Ovid: HEROIDES

Si mihi quae legi, Pari, non legisse liceret,
     servarem numeros sicut et ante probae.
Nunc oculos tua cum violarit epistula nostros,
     non rescribendi gloria visa levis.
ausus es hospitii temeratis advena sacris
     legitimam nuptae sollicitare fidem!

If I were allowed, Paris, not to have read what I read,
     I would keep the measures of the virtuous as before.
Now that your letter has violated my eyes,
     the glory of writing back did not seem slight.
you have dared, a stranger with the rites of hospitality profaned,
     to solicit the lawful fidelity of a wedded woman!

scilicet idcirco ventosa per aequora vectum
     excepit portu Taenaris ora suo
nec tibi, diversa quamvis e gente venires,
     oppositas habuit regia nostra fores,
esset ut officii merces iniuria tanti?
     qui sic intrabas, hospes an hostis eras?
nec dubito quin haec, cum sit tam iusta, vocetur
     rustica iudicio nostra querela tuo.

surely for that reason, borne over the windy seas,
     the Taenarian shore received you into its harbor;
nor, although you were coming from a different nation,
     did our palace have its doors set against you,
so that the reward of duty should be an injury so great?
     you who entered thus, were you a guest or an enemy?
nor do I doubt that this, since it is so just, will be called
     rustic by your judgment, our complaint.

rustica sim sane, dum non oblita pudoris
     dumque tenor vitae sit sine labe meae.
si non est ficto tristis mihi vultus in ore
     nec sedeo duris torva superciliis,
fama tamen clara est, et adhuc sine crimine lusi
     et laudem de me nullus adulter habet.
quo magis admiror, quae sit fiducia coepti
     spemque tori dederit quae tibi causa mei.

let me be rustic indeed, so long as I am not forgetful of modesty
     and so long as the tenor of my life is without stain.
if my visage is not sad with a feigned look upon my face
     nor do I sit grim with harsh brows,
nevertheless my fame is bright, and thus far I have played without crime,
     and no adulterer has praise from me.
wherefore I marvel the more what confidence of the attempt there is
     and what cause concerning me has given you hope of my bed.

an quia vim nobis Neptunius attulit heros,
     rapta semel videor bis quoque digna rapi?
crimen erat nostrum, si delenita fuissem;
     cum sim rapta, meum quid nisi nolle fuit?
non tamen e facto fructum tulit ille petitum;
     excepto redii passa timore nihil.

or because the Neptunian hero brought violence upon me,
     do I, once ravished, seem also worthy to be ravished twice?
it would have been my crime, if I had been charmed;
     since I was carried off, what was mine except to be unwilling?
yet he did not bear from the deed the sought-for fruit;
     I returned having suffered nothing, save fear.

oscula luctanti tantummodo pauca protervus
abstulit: ulterius nil habet ille mei.
quae tua nequitia est, non his contenta fuisset.
di melius!

only a few kisses did the insolent man, while I struggled, snatch away;
beyond that he has nothing of me.
given your iniquity, you would not have been content with these.
may the gods grant better!

similis non fuit ille tui.
reddidit intactam minuitque modestia crimen
et iuvenem facti paenituisse patet.
Thesea paenituit, Paris ut succederet illi,
ne quando nomen non sit in ore meum?

he was not like you.
he gave me back untouched, and his modesty diminished the crime,
and it is evident that the young man repented of the deed.
Theseus repented, so that Paris might succeed him,
lest ever my name not be on the lips?

nec tamen irascor—quis enim succenset amanti?—
     si modo, quem praefers, non simulatur amor.
hoc quoque enim dubito, non quod fiducia desit,
     aut mea sit facies non bene nota mihi,
sed quia credulitas damno solet esse puellis
     verbaque dicuntur vestra carere fide.
at peccant aliae, matronaque rara pudica est.

nor yet do I grow angry—who indeed is incensed at a lover?—
     if only the love you put forward is not simulated.
for I doubt this too, not because confidence is lacking,
     or because my own face is not well known to me,
but because credulity is wont to be to the detriment of girls
     and your words are said to lack fidelity.
but others sin, and a chaste matron is rare.

     quis prohibet raris nomen inesse meum?
nam mea quod visa est tibi mater idonea, cuius
     exemplo flecti me quoque posse putes,
matris in admisso falsa sub imagine lusae
     error inest; pluma tectus adulter erat.
nil ego, si peccem, possum nescisse; nec ullus
     error qui facti crimen obumbret erit.

