§4.83ingentes animos angusto in pectore versant, §4.84usque adeo obnixi non cedere, dum gravis aut hos §4.85aut hos versa fuga victor dare terga subegit.
they harbor mighty souls in their narrow breasts, so resolutely determined not to yield, until the dreadful victor has forced either these or those to turn their backs in routed flight.
These stirrings of their minds and these so great conflicts will be checked and fall to rest by the tossing of a little dust.
§4.88Verum ubi ductores acie revocaveris ambo, §4.89deterior qui visus, eum, ne prodigus obsit, §4.90dede neci; melior vacua sine regnet in aula.
But when you have recalled both leaders from the battle, the one who has appeared the inferior, lest by his wastefulness he do harm, deliver to death; let the better one reign in his empty hall.
§4.91Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens; §4.92nam duo sunt genera: hic melior, insignis et ore §4.93et rutilis clarus squamis, ille horridus alter §4.94desidia latamque trahens inglorius alvum.
One will be blazing with spots rough with gold; for there are two kinds: this one is the better, distinguished both in look and bright with rutilant scales; but that other is rough with sloth and ingloriously dragging a broad belly.
§4.95Ut binae regum facies, ita corpora plebis.
As the faces of the two kings differ, so do the bodies of the common folk.
§4.96Namque aliae turpes horrent, ceu pulvere ab alto §4.97cum venit et sicco terram spuit ore viator §4.98aridus; elucent aliae et fulgore coruscant §4.99ardentes auro et paribus lita corpora guttis.
For some look ugly and rough, just as when from deep dust a parched traveler comes and spits clay from his dry mouth; others shine forth and flash with brightness, glowing with gold and their bodies flecked with matching drops.
§4.100Haec potior suboles, hinc caeli tempore certo §4.101dulcia mella premes, nec tantum dulcia, quantum §4.102et liquida et durum Bacchi domitura saporem.
This is the better breed; from these, at the heaven's appointed season, you will squeeze sweet honey, yet not so much sweet as both clear and sure to temper the harsh flavor of Bacchus.
§4.103At cum incerta volant caeloque examina ludunt §4.104contemnuntque favos et frigida tecta relinquunt, §4.105instabiles animos ludo prohibebis inani.
But when the swarms fly aimlessly and sport in the sky, and despise their combs and leave their cold hives, you shall restrain their fickle minds from their vain play.
§4.106Nec magnus prohibere labor: tu regibus alas §4.107eripe; non illis quisquam cunctantibus altum §4.108ire iter aut castris audebit vellere signa.
Nor is the restraint a great labor: do you pluck the wings from the kings; while they hesitate, no one will dare to go on the lofty journey or dare to pluck the standards from the camp.
§4.109Invitent croceis halantes floribus horti §4.110et custos furum atque avium cum falce saligna §4.111Hellespontiaci servet tutela Priapi.
Let gardens breathing with saffron flowers invite them, and let the guardianship of Hellespontine Priapus, keeper against thieves and birds, protect them with his willow hook.
§4.112Ipse thymum pinosque ferens de montibus altis §4.113tecta serat late circum, cui talia curae; §4.114ipse labore manum duro terat, ipse feraces §4.115figat humo plantas et amicos inriget imbres.
Let him who has such cares bring thyme and pines from the high mountains and plant them widely around their homes; let him wear his hand with hard labor, let him plant fruitful cuttings in the ground and pour friendly showers.
§4.116Atque equidem, extremo ni iam sub fine laborum §4.117vela traham et terris festinem advertere proram, §4.118forsitan et, pingues hortos quae cura colendi §4.119ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Paesti, §4.120quoque modo potis gauderent intiba rivis §4.121et virides apio ripae, tortusque per herbam §4.122cresceret in ventrem cucumis; nec sera comantem §4.123narcissum aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi §4.124pallentesque hederas et amantes litora myrtos.
And indeed, were I not already drawing in my sails at the very end of my labors and hastening to turn my prow to the land, perhaps I might also sing of the care of cultivation that adorns rich gardens, and the rose-beds of twice-blooming Paestum, and in what way the endives rejoice in drinking the streams, and the green banks in celery, and how the cucumber winding through the grass grows into a belly; nor should I have passed over in silence the late-blooming narcissus, or the stem of the curling acanthus, and the pale ivy, and the shore-loving myrtles.
