Met. 9.666Fāma novī centum Crētaeās forsitan urbēs
implēsset mōnstrī, sī nōn mīrācula nūper
Īphide mūtātā Crētē propiōra tulisset.The report of the new marvel would perhaps have filled the hundred cities of Crete, if Crete had not lately brought forth wonders nearer home in the change of Iphis. Met. 9.669Proxima Cnōsiacō nam quondam Phaestia regnō
670prōgenuit tellūs ignōtum nōmine Ligdum,
ingenuā dē plēbe virum.For once, next to the kingdom of Cnossos, the land of Phaestus produced a man named Ligdus, of no fame, of freeborn common stock. Met. 9.671Nec cēnsus in illō
nōbilitāte suā maior, sed vīta fidēsque
inculpāta fuit.Nor was his wealth greater than his rank, but his life and honour were blameless. Met. 9.673Gravidae quī coniugis aurēs
vōcibus hīs monuit, cum iam prope partus adesset:
675"Quae voveam, duo sunt;He warned his pregnant wife's ears with these words, when the birth was now near: 'There are two things I pray for; Met. 9.675minimō ut relevēre dolōre,
utque marem pariās;that you be delivered with the least pain, and that you bear a male; Met. 9.676onerōsior altera sors est,
et vīrēs fortūna negat.the other lot is more burdensome, and fortune denies us the means.
Met. 9.677Quod abōminor, ergō
ēdita forte tuō fuerit sī fēmina partū,
(invītus mandō: pietās, ignōsce!) necētur."So — and I abhor it — if by chance a female should be born from your labour, (unwillingly I order it: forgive me, piety!) let her be put to death.' Met. 9.680Dīxerat, et lacrimīs vultūs lāvēre profūsīs,
tam quī mandābat, quam cui mandāta dabantur.He had spoken, and tears poured down and bathed the faces both of him who gave the order and of her to whom the orders were given. Met. 9.682Sed tamen ūsque suum vānīs Telethūsa marītum
sollicitat precibus, nē spem sibi pōnat in artō.But still Telethusa keeps pressing her husband with vain prayers not to confine his hope in so narrow a strait. Met. 9.684Certa sua est Ligdō sententia.Ligdus' mind is fixed. Met. 9.684Iamque ferendō
685vix erat illa gravem mātūrō pondere ventrem,
cum mediō noctis spatiō sub imāgine somnī
Īnachis ante torum, pompā comitāta sacrōrum,
aut stetit aut vīsa est.And now she could scarcely carry her belly heavy with its ripe burden, when in the middle of the night, in the form of a dream, the daughter of Inachus, accompanied by a procession of her rites, stood before her bed, or seemed to.
Met. 9.688Īnerant lūnāria frontī
cornua cum spīcīs nitidō flāventibus aurō
690et rēgāle decus.On her brow were the moon-shaped horns with ears of corn golden with gleaming gold, and royal splendour. Met. 9.690Cum quā lātrātor Anūbis
sānctaque Būbastis variusque colōribus Āpis,
quīque premit vōcem digitōque silentia suādet,
sīstraque erant numquamque satis quaesītus Osīris
plēnaque somniferīs serpēns peregrīna venēnīs.With her were barking Anubis, holy Bubastis, Apis dappled in colours, and he who suppresses his voice and urges silence with his finger; and there were sistrums, and Osiris never sought enough, and the foreign serpent full of sleep-bringing poisons. Met. 9.695Tum velut excussam somnō et manifesta videntem
sīc adfāta dea est: "Pars ō Telethūsa meārum,
pōne gravēs cūrās mandātaque falle marītī.Then, as if she were shaken out of sleep and seeing clearly, the goddess addressed her thus: 'O Telethusa, one of my own, put aside your heavy cares and evade your husband's orders. Met. 9.698Nec dubitā, cum tē partū Lūcīna levārit,
tollere quidquid erit.And do not hesitate, when Lucina has delivered you, to raise whatever it is. Met. 9.699Dea sum auxiliāris opemque
700exōrāta ferō, nec tē coluisse querēris
ingrātum nūmen."I am a goddess who helps, and when entreated I bring aid, nor will you complain that you have worshipped an ungrateful divinity.' Met. 9.701Monuit thalamōque recessit.She gave her warning and left the bedroom.