     who prohibits my name from being among the rare?
for as to the fact that my mother seemed suitable to you, by whose
     example you suppose that I too can be swayed,
in the trespass of a mother, played with under a false image,
     there is error; the adulterer was covered with plumage.
I, if I sin, cannot have been unaware; nor will there be any
     error that will overshadow the charge of the deed.

illa bene erravit vitiumque auctore redemit.
felix in culpa quo Iove dicar ego?
et genus et proavos et regia nomina iactas;
clara satis domus haec nobilitate sua est.

she erred well and redeemed the fault by its author.
with what Jove shall I be called fortunate in fault?
you vaunt both lineage and forefathers and royal names;
this house is illustrious enough by its own nobility.

Iuppiter ut soceri proavus taceatur et omne
     Tantalidae Pelopis Tyndareique decus;
dat mihi Leda Iovem cygno decepta parentem,
     quae falsam gremio credula fovit avem.
i nunc et Phrygiae late primordia gentis
     cumque suo Priamum Laumedonte refer!
quos ego suspicio; sed qui tibi gloria magna est
     quintus, is a nostro nomine primus erit.

Let Jupiter, as the great‑grandfather of your father‑in‑law, be kept silent, and all the honor of Tantalid Pelops and of Tyndareus;
     Leda, deceived by the swan, gives me Jupiter as parent,
who, credulous, cherished the feigned bird in her lap.
     Go now and relate far and wide the primordia of the Phrygian nation,
and Priam together with his own Laomedon!
     Those I suspect; but he who is to you a great glory, the fifth in descent,
from our name will be the first.

sceptra tuae quamvis rear esse potentia terrae,
     non tamen haec illis esse minora puto.
si iam divitiis locus hic numeroque virorum
     vincitur, at certe barbara terra tua est.
munera tanta quidem promittit epistula dives
     ut possint ipsas illa movere deas.

although I suppose the scepters, the potency of your land, to be great,
     yet I do not think these to be inferior to those.
if indeed this place is surpassed in riches and in the number of men,
     yet certainly your land is barbarian.
a rich epistle indeed promises such great gifts
     that those things could move the goddesses themselves.

sed si iam vellem fines transire pudoris,
     tu melior culpae causa futurus eras.
aut ego perpetuo famam sine labe tenebo
     aut ego te potius quam tua dona sequar.
utque ea non sperno, sic acceptissima semper
     munera sunt, auctor quae pretiosa facit.

but if now I were willing to transgress the bounds of modesty,
     you would be a better cause of fault.
either I shall perpetually hold fame without stain
     or I shall follow you rather than your gifts.
and just as I do not spurn these things, so the most acceptable always
     are the gifts which their author makes precious.

plus multo est, quod amas, quod sum tibi causa laboris,
     quod per tam longas spes tua venit aquas.
illa quoque, adposita quae nunc facis, improbe, mensa,
     quamvis experiar dissimulare, noto—
cum modo me spectas oculis, lascive, protervis,
     quos vix instantes lumina nostra ferunt,
et modo suspiras, modo pocula proxima nobis
     sumis, quaque bibi, tu quoque parte bibis.
a, quotiens digitis, quotiens ego tecta notavi
     signa supercilio paene loquente dari!

far more is it, that you love, that I am for you the cause of toil,
     that through such long waters your hope has come.
that too, which you now do, shameless one, with the table set before us,
     although I try to dissimulate, I notice—
when now you look at me with lascivious, proterve eyes,
     which our eyes scarcely bear as they press upon us,
and now you sigh, now you take the cups nearest to me,
     and from the part where I drank, you too drink.
ah, how often with your fingers, how often have I noted covert
     signals being given, with an almost-speaking eyebrow!

et saepe extimui ne vir meus illa videret,
     non satis occultis erubuique notis.
saepe vel exiguo vel nullo murmure dixi:
     'nil pudet hunc!' nec vox haec mea falsa fuit.
orbe quoque in mensae legi sub nomine nostro,
     quod deducta mero littera fecit, 'amo.'
credere me tamen hoc oculo renuente negavi.

and often I feared lest my husband see those things,
     and I blushed at signs not sufficiently concealed.
often with a slight murmur or with none I said:
     'nothing shames this man!' nor was this utterance of mine false.
also on the rim of the table I read, under my name,
     what a letter drawn with unmixed wine made: 'I love.'
nevertheless I denied that I believed it, my eye refusing.

