31 (1) RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - HERCULES 31 - EIGHTH LABOUR: THE MAN-EATING HORSES OF DIOMEDES - PART ONE

HERCULES 31 - EIGHTH LABOUR: THE MAN-EATING HORSES OF DIOMEDES - PART ONE

a)

Postquam ex ínsulá Crétá rediit, Herculés ab Eurystheó in Thráciam missus est, ut equós Diomédis redúceret. Hí equí carne hominum véscébantur; Diomédés autem, vir crúdélissimus, illís obiciébat peregrínós omnís quí in eam regiónem vénerant. Herculés igitur mágná celeritáte in Thráciam contendit et ab Dioméde postulávit ut equí sibi tráderentur. Cum tamen ille hóc facere nóllet, Herculés írá commótus régem interfécit et cadáver éius equís obicí iussit.

b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR.

insula creta – in Latin we say ‘the island Crete’ whereas in English we say ‘the island of Crete’, Latin is in this instance the more logical as there is no genitive, no possession implied, it is the island Crete not ‘the island of Crete' or 'the island belonging to Crete’.

Eurystheo – ablative after a (ab before word beginning with vowel as here).

in Thraciam – accusative after in meaning into, motion into, as opposed to place where which would be in the ablative.

ut reduceret – ut here introduces a purpose clause, ‘in order that he bring back’, or more concisely ‘to bring back … ‘ so the verb will be in the subjunctive mood.

carne – this is ablative of caro, caronis f. third declension noun governed by the verb vescor, eat.

Vescebantur – here we have the imperfect tense to talk about customary action, ‘they used to …’.

ut tráderentur - postuló, like imperó, takes an object clause introduced by ut with its verb in the subjunctive.

sibi -  thdative, to him i.e. the subject of the main clause himself, Hercules.

írá commotus – moved by anger, or moved by wrath, you might translate became very angry as the participle (commotus) is frequently best rendered by a finite verb.

cadaver eius – ‘his body’, notice that ‘his’ is translated eius ‘of him’ when referring to someone other than the subject.

cadáver obici – the body to be thrown, obici is the passive infinitive and its subject, cadaver is in the accusative case.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Postquam ex ínsulá Crétá rediit,

After he returned from the island of Crete,

Herculés ab Eurystheó in Thráciam missus est,

Hercules was sent by Eurystheo into Thrace,

ut equós Diomédis redúceret.

In order to bring back the horses of Diomedes.

Hí equí carne hominum véscébantur;

These horses used to eat the flesh of men;

Diomédés autem, vir crúdélissimus,

Now Diomedes, a most cruel man,

illís obiciébat peregrínós omnís

used to throw to them all the strangers

quí in eam regiónem vénerant.

Who came  into the region.

Herculés igitur mágná celeritáte

Hercules therefore with great speed

in Thráciam contendit et ab Dioméde postulávit

made his way into Thrace and demanded of Diomedes

ut equí sibi tráderentur.

That he hand over the horses to him.

Cum tamen ille hóc facere nóllet,

Since however he did not want to do this,

Herculés írá commótus régem interfécit

Hercules moved by anger killed the king

et cadáver éius equís obicí iussit.

And ordered his body be thrown to the horses.

d) The following section is for you to copy and translate.

Postquam ex insula Creta rediit,

Hercules ab Eurystheo in Thraciam missus est,

ut equos Diomedis reduceret. Hi equi

carne hominum vescebantur; Diomedes autem,

vir crudelissimus, illis obiciebat peregrinos omnis

qui in eam regionem venerant. Hercules igitur

magna celeritate in Thraciam contendit

et ab Diomede postulavit ut equi sibi traderentur.

Cum tamen ille hoc facere nollet, Hercules

ira commotus regem interfecit et cadaver eius

equis obici iussit.

30 RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - HERCULES 30 - SEVENTH LABOUR: THE CRETAN BULLWITH NOTES AND INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION

RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - HERCULES 30 - SEVENTH LABOUR: THE CRETAN BULL

a)
Tum Eurystheus Herculí imperávit ut taurum  quendam ferócissimum ex ínsulá Crétá vívum referret. Ille igitur návem cónscendit, et cum ventus idóneus esset, statim solvit. Cum tamen ínsulae iam appropinquáret, tanta tempestás subitó coorta est ut návis cursum tenére nón posset. Tantus autem timor animós nautárum occupávit ut paene omnem spem salútis dépónerent. Herculés tamen, etsí návigandí imperítus erat, haudquáquam territus est.

