insomuch that Hesiod and Pindar call him Nymphage tes, that is, the captain of the Nymphs: the poets generally gave him fifty. Phabus likewise had nymphs called Aganippide and Muse. Innumerable were the nymphs of Bacchus, who were called by different names, Baccha, Bassarides, Eloides, and Thyades. Hunting nymphs attended upon Diana; sea nymphs, called Nereïdes, waited upon Tethys ; and fourteen very beautiful nymphs belonged to Juno. Out of all which I will only give you the history of two.

Arethusa was one of Diana's nymphs: her virtue was as great as her beauty. The pleasantness of the place invited her to cool herself in the waters of a fine clear river: Alpheus, the god of the river, assumed the shape of a man, and arose out of the water he first saluted her with kind words, and then approached near to her; but away she flies, and he follows her; and when he had almost overtaken her, she was dissolved with fear (by the assistance of Diana, whom she implored) into a fountain. Alpheus then resumed his former shape of water, and endeavoured to mix his stream with hers, but in vain; for to this day Arethusa continues her flight, and by her passage through a cavity of the earthd she goes under ground into Sicily. Alpheus also follows by the like subterraneous passages, till at last he unites and marries his own streams to those of Arethusa in that island.

Echo was a nymph formerly, though nothing of her

a

Nuμpayerns, id est, Nympharum dux. Hesiod et Pind. in

Isthm.

b -Bis septem præstanti corpore Nymphæ. Virg. Æn. 1.

c

d

e

Twice seven the charming daughters of the main,

Around my person wait, and bear my train.

-Sed enim cognoscit amatas

Ammis aquas; positoque viri, quod sumpserat, ore,
Vertitur in proprias, ut se illi misceat, undas.
The river his beloved waters knew ;

And putting off th' assumed shape of man,
Resum'd his own, and in a current ran.

Virg. Æn. 3.

Corpus adhuc Echo, non vox erat; et tamen usum

T

Ov. Met. 5.

but her voice remains now, and even when she was alive, she was so far deprived of her speech, that she could only repeat the last words of those sentences which she heard. Juno inflicted this punishment on her for her talkativeness: for when she came down to discover Jupiter's amours with the nymphs, Echo detained her very long with her tedious discourses, that the nymphs might have an opportunity to escape, and hide themselves. This Echo by chance met Narcissus rambling in the woods; and she so admired his beauty that she fell in love with him: she discovered her love to him, courted him, followed him, and embraced the proud youth in her arms; but he broke from her embraces, and hastily fled from her sight: upon which the despised nymph hid herself in the woods, and pined away with grief, so that every part of her but her voice was consumed, and her bones were turned into

stones.

Ov. Met. 3.

Garrula non alium, quam nunc habet, eris habebat ;
Reddere de multis ut verba novissima posset.
She was a nymph, though only now a sound;
Yet of her tongue no other use was found,
Than now she has; which never could be more,
Than to repeat what she had heard before.
a Fecerat hoc Funo, quia cum deprendere posset
Sub Jove sæpe suo nymphas in monte jacentes,
Illa deam longo prudens sermone tenebat,
Dum fugerent nymphæ.

This change impatient Juno's anger wrought,

Who, when her Jove she o'er the mountains sought,

Was oft by Echo's tedious tales misled,

Till the shy nymphs to caves and grottos fled.

Vox tantum, atque ossa supersunt :

Vox manet: ossa ferunt lapidis traxisse figuram ;
Inde latet sylvis, nulloque in monte videtur,
Omnibus auditur: sonus est qui vivit in illa.
Her flesh consumes and moulders with despair,
And all her body's juice is turn'd to air;
So wond'rous are the effects of restless pain,
That nothing but her voice and bones remain ;
Nay, ev'n the very bones at last are gone,
And metamorphos'd to a thoughtless stone,
Yet still the voice does in the woods survive;
The form's departed, but the sound's alive.

Nurcissus met with as bad a fate; for though he would neither love others, nor admit of their love, yet he fell so deeply in love with his own beauty, that the love of himself proved his ruin. His thirst led him to a fountain whose waters were clear and bright as silver: when he stooped down to drink, he saw his own image; he stayed gazing at it, was wonderfully pleased with the beauty of it, insomuch that he fell passionately in love with it. A blittle water only separated him from this beloved object. He continued a clong time admiring this beloved picture, before he discovered what it was that he so passionately adored; but at length the unhappy creature perceived, that the torture he suffered was from the love of his own self. In a word, his passion conquered him, and the power of love was greater than he could resist, so that, by degrees, the wasted away and consumed, and at last, by

a Fons erat illimis nitidis argenteus undis.
There was by chance a living fountain near,
Whose unpolluted channel ran so clear,
That it seem'd liquid silver.

b Exiguâ prohibetur aquâ

C

d

e

A little drop of water does remove

And keep him from the object of his love.

