§446cur saeva modicis statuis? ut laesa es, dole.
[Deianira] Why do you limit your savage deeds to moderate things? Grieve as you have been injured.
§447Leve esse credis paelicem nuptae malum?
Do you believe a mistress is a light evil to a wife?
§448quicquid dolorem pascit, hoc nimium puta.
Whatever nourishes grief, consider this excessive.
§449Amorne clari fugit Alcidae tibi?
[Nurse] Has the love of renowned Alcides fled from you?
§450Non fugit, altrix, remanet et penitus sedet §451fixus medullis, crede; sed magnus dolor §452iratus amor est.
[Deianira] It has not fled, nurse; it remains and sits deep down, fixed in my marrow, believe me; but great grief is love angered.
[Nurse] Commonly with magic arts wives bind their marriages, mixing prayers.
§454vernare iussi frigore in medio nemus §455missumque fulmen stare; concussi fretum §456cessante Tento, turbidum explicui mare §457et sicca tellus fontibus patuit novis; §458habuere motum saxa.
I have ordered the grove to bloom in the midst of cold, and the sent lightning bolt to stand still; I have shaken the sea while the wind was still, I have smoothed the turbid ocean, and the dry earth has opened up with new springs; rocks have moved.
I have shattered the gates and shadows of Dis, and ordered by my prayer, the spirits speak.
tacuit infernus canis; §462nox media solem vidit et noctem dies: §461mare terra caelum et Tartarus servit mihi §463nihilque leges ad meos cantus tenet: §464flectemus illum, carmina invenient iter.
The infernal dog fell silent; midnight saw the sun, and day saw night: sea, land, heaven, and Tartarus serve me, and nothing holds its laws against my incantations: we will bend him, our songs will find a way.
[Deianira] What herbs Pontus produces, or what Pindus nourishes under the Thessalian cliff: where shall I find an evil to which he would yield?
§467cui cedat ille? carmine in terras mago §468descendat astris Luna desertis licet §469et bruma messes videat et cantu fugax §470stet deprehensum fulmen et versa vice §471medius coactis ferveat stellis dies: §472non flectet illum.
Although the Moon, leaving the stars, should descend to the earth by magic song, and winter should see harvests, and by incantation the fleeing, caught lightning bolt should stand still, and conversely midday should burn with stars assembled: it will not bend him.
§472bVicit et superos Amor.
[Nurse] Love has conquered even the gods above.
§473Vincetur uni forsan et spolium dabit §474Amorque summus fiet Alcidae labor. — §475sed te per omne caelitum numen precor, §476per hunc timorem: quicquid arcani apparo §477penitus recondas et fide tacita premas.
[Deianira] Perhaps he will be conquered by this one and will yield his spoils, and Love will become the ultimate labor of Alcides. — But I pray you by all the divinity of the gods, by this fear: whatever secret I prepare, conceal it deep within and keep it under silent loyalty.
§478Quid istud est quod esse secretum petis?
[Nurse] What is this that you ask to be kept secret?
§479Non tela sunt, non arma, non ignis minax.
[Deianira] It is not weapons, nor arms, nor threatening fire.
[Nurse] I confess I can maintain silent loyalty, if it is free of crime: sometimes loyalty itself is a crime.
[Deianira] Look around, come, lest anyone seize our secrets, and let your searching gaze go in every direction.
§484En locus ab omni tutus arbitrio vacat.
[Nurse] Look, the place is safe and free from any witness.
[Deianira] There is, in a remote part of the palace, a silent cave guarding our secrets.
§487non ille primos accipit soles locus, §488non ille seros, cum ferens Titan diem §489lassum rubenti mergit Oceano iugum.
That place does not receive the first rays of the sun, nor the late ones, when Titan, bringing the day, sinks his tired yoke in the red Ocean.
§490illic amoris pignus Herculei latet.
There lies hidden a pledge of Hercules' love.
§491altrix, fatebor: auctor est Nessus mali §492quem gravida Nephele Thessalo genuit duci, §493qua trepidus astris inserit Pindus Caput §494ultraque nubes Othrys eductus riget.
Nurse, I will confess: Nessus is the author of this mischief, whom pregnant Nephele bore to the Thessalian leader, where trembling Pindus thrusts its head into the stars, and Othrys rises stiffly beyond the clouds.
§495namque ut subactus Herculis clava horridi §496Achelous omnis facilis in species dari §497tandem peractis omnibus patuit feris §498unoque turpe subdidit cornu caput, §499me coniugem dum victor Alcides habet, §500repetebat Argos, forte per campos vagus
For when Achelous, subdued by the club of dreadful Hercules, though easy to be turned into all shapes, at last lay exposed, all his beast-forms exhausted, and bowed his shamed head with its single horn, while victorious Alcides had me as his wife, he was returning to Argos.
By chance, wandering through the plains, Evenus, carrying its deep gulf to the sea, was already turbid, almost level with the tops of the woods.
§503transire Nessus verticem solitus vadis §504pretium poposcit; meque iam dorso ferens §505qua iungit hominem spina deficiens equo, §506frangebat ipsas fluminis tumidi minas.
Nessus, accustomed to cross the swirling water by its shallows, demanded a fee; and carrying me on his back where the spine, ending the horse, joins the man, he was breaking the very threats of the swollen river.
§507iam totas undis Nessus exierat ferox §508medioque adhuc errabat Alcides vado, §509vasto rapacem verticem scindens v gradu; §510at ille ut esse vidit Alciden procul: §511'tu praeda nobis' inquit 'et coniunx eris; §512prohibetur undis', meque complexus ferens
Already the fierce Nessus had entirely emerged from the waves, and Alcides was still wandering in the middle of the ford, cleaving the rapacious whirlpool with his massive stride; but he, when he saw Alcides was far off, said: 'You shall be my prey and wife; he is kept away by the waters,' and embracing me, carrying me off, he quickened his step.
§513gressum citabat: non tenent undae Herculem: §514'infide vector' inquit 'immixti licet §515Ganges et Hister vallibus iunctis eant. §516vincemus ambos, consequar telo fugam. ' §517praecessit arcus verba; tum longum ferens §518harundo vulnus tenuit haerentem fugam §519mortemque fixit.
The waters do not hold back Hercules: 'Treacherous carrier,' he said, 'though the Ganges and the Hister should flow together with their valleys joined, we shall conquer both; I will overtake your flight with my weapon.' The bow preceded his words; then the shaft, bearing a distant wound, checked his faltering flight and fixed his death.
ille. iam quaerens diem, §520tabum fluente volneris dextra excipit §521traditque nobis ungulae insertum suae, §522quam forte saeva sciderat avolsam manu.
He, already seeking the light, caught the gore flowing from the wound with his right hand, and handed it to me, enclosed in his hoof, which by chance he had torn away and split with his fierce hand.
§523tunc verba moriens addit: 'hoc' inquit 'magae §524dixere amorem posse defigi malo; §525hoc docta Mycale Thessalas docuit nurus, §526nam inter omnis Luna quam sequitur magas §527stris relictis, inlitas vestes dabis
Then dying he added these words: 'Sorceresses,' he said, 'have said that love can be fixed by this charm; the wise Mycale taught this to the Thessalian brides— for she is preeminent among all sorceresses whom the Moon follows, leaving the stars.
§528hac' inquit 'ipsa tabe, si paelex tuos §529invisa thalamos tulerit et coniunx levis §530aliam parenti dederit altisono nurum.
You shall give garments smeared with this very gore,' he said, 'if an hated mistress should invade your chamber, and your fickle husband should give another daughter-in-law to the high-sounding parent.