     ei mihi, iam didici sic ego posse loqui!
his ego blanditiis, si peccatura fuissem,
     flecterer; his poterant pectora nostra capi.
est quoque, confiteor, facies tibi rara potestque
     velle sub amplexus ire puella tuos.

     ah me, now I have learned that I too can speak thus!
by these blandishments, if I had been about to sin,
     I would have been swayed; by these our breasts could be captured.
there is also, I confess, a rare face to you, and a girl can
     wish to go under your embraces.

altera sed potius felix sine crimine fiat,
quam cadat externo noster amore pudor.
disce modo exemplo formosis posse carere;
est virtus placitis abstinuisse bonis.
quam multos credis iuvenes optare, quod optas?

but rather let another become happy without reproach,
than that our modesty fall by foreign love.
only learn by example to be able to do without the beautiful;
it is virtue to have abstained from pleasing goods.
how many young men do you think are choosing what you choose?

     qui sapiant, oculos an Paris unus habes?
non tu plus cernis, sed plus temerarius audes;
     nec tibi plus cordis sed minus oris, adest.
tunc ego te vellem celeri venisse carina,
     cum mea virginitas mille petita procis.

     do those who are wise have eyes, or have you alone, Paris?
you do not discern more, but, more temerarious, you dare more;
     nor do you have more heart, but less modesty is present.
then I would that you had come on a swift keel,
     when my virginity was sought by a thousand suitors.

si te vidissem, primus de mille fuisses;
     iudicio veniam vir dabit ipse meo.
ad possessa venis praeceptaque gaudia serus;
     spes tua lenta fuit; quod petis, alter habet.
ut tamen optarim fieri tua Troica coniunx,
     invitam sic me nec Menelaus habet.

if I had seen you, you would have been first out of a thousand;
     in my judgment the husband himself will grant pardon.
you come late to joys already possessed and preempted;
     your hope was slow; what you seek another holds.
yet grant that I should wish to become your Trojan consort,
     not even Menelaus holds me thus unwilling.

desine molle, precor, verbis convellere pectus
     neve mihi, quam te dicis amare, noce;
sed sine quam tribuit sortem fortuna tueri
     nec spolium nostri turpe pudoris habe.
at Venus hoc pacta est, et in altae vallibus Idae
     tres tibi se nudas exhibuere deae;
unaque cum regnum, belli daret altera laudem
     'Tyndaridis coniunx,' tertia dixit, 'eris!'
credere vix equidem caelestia corpora possum
     arbitrio formam supposuisse tuo;
utque sit hoc verum, certe pars altera ficta est,
     iudicii pretium qua data dicor ego.
non est tanta mihi fiducia corporis, ut me
     maxima teste dea dona fuisse putem.

Cease, I pray, from wrenching my soft breast with words,
     nor harm me, her whom you say you love;
but allow me to guard the lot which Fortune has assigned,
     nor hold as plunder the disgraceful spoil of my modesty.
but Venus has bargained this, and in the valleys of high Ida
     three goddesses exhibited themselves to you naked;
and one, along with a kingdom, another would grant the laud of war,
     'You will be the spouse of the Tyndarid,' said the third!
I, for my part, can scarcely believe that celestial bodies
     subjected their form to your arbitration;
and even if this be true, assuredly the other part is fictitious,
     in which I am said to have been given as the price of the judgment.
I have not such confidence in my body as to think that I,
     with the greatest goddess as witness, was the gift.

contenta est oculis hominum mea forma probari;
     laudatrix Venus est invidiosa mihi.
sed nihil infirmo; faveo quoque laudibus istis;
     nam, mens, vox quare, quod cupit esse, neget?
nec tu succense nimium mihi creditus aegre;
     tarda solet magnis rebus inesse fides.

my beauty is content to be approved by the eyes of men;
     my laudatrix, Venus, is invidious to me.
but I invalidate nothing; I also favor those lauds;
     for, mind, voice, why should it deny to be what it longs to be?
nor be too incensed at me, scarcely credited;
     tardy faith is wont to be present in great matters.

prima mea est igitur Veneri placuisse voluptas;
     proxima, me visam praemia summa tibi,
nec te Palladios nec te Iunonis honores
     auditis Helenae praeposuisse bonis.
ergo ego sum virtus, ego sum tibi nobile regnum?
     ferrea sim, si non hoc ego pectus amem.

therefore my first pleasure is to have pleased Venus;
     next, that, seen, I am the highest prize to you,
nor did you set the Palladian honors nor the honors of Juno
     before the goods of Helen once heard of.
so then am I Virtue, am I to you the noble kingdom?
     I would be iron, if I did not love this heart.

ferrea, crede mihi, non sum; sed amare repugno
     illum, quem fieri vix puto posse meum.
quid bibulum curvo proscindere litus aratro
     spemque sequi coner quam locus ipse negat?
sum rudis ad Veneris furtum nullaque fidelem —
     di mihi sunt testes!—lusimus arte virum!

