De Rerum Natura |
Translator: William Ellery Leonard
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| 185 |
Hoc est igniferi naturam fulminis ipsam perspicere et qua vi faciat rem quamque videre , non Tyrrhena retro volventem carmina frustra indicia occultae divum perquirere mentis , unde volans ignis pervenerit aut in utram se verterit hinc partim , quo pacto per loca saepta insinuarit , et hinc dominatus ut extulerit se , quidve nocere queat de caelo fulminis ictus . quod si Iuppiter atque alii fulgentia divi terrifico quatiunt sonitu caelestia templa et iaciunt ignem quo cuiquest cumque voluntas , cur quibus incautum scelus aversabile cumquest non faciunt icti flammas ut fulguris halent pectore perfixo , documen mortalibus acre , et potius nulla sibi turpi conscius in re volvitur in flammis innoxius inque peditur turbine caelesti subito correptus et igni ? cur etiam loca sola petunt frustraque laborant ? an tum bracchia consuescunt firmantque lacertos ? in terraque patris cur telum perpetiuntur optundi ? cur ipse sinit neque parcit in hostis ? denique cur numquam caelo iacit undique puro Iuppiter in terras fulmen sonitusque profundit ? an simul ac nubes successere , ipse in eas tum descendit , prope ut hinc teli determinet ictus ? in mare qua porro mittit ratione ? quid undas arguit et liquidam molem camposque natantis ? praeterea si vult caveamus fulminis ictum , cur dubitat facere ut possimus cernere missum ? si nec opinantis autem volt opprimere igni , cur tonat ex illa parte , ut vitare queamus , cur tenebras ante et fremitus et murmura concit ? et simul in multas partis qui credere possis mittere ? an hoc ausis numquam contendere factum , ut fierent ictus uno sub tempore plures ? at saepest numero factum fierique necessest , ut pluere in multis regionibus et cadere imbris , fulmina sic uno fieri sub tempore multa . postremo cur sancta deum delubra suasque discutit infesto praeclaras fulmine sedes et bene facta deum frangit simulacra suisque demit imaginibus violento volnere honorem ? altaque cur plerumque petit loca plurimaque eius montibus in summis vestigia cernimus ignis ?
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This, this it is, O Memmius, to see through The very nature of fire-fraught thunderbolt; O this it is to mark by what blind force It maketh each effect, and not, O not To unwind Etrurian scrolls oracular, Inquiring tokens of occult will of gods, Even as to whence the flying flame hath come, Or to which half of heaven it turns, or how Through walled places it hath wound its way, Or, after proving its dominion there, How it hath speeded forth from thence amain, Or what the thunderstroke portends of ill From out high heaven. But if Jupiter And other gods shake those refulgent vaults With dread reverberations and hurl fire Whither it pleases each, why smite they not Mortals of reckless and revolting crimes, That such may pant from a transpierced breast Forth flames of the red levin- unto men A drastic lesson?- why is rather he- O he self-conscious of no foul offence- Involved in flames, though innocent, and clasped Up-caught in skiey whirlwind and in fire? Nay, why, then, aim they at eternal wastes, And spend themselves in vain?- perchance, even so To exercise their arms and strengthen shoulders? Why suffer they the Father's javelin To be so blunted on the earth? And why Doth he himself allow it, nor spare the same Even for his enemies? O why most oft Aims he at lofty places? Why behold we Marks of his lightnings most on mountain tops? Then for what reason shoots he at the sea?- What sacrilege have waves and bulk of brine And floating fields of foam been guilty of? Besides, if 'tis his will that we beware Against the lightning-stroke, why feareth he To grant us power for to behold the shot? And, contrariwise, if wills he to o'erwhelm us, Quite off our guard, with fire, why thunders he Off in yon quarter, so that we may shun? Why rouseth he beforehand darkling air And the far din and rumblings? And O how Canst thou believe he shoots at one same time Into diverse directions? Or darest thou Contend that never hath it come to pass That divers strokes have happened at one time? But oft and often hath it come to pass, And often still it must, that, even as showers And rains o'er many regions fall, so too Dart many thunderbolts at one same time. Again, why never hurtles Jupiter A bolt upon the lands nor pours abroad Clap upon clap, when skies are cloudless all? Or, say, doth he, so soon as ever the clouds Have come thereunder, then into the same Descend in person, that from thence he may Near-by decide upon the stroke of shaft? And, lastly, why, with devastating bolt Shakes he asunder holy shrines of gods And his own thrones of splendour, and to-breaks The well-wrought idols of divinities, And robs of glory his own images By wound of violence? |
| 186 |
Quod super est , facilest ex his cognoscere rebus , presteras Graii quos ab re nominitarunt , in mare qua missi veniant ratione superne . nam fit ut inter dum tam quam demissa columna in mare de caelo descendat , quam freta circum fervescunt graviter spirantibus incita flabris , et quae cumque in eo tum sint deprensa tumultu navigia in summum veniant vexata periclum . hoc fit ubi inter dum non quit vis incita venti rumpere quam coepit nubem , sed deprimit , ut sit in mare de caelo tam quam demissa columna , paulatim , quasi quid pugno bracchique superne coniectu trudatur et extendatur in undas ; quam cum discidit , hinc prorumpitur in mare venti vis et fervorem mirum concinnat in undis ; versabundus enim turbo descendit et illam deducit pariter lento cum corpore nubem ; quam simul ac gravidam detrusit ad aequora ponti , ille in aquam subito totum se inmittit et omne excitat ingenti sonitu mare fervere cogens .
