Tum laqueis captare feras et fallere visco 6 140 145 150 the last syllable long by the arsis, and, in imitation of Hesiod, is pronounced in four syllables. This constellation is in the neck of Taurus; the Hyades in his head. Arctos is the Bear,' into which Callisto, the daughter of Lycaon, was changed. Observe the peculiar construction by which the accusatives Pleiadas, Hyadas, and Arcton are in apposition with nomina.-139. Tum, &c. Hunting and fowling were then invented. Fallere, sc. aves. Visco, with bird-lime,' which was made from the juice of the misletoe (viscus).-140. Et magnos. Cf. Ecl. 10, 57. -141. Atque alius, &c. Fishing also was invented and first practised in rivers, then in the sea. Verberat expresses the plash which the net makes when it strikes the water.-142. Petens alta (sc. loca), repairing to the pools' and deep reaches of the rivers.-143. Ferri rigor, the hard temper or quality of iron.' Lamina serrae, the blade of the saw.' In each of these phrases there is implied an antithesis: the hardness (rigor) of the iron is contrasted with the softer temper of the implements of wood, bone, or stone used in the ruder times before the metals were discovered; and the polished blade (lamina) of the saw is opposed to the crude shape, roughness, and bluntness of the primitive instruments. There is great force and poetic beauty in these periphrastic modes of expression.-144. Primi, "the first or early race of men.-145. Variae artes, various other inventions and discoveries.' Venêre = provenerunt, sprung up,' were discovered.—146. Improbus, 'persevering industry (labor), severe in its exactions and sternly importunate in its demands, felt to be hard and irksome. Urguens, "pressing' (bearing hard) upon those subjected to it.-147. Prima Ceres instituit, Ceres was the first to instruct.' Before the time of Jupiter, there was no cultivation of the .fields; with his empire came in the various arts of civilised life, and, among others, that of agriculture as taught by Ceres.-148. Quum jam, &c. "When now the acorns and wild-strawberry of the sacred grove began to fail, and Dodona to deny its accustomed sustenance (to man).' The first race of men was fabled to have lived on acorns, and other tree products, and to have dwelt round Dodona, amid its groves of oak, sacred to Jupiter. The arbutum was the fruit of the arbutus: cf. Ecl. 3, 82.-149. In deficerent and negaret, observe the force of the subjunctive as referring to the statements of others; that is, to the early legends.-150. Mor, ' by and by,' after a short time, L Esset robigo, segnisque horreret in arvis Dicendum et quae sint duris agrestibus arma, 6 6 6 155 160 165 151. Esset,consumed,' destroyed'—the subjunctive of edo, I eat.' Horreret, bristled; that is, grew luxuriantly.-152. Subit, comes up' in its stead.-154. Infelix, baneful.' Steriles, causing sterility' in the proper crops.-155. Herbam, the weeds.'-156. Ruris opaci, 'of the shady trees.'-157. Falce premes, cut away with the pruninghook:' cf. Hor. Od. 1, 31, 9. Umbram, by metonymy ramos. Ruris opaci umbram, by hypallage and metonymy for opacam umbram arborum, "the dark, dense shade of the trees.-158. Frustra, in vain,' to no purpose; for that crop being destined for the use of others, will in no way benefit you.-159. Famem solabere, you will scarcely keep yourself from starving' (till another harvest). 6 6 160. Having thus far noticed the culture of corn, he now pauses to notice the principal implements (arma) with which the husbandman should be provided. Agrestibus for agricolis, the genus for the species. -161. Quis sine, by anastrophe for sine quibus (sc. armis), without which (implements); that is, implements without which. Potuere = possunt. Such general assertions are often put in the past tense, even in prose.-162. Aratri, by synecdoche for buris. Grave robur inflexi aratri (buris), the heavy timber of the crooked beam.' Gravis refers to the superior weight and strength of the beam as compared with the other parts of the plough-the beam having to sustain all the other parts. Robur has here its general transferred meaning, timber;' the beam was to be made of elm.-163. Tarda = tarde; so lenis = leniter in A. 3, 70.