Delphi Complete Works of Longus

by Longus

  Τῆς ἐπιούσης ὡς πάλιν παρὰ τὴν γυναῖκα τὴν τίκτουσαν ἀπιοῦσα φανερῶς ἐπὶ τὴν δρῦν, ἔνθα ἐκαθέζοντο Δάφνις καὶ Χλόη, παραγίνεται καὶ ἀκριβῶς μιμησαμένη τὴν τεταραγμένην ‘σῶσόν με’ εἶπε ‘Δάφνι, τὴν ἀθλίαν: ἐκ γάρ μοι τῶν χηνῶν τῶν εἴκοσιν ἕνα τὸν κάλλιστον ἀετὸς ἥρπασε καὶ οἷα μέγα φορτίον ἀράμενος οὐκ ἐδυνήθη μετέωρος ἐπὶ τὴν συνήθη τὴν ὑψηλὴν κομίσαι ἐκείνην πέτραν, ἀλλ̓ εἰς τήνδε τὴν ὕλην τὴν ταπεινὴν ἔχων κατέπεσε. Σὺ τοίνυν, πρὸς τῶν Νυμφῶν καὶ τοῦ Πανὸς ἐκείνου, συνεισελθὼν εἰς τὴν ὕλην ῾μόνη γὰρ δέδοικἀ σῶσόν μοι τὸν χῆνα, μηδὲ περιίδῃς ἀτελῆ μοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν γενόμενον. Τάχα δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἀετὸν ἀποκτενεῖς καὶ οὐκέτι πολλοὺς ὑμῶν ἄρνας καὶ ἐρίφους ἁρπάσει. Τὴν δὲ ἀγέλην τέως φρουρήσει Χλόη: πάντως αὐτὴν ἴσασιν αἱ αἶγες ἀεί σοι συννέμουσαν.’

  3.16 The next day, having gone out again on pretence of visiting her sick neighbour, she proceeded straight to the oak under which Daphnis and Chloe were sitting, and, pretending to be in great distress, cried: “Help me, Daphnis: I am most unhappy. An eagle has just carried off the finest of my twenty geese: but, as the burden was a heavy one, he could not carry it up to the top of the rock, his usual refuge, but has alighted with his prey at the end of the wood. In the name of the Nymphs and Pan yonder, I beseech you, go with me into the forest, for I am afraid to go alone: save my goose, and do not leave the number of my flock imperfect. Perhaps you will also be able to slay the eagle, and he will no longer carry off your kids and lambs. Meanwhile, Chloe can look after your goats: they know her as well as you: for you always tend your flocks together.”

  Οὐδὲν τῶν μελλόντων ὑποπτεύσας ὁ Δάφνις εὐθὺς ἀνίσταται καὶ ἀράμενος τὴν καλαύροπα κατόπιν ἠκολούθει τῇ Λυκαινίῳ: ἡ δὲ ἡγεῖτο ὡς μακροτάτω τῆς Χλόης. Καὶ ἐπειδὴ κατὰ τὸ πυκνότατον ἐγένοντο, πηγῆς πλησίον καθίσαι κελεύσασα αὐτὸν ‘ἐρᾷς’ εἶπε ‘Δάφνι, Χλόης: τοῦτο ἔμαθον ἐγὼ νύκτωρ παρὰ τῶν Νυμφῶν. Δἰ ὀνείρατος ἐμοὶ τὰ χθιζά σου διηγήσαντο δάκρυα καὶ ἐκέλευσάν σε σῶσαι διδαξαμένην τὰ ἔρωτος ἔργα. Τὰ δ̓ ἐστὶν οὐ φιλήματα καὶ περιβολαὶ καὶ οἷα δρῶσι κριοὶ καὶ τράγοι: ἄλλα ταῦτα πηδήματα καὶ τῶν ἐκεῖ γλυκύτερα: πρόσεστι γὰρ αὐτοῖς χρόνος μακροτέρας ἡδονῆς. Εἰ δή σοι φίλον ἀπηλλάχθαι κακῶν καὶ ἐν πείρᾳ γενέσθαι τῶν ζητουμένων τερπνῶν, ἴθι, παραδίδου μοι τερπνὸν σαυτὸν μαθητήν: ἐγὼ δὲ χαριζομένη ταῖς Νύμφαις ἐκεῖνα διδάξω.’

  3.17 Daphnis, suspecting nothing of what was to come, immediately got up, took his crook and followed Lycaenium. She took him as far from Chloe as possible, and, when they had come to the thickest part of the forest, she bade him sit down near a fountain, and said: “Daphnis, you are in love with Chloe: the Nymphs revealed this to me last night. They told me in a dream of the tears you shed yesterday, and bade me relieve you of your trouble by teaching you the mysteries of love. These consist not in kisses and embraces alone, or the practices of sheep and goats, but in connexion far more delightful than these: for the pleasure lasts longer. If then you wish to be freed from your troubles and to try the delights of which you are in search, come, put yourself in my hands, a delightful pupil: out of gratitude to the Nymphs, I will be your instructress.”

  Οὐκ ἐκαρτέρησεν ὁ Δάφνις ὑφ̓ ἡδονῆς, ἀλλ̓ ἅτε ἄγροικος καὶ αἰπόλος καὶ ἐρῶν καὶ νέος, πρὸ τῶν ποδῶν καταπεσὼν τὴν Λυκαίνιον ἱκέτευεν ὅτι τάχιστα διδάξαι τὴν τέχνην, δἰ ἧς ὃ βούλεται δράσει Χλόην: καὶ ὥσπερ τι μέγα καὶ θεόπεμπτον ἀληθῶς μέλλων διδάσκεσθαι καὶ ἔριφον αὐτῇ σηκίτην δώσειν ἐπηγγείλατο καὶ τυροὺς ἁπαλοὺς πρωτορρύτου γάλακτος καὶ τὴν αἶγα αὐτήν. Εὑροῦσα δὴ ἡ Λυκαίνιον αἰπολικὴν ἀφθονίαν, οἵαν οὐ προσεδόκησεν, ἤρχετο παιδεύειν τὸν Δάφνιν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον. Ἐκέλευσεν αὐτὸν καθίσαι πλησίον αὐτῆς, ὡς εἶχε, καὶ φιλήματα φιλεῖν οἷα εἰώθει καὶ ὅσα, καὶ φιλοῦντα ἅμα περιβάλλειν καὶ κατακλίνεσθαι χαμαί. Ὡς δὲ ἐκαθέσθη καὶ ἐφίλησε καὶ κατεκλίνη, μαθοῦσα ἐνεργεῖν δυνάμενον καὶ σφριγῶντα, ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς ἐπὶ πλευρὰν κατακλίσεως ἀνίστησιν, αὑτὴν δὲ ὑποστορέσασα ἐντέχνως ἐς τὴν τέως ζητουμένην ὁδὸν ἦγε. Τὸ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν οὐδὲν περιειργάζετο ξένον: αὐτὴ γὰρ ἡ φύσις λοιπὸν ἐπαίδευσε τὸ πρακτέον.

  3.18 Daphnis, at these words, could no longer contain himself for joy: but, being a simple countryman and goatherd, young and amorous, he threw himself at her feet and begged her to teach him without delay the art which would enable him to do to Chloe what he desired: and, as if it had been some profound and heaven-sent secret, he promised to give her a kid lately weaned, fresh cheeses made of new milk, and even the mother herself. Lycaenium seeing, from his generous offer, that Daphnis was more simple than she had imagined, began to instruct him in the following manner. She ordered him to sit down by her side just as he was, and to kiss her as he had been accustomed to kiss Chloe, and, while kissing, to embrace her and lie down by her side. When he had done so, Lycaenium, finding that he was ready for action and inflamed with desire, lifted him up a little, and, cleverly slipping under him, set him on the road he had sought so long in vain: and, without more ado, Nature herself taught him the rest.

  Τελεσθείσης δὲ τῆς ἐρωτικῆς παιδαγωγίας ὁ μὲν Δάφνις ἔτι ποιμενικὴν γνώμην ἔχων ὥρμητο τρέχειν ἐπὶ τὴν Χλόην καὶ ὅσα ἐπεπαίδευτο δρᾶν αὐτίκα, καθάπερ δεδοικὼς μὴ βραδύνας ἐπιλάθοιτο: ἡ δὲ Λυκαίνιον κατασχοῦσα αὐτὸν ἔλεξεν ὧδε ‘ἔτι καὶ ταῦτά σε δεῖ μαθεῖν, Δάφνι. Ἐγὼ γυνὴ τυγχάνουσα πέπονθα νῦν οὐδέν: πάλαι γάρ με ταῦτα ἀνὴρ ἄλλος ἐπαίδευσε, μισθὸν τὴν παρθενίαν λαβών: Χλόη δὲ συμπαλαίουσά σοι ταύτην τὴν πάλην καὶ οἰμώξεται καὶ κλαύσεται καὶ αἵματι ῥεύσεται πολλῷ καθάπερ πεφονευμένη. Ἀλλὰ σὺ τὸ αἷμα μὴ φοβηθῇς, ἀλλ̓ ἡνίκα ἂν πείσῃς αὐτήν σοι παρασχεῖν, ἄγαγε αὐτὴν εἰς τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον, ἵνα, κἂν βοήσῃ, μηδεὶς ἀκούσῃ, κἂν δακρύσῃ, μηδεὶς ἴδῃ, κἂν αἱμαχθῇ, λούσηται τῇ πηγῇ: καὶ μέμνησο ὅτι σε ἄνδρα ἐγὼ πρὸ Χλόης πεποίηκα.’

  3.19 When this lesson
in the mysteries of Love was finished, Daphnis, still as simple as before, would have hastened at once to Chloe, to teach her all that he had learnt, for fear of forgetting it, if he delayed. But Lycaenium stopped him, and said: “There is something else you must know, Daphnis: I am a woman, and you have not hurt me: for, long ago, another man taught me what I have just taught you, and took my maidenhead as his reward. But Chloe, when she enters upon this struggle with you for the first time, will weep and cry out, and will bleed as if she had been wounded. But you need not be afraid at the sight of the blood: when you have persuaded her to yield to your desire, bring her here, where, if she cries, no one can hear her; if she weeps, no one can see her; if she bleeds, she can wash herself in the spring. And never forget that I made you a man before Chloe.”

  Ἡ μὲν οὖν Λυκαίνιον τοσαῦτα ὑποθεμένη κατ̓ ἄλλο μέρος τῆς ὕλης ἀπῆλθεν, ὡς ἔτι ζητοῦσα τὸν χῆνα: ὁ δὲ Δάφνις εἰς λογισμὸν ἄγων τὰ εἰρημένα, τῆς μὲν πρότερον ὁρμῆς ἀπήλλακτο, διοχλεῖν δὲ τῇ Χλόῃ περιττότερον ὤκνει φιλήματος καὶ περιβολῆς, μήτε βοῆσαι θέλων αὐτὴν ὡς πρὸς πολέμιον, μήτε δακρῦσαι ὡς ἀλγοῦσαν, μήτε αἱμαχθῆναι καθάπερ πεφονευμένην: ἀρτιμαθὴς γὰρ ὢν ἐδεδοίκει τὸ αἷμα καὶ ἐνόμιζεν ὅτι ἄρα ἐκ μόνου τραύματος αἷμα γίνεται. Γνοὺς δὲ τὰ συνήθη τέρπεσθαι μετ̓ αὐτῆς ἐξέβη τῆς ὕλης: καὶ ἐλθὼν ἵνα ἐκάθητο στεφανίσκον ἴων πλέκουσα, τόν τε χῆνα τῶν τοῦ ἀετοῦ ὀνύχων ἐψεύσατο ἐξαρπάσαι καὶ περιφὺς ἐφίλησεν, οἷον ἐν τῇ τέρψει Λυκαίνιον: τοῦτο γὰρ ἐξῆν ὡς ἀκίνδυνον: ἡ δὲ τὸν στέφανον ἐφήρμοσεν αὐτοῦ τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ τὴν κόμην ἐφίλησεν ὡς τῶν ἴων κρείττονα. Κἀκ τῆς πήρας προκομίσασα παλάθης μοῖραν καὶ ἄρτους τινὰς ἔδωκε φαγεῖν: καὶ ἐσθίοντος ἀπὸ τοῦ στόματος ἥρπαζε καὶ οὕτως ἤσθιεν ὥσπερ νεοττὸς ὄρνιθος.

  3.20 After she had given him this advice, Lycaenium went off to another part of the wood, as if she was still looking for her goose. Daphnis, thinking over what she had said, felt his passion somewhat cooled, and hesitated to press Chloe to grant him anything more than kisses and embraces. He did not wish to make her cry out, as if she was being attacked by an enemy, or to make her weep, as if she were in pain, or to make her bleed, as if she had been wounded: for, being a novice in the art of love, he was afraid of this blood, thinking it impossible that it could proceed from anything but a wound. He accordingly left the wood, resolved to enjoy himself with her in the usual way, and, when he reached the place where she was sitting weaving a chaplet of violets, he pretended that he had rescued the goose from the eagle’s claws: then he embraced and kissed her, as he had kissed Lycaenium while they toyed together: for this at least he thought was free from danger. Chloe crowned his head with the chaplet, and kissed his hair, which smelt sweeter to her than the violets: then she took out of her wallet a piece of fruit-cake and some bread and gave him to eat; and, while he was eating, she would snatch a morsel from his mouth, and eat it, just like a young bird pecking from its mother’s beak.

  Ἐσθιόντων δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ περιττότερα φιλούντων ὧν ἤσθιον, ναῦς ἁλιέων ὤφθη παραπλέουσα. Ἄνεμος μὲν οὐκ ἦν, γαλήνη δὲ ἦν καὶ ἐρέττειν ἐδόκει. Καὶ ἤρεττον ἐρρωμένως: ἠπείγοντο γὰρ νεαλεῖς ἰχθῦς εἰς τὴν πόλιν διασώσασθαι τῶν τινι πλουσίων. Οἷον οὖν εἰώθασι ναῦται δρᾶν ἐς καμάτων ἀμέλειαν, τοῦτο κἀκεῖνοι δρῶντες τὰς κώπας ἀνέφερον. Εἷς μὲν αὐτοῖς κελευστὴς ναυτικὰς ᾖδεν ᾠδάς, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ καθάπερ χορὸς ὁμοφώνως κατὰ καιρὸν τῇ ἐκείνου φωνῇ ἐβόων. Ἡνίκ̓ οὖν ἐν ἀναπεπταμένῃ τῇ θαλάττῃ ταῦτα ἔπραττον, ἠφανίζετο ἡ βοὴ χεομένης τῆς φωνῆς εἰς πολὺν ἀέρα: ἐπεὶ δὲ ἄκρᾳ τινὶ ὑποδραμόντες εἰς κόλπον μηνοειδῆ καὶ κοῖλον εἰσήλασαν, μείζων μὲν ἠκούετο βοή, σαφῆ δὲ ἐξέπιπτεν εἰς τὴν γῆν τὰ τῶν κελευστῶν ᾄσματα. Κοῖλος γὰρ τῷ πεδίῳ αὐλὼν ὑποκείμενος καὶ τὸν ἦχον εἰς αὑτὸν ὡς ὄργανον δεχόμενος πάντων τῶν φθεγγομένων μιμητὴν φωνὴν ἀπεδίδου, ἰδίᾳ μὲν τῶν κωπῶν τὸν ἦχον, ἰδίᾳ δὲ τὴν φωνὴν τῶν ναυτῶν: καὶ ἐγίνετο ἄκουσμα τερπνόν. Φθανούσης γὰρ τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης φωνῆς, ἡ ἐκ τῆς γῆς φωνὴ τοσοῦτον ἐπαύετο βράδιον, ὅσον ἤρξατο.

  3.21 While they were eating, and were even more busily engaged in kissing each other, a fishing-boat came in sight proceeding along the coast. There was no wind, and the sea was calm: wherefore the crew decided to use their oars, and rowed on vigorously, for they were taking some fish that they had just caught to one of the wealthy citizens. After the custom of sailors, in order to lighten their toil, one of them sang a song of the sea, which regulated the movement of the oars, while the rest, like a chorus, joined in with the singer at intervals. As long as they were in the open sea, their song was but faintly heard, since their voices were lost in the expanse of air: but when they ran under a promontory, or entered a deep crescent-shaped bay, their voices sounded louder, and the refrain of their song was heard more distinctly on the land: for the bottom of the bay terminated in a hollow valley, which received the sound like a musical instrument, and gave back an echo which represented separately the plash of the oars and the voice of the singers, delightful to hear: for, when one sound came from the sea, the answering echo from the land took it up, and lasted longer, since it had commenced later.

  Ὁ μὲν οὖν Δάφνις εἰδὼς τὸ πραττόμενον μόνῃ τῇ θαλάττῃ προσεῖχε καὶ ἐτέρπετο τῇ νηὶ παρατρεχούσῃ τὸ πεδίον θᾶττον πτεροῦ καὶ ἐπειρᾶτό τινα διασώσασθαι τῶν ᾀσμάτων, ὡς γένοιτο τῆς σύριγγος μέλη: ἡ δὲ Χλόη τότε πρῶτον πειρωμένη τῆς καλουμένης ἠχοῦς ποτὲ μὲν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἀπέβλεπε, τῶν ναυτῶν κελευόντων, ποτὲ δὲ εἰς τὴν ὕλην ἐπεστρέφετο, ζητοῦσα τοὺς ἀντιφωνοῦντας. Καὶ ἐπεὶ παραπλευσάντων ἦν κἀν τῷ αὐλῶνι σιγή, ἐπυνθάνετο τοῦ Δάφνιδος, εἰ καὶ ὀπίσω τῆς ἄκρας ἐστὶ θάλαττα καὶ ναῦς ἄλλη παρέπλει καὶ ἄλλοι ναῦται τὰ αὐτὰ ᾖδον καὶ ἅμα πάντες σιωπῶσι. Γελάσας οὖν ὁ Δάφνις ἡδὺ καὶ φιλήσας ἥδιον φίλημα καὶ τὸν τῶν ἴων στέφανον ἐκείνῃ περιθεὶς ἤρξατο αὐτῇ μυθολογεῖν τὸν μῦθον τῆς Ἠχοῦς, αἰτήσας, εἰ διδάξειε, μισθὸν παῤ αὐτῆς ἄλλα φιλήματα δέκα.

  3.22 Daphnis, knowing what it was, had eyes for nothing but the sea. He was delighted at the sight of the boat gliding along the coast swifter than a bird on the wing, and endeavoured to catch some of the airs that he might play them on his
pipe. Chloe, who had never heard an echo before, looked first towards the sea, while the fishermen were singing, and then towards the wood, to see whose voices answered. When the boat had passed, all was silent in the valley. Then Chloe asked Daphnis whether there was another sea behind the promontory, or another boat with another crew singing the same strains, and whether they all ceased singing at once. Then Daphnis smiled pleasantly, and kissed her more tenderly; and, placing upon her head the chaplet of violets, began to tell her the story of Echo, demanding as his reward ten kisses more.

  ‘Νυμφῶν, ὦ κόρη, πολὺ γένος, Μελίαι καὶ Δρυάδες καὶ Ἕλειοι: πᾶσαι καλαί, πᾶσαι μουσικαί. Καὶ μιᾶς τούτων θυγάτηρ Ἠχὼ γίνεται, θνητὴ μὲν ὡς ἐκ πατρὸς θνητοῦ, καλὴ δὲ ὡς ἐκ μητρὸς καλῆς. Τρέφεται μὲν ὑπὸ Νυμφῶν, παιδεύεται δὲ ὑπὸ Μουσῶν συρίττειν, αὐλεῖν, τὰ πρὸς λύραν, τὰ πρὸς κιθάραν, πᾶσαν ᾠδήν, ὥστε καὶ παρθενίας εἰς ἄνθος ἀκμάσασα ταῖς Νύμφαις συνεχόρευε, ταῖς Μούσαις συνῇδεν: ἄρρενας δὲ ἔφευγε πάντας, καὶ ἀνθρώπους καὶ θεούς, φιλοῦσα τὴν παρθενίαν. Ὁ Πὰν ὀργίζεται τῇ κόρῃ, τῆς μουσικῆς φθονῶν, τοῦ κάλλους μὴ τυχών, καὶ μανίαν ἐμβάλλει τοῖς ποιμέσι καὶ τοῖς αἰπόλοις. Οἱ δὲ ὥσπερ κύνες ἢ λύκοι διασπῶσιν αὐτὴν καὶ ῥίπτουσιν εἰς πᾶσαν γῆν ἔτι ᾄδοντα τὰ μέλη. Καὶ τὰ μέλη Γῆ χαριζομένη Νύμφαις ἔκρυψε πάντα. Καὶ ἐτήρησε τὴν μουσικὴν καὶ γνώμῃ Μουσῶν ἀφίησι φωνὴν καὶ μιμεῖται πάντα, καθάπερ τότε ἡ κόρη, θεούς, ἀνθρώπους, ὄργανα, θηρία: μιμεῖται καὶ αὐτὸν συρίττοντα τὸν Πᾶνα. Ὁ δὲ ἀκούσας ἀναπηδᾷ καὶ διώκει κατὰ τῶν ὀρῶν, οὐκ ἐρῶν τυχεῖν ἀλλ̓ ἢ τοῦ μαθεῖν, τίς ἐστὶν ὁ λανθάνων μαθητής.’ Ταῦτα μυθολογήσαντα τὸν Δάφνιν οὐ δέκα μόνον φιλήματα ἀλλὰ πάνυ πολλὰ κατεφίλησεν ἡ Χλόη: μικροῦ δὲ καὶ τὰ αὐτὰ εἶπεν ἡ Ἠχώ, καθάπερ μαρτυροῦσα ὅτι μηδὲν ἐψεύσατο.