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

in guerdon for the ParadisoThen,' I replied, 'my joy shall be to bind
My brow with laurel and with ivy;—leave [50]
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 [60]
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.