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But to return apace, Easy it is from these same facts to know In just what wise those things (which from their sort The Greeks have named "bellows") do come down, Discharged from on high, upon the seas. For it haps that sometimes from the sky descends Upon the seas a column, as if pushed, Round which the surges seethe, tremendously Aroused by puffing gusts; and whatso'er Of ships are caught within that tumult then Come into extreme peril, dashed along. This haps when sometimes wind's aroused force Can't burst the cloud it tries to, but down-weighs That cloud, until 'tis like a column from sky Upon the seas pushed downward- gradually, As if a Somewhat from on high were shoved By fist and nether thrust of arm, and lengthened Far to the waves. And when the force of wind Hath rived this cloud, from out the cloud it rushes Down on the seas, and starts among the waves A wondrous seething, for the eddying whirl Descends and downward draws along with it That cloud of ductile body. And soon as ever 'Thas shoved unto the levels of the main That laden cloud, the whirl suddenly then Plunges its whole self into the waters there And rouses all the sea with monstrous roar, Constraining it to seethe. It happens too That very vortex of the wind involves Itself in clouds, scraping from out the air The seeds of cloud, and counterfeits, as 'twere, The "bellows" pushed from heaven. And when this shape Hath dropped upon the lands and burst apart, It belches forth immeasurable might Of whirlwind and of blast. Yet since 'tis formed At most but rarely, and on land the hills Must block its way, 'tis seen more oft out there On the broad prospect of the level main Along the free horizons. |
| 187 |
Fit quoque ut involvat venti se nubibus ipse vertex conradens ex aeëre semina nubis et quasi demissum caelo prestera imitetur ; hic ubi se in terras demisit dissoluitque , turbinis immanem vim provomit atque procellae . sed quia fit raro omnino montisque necessest officere in terris , apparet crebrius idem prospectu maris in magno caeloque patenti . Nubila concrescunt , ubi corpora multa volando hoc super in caeli spatio coiere repente asperiora , modis quae possint indupedita exiguis tamen inter se compressa teneri . haec faciunt primum parvas consistere nubes ; inde ea comprendunt inter se conque gregantur et coniungendo crescunt ventisque feruntur usque adeo donec tempestas saeva coortast . Fit quoque uti montis vicina cacumina caelo quam sint quoque magis , tanto magis edita fument adsidue fulvae nubis caligine crassa propterea quia , cum consistunt nubila primum , ante videre oculi quam possint tenvia , venti portantes cogunt ad summa cacumina montis ; hic demum fit uti turba maiore coorta et condensa queant apparere et simul ipso vertice de montis videantur surgere in aethram . nam loca declarat sursum ventosa patere res ipsa et sensus , montis cum ascendimus altos .
