The Ominous Dream of a Heifer and Prophecy of Infidelity — Ovid, The Loves Book 3 (3.5.1–3.5.46), Latin & English

'Nox erat, et somnus lassos submisit ocellos;

’It was night, and sleep closed my weary eyes;

Terruerunt animum talia visa meum:

such visions terrified my mind:

Colle sub aprico creberrimus ilice lucus

At the foot of a sunny hill, a very dense grove of holm-oak

Stabat, et in ramis multa latebat avis.

was standing, and many a bird lay hidden in the branches.

Area gramineo suberat viridissima prato,

A very green clearing lay below the grassy meadow,

Umida de guttis lene sonantis aquae.

wet with droplets of gently sounding water.

Ipse sub arboreis vitabam frondibus aestum —

I myself was avoiding the heat under the leafy branches —

Fronde sub arborea sed tamen aestus erat —

but yet, even under the leafy branches, there was heat —

Ecce! petens variis inmixtas floribus herbas

behold! seeking the grass mixed with various flowers,

Constitit ante oculos candida vacca meos,

a white cow stood before my eyes,

Candidior nivibus, tunc cum cecidere recentes,

whiter than snows, at that time when they have recently fallen,

In liquidas nondum quas¹ mora vertit aquas;

which delay has not yet turned into liquid waters;

Candidior, quod adhuc spumis stridentibus albet

whiter than milk, which still whitens with hissing foam,

Et modo siccatam, lacte,² reliquit ovem.

and has just left the sheep, drained of milk.

Taurus erat comes huic, feliciter ille maritus,

A bull was her companion, happily her mate,

Cumque sua teneram coniuge pressit humum.

and with his spouse he pressed the tender ground.

Dum iacet et lente revocatas ruminat herbas

While he lay and slowly chewed the grass he had recalled,

Atque iterum pasto pascitur ante cibo,

and fed again on the food he had eaten before,

Visus erat,³ somno vires adimente ferendi,

he seemed, as sleep took away his strength to bear it,

Cornigerum terra deposuisse caput.

to have laid down his horned head upon the ground.

Huc levibus cornix pinnis delapsa per auras

Hither a crow, having glided down through the air on light wings,

Venit et in viridi garrula sedit humo,

came and sat chattering on the green ground,

Terque bovis niveae petulanti pectora rostro

and thrice with her impudent beak she pecked the breast of the snowy cow,

Fodit et albentis abstulit ore iubas.

and snatched away the white tufts with her mouth.

Illa locum taurumque diu cunctata relinquit —

She, having hesitated long, left the place and the bull —

Sed niger in vaccae pectore livor erat;

but there was a black bruise on the cow’s breast;

Utque procul vidit carpentes pabula tauros —

and when she saw bulls cropping the pasture far away —

Carpebant tauri pabula laeta procul —

bulls were cropping the joyful pasture far away —

Illuc se rapuit gregibusque inmiscuit illis

she hurried thither and mingled with those herds,

Et petiit herbae fertilioris humum.

and sought the soil of more fertile grass.

Dic age, nocturnae, quicumque es, imaginis augur,

”Come, tell me, whoever you are, interpreter of the nightly vision,

Siquid habent veri, visa quid ista ferant.'

what those sights bring, if they hold any truth.”

Sic ego; nocturnae sic dixit imaginis augur,

Thus I spoke; thus the interpreter of the nightly vision said,

Expendens animo singula dicta suo:

weighing each of my words in his mind:

'Quem tu mobilibus foliis vitare volebas,

”The heat which you wished to avoid under the moving leaves,

Sed male vitabas, aestus amoris erat.

but were avoiding poorly, was the heat of love.

Vacca puella tua est — aptus color ille puellae;

The cow is your girl — that color is fitting for a girl;

Tu vir et in vacca conpare taurus eras.

you were the man, and the bull as the mate to the cow.

Pectora quod rostro cornix fodiebat acuto,

That the crow was pecking her breast with her sharp beak

Ingenium dominae lena movebat anus.

meant that an old bawd was stirring your mistress’s mind.

Quod cunctata diu taurum sua vacca reliquit,

That her cow left the bull after hesitating long

Frigidus in viduo destituere⁴ toro.

means you will be abandoned cold in a widowed bed.

Livor et adverso maculae sub pectore nigrae

The bruise and the black spots under her facing breast

Pectus adulterii labe carere negant.⁵'

deny that her breast is free from the stain of adultery.”

Dixerat interpres. gelido mihi sanguis ab ore

The interpreter had spoken. The blood fled from my cold face,

Fugit, et ante oculos nox stetit alta meos.

and deep night stood before my eyes.

Syntax notes5 items

3.5.12quas
The antecedent of the relative pronoun quas (feminine plural accusative) is nivibus in the preceding line (L.11), functioning as the object of vertit with mora (delay/lapse of time) as the subject.
3.5.14lacte
Ablative of comparison. It modifies candidior (whiter) in L.13, while also serving as the antecedent of the relative pronoun quod (neuter singular nominative) in L.13. It is placed after the relative clause due to poetic hyperbaton.
3.5.19Visus erat
Personal construction of the verb videtur (to seem). The subject is taurus (the bull) continued from the previous line, taking the infinitive deposuisse (L.20). Although often translated impersonally, syntactically the bull is the subject.
3.5.42destituere
Poetic shortened form of the second-person singular future passive destitueris. The subject is the second-person singular (tu, the narrator).
3.5.44carere negant
Double negation. negant (they deny) negates carere (to lack), creating a strong affirmation. Syntactically, "they deny that the breast lacks the stain of adultery," meaning it indeed possesses it.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22)urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi001.humanitext-lat2:3.5.1-3.5.46