Hither and thither; me he chiefly sought, And would have cast me to destruction, down From the great heavens into the deep, if Night, Whose power o’ercomes the might of gods and men, Had not preserved me, fleeing to her shade. So Jove refrained, indignant as he was, For much he feared to offend the swift-paced Night. And now thou bid’st me tempt my fate again.”
Imperial, large-eyed Juno thus rejoined:— “Why rise such thoughts, O Sleep, within thy heart? Deem’st thou that Jove the Thunderer favors Troy As much as he was angered for the sake Of Hercules, his son? Do what I ask, And thou shalt have from me a wedded spouse. One of the younger Graces shall be thine— Pasithea, whom thou hast desired so long.”
She spake, and Sleep, delighted, answered thus:— “Swear now to me, O goddess, by the Styx, The inviolable river. Lay one hand Upon the food-producing earth, and place The other on the glimmering sea, that all The gods below, round Saturn, may attest Thy promise—that thou wilt bestow on me One of the younger Graces for my bride— Pasithea, whom I have desired so long.”
He spake, and white-armed Juno willingly Complied; she took the oath, and called on all The gods who dwell in Tartarus below, And bear the name of Titans. When the oath Was taken, and the accustomed rites performed, From Lemnos and from Imbrus forth they went, Shrouded in mist; and swiftly moving on Toward Ida, seamed with rivulets and nurse Of savage beasts, they came to Lectos first, And there they left the sea. Their way was now Over the land, and underneath their feet The forest summits shook. Sleep halted there Ere yet the eye of Jupiter descried His coming, and upon a lofty fir, The tallest growing on the Idaean mount, High in the air among the clouds of heaven, Springing from earth, he took his perch within The screen of branches, like the shrill-voiced bird, Called Chalcis by the immortals, and by men Cymindis, haunting the high mountain-side.