Bay and grey-blue; the worst color is white and yellowish-brown.
Tum, si qua sonum procul arma dedere §3.84stare loco nescit, micat auribus et tremit artus §3.85collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem.
Then, if ever any arms have clanked from afar, he knows not how to stand in his place; he pricks up his ears and trembles in his limbs, and rolling the gathered fire, pressing it beneath his nostrils.
§3.86Densa iuba, et dextro iactata recumbit in armo; §3.87at duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cavatque §3.88tellurem et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu.
His mane is thick, and when tossed, it falls back on his right shoulder; but a double spine runs along his loins, and his hoof hollows the earth and sounds heavily with solid horn.
§3.89Talis Amyclaei domitus Pollucis habenis §3.90Cyllarus et, quorum Grai meminere poetae, §3.91Martis equi biiuges et magni currus Achilli.
Such was Cyllarus, tamed by the reins of Amyclaean Pollux, and those of whom the Greek poets made mention, the twin-yoked horses of Mars, and the chariot-team of great Achilles.
§3.92Talis et ipse iubam cervice effundit equina §3.93coniugis adventu pernix Saturnus et altum §3.94Pelion hinnitu fugiens implevit acuto.
Such too swift Saturn himself poured out a mane on his horse-neck at the arrival of his wife, and, fleeing, filled high Pelion with sharp neighing.
§3.95Hunc quoque, ubi aut morbo gravis aut iam segnior annis §3.96deficit, abde domo nec turpi ignosce senectae.
This horse too, when he fails, either heavy with disease or already slower from years, hide away at home, and do not excuse a shameful old age.
§3.97frigidus in Venerem senior, frustraque laborem §3.98ingratum trahit, et, si quando ad proelia ventum est, §3.99ut quondam in stipulis magnus sine viribus ignis, §3.100incassum furit.
The older horse is cold toward love, and in vain drags on the thankless labor, and, if ever they come to the battle, like a great fire without strength once in stubble, he rages in vain.
Ergo animos aevumque notabis §3.101praecipue; hinc alias artis prolemque parentum §3.102et quis cuique dolor victo, quae gloria palmae.
Therefore you will note their spirit and age especially; then their other qualities, and the pedigree of their parents, and what grief each feels when defeated, what glory in the prize.
§3.103Nonne vides, cum praecipiti certamine campum §3.104corripuere ruuntque effusi carcere currus, §3.105cum spes arrectae iuvenum, exsultantiaque haurit
Do you not see, when in headlong contest the chariots have seized the plain and rush pouring forth from the starting-gates, when the hopes of the youths are raised, and throbbing fear drains their leaping hearts?
§3.106corda pavor pulsans? Illi instant verbere torto §3.107et proni dant lora, volat vi fervidus axis; §3.108iamque humiles, iamque elati sublime videntur §3.109aera per vacuum ferri atque adsurgere in auras; §3.110nec mora nec requies; at fulvae nimbus harenae §3.111tollitur, umescunt spumis flatuque sequentum: §3.112tantus amor laudum, tantae est victoria curae.
They press on with twisted lash and leaning forward give free rein; the glowing axle flies with force; and now low, and now raised aloft, they seem to be carried through empty air and to rise into the breezes; no delay, no rest; but a cloud of yellow sand is raised, and they are wet with the foam and breath of those who follow: so great is the love of praise, so great a care is victory.
§3.113Primus Erichthonius currus et quattuor ausus §3.114iungere equos rapidusque rotis insistere victor
Erichthonius was the first who dared to yoke four horses to a chariot, and to stand victorious upon the rapid wheels.
§3.115Frena Pelethronii Lapithae gyrosque dedere §3.116impositi dorso atque equitem docuere sub armis §3.117insultare solo et gressus glomerare superbos.
The Pelethronian Lapiths, mounted on the horse's back, gave us the bit and the ring, and taught the armed rider to leap upon the ground and to gather his proud paces.
§3.118Aequus uterque labor, aeque iuvenemque magistri §3.119exquirunt calidumque animis et cursibus acrem, §3.120quamvis saepe fuga versos ille egerit hostis §3.121et patriam Epirum referat fortisque Mycenas §3.122Neptunique ipsa deducat origine gentem.
