughter remained, not worthy of such a parent. Met. 8.848Hanc quoque vēndit inops.Destitute, he sells her too. Met. 8.848Dominum generōsa recūsat
et vīcīna suās tendēns super aequora palmās
850"ēripe mē dominō;The high-born girl refuses a master, and stretching her palms out over the neighbouring sea, says: 'Snatch me from my master; Met. 8.850quī raptae praemia nōbīs
virginitātis habēs" ait.you who have from me the prize of my ravished virginity.' Met. 8.851Haec Neptūnus habēbat.Neptune had that prize. Met. 8.852Quī prece nōn sprētā, quamvīs modo vīsa sequentī
esset erō, fōrmamque novat vultumque virīlem
induit et cultūs piscem capientibus aptōs.He did not scorn her prayer, and, though she had just been seen by her master following her, he renews her form and puts on her a man's face and dress suited to those who catch fish. Met. 8.855Hanc dominus spectāns "ō quī pendentia parvō
aera cibō cēlās, moderātor harundinis," inquit
"sīc mare compositum, sīc sit tibi piscis in undā
crēdulus et nūllōs, nisi fīxus, sentiat hāmōs:
quae modo cum vīlī turbātīs veste capillīs
860lītore in hōc steterat (nam stantem in lītore vīdī),
dīc ubi sit: neque enim vestīgia longius exstant."Her master, looking at her, said: 'O you who hide the hanging bronze hook with a little bait, ruler of the rod, so may the sea be calm for you, so may the fish in the water be trusting, and feel no hooks until it is caught: tell me where she is, the girl who stood on this shore just now with a cheap dress and dishevelled hair (for I saw her standing on the shore): for her footprints go no further.' Met. 8.862Illa deī mūnus bene cēdere sēnsit et ā sē
sē quaerī gaudēns, hīs est resecūta rogantem:
"Quisquis es, ignōscās;She realised that the god's gift was working well, and, glad to be asked about herself, answered his question with these words: 'Whoever you are, forgive me; Met. 8.864in nūllam lūmina partem
865gurgite ab hōc flexī studiōque operātus inhaesī.I have turned my eyes in no direction away from this water, and, busy at my pursuit, I have kept fixed to it.
Met. 8.866Quōque minus dubitēs, sīc hās deus aequoris artēs
adiuvet, ut nēmō iamdūdum lītore in istō,
mē tamen exceptō, nec fēmina cōnstitit ūlla."And so that you may doubt it less, so may the god of the sea help these arts of mine, as no man has stood on this shore for a long time, except for me, and no woman either.' Met. 8.869Crēdidit et versō dominus pede pressit harēnam
870ēlūsusque abiit: illī sua reddita fōrma est.Her master believed it, and, turning his foot, trod the sand and went away deceived: her own form was given back to her. Met. 8.871Ast ubi habēre suam trānsfōrmia corpora sēnsit,
saepe pater dominīs Triopēida trādit.But when her father realised that his daughter had a body that could be transformed, he often hands over the granddaughter of Triopas to masters. Met. 8.872At illa
nunc equa, nunc āles, modo bōs, modo cervus abībat
praebēbatque avidō nōn iūsta alimenta parentī.But she would go away, now a mare, now a bird, now a cow, now a deer, and provided unjust nourishment for her greedy father.
Met. 8.875Vīs tamen illa malī postquam cōnsūmpserat omnem
māteriam dederatque gravī nova pābula morbō,
ipse suōs artūs lacerō dīvellere morsū
coepit et īnfēlīx minuendō corpus alēbat.Yet after the violence of that evil had consumed all the material and had given new fodder to the grave disease, he himself began to tear his own limbs apart with mangling bites, and, unhappy man, fed his body by diminishing it. Met. 8.879Quid moror externīs?Why do I linger on others? Met. 8.879Etiam mihi nempe novandī est
880corporis, ō iuvenis, numerō fīnīta potestās.I too, young man, have the power of changing my body, though it is limited in number. Met. 8.881Nam modo quī nunc sum videor, modo flector in anguem,
armentī modo dux vīrēs in cornua sūmō, —
cornua, dum potuī!For now I seem what I am now, now I am bent into a snake, now as leader of the herd I take my strength into my horns, — horns, while I could! Met. 8.883nunc pars caret altera tēlō
frontis, ut ipse vidēs."now one side of my brow lacks its weapon, as you yourself see.' Met. 8.884Gemitūs sunt verba secūtī.Groans followed his words.