Ovid's Metamorphoses Book 1: The Creation Story
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THUS WHEN THAT WHOEVER MADE THE HAVING BEEN LAID OUT THING OF THE GODS,
it [chaos] SPLIT UP the mess AND REDUCED [GATHERED] THE HAVING BEEN DIVIDED THING INTO SECTIONS,
HE REDUCED THE EARTH IN THE BEGINNING, LEST EQUAL NOT EXIST
FROM ALL PARTS, IT COLLECTED THE KIND OF BIG IN THE ORB.
THEN IT ORDERED THE SEAS TO POUR OUT AND SWELL BY RAPID WINDS
AND TO ENVELOP THE SHORE OF THE ENCIRCLED EARTH;
AND IT ADDED SPRINGS AND GIANT LAKES AND POND-LAKES
AND SLOPING RIVERS GIRDED WITH OBLIQUE BANKS,
WHICH, SOME SEPARATE BY LOCATION ARE DRINKEN BY THEMSELVES {THE RIVERS},
OTHERS ARRIVE IN THE SEA AND WITH THE SEA HAVING BEEN TAKEN IN
IN FRONT OF THE RIVERS OF MORE IDLE WATERS THEY PULSED THE BEACHES.
AND IT ORDERED THE SEA TO TO BE EXTENDED, THE VALLEYS TO SETTLE,
THE FORESTS TO BE DEFENDED WITH LEAVES, THE STONY MOUNTAINS TO RISE,
AND AS TWO ZONES CUT WITH ITS RIGHT HAND THE SKY
AND WITH THE LEFT PART, THE SAME AMOUNT, MORE BURNING IS FIFTH IN THOSE,
SO THE CONCERN OF THE GOD SEPARATED THE ENCLOSED LOAD WITH THE SAME NUMBER,
AND JUST AS MANY REGIONS WERE PRESSED TO EARTH.
OF WHICH IS NOT HABITABLE, WHICH IS THE MIDDLE, BECAUSE OF HEAT;
TALL SNOW HIDES TWO; BETWEEN THE TWO IT ARRANGED THE SAME
AND IT GAVE THE PROPER MIXTURE BY MEANS OF MIXED FIRE WITH COLD.
THE AIR THREATENED THESE THINGS WHICH ARE MORE ONEROUS BY MEANS OF SUCH PASSION
BY HOW MUCH THE WEIGHT OF THE LEVEL {WATER} IS LIGHTER THAN THE WEIGHT OF THE EARTH.
IT ORDERED THE FOG TO PAUSE THERE, THE CLOUDS TO PAUSE THERE
AND THE THUNDERS ABOUT TO DISTURB THE CIVILIZED MINDS TO PAUSE,
AND WINDS MAKING LIGHTNING WITH A FLASH TO PAUSE.
ALSO TO THESE THE BUILDER ALLOWED THE ABOUT TO BE HAD AIR
NOT ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD; NOW IT WAS BARELY OBSTRUCTED BY THEM,
WITH HIS EVERY BREEZE RULES IN A DIFFERENT REGION,
SO THAT THEY DON’T MANGLE THE WORLD; SO GREAT IS THE DISCORD OF BROTHERS.
EURUS RETREATED TO THE DAWN AND THE ARAB REGION
WITH THE SUPPLIED RAY OF MORNING AND PERSIAN YOKE;
AND THE NEXT KINGDOMS, OF WHICH THE SHORES WARM UP BY THE SUN,
WERE WEST WITH WESTERNLY ZEPHYROS; HORRIBLE BOREAS INVADES
SCYTHIA AND THE Seven bear Stars; OPPOSITE LAND MOISTENS
BY THE SOUTH WIND WITH CONSTANT CLOUDS AND RAIN.
ALSO ABOVE THIS HE ESTABLISHED A CLEAR SKY LACKING WEIGHT
AND NOT HAVING ANYTHING OF EARTHLY GROUND.
THUSLY IT HAD BARELY SEPARATED ALL WITH A FIXED BOUNDARY,
WHEN STARS, WHICH HAD BEEN OPPRESSED DARK WITH FOG FOR A LONG TIME,
BEGAN TO SEETHE IN THE WHOLE SKY;
AND THE AREA IS NOT IN ANY ORB WITH ITS OWN ANIMALS,
THE STARS AND FORMS OF GODS HAVE LONELY HIGH PLACES,
THE ABOUT TO BE HABITABLE WATERS WENT TO THE BRIGHT FISHES,
THE LAND SEIZED THE WILD BEASTS, THE AIR SEIZED THE AGILE BIRDS.
THE ANIMAL MORE SACRED THAN THESE AND THE MORE CAPABLE OF HIGH REASON
STILL IT HAD NEGLECTED BECAUSE ALSO IT IS ABLE TO RULE OVER AMONG THE OTHERS:
THE HUMAN IS BORN, OR THAT CRAFTSMAN OF ALL THINGS
MADE THEM WITH DIVINE SEED, THE RACE OF A BETTER WORLD,
OR THE FRESH AND RECENTLY SEDUCED BY THE HIGH SKY EARTH
PRESERVED THE SEEDS OF THE RELATED SKY.
He, Sprung from Iapetus, shaped her [the earth, as clay] mixed with water
into the form of the gods checking everything
AND WITH ALL THE ANIMALS LEANING FORWARD THE EARTH,
SHE GAVE A HIGH UP FACE TO THE HUMANS
AND ORDERED TO SEE THE SKY AND ORDERED THE UPRIGHT ONES TO LIFT UP THE FACE:
THUS, ONLY THE HAVING BEEN CHANGED EARTH, WHICH ALSO WILD HAD BEEN WILD WITHOUT IMAGINATION,
COVERED THE UNKNOWN SHAPES OF MEN.
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