Sed opaca fusus in herba

Spectat inexpieto mendacem lumine formam,
Perque oculos perit ipse suos.

He lies extended on the shady grass,
Viewing with greedy eyes the pictur'd face,
And on himself brings ruin.

-Flammas, inquit, moveoque, feroque:

Quod cupio mecum est: inopem me copia fecit.

O utinam à nostro secedere corpore passem !

Ovid. Met. 3.

Votum in amante novum est, vellem quod amamus abesset.

My love does vainly on myself return,

And fans the cruel flames with which I burn.
The thing desir'd I still about me bore,
And too much plenty has confirm'd me poor.
O that I from my much-lov'd self could go,
A strange request, yet would to God 'twere so!
-Attenuatus amore

Liquitur, et cæco paulatim carpitur igne.

No vigour, strength, or beauty does remain,
But hidden flames consuine the wasting swain.

the favour of the gods, was turned into a daffodil, a flower called by his own name.

Now let us proceed to the inferior rural deities, as they must not be entirely neglected.

=

CHAPTER XXV.

THE INFERIOR RURAL DEITIES.

THE images of these gods and goddesses are so small, that we cannot discern their figures: therefore I will only recount their names.

Rusina, the goddess to whose care all the parts of the country are committed.

Collina, she who reigns over the hills.

Valloniu, who holds her empire in the vallies. Hippona, who presides over the horses and stables. This was the name also of a beautiful woman, begotten by Fulvius from a mare.

Bubona, who hath the care of the oxen.

Seia, who takes care of the seed, while it lies buried in the earth. She is likewise called dSegetia, because she takes care of the blade as soon as it appears green above the ground.

Runcina is the goddess of weeding. She is invoked when the fields are to be weeded.

Occator is the god of harrowing. He is worshipped when the fields are to be harrowed.

Sator and Sarritor are the gods of sowing and raking.

To the god Robigus were celebrated festivals called Robigalia, which were usually observed upon the seventh

a

Ab Tos, equus. Apuleius Asin. aur. 1. 3. lian. Apol. CA serendo nomen habet Seia, ut. à segete Plin. 1. 8. e Cum runcantur agri.

cantur agri Serv. in Geo. 1. Plin. l. 18. c. 29. à serendo et sarriendo.

of the kalends of May, to avert the ablasting of the

corn.

Stercutius, Stercutus, or Sterculius, called likewise. Sterquilinius and Picumnus, is the god who first invented the art of "dunging the ground.

Proserpine is the goddess who presides over the corn, when it is sprouted pretty high above the earth. We shall speak more of her when we discourse concerning the infernal deities.

Nodosus, or Nodotus, is the god that takes care of the knots and joints of the stalks.

Volusia is the goddess who takes care to fold the blade round the corn, before the beard breaks out, which foldings of the blade contain the beard as pods do the seed.

Patelina, who takes care of the corn fafter it is broken out of the pod and appears.

The goddess Flora presides over the ear when it blossoms.

Lactura, or Lactucina, who is next to Flora, presides over the ear when it begins to have milk.

And Matura takes care that the ear comes to a just maturity.

Hostilina was worshipped that the ears of the corn migh grow even, and produce a crop proportionable to the seed sown.

Tutelina, or Tutulina, hath the tutelage of corn when it is reaped.

Pilumnus invented the art of "kneading and baking bread. He is commonly joined with Picumnus, his brother, whom we mentioned above.

a Ad avertendam à satis rubiginem.

tur.

b Ita dicitur à stercore.

g Cum

Cum super terram seges proserpserit. d Præponitur nodis geniculisque culmorum. e Folliculorum involucris præficif Cum spica patet postquam è folliculis emersit. florescit. h Cum lactescere. i Ab hostire, quod veterum linguâ significabat idem quod æquare. Augustinus de Civitate jam laudatus. kA pilando, id est, condensando et farinam subigendo. Vid. Serv. in Æn. 9.