Post breve tempus summa tranquillitás  cónsecúta est, et nautae, quí sé ex timóre iam recéperant, návem incolumem ad terram appulérunt. Herculés é náví égressus est, et cum ad régem Crétae vénisset, causam veniendí docuit. Deinde, postquam omnia paráta sunt, ad eam regiónem contendit quam taurus vástábat. Mox taurum vídit, et quamquam rés erat mágní perículí, cornua éius prehendit. Tum, cum ingentí labóre mónstrum ad návem tráxisset, cum praedá in Graeciam rediit.


b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR.

Herculi imperavit – notice here that imperavit ‘he orders’ takes the dative case so we have Herculi, dative of Hercules, gen Hercules third declension masculine noun. It may help to think of the verb imperare as meaning ‘to give orders to’.

Ut …. referret – that he should bring back, imperfect subjunctive after imperavit.

Creta – Latin says ‘the island Crete’ (i.e. Creta, nominative case in apposition with island)whereas in English we would say ‘the island of Crete’ (i.e. genitive case). Latin is more logical in this instance as the island does not belong to Crete, it is Crete one and the same.

Cum ventus esset – ‘When the wind was …’ or ‘since the wind was …’etc. The subjunctive is used in clauses introduced by cum meaning ‘when’ or ‘since’ in the past. It may express the reason for the action of the main verb.

Insulae apropinquaret – insulae is dative of insula, feminine noun of the first declension, and it is in the dative case as apropinquare is a compound verb formed from the contraction of the preposition ad with propinquare meaning to get closer to i.e. approach.  Appropinquaret is the imperfect subjunctive of appropinquare. As we have seen elsewhere, the imperfect and pluperfect tenses of the subjunctive are used with cum, 'when,' to describe the circumstances of the action of the main verb.

tanta ... ut… non posset – tanta is a signal word for a following result clause which requires the subjunctive. ‘It was so great …that he was unable.’

Tantus timor … ut – as above we have the signal word tantus ‘so great’ … followed by ut ‘that’ with a result clause containing a verb in the subjunctive, deponerent, ‘that they relinquished, gave up etc.’

navigandi imperitus - 'ignorant of navigation,' or as we have translated here 'inexperienced in sailing.' Navigandi is the genitive of the gerund of navigare.  As we have seen before the genitive of the gerund is used after some adjectives including peritus and its opposite imperitus.

Se … receperant – we have not translated the se here as it reflexive and refers to the sailors recovering themselves, i.e. regaining their spirits etc. as opposed to recovering anyone else but there is no confusion in English.

Cum … venisset – cum, conjunction meaning ‘when’ introducting a subordinate clause in the past takes subjunctive, ‘when he had come’.

Causam veniendi docuit – gerund in the genitive again ‘of coming’ following causam, ‘the cause’ meaning literally he taught (him) the reason of (his) coming.

Res erat magni periculi – literally ‘the thing/matter was of great danger’.

Cornua eius – ‘the horns of him’ i.e. ‘his horns’.

Cum ingenti labore – this means ‘when, with a great effort’ ingenti labore being ablative of manner without the preposition but you might say, how do we know that the cum at the  beginning is not the preposition ‘with’? The verb traxisset being pluperfect subjunctive ‘he had dragged’ indicates that the cum in this instance is the conjunction ‘when, or since’ introducing a subordinate clause in the past.  

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Tum Eurystheus Herculi imperavit

Then Eurystheus ordered Hercules

ut taurum quendam ferocissimum ex insula Creta vivum referret.

To bring back alive a certain very fierce bull from the island of Crete.

Ille igitur navem conscendit,

He therefore boarded a ship,

et cum ventus idoneus esset, statim solvit.

and when the wind was suitable, set sail at once.

Cum tamen insulae iam appropinquaret,

When however he was getting near to the island,

tanta tempestas subito coorta est

such a great storm suddenly arose

ut navis cursum tenere non posset.

that the ship could not hold its course.

