Delphi Complete Works of Longus

by Longus

  1.9 It was the beginning of spring, and all the flowers were blooming in the woods and meadows, and on the mountains. The humming of bees, and the twittering of tuneful birds were already heard, and the new-born young were skipping through the fields: the lambs were gambolling on the mountains, the bees were buzzing through the meadows, the birds were singing in the bushes. Under the influence of this beautiful season, Daphnis and Chloe, themselves tender and youthful, imitated what they saw and heard. When they heard the birds sing, they sang: when they saw the lambs gambol, they nimbly skipped in rivalry: and, like the bees, they gathered flowers, some of which they placed in their bosoms, while they wove garlands of others, which they offered to the Nymphs.

  Ἔπραττον δὲ κοινῇ πάντα, πλησίον ἀλλήλων νέμοντες. Καὶ πολλάκις μὲν ὁ Δάφνις τῶν προβάτων τὰ ἀποπλανώμενα συνέστελλε, πολλάκις δὲ ἡ Χλόη τὰς θρασυτέρας τῶν αἰγῶν ἀπὸ τῶν κρημνῶν κατήλαυνεν, ἤδη δέ τις καὶ τὰς ἀγέλας ἀμφοτέρας ἐφρούρησε θατέρου προσλιπαρήσαντος ἁθύρματι. Ἁθύρματα δὲ ἦν αὐτοῖς ποιμενικὰ καὶ παιδικά. Ἡ μὲν ἀνθερίκους ἀνελομένη ποθὲν ἐξ ἕλους ἀκριδοθήραν ἔπλεκε καὶ περὶ τοῦτο πονουμένη τῶν ποιμνίων ἠμέλησεν: ὁ δὲ καλάμους ἐκτεμὼν λεπτοὺς καὶ τρήσας τὰς τῶν γονάτων διαφυὰς ἐπαλλήλους τε κηρῷ μαλθακῷ συναρτήσας μέχρι νυκτὸς συρίττειν ἐμελέτα: ποτὲ δὲ ἐκοινώνουν γάλακτος καὶ οἴνου, καὶ τροφάς, ἃς οἴκοθεν ἔφερον, εἰς κοινὸν ἔφερον. Θᾶττον ἅν τις εἶδε τὰ ποίμνια καὶ τὰς αἶγας ἀπ̓ ἀλλήλων μεμερισμένας ἢ Χλόην καὶ Δάφνιν.

  1.10 They did everything in common, and tended their flocks side by side. Daphnis frequently gathered together Chloe’s wandering sheep: while she often drove back his too venturesome goats from the precipices. Sometimes one of them tended the two flocks alone, while the other was intent upon some amusement. Their amusements were those of children or shepherds. Chloe would pluck some stalks of asphodel from the marsh, to weave a locust-trap, without any thought for her flock: while Daphnis, having cut some slender reeds, and perforated the intervals between joints, joined them with soft wax, and practised himself in playing upon them until nightfall. Sometimes they shared the food they had taken with them from home, their milk, or wine. In short, it would have been easier to find sheep and goats feeding apart than Daphnis separated from Chloe.

  Τοιαῦτα δὲ αὐτῶν παιζόντων τοιάνδε σπουδὴν Ἔρως ἀνέπλασε. Λύκαινα τρέφουσα σκύμνους νέους ἐκ τῶν πλησίον ἀγρῶν ἐξ ἄλλων ποιμνίων πολλάκις ἥρπαζε, πολλῆς τροφῆς ἐς ἀνατροφὴν τῶν σκύμνων δεομένη. Συνελθόντες οὖν οἱ κωμῆται νύκτωρ σιροὺς ὀρύττουσι τὸ εὖρος ὀργυιᾶς, τὸ βάθος τεττάρων. Τὸ μὲν δὴ χῶμα τὸ πολὺ σπείρουσι κομίσαντες μακράν, ξύλα δὲ ξηρὰ μακρὰ τείναντες ὑπὲρ τοῦ χάσματος τὸ περιττὸν τοῦ χώματος κατέπασαν τῆς πρότερον γῆς εἰκόνα, ὥστε κἂν λαγὼς ἐπιδράμῃ, κατακλᾷ τὰ ξύλα κάρφων ἀσθενέστερα ὄντα, καὶ τότε παρέχει μαθεῖν ὅτι γῆ οὐκ ἦν, ἀλλὰ ἐμεμίμητο γῆν. Τοιαῦτα πολλὰ ὀρύγματα κἀν τοῖς ὄρεσι κἀν τοῖς πεδίοις ὀρύξαντες τὴν μὲν λύκαιναν οὐκ εὐτύχησαν λαβεῖν: αἰσθάνεται γὰρ γῆς σεσοφισμένης: πολλὰς δὲ αἶγας καὶ ποίμνια διέφθειραν, καὶ Δάφνιν παῤ ὀλίγον ὧδε.

  1.11 While they were thus engaged in their youthful sports, Love contrived the following trouble for them. There was a wolf in the district, which, having recently brought forth young, frequently carried off lambs from the neighbouring fields to feed them. The villagers accordingly assembled together by night, and dug some trenches, one fathom in depth and four in breadth: the greater part of the earth which they dug out they removed to a distance from the trenches: then, placing over the hole long pieces of dry wood, they covered them with the remainder of the earth, so that it looked level ground just as it had been before: this they did so cunningly that, if even a hare had run across, it would have broken the pieces of wood, which were more brittle than bits of straw; and then it would have been seen that it was not solid earth at all, but an imitation. Although they dug several similar trenches on the mountains and plains, they could not succeed in catching the wolf, which perceived the snare, but were the cause of the loss of a number of sheep and goats, and Daphnis also nearly lost his life, in the following manner.

  Τράγοι παροξυνθέντες ἐς μάχην συνέπεσον. Τῷ οὖν ἑτέρῳ τὸ ἕτερον κέρας βιαιοτέρας γενομένης συμβολῆς θραύεται, καὶ ἀλγήσας φριμαξάμενος ἐς φυγὴν ἐτράπετο: ὁ δὲ νικῶν κατ̓ ἴχνος ἑπόμενος ἄπαυστον ἐποίει τὴν φυγήν. Ἀλγεῖ Δάφνις περὶ τῷ κέρατι καὶ τῇ θρασύτητι ἀχθεσθεὶς τὴν καλαύροπα λαβὼν ἐδίωκε τὸν διώκοντα. Οἷα δὲ τοῦ μὲν ὑπεκφεύγοντος, τοῦ δὲ ὀργῇ διώκοντος οὐκ ἀκριβὴς ἦν τῶν ἐν ποσὶν ἡ πρόσοψις, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τοῦ χάσματος ἄμφω πίπτουσιν, ὁ τράγος πρότερος, ὁ Δάφνις δεύτερος. Τοῦτο καὶ ἔσωσε Δάφνιν, χρήσασθαι τῆς καταφορᾶς ὀχήματι τῷ τράγῳ. Ὁ μὲν δὴ τὸν ἀνιμησόμενον, εἴ τις ἄρα γένοιτο, δακρύων ἀνέμενεν: ἡ δὲ Χλόη θεασαμένη τὸ συμβὰν δρόμῳ παραγίνεται πρὸς τὸν σιρόν, καὶ μαθοῦσα ὅτι ζῇ, καλεῖ τινὰ βουκόλον ἐκ τῶν ἀγρῶν τῶν πλησίον πρὸς ἐπικουρίαν. Ὁ δὲ ἐλθὼν σχοῖνον ἐζήτει μακράν, ἧς ἐχόμενος ἀνιμώμενος ἐκβήσεται. Καὶ σχοῖνος μὲν οὐκ ἦν, ἡ δὲ Χλόη λυσαμένη ταινίαν δίδωσι καθεῖναι τῷ βουκόλῳ: καὶ οὕτως οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τοῦ χείλους ἑστῶτες εἷλκον, ὁ δὲ ἀνέβη ταῖς τῆς ταινίας ὁλκαῖς ταῖς χερσὶν ἀκολουθῶν. Ἀνιμήσαντο δὲ καὶ τὸν ἄθλιον τράγον συντεθραυσμένον ἄμφω τὰ κέρατα: τοσοῦτον ἄρα ἡ δίκη μετῆλθε τοῦ νικηθέντος τράγου. Τοῦτον μὲν δὴ τυθησόμενον χαρίζονται σῶστρα τῷ βουκόλῳ, καὶ ἔμελλον ψεύδεσθαι πρὸς τοὺς οἴκοι λύκων ἐπιδρομήν, εἴ τις αὐτὸν ἐπόθησεν: αὐτοὶ δὲ ἐπανελθόντες ἐπεσκόπουν τὴν ποίμνην καὶ τὸ αἰπόλιον: καὶ ἐπεὶ κατέμαθον ἐν κόσμῳ νομῆς καὶ τὰς αἶγας καὶ τὰ πρόβατα, καθίσαντες ὑπὸ στελέχει δρυὸς ἐσκόπουν μή τι μέρος τοῦ σώματος ὁ Δάφνις ᾕμαξε καταπεσών. Ἐτέτρωτο μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ ᾕμακτο οὐδέν, χώματος δὲ καὶ πηλοῦ ἐπέπαστο καὶ τὰς κόμας καὶ τὸ ἄλλο σῶμα. Ἐδόκει δὴ λούσασθαι, πρὶν αἴσθησιν γενέσθαι τοῦ συμβάντ
ος Λάμωνι καὶ Μυρτάλῃ.