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Into being The clouds condense, when in this upper space Of the high heaven have gathered suddenly, As round they flew, unnumbered particles- World's rougher ones, which can, though interlinked With scanty couplings, yet be fastened firm, The one on other caught. These particles First cause small clouds to form; and, thereupon, These catch the one on other and swarm in a flock And grow by their conjoining, and by winds Are borne along, along, until collects The tempest fury. Happens, too, the nearer The mountain summits neighbour to the sky, The more unceasingly their far crags smoke With the thick darkness of swart cloud, because When first the mists do form, ere ever the eyes Can there behold them (tenuous as they be), The carrier-winds will drive them up and on Unto the topmost summits of the mountain; And then at last it happens, when they be In vaster throng upgathered, that they can By this very condensation lie revealed, And that at same time they are seen to surge From very vertex of the mountain up Into far ether. For very fact and feeling, As we up-climb high mountains, proveth clear That windy are those upward regions free. |
| 188 |
Praeterea permulta mari quoque tollere toto corpora naturam declarant litore vestis suspensae , cum concipiunt umoris adhaesum . quo magis ad nubis augendas multa videntur posse quoque e salso consurgere momine ponti ; nam ratio consanguineast umoribus omnis . Praeterea fluviis ex omnibus et simul ipsa surgere de terra nebulas aestumque videmus , quae vel ut halitus hinc ita sursum expressa feruntur suffunduntque sua caelum caligine et altas sufficiunt nubis paulatim conveniundo ; urget enim quoque signiferi super aetheris aestus et quasi densendo subtexit caerula nimbis . Fit quoque ut hunc veniant in caelum extrinsecus illa corpora quae faciunt nubis nimbosque volantis ; innumerabilem enim numerum summamque profundi esse infinitam docui , quantaque volarent corpora mobilitate ostendi quamque repente immemorabile spatium transire solerent . haut igitur mirumst , si parvo tempore saepe tam magnis ventis tempestas atque tenebrae coperiant maria ac terras inpensa superne , undique quandoquidem per caulas aetheris omnis et quasi per magni circum spiracula mundi exitus introitusque elementis redditus extat .
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Besides, the clothes hung-out along the shore, When in they take the clinging moisture, prove That nature lifts from over all the sea Unnumbered particles. Whereby the more 'Tis manifest that many particles Even from the salt upheavings of the main Can rise together to augment the bulk Of massed clouds. For moistures in these twain Are near akin. Besides, from out all rivers, As well as from the land itself, we see Up-rising mists and steam, which like a breath Are forced out from them and borne aloft, To curtain heaven with their murk, and make, By slow foregathering, the skiey clouds. For, in addition, lo, the heat on high Of constellated ether burdens down Upon them, and by sort of condensation Weaveth beneath the azure firmament The reek of darkling cloud. It happens, too, That hither to the skies from the Beyond Do come those particles which make the clouds And flying thunderheads. For I have taught That this their number is innumerable And infinite the sum of the Abyss, And I have shown with what stupendous speed Those bodies fly and how they're wont to pass Amain through incommunicable space. Therefore, 'tis not exceeding strange, if oft In little time tempest and darkness cover With bulking thunderheads hanging on high The oceans and the lands, since everywhere Through all the narrow tubes of yonder ether, Yea, so to speak, through all the breathing-holes Of the great upper-world encompassing, There be for the primordial elements Exits and entrances. |
| 189 |
Nunc age , quo pacto pluvius concrescat in altis nubibus umor et in terras demissus ut imber decidat , expediam . primum iam semina aquai multa simul vincam consurgere nubibus ipsis omnibus ex rebus pariterque ita crescere utrumque et nubis et aquam , quae cumque in nubibus extat , ut pariter nobis corpus cum sanguine crescit , sudor item atque umor qui cumque est denique membris . concipiunt etiam multum quoque saepe marinum umorem , vel uti pendentia vellera lanae , cum supera magnum mare venti nubila portant . consimili ratione ex omnibus amnibus umor tollitur in nubis . quo cum bene semina aquarum multa modis multis convenere undique adaucta , confertae nubes umorem mittere certant dupliciter ; nam vis venti contrudit et ipsa copia nimborum turba maiore coacta urget et e supero premit ac facit effluere imbris . praeterea cum rarescunt quoque nubila ventis aut dissolvuntur solis super icta calore , mittunt umorem pluvium stillantque , quasi igni cera super calido tabescens multa liquescat . sed vehemens imber fit , ubi vehementer utraque nubila vi cumulata premuntur et impete venti . at retinere diu pluviae longumque morari consuerunt , ubi multa cientur semina aquarum atque aliis aliae nubes nimbique rigantes insuper atque omni vulgo de parte feruntur , terraque cum fumans umorem tota redhalat . hic ubi sol radiis tempestatem inter opacam adversa fulsit nimborum aspargine contra , tum color in nigris existit nubibus arqui . Cetera quae sursum crescunt sursumque creantur , et quae concrescunt in nubibus , omnia , prorsum omnia , nix venti grando gelidaeque pruinae et vis magna geli , magnum duramen aquarum , et mora quae fluvios passim refrenat aventis , perfacilest tamen haec reperire animoque videre , omnia quo pacto fiant quareve creentur , cum bene cognoris elementis reddita quae sint .
