'Wife, take care of the guest on my behalf.' You neglect the commands of your absent husband, I swear!
§16.306Cura tibi non est hospitis ulla tui.
For you have no care at all for your guest.
§16.307Huncine tu speras, hominem sine pectore, dotes §16.308Posse satis formae, Tyndari, nosse tuae?
Do you hope, daughter of Tyndareus, that this man, without a soul, can sufficiently know the gifts of your beauty?
§16.309Falleris — ignorat; nec, si bona magna putaret, §16.310Quae tenet, externo crederet illa viro.
You are mistaken — he is ignorant; nor, if he thought the great blessings which he possesses were of great value, would he entrust them to a foreign man.
§16.311Ut te nec mea vox nec te meus incitet ardor, §16.312Cogimur ipsius commoditate frui — §16.313Aut erimus stulti, sic ut superemus et ipsum, §16.314Si tam securum tempus abibit iners.
Though neither my voice nor my passion should incite you, we are compelled to take advantage of his own convenience — or we shall be fools, so as to surpass even him, if such a secure time passes away idle.
He almost leads the lover to you with his own hands; make use of the simplicity of the husband who commands you!
You lie alone in a widowed bed through so long a night; I myself also lie alone in a widowed bed.
Let common joys join you to me and me to you; that night will be brighter than midday.
§16.321Tunc ego iurabo quaevis tibi numina meque §16.322Adstringam verbis in sacra vestra meis; §16.323Tunc ego, si non est fallax fiducia nostri, §16.324Efficiam praesens, ut mea regna petas.
Then I will swear to you by any divinities you please, and bind myself by my words to your sacred rites; then I, if confidence in myself is not deceptive, will bring it about in person that you seek my kingdoms.
§16.325Si pudet et metuis ne me videare secuta, §16.326Ipse reus sine te criminis huius ero; §16.327Nam sequar Aegidae factum fratrumque tuorum.
If you are ashamed and fear lest you should seem to have followed me, I myself, without you, will be the guilty one of this crime; for I will follow the deed of the son of Aegeus and of your brothers.
§16.328Exemplo tangi non propiore potes.
You cannot be touched by any closer example.
Theseus carried you off, they the twin daughters of Leucippus; I shall be numbered as the fourth among these examples.
§16.331Troica classis adest armis instructa virisque; §16.332Iam facient celeres remus et aura vias.
The Trojan fleet is at hand, equipped with arms and men; soon the oar and the breeze will make swift ways.
§16.333Ibis Dardanias ingens regina per urbes, §16.334Teque novam credet vulgus adesse deam, §16.335Quaque feres gressus, adolebunt cinnama flammae, §16.336Caesaque sanguineam victima planget humum.
You will go through the Dardanian cities as a mighty queen, and the common people will believe that a new goddess is present, and wherever you set your steps, flames will burn cinnamon, and the slain victim will beat the bloody ground.
Gifts my father, and brothers, and sisters with my mother, and all the daughters of Ilium and the whole of Troy will give.
§16.339Ei mihi! pars a me vix dicitur ulla futuri.
Ah me! scarcely any part of the future is spoken of by me.
§16.340Plura feres, quam quae littera nostra refert.
You will receive more things than what my letter relates.
Nor do you, though carried off, fear lest fierce wars follow us, and Great Greece rouse her forces.
§16.343Tot prius abductis ecqua est repetita per arma?
Of so many women carried off before, has any one been demanded back by arms?
§16.344Crede mihi, vanos res habet ista metus.
Believe me, that matter holds vain fears.
§16.345Nomine ceperunt Aquilonis Erechthida Thraces, §16.346Et tuta a bello Bistonis ora fuit; §16.347Phasida puppe nova vexit Pagasaeus Iason, §16.348Laesa neque est Colcha Thessala terra manu.
The Thracians in the name of Aquilo captured the daughter of Erechtheus, and the Bistonian shore was safe from war; the Pagasaean Jason carried away the Phasian woman in a new ship, and the Thessalian land was not harmed by a Colchian hand.
Theseus, who also carried you off, carried off the daughter of Minos; yet Minos calls the Cretans to no arms.
In these matters, terror is wont to be greater than the danger itself, and what one is permitted to fear, it is a shame to have dreaded.
§16.353Finge tamen, si vis, ingens consurgere bellum — §16.354Et mihi sunt vires, et mea tela nocent.
Yet imagine, if you wish, that a mighty war arises — I too have strength, and my weapons do hurt.
Nor is the abundance of Asia less than that of your land; it is rich in men, rich in horses it abounds.
Nor will Menelaus, the son of Atreus, have more spirit than Paris, or be preferred in arms.
§16.359Paene puer caesis abducta armenta recepi, §16.360Hostibus et causam nominis inde tuli; §16.361Paene puer iuvenes vario certamine vici, §16.362In quibus Ilioneus Deiphobusque fuit; §16.363Neve putes, non me nisi comminus esse timendum, §16.364Figitur in iusso nostra sagitta loco.
Almost a boy, I recovered the carried-off herds by slaying the enemies, and from thence bore the cause of my name from the enemies; almost a boy, I conquered young men in various contests, among whom were Ilioneus and Deiphobus; and lest you think that I am not to be feared except hand-to-hand, my arrow is fixed in the ordered place.
§16.365Num potes haec illi primae dare facta iuventae?
Can you attribute these deeds of early youth to him?
§16.366Instruere Atriden num potes arte mea?
Can you equip the son of Atreus with my skill?
§16.367Omnia si dederis, numquid dabis Hectora fratrem?
If you give him all things, will you give him Hector as a brother?
§16.368Unus is innumeri militis instar erit!
He alone will be the equivalent of a countless soldier!
You do not know what I am worth, and my strength eludes you; you are ignorant of what kind of man you are to be married to.
Either, therefore, you will be sought back with no tumult of war, or the Doric camp will yield to my Mars.
Nor yet would I disdain to take up the sword for so great a wife.
certamen praemia magna movent.
Great prizes move the contest.
§16.375Tu quoque, si de te totus contenderit orbis, §16.376Nomen ab aeterna posteritate feres §16.377Spe modo non timida dis hinc egressa secundis; §16.378Exige cum plena munera pacta fide.
You too, if the whole world contends for you, will bear a name from eternal posterity — if only you depart hence with no fearful hope, under the favor of the gods; demand the promised gifts with full faith.