Met. 9.418Haec ubi fāticanō ventūrī praescia dīxit
ōre Themis, variō superī sermōne fremēbant,
420et "cūr nōn aliīs eadem dare dōna licēret"
murmur erat: queritur veterēs Pallantias annōs
coniugis esse suī, queritur cānēscere mītis
Iasiōna Cerēs, repetītum Mulciber aevum
poscit Erichthoniō.When Themis, foreknowing the future, had said this with her prophetic mouth, the gods above murmured in varied talk, and there was a grumbling, 'Why might the same gifts not be given to others?': Pallas' daughter complains that her husband's years are old, gentle Ceres complains that Iasion is growing grey, Mulciber demands renewed life for Erichthonius. Met. 9.424Venerem quoque cūra futūrī
425tangit et Anchīsae renovāre pacīscitur annōs.Venus too is touched by care for the future, and bargains to renew Anchises' years. Met. 9.426Cui studeat, deus omnis habet, crēscitque favōre
turbida sēditiō, dōnec sua Iuppiter ōra
solvit et "ō nostrī Sīqua est reverentia," dīxit
"quō ruitis?Every god has someone to favour, and the turbulent revolt grows with partisanship, until Jupiter opened his lips and said, 'O, if you have any reverence for me, where are you rushing? Met. 9.429Tantumne aliquis sibi posse vidētur,
430fāta quoque ut superet?Does anyone think himself so powerful that he can overcome even the fates?
Met. 9.430Fātīs Iolāus in annōs,
quōs ēgit, rediit, fātīs iuvenēscere dēbent
Callirhoē genitī, nōn ambitiōne nec armīs.By the fates Iolaus has returned to the years he had passed; by the fates Callirhoe's sons must grow young, not by ambition or by arms. Met. 9.433Vōs etiam, quōque hōc animō meliōre ferātis,
mē quoque fāta regunt.You too are ruled by the fates — and, so that you may bear this with a better mind, I too am ruled by the fates. Met. 9.434Quae sī mūtāre valērem,
435nec nostrum sērī curvārent Aeacon annī,
perpetuumque aevī flōrem Rhadamanthus habēret
cum Mīnōe meō, quī propter amāra senectae
pondera dēspicitur nec quō prius ōrdine regnat."If I had the power to change them, late years would not be bending our Aeacus, and Rhadamanthus would have the everlasting flower of youth, along with my Minos, who because of the bitter weight of old age is despised, and does not reign in the order he did before.' Met. 9.439Dicta Iovis mōvēre deōs, nec sustinet ūllus,
440cum videat fessōs Rhadamanthon et Aeacon annīs
et Mīnōa, querī.Jove's words moved the gods, and no one has the heart to complain, when he sees Rhadamanthus and Aeacus worn with years, and Minos.
Met. 9.441Quī, dum fuit integer aevī,
terruerat magnās ipsō quoque nōmine gentēs.He, while he was in the prime of life, had terrified great nations by his very name. Met. 9.443Tunc erat invalidus Dēionidēnque iuventae
rōbore Mīlētum Phoebōque parente superbum
445pertimuit crēdēnsque suīs īnsurgere regnīs,
haud tamen est patriīs arcēre penātibus ausus.Now he was feeble and greatly feared Miletus, son of Deione, proud in the strength of youth and in his father Phoebus, and though he believed he was rising against his kingdom, he still did not dare to keep him from his ancestral home. Met. 9.447Sponte fugis, Mīlēte, tuā, celerīque carīnā
Aegaeās mētīris aquās et in Āside terrā
moenia cōnstituis positōris habentia nōmen.Of your own accord you flee, Miletus, and in a swift ship you measure out the Aegean waters, and in the land of Asia you found walls that bear their founder's name. Met. 9.450Hīc tibi, dum sequitur patriae curvāmina rīpae,
fīlia Maeandrī totiēns redeuntis eōdem
cognita Cyaneē, praestantia corpora fōrmā,
Byblida cum Caunō, prōlem est ēnīxa gemellam.Here, while she was following the windings of her father's bank, the daughter of Maeander, who so often returns on himself, Cyanee, known to you, of outstanding beauty of body, bore you twin offspring, Byblis and Caunus.
