Met. 9.1Quae gemitūs truncaeque deō Neptūnius hērōs
causa rogat frontis, cum sīc Calydōnius amnis
coepit inōrnātōs redimītus harundine crīnēs:
"Trīste petis mūnus.The Neptunian hero asks the cause of the god's groaning and of his maimed brow, when the Calydonian river, his unadorned hair wreathed with reeds, began thus: 'It is a sad task you ask of me. Met. 9.4Quis enim sua proelia victus
5commemorāre velit?For who, once beaten, would wish to recall his own battles? Met. 9.5Referam tamen ōrdine.Yet I will tell it in order. Met. 9.5Nec tam
turpe fuit vincī, quam contendisse decōrum est,
magnaque dat nōbīs tantus sōlācia victor.Nor was it as shameful to be beaten as it is glorious to have fought, and so great a victor gives me great consolation. Met. 9.8Nōmine Sīqua suō fandō pervēnit ad aurēs
Dēianīra tuās—quondam pulcherrima virgō
10multōrumque fuit spēs invidiōsa procōrum.If by chance Deianira has reached your ears by her name in story — she was once a most beautiful maiden and the envied hope of many suitors. Met. 9.11Cum quibus ut socerī domus est intrāta petītī,
"accipe mē generum," dīxī "Parthaone nāte:"
dīxit et Alcīdēs.When I entered with them the house of the father-in-law we sought, "Take me as your son-in-law, son of Parthaon," I said; and Alcides said the same.
Met. 9.13Aliī cessēre duōbus.The others gave way to the two of us. Met. 9.14Ille Iovem socerum dare sē fāmamque labōrum
15et superāta suae referēbat iussa novercae.He kept telling how he would give Jupiter as father-in-law, and of the fame of his labours, and of his stepmother's commands overcome. Met. 9.16Contrā ego "turpe deum mortālī cēdere" dīxī
(nōndum erat ille deus), "rēgem mē cernis aquārum
cursibus oblīquīs inter tua regna fluentum.Against this I said, "It is shameful for a god to yield to a mortal" (he was not yet a god); "you see in me the king of the waters that flow in winding courses through your realm. Met. 9.19Nec gener externīs hospes tibi missus ab ōrīs,
20sed populāris erō et rērum pars ūna tuārum.Nor will I be a son-in-law sent to you as a stranger from foreign shores, but one of your own people and a part of your estate. Met. 9.21Tantum nē noceat, quod mē nec rēgia Iūnō
ōdit et omnis abest iussōrum poena labōrum.Only let it not harm me that queenly Juno does not hate me and that all punishment of ordered labours is far from me.
Met. 9.23Nam, quō tē iactās, Alcmēnā nāte, creātum,
Iuppiter aut falsus pater est, aut crīmine vērus.For, as to the boast you make, son of Alcmena, of being begotten by him, Jupiter is either a false father or a true one by a crime. Met. 9.25Mātris adulteriō patrem petis.You claim a father through your mother's adultery. Met. 9.25Ēlige, fictum
esse Iovem mālīs, an tē per dēdecus ortum."Choose whether you would rather Jove be a fiction, or that you were born through disgrace." Met. 9.27Tālia dīcentem iamdūdum lūmine torvō
spectat et accēnsae nōn fortiter imperat īrae
verbaque tot reddit: "Melior mihi dextera linguā.As I said such things, he had long been watching me with a grim eye, and, not stoutly mastering the anger kindled in him, he gave back just these words: "My right hand is better than my tongue. Met. 9.30Dummodo pugnandō superem, tū vince loquendō,"
congrediturque ferōx.So long as I win in fighting, you may win in talking," and he came at me fiercely. Met. 9.31Puduit modo magna locūtum
cēdere: rēiēcī viridem dē corpore vestem
bracchiaque opposuī tenuīque ā pectore vārās
in statiōne manūs et pugnae membra parāvī.I was ashamed, having spoken so grandly, to give way: I threw the green robe from my body, set my arms against him, held my hands bent before my chest in readiness, and made my limbs ready for the fight.
Met. 9.35Ille cavīs haustō spargit mē pulvere palmīs
inque vicem fulvae tāctū flāvēscit harēnae.He scooped up dust in his hollow palms and sprinkled me with it, and in turn grew golden himself from the touch of the tawny sand. Met. 9.37Et modo cervīcem, modo crūra micantia captat,
aut captāre putēs, omnīque ā parte lacessit.And now he grabs at my neck, now at my flashing legs, or you would think he grabbed, and attacks me from every side. Met. 9.39Mē mea dēfendit gravitās frūstrāque petēbar,
40haud secus ac mōlēs, quam magnō murmure flūctūs
oppugnant: manet illa suōque est pondere tūta.My weight defended me, and I was assailed in vain, just like a mass of rock which the waves attack with a great roar: it stays, safe in its own weight. Met. 9.42Dīgredimur paulum rūrsusque ad bella coīmus,
inque gradū stetimus, certī nōn cēdere;We draw apart a little and come together again for battle, and stood our ground, determined not to give way; Met. 9.43eratque
cum pede pēs iūnctus, tōtōque ego pectore prōnus
45et digitōs digitīs et frontem fronte premēbam.and foot was locked with foot, and I, leaning forward with all my chest, was pressing fingers with fingers and brow with brow.