Tantus autem timor animos nautarum occupavit

Now such a great fear took hold of the minds of the sailors

ut paene omnem spem salutis deponerent.

that they almost gave up all hope of safety.

Hercules tamen, etsi navigandi imperitus erat,

But Hercules, was so inexperienced at sailing,

Haudquaquam territus est.

That he was not at all frightened.

Post breve tempus summa tranquillitas consecuta est,

After a short time the utmost tranquality followed,

et nautae, qui se ex timore iam receperant,

and the sailors, who had recovered from their fear,

navem incolumem ad terram appulerunt.

Brought the undamaged ship to the shore.

Hercules e navi egressus est,

Hercules left the ship,

et cum ad regem Cretae venisset,

and when he had come to the king of Crete,

causam veniendi docuit.

he told him why he had come.

Deinde, postquam omnia parata sunt,

Then, after everything was got ready,

ad eam regionem contendit quam taurus vastabat.

He made his way to that region which the bull was laying waste.

Mox taurum vidit, et quamquam res erat magni periculi,

Soon he saw the bull, and although it was very dangerous,

cornua eius prehendit. Tum, cum ingenti labore

he grabbed his horns. Then, when with a huge effort

monstrum ad navem traxisset,

he had dragged the monster to the ship

cum praeda in Graeciam rediit.

he returned with his booty to Greece.

d) The following section is as a) but without the macrons for you to copy and translate.

Tum Eurystheus Herculi imperavit ut taurum quendam ferocissimum ex insula Creta vivum referret. Ille igitur navem conscendit, et cum ventus idoneus esset, statim solvit. Cum tamen insulae iam appropinquaret, tanta tempestas subito coorta est ut navis cursum tenere non posset. Tantus autem timor animos nautarum occupavit ut paene omnem spem salutis deponerent. Hercules tamen, etsi navigandi imperitus erat, haudquaquam territus est.

Post breve tempus summa tranquillitas consecuta est, et nautae, qui se ex timore iam receperant, navem incolumem ad terram appulerunt. Hercules e navi egressus est, et cum ad regem Cretae venisset, causam veniendi docuit. Deinde, postquam omnia parata sunt, ad eam regionem contendit quam taurus vastabat. Mox taurum vidit, et quamquam res erat magni periculi, cornua eius prehendit. Tum, cum ingenti labore monstrum ad navem traxisset, cum praeda in Graeciam rediit.

29 RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - HERCULES 29 - SIXTH LABOUR: THE STYMPHALIAN BIRDS WITH NOTES AND INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION

HERCULES 29 - SIXTH LABOUR: THE STYMPHALIAN BIRDS

THIS VASE PAINTING DEPICTS HERCULES AND THE STYMPHALIAN BIRDS

a)
Post paucós diés Herculés ad oppidum Stymphálum iter fécit; imperáverat enim eí Eurystheus ut avís Stymphálidés necáret. Hae avés róstra aénea habébant et carne hominum véscébantur. Ille postquam ad locum pervénit, lacum vídit; in hóc autem lacú, quí nón procul erat ab oppidó, avés habitábant. Núlla tamen dabátur appropinquandí facultás; lacus enim nón ex aquá sed é límó cónstitit. Herculés igitur neque pedibus neque lintre prógredí potuit.
Ille cum mágnam partem diéí frústrá cónsúmpsisset, hóc cónátú déstitit et ad Volcánum sé contulit, ut auxilium ab eó peteret. Volcánus (quí ab fabrís máximé colébátur) crepundia quae ipse ex aere fabricátus erat Herculí dedit. Hís Herculés tam ácrem crepitum fécit ut avés perterritae ávolárent. Ille autem, dum ávolant, mágnum numerum eárum sagittís tránsfíxit.


b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR.

Post – followed by accusative case, paucos.

Oppidum Stymphalum – In English we say ‘the town of Stymphalus’ but in Latin it is ‘the town Stymphalus’ i.e. there is no genitive involved.

