Met. 9.98Hunc tamen ablātī domuit iactūra decoris,
cētera sōspes habet;Yet the loss of his stolen ornament tamed him; all else he keeps unharmed; Met. 9.99capitis quoque fronde salignā
100aut super inpositā cēlātur harundine damnum.and the damage to his head is hidden by willow leaves or by reeds placed over it. Met. 9.101At tē, Nesse ferōx, eiusdem virginis ardor
perdiderat volucrī trāiectum terga sagittā.But you, fierce Nessus, passion for the same maiden had destroyed, your back pierced by a winged arrow. Met. 9.103Namque novā repetēns patriōs cum coniuge mūrōs
vēnerat Euēnī rapidās Iove nātus ad undās.For the son of Jove, returning with his new wife to his father's walls, had come to the swift waters of the Euenus. Met. 9.105Ūberior solitō, nimbīs hiemālibus auctus
verticibusque frequēns erat atque inpervius amnis.Fuller than usual, swollen by winter rains and thick with whirlpools, the river was impassable. Met. 9.107Intrepidum prō sē, cūram dē coniuge agentem
Nessus adit, membrīsque valēns scītusque vadōrum, "officiō" que "meō rīpā sistētur in illā
110haec," ait "Alcīdē.To him, fearless for himself but anxious for his wife, came Nessus, strong in limb and knowing the fords, and said, 'By my service she will be set down on that bank, Alcides.
Met. 9.110Tū vīribus ūtere nandō!"You, use your strength in swimming!' Met. 9.111pallentemque metū fluviumque ipsumque timentem
trādidit Āonius pavidam Calydōnida Nessō.and the Aonian handed over to Nessus the trembling Calydonian girl, pale with fear, afraid both of the river and of Nessus himself. Met. 9.113Mox, ut erat, pharetrāque gravis spoliōque leōnis
(nam clāvam et curvōs trāns rīpam mīserat arcūs),
115"quandōquidem coepī, superentur flūmina!"Soon, just as he was, heavy with quiver and lion's skin (for he had thrown his club and curved bow across to the bank), 'Since I have begun, let the river be conquered!' Met. 9.115dīxit,
nec dubitat nec, quā sit clēmentissimus amnis,
quaerit et obsequiō dēferrī spernit aquārum.he said, and does not hesitate, nor seek where the river is gentlest, and scorns to be carried down by the waters' yielding. Met. 9.118Iamque tenēns rīpam, missōs cum tolleret arcūs,
coniugis agnōvit vōcem: Nessōque parantī
120fallere dēpositum "quō tē fīdūcia" clāmat
"vāna pedum, violente, rapit?And now, holding the bank, as he was picking up the bow he had thrown, he recognised his wife's voice: and to Nessus, who was preparing to cheat him of what was entrusted to him, he shouts, 'Where is your vain trust in your feet carrying you, violent one?
Met. 9.121Tibi, Nesse biformis,
dīcimus.It is to you, two-formed Nessus, I speak. Met. 9.122Exaudī nec rēs intercipe nostrās!Hear me, and do not steal what is mine! Met. 9.123Sī tē nūlla meī reverentia mōvit, at orbēs
concubitūs vetitōs poterant inhibēre paternī.If no reverence for me moved you, at least your father's wheel could have held you back from forbidden unions. Met. 9.125Haud tamen effugiēs, quamvīs ope fīdis equīnā:
vulnere, nōn pedibus tē cōnsequar."Yet you will not escape, though you trust in a horse's help: I will catch you with a wound, not with my feet.' Met. 9.126Ultima dicta
rēs probat, et missa fugientia terga sagitta
trāicit: exstābat ferrum dē pectore aduncum.The deed proves his last words, and with a shot arrow he pierces the fleeing back: the hooked iron stood out from his chest. Met. 9.129Quod simul ēvulsum est, sanguis per utrumque forāmen
130ēmicuit mīxtus Lernaeī tābe venēnī.As soon as it was pulled out, blood spurted through both holes, mixed with the venom of the Lernaean poison. Met. 9.131Excipit hunc Nessus "neque enim moriēmur inultī"
sēcum ait et calidō vēlāmina tincta cruōre
dat mūnus raptae velut inrītāmen amōris.Nessus catches this, saying to himself, 'For I shall not die unavenged,' and gives a garment soaked in the warm gore as a gift to the woman he had carried off, as though it were a stimulant of love.
