Met. 9.518In latus ērigitur cubitōque innīxa sinistrō
"vīderit: īnsānōs" inquit "fateāmur amōrēs.She raises herself on her side and, leaning on her left elbow, says, 'Let him see to it: let me confess my mad love. Met. 9.520Ei mihi!Ah me! Met. 9.520quō labor?where am I slipping? Met. 9.520quem mēns mea concipit ignem?"what fire is my mind conceiving?' Met. 9.521et meditāta manū compōnit verba trementī:
dextra tenet ferrum, vacuam tenet altera cēram.and with trembling hand she sets out the words she has thought out: her right hand holds the stylus, the other holds the empty wax. Met. 9.523Incipit et dubitat, scrībit damnatque tabellās
et notat et dēlet, mūtat culpatque probatque,
525inque vicem sūmptās pōnit positāsque resūmit.She begins and hesitates, writes and condemns the tablets, writes and erases, changes, blames and approves, and in turn puts down what she has picked up and picks up again what she has put down. Met. 9.526Quid velit ignōrat;What she wants she does not know; Met. 9.526quidquid factūra vidētur,
displicet.whatever she seems about to do displeases her.
Met. 9.527In vultū est audācia mīxta pudōrī.In her face is boldness mixed with shame. Met. 9.528Scrīpta "soror" fuerat, vīsum est dēlēre sorōrem
verbaque corrēctīs incīdere tālia cērīs:
530"Quam, nisi tū dederis, nōn est habitūra salūtem,
hanc tibi mittit amāns: pudet, ā!'Sister' had been written; she decided to erase 'sister' and carve such words as these on the corrected wax: 'The health that she will not have unless you give it, this she who loves you sends to you: I am ashamed, ah! Met. 9.531pudet ēdere nōmen.ashamed to tell my name. Met. 9.532Et sī, quid cupiam, quaeris, sine nōmine vellem
posset agī mea causa meō, nec cognita Byblis
ante forem, quam spēs vōtōrum certa fuisset.And if you ask what I desire, I would wish my cause could be pleaded without my name, and that I should not be known as Byblis until the hope of my wishes was certain. Met. 9.535Esse quidem laesī poterat tibi pectoris index
et color et maciēs et vultus et ūmida saepe
lūmina nec causā suspīria mōta patentī
et crēbrī amplexūs, et quae, sī forte notāstī,
ōscula sentīrī nōn esse sorōria possent:
540ipsa tamen, quamvīs animō grave vulnus habēbam,
quamvīs intus erat furor igneus, omnia fēcī
(sunt mihi dī testēs), ut tandem sānior essem,
pugnāvīque diū violenta Cupīdinis arma
effugere īnfēlīx et plūs, quam ferre puellam
545posse putēs, ego dūra tulī.There could indeed have been signs to you of my wounded heart: my colour, my thinness, my face, my eyes often wet, my sighs heaved with no evident cause, my frequent embraces, and kisses which, if you happened to notice, could be felt not to be a sister's: yet I myself, though I had a grave wound in my heart, though there was fiery madness within, did everything (the gods are my witnesses) to become saner at last, and long I fought, unhappy, to escape the violent arms of Cupid, and I endured harder things than you would think a girl could bear.
Met. 9.545Superāta fatērī
cōgor opemque tuam timidīs exposcere vōtīs.Overcome, I am forced to confess and to beg your help with timid prayers. Met. 9.547Tū servāre potes, tū perdere sōlus amantem:
ēlige, utrum faciās!You alone can save, you alone destroy the one who loves you: choose which you will do! Met. 9.548Nōn hoc inimīca precātur,
sed quae, cum tibi sit iūnctissima, iūnctior esse
550expetit et vinclō tēcum propiōre ligārī.It is not an enemy who begs this, but one who, though most closely joined to you, seeks to be joined more closely and bound to you by a nearer tie. Met. 9.551Iūra senēs nōrint et, quid liceatque nefāsque
fāsque sit, inquīrant lēgumque exāmina servent:
conveniēns Venus est annīs temerāria nostrīs!Let old men know the laws, and inquire what is allowed and what is right and wrong, and keep the balance of the laws: reckless love befits our years! Met. 9.554Quid liceat, nescīmus adhūc et cūncta licēre
555crēdimus et sequimur magnōrum exempla deōrum.What is allowed we do not yet know, and we believe all things are allowed, and follow the example of the great gods.
Met. 9.556Nec nōs aut dūrus pater aut reverentia fāmae
aut timor impediet (tantum sit causa timendī!).Neither a harsh father nor regard for reputation nor fear will hinder us (if only there be cause for fear!). Met. 9.558Dulcia frāternō sub nōmine fūrta tegēmus:
est mihi lībertās tēcum sēcrēta loquendī,
560et damus amplexūs et iungimus ōscula cōram,
quantum est, quod dēsit?We shall hide sweet thefts under the name of brother and sister: I have freedom to talk with you in secret, and we embrace and join kisses openly; how much is it that is lacking? Met. 9.561Miserēre fatentis amōrēs
et nōn fassūrae, nisi cōgeret ultimus ardor,
nēve merēre meō subscrībī causa sepulcrō!"Pity one who confesses her love, and who would not confess it unless utmost passion forced her, and do not deserve to be inscribed as the cause on my tomb!' Met. 9.564Tālia nēquīquam perarantem plēna relīquit
565cēra manum, summusque in margine versus adhaesit.As she wrote such things in vain, the full wax left her hand, and the last line clung to the margin. Met. 9.566Prōtinus inpressa signat sua crīmina gemmā,
quam tinxit lacrimīs (linguam dēfēcerat ūmor),
dēque suīs ūnum famulīs pudibunda vocāvit
et pavidum blandīta "fer hās, fīdissime, nostrō"—
570dīxit, et adiēcit longō post tempore "frātrī."At once she seals her crimes with the impress of her gem, which she wet with tears (moisture had failed her tongue), and, blushing, she called one of her servants, and, coaxing the frightened man, said, 'Take these, most faithful one, to my —' and after a long time added, 'brother.' Met. 9.571Cum daret, ēlāpsae manibus cecidēre tabellae.As she gave them, the tablets slipped from her hands and fell.
Met. 9.572Ōmine turbāta est: mīsit tamen.She was disturbed by the omen: yet she sent them. Met. 9.572Apta minister
tempora nactus adit trāditque latentia verba.The servant, finding a suitable time, approaches and hands over the hidden words. Met. 9.574Attonitus subitā iuvenis Maeandrius īrā
575prōicit acceptās lēctā sibi parte tabellās
vixque manūs retinēns trepidantis ab ōre ministrī
"dum licet, ō vetitae scelerāte libīdinis auctor,
effuge!"Stunned with sudden anger, the young grandson of Maeander throws away the tablets he had received when he had read part of them, and barely keeping his hands from the face of the trembling servant, 'While you can, wicked agent of forbidden lust, flee!' Met. 9.578ait: "quī, sī nostrum tua fāta pudōrem
nōn traherent sēcum, poenās mihi morte dedissēs."he said: 'if your fate did not drag my honour down with it, you would have paid me the penalty with your death.' Met. 9.580Ille fūgit pavidus dominaeque ferōcia Caunī
dicta refert.He flees in fear and reports Caunus' fierce words to his mistress. Met. 9.581Pallēs audītā, Bybli, repulsā,
et pavet obsessum glaciālī frīgore corpus.You turn pale, Byblis, on hearing of the rejection, and your body, besieged by an icy cold, trembles.
Met. 9.583Mēns tamen ut rediit, pariter rediēre furōrēs,
linguaque vix tālēs ictō dedit āere vōcēs:
585"Et meritō!Yet when her mind returned, her madness returned with it, and her tongue barely uttered such words as these, striking the air: 'And rightly! Met. 9.585quid enim temerāria vulneris huius
indicium fēcī?for why did I rashly give away the secret of this wound? Met. 9.586Quid, quae cēlanda fuērunt,
tam citō commīsī properātīs verba tabellīs?Why did I so quickly commit to hastily written tablets the words that should have been hidden? Met. 9.588Ante erat ambiguīs animī sententia dictīs
praetemptanda mihi.Before, I should have tested his feelings with ambiguous words. Met. 9.589Nē nōn sequerētur euntem,
590parte aliquā vēlī, quālis foret aura, notāre
dēbueram tūtōque marī dēcurrere, quae nunc
nōn explōrātīs inplēvī lintea ventīs.So that the breeze would not fail to follow me as I went, I should have noted with some part of the sail what it was like, and run on a safe sea, whereas now I have filled my canvas with winds unexplored. Met. 9.593Auferor in scopulōs igitur subversaque tōtō
obruor oceanō, neque habent mea vēla recursūs.So I am carried onto the rocks, and capsized, I am overwhelmed by the whole ocean, and my sails have no way back.
