§1.74unde prius laetum siliqua quassante legumen §1.75aut tenuis fetus viciae tristisque lupini §1.76sustuleris fragilis calamos silvamque sonantem.
from where you have previously removed the bean, joyous with rustling pod, or the slender crop of vetch, and the fragile stalks and rustling forest of the bitter lupine.
§1.77Urit enim lini campum seges, urit avenae, §1.78urunt Lethaeo perfusa papavera somno: §1.79sed tamen alternis facilis labor, arida tantum §1.80ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola neve §1.81effetos cinerem inmundum iactare per agros.
For a crop of flax burns the field, a crop of oats burns it, and poppies steeped in Lethean sleep burn it: but yet the labor is easy in alternate years, if only you are not ashamed to saturate the dry soils with rich dung, nor to scatter dirty ash over the exhausted fields.
§1.82Sic quoque mutatis requiescunt fetibus arva; §1.83nec nulla interea est inaratae gratia terrae.
In this way too, by changing the crops, the fields rest; nor is there meanwhile no benefit from the unplowed land.
§1.84Saepe etiam sterilis incendere profuit agros §1.85atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis: §1.86sive inde occultas viris et pabula terrae §1.87pinguia concipiunt, sive illis omne per ignem §1.88excoquitur vitium atque exsudat inutilis humor, §1.89seu pluris calor ille vias et caeca relaxat §1.90spiramenta, novas veniat qua sucus in herbas, §1.91seu durat magis et venas adstringit hiantis, §1.92ne tenues pluviae rapidive potentia solis §1.93acrior aut Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat.
Often also it has been useful to set fire to barren fields and to burn the light stubble with crackling flames: whether they derive from this hidden strengths and rich nourishment, or whether every defect is baked out of them by the fire and the useless moisture sweats out, or whether that heat opens more channels and blind pores, through which the sap may come to the new plants, or whether it hardens them more and binds the gaping veins, lest light rains or the sharper power of the swift sun or the penetrating cold of the North Wind parch them.
§1.94Multum adeo, rastris glaebas qui frangit inertis §1.95vimineasque trahit cratis, iuvat arva, neque illum §1.96flava Ceres alto nequiquam spectat Olympo; §1.97et qui, proscisso quae suscitat aequore terga, §1.98rursus in obliquum verso perrumpit aratro, §1.99exercetque frequens tellurem atque imperat arvis.
Much indeed does he help the fields, who breaks the sluggish clods with rakes and drags wicker harrows, nor does golden Ceres look down upon him in vain from high Olympus; and he too who, turning his plow, breaks through again crosswise the ridges which he raises in the first plowing of the plain, and constantly exercises the earth and rules over the fields.
§1.100Humida solstitia atque hiemes orate serenas, §1.101agricolae; hiberno laetissima pulvere farra,
Pray for wet summers and clear winters, farmers; with winter dust the spelt is most joyous, and the field is joyous.
Under no other cultivation does Mysia boast so much, and Gargara itself wonders at its own harvests.
§1.104Quid dicam, iacto qui semine comminus arva §1.105insequitur cumulosque ruit male pinguis harenae §1.106deinde satis fluvium inducit rivosque sequentis §1.107et, cum exustus ager morientibus aestuat herbis, §1.108ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam §1.109elicit. illa cadens raucum per levia murmur §1.110saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva.
What shall I say of him who, having cast the seed, immediately pursues the fields and levels the heaps of barren sand, then leads the river and following streams onto the sown crops, and when the parched field burns with dying grass, behold, from the brow of a sloping path he coaxes the water, which, falling, rouses a hoarse murmur among the smooth stones and cools the parched fields with its gushing streams?
§1.111Quid qui, ne gravidis procumbat culmus aristis, §1.112luxuriem segetum tenera depascit in herba, §1.113cum primum sulcos aequant sata.
What of him who, lest the stalk fall under the weight of the heavy ears, grazes down the luxuriance of the crops while they are still tender grass, as soon as the young plants reach the level of the furrows?
quique paludis §1.114collectum humorem bibula deducit harena.
And of him who drains the gathered moisture of the swamp with thirsty sand?
§1.115Praesertim incertis si mensibus amnis abundans §1.116exit et obducto late tenet omnia limo, §1.117unde cavae tepido sudant humore lacunae.
Especially if in the changeable months the overflowing river goes out of its course and holds everything far and wide with a covering of mud, whence the hollow pools steam with warm moisture.
§1.118Nec tamen, haec cum sint hominumque boumque labores §1.119versando terram experti, nihil inprobus anser §1.120Strymoniaeque grues et amaris intiba fibris §1.121officiunt aut umbra nocet.
And yet, though the labors of men and oxen have experienced these things in turning the earth, the greedy goose and Strymonian cranes and chicory with bitter roots do no small harm, nor does the shade fail to injure.
Pater ipse colendi §1.122haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem §1.123movit agros curis acuens mortalia corda §1.124nec torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno.
The Father himself willed that the way of cultivation should not be easy, and first stirred the fields through art, sharpening mortal minds with cares, nor did he suffer his realms to grow torpid with heavy lethargy.
§1.125Ante Iovem nulli subigebant arva coloni; §1.126ne signare quidem aut partiri limite campum §1.127fas erat: in medium quaerebant ipsaque tellus §1.128omnia liberius nullo poscente ferebat.
Before Jupiter, no husbandmen subdued the fields; indeed, it was not lawful even to mark out or divide the plain with a boundary: they gathered for a common store, and the earth itself bore all things more freely, when no one demanded them.
§1.129Ille malum virus serpentibus addidit atris §1.130praedarique lupos iussit pontumque moveri, §1.131mellaque decussit foliis ignemque removit §1.132et passim rivis currentia vina repressit, §1.133ut varias usus meditando extunderet artis §1.134paulatim et sulcis frumenti quaereret herbam.
He added deadly venom to black serpents, and commanded wolves to prey and the sea to be stirred; and he shook honey from the leaves, hid fire away, and curbed the wine that ran everywhere in streams, so that practice by taking thought might forge various arts little by little, and seek the blade of corn in the furrows.
§1.136Tunc alnos primum fluvii sensere cavatas; §1.137navita tum stellis numeros et nomina fecit, §1.138Pleiadas, Hyadas, claramque Lycaonis Arcton; §1.139tum laqueis captare feras et fallere visco §1.140inventum et magnos canibus circumdare saltus; §1.141atque alius latum funda iam verberat amnem §1.142alta petens, pelagoque alius trahit humida lina; §1.143tum ferri rigor atque argutae lamina serrae,— §1.144nam primi cuneis scindebant fissile lignum §1.145tum variae venere artes.
Then the rivers first felt the hollowed alders; then the sailor gave numbers and names to the stars— the Pleiades, the Hyades, and the bright Bear of Lycaon; then was found out how to catch wild beasts with snares, to deceive with birdlime, and to encircle great glades with dogs; and now one lashes the wide river with a casting-net, seeking the deeps, and another drags wet nets from the sea; then came the rigidity of iron and the blade of the shrill saw— for the first men split cleavable wood with wedges— then various arts came.
Labor omnia vicit §1.146inprobus et duris urgens in rebus egestas.
Unrelenting labor conquered all things, and poverty pressing hard in difficult times.
§1.147Prima Ceres ferro mortalis vertere terram
Ceres first [taught] mortals to turn the earth with iron.