  1.12 Two goats, in a fit of jealousy, charged each other so violently that the horn of one was broken, and, mad with pain, he took to flight bellowing, closely and hotly pursued by his victorious adversary. Daphnis, grieved at the sight of the mutilated horn, and annoyed at the insolence of the victor, seized his club and crook, and started in pursuit of the pursuer. But, while the goat was trying to make his escape, and Daphnis was in angry pursuit, they could not see clearly what was in front of them, and both fell into one of these pits - the goat first, and Daphnis after him. This saved Daphnis from injury, since he was able to hold onto the goat to break his fall. In this situation he waited in tears to see if anyone would come to pull him up again. Chloe, having seen what had happened, ran up, and, finding that he was still alive, called one of the herdsmen from the neighbouring fields to her assistance. The herdsman came up, and looked for a long rope with which to haul him out, but found none. Then Chloe unloosed the band which fastened her hair, and gave it to the herdsmen to let down. Then they stood on the edge of the pit and pulled: and Daphnis, holding on to the band as it was being hauled up, at last succeeded in reaching the summit. Then they drew up the wretched goat, whose horns were both broken - so fully was his vanquished adversary avenged – and made a present of him to the herdsman, in return for his assistance, having agreed to tell those at home that he had been carried off by a wolf, if anyone missed him. Returning to their flocks, and finding them all feeding peacefully and in good order, they sat down on the trunk of an oak, to see whether Daphnis had been wounded in any part of his body by his fall. But they found no trace of any injury or blood: only his hair and the rest of his person were covered with earth and mud. Daphnis therefore resolved to wash himself, before Lamon and Myrtale found out what had happened.