Imperáverat … ei – pluperfect of imperare ‘he had ordered’ which is followed by an indirect object or dative case ei to express the person ordered i.e. ‘him’. See DATIVE CASE GRAMMAR NOTES top left sidebar under PAGES , also see PRONOUNS is, ea, id.

ordered (eí).

Ut necaret – ‘that he kill’, ut introduces the clause saying what has been commanded which is expressed by the verb in the subjunctive mood necaret: ‘ordered him that he kill’ which we have translated ‘ordered that he kill’.
Avis - note that the ending 'is' is an alternative accusative plural ending (you might understandably have expected aves).

Stymphálides – from Stymphalis, gen. -idis, adj., of Stymphalus, Stymphalian.

Hae aves – ‘these birds’ hae feminine plural nominative of hic haec hoc (see GRAMMAR NOTES) agreeing with aves, feminine plural noun of the third declension.

Rostra aenea – ‘bronze beaks’, from rostrum gen. –i, neut. noun, second declension in agreement with aeneus, -a, -um adjective, of copper or bronze.

Vescebantur – third person plural imperfect of the deponent verb vescor (REMEMBER these verbs look passive but are active in meaning) feed on, eat.  It is an intransitive verb and governs the ablative, hence we have here carne the ablative form of the third declension noun caro, carnis. 

In hoc lacu – ‘in this lake’ we can tell that lacus is a fourth declension noun as we know that in when referring to place where, governs a noun in the ablative (if it was a second declension noun it would end in o). See DECLENSIONS in GRAMMAR NOTES, top left of sidebar under PAGES.

Nulla  - looks a bit tricky at first as we don’t know if we are to construe it to mean ‘no things’ neuter plural pronoun, or ‘no …’ as an adjective, but when you put it with the feminine noun facultas (opportunity, chance) it simply means ‘no opportunity’.

Dabatur – ‘he was given’ passive active third pers. Sing: dabat would mean ‘he gave, he was giving, he used to give etc.

facultas, -tatis – third declension  f. noun, possibility, opportunity, chance, means.

appropinquandi – this is the the genitive of the gerund, which is a verbal noun with the meaning ‘of approaching’. It modifies facultas: the opportunity of approaching.

ex aqua ... e limo – ablative of material (what something is made from) after preposition e, ex before a vowel.

Constitit – third pers. sing. perf. tense of con-sisto, -sistere, -stiti, -stitus, which means ‘station oneself, take one's stand; and , as here, ‘consist’, meaning therefore ‘it consisted of mud.’

Pedibus … lintre – pedibus is ablative plural of pes, pedis meaning ‘with the feet’ or as we would say ‘on foot’ and lintre is ablative sing of linter, lintris meaning ‘with/by a boat’ or as we would say ‘by boat.’

Cum … consumpsisset – the pluperfect subjunctive is used after cum ‘when’ or ‘since’ when referring to the past and may introduce the reason for the action of the main verb.

hoc conatu – ‘this attempt’ is in the ablative as it is governed by destitit ‘he gave up, stopped, desisted’ being a verb of separation.

Ad Volcanum – accusative of Volcanus after ad ‘to Vulcan.’

Peteret – third pers. Sing. Of verb petere used after ut which here means ‘in order to’ introducing a clause which expresses purpose and is followed by the subjunctive ‘in order that he might ask’ which is best translated in English by the infinitive

Auxilium ab eo – literally ‘help from him’, eo being ablative after ab, see IS, EA, ID GRAMMAR NOTES top left sidebar under PAGES.

crepundia, -orum – neut. Noun plural, ‘rattle.’

Aere – ablative again of material, what something is made from from aes, aeris, neut noun, copper, bronze, meaning therefore ‘of copper’, or ‘of bronze.’.

Crepitum – acc. Case from crepitus, -us (crepo, rattle)], m., rattle, clatter.

Avolarent – subjunctive of result clause introduced by tam, they were so terrified that …. Tam will often signpost a subjunctive result clause in this way.

Dum avolant – dum ‘while’ is followed by the present indicative but we have translated with a past tense.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Post paucós diés Herculés ad oppidum Stymphálum iter fécit;

After a few days Hercules made the journey to the town of Stymphalus;

imperáverat enim eí Eurystheus ut avís Stymphálidés necáret.

for Eurystheus had ordered him to kill the Stymphalian birds.

Hae avés róstra aénea habébant et carne hominum véscébantur.

These birds had brass beaks and fed on the flesh of men.

Ille postquam ad locum pervénit, lacum vídit;

After he reached the place he saw a lake;

in hóc autem lacú, quí nón procul erat ab oppidó,

Now on this lake, which was not far from the town,

avés habitábant.

the birds lived.

Núlla tamen dabátur appropinquandí facultás;

He was afforded no opportunity of approaching however;

lacus enim nón ex aquá sed é límó cónstitit.

For the lake was not water but slime

Herculés igitur neque pedibus neque lintre prógredí potuit.

Hercules therefore could not proceed on foot or by boat.

Ille cum mágnam partem diéí frústrá cónsúmpsisset,

Since he had spent a large part of the day in vain,

hóc cónátú déstitit et ad Volcánum sé contulit,

he gave up this attempt and took himself off to Vulcan

ut auxilium ab eó peteret.

In order to ask for his help

Volcánus (quí ab fabrís máximé colébátur)

Vulcan (who is most highly worshipped by craftsmen)

crepundia quae ipse ex aere fabricátus erat Herculí dedit.

Gave Hercules rattles which he himself had made from bronze

Hís Herculés tam ácrem crepitum fécit

With these Hercules made such a din,

ut avés perterritae ávolárent.

That the terrified birds flew off.

Ille autem, dum ávolant,

But he, while they were flying away,

mágnum numerum eárum sagittís tránsfíxit.

Pierced a great number of them with his arrows.

d) The following section is as a) but without the macrons for you to copy and translate.

Post paucos dies Hercules ad oppidum Stymphalum iter fecit; imperaverat enim ei Eurystheus ut avis Stymphalides necaret. Hae aves rostra aenea habebant et carne hominum vescebantur.

Ille postquam ad locum pervenit, lacum vidit; in hoc autem lacu, qui non procul erat ab oppido, aves habitabant. Nulla tamen dabatur appropinquandi facultas; lacus enim non ex aqua sed e limo constitit. Hercules igitur neque pedibus neque lintre progredi potuit. Ille cum magnam partem diei frustra consumpsisset, hoc conatu destitit et ad Volcanum se contulit, ut auxilium ab eo peteret.

Volcanus (qui ab fabris maxime colebatur) crepundia quae ipse ex aere fabricatus erat Herculi dedit.

His Hercules tam acrem crepitum fecit ut aves perterritae avolarent.

Ille autem, dum avolant, magnum numerum earum sagittis transfixit.

28 RITCHIE’S FABULAE FACILES TRANSLATION - HERCULES 28 - FIFTH LABOUR: THE AUGEAN STABLES WITH NOTES AND INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION

HERCULES 28 - FIFTH LABOUR: THE AUGEAN STABLES

a)
Deinde Eurystheus Herculí hunc labórem graviórem imposuit. Augéás quídam, quí illó tempore régnum in Élide obtinébat, tria mília boum habébat. Hí in stabuló ingentis mágnitúdinis inclúdébantur. Stabulum autem inluvié ac squálóre erat obsitum, neque enim ad hóc tempus umquam púrgátum erat. Hóc Herculés intrá spatium úníus diéí púrgáre iússus est. Ille, etsí rés erat multae operae, negótium suscépit. Prímum mágnó labóre fossam duodévígintí pedum dúxit, per quam flúminis aquam dé montibus ad múrum stabulí perdúxit. Tum postquam múrum perrúpit, aquam in stabulum immísit et tálí modó contrá opíniónem omnium opus cónfécit.

b)

Some words have been chosen for special consideration and are listed below. For the words not included in this list please refer to the WORDLIST in PAGES TOP RIGHT SIDE BAR.

Herculi – this is the dative case of Herculis, after the verb imponere which is in the perfect tense imposuit ‘he commanded, he ordered’. Imponere governs a noun in the dative case (or if you prefer is followed by the dative case) because it is a compound verb of in + ponere.

Graviorem – this is the accusative case of the comparative gravior, ‘more grave, burdensome, more difficult’ or sometimes simply as we have translated here ‘harder’.

Quidam – a certain, a man called, indefinite pronoun.

Illo tempore – at that time, ablative used to indicate time when.
Regnum obtinebat - 'was holding the kingdom' or as we would probably say 'was ruling the kingdom' or 'was ruler of the kingdom'.
Elide – the ablative of Elis, (Gen. Elidis, f.,) to indicate place where with the preposition in.

Milia boum – milia is the plural of the noun mille (one thousand); one thousand cattle would be mille boves but here we have milia boum. Boum is the genitive of the plural noun bos as in Latin after numbers we put the noun in the genitive case; we say ‘three thousands of cattle’ This is called the partitive genitive. ‘One thousand cattle' would be

mílle boves.

ingentís magnitudinis – is the genitive of description; like the ablative of description it always consists of a noun with some modifying word.

Inluvie ac squalore – ablative case meaning ‘with filth and with dirt' (from the firth declension noun: inluvies, gen. -eí, f., dirt, filth and the third declension noun squalor, gen. -oris (squaleo, be dirty), m., dirt, filth.

Obsitum – ‘covered’ past participle of the third conjugation verb ob-sero, -serere, -seví, -situs, meaning sow, plant; cover, fill.

neque enim umquam – for … never; for not ever…12.

Erat multae operae - was of a lot of work.

duodevígintí pedum – in Latin eighteen is two-from-twenty, before pedum ‘of feet’ i.e.  i.e. in width.

Duxit – we have put here ‘which went’ as this word is used with reference to the progress of the work on a wall or ditch from one end of it to the other.

Opus – another word for work meaning that upon which one is working or of the completed work; balor means heavy or exhausting work; opera relates to voluntary exertion or efford.

Fluminis – genitive case of flumen, inis n. third declension noun ‘river’.

Stabuli – genitive of stabulum, i., n ‘of the stable, or of the enclosure’.

c)

Note: This section is not translated into idiomatic English but is intended, together with the notes, to give you the gist of the meaning; you can then come up with your own improved translation.

Deinde Eurystheus Herculí hunc labórem graviórem imposuit.

Then Eurystheus gave Hercules this harder task to perform.

Augéás quídam, quí illó tempore régnum in Élide obtinébat,

A certain Augeas, who at that time held a kingdom in Elid (was ruler of a kingdom in Elid),

tria mília boum habébat.

Had three thousand cattle.

Hí in stabuló ingentis mágnitúdinis inclúdébantur.

These were kept in a stable of a huge size.

Stabulum autem inluvié ac squálóre erat obsitum,

The stable however was covered with filth and dirt.

neque enim ad hóc tempus umquam púrgátum erat.

For till this time it had not ever been cleaned.

Hóc Herculés intrá spatium úníus diéí púrgáre iússus est.

This Hercules within the space of one day was ordered to clean.

Ille, etsí rés erat multae operae, negótium suscépit.

He, though this involved a lot of work, undertook the task.

Prímum mágnó labóre fossam duodévígintí pedum dúxit,

Firstly with great effort he made a ditch which went eighteen feet,

per quam flúminis aquam dé montibus

through which the water of the river from the mountains

ad múrum stabulí perdúxit.

He channeled to the wall of the stable.

Tum postquam múrum perrúpit,

Then after he broke the wall,

aquam in stabulum immísit et tálí modó

he sent the water into the stable and in this way

contrá opíniónem omnium opus cónfécit.

Contrary to the opinion of everyone, he carried out the task.

d) The following section is as a) but without the macrons for you to copy and translate.

Deinde Eurystheus Herculi hunc laborem graviorem imposuit.

Augeas quidam, qui illo tempore regnum in Elide obtinebat, tria milia boum habebat. Hi in stabulo ingentis magnitudinis includebantur. Stabulum autem inluvie ac squalore erat obsitum, neque enim ad hoc tempus umquam purgatum erat. Hoc Hercules intra spatium unius diei purgare iussus est. Ille, etsi res erat multae operae, negotium suscepit.

Primum magno labore fossam duodeviginti pedum duxit, per quam fluminis aquam de montibus ad murum stabuli perduxit.

Tum postquam murum perrupit, aquam in stabulum immisit et tali modo contra opinionem omnium opus confecit.