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Now come, and how The rainy moisture thickens into being In the lofty clouds, and how upon the lands 'Tis then discharged in down-pour of large showers, I will unfold. And first triumphantly Will I persuade thee that up-rise together, With clouds themselves, full many seeds of water From out all things, and that they both increase- Both clouds and water which is in the clouds- In like proportion, as our frames increase In like proportion with our blood, as well As sweat or any moisture in our members. Besides, the clouds take in from time to time Much moisture risen from the broad marine,- Whilst the winds bear them o'er the mighty sea, Like hanging fleeces of white wool. Thuswise, Even from all rivers is there lifted up Moisture into the clouds. And when therein The seeds of water so many in many ways Have come together, augmented from all sides, The close-jammed clouds then struggle to discharge Their rain-storms for a two-fold reason: lo, The wind's force crowds them, and the very excess Of storm-clouds (massed in a vaster throng) Giveth an urge and pressure from above And makes the rains out-pour. Besides when, too, The clouds are winnowed by the winds, or scattered Smitten on top by heat of sun, they send Their rainy moisture, and distil their drops, Even as the wax, by fiery warmth on top, Wasteth and liquefies abundantly. But comes the violence of the bigger rains When violently the clouds are weighted down Both by their cumulated mass and by The onset of the wind. And rains are wont To endure awhile and to abide for long, When many seeds of waters are aroused, And clouds on clouds and racks on racks outstream In piled layers and are borne along From every quarter, and when all the earth Smoking exhales her moisture. At such a time When sun with beams amid the tempest-murk Hath shone against the showers of black rains, Then in the swart clouds there emerges bright The radiance of the bow. And as to things Not mentioned here which of themselves do grow Or of themselves are gendered, and all things Which in the clouds condense to being- all, Snow and the winds, hail and the hoar-frosts chill, And freezing, mighty force- of lakes and pools The mighty hardener, and mighty check Which in the winter curbeth everywhere The rivers as they go- 'tis easy still, Soon to discover and with mind to see How they all happen, whereby gendered, When once thou well hast understood just what Functions have been vouchsafed from of old Unto the procreant atoms of the world. |
| 190 |
Nunc age , quae ratio terrai motibus extet percipe . et in primis terram fac ut esse rearis supter item ut supera ventosis undique plenam speluncis multosque lacus multasque lucunas in gremio gerere et rupes deruptaque saxa ; multaque sub tergo terrai flumina tecta volvere vi fluctus summersos ca putandumst ; undique enim similem esse sui res postulat ipsa . his igitur rebus subiunctis suppositisque terra superne tremit magnis concussa ruinis , subter ubi ingentis speluncas subruit aetas ; quippe cadunt toti montes magnoque repente concussu late disserpunt inde tremores . et merito , quoniam plaustris concussa tremescunt tecta viam propter non magno pondere tota , nec minus exultant , si quidvis cumque viai ferratos utrimque rotarum succutit orbes . Fit quoque , ubi in magnas aquae vastasque lucunas gleba vetustate e terra provolvitur ingens , ut iactetur aquae fluctu quoque terra vacillans ; ut vas inter non quit constare , nisi umor destitit in dubio fluctu iactarier intus . Praeterea ventus cum per loca subcava terrae collectus parte ex una procumbit et urget obnixus magnis speluncas viribus altas , incumbit tellus quo venti prona premit vis . tum supera terram quae sunt extructa domorum ad caelumque magis quanto sunt edita quaeque , inclinata minent in eandem prodita partem protractaeque trabes inpendent ire paratae . et metuunt magni naturam credere mundi exitiale aliquod tempus clademque manere , cum videant tantam terrarum incumbere molem ! quod nisi respirent venti , nulla refrenet res neque ab exitio possit reprehendere euntis ; nunc quia respirant alternis inque gravescunt et quasi collecti redeunt ceduntque repulsi , saepius hanc ob rem minitatur terra ruinas quam facit ; inclinatur enim retroque recellit et recipit prolapsa suas in pondere sedes . hac igitur ratione vacillant omnia tecta , summa magis mediis , media imis , ima perhilum .