-164. Iniquo pondere rastri may be construed either as an hypallage for iniqui rastrithe weight of the unwieldy hoe;' or it may be construed without the figure- the weight of the rake, of which the weight is greater at the one end than the other:' iniquus well expresses the inequality between the two ends of the rastrum. Others interpret iniquo = non aequo, not moderate;' that is, 'very heavy.' The Romans often used aequus and justus in the sense of moderation as applied to material objects.-165. Virgea Celei supellex, 'the wicker implements of Celeus,' who entertained Ceres at Eleusis, and to whom she taught agriculture. Vilis, inexpensive.' Arbuteae crates et mystica vannus Iacchi. Possum multa tibi veterum praecepta referre, Area cum primis ingenti aequanda cylindro 6 · 170 175 180 166. Crates, bush-harrows,' which would thus seem to have been usually made of arbutus boughs. Cf. verse 95. Mystica vannus Iacchi, "the mystic winnowing-fan of Iacchus '-mystic, because carried in the procession of the Eleusinian mysteries, in which Iacchus was the zάgsdgos of the goddess.-167. Omnia quae, sc. arma, all which implements,' and all these instruments. Multo ante, long before' they were wanted for use. Memor, shewing prudent forethought' as regards the various things required for a farm.-168. Digna, deserved,' 'merited;' cf. Ecl. 5, 44; and 10, 10.-169. Continuo, first of all:' the first thing to be done in making a plough is to select a properly curved piece of elm for the buris. Magna vi flexa domatur in burim, bent with mighty force, is fashioned into the beam.'-170. Curvi formam aratri, synecdocheformam curvae partis aratri; (and by hypallage of curvae for curvam): curvam formam buris, the crooked form of the beam.'-171. Huic, sc. buri. Ab stirpe, from its upper end' the pole extends (protentus est) eight feet.-172. Aures, sc. aptantur.-173. Tilia, the linden (or lime) tree.' Ante, 'beforehand.' Fagus stivae (dative): alta fagus stivae caeditur (a branch of) a lofty beech is cut for the handle.-174. Quae-imos, which may turn (incline to either side) the plough from behind.' The handle (stiva) is here represented as acting upon the plough as a rudder acts upon a ship, directing its motions. Imos currus, synecdoche for imas partes currus. The plough is called currus seemingly for the same reason that a carriage was so named-because it 'runs' (currit).-175. Suspensa. When the wood for the plough had been cut, it was hung up' in the farm-kitchen to season thoroughly. Explorat, penetrates,'' seasons thoroughly.' 176. Possum referre, I can relate,' am prepared to describe numerous precepts handed down from our forefathers, if you do not deem them beneath your attention.' Here are some examples:178. Area, the thrashing-floor,' which was a part of the field prepared for the purpose. Cum primis, chiefly,' especially; it is a matter of the utmost importance that.'-180. Subeant, spring up from beneath the floor. Pulvere victa (sc. area), the floor (from not being well 6 6 Tum variae illudant pestes: saepe exiguus mus 186 prepared) being overcome with dust.'-181. Pestes, 'vermin,' if the floor cracks, will settle in the fissures.-182. Posuit and fecit are aorists here: has placed, made,' 'is wont to place, make,' 'places,' 'makes.' Domos, horrea, and cubilia are metaphors borrowed from human life for want of proper poetic terms.-183. Oculis capti, blind' (lit. 'taken in the eyes): cf. mente captus, mad,' Cic. Acad. 2, 17. It was long the universal belief that moles had no eyes; hence the proverb, blind as a mole.' Moles' eyes are about the size of pin-holes; their use being to warn them that they are coming into the light. Talpa is here masculine, as dama in Ecl. 8, 28; G. 3, 539.—184. Bufo, 'the toad,' does not occur elsewhere in the classics. Quae ferunt, and such (vermin) as the earth abundantly produces.-186. Inopi senectae, for its needy old age.' The winter can only be meant by the old age of the ant. Ants are carnivorous rather than granivorous: they have no storehouses like bees. Their chief food is the honey-dew, a sweet substance (secreted by the insects called aphides or blighters'), which they draw from the bodies of the insects themselves, which are hence called ants' cows. They also extract the juices from dead insects, ripe fruits, &c.; but they are torpid during the greater part of the winter. 