yellow with the casting of yellow sand[6] {upon himself}. And at one
moment he aimed at my neck, at another my legs, as they shifted about,
or you would suppose he was aiming {at them}; and he assaulted me on
every side. My bulk defended me, and I was attacked in vain; no
otherwise than a mole, which the waves beat against with loud noise:
it remains {unshaken}, and by its own weight is secure.

"We retire a little, and {then} again we rush together in conflict, and
we stand firm, determined not to yield; foot, too, is joined to foot;
and {then} I, bending forward full with my breast, press upon his
fingers with my fingers, and his forehead with my forehead. In no
different manner have I beheld the strong bulls engage, when the most
beauteous mate[7] in all the pasture is sought as the reward of the
combat; the herds look on and tremble, uncertain which the mastery of so
great a domain awaits. Thrice without effect did Alcides attempt to hurl
away from him my breast, as it bore hard against him; the fourth time,
he shook off my hold, and loosened my arms clasped around him; and,
striking me with his hand, (I am resolved to confess the truth) he
turned me quite round, and clung, a mighty load, to my back. If any
credit {is to be given me}, (and, indeed, no glory is sought by me
through an untrue narration) I seemed to myself {as though} weighed down
with a mountain placed upon me. Yet, with great difficulty, I disengaged
my arms streaming with much perspiration, {and}, with great exertion,
I unlocked his firm grasp from my body. He pressed on me as I panted for
breath, and prevented me from recovering my strength, and {then} seized
hold of my neck. Then, at last, was the earth pressed by my knee, and
with my mouth I bit the sand. Inferior in strength, I had recourse to my
arts,[8] and transformed into a long serpent, I escaped from the hero.

"After I had twisted my body into winding folds, and darted my forked
tongue with dreadful hissings, the Tirynthian laughed, and deriding my
arts, he said, 'It was the labour of my cradle to conquer serpents;[9]
and although, Acheloues, thou shouldst excel other snakes, how large a
part wilt thou, {but} one serpent, be of the Lernaean Echidna? By her
{very} wounds was she multiplied, and not one head of her hundred in
number[10] was cut off {by me} without danger {to myself}; but rather so
that her neck became stronger, with two successors {to the former head}.
{Yet} her I subdued