Met. 9.454Byblis in exemplō est, ut ament concessa puellae:
455Byblis Apollineī correpta cupīdine frātris:
nōn soror ut frātrem, nec quā dēbēbat, amābat.Byblis is a warning that girls should love what is allowed: Byblis, seized by desire for her brother, Apollo's grandson: she loved him not as a sister loves a brother, nor in the way she should. Met. 9.457Illa quidem prīmō nūllōs intellegit ignēs
nec peccāre putat, quod saepius ōscula iungat,
quod sua frāternō circumdet bracchia collō,
460mendācīque diū pietātis fallitur umbrā.At first indeed she does not recognise any flames, nor think she does wrong in joining kisses rather often, in throwing her arms around her brother's neck, and for a long time she is deceived by the false shadow of sisterly affection. Met. 9.461Paulātim dēclīnat amor, vīsūraque frātrem
culta vēnit nimiumque cupit fōrmōsa vidērī
et Sīqua est illīc fōrmōsior, invidet illī.Little by little her love goes astray, and she comes dressed up to see her brother, and wants too much to seem beautiful, and if any girl there is more beautiful, she envies her.
Met. 9.464Sed nōndum manifesta sibi est nūllumque sub illō
465igne facit vōtum: vērumtamen aestuat intus.But she is not yet clear to herself, and makes no wish beneath that fire: nevertheless she burns within. Met. 9.466Iam dominum appellat, iam nōmina sanguinis ōdit:
Byblida iam māvult, quam sē vocet ille sorōrem.Now she calls him lord, now she hates the names of kinship: she now prefers that he call her Byblis rather than sister. Met. 9.468Spēs tamen obscēnās animō dēmittere nōn est
ausa suō vigilāns: placidā resolūta quiēte
470saepe videt, quod amat;Yet she did not dare to let shameful hopes into her mind while awake: relaxed in peaceful rest, she often sees what she loves; Met. 9.470vīsa est quoque iungere frātrī
corpus et ērubuit, quamvīs sōpīta iacēbat.she seemed too to join her body to her brother's, and blushed, though she lay asleep. Met. 9.472Somnus abit: silet illa diū repetitque quiētis
ipsa suae speciem dubiāque ita mente prōfātur:
"Mē miseram!Sleep departs: she is silent a long time and recalls the vision of her rest, and speaks thus with wavering mind: 'Ah, wretched me! Met. 9.474tacitae quid vult sibi noctis imāgō?what does this image of the silent night mean?
Met. 9.475Quam nōlim rata sit!How I would wish it not to come true! Met. 9.475cūr haec ego somnia vīdī?why have I seen these dreams? Met. 9.476Ille quidem est oculīs quamvīs fōrmōsus inīquīs
et placet, et possim, sī nōn sit frāter, amāre,
et mē dignus erat.He is indeed handsome even to unfriendly eyes, and he pleases me, and I could love him if he were not my brother, and he was worthy of me. Met. 9.478Vērum nocet esse sorōrem.—
Dummodo tāle nihil vigilāns committere temptem,
480saepe licet similī redeat sub imāgine somnus!But being his sister harms me. — As long as I do not attempt to commit any such thing while awake, let sleep often return with a like vision! Met. 9.481testis abest somnō, nec abest imitāta voluptās.there is no witness in sleep, and yet imitated pleasure is not absent. Met. 9.482Prō!Oh! Met. 9.482Venus et tenerā volucer cum mātre Cupīdō,
gaudia quanta tulī!Venus, and winged Cupid with your tender mother, what joys I had! Met. 9.483quam mē manifesta libīdō
contigit!how vivid the desire that touched me! Met. 9.484ut iacuī tōtīs resolūta medullīs!how I lay melted to my very marrow!
