§42cum face et astrigero diademate Luna bicornis.
along with the torch and star-bearing diadem of the two-horned Moon.
§43centum aliae veterum recolentes vulnera amorum §44dulcibus et maestis refovent tormenta querellis.
A hundred other women, recollecting the wounds of ancient loves, cherish their torments with sweet and mournful complaints.
In the midst of them, reckless Cupid, with whirring wings, dispersed the shadow of dark gloom.
§47agnovere omnes puerum memorique recursu §48communem sensere reum, quamquam umida circum §49nubila et auratis fulgentia cingula bullis §50et pharetram et rutilae fuscarent lampados ignem.
They all recognized the boy, and with mindful return, felt him to be their common culprit, even though the damp clouds around, and his belt gleaming with gilded studs, and his quiver and the fire of his ruddy torch were darkening him.
§51agnoscunt tamen et vanum vibrare vigorem §52occipiunt hostemque unum loca non sua nanctum, §53cum pigros ageret densa sub nocte volatus, §54facta nube premunt: trepidantem et cassa parantem §55suffugia in coetum mediae traxere catervae.
Yet they recognize him, and begin to brandish their empty strength, and having found their sole enemy in a place not his own, while he was steering sluggish flights under the dense night, they press upon him, having formed a cloud; and as he trembled and prepared vain escapes, they dragged him into the midst of the gathering crowd.
§56eligitur maesto myrtus notissima luco, §57invidiosa deum poenis, cruciaverat illic §58spreta olim memorem Veneris Proserpina Adonin.
A myrtle tree, most famous in the mournful grove, is chosen, hated for the punishments of the gods; there, formerly slighted Proserpina had tortured Adonis, who was mindful of Venus.
§59huius in excelso suspensum stipite Amorem §60devinctum post terga manus substrictaque plantis §61vincula maerentem nullo moderamine poenae §62adficiunt.
From its high trunk they hang Cupid, his hands bound behind his back, and tight bonds fastened to his feet; they afflict the mourning boy with no moderation of punishment.
reus est sine crimine, iudice nullo §63accusatur Amor.
Cupid is a culprit without crime, and with no judge is he accused.
se quisque absolvere gestit, §64transferat ut proprias aliena in crimina culpas.
Each one eager to acquit herself, so that she may transfer her own faults onto another’s crimes.
§65cunctae exprobrantes tolerati insignia leti §66expediunt: haec arma putant, haec ultio dulcis, §67ut, quo quaeque perit, studeat punire dolorem,
All, holding out the tokens of their endured deaths, prepare them; these they think are weapons, this is sweet revenge, so that each, by the means through which she perished, may strive to punish her grief.
§68haec laqueum tenet, haec speciem mucronis inanem §69ingerit, illa cavos amnes rupemque fragosam §70Insanique metum pelagi et sine fluctibus aequor.
This one holds a noose, that one thrusts the empty appearance of a blade, another points to deep rivers and rugged rocks, and the fear of the raging sea and the wave-free ocean.
§71nonnullae flammas quatiunt trepidaeque minantur §72stridentes nullo igne faces, rescindit adultum §73Myrrha uterum lacrimis lucentibus inque paventem §74gemmea fletiferi iaculatur sucina trunci, §75quaedam ignoscentum specie ludibria tantum §76sola volunt, stilus ut tenuis sub acumine puncti §77eliciat tenerum, de quo rosa nata, cruorem §78aut pubi admoveant petulantia lumina lychni.
Some shake flames, and trembling, threaten him with crackling torches containing no fire; Myrrha splits her mature womb with shining tears, and at the trembling boy she hurls the gem-like amber of her tear-bearing trunk; some women, in the guise of forgiving him, desire only sport, so that a slender stylus, under the sharpness of its point, may draw out tender blood, from which the rose was born, or they bring the insolent light of a lamp to his private parts.
Even his mother herself, liable to a similar fault, nurturing Venus, penetrates these great tumults without fear.
§81nec circumvento properans suffragia nato §82terrorem ingeminat stimulisque accendit amaris §83ancipites furias natique in crimina confert §84dedecus ipsa suum, quod vincula caeca mariti §85deprenso Mavorte tulit, quod pube pudenda §86Hellespontiaci ridetur forma Priapi, §87quod crudelis Eryx, quod semivir Hermaphroditns.
Not hastening to aid her surrounded son, she redoubles his terror and inflames with bitter goads the hesitant furies, and brings against her son's charges her own disgrace: that she bore the blind bonds of her husband when caught with Mars, that because of his shameful groin the shape of Hellespontine Priapus is mocked, and that there is cruel Eryx, and half-man Hermaphroditus.
§88nec satis in verbis: roseo Venus aurea serto §89maerentem pulsat puerum et graviora paventem, §90olli purpureum mulcato corpore rorem §91sutilis expressit crebro rosa verbere, quae iam §92tincta prius traxit rutilum magis ignea fucum.
Nor is it enough in words: golden Venus, with a rosy wreath, beats the mourning boy, who is fearing more grievous things; from his bruised body, the stitched-together rose, by frequent scourging, squeezed out a purple dew; the rose, which already stained before, drew a more fiery ruddy dye.
§93inde truces cecidere minae vindictaque maior §94crimine visa suo, Venerem factura nocentem, §95ipsae intercedunt heroides et sua quaeque §96funera crudeli malunt adscribere fato.
Thence their fierce threats fell away, and the vengeance seemed greater than his crime, likely to make Venus the guilty one; the heroines themselves intercede, and each prefers to ascribe her own death to cruel fate.
Then the pious mother gives thanks that the grieving women have relented and dismissed the forgiven charges against the boy.
Such phantoms in nocturnal shapes once disturb trembling rest with empty terror.
§101quae postquam multa perpessus nocte Cupido §102effugit, pulsa tandem caligine somni §103evolat ad superos portaque evadit eburna.
Which after Cupid had endured for much of the night and escaped, when at last the darkness of sleep was dispelled, he flies up to the gods above and escapes through the ivory gate.