Ovid Met 6.339-381 Flashcards
Iamque Chimaeriferae, cum sol gravis ureret arva,
finibus in Lyciae longo dea fessa labore
sidereo siccata sitim collegit ab aestu,
uberaque ebiberant avidi lactantia nati.
And now, having reached the borders of Chimera-bearing Lycia, when the heavy sun burnt the fields, the goddess weary of her long labour and parched by celestial heat felt her thirst,
and the hungry children had drained her breasts dry of milk.
Forte lacum mediocris aquae prospexit in imis
vallibus; agrestes illic fruticosa legebant
vimina cum iuncis gratamque paludibus ulvam.
By chance she saw a lake of no great size in a deep vale; countrymen were there gathering bushy twigs with swamp rushes and fine sedge.
Accessit positoque genu Titania terram
pressit, ut hauriret gelidos potura liquores.
Rustica turba vetat; dea sic adfata vetantis:
“Quid prohibetis aquis? Usus communis aquarum est.
Latona approached and placing her knee pressed the ground, so that being about to drink she might be able to drink the icy waters/
the rustic crowd prevented her; the goddess denied spoke thus:
‘why are you denying me water? the use of water is a communal right.
Nec solem proprium natura nec aera fecit
nec tenues undas: ad publica munera veni;
quae tamen ut detis, supplex peto. Non ego nostros
abluere hic artus lassataque membra parabam,
sed relevare sitim. Caret os umore loquentis,
et fauces arent, vixque est via vocis in illis.
Nature has not made the sun private to anyone, nor the wind, nor the tender waves: I come to a public gift; and yet i beg you grant it to me as a suppliant. I was not preparing to bathe my limbs and weary body here, but to alleviate my thirst. My mouth lacks moisture from speaking, and my throat is dry, and there is scarcely a path in there for my voice.
Haustus aquae mihi nectar erit, vitamque fatebor
accepisse simul: vitam dederitis in unda.
Hi quoque vos moveant, qui nostro bracchia tendunt
parva sinu,” et casu tendebant bracchia nati.
A drink of water will be nectar to me, at the same time i shall confess that i received life from it: you will be granting life in your waves. Let these children also move you, who stretch their little arms from my breast,’ and it chanced that the children were stretching their arms.
Quem non blanda deae potuissent verba movere?
Hi tamen orantem perstant prohibere minasque,
ni procul abscedat, conviciaque insuper addunt.
who would have been able not to be moved by the gentle words of the goddess? However these men presisted in denying her begging and even added threats and on top of insults if she did not withdraw far away.
Nec satis est, ipsos etiam pedibusque manuque
turbavere lacus imoque e gurgite mollem
huc illuc limum saltu movere maligno.
and not content with that, they even disturbed the lake with their feet and hands and from the depths of the pool, they stirred up the soft mud leaping here and there maliciously.
Distulit ira sitim; neque enim iam filia Coei
supplicat indignis nec dicere sustinet ultra
verba minora dea tollensque ad sidera palmas
“aeternum stagno” dixit “vivatis in isto!”
Anger postponed her thirst; for Coeus’ daughter could neither supplicate those unworthy men nor endure to speak words unbefitting for a goddess any further and raising her hands to the stars she said ‘live forther in that pool!’
Eveniunt optata deae: iuvat esse sub undis
et modo tota cava submergere membra palude,
nunc proferre caput, summo modo gurgite nare,
saepe super ripam stagni consistere, saepe
in gelidos resilire lacus, sed nunc quoque turpes
litibus exercent linguas pulsoque pudore,
quamvis sint sub aqua, sub aqua maledicere temptant.
the wishes of the goddess came about: it is there delight to under the waves and sometimes to submerge their whole bodies in the deep marsh, now to raise their heads, now to swim on top of the pool, often they pause on the edge of pool often they leap back into the icy lake, but even now they exercise their vile tongues in quarrels and having lost all shame, though they are under the water, they try to hurt insults beneath the water.
Vox quoque iam rauca est, inflataque colla tumescunt,
ipsaque dilatant patulos convicia rictus;
terga caput tangunt, colla intercepta videntur,
spina viret, venter, pars maxima corporis, albet,
limosoque novae saliunt in gurgite ranae.
Now also their voice is hoarse, and their swollen necks swell up, and their chattering broadens their wide jaws; their shoulders touch their head, their necks seem to disappear, their backs turn green, and their bellies, the largest part of their bodies, turn white, and as new frogs they leap in the pool.