Met. 9.485ut meminisse iuvat!how sweet it is to remember! Met. 9.485quamvīs brevis illa voluptās
noxque fuit praeceps et coeptīs invida nostrīs.although that pleasure was brief, and the night headlong and jealous of our beginnings. Met. 9.487Ō ego, sī liceat mūtātō nōmine iungī,
quam bene, Caune, tuō poteram nurus esse parentī!Oh, if I could be joined to you by a change of name, how well, Caunus, I could be daughter-in-law to your father! Met. 9.489quam bene, Caune, meō poterās gener esse parentī!how well, Caunus, you could be son-in-law to my father! Met. 9.490Omnia, dī facerent, essent commūnia nōbīs,
praeter avōs: tū mē vellem generōsior essēs!Would the gods made everything shared between us except our ancestors: I would wish you were nobler born than I! Met. 9.492Nesciōquam faciēs igitur, pulcherrime, mātrem:
at mihi, quae male sum quōs tū sortīta parentēs,
nīl nisi frāter eris.So you will make some woman or other a mother, most beautiful one: but to me, who by ill luck have drawn the same parents as you, you will be nothing but a brother. Met. 9.494Quod obest, id habēbimus ūnum.What stands in our way, that alone we shall have in common.
Met. 9.495Quid mihi significant ergō mea vīsa?—quod autem
somnia pondus habent?—an habent et somnia pondus?What then do my visions signify for me? — and what weight do dreams have? — or do dreams too have weight? Met. 9.497Dī melius!—dī nempe suās habuēre sorōrēs:
Sīc Sāturnus Opem iūnctam sibi sanguine dūxit,
Oceanus Tēthyn, Iūnōnem rēctor Olympī.The gods forbid! — the gods, of course, have had their sisters: so Saturn married Ops, joined to him by blood, Oceanus Tethys, the ruler of Olympus Juno. Met. 9.500Sunt superīs sua iūra!The gods above have their own laws! Met. 9.500Quid ad caelestia rītūs
exigere hūmānōs dīversaque foedera temptō?Why do I try to measure the heavens by human customs and different covenants? Met. 9.502Aut nostrō vetitus dē corde fugābitur ardor,
aut hoc sī nequeō, peream, precor, ante torōque
mortua conpōnar, positaeque det ōscula frāter.—
505Et tamen arbitrium quaerit rēs ista duōrum.Either this forbidden passion will be driven from my heart, or, if I cannot do this, let me die first, I pray, and be laid out dead on my couch, and may my brother give kisses to me as I lie there. — And yet this matter needs the will of two.
Met. 9.506Finge placēre mihi: scelus esse vidēbitur illī!Suppose it pleases me: it will seem a crime to him! Met. 9.507At nōn Aeolidae thalamōs timuēre sorōrum!But the sons of Aeolus did not fear their sisters' bedrooms! Met. 9.508Unde sed hōs nōvī?But where did I learn of these? Met. 9.508Cūr haec exempla parāvī?Why have I gathered these examples? Met. 9.509Quō feror?Where am I being swept? Met. 9.509Obscēnae procul hinc discēdite flammae,
510nec, nisi quā fās est germānae, frāter amētur!—
Sī tamen ipse meī captus prior esset amōre,
forsitan illīus possem indulgēre furōrī.Far away from here, obscene flames, and let my brother be loved only as is right for a sister! — Yet if he himself had first been seized by love for me, perhaps I could indulge his madness. Met. 9.513Ergō ego, quae fueram nōn rēiectūra petentem,
ipsa petam!So am I, who would not have rejected him if he had sought me, to do the seeking myself! Met. 9.514Poterisne loquī?Will you be able to speak? Met. 9.514poterisne fatērī?will you be able to confess? Met. 9.515Cōget amor: poterō!Love will compel me: I shall be able!
Met. 9.515vel, sī pudor ōra tenēbit,
littera cēlātōs arcāna fatēbitur ignīs:
hoc placet, haec dubiam vīcit sententia mentem."or, if shame holds my lips, a secret letter will confess my hidden fires: this is my choice, this opinion has won over my wavering mind.'