THE METAMORPHOSES OF PUBLIUS OVIDIUS NASO

228 P. OVIDII NASONIS
Tempera matures visurus longa senectse;
Fatidicus vates, Si se non noverit, inquit.
Vana diu visa est vox auguris. Exitus illam,
Resque probat, letique genus, novitasque furoris
Jamque ter ad quinos unum Cephisius annum 15
Addiderat: poteratque puer, juvenisque videri.
Aspicit hunc, trepidos agitantem in retia cervos,
Vocalis Nymphe ; quce nee reticere loquenti,
Nee prior ipsa loqui didicit, resonabiJis Echo.
Corpus adliuc Echo, non vox erat: et tamen usum 20
Garrula non alium, quain nunc habet, oris habebal;
Reddere de multis ut verba novissima posset.
Fecerat hoc Juno; quia, cum deprendere posset
Sub Jove sffipe suo Nymphas in monte jacentes,
Ilia deam longo prudens sermone tenebat, 25
Dum fugerent Nymphs. Postquam Saturnia sensit;
Hujus, ait, linguae, qua sum delusa, potestas
Parva tibi dabitur, vocisque brevissimus usus:
Requo minas firmat. Tamen hiec in fine loquendi
Ingeminat voces; auditaque verba reportat. 30
Ergo, ubi Narcissum per devia lustra vagantem
Vidit, et incaluit; sequitur vestigia furtim.
Q.u6que magis sequitur; flamma propiore calescit.
Non aliter, quam cum summis circumlita tffidis
Admotam rapiunt vivacia sulphura flammam. 35
O quoties voluit blandis accedere dictis,
Et molles adhibere preces! natura repugnat,
loved by Echo and many other maidens,
whom he slighted. He saw his face in a
fountain, and falling in love wilh his own
image, pined away, and, after death, was
changed into a flower of the same name.
As the Narcissus flourishes near the wa
ter, hence, ho is fabled to be the son of
the river Cephisos.
14. Novilas furoris: the strangeness of
his mad passion.
16. Puerjuvenis. Such was his cge and
his appearance, that he might be regarded
either as a boy or a youth. Or, to consi
der it differently, ho was a boy in beauty,
but a youth in size.
19. Eesonabilis Echo: the resounding
Echo. She was the daughter of Tellus
and Aer, and was remarkable for her lo
quacity. Ausonius makes her the daugh
ter of Air and the Tongue:
Afiris et linguss sum filia, mater inanis
Judicii vocemque sine meme gero.
Extremes pereunte modos a fine reducens,
Ludificnta sequor verba aliena nieis.
Auribus in vestris habito penctrabilis Echo:
Et si vis similem pingere, piuge fionum.
EPIGRAM, xi.
Pliny gives the real cause of the Echo:
Montium flelus, crebrique vertices, et con-
flexa cubito, aut anfracta in humeros juga,
NOTJE.
LIBER III
15. Jnrnque Cephl-
sius addiderat unum
annum ad ter quinos
poteratque videri pu
er, juvenisque.
26. Saturnia post-
quam Bensit hoc, ait;
potestas parvss liujus
linguce qua Bum delu
sa dabitur tihi, usus-
que brevissimua vo-
cia.
37. At natura ejus
rcpucjniit, nee sinit u*
incipiat.
yallium sinus concovi, scindunt iruequaliter
inde resultantem afira; quffi causa etiam voces
multis in locis reciprocas facit.
NATURAL. HISTOR. lib. ii. cap. 44
20. Corpus adhuc: she was yet a body.
She had not been changed to a voice.
22. Verba novissima: the last words.
The confusion of sounds consequent upon
the words following in continuation, pre
vents their being heard distinctly; but the
last words not being thus interrupted, re
turn to us with distinctness. Some echoes
repeat completely. There is an echo at
Rosneath, near Glasgow, that repeats a
tune played with a trumpet, three times,
perfectly and distinctly.
23. Cum deprendere porset : when she
might have caught.
29. Eeque minas Jlrmat: she confirms
her threats by deed.
31. Devia lustra: the pathless forests.
33. Quonue magis- sequitur: and the
more she follows) him.
