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At ego tibi sermone isto Milesio varias fabulas conseram auresque tuas benivolas lepido susurro permulceam , modo si papyrum Aegyptiam argutia Nilotici calami inscriptam non spreveris inspicere , figuras fortunasque hominum in alias imagines conversas et in se rursum mutuo nexu refectas , ut mireris . Exordior . Quis ille ? Paucis accipe . Hymettos Attica et Isthmos Ephyraea et Taenaros Spartiaca , glebae felices aeternum libris felicioribus conditae , mea vetus prosapia est : ibi linguam Attidem primis pueritiae stipendiis merui . Mox in urbe Latia advena studiorum , Quiritium indigenam sermonem aerumnabili labore , nullo magistro praeeunte , aggressus excolui . En ecce praefamur veniam , si quid exotici ac forensis sermonis rudis locutor offendero . Iam haec equidem ipsa vocis immutatio desultoriae scientiae stilo quem accessimus respondet . Fabulam Graecanicam incipimus : lector intende ; laetaberis .

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Erant in quadam civitate rex et regina : hi tres numero filias forma conspicuas habuere , sed maiores quidem natu , quamvis gratissima specie , idonee tamen celebrari posse laudibus humanis credebantur . at vero puellae iunioris tam praecipua , tam praeclara pulchritudo nec exprimi ac ne sufficienter quidem laudari sermonis humani penuria poterat . Multi denique civium et advenae copiosi , quos eximii spectaculi rumor studiosa celebritate congregabat , inaccessae formositatis admiratione stupidi et admoventes oribus suis dexteram priore digito in erectum pollicem residente ut ipsam prorsus deam Venerem venerabantur religiosis adorationibus . Iamque proximas civitates et attiguas regiones fama pervaserat deam , quam caerulum profundum pelagi peperit et ros spumantium fluctuum educavit , iam numinis sui passim tributa venia in mediis conversari populi coetibus , vel certe rursum novo caelestium stillarum germine non maria , sed terras Venerem aliam , virginali flore praeditam , pullulasse .

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Sic immensum procedit in dies opinio , sic insulas iam proxumas et terrae plusculum provinciasque plurimas fama porrecta pervagatur : iam multi mortalium longis itineribus atque altissimis maris meatibus ad saeculi specimen gloriosum confluebant : Paphon nemo , Cnidon nemo ac ne ipsa quidem Cythera ad conspectum deae Veneris navigabant . Sacra differuntur , templa deformantur , pulvinaria proteruntur , caerimoniae negleguntur ; incoronata simulacra et arae viduae frigido cinere foedatae . Puellae supplicatur , et in humanis vultibus deae tantae numina placantur , et in matutino progressu virginis victimis et epulis Veneris absentis nomen propitiatur , iamque per plateas commeantem populi frequentes floribus sertis et solutis apprecantur . Haec honorum caelestium ad puellae mortalis : cultum immodica translatio verae Veneris vehementer incendit animos , et impatiens indignationis capite quassanti fremens altius , sic secum disserit :

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' En rerum naturae prisca parens , en elementorum origo initialis , en orbis totius alma Venus , quae cum mortali puella partiario maiestatis honore tractor et nomen meum caelo conditum terrenis sordibus profanatur ! Nimirum communi numinis piamento vicariae venerationis incertum sustinebo , et imaginem meam circumferet puella moritura . Frustra me pastor ille , cuius iustitiam fidemque magnus comprobavit Iupiter , ob eximiam speciem tantis praetulit deabus . Sed non adeo gaudens ista , quaecumque est , meos honores usurpaverit : iam faxo eam huius etiam ipsius illicitae formositatis paeniteat ' . Et vocat confestim puerum suum pinnatum illum et satis temerarium , qui malis suis moribus contempta disciplina publica , flammis et sagittis armatus per alienas domos nocte discurrens et omnium matrimonia corrumpens impune committit tanta flagitia , et nihil prorsus boni facit .

