Delphi Complete Works of Longus

by Longus

  1.28 Such were the enjoyments which the summer afforded them. But, in mid-autumn, when the grapes grew ripe, some Tyrian pirates, having embarked on a light Carian vessel, that they might not be suspected of being barbarians, landed on the coast: and, armed with swords and corslets, carried off everything that came into their hands, fragrant wine, a great quantity of wheat, and honey in the honeycomb, besides some cows belonging to Dorcon. They also seized Daphnis as he was wandering on the shore: for Chloe, being a simple girl, for fear of the insolence of the shepherds, did not drive out the flocks of Dryas so early. When the robbers beheld the tall and handsome youth, a more valuable booty than any they could find in the fields, they paid no heed to the goats or the other fields, but carried him off to their ship, weeping and in great distress what to do, and calling the while for Chloe in a loud voice. No sooner had they loosed the cable, and begun to ply their oars, and put out to sea, than Chloe drove down her flock, bringing with her a new pipe as a present to Daphnis. But, seeing the goats scattered hither and thither, and hearing Daphnis calling to her ever louder and louder, thinking no more about her sheep, she flung away the pipe, and ran to Dorcon, to implore his aid.

  Ὁ δὲ ἔκειτο πληγαῖς νεανικαῖς συγκεκομμένος ὑπὸ τῶν λῃστῶν καὶ ὀλίγον ἐμπνέων, αἵματος πολλοῦ χεομένου. Ἰδὼν δὲ τὴν Χλόην καὶ ὀλίγον ἐκ τοῦ πρότερον ἔρωτος ἐμπύρευμα λαβὼν ‘ἐγὼ μὲν’ εἶπε, ‘Χλόη, τεθνήξομαι μετ̓ ὀλίγον: οἱ γάρ με ἀσεβεῖς λῃσταὶ πρὸ τῶν βοῶν μαχόμενον κατέκοψαν ὡς βοῦν. Σὺ δὲ καὶ Δάφνιν σῶσον κἀμοὶ τιμώρησον κἀκείνους ἀπόλεσον. Ἐπαίδευσα τὰς βοῦς ἤχῳ σύριγγος ἀκολουθεῖν καὶ διώκειν τὸ μέλος αὐτῆς, κἂν νέμωνταί που μακράν. Ἴθι δή, λαβοῦσα τὴν σύριγγα ταύτην ἔμπνευσον αὐτῇ μέλος ἐκεῖνο, ὃ Δάφνιν μὲν ἐγώ ποτε ἐδιδαξάμην, Δάφνις δὲ σέ: τὸ δὲ ἐντεῦθεν τῇ σύριγγι μελήσει καὶ τῶν βοῶν ταῖς ἐκεῖ. Χαρίζομαι δέ σοι καὶ τὴν σύριγγα αὐτήν, ᾗ πολλοὺς ἐρίζων καὶ βουκόλους ἐνίκησα καὶ αἰπόλους. Σὺ δὲ ἀντὶ τῶνδε καὶ ζῶντα ἔτι φίλησον καὶ ἀποθανόντα κλαῦσον: κἂν ἴδῃς ἄλλον νέμοντα τὰς βοῦς, ἐμοῦ μνημόνευσον.’

  1.29 She found him lying prostrate on the ground, hacked by the swords of the robbers, and almost dead from loss of blood. But, when he saw Chloe, revived by the smouldering fire of his former passion, he said: “Chloe, dear, I am at the point of death: when I tried to defend my cattle, the accursed brigands hewed me to pieces like an ox. But do you save Daphnis for yourself: avenge me, and destroy them. I have taught my cows to follow the sound of the pipe, and to come when they hear it, however far off they may be feeding. Come, take this pipe, and play the same strain upon it which I once taught Daphnis, and he in turn taught you. Leave the rest to my pipe and my cows that are on yonder ship. I also make you a present of the pipe, with which I have gained the victory over many herdsmen and shepherds. Kiss me once in return, and lament for me when I am dead: and, when you see another tending my cattle, then think of me.”

