§3.399Hic et Narycii posuerunt moenia Locri, §3.400et Sallentinos obsedit milite campos §3.401Lyctius Idomeneus; hic illa ducis Meliboei §3.402parva Philoctetae subnixa Petelia muro.
Here also Narycian Locrians built walls, and Lyctian Idomeneus besieged the Sallentine fields with soldiers; here is that small Petelia of the Meliboean leader Philoctetes, relying on its wall.
§3.403Quin, ubi transmissae steterint trans aequora classes, §3.404et positis aris iam vota in litore solves, §3.405purpureo velare comas adopertus amictu, §3.406ne qua inter sanctos ignis in honore deorum §3.407hostilis facies occurrat et omina turbet.
Moreover, when your fleet having crossed the seas shall have anchored, and you shall now pay your vows on the shore at the established altars, veil your hair covered with a purple mantle, lest any hostile face should appear amidst the holy fires in the honor of the gods and disturb the omens.
Keep this custom of sacred rites, you yourself and your allies; let your descendants remain pure in this religious practice.
§3.410Ast ubi digressum Siculae te admoverit orae §3.411ventus, et angusti rarescent claustra Pelori, §3.412laeva tibi tellus et longo laeva petantur §3.413aequora circuitu: dextrum fuge litus et undas.
But when the wind shall have brought you, departed, to the Sicilian coast, and the barriers of narrow Pelorus shall begin to open, let the land on the left and the seas on the left be sought by you with a long circuit: flee the right shore and waves.
§3.414Haec loca vi quondam et vasta convolsa ruina— §3.415tantum aevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas— §3.416dissiluisse ferunt, cum protinus utraque tellus §3.417una foret; venit medio vi pontus et undis §3.418Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit, arvaque et urbes §3.419litore diductas angusto interluit aestu.
These places, once shattered by force and vast ruin— so much does the long lapse of time have power to change— are said to have leaped apart, whereas each land had been continuous and one; the sea came with force between them, and with its waves cut off the Hesperian side from the Sicilian, and washed between fields and cities separated by a narrow tide.
§3.420Dextrum Scylla latus, laevum implacata Charybdis §3.421obsidet, atque imo barathri ter gurgite vastos §3.422sorbet in abruptum fluctus, rursusque sub auras §3.423erigit alternos et sidera verberat unda.
Scylla occupies the right side, implacable Charybdis the left, and thrice she sucks the vast waves into the steep abyss with the lowest whirlpool of her gulf, and again lifts them alternately into the air and strikes the stars with the wave.
§3.424At Scyllam caecis cohibet spelunca latebris, §3.425ora exsertantem et navis in saxa trahentem.
But a cavern confines Scylla in dark hiding-places, stretching out her mouths and dragging ships onto the rocks.
§3.426Prima hominis facies et pulchro pectore virgo §3.427pube tenus, postrema immani corpore pristis, §3.428delphinum caudas utero commissa luporum.
Her face is human first, and she is a virgin with a beautiful breast down to her groin, her lower parts a sea-monster of monstrous body, joined with the tails of dolphins to a belly of wolves.
§3.429Praestat Trinacrii metas lustrare Pachyni §3.430cessantem, longos et circumflectere cursus, §3.431quam semel informem vasto vidisse sub antro §3.432Scyllam, et caeruleis canibus resonantia saxa.
It is better to traverse the turning-points of Trinacrian Pachynus, lingering, and to bend long courses around, than once to have seen misshapen Scylla under her vast cave, and the rocks resounding with her dark-blue dogs.
§3.433Praeterea, si qua est Heleno prudentia, vati §3.434si qua fides, animum si veris implet Apollo, §3.435unum illud tibi, nate dea, proque omnibus unum §3.436praedicam, et repetens iterumque iterumque monebo: §3.437Iunonis magnae primum prece numen adora; §3.438Iunoni cane vota libens, dominamque potentem §3.439supplicibus supera donis: sic denique victor §3.440Trinacria finis Italos mittere relicta.
