Met. 9.324Dīxit, et admonitū veteris commōta ministrae
325ingemuit.She spoke, and, moved by the memory of her old servant, she groaned. Met. 9.325Quam sīc nurus est adfāta dolentem:
"Tē tamen, ō genetrīx, aliēnae sanguine vestrō
rapta movet faciēs.As she grieved, her daughter-in-law addressed her thus: 'Yet, mother, it is the changed shape of a stranger, not of your blood, that moves you. Met. 9.327Quid sī tibi mīra sorōris
fāta meae referam?What if I should tell you the wonderful fate of my sister? Met. 9.328quamquam lacrimaeque dolorque
impediunt prohibentque loquī.although tears and grief hinder me and forbid me to speak. Met. 9.329Fuit ūnica mātrī
330(mē pater ex aliā genuit) notissima fōrmā
Oechalidum Dryopē.Dryope was her mother's only child (my father begot me by another woman), the most famous beauty among the women of Oechalia. Met. 9.331Quam virginitāte carentem
vimque deī passam Delphōs Dēlumque tenentis
excipit Andraemōn, et habētur coniuge fēlīx.Her, no longer a maiden, having suffered violence from the god who holds Delphi and Delos, Andraemon takes as wife, and is thought fortunate in his spouse.
Met. 9.334Est lacus adclīvis dēvexō margine fōrmam
335lītoris efficiēns: summum myrtēta corōnant.There is a lake whose sloping, shelving margin forms the shape of a shore: myrtle groves crown its top. Met. 9.336Vēnerat hūc Dryopē fātōrum nescia, quōque
indignēre magis, nymphīs lātūra corōnās;Here Dryope had come, unaware of her fate, and, to make you more indignant, to bring garlands to the nymphs; Met. 9.338inque sinū puerum, quī nōndum implēverat annum,
dulce ferēbat onus tepidīque ope lactis alēbat.and in her bosom she carried a boy who had not yet completed a year, a sweet burden, and fed him with the help of her warm milk. Met. 9.340Haud procul ā stagnō Tyriōs imitāta colōrēs
in spem bācārum flōrēbat aquātica lōtos.Not far from the pool, imitating Tyrian colours, a water lotus was flowering in hope of berries. Met. 9.342Carpserat hinc Dryopē, quōs oblectāmina nātō
porrigeret, flōrēs, et idem factūra vidēbar
(namque aderam): vīdī guttās ē flōre cruentās
345dēcidere et tremulō rāmōs horrōre movērī.From this Dryope had plucked flowers to offer her son as playthings, and I seemed about to do the same (for I was there): I saw drops of blood fall from the flower and the branches move with a trembling shudder.
Met. 9.346Scīlicet, ut referunt tardī nunc dēnique agrestēs,
Lōtis in hanc nymphē, fugiēns obscēna Priāpī,
contulerat versōs servātō nōmine, vultūs.It seems, as the country folk, slow to tell, now at last report, the nymph Lotis, fleeing Priapus' lust, had turned her features into this tree, keeping her name. Met. 9.349Nescierat soror hoc.My sister had not known this. Met. 9.349Quae cum perterrita retrō
350īre et adōrātīs vellet discēdere nymphīs,
haesērunt rādīce pedēs.When, terrified, she wished to go back and depart after praying to the nymphs, her feet stuck fast in a root. Met. 9.351Convellere pugnat,
nec quicquam nisi summa movet.She struggles to tear them free, and moves nothing but her upper part. Met. 9.352Subcrēscit ab īmō
tōtaque paulātim lentus premit inguina cortex.From below, pliant bark grows up and little by little covers all her groin. Met. 9.354Ut vīdit, cōnāta manū laniāre capillōs,
355fronde manum implēvit: frondēs caput omne tenēbant.When she saw it, trying to tear her hair with her hand, she filled her hand with leaves: leaves covered all her head. Met. 9.356At puer Amphissos (namque hoc avus Eurytus illī
addiderat nōmen) māterna rigēscere sentit
ūbera, nec sequitur dūcentem lacteus ūmor.But the boy Amphissos (for his grandfather Eurytus had given him this name) feels his mother's breasts stiffen, and the milky liquid does not follow his sucking.
Met. 9.359Spectātrīx aderam factī crūdēlis opemque
360nōn poteram tibi ferre, soror;I stood by, a witness of the cruel event, and could not bring you help, sister; Met. 9.360quantumque valēbam,
crēscentem truncum rāmōsque amplexa morābar
et, fateor, voluī sub eōdem cortice condī.as far as I could, I held back the growing trunk and branches by embracing them, and, I confess, I wished to be hidden beneath the same bark. Met. 9.363Ecce vir Andraemōn genitorque miserrimus adsunt
et quaerunt Dryopēn: Dryopēn quaerentibus illīs
365ostendī lōton.Look, her husband Andraemon and her most wretched father arrive and look for Dryope: as they looked for Dryope, I showed them the lotus. Met. 9.365Tepidō dant ōscula lignō
adfūsīque suae rādīcibus arboris haerent.They give kisses to the warm wood and, flung down, cling to the roots of their tree. Met. 9.367Nīl nisi iam faciem, quod nōn foret arbor, habēbat
cāra soror: lacrimae miserō dē corpore factīs
inrōrant foliīs, et, dum licet ōraque praestant
370vōcis iter, tālēs effundit in āera questūs:
"Sīqua fidēs miserīs, hoc mē per nūmina iūrō
nōn meruisse nefās: patior sine crīmine poenam.My dear sister had nothing now but her face that was not tree: tears bedew the leaves made from her wretched body, and, while she may and her mouth gives a path to her voice, she pours out such laments into the air: "If the wretched are believed at all, I swear by the gods that I did not deserve this outrage: I suffer punishment without guilt.
Met. 9.373Vīximus innocuae: sī mentior, ārida perdam
quās habeō, frondēs et caesa secūribus ūrar.I have lived innocent: if I lie, may I wither and lose the leaves I have, and be cut down by axes and burned. Met. 9.375Hunc tamen īnfantem māternīs dēmite rāmīs
et date nūtrīcī;Yet take this infant from his mother's branches and give him to a nurse; Met. 9.376nostrāque sub arbore saepe
lāc facitōte bibat nostrāque sub arbore lūdat!and see that he often drinks his milk beneath my tree, and plays beneath my tree! Met. 9.378Cumque loquī poterit, mātrem facitōte salūtet,
et trīstis dīcat "latet hōc in stīpite māter."And when he can speak, see that he greets his mother and says sadly, 'In this trunk my mother is hidden.' Met. 9.380Stagna tamen timeat nec carpat ab arbore flōrēs,
et fruticēs omnēs corpus putet esse deōrum!Yet let him fear pools and not pluck flowers from a tree, and think all bushes are bodies of gods! Met. 9.382Cāre valē coniūnx, et tū, germāna, paterque!Farewell, dear husband, and you, sister, and father! Met. 9.383Quī, Sīqua est pietās, ab acūtae vulnere falcis,
ā pecoris morsū frondēs dēfendite nostrās.If there is any love in you, defend my leaves from the wound of the sharp pruning hook and from the bite of the flock.
Met. 9.385Et quoniam mihi fās ad vōs incumbere nōn est,
ērigite hūc artūs et ad ōscula nostra venīte,
dum tangī possunt, parvumque attollite nātum.And since it is not permitted for me to bend down to you, raise yourselves up here and come to my kisses while I can still be touched, and lift up my little son. Met. 9.388Plūra loquī nequeō.I can say no more. Met. 9.388Nam iam per candida mollis
colla liber serpit, summōque cacūmine condor.For already the soft bark creeps over my white neck, and I am buried in its topmost crown. Met. 9.390Ex oculīs removēte manūs: sine mūnere vestrō
contegat inductus morientia lūmina cortex!"Take your hands from my eyes: without your service let the spreading bark close my dying eyes!" Met. 9.392Dēsierant simul ōra loquī, simul esse, diūque
corpore mūtātō rāmī caluēre recentēs."At the same moment her lips ceased to speak and to be, and long after her body was changed the new branches stayed warm.' Met. 9.394Dumque refert Iolē factum mīrābile, dumque
395Eurytidos lacrimās admōtō pollice siccat
Alcmēnē (flet et ipsa tamen), conpēscuit omnem
rēs nova trīstitiam.And while Iole tells of this wondrous happening, and while Alcmena dries the tears of Eurytus' daughter with her thumb (though she weeps herself too), a new event checked all their sadness.
Met. 9.397Nam līmine cōnstitit altō
paene puer dubiāque tegēns lānūgine mālās
ōra refōrmātus prīmōs Iolāus in annōs.For on the high threshold stood one almost a boy, his cheeks covered with faint down, Iolaus, his face restored to his first years. Met. 9.400Hoc illī dederat Iūnōnia mūneris Hēbē,
victa virī precibus.Juno's daughter Hebe had given him this gift, won over by her husband's prayers. Met. 9.401Quae cum iūrāre parāret
dōna tribūtūram post hunc sē tālia nūllī,
nōn est passa Themis: "Nam iam discordia Thēbae
bella movent" dīxit "Capaneusque nisi ab Iove vincī
405haud poterit, fīentque parēs in vulnere frātrēs,
subductāque suōs mānēs tellūre vidēbit
vīvus adhūc vātēs;When she was preparing to swear that after him she would grant such gifts to no one, Themis did not allow it: 'For already Thebes stirs up civil war,' she said, 'and Capaneus will be unconquerable except by Jove, and the brothers will become equal in wounds, and, the earth withdrawn, the prophet, still alive, will see his own shades; Met. 9.407ultusque parente parentem
nātus erit factō pius et scelerātus eōdem;and the son, avenging parent on parent, will be dutiful and wicked by the same deed; Met. 9.409attonitusque malīs exsul mentisque domusque,
410vultibus Eumenidum mātrisque agitābitur umbrīs,
dōnec eum coniūnx fātāle poposcerit aurum,
cognātumque latus Phēgēius hauserit ēnsis.and, stunned by his woes, an exile from mind and home, he will be driven by the faces of the Furies and his mother's shade, until his wife demands from him the fatal gold, and the sword of Phegeus drains the side of its kinsman.
Met. 9.413Tum dēmum magnō petet hōs Achelōia supplex
ab Iove Callirhoē nātīs īnfantibus annōs
415nēve necem sinat esse diū victōris inultam,
Iuppiter hīs mōtus prīvignae dōna nurūsque
praecipiet facietque virōs inpūbibus annīs."Then at last Achelous' daughter Callirhoe, a suppliant, will ask great Jove for these years for her infant sons, and that he not let the victor's death long go unavenged; Jupiter, moved by her, will bring forward the gifts of his stepdaughter and daughter-in-law and make them men in their beardless years.'