Kitap 9
Of moisture, gore profuse; his mouth was filled
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And gaping nostrils, and his tears were blood.
Brimmed full his veins; his very sweat was red;
In sleep was victim, for around his heart
Stood still the blood congealed: no pain he felt
Of venomous tooth, but swift upon him fell
Death, and he sought the shades; more swift to kill
No draught in poisonous cups from ripened plants
Of direst growth Sabaean wizards brew.
Lo! Upon branchless trunk a serpent, named
By Libyans Jaculus, rose in coils to dart
His venom from afar. Through Paullus' brain
It rushed, nor stayed; for in the wound itself
Was death. Then did they know how slowly flies,
Flung from a sling, the stone; how gently speed
Through air the shafts of Scythia. What availed,
Murrus, the lance by which thou didst transfix
A Basilisk? Swift through the weapon ran
The poison to his hand: he drew his sword
And severed arm and shoulder at a blow:
Then gazed secure upon his severed hand
Which perished as he looked. So hadst thou died,
And such had been thy fate!
A scorpion had strength o'er death and fate?
Yet with his threatening coils and barb erect
He won the glory of Orion According to one story Orion, for his assault on Diana, was killed by the Scorpion, who received his reward by being made into a constellation. slain;
So bear the stars their witness. And who would fear
Thy haunts, Salpuga? A sort of venomous ant. Yet the Stygian Maids
Have given thee power to snap the fatal threads.
Thus nor the day with brightness, nor the night
With darkness gave them peace. The very earth
On which they lay they feared; nor leaves nor straw
They piled for couches, but upon the ground
Unshielded from the fates they laid their limbs,
Cherished beneath whose warmth in chill of night
The frozen pests found shelter; in whose jaws
Harmless the while, the lurking venom slept.
