Delphi Complete Works of Longus

by Longus

  2.16 Such was the charge brought by the Methymnaeans. Daphnis, although suffering terribly from the blows which he had received, seeing Chloe amongst those present, made light of the pain, and spoke as follows:

  “I tend my goats properly. No one in the village has ever complained of a goat of mine browsing in his garden or breaking down his sprouting vines. It is the fault of these sportsmen, who have dogs so badly broken that they keep running about and barking so loudly that, like so many wolves, they have driven my goats from the hills and plains to the seashore. But they have eaten the osiers: could they find any grass, or wild arbutus, or thyme to eat on the sand? Again, their boat had been destroyed by the winds and waves: the storm, not my goats, is to blame for this. Again, there was a large store of clothes and money on board: who would be so foolish as to believe that a boat, carrying so valuable a freight, would have been fastened with nothing but a rope made of osier-withies?”

  Τούτοις ἐπεδάκρυσεν ὁ Δάφνις καὶ εἰς οἶκτον ὑπηγάγετο τοὺς ἀγροίκους πολύν, ὥστε ὁ Φιλητᾶς, ὁ δικαστής, ὤμνυε Πᾶνα καὶ Νύμφας μηδὲν ἀδικεῖν Δάφνιν, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ τὰς αἶγας, τὴν δὲ θάλατταν καὶ τὸν ἄνεμον, ὧν ἄλλους εἶναι δικαστάς. Ταῦτα λέγων οὐκ ἔπειθε Φιλητᾶς τοὺς Μηθυμναίους, ἀλλ̓ ὑπ̓ ὀργῆς ὁρμήσαντες ἦγον πάλιν τὸν Δάφνιν καὶ συνδεῖν ἤθελον. Ἐνταῦθα οἱ κωμῆται ταραχθέντες ἐπιπηδῶσιν αὐτοῖς ὡσεὶ ψᾶρες ἢ κολοιοί: καὶ ταχὺ μὲν ἀφαιροῦνται τὸν Δάφνιν ἤδη καὶ αὐτὸν μαχόμενον, ταχὺ δὲ ξύλοις παίοντες ἐκείνους εἰς φυγὴν ἐτρέψαντο: ἀπέστησαν δὲ οὐ πρότερον ἔστε τῶν ὅρων αὐτοὺς ἐξήλασαν ἐς ἄλλους ἀγρούς.

  2.17 Having thus spoken, Daphnis began to weep, and moved the villagers to great compassion: so that Philetas, who had to pronounce the verdict, swore by Pan and the Nymphs that neither Daphnis nor his goats were in the wrong, but the sea and the wind, which were under the jurisdiction of others. However, Philetas could not convince the Methymnaeans, who, in the impulse of their rage, again seized Daphnis, and would have bound him, had not the villagers, roused at this, rushed upon them like a flock of starlings, or jackdaws, and speedily rescued Daphnis, who also was stoutly defending himself. Then, with vigorous blows of their clubs, they routed the Methymnaeans, and did not cease from pursuing them, until they had driven them out of their territory.

  Διωκόντων δὴ τοὺς Μηθυμναίους ἐκείνων ἡ Χλόη κατὰ πολλὴν ἡσυχίαν ἄγει πρὸς τὰς Νύμφας τὸν Δάφνιν καὶ ἀπονίπτει τε τὸ πρόσωπον ᾑμαγμένον ἐκ τῶν ῥινῶν ῥαγεισῶν ὑπὸ πληγῆς τινος, κἀκ τῆς πήρας προκομίσασα ζυμίτου μέρος καὶ τυροῦ τμῆμά τι, δίδωσι φαγεῖν: τό τε μάλιστα ἀνακτησόμενον αὐτόν, φίλημα ἐφίλησε μελιτῶδες ἁπαλοῖς τοῖς χείλεσι.

  2.18 While they were thus engaged in the pursuit of the Methymnaeans, Chloe quietly led Daphnis to the grotto of the Nymphs, where she washed his face which was smeared with the blood from his nostrils; then, taking a slice of bread and some cheese from her wallet, she gave him to eat, and - what comforted him most of all - she imprinted upon his mouth a kiss sweeter than honey with her tender lips.

  Τότε μὲν δὴ παρὰ τοσοῦτον Δάφνις ἦλθε κακοῦ. Τὸ δὲ πρᾶγμα οὐ ταύτῃ ἐπέπαυτο, ἀλλ̓ ἐλθόντες οἱ Μηθυμναῖοι μόλις εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν, ὁδοιπόροι μὲν ἀντὶ ναυτῶν τραυματίαι δὲ ἀντὶ τρυφώντων, ἐκκλησίαν τε συνήγαγον τῶν πολιτῶν καὶ ἱκετηρίας θέντες ἱκέτευον τιμωρίας ἀξιωθῆναι: τῶν μὲν ἀληθῶν λέγοντες οὐδὲ ἕν, μὴ καὶ πρὸς καταγέλαστοι γένοιντο τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα παθόντες ὑπὸ ποιμένων, κατηγοροῦντες δὲ Μυτιληναίων, ὡς τὴν ναῦν ἀφελομένων καὶ τὰ χρήματα διαρπασάντων πολέμου νόμῳ. Οἱ δὲ πιστεύοντες διὰ τὰ τραύματα καὶ νεανίσκοις τῶν πρώτων παῤ αὐτοῖς οἰκιῶν τιμωρῆσαι δίκαιον νομίζοντες Μυτιληναίοις μὲν πόλεμον ἀκήρυκτον ἐψηφίσαντο: τὸν δὲ στρατηγὸν ἐκέλευσαν δέκα ναῦς καθελκύσαντα κακουργεῖν αὐτῶν τὴν παραλίαν: πλησίον γὰρ χειμῶνος ὄντος οὐκ ἦν ἀσφαλὲς μείζονα στόλον πιστεύειν τῇ θαλάττῃ.

  2.19 Thus Daphnis had a narrow escape, but the matter did not rest there: for the Methymnaeans, having reached their home with great difficulty on foot, whereas they had come in a ship, full of wounds instead of in the enjoyment of luxury, called an assembly of their fellow citizens, and, holding out olive branches in sign of supplication, besought them to deign to avenge them: they did not, however, utter a word of truth, for fear that they might be laughed at, for having allowed themselves to be so maltreated by a few shepherds: but they accused the Mitylenaeans of having plundered them and seized their vessel and its contents, as if they had been at open war.

  The Methymnaeans believed what they said when they saw their wounds, and, thinking it their duty to avenge their wrongs, since the young men belonged to the highest families in the place they immediately decided to make war without the usual formalities, and ordered their chief captain to put to sea with ten galleys and ravage their coast: for, as the winter was close at hand, it was not safe to entrust a larger fleet to the mercy of the waves.

  Ὁ δὲ εὐθὺς τῆς ἐπιούσης ἀναγόμενος αὐτερέταις στρατιώταις ἐπέπλει τοῖς παραθαλαττίοις τῶν Μυτιληναίων ἀγροῖς. Καὶ πολλὰ μὲν ἥρπαζε ποίμνια, πολὺν δὲ σῖτον καὶ οἶνον, ἄρτι πεπαυμένου τοῦ τρυγητοῦ, καὶ ἀνθρώπους δὲ οὐκ ὀλίγους, ὅσοι τούτων ἐργάται. Ἐπέπλευσε καὶ τοῖς τῆς Χλόης ἀγροῖς καὶ τοῦ Δάφνιδος, καὶ ἀπόβασιν ὀξεῖαν θέμενος λείαν ἤλαυνε τὰ ἐν ποσίν. Ὁ μὲν οὖν Δάφνις οὐκ ἔνεμε τὰς αἶγας ἀλλὰ ἐς τὴν ὕλην ἀνελθὼν φυλλάδα χλωρὰν ἔκοπτεν, ὡς ἔχοι τοῦ χειμῶνος παρέχειν τοῖς ἐρίφοις τροφήν: ὥστε ἄνωθεν θεασάμενος τὴν καταδρομὴν ἐνέκρυψεν ἑαυτὸν στελέχει κοίλῳ ξηρᾶς ὀξύης: ἡ δὲ Χλόη παρῆν ταῖς ἀγέλαις καὶ διωκομένη καταφεύγει πρὸς τὰς Νύμφας ἱκέτις καὶ ἐδεῖτο φείσασθαι καὶ ὧν ἔνεμε καὶ αὐτῆς διὰ τὰς θεάς. Ἀλλ̓ ἦν οὐδὲν ὄφελος: οἱ γὰρ Μηθυμναῖοι πολλὰ τῶν ἀγαλμάτων κατακερτομήσαντες καὶ τὰς ἀγέλας ἤλασαν κἀκείνην ἤγαγον ὥσπερ αἶγα ἢ πρόβατον παίοντες λύγοις.

