Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Transformation of Battus to a Touch stone
2:840 Sore wept the centuar, and to Phoebus pray'd;
2:841 But how could Phoebus give the
centaur aid?
2:842 Degraded of his pow'r by angry
Jove,
2:843 In Elis then a herd of beeves
he drove;
2:844 And wielded in his hand a staff
of oak,
2:845 And o'er his shoulders threw
the shepherd's cloak;
2:846 On sev'n compacted reeds he us'd
to play,
2:847 And on his rural pipe to waste
the day.
2:848 As once attentive to his pipe he play'd,
2:849 The crafty Hermes from the God
convey'd
2:850 A drove, that sep'rate from their
fellows stray'd.
2:851 The theft an old insidious peasant
view'd
2:852 (They call'd him Battus in the
neighbourhood),
2:853 Hir'd by a vealthy Pylian prince
to feed
2:854 His fav'rite mares, and watch
the gen'rous breed.
2:855 The thievish God suspected him,
and took
2:856 The hind aside, and thus in whispers
spoke:
2:857 "Discover not the theft,
whoe'er thou be,
2:858 And take that milk-white heifer
for thy fee."
2:859 "Go, stranger," cries
the clown, "securely on,
2:860 That stone shall sooner tell,"
and show'd a stone.
2:861 The God withdrew, but strait return'd again,
2:862 In speech and habit like a country
swain;
2:863 And cries out, "Neighbour,
hast thou seen a stray
2:864 Of bullocks and of heifers pass
this way?
2:865 In the recov'ry of my cattle
join,
2:866 A bullock and a heifer shall
be thine."
2:867 The peasant quick replies, "You'll
find 'em there
2:868 In yon dark vale"; and in
the vale they were.
2:869 The double bribe had his false
heart beguil'd:
2:870 The God, successful in the tryal,
smil'd;
2:871 "And dost thou thus betray
my self to me?
2:872 Me to my self dost thou betray?"
says he:
2:873 Then to a Touch stone turns the
faithless spy;
2:874 And in his name records his infamy.
Metamorphoses (Books I-XIV)
The Transformation of Battus to a Touch stone
2:840 Sore wept the centuar, and to Phoebus pray'd;
2:841 But how could Phoebus give the
centaur aid?
2:842 Degraded of his pow'r by angry
Jove,
2:843 In Elis then a herd of beeves
he drove;
2:844 And wielded in his hand a staff
of oak,
2:845 And o'er his shoulders threw
the shepherd's cloak;
2:846 On sev'n compacted reeds he us'd
to play,
2:847 And on his rural pipe to waste
the day.
2:848 As once attentive to his pipe he play'd,
2:849 The crafty Hermes from the God
convey'd
2:850 A drove, that sep'rate from their
fellows stray'd.
2:851 The theft an old insidious peasant
view'd
2:852 (They call'd him Battus in the
neighbourhood),
2:853 Hir'd by a vealthy Pylian prince
to feed
2:854 His fav'rite mares, and watch
the gen'rous breed.
2:855 The thievish God suspected him,
and took
2:856 The hind aside, and thus in whispers
spoke:
2:857 "Discover not the theft,
whoe'er thou be,
2:858 And take that milk-white heifer
for thy fee."
2:859 "Go, stranger," cries
the clown, "securely on,
2:860 That stone shall sooner tell,"
and show'd a stone.
2:861 The God withdrew, but strait return'd again,
2:862 In speech and habit like a country
swain;
2:863 And cries out, "Neighbour,
hast thou seen a stray
2:864 Of bullocks and of heifers pass
this way?
2:865 In the recov'ry of my cattle
join,
2:866 A bullock and a heifer shall
be thine."
2:867 The peasant quick replies, "You'll
find 'em there
2:868 In yon dark vale"; and in
the vale they were.
2:869 The double bribe had his false
heart beguil'd:
2:870 The God, successful in the tryal,
smil'd;
2:871 "And dost thou thus betray
my self to me?
2:872 Me to my self dost thou betray?"
says he:
2:873 Then to a Touch stone turns the
faithless spy;
2:874 And in his name records his infamy.