  Καὶ ἐλθὼν ἅμα τῇ Χλόῃ πρὸς τὸ νυμφαῖον τῇ μὲν ἔδωκε καὶ τὸν χιτωνίσκον καὶ τὴν πήραν φυλάττειν, αὐτὸς δὲ τῇ πηγῇ παραστὰς τήν τε κόμην καὶ τὸ σῶμα πᾶν ἀπελούετο. Ἦν δὲ ἡ μὲν κόμη μέλαινα καὶ πολλή, τὸ δὲ σῶμα ἐπίκαυτον ἡλίῳ: εἴκασεν ἄν τις αὐτὸ χρώζεσθαι τῇ σκιᾷ τῆς κόμης. Ἐδόκει δὲ τῇ Χλόῃ θεωμένῃ καλὸς ὁ Δάφνις, καὶ ὅτι τότε πρῶτον αὐτῇ καλὸς ἐδόκει, τὸ λουτρὸν ἐνόμιζε τοῦ κάλλους αἴτιον. Τὰ νῶτα δὲ ἀπολουούσης ἡ σὰρξ ὑπέπιπτε μαλθακή, ὥστε λαθοῦσα ἑαυτῆς ἥψατο πολλάκις, εἰ τρυφερωτέρα εἴη πειρωμένη. Καὶ ῾τότε γὰρ ἐπὶ δυσμαῖς ἦν ὁ ἥλιος᾿ ἀπήλασαν τὰς ἀγέλας οἴκαδε, καὶ ἐπεπόνθει Χλόη περιττὸν οὐδέν, ὅτι μὴ Δάφνιν ἐπεθύμει λουόμενον ἰδέσθαι πάλιν. Τῆς δὲ ἐπιούσης ὡς ἧκον εἰς τὴν νομήν, ὁ μὲν Δάφνις ὑπὸ τῇ δρυῒ τῇ συνήθει καθεζόμενος ἐσύριττε καὶ ἅμα τὰς αἶγας ἐπεσκόπει κατακειμένας καὶ ὥσπερ τῶν μελῶν ἀκροωμένας, ἡ δὲ Χλόη πλησίον καθημένη τὴν ἀγέλην μὲν τῶν προβάτων ἐπέβλεπε, τὸ δὲ πλέον εἰς Δάφνιν ἑώρα: καὶ ἐδόκει καλὸς αὐτῇ συρίττων πάλιν, καὶ αὖθις αἰτίαν ἐνόμιζε τὴν μουσικὴν τοῦ κάλλους, ὥστε μετ̓ ἐκεῖνον καὶ αὐτὴ τὴν σύριγγα ἔλαβεν, εἴ πως γένοιτο καὶ αὐτὴ καλή. Ἔπεισε δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ λούσασθαι πάλιν καὶ λουόμενον εἶδε καὶ ἰδοῦσα ἥψατο καὶ ἀπῆλθε πάλιν ἐπαινέσασα, καὶ ὁ ἔπαινος ἦν ἔρωτος ἀρχή. Ὅ τι μὲν οὖν ἔπασχεν οὐκ ᾔδει νέα κόρη καὶ ἐν ἀγροικίᾳ τεθραμμένη καὶ οὐδὲ ἄλλου λέγοντος ἀκούσασα τὸ τοῦ ἔρωτος ὄνομα: ἄση δὲ αὐτῆς εἶχε τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν οὐκ ἐκράτει καὶ πολλὰ ἐλάλει Δάφνιν: τροφῆς ἠμέλει, νύκτωρ ἠγρύπνει, τῆς ἀγέλης κατεφρόνει: νῦν ἐγέλα, νῦν ἔκλαεν: εἶτα ἐκάθευδεν, εἶτα ἀνεπήδα: ὠχρία τὸ πρόσωπον, ἐρυθήματι αὖθις ἐφλέγετο. Οὐδὲ βοὸς οἴστρῳ πληγείσης τοιαῦτα ἔργα. Ἐπῆλθόν ποτε αὐτῇ καὶ τοιοίδε λόγοι μόνῃ γενομένῃ.

  1.13 He went with Chloe to the grotto of the Nymphs, where the fountain was, and gave her his tunic and wallet. And Daphnis, standing by the spring, began to wash his hair and his whole person. His hair was dark and thick, and his body tanned by the sun; one would have thought that it was darkened by the reflection of his hair. Chloe looked at him, and he seemed to her to be very handsome; and, because she had never thought him handsome before, she imagined that he owed his beauty to his bath. She washed his back and shoulders, and, finding his skin soft and yielding beneath her hand, she more than once secretly touched herself, to see whether her own skin was more delicate. Then, as it was near sunset, they drove back their flocks to the homestead: and, from that moment, Chloe had but one thought, one desire - to see Daphnis in the bath again.

