§477εὐοχθέων δʼ ἵξεαι πολιὸν ἔαρ, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἄλλους §478αὐγάσεαι· σέο δʼ ἄλλος ἀνὴρ κεχρημένος ἔσται.
Well-provided, you will reach the grey spring, and you will not look to others, but another man will be in need of you.
§479εἰ δέ κεν ἠελίοιο τροπῇς ἀρόῳς χθόνα δῖαν, §480ἥμενος ἀμήσεις ὀλίγον περὶ χειρὸς ἐέργων, §481ἀντία δεσμεύων κεκονιμένος, οὐ μάλα χαίρων, §482οἴσεις δʼ ἐν φορμῷ· παῦροι δέ σε θηήσονται.
But if you plow the divine land at the solstice, you will reap sitting, gathering a little in your hand, binding it in opposite directions, covered in dust, not very glad, and you will carry it in a basket; few will look at you.
The mind of aegis-bearing Zeus is different at different times, and it is hard for mortal men to understand.
§485εἰ δέ κεν ὄψʼ ἀρόσῃς, τόδε κέν τοι φάρμακον εἴη· §486ἦμος κόκκυξ κοκκύζει δρυὸς ἐν πετάλοισι §487τὸ πρῶτον, τέρπει δὲ βροτοὺς ἐπʼ ἀπείρονα γαῖαν, §488τῆμος Ζεὺς ὕοι τρίτῳ ἤματι μηδʼ ἀπολήγοι, §489μήτʼ ἄρʼ ὑπερβάλλων βοὸς ὁπλὴν μήτʼ ἀπολείπων· §490οὕτω κʼ ὀψαρότης πρῳηρότῃ ἰσοφαρίζοι.
But if you plow late, this would be a remedy for you: when the cuckoo first cuckoos in the leaves of the oak and delights mortals over the limitless earth, then may Zeus rain on the third day and not cease, neither exceeding the ox's hoof nor falling short of it; thus the late-plower may equal the early-plower.
Keep all things well in your mind, and let neither the coming of grey spring nor the timely rain escape you.
§493πὰρ δʼ ἴθι χάλκειον θῶκον καὶ ἐπαλέα λέσχην §494ὥρῃ χειμερίῃ, ὁπότε κρύος ἀνέρα ἔργων §495ἰσχάνει, ἔνθα κʼ ἄοκνος ἀνὴρ μέγα οἶκον ὀφέλλοι, §496μή σε κακοῦ χειμῶνος ἀμηχανίη καταμάρψῃ §497σὺν πενίῃ, λεπτῇ δὲ παχὺν πόδα χειρὶ πιέζῃς.
Pass by the smith's forge and the warm meeting-place in the winter season, when the cold keeps a man from work, at which time an diligent man could greatly prosper his house, lest the helplessness of a bad winter catch you with poverty, and you press a swollen foot with a thin hand.
A lazy man, waiting on empty hope and lacking livelihood, speaks many evils to his heart.
Hope is not good for a needy man who sits in a meeting-place when he has no sufficient livelihood.
§502δείκνυε δὲ δμώεσσι θέρευς ἔτι μέσσου ἐόντος· §503οὐκ αἰεὶ θέρος ἐσσεῖται, ποιεῖσθε καλιάς. §504μῆνα δὲ Ληναιῶνα, κάκʼ ἤματα, βουδόρα πάντα, §505τοῦτον ἀλεύασθαι, καὶ πηγάδας, αἵτʼ ἐπὶ γαῖαν §506πνεύσαντος Βορέαο δυσηλεγέες τελέθουσιν, §507ὅστε διὰ Θρῄκης ἱπποτρόφου εὐρέι πόντῳ §508ἐμπνεύσας ὤρινε· μέμυκε δὲ γαῖα καὶ ὕλη· §509πολλὰς δὲ δρῦς ὑψικόμους ἐλάτας τε παχείας §510οὔρεος ἐν βήσσῃς πιλνᾷ χθονὶ πουλυβοτείρῃ §511ἐμπίπτων, καὶ πᾶσα βοᾷ τότε νήριτος ὕλη.
Show your servants while it is still midsummer: "It will not always be summer, make barns." Avoid the month Lenaeon, evil days, all skinning the oxen, and the frosts which are cruel when the North Wind blows over the earth, who, blowing through horse-breeding Thrace upon the wide sea, stirs it up; and the earth and the forest bellow; and falling upon many high-foliaged oaks and thick pines in the mountain glens, he brings them to the fertile earth, and then all the infinite forest roars.
§512θῆρες δὲ φρίσσουσʼ, οὐρὰς δʼ ὑπὸ μέζεʼ ἔθεντο, §513τῶν καὶ λάχνῃ δέρμα κατάσκιον· ἀλλά νυ καὶ τῶν §514ψυχρὸς ἐὼν διάησι δασυστέρνων περ ἐόντων.