Met. 9.595Quid quod et ōminibus certīs prohibēbar amōrī
indulgēre meō, tum cum mihi ferre iubentī
excīdit et fēcit spēs nostrās cēra cadūcās?What of the fact that by sure omens I was forbidden to indulge my love, at the time when the wax fell as I bade it be carried, and made my hopes fall too? Met. 9.598Nōnne vel illa diēs fuerat vel tōta voluntās,
sed potius mūtanda diēs?Should not either the day, or my whole purpose, have been changed — but rather the day? Met. 9.599Deus ipse monēbat
600signaque certa dabat, sī nōn male sāna fuissem.The god himself was warning me and giving sure signs, had I not been out of my mind. Met. 9.601Et tamen ipsa loquī, nec mē committere cērae
dēbueram praesēnsque meōs aperīre furōrēs
(vīdisset lacrimās, vultum vīdisset amantis!),
plūra loquī poteram, quam quae cēpēre tabellae.And yet I ought to have spoken myself, and not committed myself to wax, and revealed my passion in person (he would have seen my tears, seen the face of one in love!); I could have said more than the tablets held.
Met. 9.605Invītō potuī circumdare bracchia collō
et, sī rēicerer, potuī moritūra vidērī
amplectīque pedēs adfūsaque poscere vītam.I could have thrown my arms around his unwilling neck, and, if rejected, could have seemed about to die, and embraced his feet and, prostrate, begged for my life. Met. 9.608Omnia fēcissem, quōrum sī singula dūram
flectere nōn poterant, potuissent omnia, mentem.I would have done everything; if each of these alone could not bend his hard mind, all together could have. Met. 9.610Forsitan et missī sit quaedam culpa ministrī:
nōn adiit aptē nec lēgit idōnea, crēdō,
tempora nec petiit hōramque animumque vacantem.Perhaps there is some fault too in the servant I sent: he did not approach well, nor, I think, choose a suitable time, nor seek an hour when his mind was at leisure. Met. 9.613Haec nocuēre mihi.These things have harmed me. Met. 9.613Neque enim est dē tigride nātus
nec rigidās silicēs solidumve in pectore ferrum
615aut adamanta gerit nec lāc bibit ille leaenae.For he was not born of a tigress, nor does he carry hard flints or solid iron or adamant in his breast, nor did he drink a lioness's milk.
Met. 9.616Vincētur!He will be conquered! Met. 9.616Repetendus erit, nec taedia coeptī
ūlla meī capiam, dum spīritus iste manēbit.I must try him again, and I shall feel no weariness of what I have begun, as long as this breath remains. Met. 9.618Nam prīmum, sī facta mihi revocāre licēret,
nōn coepisse fuit: coepta expugnāre secundum est.For the first choice, if I could undo what I have done, was not to have begun: the second is to carry by storm what I have begun. Met. 9.620Quippe nec ille potest, ut iam mea vōta relinquam,
nōn tamen ausōrum semper memor esse meōrum,
et, quia dēsierim, leviter voluisse vidēbor
aut etiam temptāsse illum īnsidiīsque petīsse;For even if I now gave up my desires, he cannot fail to remember always what I dared, and, because I gave up, I shall seem to have wished it lightly, or even to have tested him and attacked him with a snare; Met. 9.624vel certē nōn hōc, quī plūrimus urget et ūrit
625pectora nostra, deō, sed victa libīdine crēdar.or at least I shall be thought to have been conquered not by this god who presses hardest on my heart and burns it, but by lust.
Met. 9.626Dēnique iam nequeō nīl commīsisse nefandum.In short, I cannot now have committed no wrong. Met. 9.627Et scrīpsī et petiī: temerāta est nostra voluntās;I have both written and asked: my purpose is stained; Met. 9.628ut nihil adiciam, nōn possum innoxia dīcī.even if I add nothing, I cannot be called innocent. Met. 9.629Quod superest, multum est in vōta, in crīmina parvum."What remains counts for much towards my wishes, for little towards my guilt.'