§1.368saepe levem paleam et frondes volitare caducas §1.369aut summa nantis in aqua colludere plumas.
Often you will see light chaff and fallen leaves flutter, or feathers floating on the surface of the water play together.
§1.370At Boreae de parte trucis cum fulminat et cum §1.371Eurique Zephyrique tonat domus: omnia plenis §1.372rura natant fossis atque omnis navita ponto §1.373humida vela legit.
But when it lightens from the quarter of fierce Boreas, and when the home of Eurus and Zephyrus thunders: all the fields swim with filled ditches, and every sailor on the sea gathers in his damp sails.
Numquam inprudentibus imber §1.374obfuit: aut illum surgentem vallibus imis §1.375aëriae fugere grues, aut bucula caelum §1.376suspiciens patulis captavit naribus auras, §1.377aut arguta lacus circumvolitavit hirundo §1.378et veterem in limo ranae cecinere querelam.
Never has rain harmed the unwarned: either as it rose from the deepest valleys the cranes flying high fled before it, or the heifer looking up to heaven sniffed the air with wide nostrils, or the shrill swallow flew around the lakes, and the frogs in the mud sang their ancient complaint.
§1.379Saepius et tectis penetralibus extulit ova §1.380angustum formica terens iter et bibit ingens §1.381arcus et e pastu decedens agmine magno §1.382corvorum increpuit densis exercitus alis.
And more often the ant carrying out its eggs from its innermost chambers wearing a narrow path, and the huge rainbow drinks, and departing from their pasture in a great army, the host of crows makes a clang with dense wings.
§1.383Iam variae pelagi volucres et quae Asia circum §1.384dulcibus in stagnis rimantur prata Caystri, §1.385certatim largos umeris infundere rores: §1.386nunc caput obiectare fretis, nunc currere in undas §1.387et studio incassum videas gestire lavandi.
Now various birds of the sea, and those which explore the Asian meadows around the sweet pools of Cayster, emulously pour copious spray over their shoulders; now you may see them toss their heads into the waves, now run into the water, and in vain delight in their eagerness to wash.
Then the croaking raven with full voice calls for rain, and stalks alone by itself on the dry sand.
§1.390Ne nocturna quidem carpentes pensa puellae §1.391nescivere hiemem, testa cum ardente viderent §1.392scintillare oleum et putris concrescere fungos.
Not even the maidens spinning their nightly tasks are ignorant of the storm, when they see in the burning lamp the oil sputter and crumbly mold form on the wick.
§1.393Nec minus ex imbri soles et aperta serena §1.394prospicere et certis poteris cognoscere signis: §1.395nam neque tum stellis acies obtunsa videtur, §1.396nec fratris radiis obnoxia surgere Luna, §1.397tenuia nec lanae per caelum vellera ferri; §1.398non tepidum ad solem pinnas in litore pandunt §1.399dilectae Thetidi alcyones, non ore solutos §1.400inmundi meminere sues iactare maniplos.
Nor less after rain will you be able to foresee sunshine and open clearness, and to know them by certain signs: for then neither does the brightness of the stars seem dulled, nor does the Moon rise beholden to her brother's rays, nor are thin fleeces of wool carried through the sky; the halcyons, beloved of Thetis, do not spread their wings on the shore to the warm sun, nor do the filthy swine remember to toss unloosed bundles of straw with their snout.
§1.401At nebulae magis ima petunt campoque recumbunt, §1.402solis et occasum servans de culmine summo §1.403nequiquam seros exercet noctua cantus.
But the mists seek the lower ground and rest on the plain, and the owl, watching the setting of the sun from the highest roof, in vain practices her late night-songs.
§1.404Adparet liquido sublimis in aëre Nisus §1.405et pro purpureo poenas dat Scylla capillo: §1.406quacumque illa levem fugiens secat aethera pinnis, §1.407ecce inimicus, atrox, magno stridore per auras §1.408insequitur Nisus; qua se fert Nisus ad auras, §1.409illa levem fugiens raptim secat aethera pinnis
Nisus appears high in the clear air, and Scylla pays the penalty for the purple hair: wherever she, fleeing, cuts the light ether with her wings, lo! the hostile, fierce Nisus pursues her through the air with a great whir; where Nisus rises to the air, she, fleeing, swiftly cuts the light ether with her wings.
§1.410Tum liquidas corvi presso ter gutture voces §1.411aut quater ingeminant, et saepe cubilibus altis §1.412nescio qua praeter solitum dulcedine laeti §1.413inter se in foliis strepitant; iuvat imbribus actis §1.414progeniem parvam dulcisque revisere nidos; §1.415haud equidem credo, quia sit divinitus illis §1.416ingenium aut rerum fato prudentia maior; §1.417verum ubi tempestas et caeli mobilis humor §1.418mutavere vias et Iuppiter uvidus austris §1.419denset, erant quae rara modo, et, quae densa, relaxat, §1.420vertuntur species animorum et pectora motus §1.421nunc alios, alios, dum nubila ventus agebat, §1.422concipiunt: hinc ille avium concentus in agris §1.423et laetae pecudes et ovantes gutture corvi.
Then the crows with compressed throats redouble their liquid notes thrice or four times, and often in their high nests, glad with some unusual sweetness, they rustle together among the leaves; it delights them, now the rain is over, to revisit their little offspring and sweet nests; not indeed that I believe they have a divine intelligence or a greater foresight of things by fate; but when the weather and the shifting moisture of the sky have changed their course, and Jupiter, wet with the south winds, condenses what was just now rare, and relaxes what was dense, the phases of their minds are turned, and their breasts conceive now other motions, other than while the wind was driving the clouds: hence comes that chorus of birds in the fields, and the glad cattle, and the crows exulting in their throats.
§1.424Si vero solem ad rapidum lunasque sequentis §1.425ordine respicies, numquam te crastina fallet §1.426hora neque insidiis noctis capiere serenae.
But if you will look to the rapid sun and the moons following in order, tomorrow's hour will never deceive you, or will you be caught by the snares of a calm night.
§1.427Luna, revertentis cum primum colligit ignis, §1.428si nigrum obscuro conprenderit aera cornu, §1.429maxumus agricolis pelagoque parabitur imber; §1.430at si virgineum suffuderit ore ruborem, §1.431ventus erit; vento semper rubet aurea Phoebe.
The Moon, when first she gathers her returning fires, if she encloses dark air within her dim horn, a mighty rain will be prepared for farmers and the sea; but if she suffuses a maidenly blush over her face, there will be wind; golden Phoebe always reddens with wind.
§1.432Sin ortu quarto, namque is certissimus auctor, §1.433pura neque obtunsis per caelum cornibus ibit, §1.434totus et ille dies et qui nascentur ab illo §1.435exactum ad mensem pluvia ventisque carebunt, §1.436votaque servati solvent in litore nautae §1.437Glauco et Panopeae et Inoo Melicertae.
But if at her fourth rising—for that is the most certain authority— she goes through the sky pure and with horns not dulled, both all that day and those which shall be born from it until the month is complete will be free from rain and winds, and the saved sailors will pay their vows on the shore to Glaucus, and Panopea, and Melicertes, son of Ino.