42. Cacus Steals the Oxen (primer)
brevi tempore venit ad flumen Tiberim.
In a short time he came to the river Tiber.
tum tamen in eo loco erat nulla urbs,
Then however in that place was not any city,
Roma enim nondum condita erat .
for Rome not yet had been founded .
Hercules fessus itinere constituit morari ibi paucos dies,
Hercules, worn out by the journey, decided to delay there for a few days,
ut recrearet se ex laboribus .
so that he might refresh himself from his labours .
haud procul a valle ubi boves pascebantur
Not far from the valley where the oxen were feeding
erat spelunca
there was a cave
in qua Cacus, horribile monstrum, tum habitabat.
in which Cacus, a horrible monster, then lived .
hic praebebat diram speciem,
This < man> showed a fearsome appearance, non modo quod erat ingenti magnitudine corporis,
not only because he was with enormous greatness of body,
sed quod exspirabat ignem ex ore.
but because he breathed out fire from his mouth .
Cacus autem acceperat famam de adventu Herculis ;
Now Cacus had received word about the arrival of Hercules ;
noctu igitur venit, et dum Hercules dormit,
Therefore by night he came, and while Hercules is sleeping,
abripuit quattuor pulcherrimorum boum .
he snatched four of the most handsome oxen .
hos traxit in speluncam caudis,
These he dragged into his cave by their tails,
ne Hercules posset cognoscere e vestigiis……
so that not Hercules might be able to find out from their tracks
in quo loco celati essent .
in which place they had been hidden .