Georg. 3.440Morbōrum quoque tē causās et signa docēbō.I will also teach you the causes and signs of diseases. Georg. 3.441Turpis ovīs temptat scabiēs, ubi frīgidus imber
altius ad vīvum persēdit et horrida cānō
brūma gelū, vel cum tōnsīs inlōtus adhaesit
sūdor et hirsūtī secuērunt corpora veprēs.Foul scab attacks sheep when cold rain and winter, bristling with hoar frost, have sunk deep to the quick, or when unwashed sweat has clung to them after shearing, and thorny brambles have cut their bodies. Georg. 3.445Dulcibus idcircō fluviīs pecus omne magistrī
perfundunt, ūdīsque ariēs in gurgite villīs
mersātur missusque secundō dēfluit amnī;For this reason shepherds bathe the whole flock in sweet rivers, and the ram with his fleece soaked is plunged into the pool and let go to float down the stream; Georg. 3.448aut tōnsum trīstī contingunt corpus amurcā
et spūmās miscent argentī et sulfura vīva
450Īdaeāsque picēs et pinguīs unguine cērās
scillamque elleborōsque gravīs nigrumque bitūmen.or they smear the shorn body with bitter olive-lees, and mix litharge and live sulphur and Idaean pitch and wax rich with grease, and squill and strong hellebore and black bitumen. Georg. 3.452Nōn tamen ūlla magis praesēns fortūna labōrum est,
quam sī quis ferrō potuit rescindere summum
ulceris ōs: alitur vitium vīvitque tegendō,
455dum medicās adhibēre manūs ad volnera pāstor
abnegat et meliōra deōs sedet omnia poscēns.Yet no remedy for their troubles is more effective than if someone can cut open the head of the sore with a blade: the evil feeds and lives by being covered, while the shepherd refuses to apply healing hands to the wounds, and sits asking the gods for better fortune.
Georg. 3.457Quīn etiam, īma dolor bālantum lapsus ad ossa
cum furit atque artūs dēpāscitur ārida febris,
prōfuit incēnsōs aestūs āvertere et inter
460īma ferīre pedis salientem sanguine vēnam,
Bisaltae quō mōre solent ācerque Gelōnus;Moreover, when pain has sunk to the bleating creatures' very bones and rages, and parching fever feeds on their limbs, it has helped to turn away the burning heat and to strike, between the bottoms of the feet, a vein throbbing with blood, as the Bisaltae are accustomed to do and the fierce Gelonian, Georg. 3.462cum fugit in Rhodopēn atque in dēserta Getārum
et lāc concrētum cum sanguine pōtat equīnō.when he flees to Rhodope and into the deserts of the Getae, and drinks milk curdled with horse's blood. Georg. 3.464Quam procul aut mollī succēdere saepius umbrae
465vīderis aut summās carpentem ignāvius herbās
extrēmamque sequī aut mediō prōcumbere campō
pāscentem et sērae sōlam dēcēdere noctī:
continuō culpam ferrō compesce, prius quam
dīra per incautum serpant contāgia volgus.Any sheep you see from afar either withdrawing too often into the soft shade, or cropping the tops of the grass too listlessly, and following last, or lying down in mid-field as it grazes, and returning alone late at night: at once check the fault with the blade, before the dread contagion creeps through the unwary flock.
Georg. 3.470Nōn tam crēber agēns hiemem ruit aequore turbō,
quam multae pecudum pestēs.Not so thick does the whirlwind rush over the sea bringing a storm, as do the plagues of cattle. Georg. 3.471Nec singula morbī
corpora corripiunt, sed tōta aestīva repente,
spemque gregemque simul cūnctamque ab orīgine gentem.Nor do diseases seize single bodies, but whole summer pastures at once, the hope of the flock and the flock together, and the whole race from its source. Georg. 3.474Tum sciat, āeriās Alpīs et Nōrica sī quis
475castella in tumulīs et Iāpydis arva Timāvī
nunc quoque post tantō videat dēsertaque regna
pāstōrum et longē saltūs lātēque vacantīs.Then let a man know it, if he should see the airy Alps and the Noric forts on their hills and the fields of Iapydian Timavus even now, so long after, and the deserted realms of the shepherds and the glades empty far and wide.