Take courage. Let the pulled hair and torn locks remain as they are, as signs of such a great crime.
§733perferte 4n urbem, recipe iam sensus, era.
Carry them into the city. Princess, recover your senses now.
§734quid te ipsa lacerans omnium adspectus fugis?
Why do you lacerate yourself and flee the sight of all?
§735mens inpudicam facere, non casus solet.
It is the mind that is wont to make one unchaste, not chance.
§736Fugit insanae similis procellae, §737ocior nubes glomerante Coro, §738ocior cursum rapiente flamma, §739stella cum ventis agitata longos §740porrigit ignes.
He flees like a mad tempest, swifter than the wind Caurus as it gathers the clouds, swifter than the lightning snatching its course, when a star, driven by the winds, stretches out its long fires.
§741Conferat tecum decus omne priscum §742fama miratrix senioris aevi: §743pulchrior tanto tua forma lucet, §744clarior quanto micat orbe pleno §745cum suos ignes coeunte cornu §746iunxit et curru properante pernox §747exerit vultus rubicunda Phoebe §748nec tenent stellae faciem minores; §749talis est. primas referens tenebras, §750nuntius noctis, modo lotus undis §751Hesperus, pulsis iterum tenebris §752Lucifer idem.
Let all ancient beauty compare itself with you, the admiring rumor of an older age: your beauty shines so much more brightly, as much as the full moon gleams with its rounded orb when, with horns meeting, she has joined her fires and, through the night with her hurrying chariot, the rosy Phoebe shows her face, nor do the lesser stars hold their brightness; such is, bringing back the first shadows, the messenger of night, Hesperus newly bathed in the waves, and again, when the darkness is dispelled, the very same Lucifer.
§753Et tu. thyrsigera Liber ab India. §754intonsa iuvenis perpetuum coma, §755tigres pampinea cuspide territans §756ac mitra cohibens cornigerum caput, §757non vinces rigidas Hippolyti comas.
And you, Liber, brought from thyrsus-bearing India, a youth with everlasting unshorn hair, terrifying tigers with your vine-clad spear and binding your horned head with a turban, you will not surpass the unkempt hair of Hippolytus.
§758ne vultus nimium suspicias tuos: §759omnis per populos fabula distulit, §760Phaedrae quem Bromio praetulerit soror.
Do not look too much upon your own face: the story has spread through all peoples whom Phaedra's sister preferred to Bromius.
§761Anceps forma bonum mortalibus," §762exigui donum breve temporis, §763ut velox celeri pede laberis!
Beauty is an uncertain good for mortals, a brief gift of a short time, how quickly it glides away with swift foot!
§764Non sic prata novo vere decentia §765aestatis calidae despoliat vapor, §766saevit solstitio cum medius dies §767et noctes brevibus praecipitant rotis §768languescunt folio et lilia pallido: §769ut gratae capiti deficiunt comae §770et fulgor teneris qui radiat genis §771momento rapitur nullaque non dies §772formonsi spolium corporis abstulit.
Not so does the heat of warm summer despoil the meadows adorned in new spring, when the midday sun rages at the solstice and the nights hasten with brief wheels, and the lilies wither with pale leaf: as the pleasing hair fails the head and the brightness that radiates from tender cheeks is snatched in a moment, and no day passes without taking some spoil from the beautiful body.
§773res est forma fugax: quis sapiens bono
Beauty is a fleeting thing: what wise man would trust a fragile good?
§774confidat fragili? dum licet, utere.
While you may, enjoy it.
Time silently undermines you, and an hour always worse than the last succeeds.
§777Quid deserta petis? tutior aviis
Why do you seek desert places?
§778non est forma locis: te nemore abdito, §779cum Titan medium constituit diem, §780cingent turba licens Naides improbae, §781formonsos solitae claudere fontibus, §782et somnis facient insidias tuis §784Panas quae Dryades montivagos petunt, §785aut te stellifero despiciens polo §786sidus post veteres Arcadas editum §787currus non poterit flectere candidos.
Beauty is no safer in trackless spots: in the hidden grove, when Titan has positioned the midday sun, the wanton crowd of wicked Naids will surround you, accustomed to enclose beautiful youths in their springs, and they will lay snares for your sleep; and the Dryads who pursue the mountain-wandering Pans; or looking down at you from the starry sky, the star born after the ancient Arcadians will not be able to turn her white chariot.
§788et nuper rubuit, nullaque lucidis §789nubes sordidior vultibus obstitit: §790at nos solliciti numine turbido, §791tractari! Thessalicis carminibus rati, §792tinnitus dedimus: tu fueras labor §793et tu causa morae, te dea noctium §794dum spectat celeres sustinuit vias.
And recently she blushed, and no dirty cloud obstructed her shining countenance: but we, anxious at the troubled divinity, thinking she was being manipulated by Thessalian spells, made our brass ring: you had been her labor and you the cause of her delay; while the goddess of the night gazes at you, she halted her swift course.
§795Vexent hanc faciem frigora parcius, §796haec solem facies rarius appetat: §797lucebit Pario marmore clarius,
May the frosts trouble this face more sparingly, may this face seek the sun more rarely: it will shine more brightly than Parian marble.
How pleasing is a face manly in its sternness, and the grim weight of an ancient brow!
§800Phoebo colla licet splendida compares: §801illum caesaries nescia colligi §802perfundens umeros ornat et integit; §803te frons hirta decet, te brevior coma §804nulla lege iacens; tu licet asperos §805pugnacesque deos viribus audeas §806et vasti spatio vincere corporis: §807aequas. Herculeos nam iuvenis toros, §808Martis belligeri pectore latior, §809si dorso libeat cornipedis vehi, §810frenis Castorea mobilior manu §811Spartanum poteris flectere Cyllaron.
You may compare your splendid neck to Phoebus: his hair, which knows not how to be bound, flowing over his shoulders, adorns and covers him; a rough forehead suits you, and a shorter hair lying without rule; though you should dare to surpass the harsh and combative gods in strength, and in the space of your vast body: for you, a youth, equal the muscles of Hercules, broader in chest than warlike Mars; if it should please you to ride on the back of a horse, more agile than Castor's hand in the reins you will be able to guide the Spartan Cyllaros.
§812ammentum digitis tende prioribus §813et totis iaculum dirige viribus: §814tam longe, dociles spicula figere, §815non mittent gracilem Cretes harundinem.
Stretch the thong with your foremost fingers and direct the javelin with all your strength: the Cretans, though skilled at fixing arrows, will not send their slender reed so far.
§816aut si tela modo spargere Parthico §817in caelum placeat, nulla sine alite §818descendent, tepido viscere condita §819praedam de mediis nubibus afferent.
Or if it pleases you to scatter weapons into the sky after the Parthian fashion, none will descend without a bird, and lodged in the warm entrails they will bring back prey from the midst of the clouds.
Beauty has been unpunished for few men (look through the ages).
May a better god pass you by in safety, and may your noble beauty show the image of deformed old age.
§824Quid sinat inausum feminae praeceps furor?
What would the headlong madness of a woman leave undared?
§825nefanda iuveni crimina insonti apparat.
She prepares unspeakable charges against an innocent youth.
§826en scelera! quaerit crine lacerato fidem, §827decus omne turbat capitis, umectat genas: §828instruitur omni fraude feminea dolus.
Behold the crime! She seeks belief with torn hair, she disturbs all the beauty of her head, she wets her cheeks: deceit is prepared with every feminine fraud.
But who is that, bearing royal dignity in his face and raising his head high?