Tu ne quaesieris ( scire nefas ) quem mihi , quem tibi
finem di dederint , Leuconoe , nec Babylonios
temptaris numeros . Ut melius quicquid erit pati !
Seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam ,
quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare
Tyrrhenum , sapias , vina liques et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces . Dum loquimur , fugerit invida
aetas : carpe diem , quam minimum credula postero .

Let you not have asked – it is bad to know ! – what end to me , what to you ,
The gods have given , Leucippe , lest you may have tried the Babylonian
Calculations . How much better whatever will be is to be endured ,
Whether Jove has assigned many winters or one final ,
Which now softens the Tyrrhenian sea upon rocky shores :
Be wise , strain wines , and cut short far-reaching hopes , for the
Short space of life . As long as we speak , a grudging lifetime will
Be gone : enjoy today , with tomorrow trusted as little as possible .

Leucon , no one’s allowed to know his fate ,
Not you , not me : don’t ask , don’t hunt for answers
In tea leaves or palms . Be patient with whatever comes .
This could be our last winter , it could be many
More , pounding the Tuscan Sea on these rocks :
Do what you must , be wise , cut your vines
And forget about hope . Time goes running , even
As we talk . Take the present , the future’s no one’s affair .

English

English

I pray that Zeus who cares for suppliants
will look with kindness on our company ,
whose ship has travelled here across the sea
from the fine-grained sandy estuary
of river Nile . We fled that sacred land ,
whose pastures border Syria , and come
as fugitives , not exiled by decree
of public banishment for shedding blood ,
but acting on our own , because we wished
to flee a marriage we could not accept ,
a hateful and sacrilegious match
with Aegyptus’s sons . For Danaus ,
our father , who is our counsellor
and leads our group , debated what to do
and of our painful options chose the best —
to rush away as quickly as we could ,
sailing across the ocean seas to Argos .
We can claim with pride our family line
comes from this land , for it sprang up
from the hand and breath of Zeus , who touched
that cow tormented by a gadfly’s sting .