§4.125Namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus arcis, §4.126qua niger umectat flaventia culta Galaesus, §4.127Corycium vidisse senem, cui pauca relicti §4.128iugera ruris erant, nec fertilis illa iuvencis §4.129nec pecori opportuna seges nec commoda Baccho.
For I remember that beneath the towers of the Oebalian citadel, where dark Galaesus waters the golden wheat-fields, I saw a Corycian old man, who had a few acres of abandoned land, neither fertile for bullocks, nor suitable for sheep, nor convenient for Bacchus.
§4.130Hic rarum tamen in dumis olus albaque circum §4.131lilia verbenasque premens vescumque papaver §4.132regum aequabat opes animis seraque revertens §4.133nocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis.
Yet here, planting sparse pot-herbs among the briars, and around them white lilies and vervain and slender poppy, in his spirit he equaled the wealth of kings; and, returning late at night to his home, he loaded his tables with unbought feasts.
§4.134Primus vere rosam atque autumno carpere poma, §4.135et cum tristis hiems etiamnum frigore saxa §4.136rumperet et glacie cursus frenaret aquarum, §4.137ille comam mollis iam tondebat hyacinthi §4.138aestatem increpitans seram Zephyrosque morantes.
He was the first to gather the rose in spring and fruits in autumn; and when gloomy winter still split the rocks with cold and checked the courses of waters with ice, he was already shearing the tresses of the soft hyacinth, chiding the late summer and the lingering Zephyrs.
§4.139Ergo apibus fetis idem atque examine multo §4.140primus abundare et spumantia cogere pressis §4.141mella favis; illi tiliae atque uberrima pinus, §4.142quotque in flore novo pomis se fertilis arbos §4.143induerat, totidem autumno matura tenebat.
Therefore he also was the first to abound in breeding bees and a large swarm, and to gather foaming honey from the squeezed combs; for him were lindens and the most fruitful pine, and as many fruits as the fertile tree had clothed itself with in early bloom, just so many did it keep mature in autumn.
§4.144Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmos §4.145eduramque pirum et spinos iam pruna ferentes §4.146iamque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras.
He also transplanted late elms in rows, and the hard pear-tree, and thorn-bushes already bearing plums, and the plane-tree already providing shade for drinkers.
§4.147Verum haec ipse equidem spatiis exclusus iniquis §4.148praetereo atque aliis post me memoranda relinquo.
But indeed, excluded by these unfair limits, I myself pass over these things, and leave them to be recorded by others after me.
§4.149Nunc age, naturas apibus quas Iuppiter ipse §4.150addidit, expediam, pro qua mercede canoros §4.151Curetum sonitus crepitantiaque aera secutae §4.152Dictaeo caeli regem pavere sub antro.
Come now, the natures which Jupiter himself added to the bees, I will unfold, for which reward, having followed the melodious sounds of the Curetes and the clashing bronze, they fed the king of heaven beneath the Dictaean cave.
§4.153Solae communes natos, consortia tecta §4.154urbis habent magnisque agitant sub legibus aevum, §4.155et patriam solae et certos novere penates, §4.156venturaeque hiemis memores aestate laborem §4.157experiuntur et in medium quaesita reponunt.
They alone have children in common, and a shared dwelling of a city, and pass their life under great laws, and they alone know a fatherland and fixed hearths, and mindful of the coming winter, they undergo labor in summer and store up their gains for the common stock.
§4.158Namque aliae victu invigilant et foedere pacto §4.159exercentur agris; pars intra saepta domorum §4.160Narcissi lacrimam et lentum de cortice gluten §4.161prima favis ponunt fundamina, deinde tenaces §4.162suspendunt ceras: aliae spem gentis adultos
For some watch over the food, and by a settled covenant labor in the fields; a part, within the enclosure of their homes, lay the tear of Narcissus and the sticky glue from bark as the first foundations for the combs, then suspend the clinging wax; others lead out the adult offspring, the hope of the race,