Ovid – Midae tonsor

Metamorphoses 11.6.180-193

ille quidem cēlāre cupit, turpisque pudōre 180

tempora purpureīs temptat vēlāre tiārīs.

sed solitus longōs ferrō resecāre capillōs

vīderat hoc famulus. quī cum nec prōdere vīsum

dēdecus audēret, cupiēns efferre sub auras,

nec posset reticēre tamen, sēcēdit humumque 185

effodit et, dominī qualēs adspexerit aurēs,

vōce refert parvā terraeque immurmurat haustae,

indiciumque suae vocis tellūre regestā

obruit et scrōbibus tacitus discēdit opertīs.

crēber harundinibus tremulīs ibi surgere lūcus 190

coepit et, ut prīmum plēnō mātūruit annō,

prōdidit agricolam: lēnī nam mōtus ab austrō

obruta verba refert dominīque coarguit aurēs.

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Notes
Meter: dactylic hexameters
180 turpis pudōre expresses the motive: “out of …”; turpis here serves as a noun: “the ugly thing; the disgrace”181 tempora are the temples (of the head) tiāra, -ae, f.: “turban”182 solitus = “accustomed” resecāre = “to cut back, trim”183 vīderat is pluperfect: “had seen” prōdere = “to betray” quī cum nec … audēret = “But since he dared neither …” vīsum, with dēdecus: “seen”, i.e., that he had seen184 cupiēns = “desiring” efferre sub aurās, i.e., bring it out into the open185 nec posset = “but he could not …” reticēre = “to remain silent” sēcēdō, sēcedere, sēcessī, sēcessum: “to go off apart; go off by oneself, withdraw”186 adspexerat = “had witnessed”187 refert = “relates, tells”; vōce is from vox terrae … haustae is dative; haustus, -a, -um: “drained, emptied” immurmurat = “murmurs into”188 indicium = “information, evidence” tellūre from tellūs regestus, -a, -um: “regathered, brought back”189 obruō, obruere = “cover over” scrōbibus … opertīs lit. = “with the trench having been covered over”190 lūcus = “grove, woods” tremulus, -a, -um: “tremulous, quivering”191 coepit = “began” ut prīmum = “as soon as” maturuit = “matured”192 prōdidit = “betrayed”; the agricola here is the tonsor, who sowed the secret in the ground lēnī with ab austrō: “from a gentle southerly wind” mōtus, -a, -um: “moved, stirred, driven”193 obrutus, -a, -um: “buried” coarguit = “exposes, discloses”

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