e earth was covered with marble; the doors appeared
carved, and the roof to be of gold. Then, the son of Saturn uttered such
words as these with benign lips: 'Tell us, good old man, and thou, wife,
worthy of a husband {so} good, what it is you desire?' Having spoken a
few words to Baucis, Philemon discovered their joint request to the
Gods: 'We desire to be your priests, and to have the care of your
temple; and, since we have passed our years in harmony, let the same
hour take us off both together; and let me not ever see the tomb of my
wife, nor let me be destined to be buried by her.' Fulfilment attended
their wishes. So long as life was granted, they were the keepers of the
temple; and when, enervated by years and old age, they were standing, by
chance, before the sacred steps, and were relating the fortunes of the
spot, Baucis beheld Philemon, and the aged Philemon saw Baucis, {too},
shooting into leaf. And now the tops of the trees growing above their
two faces, so long as they could they exchanged words with each other,
and said together, 'Farewell! my spouse;' and at the same moment the
branches covered their concealed faces. The inhabitants of Tyana[90]
still shew these adjoining trees, made of their two bodies. Old men, no
romancers, (and there was no reason why they should wish to deceive me)
told me this. I, indeed, saw garlands hanging on the branches, and
placing {there} some fresh ones {myself}, I said, 'The good are the
{peculiar} care of the Gods, and those who worshipped {the Gods}, are
{now} worshipped {themselves}.'"

He had {now} ceased; and the thing {itself} and the relator {of it} had
astonished them all; {and} especially Theseus, whom, desiring to hear of
the wonderful actions of the Gods, the Calydonian river leaning on his
elbow, addressed in words such as these: "There are, O most valiant
{hero}, some things, whose form has been once changed, and {then} has
continued under that change. There are some whose privilege it is to
pass into many shapes, as thou, Proteus, inhabitant of the sea that
embraces the earth. For people have seen thee one while a young man, and
again a lion; at one time thou wast a furious boar, at another a
serpent, which they dreaded to touch; {and} sometimes, horns rendered
thee a bull. Ofttimes thou mightst be seen as a stone; often, too, as a
tree. Sometimes imitating the appearance of flowing water, thou wast a
river; sometimes fire, the {very} contrary of water."