187. Now the poet gives the signs by which the goodness or badness of the future harvest may be prognosticated. Contemplator item, 'observe also,' again.' This introduces the second of the veterum praecepta. Nux, the almond-tree,' as Servius and most commentators interpret it. This, as is well known, is one of the earliest trees in bloom, and it completely shrouds itself in flowers. But nux without an epithet always signifies the walnut, and its leaves are fragrant, which agrees better with the descriptive characteristics here given. Plurima is fem., to agree with nux, and means 'very abundant. Cf. Ecl. 7, 60; G. 2, 166, and 4, 419, in which passages the superlative is used without any direct comparison being indicated-merely abundance. 188. Induet se in florem, will completely clothe itself in blossoms.' In florem is not used here poetically for in flore, but is employed as a much stronger expression. Induere se in flore means merely to array one's self in flowers,' whereas induere se in florem is to array one's self in a complete garniture of blossoms, as one inwraps himself in a mantle, so that a complete change of appearance is thereby produced. 189. Si superant fetus, if the incipient fruit abound; that is, if the blossoms are more numerous than usual. Observe the force of the indicative: if the incipient fruit abound' (as you plainly perceive it does). Pariter, in equal quantity; that is, if the blossoms be abundant, the grain will likewise be abundant.— Magnaque cum magno veniet tritura calore; Degenerare tamen, ni vis humana quotannis. 190 195 190. Magna calore, there will be a very hot summer and a great thrashing; that is, an abundant harvest.-191. At-umbra; that is, but should the tree, instead of fruit, only shew leaves, the harvest will be bad.-192. Pingues palea, abounding in chaff,' but little grain. Culmos, the stalks' as distinguished from both grain and chaff. 193. Semina medicare, (pickle or) medicate the seed: this is general, the next statement is particular. Vidi equidem, I have myself seen. Equidem gives a strong antithetic force to the words to which it is thus united, and is seldom found joined to anything but the first person singular.-194. Nitro. The nitrum (vírgov) of the ancients was a mineral alkali used in washing, not the modern nitre. Perfundere, to steep (it); or, to do this by steeping it.' Amurca (àμógyn), 'olive lees,' is a watery dark fluid contained in the olive along with the oil, and requires careful separation from it. It is of greater specific gravity than the oil. Pliny tells us that it was used for mixing with the clay in forming the area, and with the plaster for the walls and floors of granaries, on account of its supposed virtue for banishing insects and vermin. It was also used for rubbing clothes-chests, as well as for smearing leather, iron; and trees in a diseased state (Plin. 15, 18).-195. Grandior ut fetus, in order that the produce might be larger (more abundant) in the pods, so apt to deceive.' The pod is equally large whether it contains fruit or not. In quoting this passage, Columella substitutes laetior for grandior, thus shewing that he understood it in the sense of 'more abundant.'-196. Et, quamvis, &c., ' and yet though they were soaked over a slow fire, being quickened (by the process), I have seen them nevertheless,' &c.; that is, though they were immersed in this preparation, made merely tepid over a slow fire, in order to quicken them, and cause the seed to germinate more speedily, by thus softening the outer covering, and allowing the mixture to penetrate sooner, &c. In thus explaining this vexed passage, we have adhered to the ordinary pointing: a period after esset, and a new clause beginning at Et, quamvis, &c., and rendering et, and yet." We have thus followed the simplest mode of interpreting the passage, and have made it refer to a process in husbandry followed at the present day. Counter interpreters, placing a comma after esset, and a period after maderent, connect et quamvis, &c., with what goes before; and supplying ut after et, translate thus: And in order that they might be speedily softened (by boiling) over a fire, however small;" that is, and in order that they might be boiled soft more expeditiously even over a small fire!-197. Vidi lecta diu connects much more naturally with the previous verse than abruptly to commence a new sentence. Spectata, looked to,' examined very carefully.-198. Humana vis, |