" Per Fortunas vestrosque Genios , sic ad meae senectutis spatia validi laetique veniatis , decepto seni subsistite meumque parvulum ab inferis ereptum canis meis reddite . Nepos namque meus et itineris huius suavis comes , dum forte passerem incantantem sepiculae consectatur arripere , delapsus in proximam foveam , quae fruticibus imis subpatet , in extremo iam vitae consistit periculo , quippe cum de fletu ac voce ipsius avum sibi saepicule clamitantis vivere illum quidem sentiam , sed per corporis , ut videtis , mei defectam valetudinem opitulari nequeam . At vobis aetatis et robori beneficio facile est subpetiari miserrimo seni puerumque illum novissimum successionis meae atque unicam stirpem sospitem mihi facere . "

‘May Fortune and your guardian spirits smile on you , ’ he sobbed , ‘may you be healthy and happy when you reach my years , only help a wretched old man , save my grandson from death , and spare him to my old grey head . My sweet comrade on this journey , he was trying to catch a sparrow singing in the hedge when he fell into a pit that yawned at its feet , and now he’s doomed to death , though I know he’s alive from his calls to me , and his weeping . I’m too weak to save him , as you see , but your youth and strength could easily aid a poor old man and save the youngest of my line , my only heir . ’

‘I implore you by your Fortunes and your Guardian Spirits , if you hope to reach my age in health and happiness , come to the aid of an old man in his bereavement , rescue my little boy from death and restore him to his white-haired grandfather . My grandson , my darling travelling-companion , was trying to catch a bird that was singing in the hedgerow , and fell into a yawning pit in the bottom of the thicket . Now he is in peril of his life ; I know he is alive , for I can hear him crying and calling " Grandfather " over and over again , but as you see I am too feeble in body to be able to rescue him . But you are young and strong , and it will be no trouble to you to help a poor old man and to restore to me this child , the last of my line and all the family I have left . ’

Sic deprecantis suamque canitiem distrahentis totos quidem miseruit . Sed unus prae ceteris et animo fortior et aetate iuvenior et corpore validior , quique solus praeter alios incolumis proelium superius evaserat , exsurgit alacer et percontatus quonam loci puer ille decidisset monstrantem digito non longe frutices horridos senem illum inpigre comitatur . Ac dum pabulo nostro suaque cura refecti sarcinulis quisque sumptis suis viam capessunt , clamore primum nominatim cientes illum iuvenem frequenter inclamant , mox mora diutina commoti mittunt e suis arcessitorem unum , qui requisitum comitem tempestivae viae commonefactum reduceret . At ille modicum commoratum refert sese : buxanti pallore trepidus mira super conservo suo renuntiat : conspicatum se quippe supinato illi et iam ex maxima parte consumpto immanem draconem mandentem insistere nec ullum usquam miserrimum senem comparere illum . Qua re cognita et cum pastoris sermone conlata , qui saevum prorsus hunc illum nec alium locorum inquilinum praeminabatur , pestilenti deserta regione velociori se fuga proripiunt nosque pellunt crebris tundentes fustibus .

We were all filled with pity as he begged us to help and tore at his grey hair . One of the younger men , stouter of heart , and stronger of limb than the others , the only one of us uninjured in the recent battle , leapt up readily and asked where the boy was . The old man pointed with his finger to a clump of bushes , and the youth set off in his company . When we animals had grazed , and the humans had tended their wounds and were refreshed , we all rose with our loads and started down the road . At first they shouted and called the young man’s name repeatedly , then anxious at his delay they sent someone off to find their missing comrade , tell him we were off , and bring him back . Soon the messenger returned , trembling and pale as boxwood , with a strange tale to tell of his friend . He had seen his body he said , lying on its back , almost totally eaten by a vast serpent . The snake was coiled above him as it consumed him , but the poor old man was nowhere to be seen . Hearing this , and matching it to the goat-herd’s earlier remarks , who must have been warning them of none another than this same denizen of the place , they fled from that pestilential region , travelling more swiftly than before , driving us along rapidly with repeated blows of their sticks .