  The following day, when they returned to the pasture, Daphnis sat down under his favourite oak-tree and played on his pipe, looking awhile at his goats, which, lying at his feet, seemed to be listening to his strains. Chloe, seated near him, was also looking after her sheep, but her eyes were more frequently fixed upon Daphnis. She again thought him handsome as he was playing on his pipe, and this time, imagining that he owed his beauty to the music, she took the pipe herself, to see whether she could make herself beautiful. She persuaded him to take a bath again, saw him in the bath and touched him: then, on her way home, she again began to praise his beauty, and this praise was the beginning of love. She did not know what was the matter with her, being a young girl brought up in the country, who had never even heard anyone mention the name of Love. But her heart was a prey to langour, she no longer had control over her eyes, and she often uttered the name of Daphnis. She ate little, could not sleep at night, and neglected her flock: by turns she laughed and cried, slept and started up: her face was pale one moment, and covered with blushes the next: a cow, stung by the gadfly, was not more uneasy than Chloe. Sometimes, when she was quite alone, she talked to herself in the following strain:

  ‘Νῦν ἐγὼ νοσῶ μέν, τί δὲ ἡ νόσος ἀγνοῶ: ἀλγῶ, καὶ ἕλκος οὐκ ἔστι μοι: λυποῦμαι, καὶ οὐδὲν τῶν προβάτων ἀπόλωλέ μοι: κάομαι, καὶ ἐν σκιᾷ τοσαύτῃ κάθημαι. Πόσοι βάτοι με ἤμυξαν, καὶ οὐκ ἔκλαυσα: πόσαι μέλιτται κέντρον ἐνῆκαν, ἀλλὰ ἔφαγον: τουτὶ δὲ τὸ νύττον μου τὴν καρδίαν πάντων ἐκείνων πικρότερον. Καλὸς ὁ Δάφνις, καὶ γὰρ τὰ ἄνθη: καλὸν ἡ σύριγξ αὐτοῦ φθέγγεται, καὶ γὰρ αἱ ἀηδόνες. Ἀλλ̓ ἐκείνων οὐδείς μοι λόγος. Εἴθε αὐτοῦ σύριγξ ἐγενόμην, ἵν̓ ἐμπνέῃ μοι: εἴθε αἴξ, ἵν̓ ὑπ̓ ἐκείνου νέμωμαι. Ὦ πονηρὸν ὕδωρ, μόνον Δάφνιν καλὸν ἐποίησας, ἐγὼ δὲ μάτην ἀπελουσάμην. Οἴχομαι, Νύμφαι φίλαι: οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς σώζετε τὴν παρθένον τὴν ἐν ὑμῖν τραφεῖσαν; Τίς ὑμᾶς στεφανώσει μετ̓ ἐμέ; τίς τοὺς ἀθλίους ἄρνας ἀναθρέψει; τίς τὴν λάλον ἀκρίδα θεραπεύσει, ἣν πολλὰ καμοῦσα �
�θήρασα, ἵνα με κατακοιμίζῃ φθεγγομένη πρὸ τοῦ ἄντρου; νῦν δὲ ἐγὼ μὲν ἀγρυπνῶ διὰ Δάφνιν, ἡ δὲ μάτην λαλεῖ.’

  1.14 “I am ill, but I do not know the nature of my illness: I feel pain, but am not wounded: I am sad, but I have lost none of my sheep. I am burning, although seated in the shade. The brambles have often torn my flesh, but I did not weep: the bees have often stung me, but I ate my food. The evil which now gnaws my heart must be sharper than all those. Daphnis is beautiful, but so are the flowers: his pipe gives forth sweet notes, but so do the nightingales: but yet I care not for them. Would that I were his pipe, that I might receive his breath! Would that I were one of his goats, that I might be tended by him! O cruel water, that hast made Daphnis so beautiful, while I have washed in thee in vain! I perish, O beloved Nymphs, and you, too, refuse to save the girl who has been brought up in your midst. When I am dead, who will crown you with garlands? Who will feed my poor sheep? Who will look after the noisy grasshopper, which I took so much trouble to catch, that it might send me to sleep, chirping in front of the grotto? But now Daphnis has robbed me of sleep, and the grasshopper chirps in vain.”