Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 1) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/166

The Captive views him with undaunted Eyes,
And, arm'd with inward Innocence, replies.
"From high Meonia's rocky Shores I came,
"Of poor Descent, Acœtes is my Name:
"My Sire was meanly born; no Oxen plow'd
"His fruitful Fields, nor in his Pastures low'd.
"His whole Estate within the Waters lay;
"With Lines and Hooks he caught the finny Prey.
"His Art was all his Livelyhood; which he
"Thus with his dying Lips bequeath'd to me:
"In Streams, my Boy, and Rivers take thy Chance;
"There swims, said he, thy whole Inheritance.
"Long did I live on this poor Legacy;
"'Till tir'd with Rocks, and my old native Sky,
"To Arts of Navigation I inclin'd;
"Observ'd the Turns and Changes of the Wind:
"Learn'd the fit Havens, and began to note
"The stormy Hyades, the rainy Goat,
"The bright Taygete, and the shining Bears,
"With all the Sailor's Catalogue of Stars.
"Once, as by chance for Delos I design'd,
"My Vessel, driv'n by a strong Gust of Wind,
"Moor'd in a Chian Creek; a-shore I went,
"And all the following Night in Chios spent.
"When Morning rose, I sent my Mates to bring
"Supplies of Water from a neighb'ring Spring,
"Whilst I the Motion of the Winds explor'd;
"Then summon'd in my Crew, and went aboard.
"Opheltes heard my Summons, and with Joy
"Brought to the shore a soft and lovely Boy.
"With more than Female Sweetness in his Look,
"Whom straggling in the neighb'ring Fields he took.
"With Fumes of Wine the little Captive glows,
"And nods with Sleep, and staggers as he goes.

"I