As he uttered this plea and tore his white hair , everybody pitied
him . Then one of them , braver and younger and stronger than the rest , the only one who had come off unscathed from the recent battle , jumped up eagerly and asked where exactly the boy had fallen in . The old man pointed out a thicket not far away , and the volunteer went off briskly with him . After a while , when we animals had grazed and the men had seen to themselves and felt restored , they all began to pack up and get ready to move off . First of all they called the volunteer by name , with loud and repeated shouts ; then alarmed by the prolonged delay they sent a messenger to find him and warn him that it was time to leave , and bring him back . Almost immediately the messenger reappeared , deathly pale and terrified , with dreadful news of his fellow servant . He had found him lying half-eaten , with a monstrous serpent crouched over him and devouring him , and of the poor old man not a sign anywhere . Hearing this and recollecting what the old shepherd had said , they realized that this indeed was the fierce denizen of the region that he had been threatening them with , and at once quitted the pestilential place and fled precipitately , urging us animals on with continual beating .

Celerrime denique longo itinere confecto pagum quendam accedimus ibique totam perquiescimus noctem . Ibi coeptum facinus oppido memorabile narrare cupio . Servus quidam , cui cunctam familiae tutelam dominus permiserat , suus quique possessionem maximam illam , in quam deverteramus , vilicabat , habens ex eodem famulitio conservam coniugam , liberae cuiusdam extrariaeque mulieris flagrabat cupidine . Quo dolore paelicatus uxor eius instricta cunctas mariti rationes et quicquid horreo reconditum continebatur admoto combussit igne . Nec tali damno tori sui contumeliam vindicasse contenta , iam contra sua saeviens viscera laqueum sibi nectit , infantulumque , quem de eodem marito iam dudum susceperat , eodem funiculo nectit seque per altissimum puteum adpendicem parvulum trahens praecipitat . Quam mortem dominus eorum aegerrime sustinens adreptum servulum , qui causam tanti sceleris luxurie sua praestiterat , nudum ac totum melle perlitum firmiter alligavit arbori ficulneae , cuius in ipso carioso stipite inhabitantium formicarum nidificia bulliebant et ultro citro commeabant multiiuga scaturrigine . Quae simul dulcem ac mellitum corporis nidorem persentiscunt , parvis quidem sed numerosis et continuis morsiunculis penitus inhaerentes , per longi temporis cruciatum ita , carnibus atque ipsis visceribus adesis , homine consumpto membra nudarunt , ut ossa tantum viduata pulpis nitore nimio candentia funestae cohaererent arbori .

After a long day moving at breakneck pace , we came to a village where we stayed the night , a place where a noteworthy crime had been committed which I’ll relate . A servant , whose master had made him steward of his entire estate , had previously acted as bailiff therefore of the large holding where we had stopped for the night . He was married to a servant in the same household , but burned with love for a freedwoman , who lived outside his master’s estate . Angered by her husband’s disloyalty , the wife set fire to his store-room and all his accounts , destroying both utterly . Not content with this act as revenge for the insult to her marriage , she turned her bitter rage against her own flesh . Tying a rope round her own neck and that of the child she’d just borne her husband , she hurled herself into a deep well , dragging the infant with her . Their master , horrified at their deaths , had the servant , whose infidelity had provoked the dreadful tragedy , arrested , stripped naked and smeared with honey , and tied to a rotting fig-tree inside whose trunk lived a colony of nesting ants that marched in and out in their myriad streams . Detecting the sweet sugary scent on his body , they quickly fastened their tiny jaws in his skin , wounding him deeply with endlessly repeated bites , until after interminable torment , he died . His flesh and his innards were totally consumed and his body stripped to the bare bones which , gleaming a brilliant white , were left tied to the tree .

. So after a long stage at top speed we came to a village where we rested for the night . At this place there had been perpetrated a deed that was so memorable that I propose to put it on record . It concerned a certain slave to whom his master had confided the whole management of his household and who was the steward of the large estate where we had stopped . He had as his consort another slave from the household , but he was madly in love with somebody else , a free woman who was not a member of the family . His wife was so enraged by his infidelity that she made a bonfire of all her husband’s account-books and the entire contents of the barns and storehouses . Then , not thinking this enough of a revenge for the affront to her marriage-bed , she turned her fury against her own flesh and blood : passing a noose around her neck , with the same rope she tied to herself the little boy that she had had by her husband , and threw herself down a deep well , dragging the child down with her . Their master , greatly upset by her death , arrested the slave whose lust had been the cause of such a crime , had him stripped naked and smeared all over with honey and lashed tightly to a fig-tree . This had in its hollow trunk an ants’ nest , swarming and seething with their multitudinous comings and goings . Directly they sensed the sweet honeyed scent of the man’s body they battened on it with their tiny jaws , nibbling endlessly away in their thousands until after many days of torture they had devoured him completely , entrails and all , leaving his bones bare ; only his gleaming white skeleton , stripped of flesh , was left fastened to the fatal tree .

