Georg. 4.281Sed sīquem prōlēs subitō dēfēcerit omnis,
nec genus unde novae stirpis revocētur habēbit,
tempus et Arcadiī memoranda inventa magistrī
pandere, quōque modō caesīs iam saepe iuvencīs
285īnsincērus apēs tulerit cruor.But if a man's whole brood has suddenly failed him, and he has no stock from which to renew a new line, it is time to reveal the memorable discovery of the Arcadian master, and in what way the corrupted blood of slaughtered bullocks has often before now produced bees. Georg. 4.285Altius omnem
expediam prīmā repetēns ab orīgine fāmam.I shall unfold the whole tale more deeply, tracing it back from its first origin. Georg. 4.287Nam quā Pellaeī gēns fortūnāta Canōpī
accolit effūsō stagnantem flūmine Nīlum
et circum pictīs vehitur sua rūra phasēlīs,
290quāquē pharetrātae vīcīnia Persidis urget,
omnis in hāc certam regiō iacit arte salūtem.For where the fortunate people of Pellaean Canopus dwell beside the Nile, which spreads in a flood over the land, and ride around their own fields in painted boats, and where the neighbourhood of quivered Persia presses close, the whole region rests its sure salvation on this art.
Georg. 4.295Exiguus prīmum atque ipsōs contrāctus in ūsūs
ēligitur locus;First a small place, narrowed for this very purpose, is chosen; Georg. 4.296hunc angustīque imbrice tēctī
parietibusque premunt artīs et quattuor addunt,
quattuor ā ventīs oblīquā lūce fenestrās.this they enclose with the tiles of a narrow roof and confining walls, and add four windows facing the four winds, with slanting light. Georg. 4.299Tum vitulus bīmā curvāns iam cornua fronte
300quaeritur;Then a bullock is sought, already curving his horns on a two-year-old brow; Georg. 4.300huic geminae nārēs et spīritus ōris
multa reluctantī obstruitur, plagīsque perēmptō
tūnsa per integram solvuntur viscera pellem.his two nostrils and the breath of his mouth are stopped up, for all his struggling, and when he has been beaten to death, his flesh is pounded and broken up within the unbroken hide. Georg. 4.303Sīc positum in clausō linquunt et rāmea costīs
subiciunt fragmenta, thymum casiāsque recentēs.So they leave him lying in the closed room, and put beneath his ribs broken branches, thyme and fresh cassia. Georg. 4.305Hoc geritur Zephyrīs prīmum impellentibus undās,
ante novīs rubeant quam prāta colōribus, ante
garrula quam tignīs nīdum suspendat hirundō.This is done when the West Winds first stir the waves, before the meadows blush with new colours, before the chattering swallow hangs her nest from the rafters.
Georg. 4.308Intereā tenerīs tepefactus in ossibus ūmor
aestuat et vīsenda modīs animālia mīrīs,
310trunca pedum prīmō, mox et strīdentia pennīs,
miscentur tenuemque magis magis āera carpunt,
dōnec, ut aestīvīs effūsus nūbibus imber,
ērūpēre aut ut nervō pulsante sagittae,
prīma levēs ineunt sī quandō proelia Parthī.Meanwhile the moisture, warmed in the tender bones, seethes, and creatures wonderful to see, at first without feet, soon whirring with wings too, swarm together and take more and more to the thin air, until they burst out like rain poured from summer clouds, or like arrows from the twanging string when the light-armed Parthians open the first battle.