§3.485ossa minutatim morbo collapsa trahebat.
dragged down the bones, collapsed piece by piece by the disease, into itself.
§3.486Saepe in honore deum medio stans hostia ad aram §3.487lanea dum nivea circumdatur infula vitta, §3.488inter cunctantis cecidit moribunda ministros.
Often, standing in the midst of the worship of the gods, the victim at the altar, while the woollen headband is being circled with a snowy ribbon, fell dying among the hesitating ministers.
§3.489Aut si quam ferro mactaverat ante sacerdos §3.490inde neque impositis ardent altaria fibris §3.491nec responsa potest consultus reddere vates, §3.492ac vix suppositi tinguntur sanguine cultri §3.493summaque ieiuna sanie infuscatur harena.
Or if the priest had slaughtered any victim with the steel beforehand, thence the altars do not blaze with the entrails laid upon them, nor can the consulted seer return responses, and the knives placed underneath are scarcely dyed with blood, and only the surface of the sand is stained with scanty, thin gore.
§3.494Hinc laetis vituli volgo moriuntur in herbis §3.495et dulcis animas plena ad praesepia reddunt; §3.496hinc canibus blandis rabies venit et quatit aegros §3.497tussis anhela sues ac faucibus angit obesis.
Hence the calves die everywhere in the rich pastures, and yield up their sweet lives at the full mangers; hence madness comes to the gentle dogs, and a gasping cough shakes the sick swine and chokes them in their swollen throats.
§3.498Labitur infelix studiorum atque immemor herbae §3.499victor equus fontisque avertitur et pede terram §3.500crebra ferit; demissae aures, incertus ibidem §3.501sudor et ille quidem morituris frigidus, aret §3.502pellis et ad tactum tractanti dura resistit.
The victorious horse falls, ruined in his efforts and forgetful of the grass, and turns away from the springs, and with his foot repeatedly strikes the ground; his ears are drooped, a patchy sweat breaks out there, and that indeed cold for those about to die; the skin is dry, and when touched, resists the hand of the handler with hardness.
§3.503Haec ante exitium primis dant signa diebus; §3.504sin in processu coepit crudescere morbus, §3.505tum vero ardentes oculi atque attractus ab alto §3.506spiritus, interdum gemitu gravis, imaque longo §3.507ilia singultu tendunt, it naribus ater §3.508sanguis et obsessas fauces premit aspera lingua.
These signs they give in the first days before their death; but if in its progress the disease begins to grow fierce, then indeed there are burning eyes, and breath drawn from deep within, sometimes heavy with a groan, and they stretch their lowest flanks with a long sob; black blood flows from their nostrils, and the rough tongue oppresses the blocked throat.
§3.509Profuit inserto latices infundere cornu §3.510Lenaeos; ea visa salus morientibus una; §3.511mox erat hoc ipsum exitio, furiisque refecti §3.512ardebant ipsique suos iam morte sub aegra, §3.513di meliora piis erroremque hostibus illum, §3.514discissos nudis laniabant dentibus artus.
It was of use to pour in the juices of Bacchus through an inserted horn; this seemed the one safety for the dying; soon this very thing was their ruin, and refreshed with madness, they burned, and even under painful death, they themselves— may the gods grant better things to the pious, and that madness to our enemies!— were tearing their own mangled limbs with bared teeth.
§3.515Ecce autem duro fumans sub vomere taurus §3.516concidit et mixtum spumis vomit ore cruorem §3.517extremosque ciet gemitus.
But look, smoking under the heavy plowshare, the bull collapses, and vomits from his mouth blood mixed with foam, and utters his last groans.
It tristis arator §3.518maerentem abiungens fraterna morte iuvencum, §3.519atque opere in medio defixa relinquit aratra.
The sad plowman goes, uncoupling the young bull mourning for his brother's death, and leaves the plow fixed in the middle of the work.
§3.520Non umbrae altorum nemorum, non mollia possunt §3.521prata movere animum, non qui per saxa volutus §3.522purior electro campum petit amnis; at ima §3.523solvuntur latera atque oculos stupor urguet inertis §3.524ad terramque fluit devexo pondere cervix.
Neither the shades of the deep groves, nor the soft meadows can move his mind, nor the river which, rolling over the rocks, purer than amber, seeks the plain; but his deepest flanks are loosened, and stupor oppresses his heavy eyes, and his neck sinks to the earth with downward weight.
