You are said to have touched the shores of Thessaly with your returning ship, rich with the fleece of the golden sheep.
I congratulate you on your safety, as far as you allow; yet of this very thing I ought to have been made more certain by your letter.
§6.5Nam ne pacta tibi praeter mea regna redires, §6.6Cum cuperes, ventos non habuisse potes; §6.7Quamlibet adverso signatur epistula vento.
For, so that you might not pass by my kingdom which had been promised to you on your return, though you desired it, you may argue that you did not have favorable winds; Yet a letter is sealed, however adverse the wind.
§6.8Hypsipyle missa digna salute fui.
I, Hypsipyle, was worthy of a sent greeting.
§6.9Cur mihi fama prior de te quam littera venit: §6.10Isse sacros Marti sub iuga panda boves, §6.11Seminibus iactis segetes adolesse virorum §6.12Inque necem dextra non eguisse tua, §6.13Pervigilem spolium pecudis servasse draconem, §6.14Rapta tamen forti vellera fulva manu?
Why did rumor come to me about you sooner than a letter: that the sacred bulls of Mars went under the curved yokes, that from the cast seeds a harvest of men grew up and did not need your right hand for their slaughter, that a sleepless dragon guarded the spoil of the flock, but yet the golden fleece was snatched by a brave hand?
Oh, how great I would be, if I could say to those timidly believing those things: 'He himself wrote to me'!
§6.17Quid queror officium lenti cessasse mariti?
Why do I complain that the duty of a slow husband has ceased?
§6.18Obsequium, maneo si tua, grande tuli!
I have received a great favor, if I remain yours!
A barbarian sorceress is said to have come with you, received into a share of the bed promised to me.
Love is a credulous thing; would that I might be said to have rashly accused my husband with false charges!
§6.23Nuper ab Haemoniis hospes mihi Thessalus oris §6.24Venit et, ut tactum vix bene limen erat, §6.25'Aesonides,' dixi, 'quid agit meus?' ille pudore §6.26Haesit in opposita lumina fixus humo.
Recently a Thessalian guest came to me from Haemonian shores, and as soon as the threshold was barely touched, I said, 'How is my son of Aeson?' He, out of shame, hesitated, with his eyes fixed on the ground before him.
§6.27Protinus exilui tunicisque a pectore ruptis §6.28'Vivit? an,' exclamo, 'me quoque fata vocant?'
Immediately I leapt up, and tearing my tunic from my breast, I cried out, 'Does he live?
§6.29'Vivit,' ait.
Or do the fates call me too?' 'He lives,' he said.
timidum quod amat; iurare coegi.
That which loves is timid; I forced him to swear.
§6.30Vix mihi teste deo credita vita tua est.
Scarcely with a god as witness was your life believed by me.
§6.31Utque animus rediit, tua facta requirere coepi.
And as my spirit returned, I began to ask about your deeds.
§6.32Narrat aenipedes Martis arasse boves, §6.33Vipereos dentes in humum pro semine iactos, §6.34Et subito natos arma tulisse viros — §6.35Terrigenas populos civili Marte peremptos §6.36Inplesse aetatis fata diurna suae.
He relates that the bronze-footed bulls of Mars plowed, that dragon teeth were thrown into the ground for seed, and that suddenly born men bore arms — earth-born peoples, destroyed in civil strife, fulfilled the daily fate of their lifespan.
§6.37Devictus serpens.
The serpent was overcome.
iterum, si vivat Iason, §6.38Quaerimus; alternant spesque timorque vicem.
Again we ask if Jason lives; hope and fear take turns.
While he tells each detail, in the eagerness and flow of his speaking, he reveals our wounds by his own natural disposition.
Alas! Where is the promised faith? Where are the marriage rights, and the torch more worthy to go beneath pyres about to burn?
I was not known to you by theft; bridal Juno was present, and Hymen, his temples bound with wreaths.
But to me neither Juno nor Hymen, but a sad, bloody Erinys carried the ill-omened torches before us.
§6.47Quid mihi cum Minyis, quid cum Dodonide pinu?
What had I to do with the Minyans, what with the Dodonean pine?
§6.48Quid tibi cum patria, navita Tiphy, mea?
What had you to do with my country, helmsman Tiphys?
There was no ram here remarkable for its golden fleece, nor was Lemnos the palace of old Aeetes.
§6.51Certa fui primo (sed me mala fata trahebant) §6.52Hospita feminea pellere castra manu; §6.53Lemniadesque viros, nimium quoque, vincere norunt.
I was resolved at first (but evil fates were dragging me) to drive away the guest camp with a female hand; The Lemnian women also know how to conquer men, even too well.
§6.54Milite tam forti terra tuenda fuit!
With such brave soldiers the land should have been defended!
§6.55Urbe virum iuvi, tectoque animoque recepi!
I helped the man in the city, and received him into my home and my heart!
§6.56Hic tibi bisque aestas bisque cucurrit hiemps.
Here for you both summer and winter ran twice.
§6.57Tertia messis erat, cum tu dare vela coactus §6.58Inplesti lacrimis talia verba suis: §6.59'Abstrahor, Hypsipyle; sed dent modo fata recursus, §6.60Vir tuus hinc abeo, vir tibi semper ero.
It was the third harvest, when you, forced to set sail, filled such words as these with your tears: 'I am dragged away, Hypsipyle; but if only the fates grant a return, I depart hence as your husband, and your husband I will always be.
§6.61Quod tamen e nobis gravida celatur in alvo, §6.62Vivat, et eiusdem simus uterque parens!' §6.63Hactenus, et lacrimis in falsa cadentibus ora §6.64Cetera te memini non potuisse loqui.
What, however, is concealed in your pregnant womb from us, let it live, and let us both be parents of the same!' Thus far you spoke, and as tears fell upon your deceitful face, I remember that you could not speak the rest.
§6.65Ultimus e sociis sacram conscendis in Argo.
The last of your companions, you boarded the sacred Argo.
§6.66Illa volat; ventus concava vela tenet; §6.67Caerula propulsae subducitur unda carinae; §6.68Terra tibi, nobis adspiciuntur aquae.
She flies; the wind holds the hollow sails; The azure wave is drawn from beneath the propelled keel; the land is looked upon by you, the waters by us.
§6.69In latus omne patens turris circumspicit undas; §6.70Huc feror, et lacrimis osque sinusque madent.
A tower open on every side looks out over the waves; hither I am carried, and my face and breast are wet with tears.
Through tears I look, and favoring my longing mind, our eyes see further than usual.
Add pure prayers and vows mixed with fear — which now, you being safe, must be paid by me.
§6.75Vota ego persolvam? votis Medea fruetur!
Am I to pay vows? Medea will enjoy the fruits of my vows!
§6.76Cor dolet, atque ira mixtus abundat amor.
My heart aches, and love mixed with anger overflows.
§6.77Dona feram templis, vivum quod Iasona perdo?
Am I to bring gifts to temples, because I lose Jason alive?
§6.78Hostia pro damnis concidat icta meis?
Should a struck victim fall for my losses?
Indeed I was not free from care and always feared lest your father should take a daughter-in-law from a Greek city.
§6.81Argolidas timui — nocuit mihi barbara paelex!
I feared Argive women — a barbarian mistress has harmed me!