34. Summis tasdis : on the ends of torches.
35. Vivaria /ulphura. It will be seen
that brimstone matches were an early in
vention.
36. Blandis dictis: with seductive words;
with soft accents.
37. Natura repugnat. Her nature re-
FABULA V. METAMORPHOSED N. 229
Nee sinit incipiat; sed, quod sinit, ilia parata est
Expcctare sonos, ad quos sua verba remittat.
Forte puer, comitum seductus ab agmine fido, 40
Dixerat, Ecquis adest ? Et, Adest, responderat Echo.
Hie stupet: utque aciem partes divisit in omnes;
Voce, Veni, clarnat magna: vocat ilia vocantem.
Respicit, et nullo rursus veniente, Quid, inquit,
Me fugis ? Et totidem, qnot dixit verba, recepit.
Perstat; jtt alterna? deceptus imagine vocis;
Hue coeamus, ait: nullique libentiits unquam
Responsura sono, Coeamus rettulit Echo.
Et verbis favet ipsa suis; egressaque sylvis
Ibat, ut injiceret sperato brachia collo.
Ille fugit; fugiensque, Manus complexibus aufer:
Ante, ait, emoriar, quam sit tibi copia nostri:
Rettulit ilia nihil, nisi, Sit tibi copia nostri.
Spreta latet sylvis; pudibundaque frondibus. ora
Protegit; et solis ex illo vivit in antris.
Sed tamen heeret amor; crescitque dolore repulsas.
Attenuant vigiles corpus miserabile curie:
Adducitque cutem macies; et in ae'ra succus
Corporis omnis abit. Vox tantum, atque ossa supersunt,
Vox manet: ossa ferunt lapidis traxisse figuram. CO
NOT^E.
gists her inclination. Nature formed wo
man to be wooed, not to woo; and this
causes her to be retiring in her manners.
Besides this innate rnoaesty and reserve,
there was a personal inability in the case
of Echo to court her lover. She could not
speak any thing of herself, but merely re
peat the last words that she heard.
40. Puer. Narcissus.
42. Aciem divisit: directed his sight;
cast his'Eye. .
43. Vocal vocantem. Echo cries, Veni!
45. Rtcepit: received; heard again.
46. Imagine: with the echo. This re
flection ofsound may be figuratively called
its imape, for it corresponds in sound to the
reflection in sight, of an object from a mir
ror ; both reflections being more weak and
faint than the original which produced them.
Simul et jocosa
Redderct laudes vaticani
Mentis irnngo. HORAT. lib. i. ode 20.
Who was Echo ?
What did Juno do to her ? Why ?
Who was Tiresias ? Who Narcissus ?
Why was he fabled to be the son of the
river Cephisos ?
With whom did Echo fall in love ?
Was her passion reciprocated ?
What effect had th« repulse of Narcissus ?
45
50
55
51. Ille fugit, fugi-
ensque ait; aufer ma-
nus complex ib us,
emoriar antequam sit
tibi copia nostri.
Recinet jocosa nomcn imago.
HOBAT. lib. i. ode 12.
Saxa sonant, vocisque offensa resnltat imago.
VIRGIL, Georgic iv. 50.
49. Verbis favet: she favors her words.
She goes to join Narcissus.
54. Sprfta: despised. Such is the con
stitution of man's nature, that he is gene
rally pleased with the coyness of a maiden,
rather than her forwardness.
55. Solis in anlris: in lonely caverns.
The cavities of thes~e are particularly cal
culated to produce the echo.
56. Ddlare repulsce: with the pain of re
pulse ; with the pain of rejection by Nar
cissus.
58. Adducit cutem: shrivels up the skin.
60. Vox ma?iet: her voice only remains.
60. Ossa ferunt. Her bones were
changed into stone. This is said, because
the repercussion ofsound from rocks is the
most forcible and clear.
QU.^STIONES.
Where did she hide afterwards ?
What became of her eventually ?
How must we interpret this Fable ?
Why is Echo fabled to pine away?
Why does she repeat only the last
words ?
Why are her bones said to be changed
into stone ?
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