Met. 9.46Nōn aliter vīdī fortēs concurrere taurōs,
cum pretium pugnae tōtō nitidissima saltū
expetitur coniūnx: spectant armenta paventque
nescia, quem maneat tantī victōria regnī.Just so have I seen strong bulls clash, when the sleekest mate in the whole pasture is sought as the prize of the fight: the herds look on and tremble, not knowing which one the victory of so great a kingdom awaits. Met. 9.50Ter sine profectū voluit nītentia contrā
rēicere Alcīdēs ā sē mea pectora;Three times without success Alcides tried to thrust my straining chest away from him; Met. 9.51quartō
excutit amplexūs adductaque bracchia solvit,
inpulsumque manū (certum est mihi vēra fatērī)
prōtinus āvertit tergōque onerōsus inhaesit.the fourth time he shakes off my embrace, breaks the arms drawn about him, and with a push of his hand (I am resolved to confess the truth) at once turns me round and clung heavy to my back. Met. 9.55Sīqua fidēs neque ficta mihi nunc glōria vōce
quaeritur, inpositō pressus mihi monte vidēbar.If there is any trust, and I am not now seeking glory by a feigned word, I seemed to be crushed by a mountain set upon me.
Met. 9.57Vix tamen īnseruī sūdōre fluentia multō
bracchia, vix solvī dūrōs ā corpore nexūs:
īnstat anhēlantī prohibetque resūmere vīrēs,
60et cervīce meā potītur.Yet with difficulty I worked in my arms, streaming with much sweat, with difficulty loosed the hard grip from my body: he presses on me as I pant and prevents me from regaining my strength, and seizes my neck. Met. 9.60Tum dēnique tellūs
pressa genū nostrō est, et harēnās ōre momordī.Then at last the earth was pressed by my knee, and I bit the sand with my mouth. Met. 9.62Īnferior virtūte meās dīvertor ad artēs,
ēlāborque virō longum fōrmātus in anguem.Inferior in strength, I turn to my arts, and slip away from the man, shaped into a long snake. Met. 9.64Quī postquam flexōs sinuāvī corpus in orbēs
65cumque ferō mōvī linguam strīdōre bisulcam,
rīsit et inlūdēns nostrās Tīrynthius artēs
"cūnārum labor est anguēs superāre meārum,"
dīxit "et ut vincās aliōs, Achelōe, dracōnēs,
pars quota Lernaeae serpēns eris ūnus echidnae?When I had curved my body into winding coils and flicked my forked tongue with a fierce hissing, the Tirynthian laughed and, mocking my arts, said, "Overcoming snakes was the task of my cradle, and though you may defeat other serpents, Achelous, what fraction of the Lernaean hydra will you be, a single snake?
Met. 9.70Vulneribus fēcunda suīs erat illa, nec ūllum
dē centum numerō caput est inpūne recīsum,
quīn geminō cervīx hērēde valentior esset.She was fruitful from her own wounds, and not one head out of her hundred was cut off with impunity without her neck growing stronger with a twin heir. Met. 9.73Hanc ego rāmōsam nātīs ē caede colubrīs
crēscentemque malō domuī domitamque reclūsī.Her, branching with snakes born from slaughter and growing from injury, I subdued, and having subdued her, I cut her open. Met. 9.75Quid fore tē crēdās, falsum quī versus in anguem
arma aliēna movēs, quem fōrma precāria cēlat?"What do you think will become of you, who, turned into a false snake, wield weapons not your own, hidden by a borrowed shape?" Met. 9.77Dīxerat, et summō digitōrum vincula collō
inicit: angēbar ceu guttura forcipe pressus,
pollicibusque meās pugnābam ēvellere faucēs.He had spoken, and he throws the chains of his fingers around the top of my neck: I was choking as though my throat were squeezed by pincers, and I struggled to tear his thumbs from my gullet.
Met. 9.80Sīc quoque dēvictō restābat tertia taurī
fōrma trucis: taurō mūtātus membra rebellō.Defeated in this way too, there remained my third form, that of a savage bull: changed in my limbs into a bull, I fight back. Met. 9.82Induit ille torīs ā laevā parte lacertōs,
admissumque trahēns sequitur dēpressaque dūra
cornua fīgit humō mēque altā sternit harēnā.He throws his arms around my brawny neck from the left side, and, dragging me as I charge, follows, and pulling down my hard horns he drives them into the ground and lays me low in the deep sand. Met. 9.85Nec satis hoc fuerat: rigidum fera dextera cornū
dum tenet, īnfrēgit truncāque ā fronte revellit.Nor was this enough: while his savage right hand held my stiff horn, he broke it and tore it from my maimed brow. Met. 9.87Nāidēs hoc, pōmīs et odōrō flōre replētum,
sacrārunt, dīvesque meō Bona Cōpia cornū est."The Naiads filled it with fruits and fragrant flowers and made it sacred, and Good Plenty is rich through my horn.' Met. 9.89Dīxerat, et nymphē rītū succīncta Diānae,
90ūna ministrārum, fūsīs utrimque capillīs,
incessit tōtumque tulit praedīvite cornū
autumnum et mēnsās, fēlīcia pōma, secundās.He had spoken, and a nymph, one of his attendants, girt up like Diana, with her hair streaming on either side, came in and brought all autumn in the rich horn, and the second course, the happy fruits.
Met. 9.93Lūx subit, et prīmō feriente cacūmina sōle
discēdunt iuvenēs: neque enim dum flūmina pācem
95et placidōs habeant lāpsūs tōtaeque resīdant,
opperiuntur, aquae.Dawn comes on, and as the first sun strikes the hilltops the young men depart; for they do not wait until the rivers have peace and a calm flow and the waters all subside. Met. 9.96Vultūs Achelōus agrestēs
et lacerum cornū mediīs caput abdidit undīs.Achelous hid his rustic face and his head, maimed of its horn, in the midst of his waves.