§3.163Tu quos ad studium atque usum formabis agrestem, §3.164iam vitulos hortare viamque insiste domandi, §3.165dum faciles animi iuvenum, dum mobilis aetas.
Those calves which you will shape for agricultural zeal and use, encourage them even now, and enter upon the way of taming, while the minds of the young are tractable, while their age is flexible.
§3.166Ac primum laxos tenui de vimine circlos §3.167cervici subnecte; dehinc, ubi libera colla §3.168servitio adsuerint, ipsis e torquibus aptos §3.169iunge pares et coge gradum conferre iuvencos; §3.170atque illis iam saepe rotae ducantur inanes §3.171per terram et summo vestigia pulvere signent; §3.172post valido nitens sub pondere faginus axis §3.173instrepat et iunctos temo trahat aereus orbes.
And first, bind loose circles made of slender twigs under their necks; then, when their free necks have become accustomed to servitude, yoke together well-matched bullocks, joined by the collars themselves, and compel them to step in unison; and let empty wheels already be drawn by them often over the ground, and let them mark their tracks on the surface of the dust; afterward, let the beechen axle, straining under a heavy load, creak, and let the brass-bound pole drag the joined wheels.
§3.174Interea pubi indomitae non gramina tantum §3.175nec vescas salicum frondes ulvamque palustrem, §3.176sed frumenta manu carpes sata; nec tibi fetae §3.177more patrum nivea implebunt mulctraria vaccae, §3.178sed tota in dulcis consument ubera natos.
Meanwhile, for the untamed youth, you will pluck with your hand not grass alone, nor the thin leaves of willows, nor marshy sedge, but sown grain; nor shall your pregnant cows, after the manner of the ancestors, fill the snowy milking pails, but they shall spend all their udders on their sweet offspring.
§3.179Sin ad bella magis studium turmasque ferocis, §3.180aut Alphea rotis praelabi flumina Pisae §3.181et Iovis in luco currus agitare volantis: §3.182primus equi labor est, animos atque arma videre §3.183bellantum lituosque pati tractuque gementem §3.184ferre rotam et stabulo frenos audire sonantis; §3.185tum magis atque magis blandis gaudere magistri §3.186laudibus et plausae sonitum cervicis amare.
But if your interest lies more toward war and fierce squadrons, or to glide on wheels past the Alphean rivers of Pisa, and to drive flying chariots in the grove of Jupiter: the first labor of the horse is to see the spirit and arms of those who fight, and to endure the trumpets, and to bear the wheel groaning under its draft, and to hear the sounding bits in the stable; then, more and more, to rejoice in the flattering praises of his master, and to love the sound of his patted neck.
§3.187Atque haec iam primo depulsus ab ubere matris §3.188audeat, inque vicem det mollibus ora capistris §3.189invalidus etiamque tremens, etiam inscius aevi.
And let him dare these things even when first weaned from his mother's breast, and in turn let him yield his mouth to soft halters, still weak and trembling, still ignorant of his age.
§3.190At tribus exactis ubi quarta accesserit aestas, §3.191carpere mox gyrum incipiat gradibusque sonare §3.192compositis sinuetque alterna volumina crurum §3.193sitque laboranti similis; tum cursibus auras, §3.194tum vocet, ac per aperta volans ceu liber habenis §3.195aequora vix summa vestigia ponat harena; §3.196qualis Hyperboreis Aquilo cum densus ab oris §3.197incubuit, Scythiaeque hiemes atque arida differt §3.198nubila: tum segetes altae campique natantes §3.199lenibus horrescunt flabris summaeque sonorem §3.200dant silvae longique urgent ad litora fluctus; §3.201ille volat simul arva fuga, simul aequora verrens
But when three years are past and the fourth summer has arrived, let him soon begin to run the ring, and to sound with measured steps, and let him bend the alternating curves of his legs, and let him be like one who labors; then let him challenge the winds in running, and flying through the open plains as if free from reins, let him scarcely place his footsteps on the surface of the sand; just as when the dense North wind has descended from the Hyperborean shores, and drives away the winters of Scythia and the dry clouds: then the tall crops and the waving fields shiver with gentle breezes, and the tops of the forests give a sound, and long waves press toward the shores; he flies, sweeping at once the fields, at once the seas with his flight.