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Now come, and what the law of earthquakes is Hearken, and first of all take care to know That the under-earth, like to the earth around us, Is full of windy caverns all about; And many a pool and many a grim abyss She bears within her bosom, ay, and cliffs And jagged scarps; and many a river, hid Beneath her chine, rolls rapidly along Its billows and plunging boulders. For clear fact Requires that earth must be in every part Alike in constitution. Therefore, earth, With these things underneath affixed and set, Trembleth above, jarred by big down-tumblings, When time hath undermined the huge caves, The subterranean. Yea, whole mountains fall, And instantly from spot of that big jar There quiver the tremors far and wide abroad. And with good reason: since houses on the street Begin to quake throughout, when jarred by a cart Of no large weight; and, too, the furniture Within the house up-bounds, when a paving-block Gives either iron rim of the wheels a jolt. It happens, too, when some prodigious bulk Of age-worn soil is rolled from mountain slopes Into tremendous pools of water dark, That the reeling land itself is rocked about By the water's undulations; as a basin Sometimes won't come to rest until the fluid Within it ceases to be rocked about In random undulations. And besides, When subterranean winds, up-gathered there In the hollow deeps, bulk forward from one spot, And press with the big urge of mighty powers Against the lofty grottos, then the earth Bulks to that quarter whither push amain The headlong winds. Then all the builded houses Above ground- and the more, the higher up-reared Unto the sky- lean ominously, careening Into the same direction; and the beams, Wrenched forward, over-hang, ready to go. Yet dread men to believe that there awaits The nature of the mighty world a time Of doom and cataclysm, albeit they see So great a bulk of lands to bulge and break! And lest the winds blew back again, no force Could rein things in nor hold from sure career On to disaster. But now because those winds Blow back and forth in alternation strong, And, so to say, rallying charge again, And then repulsed retreat, on this account Earth oftener threatens than she brings to pass Collapses dire. For to one side she leans, Then back she sways; and after tottering Forward, recovers then her seats of poise. Thus, this is why whole houses rock, the roofs More than the middle stories, middle more Than lowest, and the lowest least of all. |
| 191 |
Est haec eiusdem quoque magni causa tremoris . ventus ubi atque animae subito vis maxima quaedam aut extrinsecus aut ipsa tellure coorta in loca se cava terrai coniecit ibique speluncas inter magnas fremit ante tumultu versabunda QUE portatur , post incita cum vis exagitata foras erumpitur et simul altam diffindens terram magnum concinnat hiatum . in Syria Sidone quod accidit et fuit Aegi in Peloponneso , quas exitus hic animai disturbat urbes et terrae motus obortus . multaque praeterea ceciderunt moenia magnis motibus in terris et multae per mare pessum subsedere suis pariter cum civibus urbes . quod nisi prorumpit , tamen impetus ipse animai et fera vis venti per crebra foramina terrae dispertitur ut horror et incutit inde tremorem ; frigus uti nostros penitus cum venit in artus , concutit invitos cogens tremere atque movere . ancipiti trepidant igitur terrore per urbis , tecta superne timent , metuunt inferne cavernas terrai ne dissoluat natura repente , neu distracta suum late dispandat hiatum idque suis confusa velit complere ruinis . proinde licet quamvis caelum terramque reantur incorrupta fore aeternae mandata saluti : et tamen inter dum praesens vis ipsa pericli subdit et hunc stimulum quadam de parte timoris , ne pedibus raptim tellus subtracta feratur in barathrum rerumque sequatur prodita summa funditus et fiat mundi confusa ruina . ( ... lost text ... ) |
