§19.1ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ
Τί ταῦτα, ὦ Σελήνη, φασὶ ποιεῖν σε;
APHRODITE What is this, Selene, that they say you do?
ὁπόταν κατὰ τὴν Καρίαν γένῃ, ἱστάναι μέν σε τὸ ζεῦγος ἀφορῶσαν ἐς τὸν Ἐνδυμίωνα καθεύδοντα ὑπαίθριον ἅτε κυνηγέτην ὄντα, ἐνίοτε δὲ καὶ καταβαίνειν παρ' αὐτὸν ἐκ μέσης τῆς ὁδοῦ;
Whenever you are in Caria, do you halt your chariot and gaze down at Endymion sleeping in the open air, since he is a hunter, and sometimes even go down to him from the middle of your journey?
ΣΕΛΗΝΗ
Ἐρώτα, ὦ Ἀφροδίτη, τὸν σὸν υἱόν, ὅς μοι τούτων αἴτιος.
SELENE Ask your son, Aphrodite, who is the cause of these things to me.
ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ
Ἔα·
APHRODITE Ah!
ἐκεῖνος ὑβριστής ἐστιν· ἐμὲ γοῦν αὐτὴν τὴν μητέρα οἷα δέδρακεν, ἄρτι μὲν ἐς τὴν Ἴδην κατάγων Ἀγχίσου ἕνεκα τοῦ Ἰλιέως, ἄρτι δὲ ἐς τὸν Λίβανον ἐπὶ τὸ Ἀσσύριον ἐκεῖνο μειράκιον, ὃ καὶ τῇ Φερσεφάττῃ ἐπέραστον ποιήσας ἐξ ἡμισείας ἀφείλετό με τὸν ἐρώμενον·
That one is a mischievous rogue; at any rate, what has he not done to me, his own mother, now leading me down to Ida for the sake of Anchises of Ilium, now to Lebanon for that Assyrian youth, whom he also made desirable to Persephone and so robbed me of half my beloved?
ὥστε πολλάκις ἠπείλησα, εἰ μὴ παύσεται τοιαῦτα ποιῶν, κλάσειν μὲν αὐτοῦ τὰ τόξα καὶ τὴν φαρέτραν, περιαιρήσειν δὲ καὶ τὰ πτερά· ἤδη δὲ καὶ πληγὰς αὐτῷ ἐνέτεινα ἐς τὰς πυγὰς τῷ σανδάλῳ·
So that I have often threatened him, unless he stops doing such things, that I would break his bow and quiver, and strip off his wings; and indeed, I have already given him a beating on his buttocks with my sandal.
ὁ δὲ οὐκ οἶδ’ ὅπως τὸ παραυτίκα δεδιὼς καὶ ἱκετεύων μετ' ὀλίγον ἐπιλέλησται ἁπάντων.
But he, though somehow fearing and entreating me at the moment, after a little while forgets everything.
§19.2ΑΦΡΟΔΙΤΗ
ἀτὰρ εἰπέ μοι, καλὸς ὁ Ἐνδυμίων ἐστίν;
APHRODITE But tell me, is Endymion handsome?
ἀπαραμύθητον γὰρ οὕτως τὸ δεινόν.
For otherwise, this terrible passion of yours is quite past remedy.
ΣΕΛΗΝΗ
Ἐμοὶ μὲν καὶ πάνυ καλός, ὦ Ἀφροδίτη, δοκεῖ, καὶ μάλιστα ὅταν ὑποβαλλόμενος ἐπὶ τῆς πέτρας τὴν χλαμύδα καθεύδῃ τῇ λαιᾷ μὲν ἔχων τὰ ἀκόντια ἤδη ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς ὑπορρέοντα, ἡ δεξιὰ δὲ περὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐς τὸ ἄνω ἐπικεκλασμένη ἐπιπρέπῃ τῷ προσώπῳ περικειμένη, ὁ δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου λελυμένος ἀναπνέῃ τὸ ἀμβρόσιον ἐκεῖνο ἆσθμα.
SELENE To me indeed, Aphrodite, he seems very handsome, especially when, having spread his cloak upon the rock, he sleeps holding his javelins in his left hand, already slipping from his grasp, while his right hand, bent upwards around his head, graces and frames his face, and he, relaxed by sleep, breathes that ambrosial breath.
τότε τοίνυν ἐγὼ ἀψοφητὶ κατιοῦσα ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν δακτύλων βεβηκυῖα ὡς ἂν μὴ ἀνεγρόμενος ἐκταραχθείη—οἶσθα· τί οὖν ἄν σοι λέγοιμι τὰ μετὰ ταῦτα;
At that time, then, I go down noiselessly, walking on the tips of my toes so that he might not wake and be startled—you know; why then should I tell you what follows?
πλὴν ἀπόλλυμαί γε ὑπὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος.
Except that I am simply perishing with love.