Song of Thyrsis, #1 of Theocritus

Oh so sweet is the windsong of the pines, Goat-Boy,

as near the trickling springs the pine grove sings.

And this pleases me well, this tune you're piping.

You'll take the prize second to Pan. If he wants

the horny billy goat, you'll get the nanny goat,

and if he takes the nanny, you'll get their kid,

and kid flesh is soft and succulent, ere weaned.

.............Goat-boy replies:

Sweeter, my sheep-boy friend, is your song than

the singing of water trickling over rocks. If the

Muses get the ewe for their gift, you'll get the

barn-raised suckling lamb for a trophy. And if it

please them to take the lamb, you'll get the ewe.

............Thyrsis sings:

Would you honor the Goddess of this place, Goat-Boyo?

Would you sit among tamarisk bushes, here on her hill,

playing your pipes? Then I'll take care of both flocks?

............Goat-Boy

Not right, Sheep-Boyo, not right to pipe at Noon for

it may disrupt Pan's noontime nap....