laze of his bolt, and will overwhelm
thy body, and a clasping arm of rock shall bear thee up. And after thou
shalt have passed through to its close, a long space of time, thou shalt
come back into the light; and a winged hound of Jupiter, a
blood-thirsting eagle, shall ravenously mangle thy huge lacerated frame,
stealing upon thee an unbidden guest, and [tarrying] all the live-long
day, and shall banquet his fill on the black viands[80] of thy liver. To
such labors look thou for no termination, until some god shall appear
as a substitute in thy pangs, and shall be willing to go both to gloomy
Hades, and to the murky depths around Tartarus. Wherefore advise thee,
since this is no fictitious vaunt, but uttered in great earnestness; for
the divine mouth knows not how to utter falsehood, but will bring every
word to pass. But do thou look around and reflect, and never for a
moment deem pertinacity better than discretion.

CH. To us, indeed, Mercury seems to propose no unseasonable counsel; for
he bids thee to abandon thy recklessness, and seek out wise
consideration. Be persuaded; for to a wise man 'tis disgraceful to err.

PR. To me already well aware of it hath this fellow urged his message;
but for a foe to suffer horribly at the hands of foes is no indignity.
Wherefore let the doubly-pointed wreath of his fire be hurled at me, and
ether be torn piecemeal by thunder, and spasm of savage blasts; and let
the wind rock earth from her base, roots and all, and with stormy surge
mingle in rough tide the billow of the deep and the paths of the stars;
and fling my body into black Tartarus, with a whirl, in the stern eddies
of necessity. Yet by no possible means shall he visit me with death.

MER. Resolutions and expressions, in truth, such as these of thine, one
may hear from maniacs. For in what point doth his fate fall short of
insanity?[81] What doth it abate from ravings? But do ye then at any
rate, that sympathize with him in his sufferings, withdraw hence
speedily some-whither from this spot, lest the harsh bellowing of the
thunder smite you with idiotcy.

CH. Utter and advise me to something else, in which too thou mayest
prevail upon me; for in this, be sure, thou hast intruded a proposal
not to be borne. How is it that thou urgest me to practice baseness?
Along with him here I am willing to endure what is destined, for I have
learned to abhor traitors; and there is no evil which I hold in greater
abomination.

MER.