I am not iron, believe me; but I resist to love     that man, whom I scarcely think can possibly become mine.
why should I try to furrow the bibulous shore with a curved plow
     and to pursue a hope which the place itself denies?
I am raw for Venus’s furtive theft and—     by no art, the gods are my witnesses!—I have made sport of no faithful man!

nunc quoque, quod tacito mando mea verba libello,
fungitur officio littera nostra novo.
felices, quibus usus adest! ego nescia rerum
difficilem culpae suspicor esse viam.

now too, that I commit my words to a silent little book,
my letter performs a new office.
happy they to whom the opportunity is at hand! I, unknowing of things,
suspect the road to fault to be difficult.

ipse malo metus est; iam nunc confundor et omnes
in nostris oculos vultibus esse reor.
nec reor hoc falso; sensi mala murmura vulgi
et quasdam voces rettulit Aethra mihi.
at tu dissimula, nisi si desistere mavis.

the fear itself is the evil; even now I am confounded and I think
all eyes to be upon our visages.
nor do I think this falsely; I sensed the ill murmurs of the mob,
and Aethra has carried back to me certain voices.
but you dissimulate, unless you prefer to desist.

sed cur desistas? dissimulare potes.
lude, sed occulte!

but why should you desist? you can dissimulate.
play, but secretly!

maior, non maxima, nobis
     est data libertas, quod Menelaus abest.
ille quidem procul est, ita re cogente, profectus;
     magna fuit subitae iustaque causa viae;
aut mihi sic visum est. ego, cum dubitaret an iret,
     'quam primum,' dixi, 'fac rediturus eas!'
omine laetatus dedit oscula, 'resque domusque
     et tibi sit curae Troicus hospes,' ait.

a greater, not the greatest, freedom has been given to us, because Menelaus is away.
     he indeed is far off, departed thus with the matter compelling; great and just was the cause of the sudden journey;
or so it seemed to me. I, when he was wavering whether he should go,
     'as soon as possible,' I said, 'see that you go as one about to return!'
gladdened by the omen he gave kisses, 'and let both the affairs and the house
     and the Trojan guest be in your care,' he said.

vix tenui risum, quem dum conpescere luctor,
     nil illi potui dicere praeter 'erit.'
uela quidem Creten ventis dedit ille secundis;
     sed tu non ideo cuncta licere puta!
sic meus hinc vir abest ut me custodiat absens.
     an nescis longas regibus esse manus?

I scarcely held back a laugh, and while I struggle to repress it,
     I could say to him nothing except ‘It will be.’
He indeed set his sails for Crete with favorable winds;
     but do not therefore think that everything is permitted!
Thus my husband is away from here so as to guard me while absent.
     Do you not know that kings have long hands?

forma quoque est oneri; nam quo constantius ore
     laudamur vestro, iustius ille timet.
quae iuvat, ut nunc est, eadem mihi gloria damno est,
     et melius famae verba dedisse fuit.
nec quod abest hic me tecum mirare relictam;
     moribus et vitae credidit ille meae.

beauty too is a burden; for the more constantly by your mouth
     I am praised, the more justly he fears.
the same glory which delights, as it now is, is to my harm,
     and it would have been better to have paid lip-service to fame.
nor marvel that, being away, he has left me here with you;
     he trusted my morals and my way of life.

de facie metuit, vitae confidit, et illum
     securum probitas, forma timere facit.
tempora ne pereant ultro data praecipis, utque
     simplicis utamur commoditate viri.
et libet et timeo, nec adhuc exacta voluntas
     est satis; in dubio pectora nostra labant.

he fears because of my face, he trusts in my way of life, and him
     uprightness makes secure, beauty makes to fear.
you bid that the opportunities given unasked not perish, and that
     we make use of the convenience of a simple man.
both I desire and I fear, nor yet is my will fully exacted
     enough; in doubt our hearts waver.

et vir abest nobis et tu sine coniuge dormis,
     inque vicem tua me, te mea forma capit;
et longae noctes et iam sermone coimus
     et tu, me miseram! blandus, et una domus.
et peream, si non invitant omnia culpam;
     nescio quo tardor sed tamen ipsa metu.

and my husband is away from me, and you sleep without a spouse,
     and in turn your form captivates me, my form captivates you;
and the nights are long, and now we come together in conversation,
     and you—wretched me!—are coaxing, and one house [is ours].
and may I perish, if not everything invites culpability;
     I am held back by I know not what, but yet I myself by fear.

quod male persuades, utinam bene cogere posses!
vi mea rusticitas excutienda fuit.
utilis interdum est ipsis iniuria passis.

What you persuade badly, would that you could compel well!
By force my rusticity had to be shaken off.
An injury is sometimes useful to those who themselves have suffered it.

sic certe felix esse coacta forem.
dum novus est, potius coepto pugnemus amori!
flamma recens parva sparsa resedit aqua.

thus surely, compelled, I would be happy.
while it is new, let us rather fight the begun love!
a recent flame, sprinkled with a little water, has settled.

certus in hospitibus non est amor; errat, ut ipsi,
     cumque nihil speres firmius esse, fugit.
Hypsipyle testis, testis Minoia virgo est;
     in non exhibitis utraque lusa toris.
tu quoque dilectam multos, infide, per annos
     diceris Oenonen destituisse tuam.

Love is not certain among guests; it wanders, as they themselves,
     and when you hope that nothing could be more firm, it flees.
Hypsipyle is witness, witness is the Minoan maiden;
     in beds not offered, both were deceived.
you too, faithless one, for many years your beloved
     Oenone are said to have deserted, your own.

nec tamen ipse negas; et nobis omnia de te
     quaerere, si nescis, maxima cura fuit.
adde quod, ut cupias constans in amore manere,
     non potes. expediunt iam tua vela Phryges;
dum loqueris mecum, dum nox sperata paratur,
     qui ferat in patriam, iam tibi ventus erit.

nor yet do you yourself deny it; and for me, to inquire all things about you, if you do not know, was the greatest care.
add this besides: though you may desire to remain constant in love,
you cannot. The Phrygians already are setting your sails;
while you speak with me, while the hoped-for night is being prepared,
a wind that will bear you to your fatherland will already be yours.

cursibus in mediis novitatis plena relinques
     gaudia; cum ventis noster abibit amor.
an sequar, ut suades, laudataque Pergama visam
     pronurus et magni Laumedontis ero?
non ita contemno volucris praeconia famae,
     ut probris terras impleat illa meis.

in the midst of your courses you will leave behind joys full of novelty;
     with the winds our love will depart.
or shall i follow, as you advise, and shall i behold lauded Pergama,
     and be the granddaughter-in-law of great Laomedon?
i do not so contemn the winged proclamations of Fame
     as that she should fill the lands with my disgraces.

quid de me poterit Sparte, quid Achaia tota,
     quid gentes Asiae, quid tua Troia loqui?
quid Priamus de me, Priami quid sentiet uxor
     totque tui fratres Dardanidesque nurus?
tu quoque qui poteris fore me sperare fidelem
     et non exemplis anxius esse tuis?

what will Sparta be able to say about me, what all Achaia,
     what will the nations of Asia, what will your Troy, say?
what will Priam say about me, what will Priam’s wife think,
     and so many of your brothers and the Dardanid daughters-in-law?
you too—how will you be able to hope that I will be faithful
     and not be anxious on account of your own examples?

quicumque Iliacos intraverit advena portus,
is tibi solliciti causa timoris erit.
ipse mihi quotiens iratus 'adultera!' dices,
oblitus nostro crimen inesse tuum!
delicti fies idem reprehensor et auctor.

whoever as a stranger will have entered the Iliac ports,
he will be for you a cause of anxious fear.
you yourself, as often as, angry, you will say to me "adulteress!",
forgetful that in our case the crime is yours!
you will become, of the offense, both the reprehender and the author.

     terra, precor, vultus obruat ante meos!
at fruar Iliacis opibus cultuque beato
     donaque promissis uberiora feram:
purpura nempe mihi pretiosaque texta dabuntur,
     congestoque auri pondere dives ero!
da veniam fassae!

     may the earth, I pray, cover my face before my eyes!
but I shall enjoy Iliac opulence and blessed attire,
     and I shall bring gifts more abundant than your promises:
surely purple and precious textiles will be given to me,
     and with a heaped weight of gold I shall be rich!
grant pardon to one who has confessed!

