Georg. 4.387"Est in Carphatiō Neptūnī gurgite vātēs
caeruleus Prōteus, magnum quī piscibus aequor
et iūnctō bipedum currū mētītur equōrum.'In Neptune's Carpathian flood there is a seer, sea-blue Proteus, who traverses the great sea in a chariot drawn by fishes and two-footed horses yoked together. Georg. 4.390Hīc nunc Ēmathiae portūs patriamque revīsit
Pallēnēn, hunc et Nymphae venerāmur et ipse
grandaevus Nēreus;He is now revisiting the harbours of Emathia and his native Pallene; him we Nymphs revere, and aged Nereus himself; Georg. 4.392nōvit namque omnia vātēs,
quae sint, quae fuerint, quae mox ventūra trahantur;for the seer knows all things, what is, what has been, what is soon to come; Georg. 4.394quippe ita Neptūnō vīsum est, immānia cuius
395armenta et turpēs pāscit sub gurgite phōcās.for so it pleased Neptune, whose monstrous herds and ugly seals he grazes beneath the flood. Georg. 4.396Hīc tibi, nāte, prius vinclīs capiendus, ut omnem
expediat morbī causam ēventūsque secundet.Him, my son, you must first catch in chains, so that he may unfold to you the whole cause of the disease and bring about a favourable outcome. Georg. 4.398Nam sine vī nōn ūlla dabit praecepta, neque illum
ōrandō flectēs;For without force he will give no counsel, nor will you bend him by entreaty; Georg. 4.399vim dūram et vincula captō
400tende;bring stern force and chains against him once he is caught; Georg. 4.400dolī circum haec dēmum frangentur inānēs.only against these will his tricks break, useless.
Georg. 4.401Ipsa ego, tē, mediōs cum sōl accenderit aestūs,
cum sitiunt herbae et pecorī iam grātior umbra est,
in sēcrēta senis dūcam, quō fessus ab undīs
sē recipit, facile ut somnō adgrediāre iacentem.I myself, when the sun has kindled the midday heat, when the grass is thirsty and shade is now more welcome to the flock, will lead you into the old man's hiding-place, where he retreats, weary, from the waves, so that you may easily attack him as he lies asleep. Georg. 4.405Vērum ubi correptum manibus vinclīsque tenēbis,
tum variae ēlūdent speciēs atque ōra ferārum
Fīet enim subitō sūs horridus ātraque tigris
squāmōsusque dracō et fulvā cervīce leaena,
aut ācrem flammae sonitum dabit atque ita vinclīs
410excīdet, aut in aquās tenuēs dīlāpsus abībit.But when you hold him seized in your hands and chains, then various shapes and the faces of wild beasts will mock you. For suddenly he will become a bristling boar and a fierce tiger, a scaly serpent and a lioness with tawny neck, or he will give out the sharp roar of flame and so slip from his chains, or he will slip away into thin water and be gone.
Georg. 4.411Sed quantō ille magis fōrmās sē vertet in omnēs,
tantō, nāte, magis contende tenācia vincla,
dōnec tālis erit mūtātō corpore, quālem
vīderis, inceptō tegeret cum lūmina somnō."But the more he turns himself into every shape, the more, my son, tighten the clinging chains, until, his body changed, he is such as you saw him when he closed his eyes as sleep began.'