[Previous: lines 800-828]
Joseph narrates. The Holy Family, fleeing Herod, is making its way to Egypt.
“Aurae omnes terrent pavidos, capitique timentes------------
tam caro: at puero blandiri murmure sylvae [830]
lauricomae, et ramis capita accurvare reflexis,
aurarumque leves animae indulgere susurro.
Ipsae etiam nobis cautes, ipsique videntur
verticibus leviter motis alludere montes;
signaque laetitiae dare stagna loquacia circùm. [835]
Audires blandum fessas erroribus undas
perstrepere, et molli lapsu per saxa sonare,
humida saxa super nitido viridantia musco.
Praecipuè ripis volucres, et fluminis alveo
assuetae liquidis mulcebant vocibus auras; [840]
et iactu alarum resonabant corpora plausa.
Sese etiam omnifero gremio venientibus offert
laeta Dei aspectu tellus: flant gramina odorem
cuncta suum, et mollem praetexit amaracus umbram.
Nec verò incertâ latebrosus origine Nilus [845]
non manifesta dedit salienti flumine signa
adventante Deo; laetis se sustulit undis
stagna arcana ciens, fundoque apparuit imo.
Ad bivias nobis fauces, flexusque viarum,
Increpitans clypeo fulgentique ense per auras, [850]
ociùs usque aderat cœlo pulcherrimus ales;
et monstrabat iter sibi per divortia nota,
ne recta regione viae deprenderet hostis.
Cœruleis huic terga notis suffusa rubebant,
multùm illi assimilis, qui me connubia quondam [855]
solventem increpuit, tenebrasque à mente fugavit.
Supra nos alii pendentes aere pennis
ibant, et noctis resupini infantis ab ore
humorem arcebant lentum, plumaque tegebant.
Iamque ego perplexum per iter prope fida tenebam [860]
arva legens sistris bacchata sonantibus; et iam
tutus erat longè nostris à finibus infans:
attamen Aegypti penetro interiora, nec ulla
fida satis tellus mihi visa, aut regis iniqui
sat sceptris divisa; animo timeo omnia tuta. [865]
Nec placet Hermopolis, nec centum pervia portis
visa satis Thebe tanto procul esse periclo.
Nos igitur regum turritis clara sepulchris
accepit Memphis: hac demum sede quievi
paupere sub tecto veteris securus amici.” [870]
“Even the breezes terrified us, anxious------------
for his life. But the woods whispered to the boy, [830]
laurel trees bowed their curved heads to him,
and the air calmed him with its susurrations.
The very cliffs swayed, or so it seemed to us
the high mountains moving to his will, and
the babbling streams sang out their endless joy. [835]
The waves, tired of wandering, made soothing
sounds as they glided gently through the rocks—
rocks on which a bright green moss was growing.
And overhead the birds of riverbank
and pool mellowed the air with their liquid song; [840]
their bodies resounding to their beating wings.
The fertile Earth bared her lap at the coming
of God, a happy sight! The smell of grass
perfumed us, and marjoram offered its soft shade.
And the Nile (no-one knows its source) signalled [845]
clearly by overflowing its own banks
that God was coming; joyfully its waves rose
and revealed its riverbed to the sky.
We came on a turn to a fork in the road.
Then, like a blade flashing through the air, [850]
a beautiful angel appeared above us.
He directed us down the less-well-known path,
the one our enemies, pursuing, wouldn’t follow.
His wings were sky blue and scarlet, markings
very like those of the angel who’d rebuked me [855]
for doubting my marriage—my mind was eased.
Other angels flew over, hanging in mid-air
following us: at night they covered the child
with their wings, and kept the dew from his face.
By now our safer road had brought us to a field [860]
resounding with the clash of cymbals; and here,
far from home, our boy was finally safe:
though in fact we went deeper into Egypt—
I wanted to be further still from that tyrant.
My heart was fearful even in safer lands. [865]
Hermopolis didn’t satisfy me, nor hundred-gated
Thebes: not far enough removed from our peril.
So we settled among the towering sepulchres
of Memphis. Here, at last, we could rest
secure in the humble dwelling of a friend.” [870]
My line 850 (the angel appearing ‘like a blade flashing through the air’) is a bit of a cheat; the Latin is less fancy, simply saying that the angel appeared ‘with a shield and flashing sword’. But what the hell: I like the image, it’s my translation, and nobody’s reading this anyway.
In yesterday’s blog I commended Vida for not over-larding his account of the Flight into Egypt with too many miracles. Evidently I spoke too soon: here we have hills trembling as the Christ-child passes, trees offering their shade and angels leading the way. It’s still restrained, I’d argue, at least according to some of the traditions that attached themselves to this journey. Various apocryphal gospels cover this ground, and there’s some wonderfully gothic stuff in there:
And having come to a certain cave, and wishing to rest in it, the blessed. Mary dismounted from her beast, and sat down with the child Jesus in her bosom. And there were with Joseph three boys, and with Mary a girl, going on the journey along with them. And, lo, suddenly there came forth from the cave many dragons; and when the children saw them, they cried out in great terror. Then Jesus went down from the bosom of His mother, and stood on His feet before the dragons; and they adored Jesus, and thereafter retired. Then was fulfilled that which was said by David the prophet, saying: Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons; ye dragons, and all ye deeps. And the young child Jesus, walking before them, commanded them to hurt no man. But Mary and Joseph were very much afraid lest the child should be hurt by the dragons. And Jesus said to them: Do not be afraid, and do not consider me to be a little child; for I am and always have been perfect; and all the beasts of the forest must needs be tame before me. [Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, 18:7-9]‘Lions and panthers adored Him likewise, and accompanied them in the desert,’ this account says; and there’s this nifty short-cut
After this, while they were going on their journey, Joseph said to Jesus: Lord, it is a boiling heat; if it please Thee, let us go by the sea-shore, that we may be able to rest in the cities on the coast. Jesus said to him: Fear not, Joseph; I will shorten the way for you, so that what you would have taken thirty days to go over, you shall accomplish in this one day. And while they were thus speaking, behold, they looked forward, and began to see the mountains and cities of Egypt. And rejoicing and exulting, they came into the regions of Hermopolis. [Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, 22]But Vida, at least, avoids this kind of excess. The trembling of the hills and mountains is something that ‘seemed’ to happen when Joseph looked (ipsique videntur); the sounds of the birds and the hushing of the breeze and the waves could be taken as—rather beautiful—Nature poetry, a kind of pathetic fallacy. That the Nile flooded when Jesus arrived could be a miracle, or simply that the Holy Family arrived at the time of the annual flood. And so on.
Head of the post: Die Flucht nach Ägypten (1875–1879) by Carl Spitzweg.
[Next: lines 871-891]
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