  Δόρκων μὲν δὴ τοσαῦτα εἰπὼν καὶ φίλημα φιλήσας ὕστατον ἀφῆκεν ἅμα τῷ φιλήματι τὴν ψυχήν: ἡ δὲ Χλόη λαβοῦσα τὴν σύριγγα καὶ ἐνθεῖσα τοῖς χείλεσιν ἐσύριττεν ὡς ἐδύνατο μέγιστον: καὶ αἱ βόες ἀκούουσι καὶ τὸ μέλος γνωρίζουσι καὶ ὁρμῇ μιᾷ μυκησάμεναι πηδῶσιν εἰς τὴν θάλατταν. Βιαίου δὲ πηδήματος εἰς ἕνα τοῖχον τῆς νεὼς γενομένου κἀκ της ἐμπτώσεως τῶν βοῶν κοίλης τῆς θαλάττης διαστάσης στρέφεται μὲν ἡ ναῦς καὶ τοῦ κλύδωνος συνιόντος ἀπόλλυται, οἱ δὲ ἐκπίπτουσιν οὐχ ὁμοίαν ἔχοντες ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ λῃσταὶ τὰς μαχαίρας παρήρτηντο καὶ τὰ ἡμιθωράκια τὰ λεπιδωτὰ ἐνεδέδυντο καὶ κνημῖδας εἰς μέσην κνήμην ὑπεδέδεντο: ὁ δὲ Δάφνις ἀνυπόδητος, ὡς ἐν πεδίῳ νέμων, καὶ ἡμίγυμνος, ὡς ἔτι τῆς ὥρας οὔσης καυματώδους. Ἐκείνους μὲν οὖν ἐπ̓ ὀλίγον νηξαμένους τὰ ὅπλα κατήνεγκεν εἰς βυθόν: ὁ δὲ Δάφνις τὴν μὲν ἐσθῆτα ῥᾳδίως ἀπεδύσατο, περὶ δὲ τὴν νῆξιν ἔκαμνεν, οἷα πρότερον νηχόμενος ἐν ποταμοῖς μόνοις: ὕστερον δὲ παρὰ τῆς ἀνάγκης τὸ πρακτέον διδαχθεὶς εἰς μέσας ὥρμησε τὰς βοῦς, καὶ βοῶν δύο κεράτων ταῖς δύο χερσὶ λαβόμενος ἐκομίζετο μέσος ἀλύπως καὶ ἀπόνως, ὥσπερ ἐλαύνων ἅμαξαν. Νήχεται δὲ ἄρα βοῦς ὅσον οὐδὲ ἄνθρωπος: μόνων λείπεται τῶν ἐνύδρων ὀρνίθων καὶ αὐτῶν ἰχθύων: οὐδ̓ ἂν ἀπόλοιτο βοῦς νηχόμενος, εἰ μὴ τῶν χηλῶν οἱ ὄνυχες περιπέσοιεν διάβροχοι γενόμενοι. Μαρτυροῦσι τῷ λόγῳ μέχρι νῦν πολλοὶ τόποι τῆς θαλάττης, βοὸς πόροι λεγόμενοι.

  1.30 When Dorcon had thus spoken, and had kissed her for the last time, he breathed his last as he spoke and kissed her. Chloe took the pipe, put it to her lips, and blew with all her might. And the cows heard it, and, recognising the strain, began to low, and all with a bound sprang into the sea. As they had leaped from the same side of the vessel, and caused the sea to part, it upset and sank under the waves that closed over it. Those on board were flung into the sea, but with unequal prospect of safety. For the pirates were encumbered with swords, and clad in scaly coats of mail, and greaves reaching halfway down the leg. But Daphnis, who had been tending his flocks, was unshod, and only half clothed, owing to the burning heat. The pirates had only swum a little way, when the weight of their armour dragged them down into the depths: Daphnis easily threw off the clothes he had on, yet it cost him some effort to swim, since he had hitherto only swum in rivers: but soon, under the impulse of necessity, he reached the cows by an effort, and, while with each hand he grasped one by the horns, he was carried along between them without difficulty, or danger, as if he had been driving a cart: for an ox swims far better than any man: it is only inferior to the water-fowl and fishes. An ox would never sink, were it not that the horn falls off his hoofs when it gets wet through. The truth of what I say is borne out by many places on the coast which are still found bearing the name of “Ox fords.”

  Σώζεται μὲν δὴ τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ὁ Δάφνις, δύο κινδύνους παῤ ἐλπίδα πᾶσαν διαφυγών, λῃστηρίου καὶ ναυαγίας: ἐξελθὼν δὲ καὶ τὴν Χλόην ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς γελῶσαν ἅμα καὶ δακρύουσαν εὑρὼν ἐμπίπτει τε αὐτῆς τοῖς κόλποις καὶ ἐπυνθάνετο τί βουλομένη συρίσειεν: ἡ δὲ αὐτῷ διηγεῖται πάντα: τὸν δρόμον τὸν ἐπὶ τὸν Δόρκωνα, τὸ παίδευμα τῶν βοῶν, πῶς κελευσθείη συρίσαι, καὶ ὅτι τέθνηκε Δόρκων: μόνον αἰδεσθεῖσα τὸ φίλημα οὐκ εἶπεν. Ἔδοξε δὴ τιμῆσαι τὸν εὐεργέτην, καὶ ἐλθόντες μετὰ τῶν πρ
οσηκόντων Δόρκωνα θάπτουσι τὸν ἄθλιον. Γῆν μὲν οὖν πολλὴν ἐπένησαν, φυτὰ δὲ ἥμερα πολλὰ ἐφύτευσαν καὶ ἐξήρτησαν αὐτῶν τῶν ἔργων ἀπαρχάς: ἀλλὰ καὶ γάλα κατέσπεισαν καὶ βότρυς κατέθλιψαν καὶ σύριγγας πολλὰς κατέκλασαν. Ἠκούσθη καὶ τῶν βοῶν ἐλεεινὰ μυκήματα καὶ δρόμοι τινὲς ὤφθησαν ἅμα τοῖς μυκήμασιν ἄτακτοι: καὶ ὡς ἐν ποιμέσιν εἰκάζετο καὶ αἰπόλοις, ταῦτα θρῆνος ἦν τῶν βοῶν ἐπὶ βουκόλῳ τετελευτηκότι.

  1.31 Thus Daphnis, against all expectation, was saved from the double danger of the robbers and shipwreck. When he came to land, and found Chloe weeping and smiling through her tears, he threw himself into her arms, and asked her what she had meant by playing on the pipe. And she told him everything, how she had run to Dorcon for help, how his cows had been trained to obey the sound of the pipe, what strain she had been bidden to play, and how Dorcon had died: only, from a feeling of modesty, she said nothing about the kiss she had given him. Then both resolved to honour the memory of their benefactor, and went with his relatives to bury the unhappy Dorcon. They heaped earth over him in abundance, and planted a number of cultivated trees round about, and hung up as an offering to the deceased the first fruits of their labours: they poured libations of milk over his grave, crushed grapes, and broke several shepherds’ pipes. His cows lowed piteously, wandering hither and thither the while: and to the herdsmen and shepherds it seemed that they were mourning for the death of their master.

  Μετὰ δὲ τὸν τοῦ Δόρκωνος τάφον λούει τὸν Δάφνιν ἡ Χλόη πρὸς τὰς Νύμφας ἀγαγοῦσα. Καὶ αὐτὴ τότε πρῶτον Δάφνιδος ὁρῶντος ἐλούσατο τὸ σῶμα λευκὸν καὶ καθαρὸν ὑπὸ κάλλους καὶ οὐδὲν λουτρῶν ἐς κάλλος δεόμενον: καὶ ἄνθη συλλέξαντες, ὅσα τῆς ὥρας ἐκείνης, ἐστεφάνωσαν τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ τὴν τοῦ Δόρκωνος σύριγγα τῆς πέτρας ἐξήρτησαν ἀνάθημα. Καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο ἐλθόντες ἐπεσκόπουν τὰς αἶγας καὶ τὰ πρόβατα. Τὰ δὲ πάντα κατέκειτο μήτε νεμόμενα μήτε βληχώμενα, ἀλλ̓, οἶμαι, τὸν Δάφνιν καὶ τὴν Χλόην ἀφανεῖς ὄντας ποθοῦντα. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ὀφθέντες καὶ ἐβόησαν τὸ σύνηθες καὶ ἐσύρισαν, τὰ μὲν ποίμνια ἀναστάντα ἐνέμετο, αἱ δὲ αἶγες ἐσκίρτων φριματτόμεναι, καθάπερ ἡδόμεναι σωτηρίᾳ συνήθους αἰπόλου. Οὐ μὴν ὁ Δάφνις χαίρειν ἔπειθε τὴν ψυχήν, ἰδὼν τὴν Χλόην γυμνὴν καὶ τὸ πρότερον λανθάνον κάλλος ἐκκεκαλυμμένον. Ἤλγει τὴν καρδίαν ὡς ἐσθιομένην ὑπὸ φαρμάκων, καὶ αὐτῷ τὸ πνεῦμα ποτὲ μὲν λάβρον ἐξέπνει, καθάπερ τινὸς διώκοντος αὐτόν, ποτὲ δὲ ἐξέλειπε, καθάπερ ἐκδαπανηθὲν ἐν ταῖς πρότερον ἐπιδρομαῖς. Ἐδόκει τὸ λουτρὸν εἶναι τῆς θαλάττης φοβερώτερον: ἐνόμιζε τὴν ψυχὴν ἔτι παρὰ τοῖς λῃσταῖς μένειν, οἷα νέος καὶ ἄγροικος καὶ ἔτι ἀγνοῶν τὸ ἔρωτος λῃστήριον.

  1.32 After the burial of Dorcon, Chloe led Daphnis to the grotto of the Nymphs, where she washed him, and then she herself, for the first time in Daphnis’s presence, also washed her own fair and beautiful person, which needed no bath to set off its beauty: then, plucking the flowers that were in season, they crowned the statues of the Nymphs, and hung up Dorcon’s pipe against the rock as an offering. After this, they went to look after their sheep and goats, which were all lying on the ground, neither feeding nor bleating, but, I believe, pining for the absent Daphnis and Chloe. But, as soon as they came in sight, and began to shout and pipe as usual, they jumped up and began to feed: the goats skipped wantonly, as if delighted at the safe return of their master. Daphnis however could not bring himself to feel happy: for, since he had seen Chloe naked, in all her beauty formerly hidden and then revealed, he felt a pain in his heart, as if it was consumed by poison. His breath now came rapidly, as if someone was pursuing him: and now failed him, as if exhausted in previous attacks. Chloe’s bath seemed to him more terrible than the sea. He thought that his soul was still amongst the pirates, for he was merely a young rustic and as yet knew nothing of the thievish tricks of Love.

  BOOK II.

  Ἤδη δὲ τῆς ὀπώρας ἀκμαζούσης καὶ ἐπείγοντος τοῦ τρυγητοῦ πᾶς ἦν κατὰ τοὺς ἀγροὺς ἐν ἔργῳ: ὁ μὲν ληνοὺς ἐπεσκεύαζεν, ὁ δὲ πίθους ἐξεκάθαιρεν, ὁ δὲ ἀρρίχους ἔπλεκεν: ἔμελέ τινι δρεπάνης μικρᾶς ἐς βότρυος τομὴν καὶ ἑτέρῳ λίθου θλῖψαι τὰ ἔνοινα τῶν βοτρύων δυναμένου καὶ ἄλλῳ λύγου ξηρᾶς πληγαῖς κατεξασμένης, ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ φωτὶ νύκτωρ τὸ γλεῦκος φέροιτο. Ἀμελήσαντες οὖν καὶ ὁ Δάφνις καὶ ἡ Χλόη τῶν αἰγῶν καὶ τῶν προβάτων, χειρὸς ὠφέλειαν ἄλλοις μετεδίδοσαν. Ὁ μὲν ἐβάσταζεν ἐν ἀρρίχοις βότρυς καὶ ἐπάτει ταῖς ληνοῖς ἐμβαλὼν καὶ εἰς τοὺς πίθους ἔφερε τὸν οἶνον: ἡ δὲ τροφὴν παρεσκεύαζε τοῖς τρυγῶσι καὶ ἐνέχει ποτὸν αὐτοῖς πρεσβύτερον οἶνον καὶ τῶν ἀμπέλων δὲ τὰς ταπεινοτέρας ἀπετρύγα. Πᾶσα γὰρ ἡ κατὰ τὴν Λέσβον ἄμπελος ταπεινή, οὐ μετέωρος οὐδὲ ἀναδενδράς, ἀλλὰ κάτω τὰ κλήματα ἀποτείνουσα καὶ ὥσπερ κιττὸς νεμομένη: καὶ παῖς ἂν ἐφίκοιτο βότρυος ἄρτι τὰς χεῖρας ἐκ σπαργάνων λελυμένος.

  2.1 It was now the middle of autumn, and the vintage was close at hand; everyone was in the fields, busily intent upon his work. Some were repairing the wine-presses, others cleaning out the jars: some were weaving baskets of osier, and others sharpening short sickles for cutting the grapes: some were preparing stones to crush those full of wine, others preparing dry twigs which had been well beaten, to be used as torches to light the drawing off of the new wine by night. Daphnis and Chloe, having abandoned the care of their flocks, assisted each other in these tasks. Daphnis carried bunches of grapes in baskets, threw them into the press and trod them, and drew off the juice into jars: while Chloe prepared food for the vintagers, and poured some of the older wine for them to drink, while at the same time she picked some of the lowest bunches from the trees. For all the vines in Lesbos grow low, and are not trained to trees: their branches hang down to the ground, spreading like ivy, so that even a child that is, so to speak, only just out of its swaddling clothes, could reach the grapes.

  Οἷον οὖν εἰκὸς ἐν ἑορτῇ Διονύσου καὶ οἴνου γενέσεως αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες ἐκ τῶν πλησίον ἀγρῶν εἰς ἐπικουρίαν κεκλημέναι τῷ Δάφνιδι τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐπέβαλλον καὶ ἐπῄνουν ὡς ὅμοιον τῷ Διονύσῳ τὸ κάλλος, καί τις τῶν θρασυτέρων καὶ ἐφίλησε καὶ τὸν Δάφνιν παρώξυνε, τὴν δὲ Χλόην ἐλύπησεν: οἱ δὲ ἐν ταῖς ληνοῖς ποικίλας φωνὰς
ἔρριπτον ἐπὶ τὴν Χλόην καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπί τινα Βάκχην Σάτυροι μανικώτερον ἐπήδων καὶ εὔχοντο γενέσθαι ποίμνια καὶ ὑπ̓ ἐκείνης νέμεσθαι: ὥστε αὖ πάλιν ἡ μὲν ἥδετο, Δάφνις δὲ ἐλυπεῖτο. Εὔχοντο δὲ δὴ ταχέως παύσασθαι τὸν τρυγητὸν καὶ λαβέσθαι τῶν συνήθων χωρίων καὶ ἀντὶ τῆς ἀμούσου βοῆς ἀκούειν σύριγγος ἢ τῶν ποιμνίων αὐτῶν βληχωμένων. Καὶ ἐπεὶ διαγενομένων ὀλίγων ἡμερῶν αἱ μὲν ἄμπελοι ἐτετρύγηντο, πίθοι δὲ τὸ γλεῦκος εἶχον, ἔδει δὲ οὐκέτ̓ οὐδὲν πολυχειρίας, κατήλαυνον τὰς ἀγέλας ἐς τὸ πεδίον καὶ μάλα χαίροντες τὰς Νύμφας προσεκύνουν, βότρυς αὐταῖς κομίζοντες ἐπὶ κλημάτων, ἀπαρχὰς τοῦ τρυγητοῦ. Οὐδὲ τὸν πρότερον χρόνον ἀμελῶς ποτε παρῆλθον, ἀλλ̓ ἀεὶ ἀρχόμενοι νομῆς προσήδρευον καὶ ἐκ νομῆς ἀνιόντες προσεκύνουν: καὶ πάντως τι ἐπέφερον, ἢ ἄνθος ἢ ὀπώραν ἢ φυλλάδα χλωρὰν ἢ γάλακτος σπονδήν. Καὶ τούτων μὲν ὕστερον ἀμοιβὰς ἐκομίσαντο παρὰ τῶν θεῶν: τότε δὲ κύνες, φασίν, ἐκ δεσμῶν λυθέντες ἐσκίρτων, ἐσύριττον, ᾖδον, τοῖς τράγοις καὶ τοῖς προβάτοις συνεπάλαιον.