Baucis and Philemon Flashcards
Iuppiter huc specie mortali cumque parente
venit Atlantiades positis caducifer alis.
mille domos adiere locum requiemque petentes,
mille domos clausere serae. tamen una recepit,
parva quidem,
Jupiter came to this place with mortal appearance, and with his parent came
Mercury, the staff-bearer, with his wings set aside.
They approached a thousand homes, seeking a room and rest,
bolts closed a thousand homes. However one received them,
indeed a small one
stipulis et canna tecta palustri,
sed pia Baucis anus parilique aetate Philemon
illa sunt annis iuncti iuvenalibus, illa
consenuere casa paupertatemque fatendo
effecere levem nec iniqua mente ferendo.
covered with straw and reeds from a marsh,
but the dutiful old woman, Baucis, and Philemon of equal age
were joined in youthful years in that house, and in that house
they grew old and by admitting poverty
they rendered it light and by not bearing it with an impatient mind.
nec refert, dominos illic famulosne requiras:
tota domus duo sunt, idem parentque iubentque.
ergo ubi caelicolae parvos tetigere penates
submissoque humiles intrarunt vertice postes,
It did not matter, if you ask for masters or slaves there:
the two were the whole house, and the same people obeyed and ordered.
Therefore when the sky-dwelling gods arrived at the small home
and entered the low door with bowed head,
membra senex posito iussit relevare sedili,
quo superiniecit textum rude sedula Baucis.
the old man ordered them to relax their limbs on a couch placed there,
on top of which busy Baucis threw a rough covering.
inde foco tepidum cinerem dimovit et ignes
suscitat hesternos foliisque et cortice sicco
nutrit et ad flammas anima producit anili,
multifidasque faces ramaliaque arida tecto
detulit et minuit parvoque admovit aeno,
Then she stirred up the warm ash in the hearth and rekindled yesterday’s fire
and fed it with leaves and dry bark
and coaxed it to flames with the breath of an old woman,
and she brought down finely split sticks and dry twigs from the roof-space
and chopped them up and put them under a small pot,
quodque suus coniunx riguo collegerat horto
truncat holus foliis; furca levat ille bicorni
sordida terga suis nigro pendentia tigno
servatoque diu resecat de tergore partem
exiguam sectamque domat ferventibus undis.
and the vegetables which her husband had collected from their well-watered garden
she strips of their leaves; with a two-pronged fork he lifted down
the smoked backs of a pig hanging from a black beam
and he cut off part from the back that had been kept for a long time
and made the cut section tender in the boiling water.
interea medias fallunt sermonibus horas
sentirique moram prohibent. erat alveus illic
fagineus, dura clavo suspensus ab ansa;
is tepidis inpletur aquis artusque fovendos
accipit. in medio torus est de mollibus ulvis
impositus lecto sponda pedibusque salignis;
Meanwhile they whiled away the intervening hours with conversations
and prevented the delay from being felt. There was a beechwood bowl there
suspended from a nail by its hard handle;
this was filled with warm water and received their limbs to be refreshed.
In the middle was a mattress stuffed with soft marsh grass
placed on the couch with its frame and feet made of willow;
vestibus hunc velant quas non nisi tempore festo
sternere consuerant, sed et haec vilisque vetusque
vestis erat, lecto non indignanda saligno.
accubuere dei.
they covered this with bedding which they were not accustomed to spread out unless for a feast day,
but this bedding was both cheap and old,
suitable for a willow couch.
The gods reclined.
interea totiens haustum cratera repleri
sponte sua per seque vident succrescere vina;
attoniti novitate pavent manibusque supinis
concipiunt Baucisque preces timidusque Philemon
et veniam dapibus nullisque paratibus orant
Meanwhile they see that the mixing bowl, that had been drained so many times, was refilled
of its own accord and that the wine was increasing:
Astonished by the strangeness (of this), they were afraid and with their hands facing upwards
Baucis and fearful Philemon uttered prayers
And begged for forgiveness for the feast and the lack of preparations
unicus anser erat, minimae custodia villae,
quem dis hospitibus domini mactare parabant;
ille celer penna tardos aetate fatigat
eluditque diu tandemque est visus ad ipsos
confugisse deos.
There was just one goose, the guardian of the very small house,
Which the masters were preparing to slaughter for the guest gods;
He (ie the goose) swift with his wing, wore them out, as they were slow with age
And it escaped them for a long time and at last it seemed
To have fled to the gods themselves.
superi vetuere necari
“di” que “sumus, meritasque luet vicinia poenas
impia” dixerunt; “vobis immunibus huius
esse mali dabitur. modo vestra relinquite tecta
ac nostros comitate gradus et in ardua montis
ite simul.”
The gods forbade it from being killed.
“ We are gods” and “the unholy neighbourhood will pay the penalty”
They said; it will be granted to you
to be immune from this disaster. Just leave your home
And follow our steps and
go together into the mountain heights”
parent ambo baculisque levati
nituntur longo vestigia ponere clivo.
tantum aberant summo, quantum semel ire sagitta
missa potest; flexere oculos et mersa palude
cetera prospiciunt, tantum sua tecta manere.
They both obeyed
And, supported by their sticks, they strove to place their footsteps on the long slope
They were as far from the summit, as a fired arrow is able to go in one shot;
They turned their eyes and they saw that everything else was submerged by a marsh,
Only their house remained.
dumque ea mirantur, dum deflent fata suorum,
illa vetus dominis etiam casa parva duobus
vertitur in templum; furcas subiere columnae,
stramina flavescunt aurataque tecta videntur
caelataeque fores adopertaque marmore tellus.
talia tum placido Saturnius edidit ore:
And while they were wondering at this, while they were weeping at the fates of their neighbours,
that old house, small even for its two masters,
was turned into a temple; columns took the places of the supports,
the thatch turned yellow, and the house seemed gilded
and the doors engraved, and the ground covered in marble.
Then Jupiter spoke such things from his calm mouth
“dicite, iuste senex et femina coniuge iusto
digna, quid optetis.” cum Baucide pauca locutus
iudicium superis aperit commune Philemon:
“esse sacerdotes delubraque vestra tueri
poscimus, et quoniam concordes egimus annos,
auferat hora duos eadem, ne coniugis umquam
busta meae videam neu sim tumulandus ab illa.”
‘Say, just old man and woman worthy of a just husband,
what you wish for.’ Having spoken a few words with Baucis,
Philemon revealed their joint decision to the gods:
‘We ask to be priests and to watch over your shrines,
and since we have years together in harmony,
let the same hour carry us both off, and may I not ever
see the tomb of my wife and may I not have to be buried by her.’
vota fides sequitur; templi tutela fuere,
donec vita data est. annis aevoque soluti
ante gradus sacros cum starent forte locique
narrarent casus, frondere Philemona Baucis,
Baucida conspexit senior frondere Philemon
Fulfilment followed their prayers; they were guardians of the temple,
as long as life was given. Worn out by years and old age
when they stood before the sacred steps by chance and
were telling the events of the place, Baucis saw Philemon growing leaves,
and older Philemon saw Baucis growing leaves.
iamque super geminos crescente cacumine vultus
mutua, dum licuit, reddebant dicta “vale”que
“o coniunx” dixere simul, simul abdita texit
ora frutex.
And now with a tree-top growing on top of both faces,
while it was possible, they were exchanging words in turn and they said at the same time ‘Goodbye,
o spouse,’ and greenery covered their hidden faces.