Met. 9.702Laeta torō surgit pūrāsque ad sīdera supplex
Cressa manūs tollēns, rata sint sua vīsa, precātur.Joyful, the Cretan woman rises from her bed and, a suppliant, raising pure hands to the stars, prays that her vision may come true. Met. 9.704Ut dolor incrēvit, sēque ipsum pondus in aurās
705expulit et nāta est ignārō fēmina patre,
iussit alī māter puerum mentīta: fidemque
rēs habuit, neque erat fictī nisi cōnscia nūtrīx.When the pains grew, and the burden itself pushed out into the air, and a female was born without the father's knowledge, the mother ordered it raised, pretending it was a boy: and the matter was believed, nor was anyone aware of the pretence but the nurse. Met. 9.708Vōta pater solvit nōmenque inpōnit avītum:
Īphis avus fuerat.The father paid his vows and gives it the grandfather's name: the grandfather had been Iphis. Met. 9.709Gavīsa est nōmine māter,
710quod commūne foret nec quemquam falleret illō.The mother rejoiced in the name, because it was common to both sexes and would deceive no one by it. Met. 9.711Inde incepta piā mendācia fraude latēbant:
cultus erat puerī, faciēs, quam sīve puellae,
sīve darēs puerō, fuerat fōrmōsus uterque.From then the lie, begun with dutiful deceit, lay hidden: the clothes were a boy's, the face such that, whether you gave it to a girl or a boy, either would have been beautiful.
Met. 9.714Tertius intereā decimō successerat annus,
715cum pater, Iphi, tibi flāvam dēspondet Ianthēn,
inter Phaestiadas quae laudātissima fōrmae
dōte fuit virgō, Dictaeō nāta Telestē.Meanwhile a third year had followed the tenth, when your father, Iphis, betroths to you golden-haired Ianthe, the maiden most praised among the women of Phaestus for the dowry of her beauty, daughter of Dictaean Telestes. Met. 9.718Pār aetās, pār fōrma fuit, prīmāsque magistrīs
accēpēre artēs, elementa aetātis, ab īsdem.Equal was their age, equal their beauty, and they had received their first lessons, the rudiments of their age, from the same teachers. Met. 9.720Hinc amor ambārum tetigit rude pectus et aequum
vulnus utrīque dedit.From this, love touched the untried hearts of both and gave an equal wound to each. Met. 9.721Sed erat fīdūcia dispār:
coniugium pāctaeque exspectat tempora taedae
quamque virum putat esse, virum fore crēdit Ianthē;But their confidence was unequal: Ianthe awaits the marriage and the time of the agreed wedding torch, and believes that the one she thinks a man will be a man; Met. 9.724Īphis amat, quā posse fruī dēspērat, et auget
725hoc ipsum flammās, ārdetque in virgine virgō;Iphis loves one she despairs of being able to enjoy, and this very thing increases her flames, and a maiden burns for a maiden; Met. 9.726vixque tenēns lacrimās "Quis mē manet exitus" inquit,
"cognita quam nūllī, quam prōdigiōsa novaeque
cūra tenet Veneris?and barely holding back her tears, she said, 'What end awaits me, held by a love known to no one, a monstrous love, a passion of a new kind?
Met. 9.728Sī dī mihi parcere vellent,
730nātūrāle malum saltem et dē mōre dedissent.If the gods had wished to spare me, they would at least have given me a natural ill, one according to custom. Met. 9.731Nec vaccam vaccae, nec equās amor ūrit equārum:
ūrit ovēs ariēs, sequitur sua fēmina cervum.Love of a cow does not burn a cow, nor love of mares mares: the ram burns for ewes, his own female follows the stag. Met. 9.733Sīc et avēs coeunt, interque animālia cūncta
fēmina fēmineō conrepta cupīdine nūlla est.So too birds mate, and among all animals no female is seized by desire for a female. Met. 9.735Vellem nūlla forem!I wish I were not one! Met. 9.735Nē nōn tamen omnia Crētē
mōnstra ferat, taurum dīlēxit fīlia Sōlis,
fēmina nempe marem: meus est furiōsior illō,
sī vērum profitēmur, amor!Yet, so that Crete might bear every monster, the daughter of the Sun loved a bull — a female, at least, loving a male: my love is madder than that, if I confess the truth! Met. 9.738Tamen illa secūta est
spem Veneris, tamen illa dolīs et imāgine vaccae
740passa bovem est, et erat, quī dēciperētur adulter!Yet she pursued the hope of love, yet she, by tricks and the image of a cow, submitted to the bull, and there was a lover there to be deceived!
Met. 9.741Hūc licet ē tōtō sollertia cōnfluat orbe,
ipse licet revolet cērātīs Daedalus alīs,
quid faciet?Though all the ingenuity of the whole world should flow together here, though Daedalus himself should fly back on waxen wings, what will he do? Met. 9.743Num mē puerum dē virgine doctīs
artibus efficiet?Will he with his learned arts make me a boy from a girl? Met. 9.744num tē mūtābit, Ianthē?will he change you, Ianthe? Met. 9.745Quīn animum firmās, tēque ipsa reconligis, Iphi,
cōnsiliīque inopēs et stultōs excutis ignēs?Why do you not steady your mind, and collect yourself, Iphis, and shake off these foolish fires that lack all sense? Met. 9.747Quid sīs nāta, vidē, nisi tē quoque dēcipis ipsa,
et pete quod fās est, et amā quod fēmina dēbēs!See what you were born, unless you deceive yourself too, and seek what is right, and love as a woman should! Met. 9.749Spēs est, quae capiat, spēs est, quae pāscit amōrem:
750hanc tibi rēs adimit.It is hope that captures, hope that feeds love: this, the facts take from you. Met. 9.750Nōn tē custōdia cārō
arcet ab amplexū nec cautī cūra marītī,
nōn patris asperitās, nōn sē negat ipsa rogantī:
nec tamen est potienda tibi, nec, ut omnia fīant,
esse potes fēlīx, ut dīque hominēsque labōrent.No guard keeps you from a dear embrace, no care of a watchful husband, no harshness of a father, nor does she herself refuse you when you ask: and yet she cannot be yours, nor, though everything should happen, can you be happy, though gods and men should labour for it.
Met. 9.755Nunc quoque vōtōrum nūlla est pars vāna meōrum,
dīque mihi facilēs, quidquid valuēre, dedērunt;Even now no part of my prayers is in vain, and the gods have readily given me whatever they could; Met. 9.757quodque ego, vult genitor, vult ipsa socerque futūrus.and what I want, my father wants, she herself wants, and my future father-in-law. Met. 9.758At nōn vult nātūra, potentior omnibus istīs,
quae mihi sōla nocet.But nature does not want it, more powerful than all of these, and she alone harms me. Met. 9.759Venit ecce optābile tempus,
760lūxque iugālis adest, et iam mea fīet Ianthē—
nec mihi continget: mediīs sitiēmus in undīs.Look, the longed-for time is coming, the wedding day is here, and soon Ianthe will be mine — and yet she will not fall to me: we shall thirst in the midst of the waters. Met. 9.762Prōnuba quid Iūnō, quid ad haec, Hymenaee, venītis
sacra, quibus quī dūcat abest, ubi nūbimus ambae?"Why do you come, Juno of marriage, why, Hymen, to these rites, where there is no one to take a bride, where we are both brides?'