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Immitto me turbae socium et pone ipsum lectulum editiorem quendam lapidem insistens cuncta curiosis oculis arbitrabar . Iam tumore pectus extolli , iam salebris vena pulsari , iam spiritu corpus impleri ; et adsurgit cadaver et profatur adulescens : " Quid , oro , me post Lethea pocula iam Stygiis paludibus innatantem ad momentariae vitae reducitis officia ? Desine iam , precor , desine ac me in meam quietem permitte . " Haec audita vox de corpore , sed aliquanto propheta commotior : " Quin refers " ait " populo singula tuaeque mortis illuminas arcana ? An non putas devotionibus meis posse Diras invocari , posse tibi membra lassa torqueri ? " Suscipit ille de lectulo et imo cum gemitu populum sic adorat : " Malis novae nuptae peremptus artibus et addictus noxio poculo torum tepentem adultero mancipavi . " Tunc uxor egregia capit praesentem audaciam et mente sacrilega coarguenti marito resistens altercat . Populus aestuat diversa tendentes , hi pessimam feminam viventem statim cum corpore mariti sepeliendam , alii mendacio cadaveris fidem non habendam .

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et audaciter in capillos eius inmissa manu trahebat eam nequaquam renitentem . Quam ubi primum inductam oblatamque sibi conspexit Venus , latissimum cachinnum extollit et qualem solent furenter irati , caputque quatiens et ascalpens aurem dexteram : " Tandem " inquit " dignata es socrum tuam salutare ? An potius maritum , qui tuo vulnere periclitatur , intervisere venisti ? Sed esto secura , iam enim excipiam te ut bonam nurum condecet " ; et : " Vbi sunt " inquit " Sollicitudo atque Tristities ancillae meae ? " Quibus intro vocatis torquendam tradidit eam . At illae sequentes erile praeceptum Psychen misellam flagellis afflictam et ceteris tormentis excruciatam iterum dominae conspectui reddunt . Tunc rursus sublato risu Venus : " Et ecce " inquit " nobis turgidi ventris sui lenocinio commovet miserationem , unde me praeclara subole aviam beatam scilicet faciat . Felix velo ego quae ipso aetatis meae flore vocabor avia et vilis ancillae filius nepos Veneris audiet . Quanquam inepta ego quae frustra filium dicam ; impares enim nuptiae et praeterea in villa sine testibus et patre non consentiente factae legitimae non possunt videri ac per hoc spurius iste nascetur , si tamen partum omnino perferre te patiemur . "

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Interea Psyche cum sua sibi perspicua pulchritudine nullum decoris sui fructum percipit . Spectatur ab omnibus , laudatur ab omnibus , nec quisquam , non rex , non regius , nec de plebe saltem cupiens eius nuptiarum petitor accedit : mirantur quidem divinam speciem , sed ut simulacrum fabre politum mirantur omnes . Olim duae maiores sorores , quarum temperatam formositatem nulli diffamarant populi , procis regibus desponsae iam beatas nuptias adeptae sed Psyche virgo vidua domi residens deflet desertam suam solitudinem , aegra corporis , animi saucia , et quamvis gentibus totis complacitam odit in se suam formositatem . Sic infortunatissimae filiae miserrimus pater , suspectatis caelestibus odiis et irae superum metuens , dei Milesii vetustissimum percontatur oraculum et a tanto numine precibus et victimis ingratae virgini petit nuptias et maritum . Sed Apollo , quamquam Graecus et Ionicus , propter Milesiae conditorem sic Latina sorte respondit