He fears to be called a liar, she to be called perjured; Or do you doubt whether this fear or that is greater?
§20.163Denique, ut amborum conferre pericula possis, §20.164Respice ad eventus — haec cubat, ille valet.
Finally, so that you may compare the dangers of both, look at the outcomes — she lies ill, he is well.
§20.165Nos quoque dissimili certamina mente subimus; §20.166Nec spes par nobis nec timor aequus adest.
We too enter the struggle with different minds; neither is our hope equal, nor is our fear the same.
§20.167Tu petis ex tuto; gravior mihi morte repulsa est, §20.168Idque ego iam, quod tu forsan amabis, amo.
You seek from safety; to me, rejection is heavier than death, and I already love that which you, perhaps, will love.
If you had cared for justice, if for what is right, you yourself ought to have yielded to my fires.
§20.171Nunc, quoniam ferus hic pro causa pugnat iniqua, §20.172Ad quid, Cydippe, littera nostra redit?
Now, since this wild man fights for an unjust cause, to what end, Cydippe, does my letter return?
He causes you to lie ill and to be suspected by Diana; you, if you are wise, should forbid him to approach your threshold.
§20.175Hoc faciente subis tam saeva pericula vitae — §20.176Atque utinam pro te, qui movet illa, cadat!
Because of his doing, you undergo such savage dangers of life — and would that he who causes them might fall instead of you!
§20.177Quem si reppuleris, nec, quem dea damnat, amaris, §20.178Tu tunc continuo, certe ego salvus ero.
Whom if you reject, and do not love him whom the goddess condemns, you then immediately, and certainly I, will be safe.
§20.179Siste metum, virgo! stabili potiere salute,
Stop your fear, maiden!
§20.180Fac modo polliciti conscia templa colas; §20.181Non bove mactato caelestia numina gaudent, §20.182Sed, quae praestanda est et sine teste, fide.
You will gain firm health; only see to it that you worship the temple that is conscious of your promise; Not by a slaughtered ox do the heavenly divinities rejoice, but by faith, which must be kept even without a witness.
That others may be well, they endure iron and fires; bitter juice brings sad help to others.
There is no need of those things; only avoid perjury, and preserve at once yourself, me, and the pledge you gave!
Ignorance will give pardon for the past fault — the read compact had slipped from your mind.
§20.189Admonita es modo voce mea cum casibus istis, §20.190Quos, quotiens temptas fallere, ferre soles.
You have been warned just now by my voice along with those misfortunes, which you are wont to bear as often as you try to deceive.
Even if these are avoided, will you indeed ask in childbirth that she bring her light-bearing hands to you?
She will hear, and recalling what was heard, she will ask from which husband that birth comes to you.
You will make a vow — she knows that you promise falsely; you will swear — she knows that you can deceive the gods!
§20.197Non agitur de me;
It is not a question of me; I suffer from a greater care.
cura maiore laboro. §20.198Anxia sunt causa pectora nostra tua.
My heart is anxious on your account.
Why did your fearful parents just now weep for you when you were in danger, whom you keep ignorant of your fault?
§20.201Et cur ignorent? matri licet omnia narres.
And why should they be ignorant? You may tell everything to your mother.
§20.202Nil tua, Cydippe, facta ruboris habent.
Your actions, Cydippe, have nothing of shame.
§20.203Ordine fac referas ut sis mihi cognita primum §20.204Sacra pharetratae dum facit ipsa deae; §20.205Ut te conspecta subito, si forte notasti, §20.206Restiterim fixis in tua membra genis; §20.207Et, te dum nimium miror, nota certa furoris, §20.208Deciderint umero pallia lapsa meo; §20.209Postmodo nescio qua venisse volubile malum, §20.210Verba ferens doctis insidiosa notis, §20.211Quod quia sit lectum sancta praesente Diana, §20.212Esse tuam vinctam numine teste fidem §20.213Ne tamen ignoret, scripti sententia quae sit, §20.214Lecta tibi quondam nunc quoque verba refer.
See to it that you relate in order how you were first known to me, while she herself was performing the sacred rites of the quiver-bearing goddess; how, when I saw you, if by chance you noticed, I suddenly stood still with eyes fixed upon your limbs; and how, while I wondered at you too much — a sure sign of madness — my cloak slipped and fell from my shoulder; how afterwards a rolling apple came, I know not from where, bringing insidious words in clever characters; and because it was read in the presence of holy Diana, your pledge was bound with the divinity as witness; Yet, lest she be ignorant of what the meaning of the writing is, repeat now also the words once read by you.
§20.215'Nube, precor,' dicet, 'cui te bona numina iungunt; §20.216Quem fore iurasti, sit gener ille mihi.
'Marry, I pray,' she will say, 'him to whom the good divinities join you; let him whom you swore would be your husband be my son-in-law.
§20.217Quisquis is est, placeat, quoniam placet ante Dianae!' §20.218Talis erit mater, si modo mater erit.
Whoever he is, let him please you, since he already pleases Diana!' Such will your mother be, if only she is a mother.
But yet, see to it that she inquires who and of what sort I am; she will find that the goddess has consulted for you both.
An island, once most famous for Corycian nymphs, is girt by the Aegean sea, Cea by name.
That is my fatherland; nor, if you approve of noble names, am I proved to have sprung from despised ancestors.
§20.225Sunt et opes nobis, sunt et sine crimine mores; §20.226Amplius utque nihil, me tibi iungit Amor.
We have wealth too, and morals without reproach; and even if nothing more, Love joins me to you.
You would have desired such a husband even if you had not sworn; having sworn, such a one was to be held by you even if you had not.
§20.229Haec tibi me in somnis iaculatrix scribere Phoebe; §20.230Haec tibi me vigilem scribere iussit Amor; §20.231E quibus alterius mihi iam nocuere sagittae, §20.232Alterius noceant ne tibi tela, cave!
These things the huntress Phoebe ordered me to write to you in dreams; these things Love ordered me to write to you while awake; of which the arrows of the one have already hurt me; beware lest the weapons of the other hurt you!
§20.233Iuncta salus nostra est — miserere meique tuique; §20.234Quid dubitas unam ferre duobus opem?
Our safety is joined — pity both me and yourself; why do you hesitate to bring one relief to two?
§20.235Quod si contigerit, cum iam data signa sonabunt, §20.236Tinctaque votivo sanguine Delos erit, §20.237Aurea ponetur mali felicis imago, §20.238Causaque versiculis scripta duobus erit: §20.239Effigie pomi testatur Acontius huius §20.240Quae fuerint in eo scripta fuisse rata. §20.241Longior infirmum ne lasset epistula corpus §20.242Clausaque consueto sit sibi fine: vale!
If that should happen, when now the given signals resound, and Delos is stained with votive blood, a golden image of the fortunate apple will be set up, and the cause will be written in two verses: 'By the image of this apple Acontius witnesses that the things which were written on it have been ratified.' Lest a longer letter weary your sick body, and let it be closed with its accustomed end: farewell!