Ovid Lines 1-11 - Translation

Iuppiter huc specie mortali cumque parente

venit Atlantiades positis caducifer alis.

Jupiter came here in human form and, with his father,

Came the wand-bearing descendant of Atlas, having set aside his wings.

mille domos adiere locum requiemque petentes,

mille domos clausere serae. //

They approached a thousand houses, seeking a place to rest,

Bolts shut a thousand houses. //

// tamen una recepit,

parva quidem stipulis et canna tecta palustri,

sed pia Baucis anus parilique aetate Philemon

// However, one received them,

A small house, it is true, covered with stalks and marshy reeds,

But the dutiful old woman Baucis and Philemon of a similar age

illa sunt annis iuncti iuvenalibus, illa

consenuere casa paupertatemque fatendo

effecere levem nec iniqua mente ferendo.

Were united in their young years in that cottage, and they grew old

In that cottage, and by acknowledging their poverty

And bearing it with a not unfair mind, they made it unimportant.

nec refert, dominos illic famulosne requiras:

tota domus duo sunt, idem parentque iubentque.

And it does not matter whether you look for masters or servants there:

The two are the whole house, and the same people both obey and give orders.