Tum via tuta maris: ventos custodit et arcet According to the old fabulous account, the kingfisher builds his nest on the surface of the sea; in reality, it builds its nest on the cliffs and in the holes of the rocks. But the nest is often washed away by the waves, and hence the fable.-747. Tum via tuta maris. During the brooding-time of this bird a calm reigns, especially in the Mediterranean Sea, off Sicily. Hence this period was called the Alcyon (Halcyon) days.-748. Praestatque, praebetque, tutum praestat a periculis, conceditque ut ibi nidos faciant. METAMORPH. LIB. XII. CYCNUS ET ACHILLES. ORBE locus medio est inter terrasque fretumque Nec tamen est clamor, sed parvae murmura vocis, 40 45 50 39. The delineation of the goddess Fama is a favourite subject with the ancient poets, and has been handled by many of them in longer or shorter descriptions: that of Virgil in the fourth book of the Aeneid is a celebrated one. We have, however, no reason to suppose that Ovid had any of these passages in his eye; his own poetic vein was rich enough to furnish him with all the features in this picture.-40. Triplicis confinia mundi. In these words the poet sums up what he has just said: the threefold world is therefore heaven, earth, and sea.-41. Regionibus is ablative of reference; quamvis for quantumvis; hence quantumvis regionibus absit, at however great a distance it may be with reference to the localities in which it takes place.-43. Summa in arce. Arx, height, elevation.-46. Patent, sc. limina. Tota est, sc. domus. -49. Parvae murmura vocis. Parvae, submissae, low; for rumour comes softly, like a secret.-52. Increpuit. Increpare, to cause to sound; a rare, only poetic, use of the word. Extrema tonitrua, the thunder dying away. We have already called attention to this use of extremus, above, ii. 117: Extrema Luna.-53. Leve vulgus, credulum vulgus. Agreeably to the Mixtaque cum veris passim commenta vagantur Agmina, perque acies aut Cygnum aut Hectora quaerens 75 Congreditur Cygno: decimum dilatus in annum sense, the verb follows in the plural.-54. Commenta Milia rumorum, mille rumores commenticii.-56. Hi-Hi, alii-alii, as above, xi. 539.— 58. Novus auctor. The same story has therefore many authors, each person being the author of that part which he adds.-59. All the phenomena connected with rumour, either as causes or effects, are here personified as surrounding Fama.-61. Repens, sudden, suddenly breaking out; not to be connected with repere. Susurri, whispers, of which no one knows, or admits that he knows, the raiser.-62. Rerum, to be joined with quid.-63. Totumque inquirit in orbem. So i. 148: Filius ante diem patrios inquirit in annos. Inquirere in aliquid is not uncommon also in law-prose.-65. Neque, ideoque non. In armis Hostis for hostis armatus. So in toga for togatus.-67. Fataliter, according to the oracle; for it had been announced to the Greeks, that he who first touched the hostile shore should die.-68. Commissaque proelia, here in the original sense: the beginning of the battle. Magno Stant Danais, cost the Greeks dear; namely, by the death of Protesilaus.-69. Cognitus, spectatus, cognitus qualis esset. Fortis animae, still referring to Protesilaus.-71. Senserunt, perceived to their hurt. Sigea Litora, from Sigeum, a promontory of Troas.-72. Cygnus, son of Neptune, king of Coronis in Troas. The name is of frequent occurrence in the Greek mythology.-76. Decimum dilatus in annum Hector erat; Hector erat. Tum colla jugo candentia pressos omne Tegminis officium; tamen indestrictus abibo. 80 85 90 95 that is, Hectoris mors a fato dilata erat.-77. Tum-equos, a somewhat awkward expression. Join: tum exhortatus equos pressos jugo (qui jugo pressi erant) colla candentia. So guttura pressus, Metam. ix. 78. For jugo premi, compare i. 124: pressique jugo gemuere juvenci.79. Vibrantia tela. Vibrare is here intransitive, as Metam. iii. 34: Tresque vibrant linguae.-81. Haemonio, Thessalo, because Phthiotis, the home of Achilles, was a part of Thessaly.-82. Aeacides, grandson of Aeacus, son of Peleus.-83. Error, the turning aside from the mark. Nullus fuit error in hasta, an unusual expression, as if missing the mark were a property contained in other lances, but not in this one. We may translate fuit, was possible.-85. Hebeti ictu. The epithet is transferred from the weapon to the stroke, by a metonymy frequent in all languages.-92. Tegminis officium, omne quod officium tegendi praestat; hence omne tegmen. The stress is laid on a property of the object, to denote the object itself. Similarly Metam. i. 744: Officioque pedum Nymphe contenta duorum Erigitur. Indestrictus, ne leviter quidem vulneratus. Compare v. 101.-93. Est aliquid, with great emphasis: it is an incalculable advantage. Metam. xiii. 241: Est aliquid de tot Graiorum milibus unum A Diomede legi. Sed qui, sed ab eo qui. Such an omission is unusual, and would not occur in simple prose.-95. Haesurum, destined to stick. Clypei curvamine, curvo clypeo, a similar case to that explained v. 92.-97. Novena-decimo. According to Homer there were only five. Terga, coria. Orbe, as the shield Excutit hoc heros, rursusque trementia forti 100 105 110 115 was round, so also the skin with which it was covered.-100. Sincerum, uninjured, as Metam. i. 101: ne pars sincera trahatur. Apertum, equivalent to: se praebentem, in allusion to v. 91, Removebitur omne Tegminis officium.-103. Sua irritamina is sufficiently explained by puniceas vestes. It was usual, before the fight, to rouse the bulls into fury by all kinds of red objects.-104. Elusaque vulnera sentit, he perceives that the wounds, which he thought to inflict on the object held before him, are eluded. Eludere, to evade, of the gladiator, with the collateral notion that, by evading, he mocks his opponent, makes him ridiculous.-107. Effudit in uno, in the case of one, in fighting with one. In unum would denote that the power passed over to another.108. Lyrnesia Moenia. Lyrnesus or Lyrnessus, a city in Mysia. It was there that Briseïs was born, about whom the strife arose between Agamemnon and Achilles (in the beginning of the Iliad).-109. Tenedon. The island of that name, on the Trojan coast.-110. Eetioneas Thebas. A town on the coast of Mysia, belonging to Troas, where Eëtion, the father of Andromache, was king.-111. Caïcus. A river in Mysia, purpureus with blood (populari caede). Those who dwell in the neighbourhood of the river are its countrymen (populares).-112. Telephus, likewise a Mysian king, son of Hercules and Auge. He was wounded by Achilles, and the oracle declared that the wound could only be healed by the same weapon that had caused it. He therefore applied to Achilles, and received from him some rust scraped from his spear; with this he was cured. Metam. xiii. 171: Ego Telephon hasta Pugnantem domui, victum orantemque refeci.-13. Per litus, over the whole shore. 115. Male crederet, non fidem haberet. Male, not enough, too little.-116. In adversum, in front, facing him, in opposi |