Minor Latin poets; with introductions and English translations

C'ALPURNIUS SK'ULUSit. insoinucli that tlio lamb cannot preserve thea])pearance of the sire so different from its dam,and yet testifies to both by varied colour.V. No less transformable by my cunning, the tree putson a dress of alien leaves and fruits of a diverse>pecies. My cunning now crosses pears with applesand anon constrains engrafted peaches to supplantthe early plums.. It is my joy to lop branches from tender willow orwild olive and carry them to the young flocks, thatthey may learn to nibble the leaves and crop theherbage with early bite, lest the lambs thoughweaned may follow their straying dams.^. But I, when I plant tawny roots in the parchedground, drench the flower-bed with a welling floodand give it water in plenty lest haply the slipsdroop with the change of soil and feel the need oftheir former moisture.[. Oh, if some god bring me Crocale here, him will Iacknowledge sole ruler of earth and stars. Untohim will I hallow a grove and say, " Beneath thistree a divinity shall dwell. Begone, ye uninitiated,begone ftir hence, 'tis holy ground."\. I burn with love for Crocal(*: if any of the godshear my prayer, to him alone shall be dedicated abeechen bowl among the vine-clad elms, where thesparkling brook speeds its waters, where it flowsamong the lilies with its rippling stream.[. Scorn not the cottage and a shepherd's homestead.Idas is a rustic, I allow ; but he is not a savage too.Oft on the altar of smoking peat writhes the lamboffered by me, oft in death falls the ewe-lambdevoted at the festival of Pales.231