Arises, too, this same great earth-quaking, When wind and some prodigious force of air, Collected from without or down within The old telluric deeps, have hurled themselves Amain into those caverns sub-terrene, And there at first tumultuously chafe Among the vasty grottos, borne about In mad rotations, till their lashed force Aroused out-bursts abroad, and then and there, Riving the deep earth, makes a mighty chasm- What once in Syrian Sidon did befall, And once in Peloponnesian Aegium, Twain cities which such out-break of wild air And earth's convulsion, following hard upon, O'erthrew of old. And many a walled town, Besides, hath fall'n by such omnipotent Convulsions on the land, and in the sea Engulfed hath sunken many a city down With all its populace. But if, indeed, They burst not forth, yet is the very rush Of the wild air and fury-force of wind Then dissipated, like an ague-fit, Through the innumerable pores of earth, To set her all a-shake- even as a chill, When it hath gone into our marrow-bones, Sets us convulsively, despite ourselves, A-shivering and a-shaking. Therefore, men With two-fold terror bustle in alarm Through cities to and fro: they fear the roofs Above the head; and underfoot they dread The caverns, lest the nature of the earth Suddenly rend them open, and she gape, Herself asunder, with tremendous maw, And, all confounded, seek to chock it full With her own ruins. Let men, then, go on Feigning at will that heaven and earth shall be Inviolable, entrusted evermore To an eternal weal: and yet at times The very force of danger here at hand Prods them on some side with this goad of fear- This among others- that the earth, withdrawn Abruptly from under their feet, be hurried down, Down into the abyss, and the Sum-of-Things Be following after, utterly fordone, Till be but wrack and wreckage of a world. . . . . . . |
| 192 |
Principio mare mirantur non reddere maius naturam , quo sit tantus decursus aquarum , omnia quo veniant ex omni flumina parte . adde vagos imbris tempestatesque volantes , omnia quae maria ac terras sparguntque rigantque ; adde suos fontis ; tamen ad maris omnia summam guttai vix instar erunt unius adaugmen ; quo minus est mirum mare non augescere magnum . Praeterea magnam sol partem detrahit aestu . quippe videmus enim vestis umore madentis exsiccare suis radiis ardentibus solem ; at pelage multa et late substrata videmus . proinde licet quamvis ex uno quoque loco sol umoris parvam delibet ab aequore partem , largiter in tanto spatio tamen auferet undis . Tum porro venti quoque magnam tollere partem umoris possunt verrentes aequora , ventis una nocte vias quoniam persaepe videmus siccari mollisque luti concrescere crustas . Praeterea docui multum quoque tollere nubes umorem magno conceptum ex aequore ponti et passim toto terrarum spargere in orbi , cum pluit in terris et venti nubila portant . Postremo quoniam raro cum corpore tellus est et coniunctast oras maris undique cingens , debet , ut in mare de terris venit umor aquai , in terras itidem manare ex aequore salso ; percolatur enim virus retroque remanat materies umoris et ad caput amnibus omnis confluit , inde super terras redit agmine dulci qua via secta semel liquido pede detulit undas .
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EXTRAORDINARY AND PARADOXICAL TELLURIC PHENOMENA In chief, men marvel nature renders not Bigger and bigger the bulk of ocean, since So vast the down-rush of the waters be, And every river out of every realm Cometh thereto; and add the random rains And flying tempests, which spatter every sea And every land bedew; add their own springs: Yet all of these unto the ocean's sum Shall be but as the increase of a drop. Wherefore 'tis less a marvel that the sea, The mighty ocean, increaseth not. Besides, Sun with his heat draws off a mighty part: Yea, we behold that sun with burning beams To dry our garments dripping all with wet; And many a sea, and far out-spread beneath, Do we behold. Therefore, however slight The portion of wet that sun on any spot Culls from the level main, he still will take From off the waves in such a wide expanse Abundantly. Then, further, also winds, Sweeping the level waters, can bear off A mighty part of wet, since we behold Oft in a single night the highways dried By winds, and soft mud crusted o'er at dawn. Again, I've taught thee that the clouds bear off Much moisture too, up-taken from the reaches Of the mighty main, and sprinkle it about O'er all the zones, when rain is on the lands And winds convey the aery racks of vapour. Lastly, since earth is porous through her frame, And neighbours on the seas, girdling their shores, The water's wet must seep into the lands From briny ocean, as from lands it comes Into the seas. For brine is filtered off, And then the liquid stuff seeps back again And all re-poureth at the river-heads, Whence in fresh-water currents it returns Over the lands, adown the channels which Were cleft erstwhile and erstwhile bore along The liquid-footed floods. |