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but listen to the tale Of human sufferings, and how at first Senseless as beasts I gave men sense, possessed them Of mind. I speak not in contempt of man; I do but tell of good gifts I conferred. In the beginning, seeing they saw amiss, And hearing heard not, but, like phantoms huddled In dreams, the perplexed story of their days Confounded; knowing neither timber-work Nor brick-built dwellings basking in the light, But dug for themselves holes, wherein like ants, That hardly may contend against a breath, They dwelt in burrows of their unsunned caves. Neither of winter's cold had they fixed sign, Nor of the spring when she comes decked with flowers, Nor yet of summer's heat with melting fruits Sure token: but utterly without knowledge Moiled, until I the rising of the stars Showed them, and when they set, though much obscure. Moreover, number, the most excellent Of all inventions, I for them devised, And gave them writing that retaineth all, The serviceable mother of the Muse. I was the first that yoked unmanaged beasts, To serve as slaves with collar and with pack, And take upon themselves, to man's relief, The heaviest labour of his hands: and Tamed to the rein and drove in wheeled cars The horse, of sumptuous pride the ornament. And those sea-wanderers with the wings of cloth, The shipman's waggons, none but I contrived. 

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τἀν βροτοῖς δὲ πήματα ἀκούσαθ΄͵ ὥς σφας νηπίους ὄντας τὸ πρὶν ἔννους ἔθηκα καὶ φρενῶν ἐπηβόλους. λέξω δέ͵ μέμψιν οὔτιν΄ ἀνθρώποις ἔχων͵ ἀλλ΄ ὧν δέδωκ΄ εὔνοιαν ἐξηγούμενος· οἳ πρῶτα μὲν βλέποντες ἔβλεπον μάτην͵ κλύοντες οὐκ ἤκουον͵ ἀλλ΄ ὀνειράτων ἀλίγκιοι μορφαῖσι τὸν μακρὸν βίον ἔφυρον εἰκῇ πάντα͵ κοὔτε πλινθυφεῖς δόμους προσείλους ᾖσαν͵ οὐ ξυλουργίαν· κατώρυχες δ΄ ἔναιον ὥστ΄ ἀήσυροι μύρμηκες ἄντρων ἐν μυχοῖς ἀνηλίοις. ἦν δ΄ οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς οὔτε χείματος τέκμαρ οὔτ΄ ἀνθεμώδους ἦρος οὔτε καρπίμου θέρους βέβαιον͵ ἀλλ΄ ἄτερ γνώμης τὸ πᾶν ἔπρασσον͵ ἔστε δή σφιν ἀντολὰς ἐγὼ ἄστρων ἔδειξα τάς τε δυσκρίτους δύσεις. καὶ μὴν ἀριθμόν͵ ἔξοχον σοφισμάτων͵ ἐξηῦρον αὐτοῖς͵ γραμμάτων τε συνθέσεις͵ μνήμην ἁπάντων͵ μουσομήτορ΄ ἐργάνην. κἄζευξα πρῶτος ἐν ζυγοῖσι κνώδαλα ζεύγλαισι δουλεύοντα σώμασίν θ΄ ὅπως θνητοῖς μεγίστων διάδοχοι μοχθημάτων γένοινθ΄͵ ὑφ΄ ἅρμα τ΄ ἤγαγον φιληνίους ἵππους͵ ἄγαλμα τῆς ὑπερπλούτου χλιδῆς. θαλασσόπλαγκτα δ΄ οὔτις ἄλλος ἀντ΄ ἐμοῦ λινόπτερ΄ ηὗρε ναυτίλων ὀχήματα.