  2.20 On the following day, the captain put out to sea, using his soldiers as oarsmen, and directed his course towards the coastland of Mitylene. He carried off a large number of cattle, and a quantity of corn and wine, since the vintage was only just over, and also took prisoner a considerable number of those who were working in the fields. He at last landed on the estate where Daphnis and Chloe were tending their flocks, an
d carried off everything that he could find. At the time Daphnis was not with his flock: for he had gone up to the wood to cut some green branches to serve as fodder for the kids during the winter. Seeing the inroad from a distance, he hid himself in the hollow trunk of a dry beech-tree. Chloe, who was with her flocks, being pursued, fled to the grotto of the Nymphs as a suppliant, and besought her pursuers to spare herself and her flocks, out of respect for the goddesses. But it was all in vain: the Methymnaeans insulted the statues and drove off the flocks, and Chloe with them, as if she had been a sheep or a goat, whipping her with switches.

  Ἔχοντες δὲ ἤδη τὰς ναῦς παντοδαπῆς ἁρπαγῆς μεστάς, οὐκέτ̓ ἐγίνωσκον περαιτέρω πλεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸν οἴκαδε πλοῦν ἐποιοῦντο καὶ τὸν χειμῶνα καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους δεδιότες. Οἱ μὲν οὖν ἀπέπλεον εἰρεσίᾳ προσταλαιπωροῦντες: ἄνεμος γὰρ οὐκ ἦν: ὁ δὲ Δάφνις ἡσυχίας γενομένης ἐλθὼν εἰς τὸ πεδίον ἔνθα ἔνεμον, καὶ μήτε τὰς αἶγας ἰδὼν μήτε τὰ πρόβατα καταλαβὼν μήτε Χλόην εὑρὼν ἀλλ̓ ἐρημίαν πολλὴν καὶ τὴν σύριγγα ἐρριμμένην, ᾗ συνήθως ἐτέρπετο ἡ Χλόη, μέγα βοῶν καὶ ἐλεεινὸν κωκύων ποτὲ μὲν πρὸς τὴν φηγὸν ἔτρεχεν ἔνθα ἐκαθέζοντο, ποτὲ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν θάλατταν ὡς ὀψόμενος αὐτήν, ποτὲ δὲ ἐπὶ τὰς Νύμφας, ἐφ̓ ἃς ἑλκομένη κατέφυγεν. Ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἔρριψεν ἑαυτὸν χαμαὶ καὶ ταῖς Νύμφαις ὡς προδούσαις κατεμέμφετο.

  2.21 Their ships being now loaded with all kinds of booty, they made up their minds to sail no further, but directed their course homewards, being afraid of the wintry season and hostile attacks. Accordingly they rowed away as hard as they could, but they made slow progress, as there was no wind. Daphnis, when all was quiet, went down to the plain where their flocks had been in the habit of feeding, and finding neither goats nor sheep nor Chloe, but everywhere desolation, and Chloe’s pipe, with which she used to amuse herself, lying on the ground, he cried aloud and lamented piteously, now running to the beech under which they used to sit, and now to the seashore, to look for her, and then to the grotto of the Nymphs, where she had taken refuge when she was being carried off. There he flung himself on the ground and reproached the Nymphs with having abandoned her:

  ‘Ἀφ̓ ὑμῶν ἡρπάσθη Χλόη, καὶ τοῦτο ὑμεῖς ἰδεῖν ὑπεμείνατε; ἡ τοὺς στεφάνους ὑμῖν πλέκουσα, ἡ σπένδουσα τοῦ πρώτου γάλακτος, ἧς καὶ ἡ σύριγξ ἥδε ἀνάθημα; Αἶγα μὲν οὐδὲ μίαν μοι λύκος ἥρπασε, πολέμιοι δὲ τὴν ἀγέλην καὶ τὴν συννέμουσαν. Καὶ τὰς μὲν αἶγας ἀποδεροῦσι καὶ τὰ πρόβατα καταθύσουσι, Χλόη δὲ λοιπὸν πόλιν οἰκήσει. Ποίοις ποσὶν ἄπειμι παρὰ τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα ἄνευ τῶν αἰγῶν, ἄνευ Χλόης, λιπερνήτης γενόμενος; ἔχω γὰρ νέμειν ἔτι οὐδέν. Ἐνταῦθα περιμενῶ κείμενος ἢ θάνατον ἢ πόλεμον δεύτερον. Ἆρα καὶ σύ, Χλόη, τοιαῦτα πάσχεις; ἆρα μέμνησαι τοῦ πεδίου τοῦδε καὶ τῶν Νυμφῶν τῶνδε κἀμοῦ; ἢ παραμυθοῦνταί σε τὰ πρόβατα καὶ αἱ αἶγες αἰχμάλωτοι μετὰ σοῦ γενόμεναι;’

  2.22 “Chloe has been carried off from you, O Nymphs, and you have had the heart to see and endure it - she who used to weave for you chaplets of flowers and offer you libations of fresh milk, whose pipe hangs suspended yonder as an offering to you. No wolf has ever carried off a single goat of mine, but an enemy has carried off the flock and she who tended it with me. They will flay the goats and sacrifice the sheep, and Chloe will have to dwell in some distant city. How shall I dare to return to my father and mother without my goats and without Chloe, as if I had proved false to my charge? For I have no longer anything to tend.

  “Here I will lie and await death, or some other attack. Are you suffering like myself, Chloe? Do you still remember these fields, these Nymphs, and me? Or do you find some consolation in the sheep and goats that are your fellow prisoners?”

  Τοιαῦτα λέγοντα αὐτὸν ἐκ τῶν δακρύων καὶ τῆς λύπης ὕπνος βαθὺς καταλαμβάνει. Καὶ αὐτῷ αἱ τρεῖς ἐφίστανται Νύμφαι, μεγάλαι γυναῖκες καὶ καλαί, ἡμίγυμνοι καὶ ἀνυπόδητοι, τὰς κόμας λελυμέναι καὶ τοῖς ἀγάλμασιν ὅμοιαι. Καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐῴκεσαν ἐλεοῦσαι τὸν Δάφνιν: ἔπειτα ἡ πρεσβυτάτη λέγει ἐπιρρωννύουσα ‘Μηδὲν ἡμᾶς μέμφου, Δάφνι: Χλόης γὰρ ἡμῖν μᾶλλον μέλει ἢ σοί. Ἡμεῖς τοι καὶ παιδίον οὖσαν αὐτὴν ἠλεήσαμεν καὶ ἐν τῷδε τῷ ἄντρῳ κειμένην αὐτὴν ἀνεθρέψαμεν. Ἐκείνῃ καὶ πεδίοις κοινὸν οὐδέν. Καὶ νῦν δὲ ἡμῖν πεφρόντισται τὸ κατ̓ ἐκείνην, ὡς μήτε εἰς τὴν Μήθυμναν κομισθεῖσα δουλεύοι μήτε μέρος γένοιτο λείας πολεμικῆς. Τὸν Πᾶνα ἐκεῖνον τὸν ὑπὸ τῇ πίτυι ἱδρυμένον, ὃν ὑμεῖς οὐδέποτε οὐδὲ ἄνθεσιν ἐτιμήσατε, τούτου ἐδεήθημεν ἐπίκουρον γενέσθαι Χλόης: συνήθης γὰρ στρατοπέδοις μᾶλλον ἡμῶν καὶ πολλοὺς ἤδη πολέμους ἐπολέμησε τὴν ἀγροικίαν καταλιπών: καὶ ἔπεισι τοῖς Μηθυμναίοις οὐκ ἀγαθὸς πολέμιος. Κάμνε δὲ μηδέν, ἀλλ̓ ἀναστὰς ὄφθητι Λάμωνι καὶ Μυρτάλῃ, οἳ καὶ αὐτοὶ κεῖνται χαμαί, νομίζοντες καὶ σὲ μέρος γεγονέναι τῆς ἁρπαγῆς: Χλόη γάρ σοι τῆς ἐπιούσης ἀφίξεται μετὰ τῶν αἰγῶν, μετὰ τῶν προβάτων, καὶ νεμήσετε κοινῇ καὶ συρίσετε κοινῇ: τὰ δὲ ἄλλα μελήσει περὶ ὑμῶν Ἔρωτι.’

  2.23 While he was thus lamenting, a deep sleep overcame him in the midst of his grief and tears. The Nymphs appeared to him, three tall and beautiful women, half-naked, without sandals, with their hair floating down their backs, just like their statues. At first they seemed to feel compassion for Daphnis: then the eldest addressed him in the following words of comfort:

  “Do not reproach us, Daphnis: Chloe is more our care than yours. We took pity on her when she was but a child, and adopted her when she was exposed in this cave and brought her up. She has no more to do with the sheep and fields than you have to do with the goats of Lamon. Besides, we have already thought of her future: she shall neither be carried off as a slave to Methymna, nor become part of the enemy’s spoil. We have begged the God Pan, whose statue is under yonder pine, to whom you have never offered so much as a chaplet of flowers in token of respect, to go to the assistance of Chloe: for he is more used to the ways of camps than we are, and he has often left the country to take part in battle. He will set out, and the Methymnaeans will find him no contemptible foe. Be not troubled: arise and show yourself to Lamon and Myrtale, who, like yourself, lie prostrate with sorrow, thinking that you also have been carried off. Tomorrow Chloe will return with the sheep and goats; you shall tend them and play on the pipe together; leave the rest to the care of Love.”

  Τοιαῦτα ἰδὼν
καὶ ἀκούσας Δάφνις ἀναπηδήσας τῶν ὕπνων καὶ ὑφ̓ ἡδονῆς καὶ λύπης μεστὸς δακρύων τὰ ἀγάλματα τῶν Νυμφῶν προσεκύνει καὶ ἐπηγγέλλετο σωθείσης Χλόης θύσειν τῶν αἰγῶν τὴν ἀρίστην. Δραμὼν δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν πίτυν, ἔνθα τὸ τοῦ Πανὸς ἄγαλμα ἵδρυτο κερασφόρον, τραγοσκελές, τῇ μὲν σύριγγα τῇ δὲ τράγον πηδῶντα κατέχον, κἀκεῖνον προσεκύνει καὶ εὔχετο ὑπὲρ τῆς Χλόης καὶ τράγον θύσειν ἐπηγγέλλετο. Καὶ μόλις ποτὲ περὶ ἡλίου καταφορὰς παυσάμενος δακρύων καὶ εὐχῶν, ἀράμενος τὰς φυλλάδας, ἃς ἔκοψεν, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὴν ἔπαυλιν, καὶ τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Λάμωνα πένθους ἀπαλλάξας, εὐφροσύνης ἐμπλήσας, τροφῆς τε ἐγεύσατο καὶ ἐς ὕπνον ὥρμησεν οὐδὲ τοῦτον ἄδακρυν, ἀλλ̓ εὐχόμενος μὲν αὖθις τὰς Νύμφας ὄναρ ἰδεῖν, εὐχόμενος δὲ τὴν ἡμέραν γενέσθαι ταχέως, ἐν ᾗ Χλόην ἐπηγγείλαντο αὐτῷ. Νυκτῶν πασῶν ἐκείνη ἔδοξε μακροτάτη γεγονέναι: ἐπράχθη δὲ ἐπ̓ αὐτῆς τάδε.

  2.24 At this sight and at these words Daphnis started up from sleep. Weeping both for joy and grief, he did obeisance to the statues of the Nymphs and promised, if Chloe should be saved, that he would sacrifice to them the finest of his goats. He next ran to the pine tree, beneath which stood the statue of Pan, with the legs of a goat, his head surmounted by horns, in one hand holding his pipe, in the other a bounding goat. He did obeisance to him also, begged his assistance on behalf of Chloe, and promised to sacrifice a goat to him. The sun was almost set before he ceased from his tears and entreaties; then, taking up the green branches which he had cut, he returned home, where his reappearance comforted Lamon and Myrtale and filled them with joy. Having taken a little food, he went to bed: but even then his rest was disturbed by tears. He prayed that the Nymphs might appear to him again in a dream, and prayed for the speedy coming of the day, on which they had promised him that Chloe should return. Never had a night seemed so long to him. Meanwhile, the following events had taken place.