Equal is either labor; equally the trainers seek out a young horse, hot in spirit and swift in running, even though he may often have driven the routed enemies in flight, and claims Epirus or strong Mycenae as his country, and traces his lineage from the very origin of Neptune.
§3.123His animadversis instant sub tempus et omnis §3.124impendunt curas denso distendere pingui, §3.125quem legere ducem et pecori dixere maritum; §3.126florentisque secant herbas fluviosque ministrant §3.127farraque, ne blando nequeat superesse labori §3.128invalidique patrum referant ieiunia nati.
Observing these things, as the time draws near they busy themselves, and bestow all care to plump with firm fat him whom they have chosen as leader and declared husband to the herd; and they cut flowering grass, and supply streams and grain, lest he fail to be equal to the sweet labor, and weak offspring reproduce the hunger of their sires.
§3.129Ipsa autem macie tenuant armenta volentes, §3.130atque, ubi concubitus primos iam nota voluptas §3.131sollicitat, frondesque negant et fontibus arcent.
But the female herds they purposely thin with leanness, and when now the well-known pleasure incites the first unions, they deny them leaves and keep them from springs.
§3.132Saepe etiam cursu quatiunt et sole fatigant, §3.133cum graviter tunsis gemit area frugibus et cum §3.134surgentem ad Zephyrum paleae iactantur inanes.
Often too they shake them in the race and tire them in the sun, when the threshing-floor groans heavily with beaten grain and when the empty chaff is tossed to the rising West wind.
§3.135Hoc faciunt, nimio ne luxu obtunsior usus §3.136sit genitali arvo et sulcos oblimet inertis, §3.137sed rapiat sitiens Venerem interiusque recondat.
This they do, lest too much luxury blunt the use of the generative soil and clog the sluggish furrows, but that it may thirstily seize the love and hide it deep within.
Again, the care of the sires begins to fade, and that of the mothers to succeed.
Exactis gravidae cum mensibus errant, §3.140non illas gravibus quisquam iuga ducere plaustris, §3.141non saltu superare viam sit passus et acri §3.142carpere prata fuga fluviosque innare rapacis.
When they wander pregnant, their months being fulfilled, let no one suffer them to draw the yokes of heavy wagons, nor to leap over the path, nor to scour the meadows in swift flight and swim the rushing rivers.
§3.143Saltibus in vacuis pascunt et plena secundum §3.144flumina, muscus ubi et viridissima gramine ripa, §3.145speluncaeque tegant et saxea procubet umbra.
They feed them in quiet glades and along full streams, where there is moss and a bank greenest with grass, and where caves may shelter them and a rocky shadow lies outstretched.
§3.146Est lucos Silari circa ilicibusque; virentem §3.147plurimus Alburnum volitans, cui nomen asilo §3.148Romanum est, oestrum Grai vertere vocantes, §3.149asper, acerba sonans, quo tota exterrita silvis §3.150diffugiunt armenta; furit mugitibus aether §3.151concussus silvaeque et sicci ripa Tanagri.
Around the groves of Silarus and Alburnus green with holm-oaks, there is a winged insect in abundance, whose Roman name is asilus, but the Greeks calling it have translated as oestrus; fierce it is, sounding harshly, by which whole herds, terrified, flee from the woods; the air, shaken with bellowings, rages, and the forests and the bank of dry Tanager.
With this monster of old did Juno execute her horrible wrath, having devised a plague for the Inachian heifer.
§3.154Hunc quoque, nam mediis fervoribus acrior instat, §3.155arcebis gravido pecori, armentaque pasces §3.156sole recens orto aut noctem ducentibus astris.
This also—for it attacks more fiercely in the midday heat— you will keep away from the pregnant herd, and you will pasture your cattle when the sun is newly risen, or when the stars lead on the night.
§3.157Post partum cura in vitulos traducitur omnis, §3.158continuoque notas et nomina gentis inurunt §3.159et quos aut pecori malint submittere habendo §3.160aut aris servare sacros aut scindere terram §3.161et campum horrentem fractis invertere glaebis.
After birth, all care is transferred to the calves, and straightway they brand them with marks and the names of the breed, both those which they would prefer to rear for keeping up the herd, or to keep sacred for the altars, or to cleave the earth and turn up the rough field with broken clods.
§3.162Cetera pascuntur viridis armenta per herbas:
The rest of the herd pastures through the green grass: