Page:A translation of the Latin works of Dante Alighieri.djvu/395

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Then,' I replied, 'my joy shall be to bind My brow with laurel and with ivy;—leave Of Mopsus asked.' 'Of Mopsus? Why of him?' The other said. And I myself replied: 'Hast thou not marked the scorn wherewith he greets The speech of Comedy which women's chat Stales on the lip, which the Castalian sisters Blush to receive?' And, Mopsus, here I read Thy verses once again. He shrugged, and said, 'How to our side shall Mopsus, then, be won?'

'A ewe is mine!' I said, 'to thee well known, Choicest of all the rest, who scarce supports, So doth she teem with milk, her udders' weight (Herbage fresh cropt she chews beneath a rock Immense) associate with no flock, nor known To any fold. Of her own will she comes, And never driven, to the milking-pail. Her do I purpose with deft hand to milk. From her ten measures will I fill to send To Mopsus. And do those give heed, the while, To the wanton goats; and learn thy teeth to fix In stubborn crusts.' Such words beneath the oak Did I and Melibœus sing; what time Our humble cot prepared our oaten meal.

10. The Latin (like the translatlon) is ambiguous.