Furthermore, if there is any wisdom in Helenus, if there is any trust in the prophet, if Apollo fills his mind with truths, this one thing, O goddess-born, one instead of all things, I will foretell to you, and repeating it again and again I will warn you: first adore the divinity of great Juno with prayer; willingly sing vows to Juno, and overcome the powerful mistress with suppliant gifts: thus at last, as a victor, having left Trinacria, you will be sent to the Italian borders.
§3.441Huc ubi delatus Cumaeam accesseris urbem, §3.442divinosque lacus, et Averna sonantia silvis, §3.443insanam vatem aspicies, quae rupe sub ima §3.444fata canit, foliisque notas et nomina mandat.
When, carried hither, you shall have approached the Cumaean city, and the divine lakes, and Avernus sounding with its woods, you will behold the frenzied prophetess, who under the deep rock sings the fates, and commits signs and names to leaves.
§3.445Quaecumque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo, §3.446digerit in numerum, atque antro seclusa relinquit.
Whatever prophecies the virgin has written on leaves, she arranges in order, and leaves them shut up in her cave.
§3.447Illa manent immota locis, neque ab ordine cedunt; §3.448verum eadem, verso tenuis cum cardine ventus §3.449impulit et teneras turbavit ianua frondes, §3.450numquam deinde cavo volitantia prendere saxo, §3.451nec revocare situs aut iungere carmina curat: §3.452inconsulti abeunt, sedemque odere Sibyllae.
They remain unmoved in their places, nor do they depart from their order; but when, the hinge being turned, a light wind has pushed them and the door has disturbed the tender leaves, she never cares thereafter to catch them as they flutter in the hollow rock, nor to restore their positions or join the prophecies: they depart without counsel, and hate the seat of the Sibyl.
§3.453Hic tibi ne qua morae fuerint dispendia tanti,— §3.454quamvis increpitent socii, et vi cursus in altum §3.455vela vocet, possisque sinus implere secundos,— §3.456quin adeas vatem precibusque oracula poscas §3.457ipsa canat, vocemque volens atque ora resolvat.
Here, let no loss of delay be of such great value to you,— although your allies chide, and the course loudly calls your sails to the deep, and you can fill the favorable folds of your sails,— that you should not go to the prophetess and demand with prayers that she herself sing the oracles, and willingly loosen her voice and mouth.
§3.458Illa tibi Italiae populos venturaque bella, §3.459et quo quemque modo fugiasque ferasque laborem §3.460expediet, cursusque dabit venerata secundos.
She will unfold to you the peoples of Italy and the wars to come, and in what manner you should flee or bear each labor, and, being worshipped, she will give you a prosperous course.
§3.461Haec sunt, quae nostra liceat te voce moneri.
These are the things which you are permitted to be warned of by our voice.
§3.462Vade age, et ingentem factis fer ad aethera Troiam. §3.463Quae postquam vates sic ore effatus amico est, §3.464dona dehinc auro gravia sectoque elephanto §3.465imperat ad navis ferri, stipatque carinis §3.466ingens argentum, Dodonaeosque lebetas, §3.467loricam consertam hamis auroque trilicem, §3.468et conum insignis galeae cristasque comantis, §3.469arma Neoptolemi; sunt et sua dona parenti.
Go, proceed, and raise great Troy to the heavens by your deeds." After the prophet had thus spoken these things with friendly mouth, he then orders gifts heavy with gold and carved ivory to be carried to the ships, and packs the hulls with abundant silver and Dodonaean cauldrons, a breastplate woven with hooks and triple-ply with gold, and the cone of a distinguished helmet and flowing crests, the armor of Neoptolemus; there are also his own gifts for the father.
He adds horses, and adds guides; he supplies rowers; at the same time he equips the allies with weapons.
Meanwhile, Anchises was ordering the fleet to be prepared with sails, lest any delay should be made to the favoring wind.
§3.474Quem Phoebi interpres multo compellat honore: §3.475Coniugio, Anchise, Veneris dignate superbo, §3.476cura deum, bis Pergameis erepte ruinis, §3.477ecce tibi Ausoniae tellus; hanc arripe velis.
Whom the interpreter of Phoebus addresses with much honor: "Anchises, deemed worthy of the proud marriage of Venus, care of the gods, twice snatched from Trojan ruins, behold for you the land of Ausonia; seize this with your sails."