Met. 9.134Longa fuit mediī mora temporis, āctaque magnī
135Herculis inplērant terrās odiumque novercae.Long was the interval of time between, and the deeds of great Hercules had filled the earth and sated his stepmother's hatred. Met. 9.136Victor ab Oechaliā Cēnaeō sacra parābat
vōta Iovī, cum Fāma loquāx praecessit ad aurēs,
Dēianīra, tuās, quae vērīs addere falsa
gaudet et ē minimō sua per mendācia crēscit,
140Amphitryōniadēn Iolēs ardōre tenērī.Victorious from Oechalia, he was preparing vowed sacrifices to Cenaean Jove, when talkative Rumour went ahead to your ears, Deianira — Rumour, who delights to add the false to the true and grows from the smallest thing through her lies — saying that the son of Amphitryon was held by love for Iole. Met. 9.141Crēdit amāns, venerisque novae perterrita fāmā
indulsit prīmō lacrimīs flendōque dolōrem
diffūdit miseranda suum;The loving wife believes it, and, terrified by the report of a new love, at first gave way to tears, and, pitiable, poured out her grief in weeping; Met. 9.143mox deinde "quid autem
flēmus?"but then soon, 'Yet why do I weep?' Met. 9.144ait "paelex lacrimīs laetābitur istīs.she says; 'the mistress will rejoice in these tears.
Met. 9.145Quae quoniam adveniet, properandum aliquidque novandum est,
dum licet et nōndum thalamōs tenet altera nostrōs.Since she is coming, I must hurry and devise something new, while I may and another does not yet hold my marriage bed. Met. 9.147Conquerar an sileam?Shall I complain or be silent? Met. 9.147Repetam Calydōna morerne?Shall I go back to Calydon, or linger here? Met. 9.148Excēdam tēctīs an, sī nihil amplius, obstem?Shall I leave the house, or, if nothing more, stand in their way? Met. 9.149Quid sī mē, Meleagre, tuam memor esse sorōrem
150forte parō facinus, quantumque iniūria possit
fēmineusque dolor, iugulātā paelice testor?"What if, remembering, Meleager, that I am your sister, I perhaps prepare a crime, and prove by cutting the mistress's throat what injury and a woman's grief can do?' Met. 9.152In cursūs animus variōs abit: omnibus illīs
praetulit inbūtam Nessēō sanguine vestem
mittere, quae vīrēs dēfectō reddat amōrī.Her mind runs off on various courses: to all of them she preferred sending the robe steeped in Nessus' blood, to restore strength to a failing love. Met. 9.155Ignārōque Lichae, quid trādat, nescia, lūctūs
ipsa suōs trādit blandīsque (miserrima!) verbīs,
dōna det illa virō, mandat.And to Lichas, who does not know what he is handing on, she herself, not knowing, hands her own grief, and with coaxing words (most wretched woman!) charges him to give the gift to her husband.
Met. 9.157Capit īnscius hērōs
induiturque umerīs Lernaeae vīrus echidnae.The hero, unknowing, takes it and puts on his shoulders the venom of the Lernaean hydra. Met. 9.159Tūra dabat prīmīs et verba precantia flammīs
160vīnaque marmoreās paterā fundēbat in ārās:
incaluit vīs illa malī resolūtaque flammīs
Herculeōs abiit lātē dīlāpsa per artūs.He was offering incense and words of prayer to the first flames, and pouring wine from a bowl on the marble altars: that deadly force grew warm, and, released by the flames, went spreading far and wide through the limbs of Hercules. Met. 9.163Dum potuit, solitā gemitum virtūte repressit;As long as he could, with his usual courage he held back his groans; Met. 9.164victa malīs postquam est patientia, reppulit ārās
165inplēvitque suīs nemorōsam vōcibus Oetēn.after his endurance was overcome by the pain, he thrust away the altars and filled wooded Oeta with his cries. Met. 9.166Nec mora, lētiferam cōnātur scindere vestem:
quā trahitur, trahit illa cutem, foedumque relātū,
aut haeret membrīs frūstrā temptāta revellī,
aut lacerōs artūs et grandia dētegit ossa.At once he tries to tear off the deadly robe: where it is pulled, it pulls the skin with it, and, foul to tell, it either clings to the limbs, tried in vain to be torn away, or lays bare the mangled flesh and the huge bones.
Met. 9.170Ipse cruor, gelidō ceu quondam lāmina candēns
tincta lacū, strīdit coquiturque ārdente venēnō.The very blood hisses, as a white-hot blade once did when dipped in a cold pool, and boils in the burning poison.