§241‘Tempus in inmensum lacrimas tibi movimus istas, §242Quae semper causa sufficiente cadent. ’ §243Dixerat. at Clotho iussit promissa valere, §244Nevit et infesta stamina pulla manu; §245Et ne longa suo praesagia diceret ore, §246Fata canet vales qui tua
, dixit
erit. §247Ille ego sum vates. ex me tua vulnera disces, §248Dent modo di vires in mea verba suas, §249Carminibusque meis accedant pondera rerum, §250Quae rata per luctus experiare tuos.
'We have stirred up these tears for you for time immemorial, which shall always fall with a sufficient cause.' She had spoken; but Clotho commanded the promises to remain valid, and spun the dark threads with her hostile hand; and lest she should speak long prophecies with her own mouth, she said, 'There will be a poet who shall sing your fates.' I am that poet; from me you shall learn your wounds, if only the gods grant their strength to my words, and weight of facts may be added to my songs, which you may experience as fulfilled through your lamentations.
And lest you suffer without examples of a prior age, may your evils be no lighter than the Trojan misfortunes.
And may you bear as great wounds in your poisoned leg as the Poeantian heir of club-bearing Hercules.
Nor may you suffer less than he who drank the udders of a hind, and bore the wound of an armed man, and help from an unarmed one.
And like him who fell headlong from his horse into the Aleian fields, to whom his own face was almost a destruction.
May you see what the son of Amyntor saw, and, deprived of light, tremblingly test your path with a guiding staff.
§261Nec plus aspicias, quam quem sua filia rexit, §262Expertus scelus est cuius uterque parens: §263Qualis erat, postquam est iudex de lite iocosa §264Sumptus, Apollinea clarus in arte senex:
Nor may you see more than he whom his own daughter guided, both of whose parents experienced crime: such as was that old man, famous in the Apolline art, after he was chosen as judge of a playful dispute.
§265Qualis et ille fuit, quo praecipiente columba §266Est data Palladiae praevia duxque rati: §267Quique oculis caruit, per quos male viderat aurum, §268Inferias nato quos dedit orba parens: §269Pastor ut Aetnaeus, cui casus ante futuros §270Telemus Eurymides vaticinatus erat: §271Ut duo Phinidae, quibus idem lumen ademit, §272Qui dedit: ut Thamyrae Demodocique caput.
And such as was he, by whose instruction a dove was given as a precursor and leader of the Palladian ship; and who lacked the eyes through which he had evilly seen gold, which the bereaved parent gave as offerings to her son: like the Aetnaean shepherd, to whom Telemus Eurymides had prophesied his future misfortunes: like the two sons of Phineus, from whom the same one took light who gave it: like the head of Thamyras and Demodocus.
Thus may someone cut your limbs, as Saturn cut off those parts from which he had been created.
§275Nec tibi sit melior tumidis Neptunus in undis, §276Quam cui sunt subitae frater et uxor aves; §277Sollertique viro, lacerae quem fracta tenentem §278Membra ratis Semeles est miserata soror.
Nor may Neptune be more favorable to you in the swelling waves than to him whose brother and wife are suddenly birds; and to the clever man, whom Semele's sister pitied as he held the broken pieces of his shattered ship.
§279Vel tua, ne poenae genus hoc cognoverit unus, §280Viscera diversis scissa ferantur equis: §281Vel quae qui redemi Romano turpe putavit, §282A duce Puniceo pertulit, ipse feras.
Or may your entrails, lest one alone should know this kind of punishment, be carried away, torn by horses running in different directions: or may you yourself bear what he, who thought it shameful to be redeemed by a Roman, suffered from the Carthaginian leader.
Nor may a present deity be of help to you, like him whom the altar of Rhoetean Jupiter profited nothing.
And as the Thessalian leapt from the top of Ossa, may you also be cast headlong from a rocky ridge.
— Or like Eurylochus and him who took the sceptre from him, may your limbs be food for greedy snakes.
Or may the hot moisture of water poured over your head hasten your death, like the Minoan fates.
And like Prometheus, mild in his works but not with impunity, may you, fixed with a shackle, offer your flanks to the birds of the air.
— Or like the Etracides, fifteenth from great Hercules, may you be slain and cast into the boundless sea.
Or as the boy beloved with a shameful love hated the son of Amyntas, and wounded him with a cruel sword.
Nor may trustworthy cups be mixed for you any more than for him who was born of horn-bearing Jupiter.
Or may you perish suspended after the manner of the captured Achaeus, who, wretched, hung with the gold-bearing water as witness.
Or as a tile thrown by a hostile hand crushed the descendant of Achilles, famous for his kindred name.
Nor may your bones rest more happily than those of Pyrrhus, which lay scattered through the Ambracian ways.
And as the daughter of Aeacides died by driven javelins; Ceres does not allow this sacred rite to be concealed.
And as the grandson of the king just mentioned in our song, may you drink the juices of cantharides given by a parent.
Or may the adulteress be called pious because you were slain, as she by whose vengeance Leucon fell was called pious.
And may you cast your dearest bodies into the pyre with you, which end of life Sardanapallus had.
And as those preparing to violate the temple of Libyan Jupiter, may the sand driven by the South wind cover your face.
And as those killed by the deceit of Darius the Second, so may the sinking ash devour your face.
Or as him who once set out from olive-bearing Sicyon, may cold and hunger be the cause of your death.