§3.525Quid labor aut benefacta iuvant? Quid vomere terras §3.526invertisse gravis? Atqui non Massica Bacchi §3.527munera, non illis epulae nocuere repostae: §3.528frondibus et victu pascuntur simplicis herbae, §3.529pocula sunt fontes liquidi atque exercita cursu §3.530flumina, nec somnos abrumpit cura salubris.
What do his labor or his good services avail? What avails it to have turned over the heavy earth with the plow? Yet no Massic gifts of Bacchus, no banquets served up repeatedly have harmed them; they feed on leaves and the nourishment of simple grass, their cups are liquid springs and rivers exercised by their course, nor does anxiety break their healthy slumbers.
§3.531Tempore non alio dicunt regionibus illis §3.532quaesitas ad sacra boves Iunonis et uris §3.533imparibus ductos alta ad donaria currus.
At no other time, they say, in those regions, were heifers sought for the rites of Juno, and chariots drawn to the high shrines by unmatched wild oxen.
§3.534Ergo aegre rastris terram rimantur et ipsis §3.535unguibus infodiunt fruges montisque per altos §3.536contenta cervice trahunt stridentia plaustra.
Therefore with difficulty they scratch the earth with harrows, and with their own nails bury the grain, and over the high mountains with strained neck drag the creaking wagons.
§3.537Non lupus insidias explorat ovilia circum §3.538nec gregibus nocturnus obambulat; acrior illum §3.539cura domat; timidi dammae cervique fugaces §3.540nunc interque canes et circum tecta vagantur.
The wolf does not practice stratagems around the sheepfolds, nor does he wander nightly around the flocks; a sharper care tames him; timid deer and swift stags now wander both among the dogs and around the houses.
§3.541Iam maris immensi prolem et genus omne natantum §3.542litore in extremo, ceu naufraga corpora, fluctus §3.543proluit; insolitae fugiunt in flumina phocae.
Now the offspring of the vast sea and all the swimming kind on the edge of the shore, like shipwrecked bodies, the wave washes up; seals flee into the rivers, unusual to them.
§3.544Interit et curvis frustra defensa latebris §3.545vipera et attoniti squamis adstantibus hydri.
The viper also dies, in vain protected by her winding hiding-places, and the water-snakes, astonished with scales standing erect.
To the birds themselves the air is not favorable, and they, falling headlong, leave their life beneath the high cloud.
§3.548Praeterea iam nec mutari pabula refert §3.549artes nocent quaesitaeque; cessere magistri §3.550Phillyrides Chiron Amythaoniusque Melampus.
Moreover, it no longer avails to change the pastures, and the sought-after arts do harm; the masters retired, Chiron, son of Phillyra, and Melampus, son of Amythaon.
§3.551Saevit et in lucem Stygiis emissa tenebris §3.552pallida Tisiphone Morbos agit ante Metumque, §3.553inque dies avidum surgens caput altius effert: §3.554Balatu pecorum et crebris mugitibus amnes §3.555arentesque sonant ripae collesque supini:
And pale Tisiphone, sent forth from Stygian darkness into the light, rages, driving before her Diseases and Fear, and day by day rising, she rears her greedy head higher; with the bleating of the sheep and frequent lowing, the rivers, the parched banks, and the sloping hills resound.
§3.556Iamque catervatim dat stragem atque aggerat ipsis §3.557in stabulis turpi dilapsa cadavera tabo §3.558donec humo tegere ac foveis abscondere discunt.
And now in heaps she deals destruction, and piles up in the very stalls the carcasses decaying with foul corruption, until they learn to cover them with earth and hide them in pits.
§3.559Nam neque erat coriis usus nec viscera quisquam §3.560aut undis abolere potest aut vincere flamma; §3.561ne tondere quidem morbo inluvieque peresa §3.562vellera nec telas possunt attingere putris; §3.563verum etiam invisos si quis temptarat amictus, §3.564ardentes papulae atque immundus olentia sudor §3.565membra sequebatur nec longo deinde moranti §3.566tempore contactos artus sacer ignis edebat.
For neither was there any use for the hides, nor could anyone either cleanse the flesh with water or master it with flame; they could not even shear the fleeces, eaten away by disease and filth, nor touch the decaying webs; nay, if anyone had tried the hateful garments, burning pustules and unclean sweat would follow his foul-smelling limbs, and then, in no long time for him who waited, the sacred fire was consuming his infected limbs.