§733in litore ipso spumat, aut caelestibus §734aspersa tepidis tura laxantur focis, §735sic languet omne vellus et perdit comas.
it foams on the shore itself, or as incense sprinkled on warm altars dissolves, so all the wool languishes and loses its hair.
§736dumque ista miror, causa mirandi perit; §737quin ipsa tellus spumeos motus agit §738et quicquid illa tabe contactum est labat.
And while I marvel at these things, the cause of marveling perishes; nay, the earth itself makes foaming movements, and whatever has been touched by that venom totters.
§739tumensque tacita quassat caput
and swelling, silently shakes its head...
§742I, profuge, quaere si quid ulterius patet §743terris freto sideribus Oceano inferis, §744ultra labores, mater, Alcidae fuge.
Nurse: Go, flee, seek if any place lies open further beyond the lands, the sea, the stars, the Ocean, the underworld; flee, mother, beyond the labors of Alcides.
§745Nescio quod animus grande praesagit malum.
Deianira: My mind presages I know not what great evil.
Nurse: Seek the kingdoms of triumph, the temples of Juno: these lie open to you, while all other shrines are closed.
§748Effare quis me casus insontem premat.
Deianira: Speak out, what misfortune oppresses me, though I am innocent.
§749Decus illud orbis atque praesidium unicum, §750quem fata terris in locum dederant Iovis, §751o mater, abiit: membra et Herculeos toros §752urit lues nescio qua; qui domuit feras, §753ille ille victor vincitur maeret dolet.
Hyllus: That glory of the world and unique protection, whom the fates had given to the earth in place of Jupiter, O mother, is gone: I know not what plague burns his limbs and Herculean muscles; he who tamed wild beasts, that very victor is vanquished, mourns, and suffers.
§754quid quaeris ultra?
Deianira: What more do you ask?
The wretched hasten to hear their own wretchedness; speak, in what state is our house now placed?
§756iam nostra domus est? o lares, miseri lares!
O Lares, wretched Lares!
§757nunc vidua, nunc expulsa, nunc ferar obruta.
Now widowed, now expelled, now ruined shall I be carried away.
§758Non sola maeres.
Hyllus: You do not mourn alone.
Herculem, toto iacet §759mundo gemendus; fata nec, mater, tua §760privata credas: iam genus totum obstrepit.
Hercules lies to be lamented by the whole world; nor, mother, should you believe your fate is private: now the whole human race cries out.
Behold, this grief which you groan for, everyone groans for, you suffer an evil common to all lands.
You have anticipated the grief: first, though not alone, O pitiful one, you mourn Hercules.
Yet, tell me, tell me, I pray, how close to death my Alcides lies.
§766Mors refugit illum victa quae in regno suo §767semel est nec audent fata tam vastum nefas §768admittere, ipsas forsitan trepida colus §769Clotho manu proiecit et fata Herculis
Hyllus: Death flees him, having been once conquered in her own kingdom, nor do the fates dare to permit so vast a crime; perhaps Clotho with a trembling hand has thrown away her very distaff and fears to complete the fate of Hercules.
§770timet peragere, pro diem, infandum diem!
Oh, what a day, unspeakable day!
§771hocne ille summo magnus Alcides erit?
Deianira: Will the great Alcides be in this extremity?
§772Ad fata et umbras adque peiorem polum
Deianira: Do you say that he precedes to the fates and shadows and the worse pole?
§773praecedere illum dicis? an possum prior
Or can I anticipate death beforehand?
§774mortem occupare? fare, si nondum occidit.
Speak, if he has not yet died.
§775Euboica tellus vertice immenso tumens §776pulsatur omni latere: Phrixeum mare §777scindit Caphereus, servit hoc Austro latus; §778at qua nivosi patitur Aquilonis minas, §779Euripus undas flectit instabilis vagas §780septemque cursus volvit et totidem refert, §781dum lassa Titan mergat Oceano iuga.
Hyllus: The Euboean land, swelling with an immense peak, is beaten on every side: Caphereus cleaves the Phrixean sea, this side serves the South wind; but where it suffers the threats of the snowy North wind, unstable Euripus turns its wandering waves and rolls seven courses and brings back as many, until Titan merges his weary yokes in the Ocean.
Here, on a lofty cliff which many a cloud strikes, the ancient temple of Cenaean Jupiter shines.
§784ut stetit ad aras omne votivum pecus §785totumque tauris gemuit auratis nemus, §786spolium leonis sordidum tabo exuit §787posuitque clavae pondus et pharetra graves §788laxavit umeros, veste tum fulgens tua, §789cana revinctus populo horrentem comam,
When he stood at the altars with all the votive cattle, and the whole grove groaned with gilded bulls, he stripped off the lion's skin, filthy with gore, laid down the weight of his club, and freed his heavy shoulders from the quiver; then, shining in your robe, his bristling hair bound with white poplar, he kindled the altars.
§790succendit aras: 'accipe has' inquit 'focis §791non false messis genitor et largo sacer §792splendescat ignis ture, quod Phoebum colens §793dives Sabaeis colligit truncis Arabs.
"Receive these," he said, "on your hearths, O true father of the harvest, and let the sacred fire shine with abundant incense, which the rich Arab, worshipping Phoebus, gathers from Sabaean trunks.
Earth is pacified," he said, "and heaven and sea, and all wild beasts being subdued.
§796depone fulmen. ' gemitus in medias preces §797stupente et ipso cecidit; hinc caelum horrido §798clamore complet: qualis impressa fugax §799taurus bipenni volnus et telum ferens §800delubra vasto trepida mugitu replet, §801aut quale mundo fulmen emissum tonat, §802sic ille gemitu sidera et pontum ferit, §803et vasta Chalcis sonuit et voces Cyclas §804excepit omnis; hinc petrae Capherides, §805hinc omne voces reddit Herculeas nemus.
I return as victor: lay down your thunderbolt." In the midst of his prayers, a groan fell, while even he himself was astounded; then he fills heaven with a dreadful clamor: like a fleeing bull struck by a double-axe, bearing the wound and the weapon, fills the trembling shrines with vast bellowing, or as a thunderbolt sent forth thunders in the universe, so he strikes the stars and the sea with his groaning, and vast Chalcis resounded, and every Cyclad received his voice; on this side the Capherean rocks, on that side every grove returns the Herculean voices.
We see him weeping; the crowd thinks his ancient madness has returned; then the servants seek flight.
But he, turning his eyes with a fiery torch, pursues and seeks Lichas, the lowest among them all.
§810complexus aras ille tremibunda manu §811mortem metu consumpsit et parvum sui §812poenae reliquit, dumque moribundum manu §813tenuit cadaver: 'hac manu, hac' inquit 'ferar, §814o fata, victus? Herculem vicit Lichas?
He, having embraced the altars with a trembling hand, consumed his death through fear, and left but a small part of himself for punishment; and while he held the dying corpse in his hand: "By this hand, by this," he said, "shall I be carried away, O fates, vanquished? Did Lichas conquer Hercules?
§815ecce alia clades: Hercules perimit Lichan.
Behold another disaster: Hercules slays Lichas.
§816facta inquinentur: fiat hic summus labor. '
Let my deeds be defiled: let this be my supreme labor."