Cyprianus Gallus, Heptateuchos

mutati cogunt amnes, nil mobilis unda.

the rivers, changed, compel; nothing the moving water,

piscibus extinctis tristi uitiata fetore,

fouled with a grim stench now the fish were dead,

idcirco quoniam cantu succincta sinistro

because, girded with sinister chant,

mens profana uirum paribus callebat in actis.

the profane mind of [those] men was skilled in matching deeds.

quin etiam similes faciunt prorepere ranas

Moreover they too make similar frogs creep forth

qua tellus, qua fluctus erat, paribusque creantur

wherever there was land, wherever water, and they are created by matching

magorum canore modis, quas uoce crepanti

strains of the magicians' song; these, with rattling voice

cuncta coaxantes studuit depellere uates.

croaking over everything, the prophet strove to drive away,

fluminibus tantum non passus defore suetas.

only not allowing the accustomed ones to be missing from the rivers.

oblatum id regi, si pestem euadere uellet

This was offered to the king, if he wished to escape the plague

orantis per uota senis, ut deinde. liqueret

through the prayers of the old man as he prayed, so that thereafter it would be clear

non alium regnare deum: lux crastina caelo

that no other god reigns: the next day's light to the sky

redditur atque eadem cunctae de morte necantur

is restored, and on that same day all [the frogs] are put to death,

congestaeque simul odio soluuntur acerbo.

and, heaped together, they rot away in bitter foulness.

gignuntur scinifes propere per corpora cuncta

Gnats are swiftly born over all the bodies

quadrupedum hominumque ( simul) tellusque repletur.

of four-footed beasts and of men (together), and the earth is filled.

hoc etiam Chaldaea cohors molita fatetur

This too the Chaldaean band, having attempted it, confesses

esse manum domini, curamque omittit inanem.

to be the hand of the Lord, and gives up its empty effort.

His actis cynomyia fluit, quae musca canina

This done, the cynomyia flows in, which 'dog-fly'

dicitur, et uatis conpleuit nutibus omnes

is called, and at the prophet's nods it filled all

illa operae in pretio promptim taxanda locabit.

he will reckon them, to be promptly assessed, in the price of the hire.

uirginis haut sponsae si quis sibi sumpserit usum,

If anyone takes for himself the use of a virgin not betrothed,

uxorem cum dote sibi sociabit eandem.

he shall join that same woman to himself as wife, with a dowry.

quod si coniugio mens est non consona raptae,

But if the mind of the girl he seized does not agree to the marriage,

munera det, thalamis quae sunt accommoda, patri.

let him give the father gifts such as are fitting for a marriage.

maleficum celare nefas. mors dura necabit

To hide a sorcerer is a sin. A hard death shall kill

permixtum pecudi coitus deformis in actu.

the man mingled with a beast in the act of shameful coupling.

linquat uita uiros demonum sacella uerentes.

Let life leave the men who revere the shrines of demons,

quandoquidem soli domino fas subdere colla.

since it is right to bow the neck to the Lord alone.

nemo peregrinum uiolet uerboue manuue:

Let no one wrong a stranger by word or by hand: