Translation of "Midas Never Learns"
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The elder judge had sat on his mountain and liberates his ears from the trees: his blue hair is surrounded only by oak, and acorns suspend around his hollow temples. And looking at that god of herds he said, “in the judge there is no delay” He makes a sound on the wild reeds, and he charms Midas with the barbaric song (by chance he was present for the singing). After this speech, sacred Tmolus turned [his face] to Apollo’s voice: the forest did follow his face. That golden head surrounded with Parnassian laurel. He sweeps the ground with his clothing saturated with Tyrian purple and from his left-hand he holds up a lyre arranged with gems and Indian teeth, in the other hand he has held a plectrum; the way he was himself, having been positioned of the artist. Then, having been taught, he rouses the threads with his thumb, of whom Tmolus, having been captured by the sweetness, orders Pan to submit his reeds to the lyre. The judgment of the sacred mountain pleased the opinion for all, but however, is challenged and is called unjust with the speech of one Midas." Nor does Apollo allow stupid ears to keep their human shape, but he prolongs them in extent and fills them up with white shaggy hair and he makes their base unstable and gives them the ability to move: the rest is human, [but] he is disapproved in one part, and he slowly donned the advancing ears of a young donkey. He indeed desires to conceal that and he tries to cover his temples because of ugly disgrace with purple turbans on his head; but the servant, accustomed to cutting off his long hair with an iron, had seen this, who because he was not daring to reveal the having been seen disgrace, desiring to proclaim about the ears, he was not able to be silent however, and he withdraws and hollows out the ground, such that he will have observed the ears of his master, he proclaims with his small voice and he murmurs to the dug up ground and he buries the evidence of his voice in the carrying earth and with the ditch covered, he leaves having been silent. A thick grove with trembling reeds began to grow there and as it ripens in the first full year, it gave away the farmer: for from the soft south winds having been stirred they repeat the buried words and they demonstrate the ruler’s ears.