§3.202Hinc vel ad Elei metas et maxuma campi §3.203sudabit spatia et spumas aget ore cruentas, §3.204Belgica vel molli melius feret esseda collo.
From here, he will either sweat toward the goals of Elis and the longest courses of the plain, and will drive bloody foam from his mouth, or will better bear the Belgic chariots on his gentle neck.
§3.205Tum demum crassa magnum farragine corpus §3.206crescere iam domitis sinito: namque ante domandum §3.207ingentis tollent animos prensique negabunt §3.208verbera lenta pati et duris parere lupatis.
Then at last, suffer their great bodies to grow with thick mash when they are already tamed; for before they are tamed, they will raise high spirits, and when caught they will refuse to endure the flexible whip and to obey the hard, jagged bits.
§3.209Sed non ulla magis viris industria firmat, §3.210quam Venerem et caeci stimulos avertere amoris, §3.211sive boum sive est cui gratior usus equorum.
But no industry more confirms their strength, than to keep away love and the stings of blind passion, whether the use of oxen or of horses is more pleasing to anyone.
§3.212Atque ideo tauros procul atque in sola relegant §3.213pascua post montem oppositum et trans flumina lata, §3.214aut intus clausos satura ad praesepia servant.
And for this reason, they banish the bulls far away and into solitary pastures, behind an opposing mountain and across broad rivers, or keep them shut up within, near full mangers.
§3.215Carpit enim viris paulatim uritque videndo §3.216femina nec nemorum patitur meminisse nec herbae §3.217dulcibus illa quidem inlecebris, et saepe superbos §3.218cornibus inter se subigit decernere amantis.
For the female wastes their strength little by little, and burns them by being seen, nor does she suffer them to remember the groves or the grass, indeed with her sweet allurements; and often she drives the proud lovers to decide between themselves with their horns.
§3.219Pascitur in magna Sila formosa iuvenca: §3.220illi alternantes multa vi proelia miscent §3.221volneribus crebris, lavit ater corpora sanguis, §3.222versaque in obnixos urguentur cornua vasto §3.223cum gemitu, reboant silvaeque et longus Olympus
A beautiful heifer pastures in the great Sila: they, alternating, join battle with great force, with frequent wounds; dark blood bathes their bodies, and their horns, turned against each other, are pressed with vast groaning, while the forests and far-reaching Olympus echo.
§3.224Nec mos bellantis una stabulare, sed alter §3.225victus abit longeque ignotis exulat oris, §3.226multa gemens ignominiam plagasque superbi §3.227victoris, tum, quos amisit inultus, amores; §3.228et stabula aspectans regnis excessit avitis.
Nor is it the custom for the combatants to stable together, but the one who is vanquished departs, and lives in exile far away in unknown regions, groaning much at his shame and the blows of his proud conqueror, and then at the love he has lost unavenged; and looking back at the stable, he has departed from his ancestral realms.
§3.229Ergo omni cura viris exercet et inter §3.230dura iacet pernix instrato saxa cubili §3.231frondibus hirsutis et carice pastus acuta, §3.232et temptat sese atque irasci in cornua discit §3.233arboris obnixus trunco ventosque lacessit §3.234ictibus et sparsa ad pugnam proludit harena.
Therefore with all care he exercises his strength, and lies active among hard rocks, with no bedding on his couch, feeding on rough leaves and sharp sedge, and he tests himself and learns to direct his anger into his horns, striving against the trunk of a tree, and challenges the winds with blows, and preludes for the fight by scattering sand.
§3.235Post ubi collectum robur viresque refectae §3.236signa movet praecepsque oblitum fertur in hostem: §3.237fluctus uti medio coepit cum albescere ponto §3.238longius ex altoque sinum trahit, utque volutus §3.239ad terras immane sonat per saxa neque ipso §3.240monte minor procumbit, at ima exaestuat unda §3.241verticibus nigramque alte subiectat harenam.
Afterward, when his strength is gathered and his power restored, he moves his standards, and is borne headlong against his unmindful foe: just as a wave begins to whiten in the middle of the sea, and draws its curve from the deep farther off; and as, rolled to the land, it roars terribly among the rocks, and falls no less than a mountain itself, while the bottom wave boils up in whirlpools, and throws the black sand high.
§3.242Omne adeo genus in terris hominumque ferarumque,
Thus indeed, every race on earth, of both men and beasts,