Verse
Metamorphoses
Book 14, Line 35 by Henry T. Riley (English)
Thus far the grandson of Œneus. Venulus leaves the Calydonian realms and the Peucetian bays, and the Messapian fields. In these he beholds a cavern, which, overshadowed by a dense grove, and trickling with a smooth stream, the God Pan, the half goat, occupies; but once on a time the Nymphs possessed it. An Apulian shepherd alarmed them, scared away from that spot; and, at first, he terrified them with a sudden fear; afterwards, when their presence of mind returned, and they despised him as he followed, they formed dances, moving their feet to time. The shepherd abused them; and imitating them with grotesque capers, he added rustic abuse in filthy language. Nor was he silent, before the growing tree closed his throat. But from this tree and its sap you may understand what were his manners. For the wild olive, by its bitter berries, indicates the infamy of his tongue; the coarseness of his words passed into them.
MetamorphosesBook 14, Line 35Henry T. RileyEnglishVerse permalinkRead in Book 14
OvidProseID metamorphoses-riley-en-prose-14-35