non sunt tua munera tanti;
nescio quo tellus me tenet ista modo.
quis mihi, si laedar, Phrygiis succurret in oris?
unde petam fratres, unde parentis opem?

your gifts are not worth so much;
I do not know by what way that land holds me now.
who for me, if I be harmed, will succor me on Phrygian shores?
whence shall I seek brothers, whence a parent’s aid?

omnia Medeae fallax promisit Iason:
     pulsa est Aesonia num minus illa domo?
non erat Aeetes, ad quem despecta rediret,
     non Idyia parens Chalciopeve soror.
tale nihil timeo, sed nec Medea timebat;
     fallitur augurio spes bona saepe suo.

Deceitful Jason promised everything to Medea:
     was she not nonetheless driven out from the Aesonian home?
Aeetes was not there, to whom, despised, she might return,
     nor Idya, her parent, nor her sister Chalciope.
I fear nothing such; but neither did Medea fear;
     good hope is often deceived in its own augury.

omnibus invenies, quae nunc iactantur in alto,
     navibus a portu lene fuisse fretum.
fax quoque me terret, quam se peperisse cruentam
     ante diem partus est tua visa parens;
et vatum timeo monitus, quos igne Pelasgo
     Ilion arsurum praemonuisse ferunt.
utque favet Cytherea tibi, quia vicit habetque
     parta per arbitrium bina tropaea tuum,
sic illas vereor, quae, si tua gloria vera est,
     iudice te causam non tenuere duae;
nec dubito, quin te si prosequar arma parentur.

you will find that for all the ships which now are tossed on the deep,
     the strait from port was gentle for them.
the torch, too, frightens me, which your mother seemed to have borne forth
     bloody before the day of childbirth;
and I fear the admonitions of the seers, which they say forewarned
     that Ilion would burn by Pelasgian fire.
and as Cytherea favors you, because she has conquered and holds
     two trophies won through your arbitration,
so I fear those goddesses who, if your glory is true,
     did not maintain their case with you as judge—the two;
nor do I doubt that, if I follow you, arms will be prepared against you.

     ibit per gladios, ei mihi! noster amor.
an fera Centauris indicere bella coegit
     Atracis Haemonios Hippodamia viros:
tu fore tam iusta lentum Menelaon in ira
     et geminos fratres Tyndareumque putas?

     our love will go through swords—ah me!
or did the fierce Hippodamia compel to declare wars upon the Centaurs
     the Haemonian men of Atrax:
do you suppose Menelaus will be so slow in a wrath so just,
     and the twin brothers and Tyndareus?

quod bene te iactes et fortia facta loquaris,
a verbis facies dissidet ista suis.
apta magis Veneri quam sunt tua corpora Marti.
bella gerant fortes, tu, Pari, semper ama!

though you may boast well and speak of brave deeds,
that face is at variance with its own words.
your body is more apt for Venus than for Mars.
let the brave wage wars; you, Paris, always love!

Hectora, quem laudas, pro te pugnare iubeto;
     militia est operis altera digna tuis.
his ego, si saperem pauloque audacior essem,
     uterer; utetur, siqua puella sapit.
aut ego deposito sapiam fortasse pudore
     et dabo cunctatas tempore victa manus.

Order Hector, whom you praise, to fight for you;
     military service is another task worthy of your efforts.
These I would employ, if I were wise and a little more audacious;
     a girl, if any girl is wise, will employ them.
or perhaps I, with modesty laid aside, shall be wise,
     and, conquered by time, I will yield, my long-delaying hands.

quod petis, ut furtim praesentes ista loquamur,
     scimus, quid captes conloquiumque voces;
sed nimium properas, et adhuc tua messis in herba est.
     haec mora sit voto forsan amica tuo.
hactenus; arcanum furtivae conscia mentis
     littera iam lasso pollice sistat opus.

what you ask—that we speak these things stealthily in person—
     we know what you are aiming at and what you term a colloquy;
but you hasten too much, and your harvest is still in the blade.
     let this delay perhaps be friendly to your wish.
thus far; let the letter, privy to the secret of a furtive mind,
     now with a weary thumb bring the work to a halt.

cetera per socias Clymenen Aethramque loquamur,
quae mihi sunt comites consiliumque duae.

let us speak of the rest through the associates Clymene and Aethra,
who to me are companions and counsel, the two.