The wild beasts shiver, and put their tails under their loins, even those whose skin is shaded with thick hair; yet even through them, hairy-breasted though they are, the cold wind blows.
§515καί τε διὰ ῥινοῦ βοὸς ἔρχεται, οὐδέ μιν ἴσχει· §516καί τε διʼ αἶγα ἄησι τανύτριχα· πώεα δʼ οὔ τι, §517οὕνεκʼ ἐπηεταναὶ τρίχες αὐτῶν, οὐ διάησιν §518ἲς ἀνέμου Βορέου· τροχαλὸν δὲ γέροντα τίθησιν.
It goes even through the hide of an ox, and does not stop it; and it blows through the long-haired goat; but the flocks of sheep, because their wool is abundant, the force of the North Wind does not blow through; but it makes an old man bent like a wheel.
§519καὶ διὰ παρθενικῆς ἁπαλόχροος οὐ διάησιν, §520ἥτε δόμων ἔντοσθε φίλῃ παρὰ μητέρι μίμνει §521οὔ πω ἔργα ἰδυῖα πολυχρύσου Ἀφροδίτης· §522εὖ τε λοεσσαμένη τέρενα χρόα καὶ λίπʼ ἐλαίῳ §523χρισαμένη μυχίη καταλέξεται ἔνδοθι οἴκου §524ἤματι χειμερίῳ, ὅτʼ ἀνόστεος ὃν πόδα τένδει §525ἔν τʼ ἀπύρῳ οἴκῳ καὶ ἤθεσι λευγαλέοισιν.
And it does not blow through the tender-skinned maiden, who remains inside the house beside her dear mother, not yet knowing the works of golden Aphrodite; having washed her tender skin and anointed it with rich olive oil, she will lie down in the innermost part of the house on a winter day, when the boneless one gnaws his own foot in his fireless house and wretched haunts.
§526οὐδέ οἱ ἠέλιος δείκνυ νομὸν ὁρμηθῆναι· §527ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ κυανέων ἀνδρῶν δῆμόν τε πόλιν τε §528στρωφᾶται, βράδιον δὲ Πανελλήνεσσι φαείνει.
The sun does not show him pasture to go after; but he turns over the land and city of dark men, and shines more slowly upon the Panhellenes.
§529καὶ τότε δὴ κεραοὶ καὶ νήκεροι ὑληκοῖται §530λυγρὸν μυλιόωντες ἀνὰ δρία βησσήεντα §531φεύγουσιν· καὶ πᾶσιν ἐνὶ φρεσὶ τοῦτο μέμηλεν, §532ὡς σκέπα μαιόμενοι πυκινοὺς κευθμῶνας ἔχωσι §533καὶ γλάφυ πετρῆεν· τότε δὴ τρίποδι βροτῷ ἶσοι, §534οὗ τʼ ἐπὶ νῶτα ἔαγε, κάρη δʼ εἰς οὖδας ὁρᾶται, §535τῷ ἴκελοι φοιτῶσιν, ἀλευόμενοι νίφα λευκήν.
And then indeed the horned and hornless forest-dwellers, miserably chattering their teeth, flee through the wooded glens; and this is in the mind of all of them, as they seek shelter and have dense coverts and rocky caves; then indeed, like a three-legged mortal whose back is broken and whose head looks down to the ground, like him they wander, avoiding the white snow.
§536καὶ τότε ἕσσασθαι ἔρυμα χροός, ὥς σε κελεύω, §537χλαῖνάν τε μαλακὴν καὶ τερμιόεντα χιτῶνα· §538στήμονι δʼ ἐν παύρῳ πολλὴν κρόκα μηρύσασθαι· §539τὴν περιέσσασθαι, ἵνα τοι τρίχες ἀτρεμέωσι, §540μηδʼ ὀρθαὶ φρίσσωσιν ἀειρόμεναι κατὰ σῶμα.
And then put on, as I bid you, protection for your body, a soft cloak and a tunic reaching to the ground; weave a thick woof on a thin warp; put this around you, so that your hairs may not tremble, nor stand on end, raised up all over your body.
Around your feet bind fitting sandals of the hide of an ox slain by force, lining them with felt inside.
§543πρωτογόνων δʼ ἐρίφων, ὁπότʼ ἂν κρύος ὥριον ἔλθῃ, §544δέρματα συρράπτειν νεύρῳ βοός, ὄφρʼ ἐπὶ νώτῳ §545ὑετοῦ ἀμφιβάλῃ ἀλέην· κεφαλῆφι δʼ ὕπερθεν §546πῖλον ἔχειν ἀσκητόν, ἵνʼ οὔατα μὴ καταδεύῃ· §547ψυχρὴ γάρ τʼ ἠὼς πέλεται Βορέαο πεσόντος
And when the timely cold comes, sew together the skins of first-born kids with the sinew of an ox, so that you may cast them over your back as a protection against the rain; and on your head above wear a well-made felt cap, so that your ears may not be wet; for the morning is cold when the North Wind falls.